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

[kj1225]

Arminius watches the procedings with the odd lizard in silence. There really wasn't much for him to add to it after all.

[Sutoratosu]

"...." that description still sounded utterly horrible, in all honesty; especially for someone like Lucille. Being surrounded in deafening, unending noise, yes, that was quite the nice idea, why not go ahead and make it so she had literally no way to interpret the world at all? She'd already lacked sight, might as well go all the way with the cruelty of fate and render her deaf too- then she'd be truly helpless, and the Purists would be right in saying she was nothing but a drain on resources, a filthy, leeching Drek who needed to be killed for the good of all the actually able members of their society. Speaking of her blindness "Wait though, Where do you keep getting all this information about other people? I haven't argued with anyone about their ideas of "fixing" my eyes in at least years, and I definitely haven't brought that up to anyone here. Then there's also that thing you said to Calvera about her age or whatever. And after that you somehow knew that I can work with concepts and could figure this out... and you drop this information often enough and casually enough that there's no way you could be getting through a similar method I would. Is this related to how you're.... broken, somehow?"

[Armok]

"Yup. It's that very noise I mentioned, it's it's not literal auditory noise impeding my hearing or anything like that, more like... what's supposed to be the boundaries of my mind being cracked open, and the threads of my thoughts scattered around the multiverse yet multiverse yet still tenuously anchored to my position. That's my hypothesis at least."

[Sutoratosu]

"soooo... basically you're so broken that there's nothing separating your thoughts from direct outside influence," lucille muttered, trying to parse through the utter madness of this whole situation. Even by her own world's standards, this was beyond the pale, and that was certainly saying something, considering even Lucille herself would easily be considered beyond the pale and from what she could tell so far, out of the party she was the most qualified to decipher any of this... yet  she was still barely able to even believe what was going on right in front of her

      "and because there's nothing separating your thoughts, random information flows in and out of your head like water flowing through a sieve... It sounds fairly similar to what my people developed, except we protect and focus our efforts with explicit mental filters. How haven't you gone insane, if its always on for you and you presumably have no control on what or how much information comes in? I... I had that type of information flowing through my head, once, and it was both the greatest and the most terrifying feeling at the same time; the only thing that kept me from completely giving in and getting lost in the tide was because I had an objective the focus on...but you, you casually just drop things into what you say like it's no big deal, like dealing with it is nothing... though, I guess if you apparently can't die either, and given everything else I found, your very nature somehow protects you from going insane...."

     She sighed, leaning back in her seat. By its very definition, none of this made any sense, and she felt the mystery irking her to no end. An entity like this who seemingly broke all laws, including those of rhyme or reason... in effect, it reminded her of thaumturgy, and what she had done to create the silverwood tree. Yet in causation, it was like night and day; Thaumturgy was highly focused and directed, always acting with a purpose, and it was not so much shattering the laws of reality outright, but instead merely using the primordial patterns of creation itself in order to temporarily alter, tweak, or circumvent the laws as one needed in order to create an effect...

 

This though... was truly madness. Laws not just being tweaked, but outright snapped over one's knee, and with no discernible predictability or rationality, and unlike thaumaturgy, what was going on here was an apparently constant process beyond the conscious control of the one it centered around. It was, in truth, the very antithesis to everything her people had practiced and believed in since time immemorial. It was the chaos to their order, it was the reckless abandon to their caution, the dementia to their enlightenment... 

 

"I think I might go a bit crazy if I think about this anymore..." she finally said, shaking her head. Come to think of it, she did feel a minor ache beginning to sprout...nothing that would actively impede her, but it was a mild annoyance that was most definitely there.

[Armok]

"It's very understandable if you need to take a break. And the answer is simple: I did go and still very much am insane, far more so than you can imagine. The breakage you mentioned I gather goes into the psychic or conceptual realms of your world- Mine is simply open into the raw substance of the multiverse itself, a torrent of innumerable broken universes without any perspective or limit to the scope, containing concepts and other things of mind yes but also the abstract scaffolding of existences and even the physical matter. Don't let the fact I am putting together sentences fool you. I have no memories of it but it seems certain that whatever sanity and mind I had originally was gone within millisec millisec millisec millisec millisec milliseconds, and it took billions upon billions of years for something that is not quite a mind to accrue like a sedimentary rock, and THAT is what you are currently speaking to. Well, that is a metaphor, time isn't really a coherent concept out there, it was also less than the blink of an eye..."

