video: UN: trienemybest

[droptheious]

Okay, I don't know how long Zodiac will- will keep this up for, so I'm making this as quick as I can and make sure to spread the word in case they take this down or-

[Or find other ways to keep him silent, to stop the message from getting through. He knew this would never go down well, he was dreading having to admit this and he'd honestly hoped he would have the time to talk to the people who cared about him in person- to soften the blow. But that might not work- not with how quickly the tide has turned.]

When I blew up mine and Fern's apartment in January, Zodiac asked that I work for them to pay for the damage I made. So they'd fix the place up again. I- honestly, I get working for them was a bad idea, but they wanted the remains of the peach and I wanted to find out what they were doing with it- and if I could find out how to stop them from using it. The best way of doing that was from the inside.

[He speaks from experience, unhappily, but from experience all the same. That's how he took over Corona in the end. Getting right to the heart and taking it down from the highest level- controlling the king and queen. He doesn't look proud about any of this, he hid things from people who care about him to try and stop his own mistakes making something worse happen. ]

So that's what I've been doing for the last couple of months. Paying attention to them and trying to find out what's- what's going on in there. Turns out the people in charge are demons- literally, and not the good kind. [Which, in hindsight, probably shouldn't be a shock to anyone given How Zodiac Are.] They wanted to use the peach to-to make an immortality drink. I managed to sabotage it to stop them making more peaches- because they wanted to sell them to whoever wanted them. I made sure that there's no way they'll be able to grow any more now, but I couldn't get to where they made the drink from the peaches they did get.

[Thanks, Moxxie. Varian sucks in a breath- he'd done what he could, but it wasn't enough. ]

They haven't drunk their immortality peach juice yet- they're still finishing it up from what I understand. But-but I can think we can all agree that immortal immoral demons in charge of a good portion of a city is a bad thing to have. We- we need to stop them before they do that.

[He hesitates- he'd be remiss if he didn't reveal something else he learned there. It might not matter to a lot of people here, he's seen real, justified anger towards all of Zodaic. He gets it, he's felt it too, but...]

They're not all our enemy. Zodiac. Honestly from what I've experienced most of the workers there are just average people trying to support their families without...without any real options to do that otherwise. The people are the top are the ones we gotta be worried about. That's...please, try to keep that in mind. Whatever's done.

[He takes in one last breath, readying himself for whatever comes from this. He's expecting people to be angry. He's expecting to lose friends, gain enemies. He accepts it tiredly for what it is. It won't be the first time.]

I'm sorry for hiding what I was doing. I didn't want to jeopardise the sabotage and I- I kinda hoped I could get this done without anyone getting hurt or dragged into this or- I'm just...sorry. I tried.

[And it wasn't enough. As usual.]

[[OOC: Open to all- threadjacking allowed and encouraged!!]]

Comments

Video | UN: jalbarea PRIVATE

[noblerise]

[This makes Jusis's decision all the easier. He's putting in that request.

However, first thing's first.]

Are you in a place that's safe right now?

Private forever

[droptheious]

[Do what needs to be done, Jusis!]

Yeah, I'm not living in the apartment right now. I got an offer of somewhere safe to stay.

[He's so glad that Amal slid in there with the save before he kicked the beehive. ]

in-person

[laminae]

[Wow. Wow. Well, now he knows why Varian's been acting so stressed. He had chalked it up to working for Zodiac in general, and the realization that most of the employees there are just regular people, but this is a whole other boatload of issues he never even suspected.]

What the heck, man!

[He gets why Varian didn't tell anyone about this plan, at least. If he could've sabotaged things on his own then hey, problem solved, and he's well aware of how much of a self-sacrificer his boyfriend is (well aware). So his first concern is Varian's wellbeing - if he's telling everything this over the app then this plan isn't in a good state.

He's booking it straight over to Varian, equal parts worried and scared.]

Dude, are you okay?? Are they gonna come after you??

[droptheious]

[Varian feels a whole new wave of self-loathing, because who lies to their partner about this kind of thing? Him, apparently. He winces, looking at the ground, trying to keep his stomach from roiling around. ]

I'm sorry. I didn't want to tell anyone. Not-not even you. I didn't want them to come after you.

[And now he's got them somewhere safe, maybe they won't. Maybe he's managed that much at least. He shrugs his shoulder.]

