Ryan: Oh, shit. Um... is everyone else seeing what I'm seeing? Derek: You mean the whole "the way we came doesn't exist anymore" thing? Ryan: ...Yeah. That. We did test that square before we went in, right? I'm not going crazy? Akilah: We definitely tested the square, and it sure as hell didn't do this. Ryan: *Sigh*. Okay. No need to panic. Obviously we're not in any serious danger, or these people wouldn't be shooting the shit like this. Taylor: They probably know a way out! Ryan: ...Yeah, or they've been stuck here long enough for apathy to set in. Well, might as well ask. Hey, you guys wouldn't mind explaining what's up with this square, would you?
Kyris: I think the easiest way to explain this place is that there exist countless realities and this is a point where those realities converge, thus here we all are. There should be no problem at all for you to return back where you came from when you so desire. There have been people coming and going here all the time. And welcome and greetings, my name is Kyris, prince of Gaea - the third planet in the Helios System. Jefrye: I am Jefrye, Admiral in the Inter-Planetary Armada. Pleased to meet you. Davian: Davian - Captain of the Star Raider, at your service. Luekas: Name's Luekas. I am First Mate on board the Star Raider. Who are you people? Kyris: What he means is, why not tell us about yourselves and the world you come from. We are happy to answer any questions you may have about ours.
Ryan: ... Derek: ... Akilah: ... Taylor: Hi! Nice to meet you! I'm Taylor! These are Akilah, Derek and Ryan. Ryan: Uh... yeah, sorry about that, this is just... a lot to take in. Derek: You mean you believe it? Ryan: Don't seem to have much choice. Wherever the hell we are, I can't feel "the place" from here. Derek: You're kidding. Ryan: No. We're not on Earth anymore. Probably not even in the same plane of reality. Akilah: Or it could just be negating our powers. (Akilah holds her hand out to the side, and a portal in space opens up to reveal a bookshelf) Akilah: ...Guess... not. Taylor: Do we have time to talk to them, then? Ryan: ...I don't see why not. ...Shit, though, where do we even begin? The way the world was a year ago, or the way the world is now? Long story short, my friends and I are on a trip to... find something. We don't know what it is, just that I know exactly what direction it's in, and after a bit of amateur triangulation we're pretty sure it's in a place on the opposite side of the continent from us. So we're going there. Because at this point... I just kinda wanna know. Derek: Correction: We wanna know. There's gotta be something there worth giving a rat's ass about. Taylor: ...Wait... those guys said something about spaceships, didn't they? Oh god, imagine if we were spacefaring before Gridfall. What a horrible way to die. Ughhhhh... locked up in a dark, cold, powerless metal cage in space... Ryan: ...Damn. Yeah. Assuming Gridfall even affected space, that is. We don't really know. Akilah: I mean, even setting that aside, just imagine how Gridfall would've been for them. Imagine how much worse it would've been for electricity to stop working if these guys were used to spaceships and teleporters and stuff. (Akilah turns to Kyris and his group) Akilah: Would you guys even be able to survive?
Katsumi: It seems the, ah, Gaeans? Right, yes. Well, they explained it to you well enough, as far as I can tell. In any case, welcome! Lovely to meet new people. I am Princess Katsumi Yoshimura of Tsakato. Ayana: I am Ayana Kenes, of Lethania. Nithara: And I am Nithara Shali, also of Lethania. Sapphire: Those two aren’t ones to volunteer information. My name is Sapphire Rathani, of Liharil, capital of Sylannor. As Katsumi said, it’s good to meet you. Can you tell us about your world?
Kyris: This Gridfall you mention, what exactly was that? An EMP strike or something like that? If something like that happened in our world I think we would be able to survive. Sure, there would be the food storrage to worry about if electricity were gone, but I have no doubt that some solution would present itself. Jefrye: An entire generation would be lost if the reproduction facilities lost their power supply, however. Luekas: For you nobles maybe, but we commoners never had access to those in the first place so the children we have on the way would still be born. Davian: Kyris is right about there being no serious danger to the population as a whole, though. If only one planet was affected then the others would provide aid. For it to become a total catastrophe all the planets would have to be affected, which seems very unlikely.