[Sutoratosu]

"Alright, yeh, I.... I definitely need a break...." Lucille said, after.... well, in all honesty, she couldn't even fully process all the twists and turns that last statement had taken. Apparently it was insane, and yet somehow it was also coherent enough to sit here and discuss it's nature in a nuanced and rational manner... but it did emphasize it was indeed crazy-

 

The headache was definitely getting worse. Lucille took out the kazoo and played a single note on it, before turning back to Nhevi. Already the throbbing pain was fading, but she wasn't eager to go immeidately inviting it back "Yeh, look, sorry, but, I think I'm at the end of my rope for now... you might wanna try talking to some of the...others though? I dunno, I just... need some time to process all of this, it's not everyday you meet a being who defies most of the things your people thought possible, even when they specialized in pushing and circumventing the boundaries of possible..."

[Armok]

Nhevi tests so her mimicry works, and with mostly a confirmation clambers of and gets the bits of paper she threw away earlier, studying them and writing more and doing mental exercises in silence.

 

Spoiler

(17 ,16) (8) trying to whistle, nothing happens, but someone gets healed anyway. (Trick) Healing His Welt: The user restores the health of a male ally with a mysterious force (Level 1) Heal a male target for 1d4+Syn Health.

 

(4, 1) (6) Apologetic Slime Checklist: Using a variant of philosophical and mathematical techniques on how to systematical acquire and accumulate knowledge - also known as the scientific method - modified to incorporate a very sad variant of jello, Nhevi can add +3 to her intelligence for the purpose of crafting tricks by eating Gelatin from no source before starting. Failure will trigger SNAFUsoft. Limit 3 Uses Per encounter.

 

(19, 16) (61) Meditate (trick): Active Nhevi spends the entire turn with her eyes closed centering herself, giving a +4 increase to INT for her next action.

 

She then speaks to some hallucination that isn't there: "Hmm, it seems this place is rather conceptual and verbal in it's nature, with the name assigned to things mattering... Hmm, it seems this place is rather conceptual and verbal in it's nature, with the name assigned to things mat"

 

[Strider]

"Right. But what are the origins of this psionic connection? Some voodoo soul magic? Or is it based on physical principle? And uh, it might be worth investigating why in particular parahumans gain these connections but not regular people. Tattletale mentioned there being organs associated with being a parahuman. Can you detect those? Find anything out about them?"

 

Psionics seemed intriguing. Of all the possible powers present on the bus, they seemed most useful. It might just be possible that he could figure out a method of building up psionics through the use of bacterial organisms, in some replication of whatever organs might grant these powers. If they weren't something entirely magical in origin.

[GodofGamingRWBY]

For a few seconds, Proditor was silent as he thought about those questions, thinking back on what he already knew, "... The source of these psionic connections comes from a certain organ in the brain... Specifically one called the 'Corona Pollentia'" Proditor explained, his specific statement coming from his link to Tattletale's source, which he had connected to again for the briefest moment to get said information, "Parahumans are likely born with it, though if it's genetically passed down or a common mutation, I'm unsure. Due to the fact that I already know where their signal comes from, it would be simple to narrow down to where that organ is located" Proditor added.

[Strider]

"In the head presumably, but yes, knowing where would be lovely." Harry stared pensively at the slightly cluttered medbay, tapping the side of a small vial that had held the culture he'd gotten from the death wyvern. Creative name, that.

 

"Say, does this organ function in the same way that you get psionics?"

[GodofGamingRWBY]

"No" Proditor immediately replies with a small shake of his head, "These shards are more limited individually. They have a different uses than my own psionics, some likely even stronger, but unlike them, I do not need a source in order to get my own power" he stated.

[Strider]

"Hmm, well then. At some point if you're willing, I'd like some more knowledge of your own abilities, but for now, I'm losing focus." Harry shook his head, considering the possibilities. "If you could figure out where the Corona Pollentia is located, and how it interacts with the surrounding tissue, maybe even its method of operation, that'd be fantastic."

 

"Oh, and if we figure something out, I may be able to modify any performed procedure for your physiology to prevent future Thinker headaches for you. Though I'd need more information on you brain, blood, and previous history of headaches after prolonged psionics use."

[Armok]

"If your medkit has some form of fMRI taking a scan of Somathrope seems like it'd help as well. You might also want to take look inside Mirri's cells, with luck she has some strange organelles that are relevant. Oh and copperexplainill-fatedtruckneatunitebrancheducatedtenuoushumdecisivenotice"

Edited November 20, 2017 by Armok

[GodofGamingRWBY]

"Understandable. I'll make sure to prepare for that questioning when it comes" Proditor stated, "... Though, I believe figuring out a way to lessen the commonality of these 'Thinker Headaches' is something that would be better suited towards my own control over it. I doubt that genetic altering would do much to fix the problem, and even if it did, it would take years to make a suitable fix to the problem, at least for me. Psionics have always been a hard to manage thing genetically for my race."

