Seeking Interested Parties | VIDEO

[forgeabettertomorrow]

Type: Video
Sender ID: forgeabettertomorrow | (Darin Altway)
To: Public
Subject: Darin and Zelda have an IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT to make
Warnings: N/A

[As the video blips on, Darin walks onto screen from the left. He looks…anxious? Excited? Definitely more energized than usual. He leans forward, the top of the frame cutting off his head so you have a close-up of his torso and not much else.]

Did I do this thing right, Sunshine? I kinda wanna frame this up right.

[ The video feed wobbles a little, the camera going out of focus. Zelda's voice is audible from somewhere off screen. ]

Almost! Don't forget to activate this setting here.

[ The video feed wobbles again, the camera coming back into focus. ]

Alright. Alright, let’s do this.

…Oh holy crap, we’re already recording.

[Darin immediately stiffens as he realizes that he is, in fact, broadcasting.]

Damn piece of— whatever, just go. Okay! Hey everyone! So, I wanted to put this out there publicly because…Zelda and I have some exciting news.

[Darin takes a step back and reaches towards Zelda to take her hand with a wide, excited grin on his face.]

So…I’ve been working on a…on a project. An experiment, really. About the rifts that brought us all here.

[If you were waiting with bated breath for a certain matrimonial announcement, sorry, this isn’t gonna be that. It’s gonna be BETTER. It’s gonna be about SCIENCE.]

I…I’ve made no real secret of the fact that I want to figure the rifts out for…obvious, personal reasons. So, over the last couple of months, I designed something.

[Darin reaches off screen and returns holding what looks like a wireframe cube with a spherical chamber suspended in the center by eight converging rods anchored to the cube’s points.]

This. I call it the Beacon Box. I figured that the Rifts were too…potentially volatile to be controlled but hey, like any other force of nature, you don’t try and tame it, right? You learn to navigate it. I won’t…bore you with the science of it but the short version is I imbued it with an essence of me and my world with the help of the Leviathans and had it cast into the rift. I wasn’t expecting much but…

[Darin excitedly looks at Zelda.]

But we got some data. Zelda got some readings that we’re still parsing but…well, I’ll let her tell you.

[ Zelda, grinning just as excitedly as Darin, gives a little wave to the camera with one hand. In the other, she's holding the Purah Pad. ]

It took a little bit of doing, but I was able to program the Purah Pad to receive periodic transmissions from the Beacon Box while it traversed the Rifts. I believe a number of us have conducted research on the Rifts before, myself included, and a prevailing theory I came across was that the Rifts are related to the Leviathans-- possibly even created by them. So I expected that the energy signature of the Rifts would resemble that of the Leviathans.

[ And here, her grin gets wider. She looks like she's almost vibrating as she clutches the Purah Pad with both hands. ]

But that is not the case at all! Now, these remain preliminary readings, but the energy signature detected from the Rifts differs significantly from that of the Leviathans. Nor do they match any other signatures I've recorded in this world. The Rifts are far, far more powerful.

But that's not all! We recorded a few sudden influxes of energy-- "spikes," if you will-- the timing of which seem to align with the arrival of a few new riftfarers. I believe these spikes are indicative of people-- or even objects-- passing through the rifts. I posit that the same spikes occur with departures as well, although these are rather more difficult to verify.

Now, I've been examining the data produced by these spikes to see if I can't find any patterns or measurable specificity-- things which might help us determine when a passage through the Rifts will occur, or if any of these readings might indicate the world to which they are connecting-- a "world signature." As of now, I've not found any, but employing additional Beacon Boxes will expand the data pool significantly and allow for a much more thorough study of it.

[Darin chimes in now, tossing the Beacon Box back and forth in his hands like a kid waiting his turn to give a presentation.]

I know…it doesn’t sound like much. But it’s a start and this is where I want some help. Creating a Beacon Box requires…well…it requires you to give up something of deep, personal value. Something that can tether you to your world and can, in turn, call out to it. But…if I’m right?

If I’m right, people we’ve lost might be able to find their way back. And the people who want to go home? They might be able to do just that. But like Zelda said, we need more data. If you want to be a part of the project, please reach out to me or Zelda. I’ll be offering the construction of these boxes for free for anyone interested and if there’s anyone out there with even a passing interest in…dimensional space and time rifts? I’d love to work with you.

[At this point, Darin turns to Zelda, grinning from ear to ear. Unable to contain his excitement anymore, he sweeps her up into a giant bear hug, twirling her off screen to cries of “I did it!”]

(OOC NOTE: This is the start of the EXTREMELY LONG RUNNING BEACON BOX PLOT. ALL ARE WELCOME TO PARTICIPATE. I'll draft up an OOC write-up later but the short version is that Darin is looking for ways to navigate the rifts. If you have any questions, please feel free to DM me here, hit me up at Bitterbearface n Discord, or ping me on plurk at bitterbearface For the purposes of this post, please place in the subject line if you'd like to speak with DARIN or ZELDA specifically. If you have no preference, leave it blank!)

Comments

[garudas]

[There is a growl, the sound low and feral in the back of her throat, and she grits her blood-stained teeth, and the wind picks up yet again with a sharp change in direction, picking up not only sand but water this time.]

I do not want your shield, or your protection!

[She winces back, the mere movement making pain shoot up through her arms and into her shoulders where she feels the stone curse already prickling. She swallows past the growing lump in her throat, knowing that feeling too well. She has only ever felt it twice before, but she recognizes the consequence of using her aether. It was not for long, but it was a lot, and the only reason that she is even still able to move and talk with how the wind protected her.

And how it tries to protect her now, because while she cannot get up, it does try to shove him away from her.

Benedikta meets his gaze, determination and fury raging still in her amber-coloured eyes.]

