World Tree MUSH

    Serval takes a breath. She opens her mouth to continue speaking.

    Svarog decloaks, and Serval nearly achieves orbital velocity leaping backwards over the counter. "BYTHEARCHITECHTSWHATISTHAT!?" she shrieks, grabbing for some of her tools under the counter, and coming up with a pair of pliars, and a pin hammer. She peeks back out and stares at the huge mechanism suddenly visible in her shop. "H-h-how did it even get in here?"

    Stelle, Dan and March don't seem to react that much, but they do twitch just a little bit at the sudden appearance. Seele, meanwhile browtwitches. "Y'know, that's not cool, Svarog." she grouses, glaring at the large robot with her arms folded over her chest.

    Talia doesn't flinch. "You shouldn't scare people like that, Svarog." She chides the robot sternly, sounding more like a schoolmarm than anything else right now.

    Oh dear, Serval seems a little on edge. Leaping over the counter like that...
    Clara makes a little bit of a pained face as Svarog looks from Serval to Stelle, Dan, March, and Talia in silence for a beat.
    "My apologies." The massive mechanical man says. "It was not my intention to cause you alarm." He says. As for how he got in...
    "I used the door."
    It is the most logical answer after all.
    "You all... Really didn't think Mr. Svarog would let me just come on this trip alone, did you?" Clara points out.

    "EEP!" Jessica squeals and bolts behind... someone. Sure she's a catgirl, but apparently aside from hearing her senses aren't all that great compared to a normal human's!

    "W-well it did seem a little weird," she admits...

    Bi De nods his head to Svarog, and then clucks to Serval, "Be at ease, this one is an ally of us. Please, do go on." He fluffs a bit and then settles nearby, as if waiting for things to resume more calmly.

    One might even say he didn't get his feathers ruffled.

    Stelle pinches her nose. "No. We didn't... the issue is how he revealed himself just now." she says, sighing softly "Look, the point is, we need your help, Serval."

    Dan Heng steps forward, and relates the whole trip through the Underworld in detail. The twists and turns, the fact that Bronya has found a new resolve, everything.

    Serval, for her part, slowly eases back to normalcy, though she glances at Svarog cautiously from time to time. The tools are put away, and by the time Dan's finished, she looks thoughtful, glancing down at Bronya's letter as its set before her.

    "... so that's what's been happening. No wonder we hadn't heard from Bronya recently." she sighs, looking up and across the group. "After all these years in isolation and without a single word from below, this is what's become of the Underworld..." Serval nods to herself. "I believe you. There's no way to fabricate all those twists and turns and make it sound believable. Plus you have Miss Seele, Clara and... Svarog... here as proof." She rests hands on hips, and gets a wry smirk. "As for the Stellaron, well I know why Bronya sent you to find me."

    Jessica peeks out from behind Bi De, ineffectually hiding behind the rooster. She's a short girl but not THAT short! "Ah, do you keep it in your garage or something?"

    No, she doesn't actually think it'll be that easy, but wouldn't it be nice?

    Talia nods. "It'd make a really confusing novel if it was." She agrees with Serval. "So what can you do for us?"

    "I was with Clara the whole time." Svarog points out. "My cloaking subsystem renders me invisible to the naked eye." That does not explain how utterly QUIET he was the whole time, but... He doesn't see the need to disclose that at this juncture once Serval has calmed down.
    So Dan Heng explains things. This is all well and good but...
    "Why, exactly, did miss Bronya send us to you?" Clara asks. Before she pauses to look at Jess. "... I don't get the feeling it would be that easy..."

    "I see," Bi De replies, stroking his wattles now with a knowing look. "You have some information that may be of aid to us? Perhaps Bronya wasn't as foolish as we thought. If she went to speak, then sending us to you as a contingency would be a good idea."

    "When I was still in the Scientific Reseach Division, I was researching the Stellaron." states Serval frankly, "Never thought I'd hear that word again after I was expelled... come on, I'll tell you everything I know." She moves to a side area, pulling crates, sturdy boxes and a few actual chairs out to make a seating arrangement... it feels like she does this a lot as there's plenty of seating for the organics of the contingent... there doesn't seem to be anything strong enough for Svarog to use as a makeshift seat though.

