UN: Zodiac | Fall into Fall!

[kaisoumods]

WHO: Everyone!
WHERE: Libra App
WHEN: September 1st
WHAT: Zodiac Network Post
WARNINGS: None!

[As the days roll into September, a cool wind picks up through the city, chasing away that summer heat. Autumn has begun to arrive, and with it comes the blarring alert sound that comes with a new Zodiac post. As usual, the alert will sound even if you have your phone turned off or on silent, and will take over your phone until you read and comment to the message. Though, it seems to be starting with an additional notification this time.]


Riku, Meti, Rapunzel, Kashuu, Miyako, Asriel, Pascal, and Rand have left the app.

[The post then continues on as normal.]

Hello! Thank you for using the Libra App!

We hope you are doing well as we enter September! We thank you for all your hard work and effort with assisting in the crisis that occurred last month. Our experts have assured us the tears have all been successfully sealed thanks to everyone's effort, so there should be no reason to feel concerned about more dinosaurs appearing. Clean up efforts from the damage accrued will continue, if you're interested in helping out! As for those of you who have been asked community service hours, we recommend getting ahead of that now instead of procrastinating.

Now, we're well aware that many of you have been asking for more transparency from us. While we can't tell you everything at this time, we have reached the conclusion that it would be best to fill you in on some information - especially in regards of the status of the otherworlders, or the isekais, as many of us have fondly called them.

The truth is, while Zodiac has been researching and experimenting with various methods to return you all to your proper worlds over the past year and a half, we have been unable to come up with any way to reliably travel to other worlds. This is not unexpected. Humans in this world have been attempting to travel through the Spirit Realm and to other worlds for centuries with no success. While we will continue to look into ways to return you home, we will make no promises as we believe such a feat is beyond this world's capabilities at this time.

As for those otherworlders who occasionally disappear, we can verify they are no longer in this world. Unfortunately we have no way to verify what happens to them after they leave the borders of this world. Perhaps they do return to their home, but due to the size of the Spirit Realm and all the multiverses out there - it's more likely they're now lost somewhere in the Spirit Realm or another world altogether.

We're sorry to those who are affected by this news. The reason we at Zodiac were reluctant to share this information was because we didn't want you to lose hope, but now we've come to understand your desire for transparency. If you so wish, counseling sessions are available. Please contact the Zodiac office to schedule an appointment.

And so we don't end this message on a completely sad note, it's time for our ever-popular icebreaker question!



This post has been sponsored by Forgotten Tales Books! Discover whole new worlds through stories.

[Users will have the option to choose their own display names and userpics if they haven't already. If nothing is chosen, the app will use their real name and a quick photo taken of them from their camera's phone. Riku, Meti, Kashuu, Pascal, and Rand will be in the city but have no memory of the app. Meanwhile Rapunzel, Asriel, and Miyako will be nowhere to be found.

Like always, there'll be no responses from Zodiac.

OOC: As mentioned in the plotting post, apps and drops will be announced in the Zodiac posts instead of the group chats from this point forward (though characters can still use the group chats!) The next Zodiac post will happen in the middle of the month. ]

Comments

[robopriest]

[hansa cervantes: you'll be killed by how good these pastries are, they're from safeway]

excellent! glad to have you. and of course you can ask. father hansa cervantes at your service

[fionnuisce]

[That was, thankfully, not the name Waver had halfway expected given how his luck was going around here. Surely he was just being paranoid; avoidance of the Church or not, that wasn't even a name he recognized. But considering how a healthy amount of paranoia usually kept him alive, it was better to see for himself.]

Well, if the offer's open, then I'll be there shortly. I doubt a church will be difficult to track down, and I would admittedly like to hear about this whole affair from those who have no doubt been here longer than me.

[and hey, that wasn't even a lie]

[robopriest]

i've been on this app for a little while and some of it still goes over my head, but i'll help where i can 😉

by the way, i never did catch your name! i need to label these pastries you know!

