[IC] Trespassers of the Multiverse: Director's Cut

[GodofGamingRWBY]

"A psionic flare, just a fair bit away. I am unable to truly define it... But it seems to be similar to most 'parahumans' have, just bigger" Proditor stated, his head turning back to Kusuke, "It would give you a good distraction, I'd bet"

[Chevaleresse]

"I see. Perfect." Kusuke started to walk out of the alleyway, then stopped. "I don't suppose you can point me in the right direction? I can do a lot of things, but the whole 'sensing' thing isn't one of them. At least. . . nevermind." His head still hurt, and he wasn't sure why. He had a theory, but he had no idea of whether it was true or not, or how to broach the topic with someone else without sounding like a complete lunatic. He wasn't sure if being from an entirely different world would make it sound better or worse. . .

[Powder Miner]

She was silent for just a couple of moments before she started to explain. "A, a lot of things are difficult... just... nothing is familiar to me. There isn't a single thing in this world that made sense to me until I put long thought into it. The roads are all covered in a strange material, the buildings are massive even for the poor, those glittering spires in the center bend my mind to think about, the library computer device you were on is so far beyond my comprehension that no amount of thought will fix it, these strange devices roar along your streets, and evem the things you write with had a device I had never quite seen before inside of them! That... that was hard enough, how alien it all is, but I could deal with it, because it gave me something to learn about. Hard, but manageable and fascinating.

 

But then... um, I will explain something of my world to you. Religion... um... Religion in my world is the Celestial Order. The Kami came down, founded the clans, and the celestial order came to be, where the souls of Rokugani reincarnate, and foreigners don't because they don't have souls. And... and... before today I never ever even heard anything contrary to this. I didn't even know that anyone might be more than slightly offended by the idea. And then... and then, um, all of this happened, and I-- I just-- I don't understand anything, I don't understand anything at all, I keep trying but I'm so lost and now I'm hated for it, and I've failed my honor and I've been choked, and I can't do anything about it because I just don't understand!" By the time she finished her rant, Satomi had run out of air, and she was trying very hard not to burst into tears again.

[Sutoratosu]

By the time the others had split off to pursue the ones involved in the altercation, Lucille was still at a general loss as to what had happened- from what she had gathered though, the same moment her head had finally been pulled out of the clouds, some display of power had gone down, from the static pop, the choking breaths, and the odd... sensation she had picked up. Like something she had never felt before, mixed in with all the wrath the woman's voice had held... the two feelings had been... interwoven, almost. So palpable in the air she could've sworn that if she'd tried, she may have been able to reach out and... touch it, whatever it was.

 

Alive... alive? Was it alive? That was the closest facsimile she could conceive of, life itself... the very concept. Like if somehow, all things were mashed together into a single, anomalous entity, all minds and souls, everything that was, could be, and may one day still become.... and then take that entity, and twist it, warp it, into something ugly, something driven by hate... She shivered inwardly. Whatever it was, she was both fascinated, and terrified by the sheer magnitude of it's presence mere moments ago, and even now, it was there, in the background, except this time muddled with... loss? 

 

The one who had created the sensation, she had not gone terribly far at all, and it seemed there was another already with her- not that Lucille herself had any intent of approaching, from how things had gone in the lab, she knew she would only make it worse -but she could not help but stay there, and watch from afar, ever more curious as to whatever the root cause of this sensation... this living field(?) might be...

[GodofGamingRWBY]

Proditor himself began to leave the alleyway, keeping to the ground as he moved. When Kusuke asked if he could point him in the right direction, Proditor stopped, looking directly at Kusuke, "The flare is coming from over there" the Ethereal stated, a single arm rising from underneath his cloak and pointing towards the general direction of the psionic flare, "I can take a guess that if you head in that direction, you won't miss it. If I manage to make it there before you, I'll make sure to contact you and lead you to it" Proditor added, before beginning to float up towards the rooftops. There was the fact that Proditor didn't reference the change of thought Kusuke had while talking. It just didn't seem that important to the Ethereal, as of now at least.

