[open] this ae night, this ae night

[psycholawgy]

Who: People who went to the tower, and then people who want to hear about what happened in the tower!
When: 8/25-8/26.
Where: The CERES Tower, and then the Sanctuary
What: A catch-all log for the CERES Tower Exploration, and then a discussion of it!
Rating/Warning: Will edit when needed.

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THE TOWER
[ As per the mod post:

All groups will find that the tower is deserted, and all technology is shut off. Through some fiddling, some of CERES’ databases can be accessed, but only in the most basic of safe modes. Hacking will just get everything to shut off again, as it takes too much power from whatever emergency power source allows the systems to turn on.

There are no dangers, but even so, the characters won’t have long in the tower before their code starts to warp strangely. If they stay too long, they will be glitched right out of existence -- and then right outside of the tower. They will find that for the next three ic days, all food tastes burnt and sleeping is extremely unsatisfying, to the point that they don’t even feel like they need it, before they go back to normal. Characters will have a maximum of 3 IC hours in the tower before that point.

Feel free to thread out characters meeting up before the exploration, or bumping into each other in the rather big tower, amongst other shenanigans! ]


THE SANCTUARY
[ there isn't much of a preparation for this, but there will be a text blast alerting everybody to go to the sanctuary if they so please to discuss what people have found in the tower.

as usual, a variety of flavours of pizza is being served. there may not be pizza for everybody however, as athena is rather broke. (sweats) remember to leave your cerevices in the basket by the entrance! ]

Comments

[magicburst]

[Ah, that seems to bring down a bit of her "I'm here to take care of business" attitude.]

This isn't my first time arriving in a different world on the brink of crisis to help out. It was much easier to figure out what to do last time though, even if it was a bit convoluted.

[Hm. So they don't know who this 'DC' is. The contract was completely blacked out as well so...]

Do you think there may be anywhere else we could search for information on 'DC'?

[moribound]

[Minato looks around when Jessica asks that question, observing that many of the people from the previous meeting are still here.

His gaze lingers for a bit on one particular person, but all things considering it's still awkward trying to keep things business-like between them. He's turning back to Jessica a second after that, subtly drawing attention away from what happened before.]

I think we're about even, at least about everything being convoluted. A friend of mine mentioned mass kidnappings while I was away...he didn't tell me what happened to the others, but it's possible that someone might have found something about DC if it was done by Mosley or an ally.

[Minato might not know much about what went down, but CERES being the culprit is out for many reasons and that leaves someone who was at the very least unlikely to be an enemy.]

[magicburst]

[Jessica isn't the best at reading some social cues, particularly if it's something more personal. Minato's eyes drift and in that moment she misses who he might be looking towards. A friend maybe? He's bound to have been here longer than her after all.

Her attention snaps on one point in particular.]

... Mass kidnappings? When was this?

[moribound]

I was gone for a month, so it had to be around last July. It's not the first time people have been sent somewhere together...everyone was removed from the city shortly after I arrived the first time. [Jessica might be oblivious to what he did just now, and Minato's just glad for it since he'd rather not draw attention to himself.]

[magicburst]

I see. Where did you go for a whole month? Where did everyone else go?

[After asking both those questions though, Jessica sighs out a little.]

It seems like I have a lot of catching up to do if I want to be helpful at all.

[moribound]

You were pretty helpful at the tower. [Minato's head is tilted, almost like he's wondering why Jessica thinks she needs to know a lot to be useful.]

We're told that people who disappear end up in the Nexus Code but it's hard to say if that's true of everyone. As for where everyone went...we were taken outside of Cerealia and separated by our elements, and we almost died because the air was poisonous to us.

[magicburst]

[At that Jessica smiles.]

Thank you very much. With my magic running amok, it's easy to forget.

[If it's one thing she prides herself on, it's her magic. Her brother had praised her for her abilities after all and their fluctuation here had left her worried.

She frowns some.]

It almost sounds like it was a test of some sort.

[Or at the very least a task. Surely there had to be an end goal if that were the case?]

[moribound]

[Thus far Minato's been rather understated with his expressions, which is why his near-scowl now is that more jarring.]

You think so? Honestly, it seemed more like the spirits didn't know that people like us couldn't survive outside of the city. [And he got soaked in water right after waking up from passing out, which didn't help things at all.]

Whatever their intentions are, it's clear that they're not our friends.

[magicburst]

Certainly not.

[A slight sigh comes after that. She's learned some, yes, but there's still not a lot of real answers it seems. Not that she needs to understand everything to be helpful as Minato himself said but finding that path towards helping out seems muddier.]

That seems like enough questioning for now. Thank you very much, Minato. I've appreciated the help.

[She turns a glance over to the pizzas, curious to say the least.]

Though now I wonder about the food itself. This is pretty unique.

[moribound]

You're welcome. [That said his eyes are turned to the pizza again, contemplating if he should have more or if that would be a strain on Athena's budget. Seemingly he's not even considering that some people might have been left out- some people could have taken their share earlier, and that's the excuse he's sticking by.]

It's called pizza. The food's pretty good, but it's also kind of greasy...I recommend the one with pineapples. [He gestures vaguely towards the one with pineapples, because he's clearly an expert on food (He's not).]

[magicburst]

Pineapples.

[She seems to roll the word over in her mouth, then gives something of a shrug before she reaches out for a slice. Most of the other pies have been picked over by this point.]

A little grease has never bothered me.

[Now Jessica's mother on the other hand... well. She likely didn't enjoy a much smaller Jessica's ability to get messy, whether through eating or generally being a bit rough and tumble of a tomboy.]

[moribound]

Pineapples. [This is the part where one might expect him to give an opinion on them, except he doesn't. All he has to show for it is a knowing look...and nothing else.]

There's drinks over at the other end too, if you'd like to try it. I'm going to talk to more people, so see you later.