[fionnuisce]

Everyone just calls me Professor. I don't give out my name lightly, and my title's too damn long to expect anyone to use in casual conversation.

[robopriest]

an academic man of mystery!! i see.

professor it is, then. see you soon. the door's open

[fionnuisce]

[It was fine, it was fine, it was probably fine. Or so he kept running through his head the whole time it took him to find the church, calculating the vanishingly small odds that it was somehow related to the capital-C Holy Church. That could easily spell trouble he wanted nothing to do with, but in the unthinkably enormous picture of however many parallel worlds, what were the odds, really?]

[With that logic he managed to at least appear calm as he stepped inside, one hand only slightly white-knuckled on the handle of his cane while the other adjusted sunglasses to rest on his head.]

[When this manages to get me poisoned or stabbed, Maiya will never let me hear the end of it if she finds out.]

[robopriest]

[The Church. A formidable institution in a certain universe, with technology beyond what most would dream of. In another world, a man was made into a vampire-killing machine, more metal than flesh.]

[Here, though, that same man is standing here, tapping at a phone with a thumb as he leans against a table with some plastic cases of pastries set out neatly, complete with a large coffee machine and styrofoam cups. He lifts his head, eyepatch over his right eye a flashy sight, and grins.]

[No death awaits here. Only a cheerful man who waves at his new guest.]

Professor! I assume its you. [He says, with a noticeable Spanish accent.] Come in, come in. Don't be shy. I won't bite.

[fionnuisce]

That would be me. Father Cervantes, then?

[Still probably fine. He wasn't picking up anything out of the ordinary--well, an eyepatch, but considering he was walking in with the rhythmic click of a cane with at least two concealed weapons, who was he to judge?]

[Well, in for a penny-]

Lord El-Melloi II. 'Professor' is a fair bit easier to say, I presume you would agree. [He extended his right hand in a cautiously friendly gesture, the back of which was marked by very faint scars in a peculiar shape.]

[robopriest]

That's me.

[He makes a little :o face at the title, but eases into his previous grin. Slipping his phone into his pocket, he steps forward to grasp that hand in a firm handshake, eye flitting down to catch those scars.]

[And - how odd, his hand is rather solid. Like grasping the hand of a doll.]

A Lord. My, my. Should I bow in your presence, too? [And a chuckle.] But I like Professor. It suits you.

[fionnuisce]

[Dryly:] Please refrain.

[It was hard to tell if there was any genuine recognition behind that reaction, or if it was...well, Waver wasn't going to pretend the title didn't sound ostentatious. He spared a brief glance to the priest's hand as well, green eyes quickly focusing back on the man himself. Peculiar, but for now just another note carefully filed away.]

Just consider me an ordinary teacher, that's more or less all I am around here at the moment.

[robopriest]

Gotcha. I'll only call you that if I'm mad.

[A light joke, obviously tongue in cheek.]

And sure. What do you teach, Professor?

[fionnuisce]

Around here? Chemistry, over at the university.

[college, to the americans,]

I've been a lecturer at a facility back in London for several years now, before I wound up in this world.

[robopriest]

Ohhh. You're one of the ones who came from somewhere else, huh?

[He leans against a pew, folding his arms, his expression more pensive, now.]

...Really hard hitting news today, for your whole world travelers club. It's a nasty business.

[fionnuisce]

It's certainly a telling revelation, more about those in charge than about our circumstances.

[He shrugged, right hand casually resting in a pocket.]

They've managed to dispel any doubt they're anything but incompetent to an absurd degree, so I'll give them credit for clarity on that point.

[robopriest]

Ha. You can say that again. Their previous so-called efforts...mind you, I don't know all the details of everything they've done, but its just nothing but chaos. A class act of idiots.

[A little sigh.]

...Are you going to be alright, Professor? With not be able to get back, and all.

