(Twi) Twilight XI: School Days

[Colesign]

Leavenworth Smedry

Smedry throws open the doors to his classroom again.

"Interesting..." He mutters as he strides over to the huge wooden wardrobes and unlocks it.

"You're trying to avert a horrible future...but your knowledge is concrete enough that you know the outcome you are trying to avoid, but vague enough that you cannot discern the choices that lead to said outcome."

He grins suddenly, and opens the wardrobe.

"It sounds to me like you need a person who can see into the future...and see it change. But that's for later."

He steps into the wardrobe. Looking inside, you see that it's lined with a weird layer of glass...and is bigger on the inside.

Smedry steps in front of a purple tinted mirror thing...coincidentally also stepping on top of an old-style large scale: the sort of thing used to weigh crates.

"If you could step on here with me...and my first question is this: who are the main instigators of this war, whom I'm presuming are in this school?"

[Draxx]

Archer
He says a single word, one close to causing superstitious fear. A year ago, nobody had even heard it, and if they had, would have thought nothing of it at all. But now? Now it had all sorts of connotations that didn't bear thinking of. "Kira." he says. "In a year, he will attempt to take over the Brittanian Empire. There will be a war. And the entire world will quake in the fires of ambition, as another man tries to do the same."
Then he tightens his hand into a fist. "Unless I get there first. I need access to the school mainframe. All the classified information about the students, where they come from, who there families are, all of it."

Beast
"Too badly damaged to be salvaged. Will have to do with his sentient, self-replicating computer and faster then light travel capable ship." he pauses, looking down at the alien again. "Besides, having looked at it's effects on his physiology firsthand, the potential medical breakthroughs might not be worth it afterall."

[industrious]

Batgirls

With Shriou running back to the front area with his hypothetical tail between his legs Batman returns to the conversation at hand.

"This is bigger than I expected I am sending you some back up. Tim should be arriving early tomorrow."

Stephanie

Some days, Batman really had no clue when it came to people.

Tim. Timothy Drake-Wayne. Tim.

Her ex.

"...Yay?"

No worries. Sure things were...awkward between them, but they had come together to fight off the League of Assassins that one time, so...

He still looked like a Doctor Mid-Nite ripoff, though.

"I mean, of course."

And Steph really disliked the idea that Batman had to send anyone in for backup. She resented the implication that she wasn't adequate. She'd heard it far too much.

Really, she shouldn't have slapped him that one time. That probably didn't help.

"Anything else?"

[darkblade]

Dynamite

"Vampire actually, access to the bloodbanks has it's advantages." Charlise admits rather nonchalantly.

"Best I can tell this school has few actual mages mostly those touched by the magic in other ways. None the less we have more magic in this school than anywhere within Britannia since the fall of Camelot. Any parties interested would have a lot to gain by removing us."

***

Beast

"Fine pack up what you can." Abagail says.

"Still haven't told me who did in the little bugger."

***

Batgirls

"Don't worry you two will be the only ones in the school. Tim is in charge of the Reservation." Bruce explains as if he detected your thoughts of inferiority.

[Draxx]

Beast
There's an edge to her voice, and she keeps coming back to the same question. She already has her suspicions. "The history teacher. Smedry. One more in a string of failures and it's only his first day." Then he pauses. "Well, in his defense, the alien engineered his own demise, he just helped it along."

[Colesign]

Smedry

"Kira." Smedry said to himself with malice, scorn, and venom.

"He's...a Deity of Criminals, right? Some strange god that the Hushlanders Worship, right? Oh dear...it never end well when God's meddle with men."

He depresses a small piece of glass on the side of the bigger on the inside cabinet.

"150 Nals, my dear fellow. And not a time to waste!"

"Stand by, Lord Smedry" A humble voice replied.

Suddenly, the purple tinted full-body mirror in front of Smedry and Archer flared with a blinding light...

And suddenly the Spirit and the Smedry appeared in a giant stone hall, festooned with tapestries and warmly lit with torches like the castles of old.

Exactly like the Castles of Old.

