Exploding Utas

Jazuhanzu
Yamato - -77 - 22 - 0

The Day after New Years.

Jazuhanzu is walking along Tsushima's shore line. She's been quiet since the events at Tsushima Shrine. It's going to take her a while to understand it, to grasp it, to really get into what it means for her persoinally. Aside from the trip she's going to have to put together with the others, she very clearly has a great deal of other things to do, the least of which is explaining to the rest of the adventurer population what they all just did. Quarantine lifted.

It's a problem.

Truth be told, doing something like that without consultation isn't really her speed. She's not typically one to suggest unilateral action, and yet, she just sort of did a thing, even if events just got away from her she had reason to suspect they might just do exactly that.

And that is why she's deep in thought, long hair wafting in the wind as if it were underwater, the gentle lapping of the shoreline and the beauty of Tsushima's beaches completely lost on her.

Also, the impending arrival of Uta, whose chims she had been ignoring along with everyoine else's, is also lost on her. Finding her is not terribly difficult. Just follow the wee Undine's distinctively twee footprints down the sandy beaches and sooner or later you'll find her.
Uta
Yamato - -77 - 22 - 0

"Jazz, we need to talk," Uta announces, unannounced. One moment she is not there, the next- bam.

Dang racial Spriggan Sneaking.

"Doing something without consultation isn't really my speed," Uta continues, nervous, scratching the back of her head, " and I... sort of did a thing. Even if events have gotten away from me, and I have reason to suspect they might derail further and further."
Jazuhanzu
Yamato - -77 - 22 - 0

"...GWAH."

Jazz's exclamationm of surprise is, of course, rididculously anime-sounding and she comically throws her arms up in the air, stumbling forward and pitching face first into the sand when Uta just SURPRISES HER like that.

She picks herself up and whirls to face her.

"UTA. Where did you come from? What are you even talking about?"
Uta
Yamato - -77 - 22 - 0

Uta blinks at Jazz. "Where did I- Oh. Good question. 'Where do we all Adventurers come from?' Believe it or not, I'm working on that. I might actually have a lead, I've sent some item that might hold the key to that to be analyzed. Waiting for the answer on that. And as to what I was talking about-" She then raises a finger as if for speaking, frowns, and remains with her mouth open.

"...I forget...", she trails off, softly, fingers tapping her lips in mild confusion.

She stands up, abruptly, all energetic. "Anyway! I have come here to return the Stone! Looking forward to meet Spahtjahr again. Girl's a bit of a literal thinker, but I believe you just have to know how to deal with her. Like... we could exchange Vulcan jokes. I can totally imagine two Vulcans telling jokes to each other. One of them would go, 'A Vulcan walk into a bar. He orders a drink and enjoys it,' and then they'd both nod and appreciate how logical the whole situation is."
Jazuhanzu
Yamato - -77 - 22 - 0

".. that was yesterday Uta," says Jazz with a sympathetic look on her face.

"Now, rewind a step and tell me about this item you're talking about having an answer to where 'adventurers come from'," She takes a moment to straighten her hat. It was on crooked aft er her topple. She brushes sand off its brim.
Uta
Yamato - -77 - 22 - 0

Uta frowns. "...yesterday?" She taps her chin. "Uh. Well... that would explain the giant party in Alne..." She smiles wide to Jazz. "You should have been there, Jazz! There were snacks, and Travelers mingling with the Adventurers, and there was another giant hologram public service announcement! We had another giant hologram, like during the Apocalypse. I'm ready to bet it reached above the tower's 10th floor."

Uta frowns. "...it... it..." She rubs her temples. "...it's hard to remember at the moment. Something about us lifting a Quarantine and re-uniting his Daughters. Whom he gifted to us." More concentration, then she gives up. "And something about climbing the towers, and finding the Keys of Twilight." She returns to smile, "I'm sorry you couldn't be there. You've missed the best. Event. Ever!" Once again, her gaze goes lost in the distance. "I wonder if they'll have another giant hologram guy next year... I like giant holograms." She glances sideways to Jazz. "...but it's probably too much to ask for, eh?"

There's another pause. "Oh, the item? It's my starting outfit."
Jazuhanzu
Yamato - -77 - 22 - 0

"... of course it is," says Jazz, after listening to the rest of it. She's letting it sink in. WHen she described what happened in Alne, it's like the Undine flinched. A look of deep wariness on her face.