I don't know. Maybe. I messed up something important for them. I don't know if they'll let this one lie.

Video | UN: will_solace

[arrowtotheheal]

[Will knows that he's in absolutely no position to criticize Varian's choices. Honestly, it makes sense given his last conversation with his friend.]

Are you okay? You're not in danger where you are, are you?

[droptheious]

[This is exactly why he wanted to have that conversation with Will. He wanted his friend to at least come into this mess with his eyes wide open. No lies, no hidden pasts. He could judge this as he wanted.]

I'm okay, for now. I got a safe place to stay. In the future? I dunno. I kinda threw a huge spanner into their big plans, so I'm guessing they're uh...not gonna be sending me roses anytime soon.

voice | un: blackbirdtarot

[drewthetower]

Hey, no, don't apologize. You tried and you got this shit out to us as fast as you could. And you stopped them from growing more, that's great.

[droptheious]

[Varian was really expecting people to be furious with him. That's what experience back home has taught him. So he's a little taken aback by August's support here.]

I-I guess. I don't know. I feel like I should have been able to-to stop them from making it at all. But that place is locked down tight.

un: violetsmoke; video

[infezione]

Are-- are you okay, are you safe? That's the most important thing right now.

[droptheious]

Yeah, I'm safe. I had a place offered to me before any of this came out so I'm not where they expect me to be right now.

action; at the red house

[thavnairian]

[Amal sees a post notification from Varian and opens it up. It becomes clear it's serious business and he immediately sets aside the sword he'd been polishing.

Varian... did all of that... for them. For a city that's turned against him once, at least partially. He really just let it all out there to do the right thing...

He's so concerned, but beyond that, he's also really proud of him. The deception may or may not have been necessary but he knows he's no judge.

He steps out of his room quickly and goes to the spare one he'd assigned Varian and Fern. He gives a few knocks and waits for Varian to answer.]

Hey, it's me.

[As soon as this door opens he is going to hug this boy so hard.]

[droptheious]

[Varian feels awful. He feels like he snuck into Amal's home under false pretences. A part of him wanted to just bail and hide somewhere else, make it so Zodiac could never come knocking at their door. A part of him still wants to, terrified that he'll bring danger to people who's done nothing but give him a safe place to stay.

So when Amal knocks, he's already preparing a hundred apologies, promises he'll get out of the way and keep Amal and everyone else in here safe.

So he really wasn't expecting the hug. He tenses in it for a moment, before returning it- a quiet little sob bubbles out of him. He's been so stressed for so long and now it's been released he doesn't know what to do with it. When he speaks, it's muffled against Amal a little. ]

I'm sorry. I didn't know what to do.

Video; UN: Filledwithsunshine

[onebadapple]

Oh dear! That sounds very dangerous! [Snow can't offer much else to say. She isn't the sort to make a rallying cry.]

Do you need someplace you can stay that isn't under their control?

[droptheious]

It's not exactly safe, no. That's-that's why I was trying to do it on my own.

And I'm okay, thanks, Snow. I've got a safe place to stay.

un: ecraig | voice

[fiddlestick]

[Wow, this is a lot to take in. He's quiet for a moment before sighing]

You know, I thought you were being awfully quiet lately. Certainly wasn't expecting this though.

private to elliot; voice; un: riftdancer

[thavnairian]

Hey, Elliot. Can I... ask you a favor?

[He sounds serious for once!]

un: silverrose

[fionnuisce]

jesus fucking christ

are you safe? how much longer are you stuck working there?

[droptheious]

I'm safe. I got a place to stay before I did this. And I'm not working there now, this was my last day.

[He went out WILD at least!]

un: yuureisen; voice

[areyuuserious]

Hey, Varian, don't-- please don't apologize for this. You did something important with the sabotage and getting this info out here is a big deal. Thank you.

[droptheious]

[There's so much support here and he doesn't know how to handle it. When you have piles of self-loathing and you've been waiting for everyone to turn on you for something, you don't really have a plan to handle it when they...don't.]

I just think I could have done something more. I don't know. I didn't want to endanger anyone here.

un: noxxed // voice

[sassery]

[Surprisingly, there's no anger here? Varian's a fucking TEEN and he tried to take on this entire organization himself. This is a wholeass mess and Nox has to resist sighing.

Why do demons never fucking learn their lesson? Ugh.]

First off, you don't need to apologize.

