synopsychic | (no subject)

[As much as Naoki's wanted to say some of this since... well, since halfway through the mess in Misericordia, he decided to hold off and gather his thoughts first. As bad as that was for him and Kanji, it was worse for other people, and from what he's gathered the other jaunt wasn't exactly a picnic either. And then there was the party, and making that many drinks is more attention-consuming than you might think - and, well, no point in dumping that on people in the same moment as Armin-san's list of the departed. But he doesn't want this to wait until after the next jaunt.

It may not make a whole lot of sense to the new people, but hey, they can get explanations along the way.]

Okay. Now that we've all had a little time to decompress, I have a couple things I want to get on the table.

We need to start pooling information about where we've been, considering how often lately it's turned out to be where at least some of us are going. I know there's not much to be done about Moebius or anything that came before it, but... if we'd had more than half-panicked half-information halfway through everything in Misericordia, we might've been able to save some of our group a world of hurt. I'm not looking to cast blame for what's already happened, I'm looking to improve our chances going forward. [Alcuin and Ambrose tried, and it's not their fault things happened as they did.]

Whenever we can be prepared, there's no reason we shouldn't be. I'm sure some of us have been keeping private records, but we need something everyone can get to. If we can keep a log of the basics of these places - the nuts and bolts, maybe a note of what Trumps showed up if any - it'll help keep us out of a little trouble, anyway. I don't know the best way to do something like this, but I think we need at least one physical copy, since not everyone can work backwards on the network. Probably multiple copies of it, to cover for split groups and infiltrating and all that. A computer that people could Interface the information from might work, but that runs into the same storage issues, not to mention needing a computer for it in the first place.

Helena-san's trying to write up Purgatory as a story. We settled on trying that one because I know the most about it of anything I've been here for but she hadn't. Depending on how well that goes, she'll probably want to talk to people about some of the others, and either way I think we'll have a starting point.

If anyone's willing to help, donate notes, offer a place to keep everything, whatever - I'll take any help I can get with this thing. It's a resource we need, especially if the split-group situation keeps happening.

Another thing that came up in Misericordia before everything went to hell was the idea of trying to run a Sift on a familiar face. This one I'm mostly leaving to everyone who kept Sift - I bet the parameters would be tricky, from what Naoto's said about it before, but establishing a good set would give everyone a chance to try it, next time we run into one of them. All I can really offer on that end is my Assistance, if I'm there and myself when the chance comes.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Just the only one who got caught by the law. The fierce little elf girl, she did it, too.

[...Or they did do it. All right then.] She didn't advertise on the network, in that case. Probably for the best.

Either way, the more important thing with this project is getting the basics out there. So that, among other things, if we get tossed back in Nova Venezia, people know just how many of the locals know about us.

If we are sent back to Nova Venezia, we have almost no hope of going unnoticed. I think that is rather a lost cause in terms of keeping up the masquerade, so to speak. I will also probably be captured and tortured, so I will probably be spending most of my time in Liminal Space, should this occur.

I have a record of information regarding all of the Jaunts I have been on, with the exception of Harrogate. Both Armin and Malik have also written extensive notes, that I know... but I am unsure they will be as forthcoming with their information as I am.

[Especially since. Y'know. A lot of people pissed Malik off last time.]

It all depends on where in that world they'd drop us, but sooner or later we'd be in the deep end. That's the kind of place where word spreads quickly. [Doubly so since a lot of people scattered at the end of everything.]

If you're willing to share your notes, it'll be a great help. Malik-san's already offered his maps.

[Naoki's unsure what exactly Armin's offering, with his own notes, but he did respond as well. Here's your chance to make up for a few things, Leo.]

... if we return to that world, and I do not recognize you... kill me. I will most assuredly be Herr Doktor Blitzkopf and will cause the Travelers nothing but trouble in some fashion.

I am... honestly relieved. Very well. What do you need to know?

...I'm sure you have better people to ask for help with that, sensei.

For this, I'm thinking the basics on the places we get sent. Important terminology, basic group information, that sort of thing, just so if people get dumped somewhere again they have a leg up. This isn't really a Trump project, so probably nothing more about them than noting which showed up, if any.

You have the benefit of having no emotional attachments to me. These "people" you speak of do not.

Very well. Where should I begin?

[Oh, so did it finally sink in that Naoki doesn't hate you? But that's not the part that bears commenting on.] I have no experience taking human life. It's a pretty big leap on your part to assume I'd be able to.

[Lupa's situation is different. If Lupa needs killing, it'll be because he's lost control of the demon, and he'll look like a berserk Shadow. That's nothing he hasn't handled before. Besides, since the key is ice, it's far more likely Naoto would be landing the fatal blow.]

Wherever you're comfortable. After this, I'd imagine Dolorosa won't be relevant for a while, so if you still need some distance, don't worry about it to start off. If you're more comfortable writing things down, that's fine too.

He's not human. He stopped being human long ago. He might have been one at one point, but now he is no more than a wolf in human skin. The only thing that separates him from Leonard is that he is too self-centered and too interested in his own work to worship a mad god and try to doom a world for it.

[He gives a bitter mental huff, here.] But if you feel you are not up to the task, I will find someone else.

No, I wish to record this for posterity as openly as possible. Tell me where to begin, and I shall start.

Better to have someone who won't choke on the task at the last second do it, then. And probably also someone who doesn't have to summon something else to do the work for them.

[Even Kanji would be a better choice, since he's a much more effective physical fighter. But he probably couldn't do it for the emotional-attachment reasons.]

I don't know very much about anything that came before the Grid. Pick one and start.

[FINE, HE'LL ASK REMY, GOD. Way to make this complicated, Naoki.] Then forget I ever asked. God forbid we return there.

Very well. Dolorosa. Do you have any further questions about it?

[You literally know people who do this all the time, and if that were public knowledge Naoki would be pointing that out.]

I think the Illuminant mess covered a lot of the basics. Did anything happen last time that seems crucial, other than most of the last... hosts getting killed off?

[But they're emotionally attached to him, and therefore protective of him. There's a bit of a problem there.]

The Queen was found, after being placed under a curse due to the Illuminants congregating in Dolorosa. When she was freed she banished them. Perhaps the theme of royalty, or reclaiming what is lost, might have something to do with which Trump was patron to that particular Jaunt.

Next was... the Ivory Tower. It took place in an irradiated land from a war decades previous, in an academy placed in the middle of that wasteland. Our task was to assign the grant money to the department which would most benefit the world at large. It ended up going to the ecological sciences for breeding a plant strain which would soak up radiation from the soil... though I had hoped that all three departments might find a way to split the grant money. Do I need to go into further detail about anything?

That might depend on whether it was still Empress the first time around or not, and how it'd tie into her archetypes if so. In any case, the Trumps aren't terribly happy with the Illuminants and they know about us, which seems to be the important part.

...I think I have the gist of it. [Certainly his reasons for being so upset after Purgatory would suggest he understands the 'post-nuclear wasteland' concept, but he doesn't dwell on it. That'll only upset them both and end what fence-mending might otherwise be achieved here.] What were the other two departments?

It would make sense for it to be Empress' doing, since the Travelers' whole objective was to find the Queen.

Technology and Salvage, and the Humanities. The first focused on preserving technology and creating things from older machines that were possibly used in the war. The second focused on preserving cultural documents, such as novels and epic poems and the like, restoring old artworks, and creating new art and poetry.

Should I move onto the Labyrinthine Shoals?

So helping them get back on their feet after... everything. The radiation's definitely worth knowing about, in the event of a return trip.

Sure.