    Once everyone who can be is seated, Serval continues. "Only a very small number of people even know of the existence of the Stellaron. None of whom would associate it with the Fragmentum or Eternal Freeze." She glances to Svarog. "But according to your databank recordings, the Architects dug out the truth long ago. The research results were purposefully hidden to ensure the majority would never find out about them." Serval starts getting aggitated now, memories and emotions flooding back as she remembers what happened. "Just my luck... out of all the topics I could have chosen, I picked the Stellaron! Insisted on it even... it's clear to me now, anyone who wanted to get closer to the truth would be expelled... or 'abandoned'." she says that last word as if it's a euphemism.

    Jessica follows in, taking a seat and turning ears toward Serval to listen. She dutifully places hands on lap, listening to what is said, nodding several times... until Serval says she was 'abandoned' like that. The tone of voice an the word.

    Her eyes get really big as she gets a pitiful, sympathetic look on them. "Aww..."

    Talia listens, folding her arms. "Forbidden knowledge." She sighs. All she can remember is the countless debates she had with Serissa, constantly trying to get her to stop breaking into the classified section of the records hall at the Jedi Temple, constantly trying to cover for her or break her out of trouble when she inevitably got caught...

    And the inevitable expulsion of Serissa. And the rest that comes from that story.

    "I'm sorry." is all Talia can venture.

    It's fine. Svarog doesn't need a seat. Though Clara is easily distracted by the varied machinery that litters the workshop a light nudge from the mechanical man gets her attention back on the topic at hand and on Serval, as she sits herself down.
    "It is already a definite fact that the reserarch into the Stellaron was deliberately hidden. Abandoned as you put it." Svarog agrees. "Though initially this was to prevent hysteria, the pertinent question here is when did the reasons for hiding the truth become much more sinister?" He considers.
    "The current Supreme Guardian, Cocolia, has already displayed however that she is not acting in a rational manner, judging from the way she has treated the offworlders. Her motivations are in question, and I do not think she has the Preservation in mind."
    It is when Jess' eyes get super huge and she gives that sympathetic 'Aww' that Clara hugs the feline woman's arm to her chest gently.

    Bi De hmns, "Yes, though I still wonder if the temptation and corruption is a factor of the Stellaron itself, or simply the nature of people when confronted with power. If the former, we should be on guard for a similar effect upon one of us."

    Serval smiles bitterly, but it shifts a bit at the shows of commiseration from the otheres. "Thanks. I mean it." she then shrugs. "Maybe I should be thanking Cocolia. All she did was push me out. She could've easily decided to take a more... permanent measure."

    Stelle asks. "How much do you know about the Stellaron?"

    "I figured out that the Stellaron and the Fragmentum were linked, so I was already pretty close to the truth. It's a shame that the Architects ejecteed me before I could discover that the source of the Fragmentum was the Stellaron itself." She looks off into nothing again, eyes soft focussed on a spot in the center of the chair-circle. "Before I lost my position, I was applying for permission to study the Stellaron directly. It was my topic, but I'd never laid eyes on it. All my work was based on historical archive data and simulations." She sighs. "Not long after I submitted my preliminary report and application, I received my punishment. Very obvious someone didn't want this line of inquiery to continue."

    Bi De considers again, then nods his head. "The fact that she was not as ruthless as some cultivators in my own world seems to indicate she retains some of her morality. Perhaps Bronya saw that, and that is why they attempted to speak first." Then his head tilts. "But... if you were ejected, then perhaps you had something too close to the truth?"

    Talia rubs her chin. "It's curious she chose to exile you rather than attempt to silence you through more permanent methods." She says. Too close to the truth indeed. This is a classic coverup.

    Jessica leans in to Clara, but then nods slightly, "Mmhm, or maybe she thought your research might be useful to her someday! Why get rid of someone permanently when you might need them later?"

    "While I have not personally met the Supreme Guardian to pass judgment on the matter, it is not beyond the possibility that the Stellaron is manipulating her in some form." Svarog agrees with Bi De's potential assessment while Clara cuddles with Jessica adorably.