[fionnuisce]

I have heard as much. I'm not optimistic they know what they're doing, much less how to fix all of this.

[An understatement. He'd sure as hell never met Zelretch and hoped he never would, but parallel world travel was proven fact regardless of who controlled that specific magic. Leaving the unraveling of Second Magic--or this world's equivalent--in the hands of a corporation full of morons did not fill him with confidence.]

I haven't much choice but to be alright with it. I certainly don't have the skill to rectify the issue, and at present I have no idea where to begin seeking the solution out. I can only hope no one's noticed I've gone missing, or all hell's likely to break loose.

[robopriest]

I'm the type to look at things as half full, and even I've lost faith in this whole operation.

[He purses his lips, thoughtful - a Lord, missing. He can't even guess what that world might be like, but this Professor seems like a big name.]

[(Something seems so familiar about him. Like a naggling memory at the back of his head.)]

I hope the fort holds up where you're from. I'll pray for that. In the meantime...

[And suddenly he moves, with a speed that's a little beyond human, to grab a pastry and...lightly toss it at Waver!]

Get some sugar. Its good for the thinking mind.

[fionnuisce]

[Waver didn't quite flinch, exactly, but he was definitely surprised. Which was made very clear by the fact that he caught the tossed pastry not with his hand, but with a sudden flick of a faintly glowing wire that had been hidden under his right sleeve.]

[Maybe he'd come here a little too on guard. The pastry dropped into his hand, wire swiftly coiling back around his forearm out of sight. And to his credit, Waver at least had the sense to look embarrassed.]

...Reflex. My apologies.

[Only somewhat a lie.]

Anyone ever told you that you're quick on your feet?

[robopriest]

No need to apologize. You're more of an amazing man than I gave you credit for, and I was already thinking you were.

[And now he's back to being lackadaisical, leaning on the table with a pleased little grin, like he's a boy in school being caught after a prank.]

Absolutely. Though I'd have to say that's not my major talent.

[fionnuisce]

I wouldn't go that far, and there's hardly any need for flattery. [He was definitely going to get a headache before the day was out, provided he lived that long. Something didn't quite feel right about this, but Waver couldn't pin down if that was cause for alarm or just a general sense of something weird.]

[Against his better judgment, he heard the obvious question leave him:]

And what would you say your major talent is?

[robopriest]

It's not flattery. Believe me.

[Smarts and wires and attitude and good looks and all.]

Mm. Let's have some fun. Want a demonstration?

1/2

[fionnuisce]

[The part of his brain that sounded remarkably like a certain necromancer was already slapping him upside the head and calling him a reckless idiot. Common sense was blaring an alarm of this is going to go badly in two seconds, and the very tiny shred of self-preservation left to him was shouting for him to back off immediately.]

[Indeed, most mages of the Association would have been out of here five seconds after walking in the door.]

[fionnuisce]

[If Waver Velvet had pride in one thing, it was that he was not most Association mages. A sharp smile flashed across his face, the kind someone particularly daring might wear in response to a threat.]

[He casually shifted his weight more to his left leg, drawing attention away from the very slight adjustment of the hand on his cane--finger hovering over the switch for a hidden blade.]

[Just in case.]

Why not?

1/2

[robopriest]

[His eye flits to that shift of movement. His grin curls, like a shark. He moves away from the table, his own body movement seemingly casual, but altogether focused.]

[Hansa steps closer. One step. Another. His hands are hanging loose at his sides, with no visible weapons, but there's an intention there that's evident.]

[He almost breaches the other's personal bubble, still grinning, still sharp, his tone purring with amusement.]

Check this out.

2/2

[robopriest]

[And then he steps to the side, suddenly, hand reaching out - and grabbing the side of a pew, he tosses it up in the air like its made of cardboard instead of solid wood, before catching it with the very same hand. There's no straining here.]

[Now, his grin is just boyish.]

Ta-daaaaaaa.