chikaidestroyer | ∞ 87: Rooftops [action]

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∞ 87: Rooftops [action]

[Around mid-morning, Albert can be seen picking up small things in the plaza -- nails, pens, groceries. He doesn't often do this, but it's been a week since he gave Caesar the task of repairing the stable, so he finds himself inspecting and repairing the amateurish work. That requires a few extra building supplies. Might as well take advantage of how calm everything is with the New Feathers coming in, right?

Albert spends the afternoon pulling out half-bent nails and readjusting crooked wooden slats. He can't say that he's disappointed, since Caesar actually tried to rebuild the stable's roof, but he can have the opinion that did a really shabby job. Silverbergs were apparently not very good roof-builders.

In the evening, after dinner, he'll be found up on house 42's roof, having climbed up through the skylight. It's something he's never really taken advantage of, and yet there's something familiar about it. He remains out there for a good while, almost meditating.]

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Frankly, we don't know enough about the situation to properly speculate. The earthquake that happened specifically destroyed the tunnels. Everything above ground seemed to be collateral damage.

But the Malnosso pretty much said it wasn't their idea, right? So whatever caused the earthquake was a...not an accident, exactly, but sorta.

[This is going somewhere, really. We promise. ...Though half the idea is Emil's, so...]

No. I would not say the earthquake was an accident. It all seemed purposely done.

That's why I said I didn't mean accident.

...Okay, wait, then who did it? If it was on purpose.

[Theory derailed.]

If. [He reminds her.] This is all speculation based on what little we know.

If this was purposely done, the obvious suspects would be members of the Organization. The saboteurs that Sir Catherine had concerns about.

Okay, but...but what if it wasn't on purpose? What if things've been breaking, kinda, ever since we started hearing and seeing things, and finally they broke so much that something literally broke? And instead of noises or small stuff, the summon spirits got through instead? ...Since the hole was bigger.

[Very experienced with holes suddenly getting bigger.]

Ah. So you believe that the earthquake might have been triggered by the reality shifts that had been around the month prior.

[He doesn't sound surprised.]

Yeah. Sorta. It's more like I think whatever started those shifts got too big, or too far outta hand.

...Maybe even so much that it made our realities all wrong for a while.

Perhaps so. But if that is the case, we would still be suffering the side effects, would we not? [And he says this with all seriousness.]

I just think it took them this long to get it back under control. Whether it was all on purpose or not. It was so broken that the barrier turned red and then we all had a different reality for a while, but they fixed it and we're back to our normal selves.

[And he will now look at her.] May I ask what exactly is the reason to your theory, Sheena?

When you're stuck sitting around doing nothing for a week you think about a lotta stuff.

...But it was something Emil said that really got me thinking. Something about how...he thought the voices were real. And I'd never thought of it that way but...what if they were? What if it really was a...a reality shift?

And the more I thought about it the more all the different parts made sense. ...I thought so, anyway.

Hm. [He is quiet for a moment. Should he talk about the theories he had discussed with Raine months ago?] I suppose what has happened lately may lend itself well to many theories.

...You got anything specific in mind?

We do not know what a "shift" actually entails. We are told that the Third Party can naturally create shifts, and that the Organization--John--create their own shifts through technology.

We do not know what this world is exactly. We know that people are here from different worlds, different frames of time, different circumstances. And yet we all exist in this one plane.

What if there were other planes where other items, other people, other circumstances existed?

The theory is that this world is many overlapping realities coexisting, and that "Shifting" is the ability to reach into another of those realities and bring it into the one upon which you are existing.

Lending that theory to what had happened, that "reality shift" would be the "us" of an overlapping reality temporarily coming into our own plane.

[Give her a few minutes to sit and think about that one.]

...So you're saying there might really be a crazy obsessive noblewoman Sheena out there somewhere? In...another world, or a shifted plane or something? [Her world was in shifted planes, you know.]

But that doesn't really explain how we all got here from such different places. Unless I'm totally missing something. I get that the Malnosso can do it, but why specifically us?

That would be the idea, yes -- that there are other versions of you out there who can be or have been brought into this world. Some may be extremely different, some may be almost identical to you. To an extent, it would explain why people may be pulled into Luceti and not remember it, despite having been here in the past.

We don't know the source of trouble that drew us into this world to begin with. But, if what we've been told is true, we are resistant to the ... mental fatigue that would affect others. That's why we were continuously experimented on.

I suppose the a big question now is whether what happened to us affected the general population of this world. And if they survived as well as we did.

They don't really seem like experiments now. I mean, they're still screwing around with us but...it feels different. Maybe because we know more about them.

...Hang on. Albert! You're saying I might not even be the real me!

Theories, Sheena. [He says this calmly, almost soothingly. He's been down that corridor of thoughts before.]

The theory only works to a certain point. It doesn't explain the agendas of the Third Party or the Organization. It doesn't explain the earthquake and why specifically the western tunnel collapsed.

Even after all this time, we're still playing guessing games.

Every tunnel collapsed. And you could explain any specific stuff just by saying it was sabotage instead of an accident.

[There's still some panic in there somewhere.]

[He shakes his head faintly.] The tunnels leading to the east did not collapse. All those tunnels that branched off as it did in the village were cataloged when we went through to turn on the electricity. We wouldn't have our materials in the east tunnels if everything had collapsed. [Implying he had checked on the laptops.]

If it was sabotage, that would certainly add tension between the Organization and John. He would likely have died and been sent out of the barrier if he hadn't been rescued.

...So let's say it's sabotage. I guess the earthquake isn't really tied with weird realities anyway.

But were they after us too then? Or at least as many of us as they could get to?

The earthquake would have ruined any systems that John has in the tunnels, which would in turn have affected the shifting around the village and the barrier. Between the damaged barrier and the rogue shifts we had seen, the same side effects could have arisen. So they could go still be related.

If they managed to kill John, it wouldn't matter if we had been affected by the quake itself. John is the scientist behind the artificial shifting technology. If the Third Party were to get their hands on him, it would only be a matter of time before they broke into Luceti to attack us again.

But then that doesn't explain why we've all been going slowly crazy over the little bits of home getting through.

Whatever was going on...it stopped anyone from bringing people here, but not from sending them away.

And through it all, we are still here, in the dark.

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