Ryan: Ah, yeah, I see how it might sound like that. No, it's not talking about the "fall" of the power "grid", it was actually... I guess a massive change to the laws of physics, I guess you could say. Akilah: More like magic becoming real, honestly. One minute everything's normal, the second, poof, every human on earth gets superpowers, and now everything's... weeeeeiiiird, I guess you could say? Ryan: Every two miles the laws of physics change. Those "squares" we were talking about are those 2x2 mile squares of land. That's the "grid" in Gridfall. And they all do weird things, but electricity barely works in any of them. Derek: Yeah, we've seen a square where gravity goes sideways, a square where you can't tell a lie without being teleported ten feet straight up -- without your clothes, mind -- and then there was that square where the grass comes alive if you touch it and it tries to slice you to pieces... Taylor: Not to mention the ones that turn anyone who steps into them into mutants like me! I don't mind, though. In fact, I'm pretty happy with how I turned out! The pink skin and butterfly-wing ears are a little weird, but I love the little tail here, and trust me, it's better than how I looked before. But yeah, now that I'm already a mutant, if I stepped into another mutant square, I'd disintegrate instantly. Only the parts I put in, though, and they grow back, so... yeah, I've been dipping a lot of fingers into a lot of squares to make sure my friends here don't get mutated. Ryan: Most of the squares are really dangerous, so most people pick the least awful square they can find and live there. You'd be amazed what sorts of things people settle for. That sideways-gravity one? That's a town.
Kyris: Oh… You might not feel this way, but personally I think that your world sound very interesting. So many unknown things to discover, so much new knowledge to be gained. I wish I could see it for myself. Jefrye: Don’t even think about it, Your Highness. I know that as a scholar this sort of thing interests you, but you can not forget that you are also a prince. Going to a place the likes of what they describe is far too dangerous. Kyris: Father has 49 other sons that can be the next Emperor. As the youngest I was never meant for that role anyway. Jefrye: You know the most important reason I don’t want you to put yourself in such dangers… And isn’t the situation we currently are facing in our own world already bad enough? Do you want me to have even more reasons to worry about you? Kyris: Jefrye… Davian: *clears his throat* All that aside… *to Ryan, Derek, Akilah, and Taylor* This place you are looking for; might it be a place where you can set everything right again? Return your world to the way it originally was? Because from the way you have described it, I have to agree with the Attack Dog. It does sound too dangerous to live in.
Sapphire: Your world sounds…fascinating, and like the sort of world I would really like to never live in. Dear gods. How long has it been since this happened? Nithara: You say magic was not real before it? That’s…bizarre, to put it simply. And you say all the humans on Earth—does your Earth not have any other races? Katsumi: Hang on, your limbs grow back?
Ryan: We're trying to not get our hopes up that it's that important, but the fact that it might be something like that is a big reason why we're going to such trouble to check it out. The other thing is that we've just kinda accepted that we'd be stupid to think that we're truly "safe" anywhere. No sense settling down when we've got an idea for what to do with ourselves. We've seen too many people die to think it's not gonna happen to us eventually. Yeah, Kyris, I have to agree with Jefrye, you really don't want to come here. I won't say I haven't been able to have a lot of fun I wouldn't have been able to have before, but... I'd be lying if I said I've gotten to the point where I'd like it to stay like this. Akilah: 'Bout a year. Until about a week ago we were spending all that time living in the same town we grew up in. We wound up lucky; we were in one of the rare places where electricity still worked after Gridfall. And near as we were able to tell, all it really did was have really, really, really dark nights. Unfortunately, word started to spread about the nice real estate, and... we got attacked by raiders trying to take over. They failed, but there was basically nobody left after that, and it was just a matter of time before someone heard about that and took over. So we bailed. Part of why we're going to California. We don't have many better options. Taylor: Well, it does now. People like me. The mutant squares don't just change our shape, they change our DNA. If and when I have kids, they'll look like me too. A mutant couple had a baby in town just before things went to hell, so I know firsthand. I'm glad they made it out okay. And I'm sure they'll be fine! The mutant squares don't do anything but mutate you, so a lot of people became mutants just so they could have a safe place to live where bandits aren't likely to bother them. We actually met a nice village of them the other day, a bunch of minotaur-looking people who traded with us. From a safe distance of course. We kinda pushed boxes back and forth across the square's border. You can kinda see them, shimmering like a screen of thin colored glass. Derek: Everyone's do eventually. Some faster than others. After Gridfall, everyone's got one big unique power, like Akilah's hammerspace or Ryan's "knowing where the thing is", and then a bunch of smaller little powers that everyone has to different degrees. Strength, speed, durability, healing, intelligence, stuff like that. Actually, we heal so well we're pretty sure we don't even age anymore. I've actually seen a bunch of old people age backwards over the last year.