"Is all that right. What an amazing coincidence that all that should happen on the same night I placed the stone."

Her tone is ... dry. Yes. She waits a beat.

For Uta to agree that it is, in fact, an amazing coincidence possibly.
Uta
Yamato - -77 - 22 - 0

"Yeah, Jazz! I mean, you had to go off to do stuff /right the night/ that this amazing stuff happened! One, just one event of interest in the year, and you go and miss it! You could have postponed or anticipated your trip by one day, and you'd have gotten the hologram, but no! Right on the wrong day!" She punches her fist to emphasize the point.

She gets a compassionate look. "It must be so frustrating to always miss the action- wait."

There is a frown.

One can, in a single shift of expression, see the lights going on upstairs, and those gears start cranking.

Uta's pupils slowly, sloooowly pan sideways to Jazz.

With an expression like that, there is no need for words.

She finally got it.
Jazuhanzu
Yamato - -77 - 22 - 0

Jazz doesn't say anything. She just waits for Uta to say something, instead. Things have been stated and she's just going to let her keep thinking about it. She's got questions about what happened in Alne, of course, but she's going to let Uta raise the next question.

And then she she scratches the side of her face where flesh join scales with an (adorable) sigh. She can't help it.
Uta
Yamato - -77 - 22 - 0

"...I missed all the action again, didn't I?", is what Uta finally asks. "What did I miss?"
Jazuhanzu
Yamato - -77 - 22 - 0

"...well ... we gave the crystal to Spatjahr, and that let her 'complete her mission' that was given to her by 'the girl', as you might recall."

Jazz looks up towards the sky.

"She opened an 'access point' in the cave and, by the way, Chim-Chims are definitely something to look at and listen to."

There were Chim Chims there, it seems, and the way she says that casually means she knows just how twitchy Uta is going to get for having missed it. She adjusts her hat on her head again, "The had the same song you did when you were -- anyway... They were just creating the melody. Someone else was singing to it."

OH NO.
Uta
Yamato - -77 - 22 - 0

"WHICH SONG!", Uta exclaims, eyes popping open. "OF COURSE THEY ONLY DO THE MELODY!" There begins the nervous pacing. "That's the kind of creatures they are!" She turns to Jazz again, fingers crooked as if for strangling the air. "And someone was /singing/ to the song?! The lyrics? WHAT SONG!" she begins to hyperventilate at this point.

In a sudden moment of calm, she adds, "...by the way, you know you could just, you know, have gone to the Chim cave in Ezzo at any moment? It's not locked or collapsed or antything."

Abruptly, she darts towards Jazz again, strangling the air even harder. "WHICH SONG?! WHICH GIRL?!"
Jazuhanzu
Yamato - -77 - 22 - 0

"That song," says Jazz. She hums a few bars.

"We wound up in a structure created by the 'flu gel', who of course are the Alv. The structure felt impossibly large, and we were going down and down, and yes, someone was singing along with the chims. I couldn't understand most of what they were saying. Maybe a word or two if I heard right. We travelled across a great span and towards a sphere, which we passed into and met someone... a 'half machine kunie', according to Spatjahr."
Uta
Yamato - -77 - 22 - 0

"The Earth Song!", exclaims Uta. "THE LYRICS TO THE EARTH SONG! ARGH!", exclaims Uta, tossing her hand in the air, stomping around in circles and muttering... let's say 'arcane words of power'.

Once she's described a few complete circumferences, she turns to the Undine. "Ok, right. Remember how earlier I said that I did a thing and we need to talk about it? This is it. /Of course/ the two things tie together..." She inhales. "Remember how, some time ago, I've mentioned that when you're in a Strange Mood you're resonating with a specific song? The Earth Song is one of them. It's associated with the mood known as Mujou, specifically." There is a short pause. "Oh, right, most people know it as the 41st song. That is inaccurate. Its actual name is the Earth Song, and it actually is the /second/ song that was sung."

"A /half machine/ Kunie... hm. I don't know what a Kunie is, but /half machine/... hm." She taps her chin. "How do you know that the Flu:gel and the Alv are the same thing? I had ways to suspect that they'd be at least closely related, but..." she trails off.
Jazuhanzu
Yamato - -77 - 22 - 0

"Interesting. That would explain the role of the Beautiful One when I was... out of sorts..." says Jazz, glancing down at her sand covered, pink-bowed shoes.