[Hal Henderics]

Kusuke and Proditor would find a locked building, outside, a rather gruff fellow acts as a bouncer of sorts, every once in a while, someone walks in, says something indistinct, and he'll open the door to let them in.

 

--

 

Arminius and Calvera would find a Bar called "Bái lóng shuǐ", according to the sign, anyway.  The Neon Cup and Pitcher certainly imply that, at least.

 

 

[Strider]

"Well the tech stuff should be fine with time. Just ask me or Soma, and we should be able to explain most of the basic stuff, like buildings and roads and stuff. So, um. . .what did you find in the pen that you'd never seen before?" Harry interjected. It was something that might help him set a marker on her time period, since, while it was obvious that this time period was sometime between the years 1500 and 1900, that was a wide range, and he hadn't narrowed it down yet.

 

When she was finished her little rant, Harry frowned, shaking his head a bit. "So, how do I want to do this. . . Well first things first, if you want to actually survive in the world you need to be prepared to question everything. Not saying you should disrespect anyone, but if you wouldn't trust someone with your life over their own, they shouldn't be above questioning. Otherwise, you're going to get taken advantage of, no matter what."

 

At this point, Harry was desperately hoping he hadn't set her off again, as it was the questioning problem that had caused much of trouble earlier. "So to start you of, a couple questions you might want to think about. Have you or anyone you know ever seen a foreigner? Was it mentioned to them that they didn't have a soul?" This was a subject Harry had nowhere near enough knowledge on, in large part due to the prevalent secularism of his time. His personal opinion was that a soul wasn't really a thing that existed, at least in his world. It was a clarification that seemed to now be necessary.

 

"You've got this problem, you see, where. . . Well, let's not say a problem right now, but more a problematic worldview. You've basically got this higher power that you've been told about all your life, and you've probably been taught lots of worship rituals and stuff. But you need to ask yourself, who did you hear these lessons from. Directly from the divine order thingy, or from people around you? Because people are flawed, and they forget and mishear things. Not saying they're wrong because of that, but. . . they can be greedy, self serving, and manipulative too. You can respect your divine order, and still rationally question the people around you. So, I dunno, go ahead and talk a bit more about what you learned, and who you learned it from. Ask yourself questions you can answer if your confused about the questions you can't. I'll listen. Got no place to be."

[kj1225]

"Want to stop in here for a drink Bandit?"

Arminius gestures to the bar. He didn't quite understand the name, some dialect of Zinpangese?

[Chevaleresse]

Kusuke attempts to eavesdrop on whatever exchange he can, getting away with it by jumping slightly backward in time if at all possible. If successful, he'll attempt to get in the same way. If not, he'll just start to barge in as if he belongs there and see what happens. If that goes immediately, horribly south, he'll reset, circle around and try to find a view into the building, and blink in where (hopefully) nobody has a sightline on him.

[Projeck]

Calvera shrugs.

"Sure I guess."

[DragonRage]

Mirri takes a deep breath, and begins speaking to Jun.  "For longer than recorded history, the Republic has existed, and the Jedi Knights served it as peacekeepers and guardians.  Jedi are trained to draw upon the Force, an energy field that is generated by all living things.  It grants them... Us... powers beyond what our bodies should be capable of.  However, the Republic gradually grew more corrupt over time, and eventually a group of corporations and nations split off into a separatist movement.  The separatists were led by a powerful Sith Lord, one who wields the Force with anger and hatred in their heart.  Sith are far more powerful than all save the strongest Jedi, but their twisted powers inevitably bring destruction upon everything they touch.  The Republic responded by raising an army of volunteers and cloned soldiers to fight the Separatists' armies, and they asked the Jedi to lead this Grand Army of the Republic, as no one else under the Senate's command had as much military experience.

