[Open] There's a Point Where It Tips, There's a Point Where It Breaks

[zerotohiro]

Who: Everyone in Cerealia who figured out the code words for this meeting
When: Evening of IC 5/31, after Hawke's network post
Where: Sanctuary
What: "A pizza party" aka a meeting about the new masked figure that appeared.
Warnings: N/A, maybe some talks about what Alien-kun had to say, etc.


[It's evening by the time Hiro gets to the Sanctuary. Anyone who had seen him this morning will have spotted him with Baymax, both of them sans their normal armor and Baymax carrying what looks like a giant box. They had preparations to make, after all. He makes his way in and out of the building a few times but by the time the first of their guests arrive, everything's set up.

Upon entering the Sanctuary, Baymax moves to stand guard and collect your CereVice in a box at the door. Please don't cheat, he doesn't like when people aren't playing fair. In exchange for the CereVice, you will receive a form and a pencil before Baymax cheerfully waves you away.

Hiro's sitting on a table at the head of the lounge watching people come in. Hawke had promised these people pizza and cake (Hawke why) and he's delivering on that promise. The stack is about as tall as he is, more than enough to feed everyone who's shown up. He waits until a majority of the people show up before he clears his throat to gather attention.]

...uh, hey! [Well. That's a great, confident start.] I know this was sort of last minute and everything, but I really appreciate all of you coming by and actually listening to Hawke. [Sorry Hawke. But there's a grin which says he's more than appreciative.] I know you're probably here for free food, but there's a couple of things you should know. [Sliding off of the table, he moves to stand in front of what looks like a small mechanical box.]

When we all got back a few days ago, I started thinking about the fact that CERES can watch us from...pretty much anywhere. So I took some plans for something else I've been working on, improvised a little bit and created this thing. It'll deflect the signal from our implants and block them out completely as long as we're in this room. I've tested it out a couple of time already, the whole thing gets thrown off. It's...why I wanted to meet here! Because that sort of leads right to my next point.

[There's a small sigh as he paces the room, Baymax waddling after him. He moves back to the table he'd been sitting on to pull up the mask he'd been given a while ago.]

All of you probably received one of these either from that fortune teller, Aria, or it just showed up. And while we were out there? Some of you probably found the terminal like I did and spoke with a masked figure. [A beat.] I'm starting to realize that it told all of us something different, but the most important part is that it's with the Flamine Federation. You know. The guys who supposedly destroyed our planets. Baymax gave all of you a form--um. [And here he pauses, unsure if it's really appropriate to be ordering people to share information but then again that's what they all need. He's always believed everybody needs to be aware of what's happening.] Basically I guess just...answer what you can and tack it up on the board--[A gesture to a large bulletin board he pulled from who knows where.]--and talk amongst yourselves about what happened out there? Alien...the monsters, that weird altar? A bunch of you saw that, right? What was that about?

[Dear god somebody help him.] ...look, I tried. There's free food. This is about all I could throw together so fast before something else happens here. So...yeah. Let's just start figuring out what's really happening here, okay?

[Vague hand gestures? Vague hand gestures. He shuts up after that and sort of shrinks back into his hoodie, jumping back up on the table to hand out food and keep an eye on the room. All right, colonists. You know what to do.]

[ooc: Welcome to the info-sharing mingle! The idea behind this is for characters to ICly fill out this form (coded by the wonderful Fidgey/Katsura-mun) and have it displayed for everyone to view that information. You can post your sheet in your comment or link it to a post elsewhere in your journal, or even post it in the post I made that the form's posted into. HOWEVER this is open to everyone even if your character didn't speak to the alien and just wants to check stuff out! As a note: characters will start to feel sick after about two hours in the Sanctuary due to the frequency deflector. Sorry about that! Any questions hit me up via PM or plurk at alternatively]

Master List of Forms

Comments

[sortileges]

[ A nursebot makes 100% sense to him, don't worry Hiro (no, it really doesn't) ]

I'm not going to-- [ Then of course there's a slight hiccup as he almost does choke. He swallows just in time, thankfully. ] Ask me anything you want.

[zerotohiro]

[He lifts an eyebrow. You were saying, bro? But he waits for Merlin to clear his windpipe before he continues.]

Athena said that it stole your money and also threatened you. Mind if I ask for your own personal take on stuff?

[sortileges]

[ He tried, okay... He tried. ]

It did. What did you want to know exactly?

[ Because he's pretty sure Athena has more of an idea of how it goes with past clues better than he does but... there are other things he definitely knows more about because of his powers. Swings and roundabouts and all that. ]

[zerotohiro]

Well first of all, what did you say to it that made it freak out and become hostile in the first place? [He's not blaming Merlin by any means, but he has to wonder what spawned a strong reaction.]

[sortileges]

[ ...To be fair, it had every right to get angry at him. Merlin even goes so far as coughing into his hand once the pizza is all finished and looks sheepish. ]

I may have threatened to find it and strike it with lightning or set it on fire. There was a list, actually.

[ Yeah......... Shouldn't he be more worried? Probably. ]

[zerotohiro]

...and why did you do that? [WHAT THE FUCK, MERLIN. On the bright side at least there are apparently far more reckless people in this colony than himself now.]

