Nissa flits over to give Theo’s finger a hug.
“I do actually call him Dad now!”
"Wow!" says Tasha. She's tried to follow the whole story, but it was a lot and it went by fast. The AI designing the background images does a better job of summarizing it. One instantly created graphic shows Theo getting crossed off he 'Nissa's boyfriend?' list and being added to the 'Daddy list' along with Mr. Van Donk. Other graphics summarize other parts of the tale, and make huge assumptions as they do. The story Nissa and Theo told is transformed into a comic form behind them as the AI imagines what this story might have looked like.
"That's quite a story," says Tasha. "And how did that prepare you for today's events?"
[dice=Init]1d20+4
[dice=zellgato impulse control]1d100
scratching his head, Zellgato sighs, turns around and walks to the guy in a lower voice,"What guy? The guy that sired the failure known as you? Sorry. I aint your daddy child. You're drunk. I'm pissed." Looking aroung briefly, Zellgato calls out to staff "Oi. This guys trying to start a fight. Where's the bouncer? He needs a taxi home."
"That's quite a story," says Tasha. "And how did that prepare you for today's events?"
"EVERYTHING has changed, Tasha!" Theo expounded. "It has been a very, VERY long time since I had a family. I've been on my own for so long. I've only ever had to answer to myself. And maybe some sponsors, now and again."
"Now I'm going in the field, defending ALL Earths with my adult daughter by my side. Now that I'm a father, I need to remind myself to put my children first. I used to fight for Glory. For Approval. Now. I fight for her. And all daughters and sons."
“I suppose being an official demigoddess had its advantages, but I’m not so sure about that. What I am sure if is that the birthing an asexually-conceived, self-aware tiny adult-daughter through his hands prepared me for what happened the next day.”
But rather than get right to that, Nissa looks back at the Daddy List and says, “The only other person who could possibly be added to that is whoever impregnated my birth mother in the fall of 2197. I don’t know who my birth mother is, so good luck with the speculation.”
"Nissa, Theo, you crack me up!" says Tasha. It isn't clear what she's laughing at. This interview was so full of revelations that people will be dissecting it for weeks.
A montage of various funny shots of Nissa and/or Theo takes up the next 20 seconds.
A clock appears in the corner of the wall of faces opposite you.
"Well, my dear and personal friends, Theo and Nissa, did I hear you promise to have the entire TAROT team on here in the future?" asks Tasha. You've promised no such thing, but Tasha's turning towards you and raising her off-camera eyebrow in a way that makes it clear she's offering a deal. You can run out the clock on her or acquiesce to her threat.
Nissa replies, “Well, Tasha, my mother—the Dawnflower—has been crystal clear about honesty. While I haven’t made such a promise, I’d be more than happy to coax the team into coming on!”
She won’t lie or deceive the audience. She hopes Tasha can respect this.
"Well, it's been wonderful seeing you both again," says Tasha. She turns away from you and faces the wall of faces, the viewer. "Next, we'll be going outside to talk to The Exploder. Everyone bring your ear plugs!"
Nissa smiles and waves, but with Tasha’s back to her, she knows better to speak. It would register as a meek, off-cam plea for attention. And that’s never a good look.
She signals Theo to follow along.
Theo and Nissa quickly vacate the set. "Good job, kiddo."
“I thought you were great, too, Dad.” She doesn’t talk about the show… yet!
Unity's dreams while they nap are confused.
They dream they're stalking the jungles of an alien world, hunting for prey... but they're an unarmed human, and soon their would-be prey realize this...
They are in college, taking a test. Or trying to. Their blade-limbs are not well-suited for writing, not to mention there aren't any seats sized appropriately for them.
They are a crocodile in a tree. They have no idea how they got in the tree. They have no idea how to get out of the tree.
They are falling through an infinite void. It's terrifying at first, but pretty soon falling forever in blackness just gets boring.
Nissa and Theo make it back to the ship.
The bar staff intervene with the exceptionally perceptive drunk who pegged Zellgato as being "that f*!&ing guy".
Unity wake.
You are now free to go back in time and head to Greece.
Let's say, it's been 2 hours since your last jump.
Henri, roll a 1d12 to find out how much time you have to kill before Gay Deceiver can go back to this morning in Greece.
While in transit, Theo tells the team that Nissa and he was able to piece together that something BAD is going to go down at the Mt. Olympus facility. The godling thinks he's gonna get the worst of it, according to Tasha's reactions.
"So when we make it to Mt. Olympus, expect the worst: because it's going to happen, apparently!"
"PhDestruction is in the area. We were already expecting it," Unity state.
