open to Investigators

[leftbehindagain]

That prison had some new people in it. If you weren't expecting to hear this, don't panic - as the locals might say, it's a feature, not a bug. Everyone else, help them settle in some? This has to be at least twice as disorienting as usual.

While I'm here, is there anyone around who's any good at bomb disposal?

[People who know Naoki decently well might notice that he sounds... a little different. Like something lit a fire under his ass. (Spoilers: Something did.)]

Comments

[notinthecards]

You have a bomb you need disposed of?

We can take care of the hellos after we talk about that.

[leftbehindagain]

Well, the Partition does. It's basically the nuclear option, and I'm pretty sure giving the Defenders an excuse to set it off would count as not doing... whatever it is we're here to do. [Look, he knows what he's here to do right now, but that's not why the Trumps dumped everyone here to begin with.]

We're working on how to get in there and deal with it before they decide everything's gone to hell enough to detonate it. Hiroshima's still in my country's living memory. I'd really rather not see that in person.

[notinthecards]

Remy's always been pretty good at breaking one kind of gadget or another. But it wouldn't be my first choice.

Getting in, though. That's another story. Remy do that for you, no problem.

[leftbehindagain]

[...is... there a reason this guy seems to be talking about himself in the third person? That's a little-kids thing. Eh, whatever.]

Breaking it would not be the best plan, no. We're working on a plan to get in - you'd be welcome to help.

open

[betrayedblade]

[Technically not directed solely at Naoki, he simply wants everyone to know where he stands on the subject.]

I know of the bomb in question and I know it's location. It is too large to move from its current location but it very much a threat where it is and with whom has control over it. As hectic as things have been lately, I am grateful it has not already been used.

That said, I would rather avoid a frontal assault on the Partition--I do not think it would end well. [In fact, he knows it wouldn't.] I do not know how to dispose of the Bomb safely on my own but if someone else knew of the proper manner I could reveal its exact location or someone could teach me and I could go back in to dispose of it myself.

[Which he would honestly prefer if simply because he does not wish to endanger anyone else.]

[backwordscompatible]

[There were several thoughts that immediately flashed through her mind. Each impossibly dumber than the last. A bomb...she couldn't dispose of it, no, but if there was nobody who knew how, there was always a chance she could...maybe...try to contain the explosion...]

[Except there was no way she had enough power to pull off such a thing and survive.]

What new people, exactly?

[Given the current situation, she assumed it meant more players from this world, in particular; it had yet to dawn on her that new could mean new travelers]

[leftbehindagain]

Well, some of them are definitely Variables. Do new Travelers usually show up in the middle like this?

[backwordscompatible]

[...was it possible to mentally raise her eyebrows? Because that's exactly what it felt like she was doing.]

Not that I've ever heard before. But I've only been at this a few months, and this is the first time I've been able to remember everything, anyway.

Are you sure?

[leftbehindagain]

Positive. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the others are sticking with us after this.

Hell of a way to start out.

[nicotinized]

It's happened before, but it's not common - usually means the Trumps have ditched a bunch of people, too.

[leftbehindagain]

...huh. Has anyone disappeared?

[foreveralawn]

I don't know, this is the first I've heard of it? I d-didn't know this could happen...

[backwordscompatible]

Well, at least I wasn't the only one caught off-guard.

That almost helps a little.

[foreveralawn]

Mmhmm. Does anyone know how many are infiltrators yet...? Or investigators.

ota

[foreveralawn]

Uh...h-hello everyone.

[How does helping new people even work? She has no idea.]

You get used to it p-pretty quickly. The whole...telepathy thing.

[nicotinized]

My best advice for dealing with a bomb is to stay the fuck away. We might not be able to die here, but that doesn't mean it's not going hurt like hell.

[Speaking from experience? Yes.]

[leftbehindagain]

Oh, sure, and what happens when Red Team decides they can't control the situation anymore and sets it off? There are people running around who can pass the viral infection without looking like they're infected, we have a new faction going down here that as they'll see it is specifically interested in upending everything they've worked for, I don't know about you but I've seen a lot less of Blue Team lately, and these are people who do not take change well. Probably worse than I do.

[And Naoki tends to take change pretty fucking badly. It's a wonder he coped this well before he agreed to Naoto converting him.]

If we don't disable it, they're going to wipe everything here. And maybe we can't die, but what about the actual programs who live here? Are they an acceptable loss?

Hiroshima's still in my country's living memory. I don't know about you, but I am not comfortable leaving the nuclear option on the table, especially in the hands of such paranoid people.

[nicotinized]

Keep everyone the fuck away from it. Real-world, half the time 'dealing with it' means a controlled detonation which requires one, a way to safely move it, and two, a place you can set it off. I don't think we have either.

And the other half of the time? People train for years to be able to safely disarm explosives, exclusively. And they still fuck up, and when you fuck up, people die.

[leftbehindagain]

There's no controlling this thing if it goes off. We can't take the risk that Red Team will decide it's an acceptable loss to pull out a - a factory reset--

[He stops there, quiet for a while.]

...that's it. I'm looking at this all wrong. It's not a bomb as such, it's a computer program as much as anything else here, it can be reprogrammed. It's just a question of getting the right people working on it.

[unabatedly]

A bomb?

[Well, shit.]

Get me close enough and I can possibly contain most of the damage if it's detonated. My magic is a little...odd here but a barrier shouldn't be too difficult.

[leftbehindagain]

I don't think there's any containing something this big. If it goes off it'll wipe out everything here. I think we can all agree that's not what we're here to do.

Thanks for offering, though.

[unabatedly]

Fair enough. So how can it be stopped? I heard a few of them thinking they can disarm it; is that true?

This is late. Sorry. ;A; Hope it's ok.

[flippedthecoin]

[Kain's used to hearing people speaking in his head, though he was unaware that anyone other then his own kind could do so until now. He's much less startled then one might expect because.]

Rather then trying to assuage my distrust, I'd rather you tell me how I might get home.

This is the second time in two months I've found myself not in Nosgoth, and I'm beginning to grow very tired of it.

I have important things to attend to back home.

[leftbehindagain]

If we knew that, do you think any of us would be here?

[flippedthecoin]

It's obvious that you know more then I do, and if you feel the need to whisper to me, then the least you could do would be to actually provide answers instead of hollow consolations.