Thalla was resting on the gardens around the local church of a small mining town near the border with Konova, the eastern neighbor to the Blessed Lands. A follow up letter had come from whoever had organized the game she had entered to tell her to relocate to a more permanent residence, for the purposes of the game. Since she had accepted already she and her mentor reluctantly sought to stay in a nearby town, as not to anger her would be hosts. The message caught her off guard, in the middle of a prayer. It was her electronic messenger, she had one of the technicians in the church to rig it so it let her know if a message came in, not only it was useful in the job, it would allow her to receive any further communication from "Veto".
She picked up the device, a thick frame of gray plastic with a black rounded screen centered on one side, neon greenish blue characters lighting up against it, it buzzed slightly as the internal electronics woke up. She she unfolded the keyboard from underneath it and opened the letter. Her brows went up and she finished her prayer. Then she slung the messenger on her shoulder by the wide strap clipped on to it and ran to the entrance to the church, so to meet the emissary of the game's host. She'd have to move a better computer up to her room if she was to use the disks, her messenger merely helped with communication and log-keeping.
The graceless warrior, wielder of the edgeless blade, prophet of the old religions, writer of fluent nonsense, saviour of soul and song.Theodora was just finishing lighting the lamps for the night when she heard a knock at the door of her house. Odd, she thought, most people are inside praying at a time like this. I wonder who it could be? She blew a breath out of her nose, and muttered aloud, "Probably someone seeking the help of my good-for-nothing husband." Humming a hymn
, she opened the door into the cool sea breeze of Nicosia, where she found an odd cloaked figure on her doorstep. "Erm, good evening. Can I help you?"
Gol groaned in pain, although that couldn't really be heard over the obnoxiously loud techno music playing, as they applied the medicinal salve to their back, awkwardly reaching round while looking in the mirror. It wasn't pleasant but the damned thing was acting up again and would just get worse if it wasn't regularly treated. They wrapped bandages around their torso and pulled their shirt on, dropping a pile of bloody scales into a plastic bag on the table. It wasn't the most glamorous start of the day to be sure. Just as they reached to pick up the bag, a loud notification buzz played over the music.
A metallic disc with an iridescent casing hovered up out of its charging dock, part of its casing retracting to reveal a screen as it approached Gol. The portable computer was an absurd extravagance but anything that wasted family money was alright in their view. Gol grabbed the computer out of mid-air and read through the message. Just as they finished reading they heard someone approaching the door. It wasn't often visitors came all the way up to the penthouse, so it was probably the aforementioned delivery. Gol buzzed them through via the floating computer before letting it go again and walking over to the door, the device following behind them.
Within a cavern, not too far underground, a young Solenopian sits at a desktop computer. The big ol' box kind, that takes forever to boot up. Though normally used to play simple games when boredom is to be curbed, today its IM feature bears a message... for today is the day that this young Solenopian would become an emissary among his kind!
The first order of business, though, is to retrieve the disks that the message mentions. You've seen those sorts of things before, Rifa thinks. The custodian uses them every once in a while to record whatever stupid new thing he's decided is important. The mere thought of him is enough to agitate Rifa, and not helping matters is the knock that echoes through the cave. For a moment, Rifa thought he could at least take solace in the fact that the stargazing bum he lives with was asleep in his own part of the cavern. But with all this sound going on outside, not so much...
Failing to associate the delivery of the discs with the booming sound that had filled the caverns, Rifa prepares himself to establish why you don't make loud sounds in an underground area. He heads to the cavern's exit to confront the perpetrator, if they haven't already fled in terror knowing that they had decided to incite mild annoyance within the almighty Rifa Hysmin.
But they don't know him, so they're more likely than not waiting for his arrival. We'll see.
🏳️⚧️she/her | Vio Rhyse AlberiaIt was a day just like any other day on Ilaria and Aradin was standing in front of a variety of complicated aparatures filled with various chemicals in his underground laboratory. The Ilarian's mood was rapidly deteriorating as his experiments still hadn't given him any idea on what he could create. Time was running out. Soon he'd turn 70 and he still hadn't made any big inventions.