Sapphire: I know how you feel. Not that our situations are anywhere near the same, of course, but true safety is a luxury that the elves of Sylannor are not afforded. Nithara: California, California...Princess, you familiar with that name? Any idea where it is? Sounds Vasli. Katsumi: I can't say I'm familiar, no.
Echo: *To Taylor. She looks excited.* So we're the same! *She looks like a human/bat hybrid* I noticed the ears and tail, but I thought they were a costume, or something. Do you have super vision, or is your tail really strong? I haven't met another Mix that isn't broken! Oh, my name's Echo, it's so nice to meet you! Mettle: You've had it rough, but it looks like you're all strong, one way or the other. You shouldn't have too much trouble getting to where you need to go. *To Akilah* What's that "hammerspace" he mentioned? I know it's supposed to be your power, but what does it do? I can't really tell from the name. Ellis: At least introduce yourself. We are members of the pirate crew known as the Corpse Voyage. His name is Mettle, and he is the... I guess you can call him the "Problem Solver" of the Corpse Voyage. Mettle: No problem too hard that a bit of muscle can't get through. Ellis: I am Ellis, and I run our ship with my small army of dolls. This is Echo, and she is our thief. As you can see, she is a bit excited to meet someone else like her, it doesn't happen too often. Just say something if she bothers you. Our captain isn't here right now, but we will be an accurate representation of our crew. Are you sure that this "Gridfall" affected your entire world? Mettle: Yeah, from the sound of it, you lost your means of communication with the rest of the planet. Could it just be a localized thing?
Kyris: I know Jefrye only means well. He has to realize though that things are not the way they used to be, and that things definitely have changed since we were thirteen years old and were at the Military Academy together. I am not a kid in need of protection anymore. Jefrye: Really? If you are able to fight your own battles, how come you are currently held captive by Davian and his pirate crew? Kyris: I am working on it! And not every situation can be solved by fighting! *to Ryan, Derek, Akilah, and Taylor* Anyway, I hope you reach your destination safely and that the trip will not turn out to have been in vain. By the way, these squares did that happen out at sea too, or just on land? And how have animals been affected?