 

"So we did.  Though it broke our hearts and minds, we cast aside the mantle of the protector and became warriors again, to preserve and protect the Republic we swore to serve always.  We defeated the Separatists.  And in our moment of triumph, the Republic ordered its clone troopers to turn on us and strike us down.  They left our bodies to rot like soulless animals.  Men, women, children, elders, it made no difference.  They went on to enslave or execute everyone who didn't fit their definition of acceptable human.  They declared us as less than animals and slaughtered us thus justified.  And when I captured one of the clones and asked him why they'd so betrayed us, do you know what he said?  'Sorry, General,' He told me, without a shred of remorse, 'I was just following orders.'  And when I heard Satomi justify that exact same, bloody-minded philosopy, in the exact same way...

 

"Fear leads to anger, anger to hate, and hate to suffering.  Once you begin down the path to the Dark Side, it will shade your destiny forevermore.  These are the core tenents of the Jedi Order, which must be followed observed lest your lack of self-control lead you down the path of the Sith.  And I have lived in fear for so long.  I watched a twisted empire, filled with hatred and xenophobia, rise from the ashes of the Old Republic.  I watched the Emperor's most trusted enforcer, the Sith Lord Darth Vader, strike down everyone I knew and loved with his lightsaber the color of the blood he spilled.  I know not why he failed to find me, but I have lived every day since then with the fear that he might come to finish his task.  And when I heard Satomi speak as though her people believe without question in the same ideals that left the Jedi all but extinct, fear turned to anger.  Anger turned to hate.  And now, the suffering for us both."

 

Mirri stares down at her lightsaber with a sort of weary contemplation.  "Clearly, I have already advanced down the dark path, and was simply blind to how far I had walked.  Perhaps it would be better to end things here, while I am still aware enough of myself to recognize the darkness."

[Yours Truly]

In response to Mirri's long rant Jun quietly made a mental note to change the color of his plasma sword's blade to a more positive and less offensive dark purple color immediately after this conversation had ended. And also to mention as little of the empire he is worming for as (heh) humanly possible. "I don't think that would be a good idea. I mean you are already on the path towards redemption".

[Powder Miner]

Satomi sniffled again, and took a moment to take a breath so that she wouldn't get more than a little teary. "R-right, that might help, with the technology, thank you... I must apologize if this, um, means that I am a failure, but I think that it is still going to be a long time before I understand everything. I beg your patience. And, um, lots of things in the pen. The coiled spring was a new device to me, though I have seen similar, non-coiled pieces before, but also the rotating point, and the tube of... plastic, right? Those were all new as well.

 

If you want me to talk about religion... I... I don't think it'll really fix anything, but, um, maybe it'll help you understand, or something. There are basically three key pieces I can summarize of Rokugani religion. Realms, the kami slash sun and moon. The last part isn't, I guess, particularly relevant, but as a summary... there were Lady Sun, Amaterasu, and Lord Moon, Onnotangu, they created the world and the beings on it, and then they fought, then there were humans. Then there were some of Amaterasu's children, the Kami, that came down to Ningen-do, and they formed the Rokugani Empire. The kami Hantei was the first emperor, whose descendants were the Emperors for centuries. and there were also the other kami who made many of the clans, and one of them was Hida, who made my clan.

 

So... then you have the realms. Um... there are a lot of them, but the two that really matter for me are Ningen-do and Jigoku. Ningen-do is the realm where mortal people live, and Jigoku is basically a hellish realm of evil and darkness. Um, I know that this part is true because Jigoku has partially made it into Ningen-do, and because that makes the Shadowlands, which is this twisted, tainted realm of evil where oni and the risen dead constantly try to attack, kill, and taint the people of Rokugan so that they can destroy the entire Empire." Satomi suddenly got more intense for this next bit, angry.