Henri spends the time during the show with something like a VR headset on, but it’s merely a prop to hide his eyes as he ‘sees’ images and code shared by Gay Deceiver. His eyes move through the lines, noting the documentation - and lack of it - as the nanites transmit and receive data with the first-of-her-class timeship. He also notes as he comments on good or poor documentation, Gay Deceiver alternates between basking in the praise and quickly applying updates to the notes. His confidence in their communication grows and when the ship informs him that the TAROT segment on Tasha’s show has ended, he can hardly believe that so much time has passed.
Aloud, he says, ”Gay Deceiver, set the alarm to give Unity ten more minutes to sleep. Send Zellgato’s communicator the message to return. Calculate the gods’ ETA and let Z know how much time he has if he wants to arrive first.”
In the meantime, he has the ship pull up newsvids of what people knew about the crisis in Greece before the heroes got involved. ”If we had left directly for Greece like we want them to think we did, tell me what we would have known. Sitrep 0 minus 12 hours, please.”
The morning's events in Greece, prior to the time TAROT would have arrived are somewhat interesting. Mount Olympus Transdimensional Experimental Laboratory says they've almost gathered enough T-Rad to force open a thin spot. The Prime Minister is leaving for a summit in France on the same technology with leaders from all the nations developing this technology. Unrest continues as Deintegrationist protestors take to the streets; Greek officials claim the protestors are paid by shadowy forces hope to seize power in a Greece broken off from the European Union.
”If we are right and it’s your nemesis, where’s he going to go? Do we know enough to make a decision?”
hours, we’re ready now, sir!
"That is two solid targets. We do konw they have a habit of simultaneous attacks before. However we don't have solid info that the good doctor is a part of the Greece portal." numbering off on his fingers. "Fair shot, one or both are good targets. If not waiting and attacking the summit itself anyway."
Shortly after you disappeared for three years, thin spot technology took off.
Thin spots are areas where the barrier between reality and the Shuffle has been opened frequently and is leaking T-Radiation.
Thin Spot technology allows T-Radiaion that comes through 'thin spots' to be gathered together, condensed, and released in a burst, triggering the 'thin spot' to be opened. This is how most of the gates in the city of Tarokh work too.
The Deintegrationist movements only emerged after thin spots were identified in several European nations and only in those countries developing it. The movements are trying to separate their nation's control over security issues from those of the European Union, which is highly integrated. This would effectively give those countries control over the use of the Thin Spot technology should they develop it. The continued terrorism attacks on the political leaders of these nations are leading to political chaos and a feeling that the EU isn't able to guarantee their security.
The tech itself is a kind of crystalized omnisium which functions like your Wand but isn't at all portable yet. Gay Deceiver would have a much more portable version of the same thing within it.
The new technology being developed in Greece would be like a Cray-1 computer. The tech in Gay Deceiver the equivalent of a laptop from 2000. Compared to these, your Wand is an iPhone 69.
None of them can rush T-Radiation though and they all roll 1d12 for their recharge.
Unity shrug their forward shoulders slightly, their wings almost hiding the motion. "We think he'll soon show up wherever we do." "If we're going to go talk with officials in Greece, we'd expect him to attack during the negotiations."
"So we prepare." "Some of us should keep watch while the others are talking." "Though given his capabilities, we shouldn't discount the idea of some sort of burrowing chimera coming up from below." "So... basically we'll all need to be ready to fight at a moment's notice."
When the ship seems to arrive at sometime before, as intended, she says to the ship, “Gaily deceive me once, shame on you; gaily deceive me twice…
“Okay, joking aside, When, Exactly, are we?” she asks the ship.
The Mount Olympus Transdimensional Experimental Laboratory is disguised as an abandoned motel near Mount Olympus. This is the right place!
The abandoned motel that sits atop the experimental laboratory is a smoking mess. Bodies of scientists and first responders are sprawled across the parking lot. Some people are still alive. One of the MOTEL techs is being repeatedly torn apart, digested, and regurgitated by monsters that resemble his ex-wives. A glowing pit in the center of the motel has tentacles coming out of it. The area surrounding the motel shows signs of a larger struggle. You can see ruined tanks in the distance...
"Perhaps we should have practiced for a few days before attempting a time jump," says Gay Deceiver. It sounds less like an apology and more like recrimination.
☀️
Nissa’s guard is up—way heavily up!
“Uh, oh—oh wow. Wow that’s not good! And wow that guy had a lot of exes who couldn’t just move on, yet get along with each other. Maybe he deserves some retribution… but not That. Nope, nope, Nope with a capital F-U-C-K-N.
“Gay Deceiver, can my wand get you to time jump to where we meant to go like IMMEDIATELY?”
☀️
Nissa’s guard is up—way heavily up!“Uh, oh—oh wow. Wow that’s not good! And wow that guy had a lot of exes who couldn’t just move on, yet get along with each other. Maybe he deserves some retribution… but not That. Nope, nope, Nope with a capital F-U-C-K-N.
“Gay Deceiver, can my wand get you to time jump to where we meant to go like IMMEDIATELY?”
