Inside 66: Order up!

[Chaotic Bob]

[Abandoned Tech Store]

"So it's similar to a sentient video recorder?"
This is likely a drastic oversimplification and he is aware of that, but Edict also doesn't particularly care.

If it works, it works.

One way or another, the shade plucks the disk from the wires and resists the urge to toss it up and down like a ball.
"I would sustain an active portal for wireless transmissions, but there's a slight risk of...contamination, I suppose, that you would appreciate minimizing.
Instead, I will simply Step over to the location and you will have to make do with the temporary severance. Is there anything else I need to know of your disk?"
He's ready to get show on the road, with concerns of an unspecified deadline he would like to avoid.

[Devixer]

Kushiro Inn

"A good morning to you, my friend. Did you sleep well?" Keiko turns towards Makuro, with a smile on her face.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Abandoned Tech Store]

"Sentient Video Recorder? Sure. Why not? Very well. I don't think there's anything else particularly important about the SEVIR - it will be up to you to move it if there's nothing for me to make use of. It has a simple, functional sensor array built into it - only forward-facing though, so if you need me to have a look at stuff, make sure you've got it lined up properly."

Affidavit's form flickers and fades, only to reappear in miniature form atop the SEVIR. The mini-Affidavit waves up at Edict. His voice crackles back in through the device, somewhat poorer-quality in nature as the device is made from bits and pieces of vaguely-functional junk. Hardly the Professor's finest work, but it gets the job done. "As you can see, I've hardly had the finest quality material to work with here, so this SEVIR is rather fragile. Do take care with it. I wouldn't worry too much about contamination anyway, I- it will only happen if desired- have failsafes in place to protect myself. But it's fine, better safe than sorry I suppose."

Lead on Edict, lead on.

[Earl of Purple]

Kushiro Inn

"To an extent, yes. I had odd dreams, though. Dreamt of flying through a place where gravity was nearly the same as time, and I aged as I got closer to the ground." A very odd dream, indeed.

The hoopoe looks like it still sleeps. Makuro hasn't noticed it yet.

[Chaotic Bob]

[Abandoned Tech Store]

At least his butchering of the concept was functionally accurate.
Edict can work with that, in this instance.

He resists the urge to deliberately hang the Professor upside down for the foreseeable future.

"Very well. I'm unsure what sort of time table we have to work with on this, so I'll get to the point."
Which, in this case, involves walking into the shadows of a corner and disappearing.

[Comfort Bites]

And reappearing at the site of some carnage here he had previously been investigating.

What was once a pleasant, quaint little cafe has been torn apart and very clearly the victim of fighting and death. Judging the pieces of everything, it was not clean.

The Professor is slowly rotated as Edict moves away from the wall.

Edict looks off towards the middle of the room and gestures with the non-SEVIR hand, motioning for a patch of shadow to flit over like some hellish bat.
After a few moments of hovering, it freezes. Color spreads across it like an oil spill, before stained-glass style fractures scatter across it and the entire construct shatters.

The space in the center of the room itself briefly glints with color, as a larger network of fractures briefly reveals itself.
"A daemon of some sort entered the building with the intent to destroy the inhabitants. In the process, it seems to have...damaged something abstract.
This has created an interesting opportunity."

With that, he carefully moves around the room towards a door at the back. Stepping over the lower portion of a corpse blocking the doorway, he enters the kitchen.
The scene here is much the same as the common area: violently tossed, objects and corpses scattered. Most of the corpses appear to be the fiendish looking teddy bear creatures.

More interestingly, is the active fracture anomaly against one of the walls.
A roughly dome-shaped space of air is actively splintering, colors and lights wildly emanating from rotating pieces of space. Within, there are three lightly obscured figures who do not appear to be moving.

One looks to be a small boy of some race, huddled behind a woman in an orange robe.
This woman, and another in a black robe, stand with hands outstretched towards the encroaching colors.
"Two deities are trapped here. I would like to obtain them."

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Comfort Bites]

Hmm. Cafe. Well that means it's in a populated area, so there's going to be something to work with. "I'll be able to create something to transport the SEVIR on its own with a little time. It'll save you having to carry it about." Just needs a little time.

In the meantime, interesting things must be analysed!

"Well now, isn't this interesting? Quite the find you have here, Edict. Fractures in reality are reasonably common in the Nexus, be they bubbles in reality with inconsistent laws of physics, tears between reality, reality being actively rewritten...all sorts. But we've got an additional little complication here, haven't we?"