The Ilurian was banging his head on the table as he noticed that someone sent a message to the computer embedded in his suit.
However he barely had time to read it, as he then was distracted by a knock on the door.
It had to be important. Noone would disturb anyone else unless it was really important.
Begrudgingly Aradin got up again, opening the door. Just as he did so, the aparition he had been working with exploded, filling the room with a thick, blue smoke that slowly wafted out of the door.
It provided an intriguing contrast to the brownish-grey air outside, but that was not important.
What was important was who Aradin saw then...
edited 5th Oct '15 2:26:28 PM by Savato
And remember, we're in this together, so if we get separated, we need to find each other as soon as possible, Alex thinks as Ingru messages their fellows in the Yeerk Peace Movement to explain what they'll be doing.
<We're not going to get separated,> assures Ingru, rolling their eyes. <The most we'd have to worry about I'd say is dying.>
Okay, but you never know. Always helps to be prepared. If anything happens, find a host, and use it to find me immediately.
<And what about you? Will you search desperately around the floor for a small yellow slug? Perhaps call out my name and hope I can hear you?>
Well, no, but-
Suddenly, the two of them receive a notification on their phone. Not a few seconds later, they hear someone knocking at their door.
"I'll get it!" they shout as Ingru gets up to answer the door and Alex continues to read the message.
Okay, we've been delivered these disks, I guess? That's probably them at the door.
Nodding, Ingru puts up the phone and opens the door to greet their visitor.
i think i mostly want to see what happens when this whole place breaks apart"Hello, Mrs Theodora Chrysaphes," said the cloaked figure, "It is I, Veto. I have come to you because I thought you might need some assistance getting to the location we will be going for Sverse. This package is for you, by the way." He hands over the box to Theodora. Soon after she takes, it, he removes his hood, revealing a generic, minimalistic looking face.
At the doorway stood four short four-armed humanoids, each carrying a bag strapped over one shoulder. They were very pale, with what seemed to be dark colored shell like wings. The only way you could really tell them apart was by the cloth wraps they wore.
At the entrance of the chapel stood four, dressed in scarlet, magenta, blue, and grass yellow. After the doors opened, the ones in blue and magenta peered into the church with curiosity. The one in yellow begun to dig into her bag for something. The red one looked up at Thalla, maintaining a solemn look. "Hello.You must be miss Thalla Andavia, yes? We are representatives of Sverse. We have come to deliver to you some things that will help you journey to our little game. We'll also be serving as the camera crew and such for your area of the show, if you don't mind. Here, Memory should have some things to give you." The one in yellow pulls out two disk packages in one hand, and a set of strange cards in another. It offers both towards you.
Meanwhile, four beings dressed in pink, light green, golden yellow, and brown arrived just outside the penthouse. The yellow one speaks up soon after Gol opens the door. "Greetings, Mr... uh, misses... um..." The green one whispers something to the yellow one, after which it continues speaking. "Gol Finsceal Rei! That's it! My apologies. We are here representing the team behind Sverse and we are here to gift you the ticket to our wonderful mystery location! We'll also be following you around on your adventures, capturing every epic moment on film! of course, before we do that, we need to give you the disks to install. Clod, give, uh, them, the disks. The brown one then pulls out two disks, and a small handful of unusual cards and hands them to Gol.
Outside the cavern wait four individuals, dressed in different colors: tan, grey, indigo, and ginger orange.
"Are you sure this is the right place? Something about this gives me a bad feeling" the gray one says.
"Shh, don't be rude" says the tan one.
All four quiet down as soon as Rifa comes out, towering over all four of them.
Finally, the orange one speaks up.
"Hello, sir! You're Mr. Rifa Hysmin, right? We're here to deliver the disks!"
Four humanoids of classic colors red, blue, green, and yellow watch as the door opens, releasing a bluish smoke. After the smoke clears, they see the player they were looking for towering above them. Or, at least, they think this is him. Sure looks like him at least.