[A beat.] Look, you were trying to do something and were already way over your head. The fact that you tried says a lot.

[Though, all this info is still a problem.] But please tell me there's a way to get to the ones responsible for it and not make a mess with anyone else. My past life was being a devil hunter- but I'm not about to charge in of other people are gonna be held in the crossfire.

[droptheious]

[The guilt gnaws at Varian, that he should have been better, should have been smarter. He sucks at factoring his age into anything. When you go to jail for attempted regicide at 14, you kind of forget to allow yourself any leeway for being young.]

I don't know. I should have figured out a way to get through so no one else ended dup in danger.

[He nods.]

Everything's being kept in the Zodiac headquarters. I couldn't get to where they were finishing off the peach drink, that's being kept under tight security. But last I checked it was all still there.

un: shinonome, voice

[nmc0204]

I'm sure the others have all said their pieces about this being risky and whatever else, so I won't bother with all that.

[ never mind that Ryoko probably would have done exactly the same thing in his position... really, she has to kind of respect him. ]

Do you have hard copies of whatever information you were able to gather?

[droptheious]

Yeah. I just...couldn't not do anything at all. Not when I was partly to blame for it.

[They used his research on the damn thing, after all. To get where they wanted to be.]

I tried to take notes, but they have really tight security. They caught that really quickly. I couldn't get anything out of there. Probably doesn't help they were already pretty suspicious of me.

[Porbably because of all the property damage. ]

Video | UN: jalbarea

[noblerise]

[Since this cat's out of the bag and within the scope of danger he thought it'd be. So, Jusis is going to put this to the Libra users at large.]

Considering the circumstances, as well as the necessity of having all parties present fulfill their role in taking down this threat, I'm going to give as much support as possible as a Guardian of The Black Order. To that end, I do have a way to allow all present to more feasibly put a stop to this madness.

[He looks grimly serious.]

It will take time and confirmation, which means we need to come up with a plan by the end of the month. The request I'm putting through will require four people to volunteer in order to open the way for everyone else. This will be dangerous, and even we don't fully understand how it works or what's on the other side. However, it may be our best chance at getting into Zodiac completely undetected. Anyone wishing to volunteer, I advise you to find a way to communicate that with me that doesn't involve Libra. I also ask that nobody under the age of 16 volunteer.

[As much as he wants to put a ban on all children volunteering, he knows he can't really ask that. They're going to decide whether or not to help, either for this or for the operation itself, regardless of anyone else's opinion.]

Be advised, The Black Order cannot help you with the storming of this place. Yet, that doesn't mean we're going to sit idly by and have you do this entirely on your own. We will provide you support on the outside to the absolute best of our abilities. On that, you have my promise.

video | un: fashonti

[thaumewturge]

If you need assistance, I would be more than happy to help.

video · un: vinviv

[mehjin]

[well, that's... A Lot. she's gonna leave the heartfelt apology aside because, well, she lacks critical context and doesn't see any reason to be mad at him from this post alone.

instead, there's this:]

Not gonna lie, that our capitalist overlords are actual demons is far from the most surprising thing you could've told us.

[droptheious]

[Welcome to the shitshow, Vyne!!! Isn't it GREAT?!]

Yeah, that was pretty much the opinion of the people working for them, too.

open | UN: Thorn | Voice

[poisontippedcure]

Doing what you can to support your family. Loathe as I am to admit it, I understand. I'm sure I'd do the same if it came to it.

[At least they aren't all demons, right?]

I'll admit, when I mentioned the city was controlled by demons I was speaking facetiously. I'm not sure how I feel about the fact that demons are actually in charge, aside from the last several moons suddenly making sense.

[droptheious]

Not just my family. Everyone here. I- I couldn't stand back and do nothing if the whole city was at risk.

[That's the one good thing he's taking from this!]

Hah, yeah sorry, turns out you were dead on the money. But it does make a lot of Zodiac's...everything make sense.

un:cri985

[psychonductor]

demons, huh? whoo boy.

[Crito’s not sure what to do with this information, or if they want to do anything at all with it.]

i don’t think you’ve got much to apologise for, kid. sounds like you did a whole lot of work for the rest of us

[droptheious]

Demons.

[It's a whole lot to deal with all at once.]

I feel like I could have done so much more than what I did do. Some of it is my fault anyway.

video; un: eunietheboss

[medicgunner]

[Regardless about what was in the report for this kid, Eunie was glad he's confirmed safe.