The two stood in front of a mirror just like the one in the cabinet they'd left behind: this mirror was connected to a chuffing engine made of various strains of glass sliding back and forth, with a glow at the center, and to a strange interface of lever and dials and shifting and clicking arrangements of lenses. Technicians in black labcoats rushed to and fro. One of them (whose labcoat was particularly tattered) rushed up and bow.

"Welcome back, My Lord: can I..."

"Really sorry, Joliet!" Smedry shouted waving his arms. "In a rush: send us to Crystalia immediately! Don't step out off of the scale, friend Spirit: not just yet anyway!"

As the technicians rushed about, Smedry resumed his conversation:

"I don't know much about the primitive cataloguing systems of the Hushlands, but I'm sure we can find a local expert or a gifted anthropologist! maybe Sing-Sing: he's a lovely nephew: can Trip like nobodies business!"

He stroked his chin. "But trying to change the future: it's a dicey business, my friend! You've got foreknowledge, and time does not like it when people with foreknowledge try to mess with it's plans. Robson's Postulates of Prophecy, I think, lays out the conundrum quite succinctly: I'm assuming you very clearly know the details of this upcoming war and it's participants, but not the specific actions they take leading up to it. Otherwise–"

The Transporter's Glass activates again, it's blinding light washing over the two of you...

...and depositing you on a ledge of pure crystal, sticking out like a shelf from a...

giant gleaming blue Crystal Spire. You look around, and see that you are on a sprawling, high-walled castle made entirely of Crystal, on top of a giant crystal plateau that resembled a flat-toped mushroom in many respects.

Beneath you, stretching out to the horizon, are castles: hundreds of them, forming an entire city of fortified dwelling, bridges extending between some of them, and a hundred different gleaming banners flying from flag polies. Strange glass-shaped craft rush to and fro, resembling dragons and hawks and sparrows and...butterflies. And beyond, a green countryside, and a deep golden blue sea.

Behold Nahalla, foremost of the Free Kingdoms, and cousin continent to Avalon.

"–you wouldn't be trying to do things contrary to your own nature, as you've admitted." Smedry continues. "For the moment, I'll just leave you with some advice: don't kill an entire family, leaving only one bitter baby survivor: don't cast said bitter baby survivors into the wilderness to die. Don't judge a beauty contest between goddesses...or dragons. Don't mess with wooden horse statues..."

His voice becomes more serious. "And don't be afraid to do a kind thing once in a while. People can talk about butterfly effects all they want, but a good deed, on the main, begets good deeds in turn."

He walks away from the Transporter Glass platform with you, suddenly whispering:

"Now then: we need to steal a rock from the very competent knightly order that guards this place: the size of my thumb, glittering, and smooth without facets. Follow my lead."

{Smedry doesn't quote it: but here's the quotation anyway}

Spoiler

Show

"Prophecy in it's fullest form comes in two components: the Final Outcome, and the Series of Events that lead up to it. If one possesses perfect enough foreknowledge, (i.e. A Complete Prophecy), he knows both the Final Outcome, (i.e. a city being destroyed), and the Causal Events, (i.e. the kidnapping of a wife, the violent acts to two great heroes, and horse statue related trickery). One who possesses Complete Prophecy can, though the execution of such can be trickery, alter Fate and lay down a new track of history. If he only possesses knowledge of the Outcome, and not the Causal Events leading up to it, then his attempts to change the future often end up being the Causal events in question: this is the universe naturally acting to prevent paradox. It is far better then to only know the Causal Events, and guess at the possible outcome: this way, the future is still unfixed, but bound to a limited set of probable outcomes. While hardly ideal, one with Foreknowledge of future Causal Events can steer these occurrences towards the most ideal outcomes.

Ideally, a person looking to shape the future should not rely on foreknowledge at all, as abstaining leaves the future unfixed and full of limitless potential: however, fore those burdened with certain gifts/curses: know that even with knowledge of future Causal events, there are calculated ratios towards how much foreknowledge is too much, and too little:

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[Draxx]

Archer
He laughs, a short, harsh, barking laugh, and shakes his head. "God? Oh, that's what he wants you all to think. He'd love to know you see him as the absolute authority. No, not a god. A man. A clever man, with some trickery that would be better never to exist, but not a god." He's not so keen on Light. As far removed as he was from his mortal life, the man did kill most of his closest friends.