"Hello there, sir," the red one begins, "Would you happen to be Mr. Aradin? We're here to deliver some things to him as part of a reality show."
When the got the door, the were met by a foursome, one dressed in purple, another in orange, and the two others in black and a light yellow.
"Hey there," the orange one spoke," er, Alex, Right? We have some things here for you and Ingru to help with getting to the place."
The orange one then takes out two disks and a handful of strange cards.
edited 6th Oct '15 2:31:30 AM by StarBee
Gol rolled their eyes as the figures struggled with titles. Outsiders always seemed to struggle with language, although at least these ones didn't go to the archaic ones the aristocracy preferred.
Gol took the cards and disks before walking back into the room.
"Anything else you need now?"
Gol raised their voice as they walked over to a computer - also covered in an iridescent casing like the disk - which woke up as they approached. They inserted both and sat down as they pressed a few buttons on the computer, starting the installation of the first disk. Once that was going, they propelled themself back towards the door, still sitting on the chair, and rotated round to face them.
"Yea, that'll be all for now. Boss said we start recording as soon as you get those disks installed, though," said yellow. "If you have anything you might need, you might want to get it before we begin." The pink one takes out a small electronic device, presumably to message Veto or whoever is in charge of this that they've made the delivery.
Soon after the first disk installs, a window pops up. The text that appears on it reminds you of an old computer.
The window reads:
SBURB version 1.0.2
(C) SKAIANET LABS INCORPORATED. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Client is online.
Waiting for server to establish connection...
"Yea, that's right! We'll begin with that as soon as you guys get the disks ready. If you guys need to do anything else first, you should probably do it now."
The black one seems to be busy texting someone, presumably Veto.
There seems to be about eight cards here. Most of the cards are blank, while two read Queue and Locked. They all also look kinda pixelly, and there are some trippy patterns on the back of the blank ones.
"Oh, yes, go ahead. You'll need the things in the package," says Veto.
Rifa has to stop and think for a moment. Within moments his irritated mood pacifies, and the thoughts of what the two discs have in store for him makes his mood delightful, sharp teeth more prominent than before. Though the clothed figures before him confuse him. It's almost pitiable, their short stature. I'm surprised they don't have a scratch upon themselves, even this close to the surface... but maybe that speaks about their survival prowess. Yes, I should be careful... I'll best them once I understand them better.
Rifa crouches down, leers at the group and holds out an open claw, going between the four to figure out which one has the disks.
🏳️⚧️she/her | Vio Rhyse AlberiaTheodora nods after a moment. "Excuse me for a moment. I'd like to use a table." She went inside, placed the package on the table, and, with some finesse, some brute force, and a lot of long fingernails, she managed to get the package open. Inside was...
“Not a promise, not an oath, or a malediction or a curse. Inevitable." - Taylor HebertAndavia looked down at the odd creatures, and smiled slightly, moving closer to them to signal the men walking through the gardens outside the church building that they were with her. That eased some of the ones that looked at the creatures with curiosity or unease. "of course, I thank you, Memory" She said addressing the yellow one in a formal but pleasant tone, as she recieved the package. She took it in her hands as she led the creatures up the steps to the concrete, glass and steel chapel. She was about to pass the entrance when her path was cut by a pair of gun-toting guards.
-"sister Thalla, you know very well outsiders are forbidden in outside of hours of mass."- said one of the guards. It took a small while of convincing between her and the creatures before they let them in. The floors inside were carpeted and soft to the foot, and the hallways were big and decorated with coloured windows as well of statues of the goddesses. She led them through the compound towards the residential wing, where around 30 of her sisters lived including herself. The residential wing was a walled section of the compound that contained smaller, cabin-like buildings stacked three stories, divided in four blocks and connected by roads paved in smooth concrete slabs. She took her guests to her cabin, a third story room in the outermost ring of the block in the far left. She found the door open when she arrived.