 

"The Crab Clan, where I come from, holds a wall which we have to continually fight to keep out of the hands of the Shadowlands, which throws horrors at us day in and day out, and my clan loses hundreds of brave samurai and ashigaru, sometimes even thousands in particularly bad battles, just trying to keep the Empire alive. And none of the other clans understand, they think we're overstating, or that it's okay that we die like this, and that attitude, in fact, it-- ggh-- when Kusuke suggested that I "throw myself upon a mountain of thousands of corpses of people that died for twisted beliefs", he was JUST like them, and s-suggesting that I should die with the others who got backstabbed, like my mother, or killed by the oni, and it-- it--"

 

Satomi let out a long breath, changing the topic before she cried again. "And then the Celestial Order is the thing with the souls, which... which is such a problem." She wasn't likely to forget the sensation of being choked like that for a while. "It also has the caste system where your soul is born into a position, where you have the samurai, then the monks, then the peasants and then, like, the Eta and criminals and other people like that. ...and... no, I've never seen a foreigner before this, they're not allowed into Rokugan. I-I didn't even know that there was... an alternative to most of this. I didn't even know that people disagreed."

 

She curled up a little again. "That's the problem, right? Like I said, I... I didn't understand. I don't understand so many things. At this rate, by the time I maybe start to understand some things, I will already have blundered so much that truly everyone will hate me, or ch-choke me, and, and I don't know what to do because it's all so terrible and confusing. I just I guess have to hope I don't shame myself so much that i-it can't be overcome and has to be... um... but it's so hard..." Satomi sniffled again, and put her hand to her cheek, eyes teary and on the edge as she tried not to cry again. "I don't know what I'm going to run into next because I don't even know wh-what people will hate..."

Edited October 15, 2017 by Powder Miner

[DragonRage]

"No dark Jedi has ever turned from the Dark Side," Mirri states with a sort of detachment that Jun, with his keen diplomatic instincts, likely find intensely worrying, "Redemption is impossible.  The Dark Side is insidious; death or surrender are the only ways forward."

[Yours Truly]

Jun was in fact wracking his head to try and think of something he could do or say to try and convince Mirri that suicide is not an option or to somehow prevent him from doing just that. This is why he eventually settled for saying "But you are not too far gone. I know that you still have good in you, I know that you still have the capacity to embrace the light side of the force. The fact that you feel guilty enough about what you did to Satomi and the others to consider committing something as drastic and unnecessary as suicide proves this. I mean...if you were truly consumed by hatred and rage we wouldn't be having this conversation right now. As we would be too busy clashing sabers while you shout something hateful to try and justify your recent actions. "

[StormLord]

Frigus looked a Ren for a moment longer before saying "Humph, whatever you need to tell yourself.".

 

He then turned around and walked somewhat closer to Mirri and Jun, just close enough to listen to what was said.

Once Jun finished speaking Frigus stepped forward and spoke in a calm, sincere tone to Mirri, "I don't know what your masters told you, but when I gaze on your Heart I see someone not unlike another young woman I know, tormented by grief and pain, lashing out in confusion and anger, but with a great light held within.

You have a strong Heart and a stronger will to have held your own for this long.  I believe you can overcome this darkness inside, you just need to give yourself the chance to face your demons."

 

By this point he was standing next to Jun and leaning on his drawn Keyblade that was planted into the ground in front of him.

 

"The dead never truly leave us, through our memories they live forever.  Now tell me, if you were to end yourself here would there be anyone left to honor the memory of your lost friends?"

With this last phrase he hoped it would be enough to pull the young warrior back to reality, he was still preparing himself to attempt to prevent the worst with a Cure spell.

