voidtreckernet | Merriment 3, early [video]

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Merriment 3, early [video]

[It's early morning when Leia appears on the network, just shortly after the morning announcement. It's obvious she's just woken up by the fact that her hair hasn't been put up and she's still wearing her nightgown.]

Did anyone else have a... very disturbing vision last night? More intense than a normal dream? If so, I'd like to compare notes.

[This vision was as vague as the other one had been, but from what she could infer from it, it meant nothing good.]

(OOC: Leia's roommates are welcome to have seen her wake up with a start, looking frightened for a moment, which is fairly unusual for her.)

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Not a vision, but... just a feeling.

[Dairine's uncomfortable expression implies it's not just a feeling. Wizards are trained to trust their instincts.]

How bad are we talking this time?

In all likelihood? Very bad.

I saw a crack in reality; there were flashes of color, and I heard the sound of screaming. Then there was the sense of standing on the edge of chaos and madness, followed by being overwhelmed by the colors.

I don't know what it could be pointing to, but I'd bet any money that the illusion entity from the last mission is involved somehow.

Figures. Hard to catch a break on this train.

[Her mouth thins into a grim expression.]

Well, at least that would be good timing, if it was them. Our illusion training is still fresh, so people shouldn't have forgotten. And with only one platform, there'll be fewer new arrivals to have missed it.

Though I wonder... You say there were colors? I wonder if the Void itself could cause problems to a world.

Possible, but only if it's via the entity's involvement somehow. It was a mass of blinding colors itself; you couldn't look directly at it. Even trying to touch its mind, all I could sense were more colors. It was unlike anything I've seen or sensed before, and that's saying quite a bit.

I'll bet.

Huh. Maybe that entity has some connection to the void? Or perhaps just the colored light inside it.

Though how would it know where we were going next? Only the train seems to have a clue of our destinations beforehand.

That is one of several possibilities that occurred to me. But unfortunately, each is just as likely as the other and without more information, we have no way of narrowing it down.

And it's possible that the train might be pursuing the entity. Or at least trying to stay on top of the messes it creates, which amounts to the same thing.

Guess we'll just have to wait for the briefing then.

[Dairine makes a face.]

It would be nice if the train told us more than 'Hey, you'll need illusion breaking skills' before chasing after some unknown entity with a grudge. After the desert, it might have an unfair advantage.

[It did peak into their hopes and fears after all, much to Dairine's distaste.]

It's entirely possible that the train doesn't know any more than we do regarding this particular entity. But it seems to incite disaster wherever it goes, and that's exactly the sort of thing that we're ostensibly here to handle.

As for facing an opponent with an unfair advantage... well, it wouldn't be the first time. Though I'll admit, this one may be a bit trickier to work around.

Maybe, but I'd wager it knew about Voidsickness long before we overhead the Ministry mention it. Then suddenly, a train-wide briefing on the matter... doesn't exactly inspire confidence, you know?

[Not that Dairine is a stranger to information being provided when it is most relevant. The Wizard's Manual had that art down to a science. It had to, really. No single wizard could consume all the data held inside it, not normally. The one time Dairine had it all at her fingertips was connected to the Motherboard, and the experience had changed her intrinsically.]

No, I suppose not. We're pretty good at beating the odds. [Here and back home.] We'll figure something out.

With regard to Voidsickness, it seems to me that it was likely providing information on a topic that had suddenly become relevant to keep people from panicking and jumping to conclusions about Voidsickness being a bigger threat than it really is, which is very easy to do when semi-isolated in a confined space for long periods of time.

[Which is relevant to certain other train-related subjects too, but that's neither here nor there at the moment.]

And yes, I'm fairly certain we will. I'm mostly concerned about what might happen in the process of reaching that point.

Yes, but it could have provided this information two months earlier when we had a breach. It was far more relevant then! Sure it might have unnerved some passengers, but we had just been exposed to the Void, however brief. We deserved to know the potential side effects. How else could we prepare effectively?

[Her mouth clamps into a thin line, showing her own worry. But Dairine still talks confidently.]

We'll figure that out too. Improvisation is our best bet in these situations.

Perhaps if any of those aboard had shown signs of Voidsickness, it would have done so. But we can't expect the train to think like a human or have the same priorities as one. Sentient or no, it is still a machine. A key word might have triggered something in its memory banks, or something else could have sparked it's decision. We have no way to know for sure.

The question we need to worry about now is what the entity might be up to. And what we're going to do about it. Improvisation or not, it would be good to have a least a rough plan before we face it again.

Dunno, I've known machines who make a lot more sense than humans. But you're right — there's no way to know for sure.

[Not without the train telling them why.]

Point taken. Let's set up a meeting once the briefing arrives. Then we can plan with more data provided.

[Little does Dairine know, that will be of little use.]

[Little do any of them know.]

Sounds good. We don't usually have too much time between getting the briefing and arriving from what I've seen, but it should be enough time for a quick strategy session.

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Merriment 3, early [video]

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