When they came in there was a technician clad in a yellow robe installing her computer on the room. She had messaged her ahead of time. When she had installed it she excused herself and left in a flutter of her skirt. Thalla addressed the creatures -"Welcome to my chambers, my guests"- she said. Said room was somewhat spartan, though spacious and welcoming. It was painted in a pale green color, the floor covered in a cozy beige carpet. It contained a wooden frame bed covered in a multicolored knit mattress in the corner, a large metal wardrobe nearby painted in dark blue, a shelf over the bed holding some miscellaneous items from her travels, on the far wall of the room a door to the bathroom. On the left wall across the wardrobe a long dark wooden desk, upon it thick tomes and the recently installed computer. The machine had a combination of a monitor, speakers,keyboard and a mouse sticking out, bulky with a pale brown plastic chassis, the keys in a darker color of brown to contrast. Beside it was the large processing unit, a tad larger and bulkier than the monitor and cubeoid in shape.
The graceless warrior, wielder of the edgeless blade, prophet of the old religions, writer of fluent nonsense, saviour of soul and song."... Sounds like a yes to me! Indigo, give him the disks," says the orange one at last.
"O-oh, right," says the indigo one, still unnerved by Rifa's response. It digs into it's bag and pulls out two disks, as well as a handful of cards, and hands them over to Rifa.
"We'll also be recording soon, if you don't mind."
Inside was a metallic object, thin and still box-like. Opening it up would show a blank mirror like plate and a tray full of buttons, many of which contained characters Theodora was familiar with. At the bottom of the box there were also two smaller cases containing smaller metal disks, as well as a few cards.
"So this is where we'll be playing the game from?" said the scarlet one as the four began to enter the room. "Alright then. We'll record as soon as the disks fully install."
Another message is soon sent out:
"Hello again, Veto here. Now that some of you have gotten hold of your disks, I figure now is a good time to explain the two disks. One disk is labelled the client disk, and the other the server. Every client disk links up to one separate server disk. The client and the server will need to cooperate to get anywhere for the first challenge. If you did not get contact info for the other players before, it is included in a document below.
Playerlist.pdf
Gol moved back over to their computer, observing as the window opened up, and started the second disk installing once it was ready.
"Huh. Bit retro."
Gol continued the conversation without looking back again.
"I think I'm fine. I have... let's just say there's a lot of stuff back there."
They waved vaguely backwards, although it wasn't clear quite where they were referring to.
"You need to set up then? This shouldn't take long."
As the new message arrived, they skim-read it and opened the file, copying the details into a relevant instant messaging program.
"So...Do I start this off or wait for them?"
edited 7th Oct '15 7:43:37 AM by TenebrousGaze
Theodora stared at the strange object. "...What in God's name is this?" She noticed the cracks around the side, and decided to open it. "Are these letters here for a reason?" She decided to shift the odd contraption to one side to see what else was in the package. Holding up the small disks gingerly, she said to Veto, "I assume these are meant to be used with... whatever that is?", gesturing to the laptop.
“Not a promise, not an oath, or a malediction or a curse. Inevitable." - Taylor Hebert"Not one bit. You four should feel honored, to be the firsthand record keepers of my victories to come. Begin whenever you wish." Rifa takes the discs in one claw, the cards in another, and walks back inside his cavern while looking over the cards front and back.
"And try not to make any loud knocking sounds again. That could be bad for all of us."
🏳️⚧️she/her | Vio Rhyse AlberiaAradin was quite surprised. These creatures definitely didn't seem to be Ilurian and they also didn't look like anything that had been invented thus far. Maybe he could capture them and use that as his big invention? No, that probably wouldn't count...He could claim, that he had found a way to enable life for other species on the planet, but not only would such an invention be utterly useless, it would also be something he wasn't able to reproduce. And they said they had something for him? Reality show?
Hesitatingly a silent Aradin took the disks from the creatures before closing the door between them again.