Those deities, they show that there's another element to this problem. "Tell me, how long have you been observing this anomaly? Have your trapped deities shown any sign of movement? Their outstretched hands would suggest they're aware they're stuck in something. It'd be a key indicator as to whether we have a completely frozen temporal anomaly or merely an inconsistency in the passage of time. Ah, but we've also got that little shadow problem you demonstrated, hmm? It's a window, not a doorway. Entry is forbidden, on pain of fracturing into a rainbow. I can't say I've ever seen one quite like this."

The excitement in Affidavit's voice should make it rather obvious that Edict has got the Prof's attention. But there's a problem. "This damned sensor array is like having the senses of an old man. Everything's blurry and out of focus. I need something more advanced, Edict. I need something I can use to analyse your little anomaly properly."

[Chaotic Bob]

[Comfort Bites]

Excellent, the Professor's curiosity is piqued.
Edict wasn't sure it would be, which could have made this require more effort and time he's not sure he has.

"As best I can tell, this is all fresh, from no more than half an hour before you summoned me."
Most of the body bits are still...fresh.

Edict sets the disk onto a nearby counter, free of mess, where Affidavit can presumably still see what he needs to see.
"I had only just stumbled upon this portion of the area long enough to identify the prisoners, before I was distracted by the source of the fractures.
I was fortunate that she seemed tired, presumably because of these two. That being said, I do recall them being in slightly different positions when I saw them. Same general idea, but their arms were in different spots."

Currently, a few of the shards in the anomaly seems to be glinting and subtly shifting, but no other movement is taking place.

"I can find you more equipment, though I would need to know how much. Slipping into nearby areas and filching computers wouldn't be more than a few minutes effort, but if you want something higher on the scale I may need time."

[Devixer]

Kushiro Inn

"Hm. I am afraid I couldn't tell you what it might mean. Dreams are strange affairs of the mind. It will be clearer with time," Keiko says. "In the meantime, we have a visitor." She indicates the hoopoe in the inn room. "I intend to release it once it has woken."

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Comfort Bites]

"Well Edict, I'm afraid analysing fractures in reality generally requires some pretty sophisticated equipment, particularly when you've got the added complication of temporal irregularities. I assume you don't care about further damage to this place, correct? I'm going to need wires. Lots of wires. As for what you need to provide me with? You're going to want to raid a laboratory, research facility, high-tech industrial facility, a highly advanced military base, anything that was ever owned by Magtok...one of the above." The disk hums as Affidavit gets to work on re-purposing it.

It take perhaps twenty seconds for the camera lens being used for vision to be converted into a projector, emitting an image onto the ceiling. Sure, it means Affidavit is blind, but he can't do any meaningful analysis at the moment anyway.

The image being projected is a map of Inside, or, well, a bit of Inside anyway. There's subtle shifts in the layout every few seconds as Affidavit accounts for the ever-present Nexus shenanigans that muck it up. Roughly a dozen individual locations have been highlighted on the map. "I keep track of potential resource caches. When you can listen in on any wireless communications, it becomes rather easy to identify the old and the forgotten. Any one of them should suffice." Now run along, Edict. The Professor has work to do! He hasn't bothered waiting for Edict's permission to cause damage, though for now the damage will be minimal - it takes the disk a few minutes to effectively create a tiny drill on a lengthy appendage and use it to burrow down and latch onto whatever sort of power grid Inside uses - that or piggyback on a nearby generator. Either way, in a few minutes that little disk is going to be full to the brim with delicious electricity.

A few minutes is enough time for Edict to acquire all the science stuffs, right?

[Earl of Purple]

Kushiro Inn

"I'm not sure dreams have meaning. Or not meaning in recognisable ways, at least." She turns and looks at the hoopoe when it is pointed out to her. "Oh. Did it follow us from the park? How did it get in? The windows are shut, and the door should be locked." Makuro would have locked it if she was the last one in. Not that she has anything to steal, but Keiko might.

[Chaotic Bob]

[Comfort Bites]

"If these locations are actually deserted, I'll be back shortly."
If there's no one to actually interrupt him or make him actually try to be stealthy, things can be swept up more or less as quickly as he can find it.