"Who else would they be, Uta? The Flugel built the complex we were in, a complex full of chim chims and more, and it was confirmed they built it all. which means the Alv. Anyway, Flugel, alv, wings." She points at Uta's own.

"The whole place was cogs upon cogs, and there was this giant sword like thing at the center of each cog. Best I can describe it. We went up the stairs and met the half-machines, Einzig was the name apparently, and their power level was comparable to Spatjahr's. Black 'I' next to their name on inspect. The song was coming from them. Male bodied, but the song was feminine. Makes me think they were maybe reproducing someone else's voice."
Uta
Yamato - -77 - 22 - 0

"...How do you know it was built by the Fluegel?", Uta asks, once again. "Who confirmed it?" She looks genuinely confused.

"Einzig. 'Only', 'Sole'," Uta mutters to herself. "If he's a machine, there's no reason why he can't have a built-in music player..." Uta trails off. "I mean, I myself do-"

She turns to Jazuhanzu again. "See, this is the interesting part. It would seem like that the Chim Resonate with some song. Everywhere except in that cave in Ezzo, something or someone was... 'broacasting', shall we say? A song for them to resonate to. And ironically... neither here, nor on the Green Moon (as Estelle told us), the music seemed to be natural, but coming from some... device." Silence. Thought. "In the caves of Ezzo... I saw nothing like that. I wonder if it was very well hidden. We should go there again, possibly with someone familiar with enchanting, and check."

As if finally catching up with the very /first/ words of Jazz, Uta finally shakes her head. "No, no, no. You were not resonating with the Earth song. Earth Song is Mujou. You were in a Yuugen. You were resonating with the Eternity Song. The Third Song to be sung."

Uta kneels down on the floor, and flicks her menu open. After some navigation and shimmering, she materializes a cloth, which she places on the ground, and her phonograph, which she places on top of the cloth. She switches shellac cylinders, and starts the machine.

There are the sounds of a crowd and fireworks, especially at the beginning, but not so bad to cover the song. A recording from the New Year's party in Alne. "The singing was being led by the high priestess of Alba," Uta whispers. "It's a very rare song. Just like the Earth song."
Jazuhanzu
Yamato - -77 - 22 - 0

"I know that, Uta. I meant -- huh. The Eternity Song, eh?" She sounds curious about it, but she doesn't press just yet. "They did seem rather drawn to that Eliza girl, something about harmoonics.."

She consdiers it for a moment, her borw furrowing. "Yuugen. I'm familiar with the concept. Something about ... ah." She makes her face. "Benji, I'm going to punch you the day I get out of here."

"It was confirmed," she says, "Einzig indicated that the location had been built by the Fluegel for the 'war against the waves'. The waves being the war against 'Cursed Wave'. The eight beings who 'followed the alv' after the world was 'annihilated'. Skeith, Fidchell, Gorre.." She squints, brow furrowed in concentation. So much to commit to memory, and only hearing once, too.

"Tarvos, Innis, Magus, Macha, Cobernik. I wondered if maybe they were the names of the Scrapped Princesses, but I'm not sure. They weren't sure either."

She looks out towards the sea for a long moment, then lowers her gaze.

"Apparently, when Ezzo went glitchy, the quarantine was called *by* the Blind One, and then the 'inavding ones' in Ezzo 'forced her from her post', according to him, and that the 'invading ones' who arrived on Ezzo when we did are 'older than the Goddesses'." She chews at her lower lip, eyes cast down again. She daintily kicks a spray of sand out towards the sea.
Uta
Yamato - -77 - 22 - 0

"You must have been very good friends with this Benji," Uta comments, "if you were on face-punching terms."

She does not press that point further.

"Eliza Wynddam? The farmer?" Uta blinks. "Funny you mention her, I've met her the other day... hmm... I'll have to ask her about it."

More musings. "Eight followers. A number close to the number of races. And close to the one of the Heroes. I'm starting to wonder if there's a relationship."

"The Blind One? Forced from her post? Why? Was she in Ezz-"

Shocked silence.

"...That... no. That's too dumb an idea. It's so dumb I'm not saying it."

She inhales, deeply.

"I'm not saying The Bandit King is The Blind One..." she begins, "...all I'm saying is that, as far as I'm aware, nobody has seen The Bandit King and The Blind One in the same room."