[Strider]

"God damn caste systems. Well, I can tell you immediately that's probably something Mirri and Kusuke will hate. You know that your world is pretty far behind mine, right? Well anyway, in the next two hundred and three hundred years, if you were in my world, an idea would probably start to get popular. Basically everyone is created equal, and the only things that should be able to create inequality from there are their own choices. Is it really fair and good of the celestial order to place everyone into caste's without their choice? And it can't be because their souls are different level of purity. Have you ever heard of scheming corrupt politicians, and beggars who keep their morals? Right now, I don't know how much truth there is to the whole Celestial order. It's something you were taught by your family probably, and while in my world, those religions have slowly died out, it's perfectly possible that you've got yourself a bonafide celestial order. But I doubt the caste system is a part of that if the celestial order is really any good." This seemed to be the biggest problem for her, the idea that that's the way it had always been done, and it must be the same for everyone else.

 

"About the foreigners, is there some sort of holy text that tells you foreigners are bad? Because sometimes people high up might tell you stuff like that with good intentions. If you were to ever fight a war against foreigners, being told they have no souls would probably increase your chances of winning, and your empire surviving. But it's still a pretty terrible thing. And. . ." He trailed off, knowing that going too far down this thread of discussion would quickly become dangerous.

 

"Okay, so look Satomi. You're biggest problem is that you've never considered alternatives. That's a bit understandable in your home world, where you've got other stuff to worry about. But dear god, how can you not be thinking of alternatives right now? You got warped to another universe for Christ's sake. We all did. And most of us immediately started questioning everything we know. I hope. But you grew up in a society where the idea of alternatives seems to have been taboo. The biggest lesson you can learn, and I'm certain you can do it, is to be uncertain about everything. And embrace that uncertainty. Ask Kusuke--he'll be fine eventually--about his world, what souls mean to him, you can tell him about your world, but you have to try to remember that if there's a ton of worlds, isn't it possible things are different? You're going to do fine here, but you need to open your mind. Question everything, and I'll answer the questions I can, if you think others will be upset by them. Be uncertain about things, and talk to people about it. Biggest part of that is showing them how uncertain you are, without becoming incoherent."

 

"You need stiffen up and stop moping just because things are different than you thought they were." His tone was a little exasperated, but it softened a bit when he resumed speaking. "You're a curious person. Just ask a hell of a lot of questions, to a hell of a lot of people, and don't take offense at the answers."

Edited October 15, 2017 by Strider

[GodofGamingRWBY]

Proditor himself, standing right on top of a rooftop nearby, remains still, just out of sight of anyone looking from below, as his mind reaches out to the "bouncer's", trying to pick up what he can, like what he was letting people in for and what did they have to say in order to GET in. If that failed, then Proditor had an easier solution... Though, it depended on if his eavesdropping actually worked.

Edited October 15, 2017 by GodofGamingRWBY

[Hal Henderics]

(--, --) Using the power of time manipulation to his advantage, Kusuke simply hops around a bit, eavesdropping on the bouncer to see what the password is.

 

"Soup of the Day: Pudding"

 

One person says, before being allowed in.

 

What an odd password.

 

(--, --) Prodditor would get a completely different password though, reading the Bouncer's surprisingly adept mind, for someone who lives in a world without proper psychics.

 

"Sweet and Salty Popcorn"

[GodofGamingRWBY]

If Proditor's eyes could narrow, his would be narrowing very hard. The strange password and the rather strong mind were both worrisome, but nonetheless, it was what he had to go with. As he continued to listen into the Bouncer's mind, he sent a quick message to Kusuke, through telepathy, 

 

"I managed to get the password from the bouncer. It's 'Sweet and Salty Popcorn'. Though, their mind is rather strong, I am unsure if that truly is the password. You can try it out, though I'd recommend waiting a bit for one more person to come in and try a password. If anything changes, I'll contact you immediately."

[Chevaleresse]

"I got something entirely different. I'll wait." Kusuke tried to keep out of sight; it wouldn't be good for violent criminals to catch him skulking. Or maybe it would. . . Regardless of how badly he wanted to get into a fight at the moment, he continued to bide his time. If the password kept changing, though, he would just stroll up, offer the password he'd overheard earlier, and force his way in if the guy decided he didn't like it.