As the Professor turns his attention away, Edict vacates the kitchen and then the building.
"Nigeb."
Tendrils slash an ugly symbol in the air, image held by wispy black tinged in purple. After a moment, the rune pulses and fades.

Edict twitches in momentary discomfort, shortly before three identical figures walk right out of his body to the space in front of him.
Four Edicts stand outside Comfort Bites, silently communing for a moment before each disappears within the neighboring shadows.

Two depart for the remains of nearby science facilities. One departs for the once popular Magmart.
The last arises within a warehouse on the docks. His green eyes illuminate a darkened room, occupied by a quietly snoozing administrator.

Barring unexpected difficulties, three of them will be making multiple trips between their target destinations and Comfort Bites, delivering the goods that the Professor returns.
The last does not.

[Devixer]

Kushiro Inn

"Every dream means something, but it is up to the dreamer to interpret it." Keiko just stares at the bird. It had taken her a moment to figure out how it worked, but she was able to lock the door. "I haven't the faintest clue. It's as though it appeared here, from nothing."

[Earl of Purple]

Kushiro Inn

"...I'm not sure I want to know what this one means." It was the weirdest I could come up with. "I am not sure where I am, or what rules this place abides by... But birds cannot do that where I am from. Of that I am certain." Makuro is thoroughly unnerved by the bird, and keeps watching it.

The hoopoe sleeps.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Comfort Bites]

"Nigeb? Indeed, Edict, this is just the nigebbing." Affidavit permits himself a quiet chuckle as he considers the challenge facing him. Two fractures, one with a nice visible horizon to it, the other requiring care not to accidentally stumble into it and get rainbow'd.

There's not much he can really do without equipment, but there is something. Another few moments and the disk is mobile, simple legs letting it scuttle into position. Then it settles down, hooking itself up to wires and piggybacking on other people's electricity like a parasite. Quite an effective parasite too, as the surrounding buildings will slowly find themselves starved of power.

By the time the first Edict comes back, he'll find the SEVIR flinging bits of ruined cafe - whatever's lying around, fragments of chairs, tables, bits of dead teddies. It's very deliberately flinging them across the fracture from the side to (hopefully) avoid the risk of anything making it through and being flung at the supposed deities within. It's crude, sure, but a lot of what Affidavit is going to do boils down to recording the differences in realities between that which is outside the fracture, and that within. There's a number of basic observations he can make by just throwing stuff at it.

[Devixer]

Kushiro Inn

"Nor can they do so in my world. I have kept as close a watch on it as possible." Keiko turns back around to look at Makuro and that strange bird.

[Chaotic Bob]

[Comfort Bites]

The tried and true Throw Things Until Knowledge tactic.
In this particular case, it's at least pretty in an odd sort of way. Most things that hit the anomaly, regardless of angle, simple collapse into colorful shards of broken reality as they impact the edge.

The exception appear to be the larger objects, primarily the tables and more composed bits of teddy, seem to shatter a bit more slowly. Or at least, have enough mass to make slightly more progress before entirely falling apart. It's in this part of the experiment that Affy will find something more interesting for his data points.

As the first piece sinks in just far enough to be break the inner edge of the anomaly, in broken fragments quickly separating, the figures inside seem to react.
The orange-robed one doesn't do much different, save one of her arms seeming to slowly shift away from it, but the black-robed figure definitely changes. It jerks rather abruptly, the blur of its head snapping in the direction of the object and one arm reaching out for it.

Then the scene freezes, both figures snap back to their prior positions like visual rubber bands, and the object is gone entirely.

One of the Edicts pauses nearby, dropping off some form of scanning device.
"That's different."

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Comfort Bites]

"...Intriguing. It would appear, Edict, that introducing a foreign object into the anomaly briefly brought the flow of time back in step with our reality. Well, that's my best guess for now anyway. Even the brute force approach can produce results sometimes."

The SEVIR scuttles over and gets to work on harvesting the equipment to use for Affidavit's own purposes.

Wires lash out.

Objects are ripped apart, put back together, repurposed to serve the whole.

More power is drawn to sustain the growing construct. This isn't some silly little display like the tech store. Affidavit is busy constructing a fully functional research facility, and that's something that requires a lot of juice.

The building hums. The rest of the block suffers a localised blackout. Edict will find moving around the cafe steadily becomes more difficult as wires lash out all over the place.