[Strider]

From his position in the medbay at the back of the bus, Harry responded. "Well, when would you prefer to begin investigating? You mentioned feeling better, but is the headache completely gone, or just on its way out?" They certainly had time, it seemed, as no one had mentioned why they were staying here, though if anyone would know it'd be Proditor. "If you've still got some lingering symptoms, we can wait, I think. You don't know why we're waiting here though, do you? Since you took the wheel."

 

"So, your race--Ethereals, you said--granted psionics genetically? For yourselves, or for other creatures? Because the first sounds like it would require prior knowledge that moving stuff with minds is possible, maybe from some existing animal in the ecosystem, or through physical principles. . ."

[GodofGamingRWBY]

"The headache is completely gone... now, at least. Though, I would personally suggest waiting a bit, at least until we can get the resources and tools to do anything with what we've investigated" Proditor stated, then paused, considering the second question, "... I do not, personally, know why we are all waiting here. I would gladly move on, but I get the feeling that it would be more beneficial for us to wait, for the time being"

 

"But yes, my race is granted our psionic powers genetically, though we never had to do extensive genetic modifications on ourselves. For the most part, our psionics was simply a connection between each Ethereal, a form of Hive Mind ruled by a Queen, much like insects on Earth. Eventually, evolutionary process allowed our powers to evolve beyond simply links, forming into what I am able to use now, along with making each of us more individualized, though our previous 'Hive Mind' tendencies remain, as our race as a whole tends to agree with each other quite a lot, focused on a singular goal: Preservation of the galaxy by preparing other races to defend themselves against world eating horrors. At least, that was our original goal" Proditor stated, then sighed, "... Force the most part, our genetic altering was on other races, raising them from their primitive ways into troops for our kind. For the most part, this did not work out well... Most races we came across did not have adequate psionic capabilities in general. That was before we came across Humanity."

[Strider]

"So, you went around the galaxy, collecting species, and modifying them. Attempts to create psionic power, and simply soldiers when that failed?" Well that was slightly abhorrent. "Excuse my being rude, but do your people have any form of morals? Just pointing out that stealing creatures--sentient? Sapient?--, and turning them into weapons is not. . .the best?"

 

"Anyway, what's up with humanity? And are they pretty much the same humans as we've got on this mission? That'd be an odd coincidence, I suppose."

[GodofGamingRWBY]

There was a rather long pause as Proditor thought about those questions, "... I've asked myself the same question for the last few years of my life... If my race has an understanding of morals. I've long decided that if we had any, it was lost long ago by Angelis... The current 'Queen' of my race, and the one that runs everything we do. She was the one who decided to use failed 'projects' and use them as weapons of war, even going lengths to purposefully fail projects to accomplish that goal" Proditor explained, a hint of sadness coming from his voice as he spoke,

 

"Either way... Humanity represented what we were searching for since we set out on our task. They're very similar to the ones in this group... Physically at least. I have never seen any human capable of feats this group has performed, but they were remarkable nonetheless, as I found out when Angelis began our invasion. Humanity was crafty, intelligent, and had untapped psionic prowess that rivaled most Ethereals. The epitome of these traits was found in the leader of their planetary defense force called XCOM. Officially, they were known as 'Zhou Hua', but to most, simply by their code name 'The Commander'" Proditor added, shaking his slightly, "... However, it still was not much of a contest, in the end. Humanity was taken over by my race, who established themselves as 'ADVENT' while they ruled over Earth" Proditor finished, growing silent once again for another few seconds, before talking once more,

 

"... That was when our task was forgotten, when Angelis decided the best hope for the galaxy was to increase the Ethereal's power... By using humanity as new bodies for our own aging ones. So, she began the AVATAR Project, to systematically process humans with suitable genetic coding to create Avatars, extremely powerful psionic bodies capable of hosting an Ethereal."

[Sutoratosu]

Lucille sighed as she rose from her seat. Even after the blast from the kazoo, she could still feel a subtle throb behind the eyes; she hadn't been kidding about a break. Doing something, anything really, to get her mind off of the ordered insanity that was the glitched out lizard, would probably do her some good. Come to think of it, there was something she'd been meaning to do- something that could definitely help a lot of things in the long run... Crystals.

 

Specifically, the strange chemistry kit she had picked up back in the PRTs world, from Hobby Lobby. She'd been too preoccupied to even use it, up till now, but well... this was as good a time as any. Speaking of which, she set her beasts about searching for Soma, and once she finally did, she sauntered on over to the other girl, holding up the chemistry kit for her to see; though lucille herself couldn't read it for obvious reasons (and had to rely on scrying just to even know what it was, when she'd bought it), the cape doubtlessly would be able to

      "Hey soma! You can make things more complex based on the underlying patterns, right? Well, what could you do with some that has nigh perfect repetition in it's structure, like say.... crystals? Would they just continue to grow as long as you exert your power on them?"