She begins to pace around the place. "I wonder... my details on the events, at the time, are sketchy. I should ask someone who was in Ezzo about how the bubble was erected..."
Jazuhanzu
Yamato - -77 - 22 - 0

"..mmn.. no. That was Erufu that had the harmoics. My mistake. These E names," mutters Jazz, more to herself than to Uta directly.

She looks up after a moment agian towards her an then shrugs her shoulders, tentacles lifting to do the same. "The language of the Alv, the Flugel." She lets out a breath, shakes her head. She starts to walk down the shore again, expecting Uta to follow her.

"So, the Invading Ones in Ezzo were the reason for the Quarantine, which was demanded by the Goddesses, and not much is known of these 'Invading Ones', the Kunie said, except that they're 'older than the Gods'. Promising, right? So they're the reason we were quarantined. Ezzo is the reason. I had no idea we were quarantined." She looks wry about it, "not directly, I mean."

"Anyway, they took the gem, placed it on the dias, and its shape slowly changed in the light, becoming a chess piece. A pawn. Of course. Like Shriuba said, the first line of defense, but also the most expendable and sacrificial one." She pinches the bridge of her nose for a moment.

"We asked if the Scrapped Princesses were what they referring to, but they didn't know."
Uta
Yamato - -77 - 22 - 0

"I am not sure what you mean there, just by saying 'the language of the Alv, the Fluegel' -- what's the context?", Uta asks with a frowns. "You mean the Harmonics of Erufu are the language of the Alv slash Fluegel?"

More indistinct angry sound fail to be restrained and slip out of Uta's throat, as she looks up and strangles more air. "More language! I missed this as well!"

She flicks her menu open, and materializes a squishy red ball, which she proceeds to squeeze, strangle, and otherwise manhandle with unprecedented intensity as she tries to steady her breakneck breathing. "...I'm calm, I'm calm," she says. Nobody in their right mind will believe her. "I had no idea that the whole of Yamato was quarantined, either. I wonder how this ties into the Chaos Gates being broken... if it's the same quarantine, or... something else..." Lip tapping. Seems like changing the subject did have a soothing effect on her.

She glances down, and notices that the phonograph has reached the end of the cylinder by now. "Oh, that reminds me. They played another song I hadn't heard before. Just a minute..."
She removes the shellac cylinder currently being played, engages in more menu navigation, causes the cylinder to shimmer and when the light subsides...

...nothing obvious seems to have happened.

"Here," she says, and after squatting down to reach the device on the ground, she places the cylinder into the phonograph and starts the playback. Soon a new song begins; what she did, apparently, was replacing a shellac cylinder with one which looked a lot like the first. "The Seventh Song."
Jazuhanzu
Yamato - -77 - 22 - 0

"The Alv made Spatjahr. Spatjahr said the Erufu resonated with the Harmoinic Frequency of her creators. She clarified that the 'harmonic frequency' was something we knew of as the 'language of the flugel'." She looks on. "Sorry. There's a lot of information. I'm still sorting it out. It was kind of overloading and I haven't even gotten to the end of it yet." She pauses, though, and then listens to the song for UTa. She listen, head tilting. Observes the phonograph for a moment, marvelling as it briefly once more.
Uta
Yamato - -77 - 22 - 0

"Oh, that!" Uta exclaims. And then /frowns/. "...Erufu has the language of the Alv?! This... This is /big/!" She punches her fist. "I must get in touch with her as soon as possible."

Uta's squeezing stops all at once. She freezes in place, and looks at Jazz for a moment, head slightly tilted herself. "Let's... let's suspend this for now, sorry. Take a break if you need to. I keep treating you the way people treat Spahtjar. Neither of you is an answer vending machine. You should be treated like people."

Uta sits down, cross legged. She places her elbows on her knees, and lets her forearm fall limp. "After our foray in the caves of Ezzo, I came back to study the Chims multiple times...", Uta begins. "They resonated with, and hummed, three specific songs which I eventually transcribed. It turns out that, in that particular cave, they are resonating with exactly the three songs associated with strange moods. The Primordial song, the First Song to be Sung, known to Adventurers as song 40. The Earth Song, the Second Song to be sung, known as song 41. And the Eternity Song, the Third Song to be sung, known to us as song 42."

She lets out a big sigh. "I kept it mostly to myself because I wasn't sure if it was wise to let other people know about this... I mean..." She turns to Jazz with a mixture of melancholic rapture and fear in her eyes. "These songs sound like they could do /so much/ if one knew how to use them properly, but if they were to fall in the wrong hands..."