Next on the agenda is setting up a scanner directly in front of the trapped beings. Affidavit is looking for several things: the movement of particles in and out of the anomaly (if indeed anything comes out), the ratio of movement inside and outside the anomaly so he can pin down what the difference in the flow of time is, and how long it takes for the figures inside to show any reaction to the presence of a big mass of seemingly random bits of tech jammed together like some sort of frankenstein's monster of computers.

[Chaotic Bob]

[Comfort Bites]

The Edict that had commented nods with the observation, but pauses on his way back out. He eyes the space where the lounge anomaly is invisibly lurking.
Unless the Professor has been throwing things in there as well.
"Hmmm, perhaps it is obvious to you, but it would appear they are actively preserving the anomaly on their end. Maybe not intentionally, but magic of theirs must be stimulating it."

Mindful of his cohort's equipment, he flings a little dark bolt into the middle of the lounge, where it goes a good ways into the anomaly's location before sputtering and falling apart.
Not fracturing as glass, this time, simply breaking up as it was and slowly.

"Food for thought."
He takes his leave to find more equipment.

Meanwhile, setting up a scanner in front of the dome!
Obviously some things are squeaking through, or the entire area would be impenetrably black. The nature of the space continues to follow the idea of badly broken glass, leaving spaces that are at least functional enough for light particles to wiggle their way through relatively unmolested.

Movement inside is, evidently, incredibly slow. And also broken, perhaps.
Where they appear to be slowly moving their arms inside the dome, they seem to inevitably end up back where they were moments before. They don't move back there, they just are back there.

[Earl of Purple]

Kushiro Inn

"We could try to leave it behind, and just go... But I think it shall find some way to follow us." Which is a little worrying, really. Makuro doesn't want to be stalked by a random bird of a type she hasn't seen before.

[Devixer]

Kushiro Inn

"I do not know that it can communicate in the way that you or I can, only in very basic forms. If need be, I will keep you safe." It felt more than a little strange to say those words talking about a bird, but here she was. Keiko steps closer to her own bed, but doesn't sit. "Is there aught you require?"

[Earl of Purple]

Kushiro Inn

"Many things. A job, a place to stay permanently, more clothing- stuff that actually fits, unlike this horrific garment." She tugs at the bottom of her grey shirt, which is a little on the small side- not that Makuro's long body and longer limbs helps matters; it's wide enough around, just not long enough to meet the top of her trousers. "But first, and most importantly, is breakfast."

[Devixer]

Kushiro Inn

Keiko closes her eyes for a moment. She had meant her question in the more immediate sense, but she needed those things too. She doesn't know just how long she'll be here, after all, so she had better come up with some kind of plan. "These will come in time. You are quick on your feet and sharp of wit." She lets herself smile a little, then. "Though, perhaps a morning meal will help more."

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Comfort Bites]

"Food? Not something I really concern myself with any more." Affidavit might be missing the point there, but Edict has at least given him a bit of an idea.

Subsequent Edicts will see Affidavit gradually infest the building as wires and cables burrow in and out of the walls, screens and lights illuminating everything as he sets about turning the cafe into a (probably structurally unstable) forest of technology. It might even prove to be a little challenging for Edict to easily navigate his way around.

Most of the rest of the street is without power now. Affidavit cares not. The cafe is lit up like a lighthouse in a sea of darkness. It's not particularly subtle.

"One has to wonder how much power it takes to sustain something like this. And whether this effect can be replicated on the other anomaly." And that will be Affidavit's next focus, filtering through various methods of scanning as he rapidly chops and changes between components, trying to get a read on how this anomaly is being sustained.

Assuming he can get a read on it, he's then going to get to work seeing if he can replicate the effect on the dormant anomaly - albeit very very carefully. Just a tiny, tiny flicker of energy first, sparking out from a cable...

[Earl of Purple]

Kushiro Inn

"I am also tall, and unnatural looking. If I did not know my own humanity, I would doubt it with a look at my appearance." Her combination of red hair and dark skin is very unusual, and her limbs have been exaggerated. She's worried of persecution from xenophobia, which she shouldn't be. She's got enhanced strength, agility, speed and healing, plus the ability to see in the dark and stick to surfaces.

[Chaotic Bob]

[Comfort Bites]

Thankfully Edict's connection to shadow allows him to move fairly fluidly, in cramped spaces. Bringing in the equipment may be difficult, but he simply leaves it nearby instead and assumes the Professor can figure it out from there. The place is getting bright enough that lingering too long is getting uncomfortable.

