(no subject)

[loyalrebel]

[There's something a bit rough and tired to Malik's mental voice, even as he speaks with crisp efficiency.]

The Defenders and Miners are wrong, and you do not have all you should. I do not know what everyone has been told but hopefully this information will not be too late to help.

The Automata do not seek to destroy the grid or infect the rest of the network. They are trying to stop the Cryptos from escaping and have been trying to do so since the beginning.

Nothing anyone has told you of them is likely true.

[He pauses before continuing again.]

What you need to know is this.

There is a covert team of automata who are trying to preserve the grid. They are under the directive of a... I am not sure that pair is the right word? The Users they are following the directive of are some sort of creature and two who were once one.

[He doesn't know anything of Trumps or tarot, being from the middle ages is difficult sometimes when having to deal in symbology.]

I will not argue over the fact that they are dangerous. The desperate acting against overwhelming numbers tend to be.

I can answer what I know of, and offer what conclusions I have come to.

One of which is that the Cryptos are far more of a danger than I think anyone realizes.

...I will also need a sword once I return to the grid if any have one to lend.

Comments

[volving]

Do... you know what the Cryptos... could do if they... won?

[ 'won' isn't quite the word she was going for, but it works well enough.

She needs more information. ]

[neverfeltthatway]

[Armin shakes his head, frustrated.] I don't - and that's really what we most need to find out. Other Travelers might know - I haven't been myself this jaunt until just a couple of hours ago.

The fact that the Lovers and her partner would go to such lengths to prevent the Cryptos from getting off the Grid tells me that whatever they would do, it's important - that they would bring change to the rest of the network, whether that's a good thing or a bad thing.

[volving]

Hmm.

Would... anything bad happen if... they don't leave?

[turbedon]

From what I've seen so far - they don't seem interested in leaving. They've been heading out into the Wastelands to look for something... but then, these are the guys that put themselves into stasis to escape what happened to them before. If they're pushed, they might try to escape to the rest of the Network instead of sticking around here.

[volving]

This is very... complicated. [ huff ] They're looking for... SAGE? Do we know... if anything bad would happen... if they found it?

[ You sound familiar. Why do you sound familiar? ]

[turbedon]

Not yet, but things going bad is kind of a thing for Jaunts in general. If SAGE is a Trump as well and joins up with ROSE, the Lovers might step in and... things could get ugly.

[He's just got that kind of voice, clearly.]

[volving]

What is a... Trump?

[ ...what? She's new, and she's been preoccupied, don't judge her. ]

[turbedon]

Oh, you didn't get the introductory handbook either? It's what we call the people who control things here. 'Here' being... well, Jaunts, Liminal Space, where we're trapped away from home. Not even sure they're 'people' but each time we've seen one, they've looked like people to some degree. Seems like they're related to Tarot with the Major Arcana at least. Every now and then they slip into a Jaunt and interact with us.

[volving]

[ There's a long pause ]

Oh.

[ She doesn't sound very sure about that response. ]

So they're the... ones who brought us... here.

[ That much she got. But Tarot? Major Arcana? What is he talking about??? ]

[turbedon]

Yup. Also sort of all-powerful but not quite. We know a few of them have been killed but we don't know how or why just yet.

[volving]

Why do... they bring us here?

[turbedon]

To Jaunts? Usually to solve whatever problem is going on in that world. That ranges from stopping a zombie apocalypse to attending a masquerade.

[neverfeltthatway]

Since I've never been to the rest of the network, it's impossible for me to say. But if you're thinking that, lacking more information, sealing them in probably has less potential for bad things happening as a result, it's occurred to me as well. The potential harm they could do to the rest of the network may outweigh the potential benefit.

But then... I'm also not a fan of trapping every program on the grid in a nine square mile prison for the rest of eternity. [Armin is not a fan of walls.

He seems deeply troubled by both possibilities. After a moment, something seems to occur to him, his expression turning curious and uncertain.] Did... did you arrive in the prison we found in the middle of the jaunt? It's just... I don't recognize your thoughts. [The psychic equivalent of 'I don't recognize your voice', since - though Armin's projecting his own voice and image to the people he talks to - he has no idea who Cass is or what she looks like. Psychic livestreaming only works one way.]