She was pissed off for sure at what he pulled up. She was gonna do something about it whether the Order wanted her to or not, but damn.]

You risked a lot to get all this intel. So what're you apologizing for? You did a good job.

[droptheious]

[People keep telling him he did well and it's hard to compute. All he's ever wanted is to be SEEN and be considered someone doing good things. But this is always in conflict with his self-loathing - certainly no more so than right now.

He really does know he needs to deal with this better, and yet-]

I needed to, I was put in a place to check it out. It wouldn't have been right if I did nothing. I just...wish I could have done more. It feels like I'm just dumping this on people, half-finished.

video: un; Deja Boo [Private]

[schrodingersghost]

[The moment Danny finishes seeing this, he practically slams on the reply button.]

Are you safe right now? Do you need an escape?

private forever

[droptheious]

[Ah, Danny. He's already been feeling awful about hiding all of this from his friend. He knows Danny's been worried about him. He KNOWS Danny could sense something was wrong and he lied anyway. ]

I'm okay. I got a safe place to live before this went down. I- I'm not at the apartment where they can find me.

[He hesitates.]

I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I know you were worried.

Video; un: Opera_Ghost

[not_a_possum]

Oh.

[Well, there's the confirmation he didn't want that he really, really fucked up.]

So...uh...these demons...any idea how to get to them? Or like...see them? From a distance? At a hidden vantage point?

[Among the random things that had appeared in his home was a carmine crafted blessing tipped rifle, after all, made for killing demons. It would be very dangerous to Moxxie as well, which is why he didn't advertise the fact that he had it before, but now...]

[droptheious]

[Sorry, Moxx, you dun fucked up SO BAD.]

I don't know. I've never seen them myself. I just heard the staff talking about them. They keep themselves well clear of any staff they deem...lower than them. I doubt you'd be able to see them from a distance, not with how complex the Zodiac building is.

[Heck of a thing to have, buddy. ]

action

[four_quarts]

[Ghaleon waits until he's reasonably sure Amal is done talking to Varian before seeking the kid out; better to let someone the boy knows well talk to him first. Better to have that first bit of assurance come from someone he trusts.

Better for Ghaleon to have a little time to think about how to talk about this.

When he does finally knock on Varian's door, it's with tea and snacks in hand (the left one, the one that he's used to and not the replacement's replacement).]

Hey. It's Ghaleon. I brought snacks.

[droptheious]

[Ghaleon made a great call there, Varian has at least calmed down a little now that he's not crawling the walls. They have...well, not an action plan, but at least an understanding and a place for him to stay while they figure out what to do next.

He opens the door, offering Ghaleon a soft, nervous smile. ]

Oh um...thank you. That's- that's good of you.

Video | un: calledtothewater (late but finally here)

[findingways]

[ Oh my god, Varian, that is a lot to process. And while Moana can't say she isn't upset by any of this, she's mostly just worried about him. ]

Are you gonna be okay, Varian? Making a post like this...do you think they might try to do something?

no such thing!

[droptheious]

[It's SO much.]

I don't know, maybe? I'm not at the apartment right now. I made sure to move me and Fern somewhere else...before all this. So hopefully if they come looking for me, they won't find me.

Video| UN:linda_bruja PRIVATE

[a_cute_batata]

[Luz couldn't believe that she'd been so detached that she managed to miss this. But then, when Amity had arrived, she was trying to just acclimate to Kaisou life. Varian had somehow managed to do BOTH, and Luz couldn't help but feel a little bit ashamed at how she'd been lately.

Now there was SO much going on].

Hey, Varian. You risked a lot to get the information you know, so apologies aren't necessary.

THIS. ALL OF THIS. Is upsetting. We're going to have to find a way to take on people within a system where innocent people could get hurt. So I guess it starts by figuring out how to stop them from making that drink.

Do you have any idea how we might get in from the inside?

private forever!!

[droptheious]

I think they are. I should have done more, if I'd managed to...I don't know, figure this out more so no one got dragged into this.

[He knows that's a stupid thought process, but here he is anyway. ]

Right. That's- that where we are now. We can't let them just...make it. And I know the inside, but my access is really limited. There's a lot of electronic doors and I don't know how to get through them. Computer stuff is kind of a...blind spot for me.

[Being from the 1800's and all that]