Then Smedry mentions their reason for being here, and he shrugs. A pair of swords appear in his hands. "Well, do you want them dead, or will you settle for not well?"

[Cracklord]

Lelouch
He pauses. Now that was unexpected. He always knew he'd be dead in the end, that had been clear from the opening. So he had strived to make the death that was coming meaningful. Instead, he was confronted with this.
For one thing, it hurt his ego, a little, but it did, not to be the most important thing in the school. He recognized the hubris, and realized how counterproductive it was, but he still felt it, regardless.
"Well then. A trap, you say. If you don't mind me asking, who is it intended for?"

[industrious]

Batgirls

"Don't worry you two will be the only ones in the school. Tim is in charge of the Reservation." Bruce explains as if he detected your thoughts of inferiority.

"Groovy. Anything else? Because dinner's kind of in the oven..."

[darkblade]

Batgirls

"Yes...Who was that boy and why was he in your apartment?" Bruce asks with a tone of voice usually reserved for parents who find their children with their hands in cookie jars.

***

Lelouch

"Magic, this school is crawling with people full of arcane power of different kinds, all drawn here by the bait." Alice explains.

***

Smedry

Something seems off about the mirror network, you feel as if you were being watched as you come out on the other side. Nothing adverse has happened though, at least not yet.

***

Beast

"Smedry..." Brand says trailing off slightly as the sound of typing rings across the phone.

"This can't be right. Levanworth Smedry, that's his name right?" She asks suspiciously but cuts you off before you can answer. "He has a file on the system but it says I don't have clearance to see it. No one has higher clearance than me..."

[Cracklord]

Lelouch
"I see. So, it's someone looking to exploit a valuable resource, that just happens to be human beings. That does make sense." He pauses a second. "And you say you are going to die. I understand that must be private, but if you can see the future then I can only assume either some higher power has written your destiny irrefutably and your every action ultimately leads to the same outcome through a complex chain of causality, or every potential decision you make leads to your death. Which is possible, but mathematically unlikely." She has a gift, and seemingly some investment in his cause. The next step is to test the bounds of it, then get it working for him.

[Colesign]

Leavenworth Smedry

"Oh. So he's like those those Roman Priests and that Snake God of theirs: Sock puppet behind the altar and all that?"

Smedry turns and frown severely at Archer.

"No. No killing if you please...although that's not quite fair: I may not have explained properly."

He begins gesticulating as he runs through through and arched Crystal Hall with Archer, numerous faceted precious stones reflecting light from up above prism style, scattering everything with a rainbow hue.

"The Knights of Crystallia are sworn as one to fight unceasingly against Evil, to uphold the highest standards of Honor, and to guard the Nobility and politically important figures from harm at all costs. They would never try to harm me, nor you without provocation, however..."

"Lord Smedry!" A booming voice shouts out. A silver-haired, tall, and extreme grave looking woman dressed in crystal-lined full plate armor, a sword across her back and a helm underneath her arm strode across the room, two similarly adorned men following behind her. As one, they went to their knees.

"Welcome back to Crystallia! Accept our most sincere apologies! We had no idea you were coming, and neglected to make preparation for an honor guard at your arrival! You may discipline us as you see fit for our failure!"

Smedry groaned and mumbled: "...however, they're quite good at guarding you, whether you want it or not, if you catch my drift."

"No, no, it's all fine!" Smedry said, waving the Knights up. "The fault's all mine, Dame Dartmoor. This here is my associate and fellow Noble, Lord...Raoden!"

[darkblade]

Lelouch

"I've seen seventeen different futures since I came to school this morning. All of them involve my death. Time is fluid but some things cannot be changed." Alice explains.

"Now if you excuse I'm going to miss the last bus back into town if I don't hurry." With that she makes her way to the bus stop, where the bus pulls up seconds later.

***

Archer and Smedry

Archer will no doubt notice despite being on the other side of the world from Shirou this place has enough free flowing mana to keep him at the top of his game.

As the Knights come to greet Smedry and "Raoden" a young Japanese man falls out of the mirror behind them, the shattered remains of a usb memory stick coming out of his arm re-re-fl-ton it stutters in a robotic tone as it shatters.

