The Babylonian Calendar

Uta sits cross-legged somewhere in the grass. She's scribbling something in a notebook. It seems to involve dates, timelines, crosses and dependencies. "...oh, and that was definitely after the incident with the ferret slime and the fireworks. So that narrows it down to somewhere close to early-mid April," she mumbles to herself as she crosses more days off a small calendar-like grid. A lot of days have been crossed out, now only a few ones are remaining, between the seventh and thirteen of April, 300 After The Princess War (or 2013, if people still use the out-of-ETO calendar). She stretches out, then scratches her head with the back of her pencil. "Close. Very close."

Exploring Dol Dona has been Jazz's reason to be lately.

She's murmuring to herself. "Thor Kingdom? But why Thor? The aesthetic feels.."

She trails off, definitively, when she sees Uta and she very, very casually turns around and starts heading the other direction. NOPE. DEFINITELY NOT GOING TO BE UTA'D TODAY INTO MISCHIEF!

    The new city filled with Gnomes and Pookas is fascinating, but Fuka's actually a little bored. Not for lack of something to do, but for lack of .... for a better way of putting it, lack of what makes Fuka Fuka. It's hard being on her best behaviour for fear of messing things up for others and being seen as less than desirable on future expeditions.

    Spotting Uta, Fuka senses an opportunity to relax. She wanders on over casually, not a care in the world, and flops out on the grass near the Kung Fu Scholar. Kicking her feet up into the air and wriggling her legs around, she makes a loud attention-getting sigh. "What is a ferret-slime anyways? Besides adorable. Is it a long skinny tube? Does it get everywhere? Does it steal stuff?"

"Yes, does it need to be anything else really, yes, yes, and yes, respectively," Uta replies to Fuka. "Hence why it getting into the fireworks stash is such a memorable event to work as a dating landmark."

With perfect cinematic timing, Jazz walks into view just as Uta was stretching and looking in the distance.

Cue a tense moment of Uta standing still.

"Hi Jazz!", she beams, ecstatic. "Let me guess, you want to know what I'm doing, right?"

Given how she's turned the other way and has started walking away, consensus would be that she probably doesn't, but Uta doesn't seem to pick up on that.

"Remember when, last year, there was a brief breakdown in the translation system, and for a short moment, nobody could understand people who spoke a different language any longer??", Uta frowns, in concentration. "I am trying to determine, /exactly/ when that was." She looks up to Jazz, rattling out, "I have been told that the tower, over there-" she gestures in the direction where the Palace Land tower is. "is called the Tower of Babel by the locals. And a traveler we once met mentioned that she believes that the Babylon signal is an Alv invention located in the Palace lands. /Now/-" Uta inhales deeply. "I suspect we might be close to the source of the Babylon signal, and was planning to ask the natives if anything of interest happened around these parts on that specific day."

"OH HI UTA," says Jazz, loudly, her voice entirely too twee and adorable to not be the invention of anime.

"Didn't see you there! I was just on my way, you kn ow ... somewhere to ... map things! Yes!" She did tell Uta to find her. She just didn't think it woiuld be quite so soon, or here. "Fancy meeting you here!" She lifts a hand in her direction, then she pauses and listens to what the girl has to say, nodding along with it, then pausing. "No, wait. I mean, I heard about it, but I wasn't with anyone when it happened so I sort of don't know WHEN it happened." She bites the tp ofi her tongue as her face scrunches up in thought. "I've heard the same, though."

    The babylon event happened when Fuka was just a young sylph scared of her own shadow, so to speak. It wasn't anything she took significant notice of, for reasons. Fortunately though, she's become more herself since then, and the concept is actually much more interesting now that she socializes heavily.

    "Memorable indeed! We need to get some of those. And, I'm not saying we need to release them somewhere public, but imagine how much fun would result!" says the little blonde gremlin. She may not be entirely serious here, of course.

    But the important thing, at least at the moment, is talk of the Babylon Tower. "That might be something worth checking out." Fuka agrees, shifting gears. Still sprawled out on the grass, mind you. "I've been asking around about songs and culture. Can you believe how they have no new songs on this server? Disappointing!" she notes. There, some lore dumped of her own! And yes, Fuka seems to be treating this world as a game. This has been your daily Fuka Insight. "So what do we do next?"