Ryan: Yeah, it happens out at sea, too. We can't say for sure it happens everywhere, but it's been a whole year now, and we haven't heard word of anyone who's seen a place where it hasn't. And we've met people who can fly. Good question, though. Like I said, we can't say for sure how far it spreads. But I'm not sure how it would work if it extends off the planet, because, well... remember how we said we can see the borders of the squares? They're all... centered around the planet, like latitudinal and longitudinal lines, extending upward as far as anyone can tell. And, again, we've met people who can fly. So we can tell pretty far. As for animals... we're... not quite sure yet. We've run into plenty of mutated animals, but it doesn't seem to follow any sort of rules with the squares. They appear all over equally, and most animals are normal. Taylor: Oh, wow! You mean you used to be human too? I haven't met any part-bats yet, though I have met some part-cows! Pity you didn't get wings, that would've been cool! Though honestly, being able to fly would take a lot of fun out of what I do, so maybe I'm happier this way. My ears aren't actually that much better at hearing, weirdly enough, though I've got better eyesight! And my tail is actually my weakest limb, lamely enough. It's strong enough to support my weight, but my arms are stronger, and my legs are stronger still. ...But it does have these cute little fingers on the end for grabbing things! You won't believe how handy a third hand is, especially when you're climbing around. Which I do. A lot. Can you do echolocation? Is that why they call you Echo? Wouldn't that give you away when you're sneaking around and doing thief stuff? OOH! And what did you have to do to get those earmuffs that fit bat ears? Do you have trouble getting clothes that fit? Me, I had to give up on shoes entirely since, as you probably noticed, my feet are a little weird and don't even have toes. Doesn't bother me. My feet are pretty tough! Oh, and Derek's had to have weapons custom-made for him to take advantage of the fact that he can sprout an extra pair of arms whenever he wants! Akilah: Oh! Yeah, forgot that's a more modern term. I basically have my own private pocket dimension I can use for personal storage. (Akilah demonstrates by opening up several gates one after the other. The first is the one from before with the bookshelf, a second is a series of shelves full of ice and frozen things, another has shelf after shelf of hot meals) Akilah: Time only passes in there when I open it up, so that's super handy for meal prep, keeping stuff hot or cold or edible as long as possible. I've got milk in there that was supposed to expire a year ago, and it's basically as fresh as when it left the farm. I pretty much carry all of our stuff so we can "travel light". Weapons, candles, tools, stuff we loot from the wild to sell in town to keep our supplies up... all sorts of stuff. I imagine you've got your own way to stave off scurvy on that ship though, right?
Mettle: If I had magic like that... Ellis: That's very powerful. We have similar spells, but you have to be a powerful mage to be able to do it so easily. Gridlock seems to have given you very powerful abilities. We do have ways to keep disease at bay. I'm an wonderful cook, but it did take some study to figure out what I needed to get and cook to be able to keep us from falling ill. Mettle: *He traces a finger on his arm, and it it leaves a glowing trail. He draws a symbol of a circle with a cross over it.* I actually do have a form of magic. My rune magic lets me enchant objects and sometimes creatures. It's pretty restrictive, but this rune keeps everything inside of the container untainted. You can use it on caskets to protect the bodies from necromancy, but we use it to keep our food from spoiling. *The rune disappears.* Echo: *Her eyes get wider the more Taylor talks.* Oh wow, you're so cool! I'd love to have a third hand, but I think I'd rather have what I got! I can do somethin like echolocation, but the difference is that I don't have to make the sounds to be able to see. As long as there's noise, I know what's around whatever made it. Sneakin around is easy because, if I take my muffs off, the sound of my footsteps is enough to let me see round me. It's not too far, but it's enough to find secrets, y'know? As for my clothes... Ellis made them! Since she made clothes for her dolls, she's happy to make whatever I want! Ellis: Whatever you need. Echo: Anyway, before I met Ellis, the clothes were horrible. I didn't have trouble findin any that fit, but I couldn't find anything that wouldn't make me sweat like a dog, cause of how fuzzy I am now, without being so thin that I tore them up just wanderin around the temple! I can't wears gloves, though, cause my claws just tear through the leather, eventually. It sucks, but whatever. Before these earmuffs I had to stick cotton in my ears and wrap a cloth all around them just so I could talk round the temple. Y'see, my ears are so good that I hear noises way louder than anyone else. So, I've got really good hearing, but it's too good. Louder noises hurt a lot, and a large group just existing is enough to get me spinnin all 'round. These muffs make it a lot easier to be out in the world, y'know? *To Derek* You can make new arms? Without Magic?! Oh my god you guys are so cool, but I've got a little something up my sleeve, too... Ellis: Echo, that is not a good idea. There's no threats, and you'll just hurt yourself. Echo: You're no fun! *She crosses her arms. Then turns back to Derek and Taylor.* So, if you could change back, would you?