    "Cocolia... It's been years since we last spoke. We were almost like sisters at one time, there was nothing we wouldn't share." continues Serval, looking at the others. "She became a completely different person when she took up the Guardian mantle. Her convictions, enthusiasm... it felt like something was drawing it out of her, bleeding them away." she sighs lightly. "She gave the order for my expulsion herself, and refused to see me... I never understood that behaviour and I gave up trying to logic it out a long time ago." She looks up, casting her eyes around the group. "Sometimes I even wonder if she really did change... is that even possible? Could there be some kind of singular 'Guardian' consciousness that's passed down from generation to generation... and thus the real Cocolia is long gone?" she leans back in her chair, looking up at the ceiling, the clockwork gear slowly rotating without purpose there. "Is she being compelled by previous generations into these absurd and baffling decisions? Who knows... but this makes for good songwriting material."

    Stelle seems to remember something in the letter. "What about Gepard? Could we speak to him and get his help with this?"

    Serval barks a short laugh, "Gepard? Not a chance... he's a decent guy, but famously uncompromising. For my brother, orders are the whole world. Even if you stuck Bronya's letter to his forehead, he wouldn't be swayed. You need to choose your words carefully to persuade him of anything. It might be best if I talk to him... though I'll need a strategy first."

    Finally, the crux of this whole endeavour. Dan Heng asks, "Do you know where the Stellaron is?"

    Serval nods firmly. "Yes. I never observed it directly, but my research and lab simulations, as well as survey data on Fragmentum spread established a rough location." She pulls out a pad of paper, drawing a very rough map of Belobog, and then a location above it. "According to these results, it's most likely location is somewhere north of Belobog, in the Snow Plains." she shrugs, "I could tell you how to get there, but I'm afraid simply telling you may not be enough. The area to the north has been almost completely swallowed up by the Fragmentum. Access is held behind the Restricted Zone on the Frontlines... that's swarming with Silvermane Guards."

    Looks like the party has their new destination marked out for them as Serval draws a hasty map. It's not the best map but Svarog commits it to internal memory.
    Clara raises her hand.
    "Who's Gepard?" Aside from Serval's brother, anyway. She wasn't with the party when they were first arrested by the planetary police.
    "If it is as you say, traversing the Fragmentum will not be an easy task." Svarog considers.

    "I know what it feels like to have a bond like that be broken." Talia says forlornly as she listens. "I'm sorry." She tightens her jaw, thinking. Did she make the right decision trying to dissuade Serissa? Did she abandon a friend just to cover her ass? That question lingers in Talia's gut.

    She sighs. Talia made her choice, and Serissa did too.

    "We're risking an awful lot, yes. But at this rate we have no choice." She says to Svarog.

    Jessica has been curiously quiet for now, but finally, after some thought, she speaks up. "Is there maybe some back way? Some way to get through that is difficult or crazy so they wouldn't guard it? I mean... we aren't really natives, maybe we have options they don't?"

    She looks at Bi De, "Maybe you can fly? You are a bird..." Though she hasn't seen Bi De fly, really.

    Apologetically, Bi De turns to Jessica. "My type of bird can glide and even fly short distances, but flight is beyond my breed. My own distance is longer because I am no longer a mere chicken, but even accounting for that, it would not help any of you. I certainly cannot carry you."

    "Flying wouldn't work, the Fragmentum twists reality in weird ways." interjects Serval. "And sure, there's other ways, if you feel like treking for weeks through biting wind, driving snow and temperatures so low it can freeze fuel in the pipes of vehicles." Serval sighs. "It's the Restricted Zone, or nothing, I'm afraid... and even if we can get through the zone, there's a whole heap of Fragmentum to deal with after that. The Restricted Zone is where the Silermane Guard have consolidated to present a unified front against the Fragmentum encroachment."

    March 7th ponders. "Sounds like, even with all of us here, it may not be enough... should we head back underground and mobilize Wildfire?" Dan Heng interjects. "I fear we may not have the time."

    Before a pessimism spiral can begin, Serval pipes up again. "Hey, enough. Back in my 'Official Capacity' days, I spent a lot of time up north. I got to know the soldiers and officers on the frontline very well. I think this calls for Brainwaves, not 'Brawnwaves' I'll take you over myself. Besides, I wanna see the Stellaron too. It was my research topic for over a decade... humans don't get that many decades in life."

    Hearing the options, and which ones are shot down, Jessica heaves a sigh. She nods as everyone presents the short time frame, the obstacles, and so on... her tail flicking in agitation more and more. "Oh... I guess I know what we need to do then. We will still need something though."

