Backdated to Right After the Fire/Right Before New Tick

[3wingedangel]

WHO: Sephiroth and anyone he talks to
WHERE: Around Temba
WHAT: Interviewing people and tracking footprints
WHEN: Right before New Tick
WARNINGS: Murder investigation

Sephiroth is furious. Another murder attempt, with four people in various states of injury. This is intolerable. He’d been over the building once the flames were out, but opted not to broadcast his findings, if any. Instead, he decides to continue his investigation by talking to everyone involved.

When he finds each person, he'll be asking them questions such as what they saw and if they noticed anything unusual (besides the obvious). He found many tracks in the snow, understandably, and he wonders if any might still be from the killers. Not that he really thinks following them will lead to said killers, but he will try anything. Maybe there will be a clue along the way.

For each victim he approaches, he starts off with, "Hello. How are you feeling?"

Comments

[tempredmental]

"It's possible," Keith said. "I'm not sure how much that particular race of beings is even really around anymore." He frowned a little. "From what we found in the tunnels, it's the same race that created Drift Fleet. It almost sounded like they were trying to set the Agrii up as a race that needed the Fleet's help for something. But the stuff down there... it's old. Like it hasn't been accessed or touched for a long time." He shook his head.

"It might have been something different. Something that stepped in here to take advantage and take over after the Atroma were gone." He took a breath. "The same thing happened with Drift Fleet. The Atroma were no longer in control. It was something else... something darker and more sinister.

"I have a feeling the Atroma haven't been around for a long time, and other people are stepping in to take advantage of what they messed around with and left behind. I just have no way of proving it."

[3wingedangel]

Sephiroth frowned as he listened. This was disturbing information. He had thought at least they had some idea who was behind this. If it wasn't these Atroma, then they had absolutely no idea who it could be.

"I see. What happened with this Drift Fleet in the end? Were these other beings stopped?"

[tempredmental]

"I think they were. We at least defeated the one that residing on the control ship for our group." But... yeah... disturbing to say the least. "I don't know if there are any more of them. Or if this group here is even related to them. It could be a third group."

[3wingedangel]

"Mysteries upon mysteries," Sephiroth grunted. "Do we ever actually grow close to the truth, or is it an illusion?"

He wondered if they would ever know. In any case, he was certainly disturbed by the information they had unearthed when stopping the zombie Storm. It made him not want to eat any peanut butter food from the Agrii.

[tempredmental]

Keith shook his head with a sigh.

"I don't know," he said quietly. "It's been like... eight years... I think?" For him, anyway. "I'm not even entirely sure." He'd been bounced around time between Drift Fleet, this reality, back home... Even back home, he'd been through the abyss and had time slippage, and it was a lot. And that wasn't even counting the differences in measuring time between universal space time, and Earth specific time.

It really was just all a construct.

[3wingedangel]

"I don't suppose there are records of these things?" he wondered.

[tempredmental]

"Records of the Fleet?" Keith took a breath, thinking about it. "I mean, I don't know if there are any here," he said. "But, we did find some when we were still in the Fleet... weird corrupted files and stuff from previous 'seasons' of the show." That probably made no sense. "Drift Fleet was a reality show," he explained. "Our activities and everything were being broadcast out to other realities and beings to watch for entertainment. So, there were some records from groups that had been on the show before ours. But, once the Atroma were out of the picture, the being that took over... I don't know. It didn't seem to do a great job of making sure the computer and the recordings and all that were in good working order."

[3wingedangel]

Sephiroth grunts. "That is a demented reality show." At least all the other ones he knows of had the people willingly join. "I haven't heard of it in my world, but I wonder how far it reached."

[tempredmental]

"I hadn't heard of it, either," Keith said. "In fact, no one who was a passenger had. We were all from places that didn't know about it." Strange coincidence, no?

[3wingedangel]

"Heh. Apparently for some reason they chose people whose worlds weren't going to receive the show." He doesn't think it's a coincidence. "Perhaps they didn't want their loved ones to see."

[tempredmental]

"It could be," Keith said. He reached up and rubbed a small lump behind his left ear with a thoughtful look. Anyone who'd been in Drift Fleet still had something... a lump, an actual device, something there. They were difficult and dangerous to remove. But any of the memories Keith had gained from home (as an actual return was still something they couldn't confirm as having happened) indicated that he didn't have it there. So, just what was going on?

"Any time we ended up with new memories from home, it was like we'd never left. We'd go back to the place and time we'd been pulled from," he said. "Though, it hasn't happened for me since we came here. It only happened to me in the Fleet."

[3wingedangel]

"Hm. Yes, that's what I've heard is supposed to happen here as well," Sephiroth remarked. "Radley told me he'd heard it from someone who left and came back.

"Were you rubbing an injury from the fire?" he wondered.

[tempredmental]

"So it still holds, then," Keith said quietly.

He looked like he was pulled out of his thoughts for a moment when he gave Sephiroth a surprised look.

"Huh?" He blinked. "Oh, uh..." He shook his head. "No, no. I wasn't," he said quickly. Though, he supposed an explanation was warranted. "Drift Fleet passengers were all given something called an augment," he said. He shifted his hair, pointing it out. It wasn't large. "Mine's under my skin, but some people had visible ones... like different versions or just a sloppy install." He shrugged. "But, it was how they gave us the knowledge for our positions on the ships, and how they tracked us." And probably how they brought people back to life, something the Agrii didn't seem to be able to do.

[3wingedangel]

Sephiroth looked at it. "... I suppose I have to be grateful the Agrii haven't done that," he said. "The mind invasion is bad enough."

[tempredmental]

"Mind invasion?" Keith looked confused for a second. "Oh... the Data Points. Yeah. Honestly, these are the same thing, just attached to us instead of floating orbs in town. But we didn't exactly have a place to store Data Points for a while. I came into it a few years after the season I was part of started," Keith said. "At that point, they'd only recently picked up a central ship for the Fleet that had the ability to host things like that. Before that, it had just been a group of smaller ships."

[3wingedangel]

"Those, but also those occasional pulls that we have to go somewhere," Sephiroth said. "Those are very troubling. I was told it happens every now and then and not just when we first arrive."

He nodded to this information. "I see. I wonder where they picked it up."

[tempredmental]

"I honestly forgot," Keith said quietly. "I think I have some of my notes back on Temba, though. I might have it in there." Keith had tried to regain as much of what he'd gathered during his time in the Fleet as possible. But it was hard to explain what he was looking to get from the Agrii's request box.

"But, yeah... that compelling thing." Keith sighed. "I don't think the Agrii understand the point of an 'invitation' is that the invited party is allowed to decline."

He huffed.

[3wingedangel]

"It would be a good idea to revisit everything you have since it might have a bearing on our current circumstances," Sephiroth said.

A dry smirk. "I wonder how hard it would be to teach them."

[tempredmental]

Keith nodded.

"I'll see what I can dig out." He had a lot, but not all his notebooks came with him when he got pulled from the Fleet. Hopefully, what he had was at least somewhat coherent and he could fill in the gaps.

"Heh... I don't know. It can't hurt to try, I guess."

[3wingedangel]

"Let me know what you find," Sephiroth said.

He nodded. "I believe I will, the first chance I get."

[tempredmental]

Keith nodded. "Yeah, sure."

He then snorted a tiny chuckle. "Good luck."

[3wingedangel]

"Heh. I'll take whatever luck I can get, if it's not bad," Sephiroth smirked.