One of the lead knights stands with his weapon ready. "We've been compromised. The Librarians will be here soon. Pleasantries will have to wait Lord Smedry, we must get you and Lord Raoden to safety."

[industrious]

Cass

Cass elegantly manages to keep Steph from stammering.

"Asked us to stay over his house. Need to seem normal. Invited him here instead."

She looks over Stephanie, reading her body language.

"We have no interest in his body. And he is getting suspicious about us in room."

[Draxx]

Beast
"Could it be part of another department incorrectly placed in your files?" He asks. "Nevermind. It might be worth looking into, try and decrypt it at your first opportunity."

Archer
The Servent rolls his eyes. Having actually met real knights, rather then grown men playing dress-ups and pretending, he's less then impressed. Indeed, he's more shocked at the assertion that because a god appears to be nothing more then a sock puppet it's worthy of ridicule. The beliefs of people are not to be underestimated.

He glances at the glorified accessories, and then at the japanese man, then shakes his head. His swords do, however, vanish. He didn't really want to kill anyone anyway. "We can look after ourselves. You begin a full scale evacuation. Take only that which cannot be allowed to fall into their hands."

[Cracklord]

Lelouch
"Yes of course." He notes, deep in thought. Something was converging in this school, and he had no idea who most of the players were. That would have to change.
"I'd wish you luck, but from the sound of things, you already know how much use that would be."

[doliest]

Stocking
Only demon I've seen should still be licking its wounds. Okay then, everything was still on track, assuming she could convince Panty that they needed to deal with their 'angel' friend. Any way I can help, and you maybe put a good word in for me and my sister?

Panty
*Blink* *Blink*What was that all about? The whole thing with the high school kid?

Sebastian
(Are he and C.C still talking?)

[darkblade]

Sabastien

"My code bearer doesn't want there to be a gap at all. Our mortal agents will come into conflict. There is no doubt about that." C.C. explains

"I simply want to make it clear that I personally wish you or any of your superiors down below any ill will. Since if things go according to plan I will be seeing them soon."

***

Panty

((Archer has left Panty, he's now on a side adventure with Smedry.))

***

Stocking

"I'd love to but I'm just an GAIT. I'm not even qualified for Christmas suicides yet." Porter begrudgingly admitted. A GAIT, Guardian Angel in Training. Based on his assignment he'd probably become a minor seraph with protective duties on important mortals but that won't be for hundreds of years.

***

Beast

"I'll look into it. We'll talk about it later." Brand sighs before she hangs up.

***

Batgirls

"Very well. Enjoy your dinner, I'll expect another report tomorrow." Bruce says as he cuts off the connection to your computer.

***

Archer and Smedry

"Not an option. If the Librarians are in the mirrors our escape routes have been cut off." The lead guard says as he escorts you to a war room full of similar glass based constructions all fulfilling roughly the same purpose as any computer system a more modern military might employ.

Another guard looking into what appears to a crystal ball reports as you come in. "We got sightings of more Librarian computer monsters approaching through the Briar Wood and Kingcade mirrors. They must have followed someone to Joliet's hub. Who was the most recent traveller?"

Everyone turns to look at the two of you.

[darkblade]

Sabastien

"My code bearer doesn't want there to be a gap at all. Our mortal agents will come into conflict. There is no doubt about that." C.C. explains

"I simply want to make it clear that I personally wish you or any of your superiors down below any ill will. Since if things go according to plan I will be seeing them soon."

***

Panty

((Archer has left Panty, he's now on a side adventure with Smedry.))

***

Stocking

"I'd love to but I'm just an GAIT. I'm not even qualified for Christmas suicides yet." Porter begrudgingly admitted. A GAIT, Guardian Angel in Training. Based on his assignment he'd probably become a minor seraph with protective duties on important mortals but that won't be for hundreds of years.

***

Beast

"I'll look into it. We'll talk about it later." Brand sighs before she hangs up.

***

Batgirls

"Very well. Enjoy your dinner, I'll expect another report tomorrow." Bruce says as he cuts off the connection to your computer.

