welp

[thornsofmalkav]

As the people's poet Ice Cube once said, more than a quarter century ago, "Fuck the police."

Or, I guess, fuck the secret police. Same principle.

Um. Hi. So. Uh. I'm dead again. My overlay was snooping around the site for the Solomon Ring, she got caught by a Manticore Squire, he took her off for questioning and called in a Knight to help him... and let's just say the interrogation went poorly. I'm pretty sure that's what they're going to say in their report about my death. If they don't just go and erase the tapes to cover it up. Which they might. They're a secret police after all.

Anyway, right before the Knight freaked out and I died, the Knight put his hand on my head and said, and I quote, "Oh god, they're back."

Which, um, is kinda worrying.

Also, uh. I should probably let people know that my overlay's boss, Dr. L, is trying to mess with the Solomon Ring for his own purposes. And, uh, he's hella psychic, if only short-ranged, so he knows there's something up with Investigators, if not exactly what. But he's not hostile to us. A little wary, but not hostile.

Anyway, can people keep an eye out the next couple days to see if my death is at all announced or if there's a cover-up? Hajime, you should be able to tell if anyone from the government goes to Dr. L. He's, like, listed as my overlay's employer on her work visa. Because if I'm not officially dead, I'm going to take advantage of the other Thorne's bank account while I still can and maybe see if I can pretend to be her in other ways until the Jaunt ends.

[Locked to Joscelin]

Alcuin's gone. I tried to psychic message him as soon as I woke up here.

He's not on a walkabout or anything. He was here on the Jaunt. I met him. He called himself Alan and... I guess it doesn't matter.

He's been really fucked up since-- since Delaunay vanished. And he and Leo were fighting again. And maybe Malik too?

He's probably in a dungeon now. If I hadn't been Infiltrating...

[Locked to Leonardo]

Querido, do you mind coming to see me for a little while? I could use some company. [And the comfort of eating straight from the tap as it were.]

Comments

[thornsofmalkav]

World merge can't happen. We looked over the schematics already. At most we can do is make it permanently on and open the aperture a little more.

But yeah, I don't like Manticore controlling shit either.

[brokers]

I suppose the question remains what outcome would be best for this world, and its people?

[thornsofmalkav]

I don't know yet and I was one of its people until a couple years ago. Although the me from here would rather have no Ring than one controlled strictly by Manticore--her own spirit did not like the big freaky not-lion.

[brokers]

And adding to the power base of a dictator rarely turns out well for the people that dictator governs.

I suspect our goal may well be to destroy or disable the Ring, but if we could instead put it in human hands, that may be better overall.

[thornsofmalkav]

Yeah. That makes sense enough to me, really.

[goestoextremes]

And leaving it permanently open can be a good thing even if humans and spirits can take a long time to get along together well... [ personal experience, that worked surprisingly well in the end. ]

Binding humans and spirits together with the spirit side in charge, huh? Really not sure if that sounds like a good idea either... Depends on the spirit. [ this jaunt hits home pretty hard, very literally, thanks a lot trumps. ]

[thornsofmalkav]

Yeah, I'm actually fairly cool with that one. It's the other one... well, it seemed fine to Newport Me, but she was pretty hero-worshippy of Dr. L and her spirit was okay with being in charge of things... even if she actually wasn't much in charge of Newport Me.

[goestoextremes]

But then she didn't mind the not really being in charge part either? That's interesting and also kind of really cute.

I'm actually fused with a spirit myself... It's a ten thousand year old reincarnation cycle, where she moves into the next body, when our previous life dies. Raava doesn't mind me being in control most of the time either, she helps when I need her powers. She's the Light Spirit, all about peace and light.

...But back in my world, there's also the spirit of darkness and chaos. Fusing him with a human was seriously a very bad idea, to the point where that human doesn't even exist anymore. He did it all to get power to himself though, no one made him do it -- except envy of my powers and wanting a new age of darkness and chaos more than peace, balance and harmony to take over the world, I guess.

So that short life story and having seen both sides of how it can go kind of leaves me wondering what this world is trying to do by binding spirits and humans together.

[thornsofmalkav]

Well, full-on binding like Dr. L wants to do is pretty rare now. But yeah... I think having your guy is way better than having that other guy's guy.