An involuntary shudder runs down her spine, making her wings flutter.
Jazuhanzu
Yamato - -77 - 22 - 0

"Yes, I gather that's what Proteus was on about, but once we start deciding whose hands are and aren't right, we start setting ourselves up as arbiters of righteousness and correctness. I'm not especially willing to do that," says Jazz. "I understand the danger, of course, and it's not that I disagree that caution is warranted." Jazz waves her hand dismissively at her other statements, however, seeming to be fine with it. She did listen, nodding. "I get it. The songs. I'm aware of them, and of them being so important, but I admit it hasn't exactly been on my 'radar'." She clutches the astrolabe in her hand. When did she take that out? Just now, apparently. She turns it over and inspects it a moment.

"No, I don't know that Erufu has the 'langauge of the alv'. Just that she has a resonance with it. It's certainly worth following up on. SHe tried to claim she wasn from a 'Forgotten Realm', though." A slight eye-roll. "Roleplayers can sometimes be difficult, myself included, and so Spatjahr suggested her 'cosmosphere might be damaged'. I tried to get her to explain, but I didn't have clearance. Really need to get friend level two someday. You need to get friend level one."
Uta
Yamato - -77 - 22 - 0

Uta, in the middle of all that, will also mention how she suspects it would not be wise to just /publish/ the song scores on publich channels and put them up for grabs to everyone, but will ask Jazz's opinion on that.
Jazuhanzu
Yamato - -77 - 22 - 0

"Besides, who says this language even belongs to us? We might need to explore it, but the langauge doesn't *belong* to us. It's an inheritance of the people native to this world, too, presumably. I suppose it depends on the nature of the Alv-slash-Flugel as well. things are much more complicated than dream of in my philosophy, etcetera." She lets out a breath, then wiggles her fingers at her sides, hair continuing to waft casually in the wind. "I won't refuse to be such a holder, should you want me to be. I'd be honroed with the trust you place in me in that way." 5r
And then there is a pause and her hand goes over her face as Uta comments on sounding like Spatjahr. "I was meaning getting you to friend level one WITH Spatjahr, you enormous dork." She ignores the rest of the comment.

...extremely pointedly.
Uta
Yamato - -77 - 22 - 0

Uta goes silent.

Very silent.

Very, very silent.

"...Oh," is all she says afterwards, fidgeting with her fingers.

"...I am honoured that you want me to be friends with Spahtjahr. But..." Her head sinks a little into her shoulders, and she begins to fidget with her fingers. "...are you sure it's okay to let a... ah... a massive dork loose around someone who can wipe a Leviathan? The... the dangers of faux passes is very real."

The breeze picks up slightly, and she begins to pace around. "You know, never for one moment I thought about a language /belonging/ to anyone. I was just trying to... get to know it. In fact-"

She turns to Jazz. "...you know, I'm not even sure /why/ I'm so deep into it. I suppose... because it's cool? Because it ties to Songs, and ever since discovering that people resonate with Songs, I felt this was some sort of mission for me specifically due to the strange coincidence of seeing my name mentioned? Also because no matter what I research, how much it seems NOT to relate to songs... it ends up relating to songs. Or maybe because..." she extends and spreads her arms, fingers splayed, as if for directing attention to something (but pointing at nothing in particular), "...just because it's /there/? You know what we humans are like. We- wait. Am I... do we..." She glances over her shoulders, and gives her wings a good flick. "...are we even human anymore?"

She lets that question linger for a moment, but then she shakes her head. "There is one thing I haven't mentioned yet... that holographic old man in Alne, you know, the one sitting on a chair- did I mention the holovideo started by showing the chair only? Anyway, he started off by saying, 'Years, decades, centuries... I do not know how long it has been when you see this message.'" She even sort of imitates the intonation of the man. "Well, okay that alone doesn't mean much -- but the specifics are that he followed up by saying, 'Today, you lifted a Quarantine. Uniting my daughters. If my theories are correct, this means that you will be given a greater reign over this world.'" She lets that sink in. "Jazz, one thing worth of note is, you did in one year what could have conecivably taken centuries." Uta smiles to Jazz. "And the other thing of note is-" She goes somber. "...the recording implies that it might have been centuries /before lifting the quarantine/." She taps her chin. "I'm not sure centuries since when, since he didn't mention when he started counting, but still, it sounds like..." Another glance at Jazz. "...that we should be ready for the possibility that we will be stuck for... a long time."
Jazuhanzu
Yamato - -77 - 22 - 0

"Uta."