***

Archer and Smedry

"Not an option. If the Librarians are in the mirrors our escape routes have been cut off." The lead guard says as he escorts you to a war room full of similar glass based constructions all fulfilling roughly the same purpose as any computer system a more modern military might employ.

Another guard looking into what appears to a crystal ball reports as you come in. "We got sightings of more Librarian computer monsters approaching through the Briar Wood and Kingcade mirrors. They must have followed someone to Joliet's hub. Who was the most recent traveller?"

Everyone turns to look at the two of you.

[doliest]

Sebastian
Sebastian chuckles slowly, You should know me well enough to know I don't speak for them, and no action against me would be an action against them. It's true; now, it might be different if an angel was the one holding the weapon, but a code-bearer? No, that was just someone holding personal distaste for Sebastian. Not a rare occurrence by any stretch of the imagination when it came to immortals. Though, I can't imagine why you desire to die, assuming that is what you meant my dear lady. If you instead mean you plan to open a portal to hell, well, I can assure you that all will be forgiven.

Panty
Panty heads to whatever class she has at the moment, if only to meet up with Stocking.

Stocking
That's rough. You should have gone into combat training; as long as you're good at killing something you can speed right through in a couple of months. Particularly after that incident a few years ago, you should have seen some of the idiots they were rushing through just in case something really did happen.

[Colesign]

Smedry and Archer

"Us, of course." Smedry said grimly, slamming a fist onto a table (and palming a single smoothly glowing crystal from a nearby creche in his back pocket).

"The Librarians must have discovered a way to tap into the Transporter's Glass without actually passing through it: we assumed that they could be shut down the instant an enemy tried to cross through them, but never took into account the possibility of them leaking a different kind of transmission through."

"The leak must be coming from Smedry Castle. The only way to stop this incursion is to return there, cross back over...and destroy the Transporter's Glass from the other end."

Leaving him stranded. But he doesn't mention that part.

He looks up. "There's no time to waste, eh? And the best thing about having my Talent temporarily disabled is..."

He picks up a sword from a nearby rack and swings it about a bit.

"I can arrive on time! C'mon, then!"

[industrious]

Batgirls

"Help me with the blouse?"

Right. They still needed to get changed. Stupid cover story.

A minute later (speed-dressing. Always a handy skill, especially when you're a Bat), the two emerge from the bedroom, dressed in somewhat nicer outfits.

Steph, as always when the two are together, leads in social situations. Cass, unlike Steph, knows when she's outmatched, and when to yield to a superior ally. Idly, she muses on whether or not Steph has taken enough nerve strikes pre or during combat to have that particular lesson sink in. Steph was many things. The best fighter in the Bat Family, she was not.

"Sorry about the delay. How do we look?"

[darkblade]

Archer and Smedry

Archer by now should be noticing that none of this happened in his original time line. Smedry was a player but none of the Free Kingdoms were attacked by Librarian forces.

"No you were undercover. That crystal was the one they were monitoring. Where were you again?" The lead guard asks.

***

Sabastian

"There won't be any portals." C.C. shakes her head with a slight laugh.

"I should be going. My bearer gets parinoid when I wander around too much." Off in the distance Lelouch is visible.

***

Lelouch

Off in the distance you can see C.C. talking to a strange butler. Something about him doesn't seem quite normal and he matches the description of the other combatant.

***

Panty

It's well after normal hours. You return to your dorm room. You pass by another girl's dorm room with the door slightly ajar. A harsh aroma radiates through the crack in a thick smoke. You've been an Angel long enough to recognize brimstone when you smell it.

***

Stocking

"I'm no fighter." Porter says. "I'm lucky to have even got out of the choir. Singing for the next billion years was not something I was looking forward too. Anyways I should be going, let me know if any more demon stuff goes down."

[Cracklord]

Lelouch
The prince of Brittania is liking this less and less every moment. Far too many people know far too much. The man with the white hair, Alice, and who knew who else? His identity was a closely guarded secret, one that even most of his closest allies didn't know. The idea that total strangers had the power to expose him whenever they chose had him on the defensive. It would be easier if he could see all these people as enemies, but the unfortunate truth was that he didn't know as much about them as they knew about him. He'd have to fix that.