    She splays her ears, "But that's going to be an awful lot of ammo..."

    Talia swallows. Much as she hates to admit it, she needs to put something to use. "I might be able to be of use here. The Force allows me more than a few abilities, I can influence 'weaker minds', as it were. It might help get us through."

    She briefly looks speechless at Jessica, but holds her tongue.

    "Oh, good." Svarog says at length. "Our projected chances of success have risen." He says. "Especially if Serval is willing to use finesse over brute force."
    Then.
    Then Jess speaks up.
    "I rescind my prior statement. This group at present is too predisposed to forceful solutions."
    Clara buries her face in her hands.

    Bi De clucks, "No, Jessica, I think perhaps that is the opposite of what was suggested." He looks at Talia, then Serval, and bobs his head. "Yes, perhaps you should handle this. I would like to help, but my shape is too unusual and notable to easily convince such people of our intent."

    He sighs, shaking his head, "I will leave this to you. I would help, but I am just too chicken."

    Serval just gives Jessica a look... She then asides to Talia. "Is-- is she always this quick to the violent option?" she asks, glancing worriedly at the catgirl.

    She quickly rally's regardless, "Well, it's settled, at least. We'll head out as soon as you're ready."

    And that's when a heavy banging comes at the door... and a familiar voice, to the offworlders at least, would muffle through it. "Serval? Why's the door locked?" 

    It's Gepard.

    "D-darn it! I forgot my brother said he'd be around today... quick, uh... hide in the back... Svarog, do your cloaking thing."

    Serval then lifts her voice. "Gimme a minute! Had a little... incident with one of my projects. I'm cleaning it up now, Nearly done!"

    Talia shrugs helplessly at Serval. When she hears the knock on the door, she's very quick to jump upwards to the ceiling. She is hoping against hope Gepard doesn't think to look upwards, given how this isn't exactly the tallest ceiling. She'll just be hanging here.

    Jessica blinks, "Huh? I was thinking distraction..." wondering why everyone just assumes she was going to kill everyone. Who does she look like, Rebecca?

    Then the knock comes and she eeps! "Right!" she whispers, darting for the back. Fortunately she's not a very big catgirl, so she tucks herself behind something, figuring that most of the group is pretty small really.

    The door bangs and...
    There's Gepard right on cue.
    Svarog does not need to be told twice, light bending around him, he vanishes in an instant.
    Clara stands up from the box she had been sitting on.
    Clara lifts the box.
    Clara sets the box over her head...
    Clara crouches low until the box is flush to the floor again, and just like that she's gone too.

>> SUMMARY[Clara] >> Solid Snake eat your heart out.

    Bi De is a large rooster, but still a rooster. As the people here go, he's probably the smallest! "Yes, of course," he agrees, darting over to squeeze in behind a chair, in a place where a person simply couldn't fit! Leaving behind a single feather, oh no! But maybe that won't be noticed, except inevitably by Serval who will have to keep anyone from seeing it.

    Stelle, March and Dan find hiding spots. Stelle spots Clara using her box, so goes for one of the larger crates and scoots under it. The others find places, and Seele seems to... vanish? She does that quantum flickering thing, so she's probably just phased through somewhere or other for the moment.

    Serval does a perfunktory 'clutterizing' to make her story sound believable, before she opens the door, and the heavy bootfalls of her brother enter. Unfortunately her voice is a bit wobbly. "Gepard, it's you! I didn't think you'd have time to visit with the frontlines being so tense... ehehe..."

    Gepard sounds a bit confused, "Things are manageable, the latest waves of monsters have slowed. I'm back in the city to take care of a few things, but I'll be back on the front lines later... I thought I told you?"

    "Ah, oh... yes, that's right..." replies Serval lamely.

    "Sis... you look a bit pale. You're not hurt from your project accident are you?" asks Gepard, looking around at the floor, with the grease marks, various items scattered. He looks at the box Clara's in, then the chair where Bi De fled behind... but somehow doesn't see the feather.

    "No, no I'm fine, why do you ask?" stammers Serval.

    "... You don't normally use my full name." replies Gepard, brows furrowing just a little.