[volving]

Mmm.

[ It's not much of a response, but she's got to turn everything over in her head a few times now.

Cass doesn't particularly like either possibility either, given what little she knows. Which is why, reluctantly, she's getting involved in this whole... psychic conversation. Blech. But whatever. She'll deal with it, for now. ]

Oh, yes, that's where... I was.

[neverfeltthatway]

[It is a lot to turn over, and Armin's really not sure what to do with it all - that's why he made his report in the first place.]

Ah. I... hope it wasn't too bad for you, arriving like that. [And that she wasn't hurt when he was leading the Israelites out of Egypt automata out of the prison.] If you have any questions, about anything to do with Traveling... well, you're welcome to ask me, if you want. [He doesn't know if she has someone else she'd go to, already, but he imagines that - arriving in the middle of the jaunt - she may not have gotten quite the education newcomers usually do.]

I'm Armin, by the way. What's your name?

[volving]

It was... [ there's a significant pause as she runs over her vocabulary options before finding the word she's pretty sure she's trying to think of. ] disorienting. But I'm... fine.

[ She has a lot of questions.

She does not want to discuss those questions over the psychic network in her head. She'll wait until she can get some actual verbal communication first. ]

Batgirl. Cassandra. [ They're both true enough, anyway. ]

[neverfeltthatway]

Cassandra? [There's a note of surprise in his voice - and suddenly something that was bothering him clicks, recognition in his eyes as he fits the strange cadence and pauses in her thoughts to the speech of a Cassandra he's met before.

Still, he approaches the topic cautiously.] Do you... remember being here before?

[volving]

[ Tone of voice is less accurate for her than body language, and she's not sure how much she can trust body language and facial expression here. But still, that's... recognition that she sees. And that's strange and unsettling. ]

...No?

[neverfeltthatway]

[Armin looks a little sheepish.]

I just made it worse, didn't I? This... might be easier to explain in person. [In that it's a lot easier to judge someone's reaction when he can see them, or when something he's saying makes them upset and he needs to reassure them or calm them down.] Would you like to meet somewhere?

[volving]

Not worse. Just... confusing.

[ She's relieved when he suggests an in-person meeting, though. She would much rather they do that than continue this probably awkward conversation basically in her head. ]

Yes. Where... can we meet?

[neverfeltthatway]

That's fair.

I can have someone open a portal to your current location, if there are no programs around to see. Have you... been to liminal space yet? It might be the easiest and safest place for this explanation. But if you'd prefer, I can come through the portal to where you are instead.

[volving]

What is...

[ liminal, what is liminal? What does that word even mean? Liminal, limin... maybe it's related to limit? A space that is limited? Or... limitless? Or on the limit of space? ...not the time to work out linguistics in your head, Cassandra. ]

It's fine. I'm alone, and as... long as it's safe.

[Video] -> [Action]

[neverfeltthatway]

[Armin senses that she doesn't seem to understand - but that's why they're meeting, so he can explain everything. He smiles in a way he hopes is reassuring.]

It's safe, I promise. Just give me a minute to find someone to open the portal - and when it opens, make sure to come through quickly. I think it can usually only be held open for five to ten seconds.

*****

[True to his word, about three minutes later Armin sends a warning of what's about to happen, and seconds later a portal does indeed open next to her. Armin stands on the other side, along with a pretty girl with fiery red hair - and behind them, liminal space, with its steel spiderweb radar dish and starry scar. Armin beckons her through, glancing at the girl beside him, who wears an expression of deep concentration.]

[Action, woo!]

[volving]

[ Cass darts in the moment it's open fully, fast enough that it seems possibly unnatural. It's not, but only just. She flicks her eyes back and forth from the redhead to Armin, and stores away a couple unimportant (at the moment) bits of information. ]

Hello.

[Action]

[neverfeltthatway]

Hello. [Armin's body language will clearly say he visibly recognizes her, more than just her name or the pattern to her thoughts. He's seen her before.

Armin introduces the redhead as Sansa, but after several minutes of conversation, she backs off to let him explain everything. Armin sits down where they are, gesturing for her to do the same. Not exactly the most comfortable spot, but nowhere else looks much better.]

So... where would you like me to start.