[Colesign]

Leavenworth Smedry

"I was undercover in the American Hushland State, in a center of learning called Ashford." Smedry replies.

"And I need to destroy the Transporter's Glass station there before it's too late. Come along, 'Raoden'!"

He attempts to run off and do his thing again, sword aloft.

Gary Bell

[Whatever happened with him?]

[Draxx]

Archer
Given that, at this point, his own interventions were minimal, the most likely explanation was that chaos theory had more credence then he'd ever given it, or someone else was trying to change history themselves (or possibly keep it the same way). Or something like that.

Time Travel made his head hurt.

Archer reaches out a hand, holding it in front of Smedry to hold him from charging forward recklessly, and narrows his eyes, concentrating. Then he lowers it. "Well, I thank you for the advice." He says softly, then lowers his arm. This whole conflict doesn't make any sense to him, given that, during his life he'd been on the other side of it (part of the secret keepers, not their sworn enemies), he's a little bemused by how little they actually seemed to know.

Beast
"Until then." He replies, hanging up himself, then sighs, stretching again. Then he logs onto the computer, takes a look at Zim's records, and drives over to his property to begin searching it for anything of value to the betterment of man.

[darkblade]

Gary Bell

"Cassandra Wayne, she is one of our prime suspects. Did she do anything else out of the ordinary?" Dr. Rosen asks taking the phone back from Nina.

***

Lelouch

C.C. sees you out of the corner of her eyes and begins to try and excuse herself from the man she's talking to in the opposite direction like you always told her to in a situation like this. Best for potential people of interest to not tie the two of you together.

***

Sabastian

C.C. looks to the distance and then bows slightly. "Well with that out of the way I must excuse myself."

She then wanders off.

***

Archer and Smedry

"Of course. You will be unable to return here without the portal, why did you come here anyways?" The lead guard asks.

***

Beast

There is very little to discover beyond the schematics of his weapons. You do learn he could have if he tried to have made himself a better disguise but either through through incompetence or pride he chose not to. Neither is much of a surprise.

((Sorry I've run out of plot for him for tonight.))

[Colesign]

Gary Bell

Gary stares off into space.

"She was just acting weird, and had no internet history, and lacks normal social mores. Should I spy on her to find out more?"

Alcatraz Smedry

"I came to convey some vital information: I don't know when I'll be able to return again. The Ashford Academy is a gathering point for numerous men and women possessed of strange talents, a budding megalomanic preparing to unleash a war that must be stopped and that there is a poor woman designed by the Librarians to nullify mystical abilities. They took an innocent girl and turned her into a very dangerous weapon–"

Alcatraz tries to turn and confidently stride away a second time.

"And I need to save her from it. And I also need to save an alien on life support before his organs decay into mush, so please...don't delay me further."

[nanobot_swarm]

Black Dynamite
His face gets quite serious at Charlise's admittance of his vampirehood. He says," Are you serious? You're a ****ing vampire?! How many other vampires are in the faculty of this school, how the hell did I not know? None of you cats burn up in the daylight or have a particular dislike for Jesus and symbols associated with him or something?" He is obviously quite exasperated by this, and seems like he wants to say more, but is just plain unable. Finally he gives a sigh and says," **** it, I don't care. I'll talk to you about this **** later, right now I gotta make sure these kids are all right, and hurt any sons of bitches that try and lay a finger on them. So talk, who could be behind this ****, and where might I find them so I may correct them in the error of their ways?"

[Draxx]

Archer
"I was having a conversation. There was no polite way to refuse." It lacks sincerity. Somehow, you doubt this man is particularly bothered by social graces.

"Well, if we are going to go find this... whatever it is, you had best lead the way."

Souske
"To be honest, I am struck quite speechless. Words can't quite do either of you justice." He replies, thankfully keeping the hell away from some awkward seafood imagery. He stands up, and draws their seats back with a slightly patronizing old fashioned manners that neither of you can help but find slightly flattering, then sits at the end of the table.

The meal looks absolutely delicious. Just the aroma is enough to have you all salivating.

Beast
He spends the rest of the night identifying it, decommissioning it, and packing it to be shipped to Washington. DC, not the state.