They seemed to be important and since Aradin really wasn't in the mood to clean up that chemical spill right now, he decided to focus on these disks. Hopefully they would be compatible with his suit.
"Alright everyone, set up!" says the one in yellow, signaling to the others, who start to pull things out of their bag, setting up cameras and other equipment.
The second disk opens a second similar window, with the only main difference is a server waiting for a client.
The green one hears your question.
"Oh, yea, I think you might have to wait for one of the others to get on either one."
"Yes," says Veto, "The disks are our ticket to the game location, after all. There should be a slot on the side that you can put them in."
The cards are mostly blank, save for two, one which reads Queue and another that reads Mine.
The four step into the cave. The orange one sends a message out to Veto on a cellular device while the others take out and prepare equipment for filming.
"Wait!" said the red one as the door slammed cold. "We're also here to help with recording!"
"... Sure seems to be a quiet one," says the one in blue.
"Alright," they say, stepping back to let their visitors in before heading into their room. "Question: Would we lose contact with any of our friends here on Earth?"
Another blip on their phone. Taking a seat at the computer, Alex reads the message while Ingru begins to insert one of the disks.
Hold on, Alex thinks to him. The order we enter them in might be important.
Alex scrolls through the player list. So, these are our competitors. You recognize any of these species? Oh hey, looks like we're not the only human in here. Guess they count controllers as sort of their own thing.
<They might just be counting us as a yeerk. In any case, I wouldn't worry too much about the other guys - we can take them easy.>
Oh, I'm sure.
"Is there any particular order we should install them in, or what? Should we try and contact the other guys first?"
i think i mostly want to see what happens when this whole place breaks apartSoon after reaching the room, some of the four begin to pull out equipment, some of which doesn't look like it would fit in the bag in the first place, and begin to set up.
"Yea, you probably will," says the one in black. "The order doesn't matter too much."
"Yea, but one of the other players already seems to be ready, so I'd recommend running the server first," the orange one says, looking up from a cellular device. "It might be a good idea to contact them first, though."
Thalla nods and pulls a wide, nest-like chair, from below the desk then sits sits in it, folding her legs under her. She adjusts herself and boots up the bulky machine. As it does she heard her electronic messenger buzz at her side, so she unfolds it and sets it on the desk, to read the message, reading the info provided of the other players she went ahead and added them to the directory of the device. When the computer was fully on she opened the CD docks on the processing unit to pop the discs in, and began installing...
The graceless warrior, wielder of the edgeless blade, prophet of the old religions, writer of fluent nonsense, saviour of soul and song.The main chamber of Rifa's home is incredibly messy, it seems. Crumpled and neatly stacked papers and drawings are scattered around the room, some being blueprints for stuff but most of them seeming to be charts of constellations and heavenly bodies. Off by the computer desk there's a bunch of stuff in a pile against the table- sextant, telescope... that kind of stuff. Beyond the computer and the desk it's on the room is barren of furniture, though.
Rifa makes his way over to the computer, puts the two discs in, and sits on the floor in front of the table. This is followed by loud fax machine sounds.
🏳️⚧️she/her | Vio Rhyse Alberia

Five out of six players receive the following message on their communication device of choice:
Thank you all for agreeing to help us with our little experiment. We will begin filming for it today. We have sent you some tools that will help take you to our location. They should have arrived outside your house by now. You will find two disks, along with some other things you will need. The disks are your ticket to the location, as you will need to install both to go to where we are going. It will all make sense once you have done so, trust me. If you have any serious questions, feel free to ask. If you did not get any disks, contact me immediately at VeToMe@liveurl.org
Not long after the message is sent out, there is a knock outside of the players' houses.
Meanwhile, in the year 517 AD, a small ship flies in just above a city located in the Byzantine empire. The sky was dark, and the streets were mostly empty. A platform descends down from the ship, carrying a cloaked humanoid, his face shadowed in the dark. He walks towards one of the houses, carrying a dull package in his arms. He reaches out and knocks on the door.
edited 5th Oct '15 6:30:02 AM by StarBee