Jazz says the name in the way someone with a history of being exasperated might just do. Resigned and slightly exasperated. Her tentacles twitch to and fro, wiggling from side to side in little s shapes as her hair moves. She stops, finally, as Uta instead begins to pace more actively. She observes her slowly, eyes tracking the movemenets as she gets to the part about not even being sure as to her own humanity. She lets out qa sigh for a moment and then turns her gaze to look down once again at her feet and her form more directly. Her gills seem to flex slightly, as if she is dwelling on their presence.

"Yes," she finally says, "That's a complicated question, Uta. I don't think any of us are so far from our origins that we can truly say we've graduated into something 'other' than human. And even if we told ourselves that, we're still ultimately rooted in a particularly human conception of what life is. You're a human with pointy ears and wings. I'm an underwater human. Other people are tall humans, or short humans. Perhaps only those with animal traits and instincts aside can lay claim to be something more, but in the end, are we still not merely animals? The nature of consciousness and the soul isn't known to us, and for all we know, we're simply ghostly echoes -- simulated thoughts and arcing lightning in machinery based off our thought patterns, evolving and checked only by the constraints of our code-base. Who knows?"

"Ultimately, the only answer is how each of us feels inside, and no one knows the answer to that but you. Some people might lie to themselves, divorce themselves from who they used to because of pain, or because of home sickness. Easier to be a new person, or a new thing, than who they were if they can't go home. Others might launch themselves into this as an adventure -- a chance to try to be someone they weren't before even if, more than likely, their root personality traits will ensure they return to type. I think it better to just say..."

She looks out towards the ocean once more before stepping towards it, letting the waves lap over her feet, her voice trailing off.

"...no, perhaps he was right. Better to say that we should be careful of who we pretend to be because, in the end, that will be all we have left when the last day in this world comes."

She turns back around towards Uta as she continues to talk about what happened in Alne. she tilts her head at her. "...daughters. Perhaps he means the Goddesses?"
Uta
Yamato - -77 - 22 - 0

Uta takes in the whole of Jazz's speech in silence. And leaves some time aftewrds for reflection. "Sounds solid. I'm obsessed with trying not to pretend, but not having a clear reference point of what is reality and what is illusion kind of leaves me off-balance. I suppose I'm overthinking it... I should just do whatever and not worry. It's... it's not like we knew much more about the Nature of Existence and the Ultimate Truths of the Universe out there..." She trais off. "...or back then...", she adds, quietly.

"There's only one thing I'm missing: who is it that was right?"

"Perhaps," Uta concedes, at the mention of the Goddesses. "There seem to be strong hints that this person is at least partially responsible for... something, around here. And yet, instead of clear, direct language, he speaks in riddles, dropping vague and easily misinterpreted sentences. He spoke of an 'invention' of his during the Apocalypse , so he must be some sort of scientist, or technically-minded person. Then... why does he use a language more fit for a sibyl?"
Jazuhanzu
Yamato - -77 - 22 - 0

"So start from the beginning about the event in Alne," says Jazz, wanting to go over it again, her attentuion turning back to Uta once more. "Let's hear what he had to say. I feel a bit ... uncomfortable with how much I might have changed things by acting unilaterally. It's not really my style," she adds, sheepishly.
Uta
Yamato - -77 - 22 - 0

"Well, see," Uta begins. "we were all partying, having a good time, I heard there were the Travelers known as Hestia and Ganesha going around, the former dragging some guy around, and the latter being boisterous. Magical fireworks, mages had set up light spells to draw a clock... the works! Then a group of Landers walks up to the stage. Instruments, drums, and even the High Priestess of the Church of Law, bearing a blindfold! Clearly, there was going to be music, so I whipped out my phonograph and..."

She gestures at the item on the ground. "You've heard what happened next. The Eternity Song. Most people were probably not even aware of what they were hearing." Uta shakes her head, then continues, "They moved on to the Seventh song, which you've also heard..." more gesturing at the phonograph. "Countdown, midnight, happy new year, fireworks, et cetera et cetera."

"Then a shimmer of light gathered around the tower, as if something was going to breach through. And when it does manage to do so... all we seen is some giant holo-chair."