Sugar White: Dragons and wyverns and demons... I want to know more... Bellaflor: They asked us a question, Sugar. Sugar White: Right... Our magic works through language... everything has a tongue. If you can speak that tongue... you can do magic. Bellaflor: Only certain people can do magic. I can because I'm a halfblood, an hybrid between a magical creature and a normal one. I can speak the Elemental Tongues because my vocal cords are made for it. Sugar, however, is a witch, a human that has trainned until they could imitate the sounds that form the tongues. Usually it can take up to decades to master a single tongue which is why more known witches and wizards are elders. But Sugar's a prodigy. She's just thirteen and yet she has familiars and can use darkness magic!
Ayana: That looks awfully convenient. I wonder if magic can do anything like that in our world? Katsumi: I doubt it. It seems to fall into the realm of time manipulation, and the day that became possible would be the day the world got weird. Ayana: Good point. A shame; it would be a real help on missions. Or theft! Nithara: Navelas, we are spies, not thieves. You know that. Ayana: Okay, but what if we're stealing from someone who deserves it? Like, one of those folk who has more money than they could ever need? Nithara: Well...then perhaps I could look the other way. Sapphire: Ayana, if I were an illusionist, I would be robbing rich folks blind whenever I could. You are wasting your skills. Katsumi: Feeling a tad unsafe right now...
Mettle: Magic based on language? I can't say I've every heard of something like that, but it doesn't sound too complicated. Could you get better at magic by learning about long dead tongues? In our world, there have been a lot of old languages that you need spells to even be able to understand, and many more that have been completely lost to time. Maybe, by uncovering one of these lost tongues, you could discover a whole new type of magic? I'm sure that would make you stand out. Echo: I've got some advice, too! Not many people realize this, but every sound is made up of a lot of little, not as heard sounds. When ya talk, your breath also adds to the noise. When ya speak a foreign language, the uncertainty in your voice can give it an ever-so-slight wobble. I think that you'll prolly be better at magic if ya try and take these into account. If you try and eliminate these extra noises, your voice doesn't sound natural anymore. I don't know if that helps, but since your magic works off your voice, you should figure out if you want it to sound natural or if ya need to eliminate all those extra noises. Ellis: Do keep in mind that your teachers might not be perfect at speaking in the right tongue. Even if everyone agrees that they are perfect, language is tricky, and always changing. Everyone could be using a version of the language that wasn't in mind when the magic was created. Though, I'm not sure if your magic changes as language does.
Akilah: I mean, you can look at it this way: I'm overspecialized. Aside from strength and speed and healing and stuff, this is the only "spell" I can do. I'm sure having tons of spells has to be way more useful in the grand scheme of things. Me, I've only got the one "spell", and I've had to learn it inside and out to make the most of it. It's actually kind of interesting how many uses you can get out of a seemingly-weird ability when you got someone obsessively exploring every last detail of what it can do because it's all they have. But I guess there's nothing stopping someone in a place with magic from doing that, they just don't have to. (Derek looks uncomfortable, while Taylor, keeping her smile, closes her eyes and takes a deep breath) Derek: Uh, that's a bit of a touchier subject than you probably thi- Taylor: No, it's fine, Derek. I doubt I'll see any of these people again, so there's no sense not sharing. It's... actually weirdly cathartic, the thought of getting to share this with a total stranger. ...No. No, I would not. If it were part of bringing the whole world back to normal and making the world safe again? Probably, though I really don't like to think about that at all. But if it were just changing back? No. Never. I'm, uh... not sure this is a thing in your world... in fact I hope it isn't a thing in your world, but... I guess the best way to describe it is that... I was born with a female brain... and a male body. I'm not really sure how to describe the sensation of that to someone who hasn't felt it, but... let's just say it's extremely uncomfortable. But... (Taylor takes another deep breath) Taylor: ...I'm fine now! It was... a bit of a painful process getting to this point, but no matter! I'm not going to let that cast a shadow over the rest of my life when we've got people dropping like flies in this deathtrap we now call home. I've got a body I'm actually comfortable with, thanks to that mutant square. For some reason, it doesn't just turn people into peritails, but it also changes you to the opposite sex. My only real complaint now is that I'm gonna have a heck of a hard time having children. There aren't all that many people like me who'd actually like getting mutated into the opposite sex, and mutants are only fertile with people of the same mutant species. So my options would be pretty limited even if I did stick around that place. Pity. That was one of the things I was looking forward to... (Slightly awkward silence) Ryan: We've, uh... been talking an awful lot about ourselves, honestly. I've got a question for all of you... how exactly did you all wind up traveling together? With us it just kinda... happened. In fact, if I tried to trace back the steps of how I got in charge, I couldn't tell you, and I have perfect recall. So honestly I'm really curious how it happened with all of you.