[sortileges]

[ What the fuck indeed........... Look he can be more reckless than you Hiro. He doesn't die that easily?! ]

Well it really didn't seem to like us... [ He trails off. ] One thing led to another?

[zerotohiro]

Yeah, but I'm pretty sure aggravating it further didn't help. [Merlin, this was such a dumb idea.] So. What're you gonna do to defend yourself now if it decides to act on its threats?

[sortileges]

[ Maybe it was dumb, but he's mostly confused by Hiro's question. ] I'll set it on fire and strike it with lightning? [ ???? ]

[zerotohiro]

Okay but most people can't just conjure lightning out of thin air. [...wait.] You know how to use magic, too?

[He and Roxas had a chat about magic a few days ago, sorry for jumping to conclusions bro.]

[sortileges]

...Too? [ He has to blink at at, though it's just because now he suspects Hiro can do something - it's hard to know what to expect these days. ]

You have magic?

[zerotohiro]

No, I have science. [Duh??] But I've met a lot of other people around here that have magic at their disposal so...I guess I'm just saying I'm not surprised.

[sortileges]

There are quite a lot of people here with magic, that's true. [ He goes a little quiet, then. ] It's... nice. Actually.

[zerotohiro]

Not that common in your world? Or another one of those secrets that has to be hidden because people will use it against you?

[sortileges]

One of those secrets that has to be hidden so the King won't execute me, actually.

[zerotohiro]

...I mean, I'm all for people not getting executed so that makes total sense but what was so wrong about magic where you're from that it's--

[...wait.] ...Merlin? Like...ye olden times King Arthur higitus figitus stuff? [Sorry bro, the one Merlin he's really familiar with is this guy.]

[sortileges]

20 years ago there was a great purge after many sorcerers used their magic for evil. [ He shrugs. It sucks, but... there is definitely another side to this.

Though uh... ] He's still a Prince at the moment, actually, but... [ He trails off... hopefully now some things make a lot more sense. Maybe. ]

[zerotohiro]

There've been stories about witches being burned at stakes, too. Before this place I thought that's what they were. Stories.

[His eyes widen in recognition.] But yeah, yeah, got it. You've probably heard that a lot since you've got here, huh?

[sortileges]

[ Merlin slowly shakes his head. ] I've seen it. Public executions... everyone gathers around to watch. It isn't always with fire.

[ He lets out a breath then, reaching up to scratch his cheek. ] A few times. It's still hard to understand why a lot of people know my name but... It isn't bad?

[zerotohiro]

Pretty messed up if you ask me. [He shakes his head.] I don't think it's too hard to understand if you know the context. You're pretty famous, especially on Earth. There's all kinds of legends and stories about you. I mean not all of them are accurate, probably, but it's like...you think of Merlin, you think of magic.

As long as it doesn't bug you then yeah. Not bad.

[sortileges]

"Pretty messed up" seems accurate. Not everyone thinks like it, but the King has an intense hatred of magic. [ Though ah... no one really described it as Hiro just did and he ends up laughing faintly, if a little awkwardly. ]

It's a little nice, actually. [ There's too much ego in one room... ]

[zerotohiro]

I've always come to find that people hate the things they really don't understand. Or the people that're better than they are. [Haha what was that about ego? Oh well.]

I bet you could probably find books about the different variations if you really were that interested. Almost all of them talk about how powerful you wind up being. So...guess the King was wrong. [He rubs the back of his neck then.] Too bad the alien probably doesn't think the same way though.

[sortileges]

There might be more to it, but I've definitely come to realise he has no idea that a lot of the druids are actually nice people. They don't deserve anything that's happened to them just because of some bad sorcerers in the past. [ He gives him a sad smile. ] It's a shame. Magic can be used for good. I'll use it for good.

[ Like protecting people, though at the moment he's probably going to have to research how to not die at the hand of a crazy alien. ]

They didn't care about anything other than that we broke our masks, really.

[ It may or may not have helped that his mask had the bloody handprints on it too, he doesn't know. ]

[zerotohiro]

Druids? That's what you're calling yourself now? [It's not a term he's entirely unfamiliar with but wow, old school.] I mean...I sort of feel like everybody should be judged based on their own merits but I think magic could be used for good.

[Weirdly, he feels better hearing Merlin say that. It's something he can put a little faith and trust and pixie dust into.] I hope you do.

[But yes, the mask-breaking.] And speaking of judgment, that's the part I don't really get. Some of our masks had a couple of different things going on here. What's so important about the broken part of the mask that overrides literally everything else? Other than CERES going back on their word, too.

[sortileges]

Not everyone is a druid. [ Hiro, please. ] Only the magic users who have lived in peace for years that are hunted down like wild animals. [ :( ] But that's what I think too. There are people who use it for bad, but lots of people use it only for good, too.

[ Though he gives him a small smile for that. ] Why wouldn't I?

I'm not really sure I'm the one to ask, unless they have a really big grudge against someone who did it once and it's just spread out to everything. [ SHRUGS ]