[Strider]

Harry listened, face only mildly expressive at the story. It was certainly distasteful, but the implications seemed more interesting. "Well, can't really say much about that. Definitely, horrible, but it sounds like the battle's already been lost. Sounds like Angelis is quite the pest."

 

"But, why would you need humanity when you say they only rivaled the Ethereals? Something that made it easier to genetically alter them than Ethereals? I could see the reasoning of performing 'animal testing', but there would still be risks when you try to figure out how to transfer consciousness. . . So, tell me, did you share the same mind sets?" This was a delicate spot, and it occurred to Harry, that it wouldn't be difficult for a beingwith telepathy to convince people of his trustworthiness.

[Hal Henderics]

"I can grow metal and crystals nearly perfectly, Crystals especially require the absolute lowest amount of energy, time, and headaches from my power.  Because the pattern in them repeats perfectly from the atomic level up to the macro level, crystals more or less do exactly what I want with my power, and they last the longest once I've stopped using my power on them."

 

"I'm game for anything related to crystals, what's the plan?"  Soma says.

[Sutoratosu]

"Ya know what I did earlier when I messed with the things you altered and made them permanent?" Lucille began, pressing the kit into Soma's hands "basically, I've been thinking, how much more could I get done if I wasn't constantly tossing away old traits and concepts when I do that? What if I could store them for later? And well, that brings us to this- crystals are natural amplifiers for any thaumic spell, even when they're not attuned, so... If I made an orb or something out of one, did some work to get it ready, I could probably find a way to store loose traits inside of it, instead of throwing them away... like common trash.

    But, well... I can't read, for obvious reasons, and even though that's not much of an issue since I have other ways to figure it out, It would still take a while to grow what I need for this without any boost. A long while... but looks like my hunch about you being able to help was right~"

 

Lucille gives Soma the Following:

Spoiler

-Crystal Growth Kit: a chemistry kit containing all an inquisitive young mind needs to start growing their own crystals, including beakers, utensils, chemical packets, etc. 

 

-Crystal Growth Kit Packets: a rather expensive box containing packets of chemicals to be used with the crystal growth kit. useful for when one runs out of the included supplies

 

[GodofGamingRWBY]

At Harry's question on if Proditor and Angelis shared the same mindset, there was the briefest moment where he could feel a burst of anger from the Ethereal, along with feeling like something was ready to clamp around his head and shake it, hard. However, in the instant after, Proditor merely sighed, "No. Angelis and I never shared the same mindset on the AVATAR Project, and we never will. Perhaps at one point, we would have, but that changed. Humanity was specifically chosen for the AVATAR Project because they were the most ideal, due to their inherit psionic powers, along with, yes, being far easier to genetically modify than other races we took over, and with an Ethereal mind backing up an Avatar's already incredible psionic power, one would practically be a near unstoppable force on the battlefield" Proditor explained, "Along with that, a good portion of the Ethereals are reaching their expiration dates. The closest, with less than 20 years left to their name, by my calculations, was Angelis, and me. An Avatar would be fixing that problem, especially if they are mass produced... Which is exactly what Angelis wants to happen. Thankfully, she has not managed to accomplish that task... But the last time I checked, she was getting close."

[Strider]

"That's good to hear. Now tell me, what exactly is keeping this hive queen from turning all that genetic engineering prowess to making you some new bodies, or fixing you all up?" The quick pressure and release was frightening, and it put Harry slightly on edge. However, he knew he was pretty good at concealing fear, so unless the Ethereal prodded him, he expected he would be able to cover his paranoia.

 

"Could this group take on an Avatar? With everyone's specialties used properly?" To be perfectly honest, this race sounded like a problem, a scourge deserving of resistance. "Remind me, you said that the reason you--your people--started invading planets, and harvesting their occupants as soldiers, crushing resistance, possibly taking over bodies of humans, was in order to defend against a world invading scourge? Might not be quite equivalent, but that's more than a bit ironic."

[GodofGamingRWBY]

"That's something I suggested to Angelis myself. It was denied on the basis that my race needed to become stronger. And in all honesty, a single Avatar would be capable of causing a lot of damage in this group, in almost any situation except if you have all cards on your side. A group of them would be near unstoppable, if Angelis succeeds in her vision" Proditor stated, remembering what Angelis had planned for the Avatars... Which, going from what she described, would truly end all resistance against ADVENT, "It was not a world INVADING scourge we fought against, but a world DEVOURING. I wouldn't even be too surprised if what we were fighting against was these Trespassers we are now working to prepare other worlds to fight against. So, in a way, I'm truly the only one of my kind determined to remain true to our original goal."