Analyzing the energies in the anomaly.
Much of what emerges is mere radiation, falling apart too quickly to actually be dangerous, as the anomaly corrupts passing energy.
A bit is just plain old light.
The rest is odd clumps of necromantic/negative energy wrapped around extremely dense clumps of random particles.
The clumps don't last long past the anomaly, as the energy dissipates almost instantly and the particles separate out into the air.

As far the more inert anomaly, simply sparking small amounts of energy off into it seems to have rather muted effect. The energy dissipates, perhaps very slightly quicker than usual, but doesn't have enough substance to bring about something more severe. It's a bit like trying to set a single strand of hair on fire: it burns out too quickly to spread very far.
Sending even more, however, can lead to the larger shard effect, if briefly. A stream of energy runs the risk of the anomaly eating further out.

[Devixer]

Kushiro Inn

"Did you not see the other denizens of this city? Many were like me, but I would not wager that most were. I think this place is a sort of... congregation, of many different peoples, of strange and stranger kinds." Keiko almost managed to figure out the nature of the Nexus, but didn't quite hit the mark.

[Earl of Purple]

Kushiro Inn

"Where I am from, people discriminate against other people simply because their skin is paler, or darker than theirs. Because they have two gods, or one god, or many gods, or none. Or their god is all that is. There is a lot of variety here. That does not mean there is equality between the variety." But she smiles, because it does make her feel better even if she is still worried.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Comfort Bites]

"This outcome was predetermined. Success was guaranteed."

...said the Professor to an empty room.

Whenever another Edict shows up, the holo-Affy wanders over to them. "The manner by which something like this could be sustained by negative energy eludes me. But it's one thing to know how to replicate it, it's another thing entirely to be a master in wielding it. Creating anomalies in time is a foolish endeavour and not something worth engaging in. Nevertheless, that which makes zombies is here causing time to be out of sync."

Stuff like this is dangerous, y'know! It can only end badly!

"But negative energy can inflict grievous wounds, yes? Perhaps you could view this as our reality's timeline itself being wounded. And how do we neutralise that? Positive energy of course. Or "healing magic" to use a more familiar term. I would suggest testing it on the dormant bubble first (which I now suspect will gradually re-sync on its own accord) but I believe creating a bridge between our time and their time will cause the effect to normalise. Along with copious amounts of positive energy to neutralise that which is fueling it." Affidavit drums his fake-hands on his fake-cane with an expression of moderate irritation on his face. "Annoyingly I lack any suitable reference material to support my hypothesis. We know the, hmm, fragmentation effect is not instantaneous. A large piece of table was enough to cause a brief re-sync. Do you feel like playing test subject, Edict? You have plenty of mass to spare if things go wrong, yes?"

[Chaotic Bob]

[Comfort Bites]

Three Edicts return to Comfort Bites, with the last of what they care to bring.
They frown with distaste at the light glaring off the building, before stepping into each other, then off towards the Professor.

He receives the report attentively, then gives a little nod. Time bubbles, positive and negative energy...
Another nod.
"That would likely be the death goddess' work. The other lacks the...'oomph' for such things. Although I'm sure she is trying her best to help."
That predatory look slithers onto his face again and his gaze focuses on the anomaly.
"The anomaly breaks me down too quickly to throw my own mass into it, if that's what you're suggesting; I already tried. Other options can be found, however.

Tell me Professor, how much of the building is left, under all your wires?"

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Comfort Bites]

"Your own mass- or any mass for that matter- protected by a shield of positive energy ought to survive for a much longer period of time. Something I could produce, given time, but I suspect you have a quicker solution." He tilts his head, seemingly peering at the anomaly. Presumably that means he's mimicking the act of a dozen different camera lenses focusing in on it. "Sounds like you're familiar with your prisoners. I'm curious, who are they?"

Wires and cables slither about, followed by the clunk of more substantial (and less mobile) components being shifted out of the way to reveal a substantial section of wall. "I suspect if I pulled everything away, I may cause the collapse of most of the building. I may also have done substantial damage to the network of cables beneath us. I'm afraid our poor neighbours may be without power for quite some time." Not so much as a drip of sorrow from the speakers, not that Edict would have expected any. "I suppose it depends how much building you need. What do you have in mind?"