[AbstractTraitorHero]

15 hours ago, StormLord said:

Frigus looked a Ren for a moment longer before saying "Humph, whatever you need to tell yourself.".

 

He then turned around and walked somewhat closer to Mirri and Jun, just close enough to listen to what was said.

Once Jun finished speaking Frigus stepped forward and spoke in a calm, sincere tone to Mirri, "I don't know what your masters told you, but when I gaze on your Heart I see someone not unlike another young woman I know, tormented by grief and pain, lashing out in confusion and anger, but with a great light held within.

You have a strong Heart and a stronger will to have held your own for this long.  I believe you can overcome this darkness inside, you just need to give yourself the chance to face your demons."

 

By this point he was standing next to Jun and leaning on his drawn Keyblade that was planted into the ground in front of him.

 

"The dead never truly leave us, through our memories they live forever.  Now tell me, if you were to end yourself here would there be anyone left to honor the memory of your lost friends?"

With this last phrase he hoped it would be enough to pull the young warrior back to reality, he was still preparing himself to attempt to prevent the worst with a Cure spell.

Ren calmly and quietly moved past Frigus letting him speak of course to Miri. She...was in distraught and that was obvious. This might comfort her might help her to know this information. 

 

"Ren does not think you have fallen. Ren senses no depravity coming from you....and Ren while....Ren feel's slightly off being this close to you. Ren want's to assure you that there is still a chance. Even if you do fall.....You can be brought back from it and Depravity destroy's...one would suppose....reality? Ren's world.....it is hard to explain...But Ren thinks's you can win. Now here wanna stand up? "

 

Ren kneeled down a bit extending their hand for Mirri to take and  lift herself up with.

[Powder Miner]

Satomi let out a sigh as she stood back up, sniffling again and in fact managing not to break out into tears again, though she wiped her eyes again just to make sure. "R-Right..." she sighed. "I... I think that I have been stubborn about that, yes... mayhaps I was more interested in being understood than I was in really understanding myself... but, um, I should try harder, yes? I just hope that things do not turn out quite this way again... because i-it still is hard. But... but... enh... I don't know." Satomi twisted her hands together for a moment. "I hope I can be forgiven if I don't realize something, and I make a mistake, or if I don't realize that something is so... insulting? I don't know. Maybe it's weak of me to ask that. I don't know, I'm sorry." She stepped away from the wall, and though she still looked quite frankly miserable, she was moving. "We should go back to the rest of the group now, right?"

[DragonRage]

"Redemption?  By what means?"  Mirri chuckles bitterly, "All the masters are dead.  We're stranded in some world more alien than any I have visited.  No one here even knows what the Force is, much less how to feel or use it.  The only masters of the Force left are the Sith, the very people I would sooner die than become.  What part of this brings hope to you?"

[Strider]

"Yes, I know it's hard. But it's going to be hard for everyone. No one's going to blame you for misunderstanding things, or not realizing things on the first day of something like this. You just need to be willing to learn. People aren't going to hold a grudge against you about something you didn't if you go and apologize to them. Compare what you feel guilty of to any real crimes, even minor stuff like libel or petty theft. It's not a big enough deal that it won't be forgiven easily. And if the others do hold a grudge for this type of thing, well frankly, they're not people you need forgiveness from." Harry stepped away from the wall, and tightened the straps on his backpack a bit.

 

"Yeah, we should probably get going. You're gonna do fine. I'll show you some stuff as we walk, if you'd like." He started off down the alleyway with Satomi, and pulled off his backpack. Kind of nullified tightening everything, Harry considered. If he had been a bit more collected, in the mission mindset, he probably would have had everything planned without that extraneous effort. It really was a sign that he wasn't fully comfortable here yet. Either in this world, or in this situation. In any case, he held his backpack out in front of him rifling through it as he walked, to show Satomi anything that might catch her interest.