"An old man shimmered into vision. Really, really old. White flowing hair and all. He was trembling and needed a cane to prop himself up. He turned his eyes to us, and started his speech, the one I've related earlier, you know. 'Years, decades, centuries... I do not know how long it has been when you see this message. I left this world to my Daughters. And in turn, I gifted my Daughters to you.'" Once again, she will imitate the tone of voice of the old man. "There was a bunch of ones and zeros rushing by at the bottom of the picture. And then he continued, 'Today, you lifted a Quarantine. Uniting my daughters. If my theories are correct, this means that you will be given a greater reign over this world.' More numbers rushed by, and then he finished with 'Take good care of this world. And remember, if you desire to know the secrets of this world, or require a way out, seek out the towers, and find the Keys of Twilight.', before disappearing without much fanfare." She sighs. "Pretty much like the people from the Church of Law, who probably decided it was reeeeeally awkward, and started leaving."
Jazuhanzu
Yamato - -77 - 22 - 0

Jazz's cheeks puff out adorably as she lets out a sigh. Yes, this is probably about as cute as one might imagine it to be. A hand is raised and she pinches the bridge of her nose between two fingers slowly as she listens, as if a headache is impending. "And this was the same guy from last year we had speak to us in the first place, right? Binary code... I wonder if anyone knows what to make of that one and -- wait, I'm sorry, keys? Towers?" She blinks her eyes.

"OH no."
Uta
Yamato - -77 - 22 - 0

Uta nods. "Keys. Towers. Many were surprised at that." She gestures vaguely at the air. "I am sure there's plenty of computer people and and codebreakers among the playerbase. They certainly have a new project to work on." Uta turns towards Jazz with an apologetic look. "I... I'm afraid I'm not one of them."

She looks down, and that stress ball gets a few, hard squishes between long pauses. "...I think I've mentioned that, out of ETO, I used to despise and avoid computers as hard as I could, right?"
Uta
Yamato - -77 - 22 - 0

Uta nods. "Keys. Towers. Many were surprised at that." She gestures vaguely at the air. "The man did look like the same from last year, but so, so much older. Like, with long flowing white hair, and was shaking, with old age apparently, he needed a cane to support himself. It didn't look like the kind of thing that happens naturally in only one year."

"I am sure there's plenty of computer people and and codebreakers among the playerbase. They certainly have a new project to work on." Uta turns towards Jazz with an apologetic look. "I... I'm afraid I'm not one of them."

She looks down, and that stress ball gets a few, hard squishes between long pauses. "...I think I've mentioned that, out of ETO, I used to despise and avoid computers as hard as I could, right?"
Uta
Yamato - -77 - 22 - 0

Uta gets that puzzled look once again. "What do you mean with 'oh, no'?"
Jazuhanzu
Yamato - -77 - 22 - 0

"... how could be so much older, this doesn't make sense. What is even happening? Time is always giving me a headache in this place." Jazz pinches the bridge of her nose harder and takes a step back. For a moment, she looks like she might be on the verge of a panic attack. Her eyes go to and fro as she wrestles with several deeply possible uncomfortable facts. It's written all over her face.

She forcibly settles herself down, steels herself. Some degree of calm returns, but she's still rattled.

"Towers. Keys. Scale Emblem. Waves. And I just made it possible for them to go find them."
Uta
Yamato - -77 - 22 - 0

"Oh. That. Well." Uta scratches her head. "I have about as much idea as to what is happening as anyone else around here."

Uta scratches her head. "...Maybe? We don't know if other towers will cause waves as well? Maybe it's just ours?" She begins to pace around the area. "Okay, uhm, that raises another question at this point. You mentioned a Quarantine. It will be interesting to see if the other areas also have trapped Adventurers. Or Adventurers at all, trapped or not."

"I don't know, Jazz, I don't know myself," Uta finally sighs, and moves to sit down on the grass, cross-legged. "I have this nagging feeling that the Waves are a misdirection. Maybe not /only/ a misdirection, but-"

She glances at Jazz. "I've heard rumors that there might be Otherworlders around and active in Yamato, even outside the waves. Probably people who came here and never left, working to sabotage or destroy our world. If that were the case..."