    Serval finally finds her feet, so to speak, "You said you hate it when I call you 'bro' in public! Well, I agree. It'd sound better if I started using your full name. Right, broseph?"

    Gepard seems to relent finally, "You can call me whatever you like. Look, Serval, I'm here on official business today. The Barrier Generator's acting up, and the Silvermane Engineers don't know how to fix it. I need you to take a look."

    Talia remains in place, using her feet to prop herself on two corners of the ceiling while she clings to a third. She's pulling off some JCVD tier splits here, just so we're clear. She listens to Gepard and Serval. The Barrier Generator appears to be on the fritz. Hmm.

    A scarlet eye peeks through a hole in the box Clara is hiding in. But she doesn't make a peep while Gepard is there. But purses her lips.
    A generator acting up? That catches her attention.
    Svarog... Just stands there. Silent and impossible to see. Like he's not there at all.

    Eartwitch. Yeah Jessica isn't quite as techy, but... this COULD be an opportunity, couldn't it? Tactically, she pays attention to this even if she knows she can't understand the details. It's best to avoid confrontation, after all.

    Serval rolls her eyes. "Urgh, those guys don't know how to think outside the box, of course they can't wrap their heads around my design." She sighs, "I thought it was something big. Leave it here, I'll take a look." she says, promping the tall man to thunk down the huge case he was using during the first fight. "Sorry to trouble you."

    Serval blinks, "Why are you being so polite? Oh, and why's the city under curfew all of a sudden, did something happen?"

    Gepard looks down a bit sheepeishly. "I... I've been instructed to keep it quiet."

    This seems to stir up the Big Sister in Serval. "Aww, Lil' Geppie, so grown up and looking down on his civilian sister." she teases.

    Gepard huffs exasperatedly. "Don't say that... bah, forget it, if I don't, Pela will... Last night, Lady Bronya reappeared. She entered Qlipoth Fort without saying a word to anyone. The Supreme Guardian is worried that the intruders may have followed Bronya out of the Fragmentum and back into the city proper. She issued a curfew for the whole city, and ordered the Guard to pursue and capture any suspicious individuals."

    Serval manages to act sufficiently surprised, "Ah! So that's how it is, no wonder I haven't heard from Bronya.. is she alright?"

    Gepard shrugs, causing his armour to shift with soft clinks of metal. "I'm not sure. She hasn't left the Fort. The Supreme Guardian just said she'd returned, nothing more."

    Serval manages to sound relieved. "Well I was sure worried about her. After she disappeared Pela's workload doubled! She said she barely had any time to herself."

    Well look at that. Bronya's arrival caused a curfew.
    That doesn't sound suspicious at all.
    Except it is.
    Especially since Bronya hasn't left the fort since her arrival.
    Clara's eye peeks from her spot to where some of the others ae hiding.
    That's sus yo.

    This is deeply sus indeed. Talia quirks an eyebrow and curses mutely. Dammit Bronya, what the hell were you thinking?

    Well... there's not a huge fuss YET but that curfew sure isn't a good thing! That might make it harder to move about, too. Sigh. Not that Jessica actually sighs. She nods to herself and then ponders. She's going to have to actually think about this one... and what to do about Bronya, too.

    "She really does tell you everything..." Gepard shakes his head, then seems to remember something. "Oh, by the way. I left my Goethe Hotel limited-edition flask behind last time I was here. Let me have a look for it. I think I left it over..." he begins walking toward where Clara's hiding.

    "Wait!" blurts Serval, shifting herself around to block Gepard's view. "You, remember how you neglected those flowers to death? I, piled them up over there during a bit of cleaning, and now they smell terrible... so, uh. Don't go over there!"

    This seems to draw Gepards attention enough. "Seems like a strange reason not to go over there. Plus, am I supposed to believe you were spring cleaning? You must be up to some more forbidden research." he accuses

    "Am not! How dare you. What do you take your sister for?" shoots back Serval.

    Gepard seems to take the hint though, and shrugs. "This is your space, it would be impolite to intrude. I should attend to my other duties. Give me a call when you've had a chance to look at the Barrier Generator. I'd like to be able to take it back to the Frontlines with me." he bows, "Goodbye for now."

    His heavy boots trudge out of the door, and it clunks shut behind him. Serval lets out a sigh. "Okay, you're safe to come out again now... that, was too close."