"I know, right?," Jazz gets as a response from Uta. "I definitely remember it happened because I was with some Western buddies. They were celebrating some festivity they had made up, called Double Fool Day because April 11 is, like April 1, but with double the mount of ones. Luckily I can speak English, so we could quickly resume conversation." She grimaces and digs her fingers into her scalp, scratching violently. "Arrrgh! On what day did that happen! It's so hard to pinpoint!" She sighs. "Let's see... was it the 8th? Hmm... no, Bingo the Hunter kept rambling about that sleuth he just trained, and I'm pretty sure he got that on the 10th, since he named it 'Ten.'"

She looks up, gaze lost in the distance, as she taps her lips with her pencil. "...at least I /think/ that Bingo was his name?"

"I have been looking into those myself," Uta mumbles, "same result. I've even brought my own phonograph..." She flicks her menu open, and in a shimmer of light, a device the size of a small suitcase makes its appearance. It appears to use a shellac cylinder as a recording medium. "I was so eager to record more for my collection." And turning to Fuka again, "Even slimes are pretty much the same, overall," she mumbles. "At least I got me a sweet Ratcat slime. We don't have those in Yamato."

Uta shrugs at Fuka. "I suppose I finally figure out what date that glitch took place in, and then I go ask the locals if they remember anything odd taking place."

    Uta's recording cylinder makes Fuka sit up and take notice. Yes, literally. She misses her original world's music. Not that she's disappointed by this world's music, though the lack of variety is a bit depressing. The worst part is the lack of her dear friend who introduced her to certain music in that original world. Missing the music is, after all, more symbolic of that missing friendship than anything else.

    She doesn't mope about simply missing her other-world friend though. Fuka's not that sort of girl. She picks up a small clod of clingy dirt and tosses it at Uta, no malice or force behind the dirty assault. Just a physical statement if you will. "I asked what WE will do next." she complains. Making it clear she's not merely willing to help out, but that she insists.

As Uta speaks, Jazz's palm slowly creeps up to her face and then presses against her forehead. Her tentacles twitch for a moment and she just looks ... pained.

"Right. ANyway," she clears her throat, "I'm glad to see you made it over here. How long have you been here?" she asks, moving closer to Uta, now. Might as well. The damage is done. Her thouht process has been lost, whatever passes for her thought process these days anyway.

A glance towards Fukaziroh. A nod in her direction, polite enough, studying her with those almost-lambent eyes.

Uta's first reaction is of shock. She turns to use her back to shield the phonograph's delicate mechanisms from the dirt. The device is rugged and all, but it took so much Accessory Forging to make...

SO MUCH ACCESSORY FORGING.

Once the elemental Earth attack is over, Uta turns to look at Fuka with surprise.

Her smile widens.

"Excellent!", she exclaims, and after a few maneuvers with her menu, the phonograph is gone again. "We could all go ask around, then. The more, the merrier. And the higher the chance we'll find something of note. Say, do we know if the locals have some sort of library system? Legal records? We could start researching those."

Uta blinks at Jazz. "Uhm, it's been some time. I think I arrived within a week or two the first expedition?" She scratches her head. "Been losing track a bit." But then she beams. "Oh, oh, but I've heard that you're one of the pioneers who made the first trip through! Congratulations! I knew you'd achieve another amazing feat of exploration to add to your already long list of amazing feats of exploration!"

    Fuka grins. That's more like it! Jazu gets a glance. Fukaziroh appreciates her largely because Uta does, and Jazu seems playful besides. A good combination. But so far at least, it's Uta she's bonding with here. So obsessively nerdy. Jazu might find Uta's speech giving her headaches, but that just amuses Fuka even more. She doesn't understand, but it's okay, she doesn't need to!

    "They have a library, yeah." Fukaziroh states casually. She's been in it. "Dunno if they have the sort of records we're looking for, but it's a place to start. Sounds interesting. People babbling, and here there's a Babble-On Tower."

    It's possible Fuka's aware of the actual legendary basis for the term Babble, but also it's possible she's ignorantly just making a pun.

    Fuka glances back at Jazu, considering, when Uta mentions her exploits. "Explorer, huh? Could come in handy. Want to explore a library? Or... maybe we should break into this Babble-On Tower!" she invites. "I might have a key of some kind. Though I didn't get it here, so ... hm. Probably not. Don't know what it's for, but I'm told I should be able to figure it out."

"We're not breaking into the Babylon Tower," answers Jazz, bluntly, to Fuka. "We're not breaking anything. We're guests here and we will remain guests in good standing. None of this beloings to us," Jazz gestures around, seeming firm in this coinviction and stiffening. She does, however, pause as she clears her throat. "Yeah, I was one of the first on th way over. I mean, how could I not be? It's sort of my fault the door got kicked in anyway, even if all I did was follow some breadcrumbs left behind." The tips of her tentacles are twitching as she sells herself short, at least to some degree. "I'm not sure why you think the list is long, though. It's not."