She shakes her head. No longer is the red squishy stress ball squeezed, now it's twirled playfully in her hands. "I understand that you don't like the Waves. But now I'm curious about your opinion on whether or not Scale finding the Keys would be a good or bad thing. It seems to be a pretty heated subject of debate of late."
Jazuhanzu
Yamato - -77 - 22 - 0

"If they're misdirection, they're going to work. There's no way we can afford not to deal with them. People die if we don't." Jazz scowls briefly, blinking her eye sat Uta as he eyes fix on the squishy red ball. Just making sure it's not a slime. Just in case.

"A bad thing, in the sense that Scale isn't going to do enough to stop them and has seemed largely content to let other people clean up the mess they make as a grup every time they clear a tower level."
Uta
Yamato - -77 - 22 - 0

"I am not saying that we shouldn't deal with them, of course," Uta hurries to add. "But if they /are/ misdirection for a main plan, which comes to fruition, then everyone is going to die."

"At least, everyone the Otherworlders want to kill."

The red ball is not a slime, but still it's rather malleable. Case in point, Uta stretches it to three or four times its original radius right now, and once relased, it snaps back into place.

Okay, for the pedant, that is technically "ductile". We'll concede that as well.

"I suppose we're dicussing questions too big for us to tackle, at the the moment. We should focus on something smaller and closer to home." She sucks in her lips and asks, "What now?"
Jazuhanzu
Yamato - -77 - 22 - 0

"Which seems to be a lot of people. Makes me wonder what they're really after. I've heard before they believe we're going to destroy them somehow, but ... I don't have any verification of it. It's just weird stuff."

Jazz lets out a breath, then shej turns back around to face Uta at last. "Y-...yeah. This is .. I'm going to, I guess, set sail. Go west. Find the next region. Find the next tower. Maybe some of the adventurers in other regions, if they were trapped like we were in Yamato, will have learned some things that can help us."
Uta
Yamato - -77 - 22 - 0

Uta nods in acknowledgement to Jazuhanzu's plan. "Good luck with your sailing." She picks up the phonograph, holds it up the way a waiter would hold up a serving tray, and navigates her menu with her other hand, extending her index finger away from the stress ball which the rest of the hand is clutching; with the last jab, the phonograph shimmers away into her inventory. "I am not sure myself about what's going on, I think I've mentioned in the past how scarce the information which reaches me is." She looks down and mumbles, "But it's perhaps best if I stay the very, very away from the Waves."
Jazuhanzu
Yamato - -77 - 22 - 0

"You think so?" asks Jazz with an arched eyebrow. "I've been to ... one fight there. It wasn't pleasent. It was, in fact, terrifying." She looks down at her hands. "It's what got me thinking about how to make something like the Red Chain in the first place. Fortunately, a better suited mind was able to take the lead on actually making it happen."
Uta
Yamato - -77 - 22 - 0

Uta nods "I have reasons to believe that my presence would be more of a liability than a benefit."

"Oh, who was who helped make the Red Chain a reality? Too bad it's officially considered a NWA organization. I so wish I could be a full-fledged member!", Uta exclaims. "I guess I will have to be content with providing external support."

Voice lowered, head inching close to Jazz's, she smiles, "Speaking of which, would the Red Chain be interested in some Heal Slimes? Brand new discovery of mine. They eat away wounds."
Jazuhanzu
Yamato - -77 - 22 - 0

Jazuhanzu leans away from Uta as she leans closer. Impending contact of some kind is something best avoided!

"...yes, I think we would be. Talk to Yeowang. Healing ... slimes ... would be great. I didn't really want it to be an 'NWA organization', but there's a few reasons -- video gamey ones, I'd guess, as to why it has to be. My hope is that the Landers will continue to take point with it and it'll grow over time once the other Kingdoms see it can be effective."
Uta
Yamato - -77 - 22 - 0

"I also had dreams of a non-alliance aligned entity. But we will do what we can. In the meantime, I'm glad you've let me know about all this, and-" she puts up what she believes must be the most accomodating grin she manages, but one of her eyes twitch. "-I think the frustration for having missing the event has passed."

The violence being unleashed on that stress ball says otherwise. "For now, I have to return to... things," she announces, while some navigation of her menu materializes her staff in her hand. "I will head back to the Isle of Beginning, have some important matters to look into, but once I'm back, I'd be very glad to meet Spahtjahr." She bows, turns, and as she disappears into the distance, she mutters, "Where by very glad I actually mean terrified."

Should someone tell her that the port lies the opposite way?