∞ 87: Rooftops [action]

[chikaidestroyer]

[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

Comments

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[corrinesbell]

[Rooftop landing. Behind you. Don't tell Raine.]

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[chikaidestroyer]

[...The only way she'll find out is if you happen to fall through a hole in the roof.

Albert blinks as he becomes aware of someone up on the roof with him.]

Is this usual for you?

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[corrinesbell]

Yep. Most of the time.

[Then your roof had better be damn sturdy. Sheena could find a hole anywhere...except an earthquake.]

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[chikaidestroyer]

[Well, the most noticeable hole is fortunately plated with glass at the moment.]

Interesting how quickly things have transitioned back to a calm, New Feather-filled Luceti, isn't it? One could almost think that the last few months hadn't seen a drastic drop in population.

[Of course, he wouldn't think that. But many of the residents had already gone back to business as usual...]

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[corrinesbell]

I'm still wondering why it's happening at all. That Catherine guy said they were excited to have only half of us.

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[chikaidestroyer]

Perhaps a result of whatever happened this past month. If they are taking credit for returning people home, something must have changed that situation drastically.

[He could believe the technology's failing had somehow caused a shift that brought in the monsters, but the earthquake that started the entire mess still didn't make sense. What had happened that triggered the earthquake that in turn damaged John's work?]

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[corrinesbell]

I actually kinda wanted to ask you...what the heck you think happened these past few weeks. I've talked to a couple other people but no one else's been here as long as you have.

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[chikaidestroyer]

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.

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[corrinesbell]

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...]

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[chikaidestroyer]

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

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[corrinesbell]

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

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

[Theory derailed.]

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[chikaidestroyer]

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.

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[corrinesbell]

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.]

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[chikaidestroyer]

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.]

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[corrinesbell]

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.

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[chikaidestroyer]

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.]