"Still," she turns back to Fuka, "I'm always interested in a library."

"A key, huh?" She taps her chin. "I mean, I haven't played many recent videogames, but in the days of ooooooooooold, if you found a key, it was a pretty strong hint that you should use it to go into a place." She scratches her head. "Videogames have gotten far more realistic now, I see, there even is discouragement from picking up everything you come across in the form of law enforcement and angry Landers... and there still is the possibility that this is not a game anymore, which, as Jazz mentions, would mean we're dealing with real people with real feelings and all that-"

Hesitation.

"...follows."

"Still, if you have a 'key of sorts', whose purpose, I infer from context, you have no idea of, that's a line of investigation worth exploring."

Uta perks up at Jazz. "Oh, oh, exploration! That reminds me! The thing!"

Uta flicks through her inventory, and materializes a box covered in the kind of muck that lines lake floors. It is, in fact, so encrusted that it looks like a block made out of lake floor. "I found the thing you told me to find!", she says, marching towards Jazz to hand her the box. "It was tricky because it was a bit off from wher you said it would be. I guess the currents must have moved it. And it was blending into its surroundings so well it's a miracle I spotted it at all. But I eventually did!", Uta exclaims, extending the package, with a smile. "By the way, amazing work, you and Goldenblade should trade camouflaging tips."

    Fuka looks disappointed but not terribly surprised at Jazu's rejection of her idea. She's used to flat-out rejection of some of her more fun ideas. But she's not giving up on the idea entirely. "Oh, I don't seriously mean we should break anything." she says, waving a hand dismissively. It'd be fun, but that's not the most fun part for sure. "Maybe we should ask permission, that's all. Or find out if exploring it is something they'd be interested in us doing, that's all!" she backpedals.

    Uta's suggestions about Fuka's 'key' has the little blonde thinking though. She begins to rummage around with her inventory system, stalling slightly. "I've played all those video games." she says, almost as if boasting. Maybe not literally all of them, but surely many! "And yeah, it'd be rude not to consider the Landers' feelings. Some are jerks, but then so are some of us! And some Landers are happy to help Adventurers who do good things."

    As if that previous phrase was significant, she chooses that moment to produce her 'key'. It's a 'spike' that seems 'odd'. There's no real indication it might be a key, and no indication it's NOT a key. No real indication what about it is 'odd' either. Probably doesn't seem entirely worldly, either arcane or non-euclidian perhaps. Fuka doesn't present it for close examination in either case, just revealing that she has something neat. She intends to be the one to figure it out, somehow, and wouldn't like someone else taking over the item investigation. Personal reasons, personal item. But not a secret, not exactly.

"A Key?" asks JAzz of Fukaziroh, turning her gaze back to her when Uta speaks of that, then she shrugs her shoulders, tentacles flipping over them to go doiwn her back instead and braid into her hair casually.
% r"...oh, uh. You did. That's... that's great, Uta." She stares at her for a moment, then reaches out to the box. How could that be true? She was fairly sure she made sure that the current *wouldn't* grab it.. Unless..

Unless..

With trepidation, Jazz opens the box.

Uta takes as long a look at Fuka's spike as she can under the circumstances. "...That item looks odd, yes. I'm afraid I cannot help with that, alas."

"NO! WAIT!", Uta exclaims, reaching for the Undine.

But it's too late. Whatever kind of muck or gunk that was keeping the box closed, finally gives, and the lid can be opened.
ta stands there in shock, her arm still extended. "...It was the best camouflage box ever. I'll never find such a great box again..." Her voice on the verge of cracking. She really liked that thing, and now it's ruined. Ruined forever!

Inside is- a purple sphere. Roughly baseball sized, looking organic but very hard, it certainly looks like something one doesn't see every day.

    Fukaziroh shrugs and puts away the spike. She didn't expect any startling revelations about it, and intends to look into things. It's not urgent, but it's something she has a personal interest in. She'll definitely have to involve others later though!

    Fuka eyes the box with interest. Some sort of hidden treasure box? Underwater? One that... she pauses, considers. One that Jazz didn't entirely expect to be found for some reason? Okay that just makes it even more intriguing.

    "Is that a pearl?" Fuka asks. Okay, no it probably isn't. But Fuka's train of thought is submerged now. She grins, patting Uta's shoulder. "We can get you another camouflage box." she soothes. "Actually, aren't Spriggans known for stealth? This should be easy then! We can pry into hidden secrets of hiding!"

