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]

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.

[fionnuisce]

[He didn't so much as blink at the approach, holding himself with all the tension of someone in a standoff with their finger on the trigger. Close range would put Waver at a disadvantage, but the risk of striking first against an opponent with unknown capabilities was one he wasn't quite prepared to gamble on-]

[-then something absurd beyond belief happened, stalling Waver's calculations between 'I definitely almost just died' and '?????']

What-... [That was the kind of shit he could have pictured Lancer doing without blinking--that was to say, strength well past human capability. Which opened up several possibilities in his head, each as alarming as the last.]

How did you...

[robopriest]

See, I like looks like that, Professor. They make the heart sing. It's like you praised me!

[And now he's putting it down where it belongs, shifting it back to its proper place, before moving to lean on its side.]

Ah, but yes. That's my major talent. Had it even since I was a boy.

[fionnuisce]

[Please don't tell me I'm fucking around with the Eighth Sacrament. Please let there be completely insane priests in literally any other universe.]

...I see.

[Deer in headlights.]

That's...certainly something, alright.

[robopriest]

Heh.

[And a devilish look. Who knows, Waver! Who knows!]

Want me to carry you, next?

[fionnuisce]

Absolutely not, thank you.

[...well, he sure recovered fast, at least. Nothing to be done about it if his crazy suspicion was right--either Waver was dead where he stood, or he wasn't. At this point he could see it going either way.]

I can get around on my own better than one might think, I assure you that's not necessary.

[robopriest]

Aw. Fits that the Professor would be a little stuck-up about having some fun.

[He laughs at that.]

Now, now. I suppose you had questions? Or did my little show put those out of your mind?

[fionnuisce]

No, I just don't want my other leg broken, thanks.

[booooo]

After that? I have a hell of a lot more questions than I walked in here with.

[robopriest]

You could always get a metal leg like me. Though, actually, that just appeared one day.

[???????]

Haha. Fair. Ask away. I am your ever dutiful listener.

[fionnuisce]

...No, no I'm pretty sure I'll leave mine as they are. How the hell does a metal leg just appear?

[robopriest]

It just does. I went to sleep, woke up, said "oh, my leg and arm's feeling funny". And then bam. Metal.

[He frowns now, folding his arms.]

From what I understand, its a Libra thing. When that app appears, weird things happen to you. New abilities. New looks. Memories you can't explain. Its a whole mess.

[fionnuisce]

And have you found yourself with such inexplicable memories? I've heard that's a common issue.

[robopriest]

Vague impressions of ones, here and there. Nothing I can make heads or tails of.

[fionnuisce]

...It must be disorienting, to say the least. I can hardly imagine.

[robopriest]

One thing you don't have to worry about, huh?

[Theres a bittersweet sort of laugh.]

You know exactly who you're supposed to be.

[fionnuisce]

...

[Waver smiled bitterly at that, laughing under his breath.]

Does anyone, really?

[robopriest]

Well! I would hope for some they'd at be somewhat sure, at least to compensate for the rest of us.

[He tilts his head.]

I would hope you're part of that small group. Would make me feel a lot better. If a grand lord and professor doesn't know what's going on with himself, does that bode well for anyone?