I do not need you to shield me. Not anyone.

[That is a sort of power that she wishes no one to have over her. A debt that she does not want to pay. She has spent most of her life "indebted" to someone else under the guise of their protection and safety, a shield from the worst that the world had to offer, but she knows what that means.

Power. Power to lord over her, to turn against her when the time is right. And while Darin may not use it, that does not mean that someone else won't.

She would not bend or give anyone an inch to have that.]

... Nor can you stop me.

[There is the sound of something cutting through the air—steel singing as it flies towards them, and the wind drops her sword beside her.]

You go ahead and find your way through the rifts to be with your beloved and save her. But do not think for a moment that I will not fight for my own. I do not want your help, I do not need it. Do not presume to know what I have been through. What I am going through!

[That is the thing with these hero types, isn't it? Always wishing to help when they know nothing of what is in front of them. How hard she has fought, tooth and nail and then some, to get here. It was why she hated Cidolfus for so long, and why she still cannot quite come to terms with the others of the Hideaway. They don't understand.

No one understands.

She picks up her sword, her hands trembling despite the facade of bravery she puts on In reality, she really is scared. Terrified of where this may lead, but there is nothing scarier than what lies beyond if she does not do this. Or does not do this herself.]

I will find my own way, and I will cut you all down if need be. By whatever means necessary.

[forgeabettertomorrow]

[Darin doesn't budge. He doesn't sit up, nor does he flinch when the steel slices the air near him. He keeps his gaze firmly locked on Benedikta.]

[A year ago, he professed to the world to be its Champion. That he'd light up the night sky like a shooting star— a beacon of hope for all to pin their wishes on. Darin has worn many titles and monikers, many bestowed upon him, others he's inflicted on himself. But no title has ever truly conveyed the spirit of who he is.]

[He's a blacksmith. Most would wonder how a blacksmith can ply their trade in a situation like this, but Darin would argue that a blacksmith might be the perfect person for the job. A smith sees the potential in all aspects of his creation. He sees the pieces, ascertains the best way they might fit together. If they don't, he can shape them into pieces that will.]

[And when the pieces are bent and broken, he can temper them. Strengthen and fix them so that they might endure.]

[Benedikta is twisted and cracked and the life she's led up to this point has left her afraid. Afraid to trust, afraid of the future. All that matters now is the moment. The present. Something as fleeting as the wind.]

[Appropriate.]

[Darin inhales slowly. Not in defeat or resignation, but to calm his mind. To center it from the thousands of paths and responses that lay before him.]

[In the end, he just smirks. Old habits, after all. He still can't stand being told that he can't do something.]

Then I expect you to come at me often. But I'll stop you every time.

[He'll be the villain in Benedikta's story if necessary. Better him than an actual one. And just to hammer his point home, he stands and taps at his temple.]

Because nothing short of killing me is going to stop me. Even if you destroyed my forge, the construction of the boxes are all up here. And unfortunately, my life isn't mine to give anymore. So I'm afraid I'll have to do some pushing back.

[garudas]

[Her winds die down along with her strength, and she lies there on the sand, one hand gripping her sword tight, the other curling into a fist, looking like a wild cat that might strike at any moment. Her shoulders pulse with a dull ache, and she wonders how far the curse has spread—she knows that it has, but how much? What price did she pay to be here today?

She spits the blood out of her mouth at his feet.]

I will not let you open those rifts, so let us hope that it does not come to that.

[A silent declaration of her own, the promise there in the way that she glares up at him. A challenge.

What is one more of those when one's entire life has just been one uphill climb? One obstacle after another? When happiness is just within her reach, it is snatched away, dragged higher by the forces that be, and the people in this world who act on the "greater good" or whatever other bullshit they spew. People like him who think they know best.

But Benedikta knows the cruelty of this world, and any world, and what fate has in store. She has lived through it before, so she is ready. Prepared to do it again if need be. There are just some things that are in her way that she either has to get ahead of, or fight against.

Fine.

She will close the rifts. Save herself. Save Cid. And if she has to damn everyone else in the process, then so be it.]

And I will have no need to call on Garuda this time to deal with you and your boxes and your merry band of friends. I will do it all myself.

[And that is her warning.

She clutches her sword close to her and allows her winds to slam against him, and to raise the sand that surrounds her into a mighty whirlwind of water and dust, a loud scream of her coming from somewhere within it.

And when it all fades, she is gone.]

[forgeabettertomorrow]

[Darin shields his eyes and braces himself as the winds slam into him. His muscles tense and he leans into the howling gales until they fade along with her scream.]

[When the winds calm and the night grows still, Darin pushes himself to his feet. He feels his muscles ache and his bones creak— he's still not used to "activating" his powers, even though he hadn't really pushed himself into that threshold quite yet. But he ignores the aches and pains. If anything, he's focused on the paths that lay before him.]

[Benedikta wasn't going to drop this. And while he believes Cid should know, running and tattling aren't his thing. The best course of action would be to wait and see what happened. Benedikta doesn't heal the way Darin does— Cid's bound to find out that something happened. Unfortunately, he doesn't know Benedikta well enough to know if she'd lie to him or not. He'd like to think she wouldn't but...she's not in a good frame of mind.]

[Regardless, focusing on defending himself and his project isn't the tack he'd choose. He'd already struck upon an idea during the fight; a third path that would benefit everyone:]

[Make the Dominants immune to the rifts. Anchor them here. Hide them from the rifts' pull. There's a handful of ways that Darin could think to accomplish this, but what he needs to work on his how.]

[He stretches and grins.]

[Yeah...he can do this.]

[He scoops up the box he'd abandoned in the sand and heads off.]

[There's a lot of work to do.]