"Hm."

Jazz is studying the key before she finishes opening the box when Fuka puts it back away. She's definitely interested. But then there's a purple orb. And she's just kind of staring at it. "What even ... yes, Uta. My plan worked. You found it."

Just about anyone (anyone being Fuka in this case) can tell Jazz is totally thrown. This is not what she expected at all, but she nods solemnly anyway. "VEry good work, Uta. I'm very impressed you were able to find it even with the currents. Does this mean you've finally mastered the magic of water?"

She sounds somewhat distracted as she's saying it, as if her mind is almost entirely elsewhere.

"Thanks!", Uta exclaims, ecstatic. And then hesitates. "I... I don't know? I mean- wait. Was that the last challenge? The final exam? I've built my own lightsaber, except it's more like the kind of ball you hit with a lightsaber than the lightsaber itself, and that I didn't build it, but just found it?" She scratches her head. "I- in that case... does this mean I've graduated?"

As a result of having confused herself, she returns to cheerfulness, "I did it! I finally did it! I no longer have to worry about my lack of water! This finally brings closure to my insecurities and answers all the questions I had except, well-" She tilts her head and points at the box, "...what /is/ that?"

    Curious about the box contents herself, Fuka has to wonder if maybe Jazz hid the chest specifically to get rid of Uta for a time. But nah, that's foolishness! Who wouldn't want Uta around? She comes up with so many amazing ideas, like building a lightsaber! "We should totally build a lightsaber." Fuka notes, apropos of this whole idea. Fuka is also easily distracted.

"...well, I guess you *could* build a lightsaber," muses Jazz, "It should be possible. I bet Giganpor could help. Some kind of... anyway..."

Jaszz is glad for the topic change. "Yes. That was it. You were already casting water magic, albeit uncointrolled. I just wanted you to see you could dive down far enough to reach the .. sphere. Yes. The sphere." It was totally not the sphere, but everyone around them BUT Uta probably already figured it out. She's not going to let that get in the way of letting Uta think she won, thoiugh.

"The Sphere," Uta whispers in reverent awe, like those aliens from Galaxy Quest did upon meeting their heroes. "So, uh, what do we do with-" Silence. Reverent awe, "-The Sphere-" Back to normal voice, "-now?" She's being polite about it, but it's clear she likes The Sphere, by the way she's making puppy eyes at it.

And then the discussion switches back to Lightsabrs, "Probably, yes. Some sort of Enchanting? Light and Fire come to mind as venues one could try to embed into a weapon to sort of simulate that effect..."

    Being an Enchanter, creating a lightsaber is theoretically within Fuka's capabilities. "I mean, I kind of like air for that." Fuka enthuses. Because she's a minmaxer as well as a roleplayer, and she has a significant advantage in air. "Because of lightning, shaped and controlled right? Fire and light work too I guess, but a lightning blade would be awesome!"

    She examines the purple sphere, captivated by Uta's interest. She raises a hand, little flares of electricity coming out and going nowhere. "Hm. No idea what that is." she says. Maybe her evaluation would have worked better with something more attuned towards her own elements. Water is one of her weakest. "Maybe you should get someone to look at it? Someone good with ... water?" she pauses, and directs her intent gaze at Jazu. A slow grin spreading. Yeaaah, she strongly suspects Jazz has no idea what it is.

After Fuka finishes examining it, Jazz pauses a moment and then activates one of her own spells. If it's that interesting, she might as well take a more official look.

There is a pause.

"Well... it's fancy. You could prbably vendor it for a bunch of pointless money, but there's something about it that tells me you should hang on to it. You were meant to find it, after all," she adds, thoughtfully, "I mean, I meant for you to find it."

A nod.

Uta can barely contain herself. "I- I get to keep it? Thanks, Jazz! Thanks!"

She reaches for it, reverently, and if Jazz allows, she will take the Camouflage Box, reverently, take a reverent look with a lot of quiet oooohs, and aaahs, and then, when she's satisfied, close the box and navigate her menu.

Only to turn to the box, opening again, stealing another glance, let out a few more oohs and aaah (duly reverent), and -finally- disappear it away.

"I will never be able to thank you for all your expert and wise training in the Element of Water, Jazz! I will make sure you are dutifully rewarded for it!" Uta goes to the length of kowtowing in gratitude. One, two, three times, and then-

She stops. And stares.

Uta.exe has crashed.

"...A lightning sword /would/ be cool..."