Kyris: *to Taylor* So you are transgender? That is not entirely unheard of in our world. But there you could have changed your gender through surgery. Did your world have that option before Gridfall? Jefrye: And regarding us four traveling together... Truth is that we don’t. We might all be from the same world but the locations we entered this place from are different. Well, mine is for sure. Kyris: I did come here from the same place as Davian and Luekas, but if it was up to me I would rather be almost anywhere else. You see, Father sent me to Ares and when I got there I realized he hadn’t been completely honest with me about why he sent me there. On the way back home to Gaea I called him and we got into an argument. After that I just needed to be alone so I took one of the shuttles and left. That’s when— Davian: That’s when my crew and I found him. He did hide who he really is for a while, but as truth tend to do it got out. Luekas: I still say we should have just killed him rather than taking these big risks by ransoming him. Davian: My ship, my rules. Is that understood? Luekas: Yes, Captain.
Amber: I'm Amber Wolfe, but just call me Amber...I did notice someone around here, maybe that's your brother?
Amber: Ok...so, is this the chat room? Does any of you know how you guys get here? Because I got here by a portal opening under me and I ended up here. Rebecca: Wait a minute here this place seems familiar... I think I've been here before! But it was so empty that time...I think we should introduce ourselves, I'll go first. I'm Rebecca Grey, a private detective. Amber: I'm Amber Wolfe you can call me Amber, I can teleport and time travel (but time travel makes me a bit nauseous). I can also bake and I can give you guys some cupcakes soon-if I can.
(Taylor suddenly gives off a bout of reflexive, humorless laughter.) Taylor: Aha! Aha! Ahahahahahahahaha! Yes! Yes it did! I won't dwell too much on the details, but uh... you know how surgery is technically deliberate mutilation of your own body? Well, let's just say everyone's new "healing powers"... were retroactive. And heal old injuries. All of them. Yeah, so mutation is basically the only option trans people have now. I've been putting up posters with a photo of me in the towns we pass to let any trans survivors know about the square I used. I'm not sure how many mutant squares there are out there that change your sex. For all I know I found the only one. As if I weren't already lucky enough, still being alive in this world. Taylor: You like cooking too? We'll have to compare recipes! I make all of my friends' food, and Akilah stores it in her hammerspace thing so no matter how far from civilization we get, we can eat my food like I literally just cooked it. It's pretty cool! I'd love more recipes though because I've gotta start being more versatile. Every town's just cooking with what they were lucky enough to be able to grow after Gridfall. And sometimes that isn't a heck of a lot, or it's weird stuff.
Amber: *to Taylor* I can't wait to do that! Do you have any recipes I should try? The food here are often salty at the "fancy" restaurants.
Katsumi: I’ve heard of folk like you, Taylor, whose genders didn’t match their bodies. I believe in our world they tend to use magic for it, but I suppose you haven’t got that option. Sapphire: Retroactive healing does sound nice, though. I know a number of elves who could use that. (She reaches up to touch one of her horns, almost unconsciously)
Amber: *to Katsumi* There are people like that but it isn't magic, it's just their choice. Maybe it's different there?