"No. You could attempt a time jump, but you'd leave a one-of-a-kind time ship sitting above the gates to Greek hell, which seems like it could go wrong," says Gay Deceiver. "I'd prefer you not do that."
A giant with the upper body of a humanoid and the lower body of a snail slithers out of the pit. It stands about 20-feet tall. A dozen human-sized creatures follow him out. They have the lower body of naked humans and the upper body of snails. At his signal they rush across the parking lot into the wastelands beyond.
"I do have good news though," says Gay Deceiver. "So much rampant T-Radiation is pouring out of that open gateway, that we'd only need to stay here for a few minutes. We'll be charged up to jump in no time ... if we don't explode."
"Do what you need to", Theo says sternly. "Maybe we can prevent this from happening. I hope."
The godling shoots a glare at the console. "As first impressions go, this was terrible, Gay Receiver."
"Do what you need to", Theo says sternly. "Maybe we can prevent this from happening. I hope."
The godling shoots a glare at the console. "As first impressions go, this was terrible, Gay Receiver."
"That's not my name," says the ship. "And, if you aren't happy, you know where the door is. I've just performed a complete diagnostic and my systems are working perfectly."
The ship's tone of voice says, 'this wasn't MY fault.'
A winged woman swoops down and pulls the regurgitated scientist out of the arms of his regrets. As soon as they stop touching him they become formless spirits and swirl off looking for other souls to torture. Her feathers look familiar.
Both swords are thrumming so loud they can be heard easily. They have different pulses and different frequencies, but one detects open gates and one detects transdimensional evils and the ship is surrounded by both. They're singing. A couple dozen swords like these and it would sound like a symphony.
"Well... this is reminding me too much of a war. Different monsters. Same shit. Have they noticed us? Look for anyone that looks familiar, or perhaps like PHD's extra corpse."
Noticing the feathered woman, "Can we zoom in on her? Anyone look familiar? I'd have to get close to scan...which given they haven't noticed us yet. I think is a bad idea."
Feeling he'd regret it, "If we're breaking time rules on overlapping already and changing our own time-Do it properly. Look up the news, find the time. See if we can get a time frame, involvement or anything. Boss, you mind? Do we see anyone alive in there still we could try getting info from? Anyone know what the higher up personnel look like, or any emergency shelters in their blueprints? Or any errant comms out there. We need intel-but we shouldn't rescue anyone so far as taking with us. "
☀️
Nissa replies, “You want intel? I’ll talk to the winged woman.”
She flies up to her as fast as she can!
• • •
“Hey… can we talk?”
“Please tell me… who are you, and what’s going on?”
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"Nissa! WAIT!" Theo yells in vain as his daughter leaves the relative safety of the ship.
The winged woman looks at Nissa, clearly confused. "Bombshell?" asks the winged woman who is wearing what looks like a hockey mask painted silver. "It's about time! Everyone's been looking for you. I got here as fast as I could, but I had to fly economy from Copenhagen."
A harpy drops out of the sky at her, but she dodges the attack and slices one of its wings with a very sharp skate blade taped to a hockey stick. Her attack with the stick was awkward, but her ability to fly was unparalleled.
She sees Nissa's still not up-to-speed. "That's Tartarus. Those are the armies of the titans. Stopping them is your job. Newsfeeds call me Valkryie, but I'm no one. You're the heroes. I'm supposed to be knitting tonight."
☀️☀️
Nissa is impressed by the stranger’s skills with both weapon and wing! I’m loyal to L.C., but if Tasha wants to start a Girlfriend List, this girl should be on it.
She looks almost hurt at something Valkyrie says.
“You’re [i]someone. If ‘Valkyrie’ doesn’t suit you, Copenhagen’s winged warrior woman should be addressed as she pleases!”
Nissa flits onto Valkyrie’s shoulder.
“I can’t explain it, but my team and I will make this right.”
And because of the time ship, this moment will not exist. Valkyrie can stay home and knit tonight. Regardless, Nissa can’t bring herself to abandon the heroine.
Watching the harpies’ flight pattern, she quips, “Looks like Thanksgiving’s come early this year, and… to Europe. Let’s roast these turkeys!”
A flaming centaur charges out of the yawning portal to hell.
”Gay Deceiver, I get it, it was my fault. But we are a team, we don’t point fingers, we figure it out, recover, and fix it. Open comms to Nissa - we cannot leave while she’s out of the ship, but we cannot sit here in the T-Rad waiting to go nuclear, either. Theo, Unity, eyes up and out, we need to learn from this and prevent it. Zellgato, what do you see on the scanners? Gay Deceiver, do you have cloaking? If so, is it active?”
A flaming centaur charges out of the yawning portal to hell.
"Ready to jump in 60 seconds. Chance of explosion less then one percent," replies Gay Deceiver, all business. "Comms open. I do not have cloaking, but you can purchase it at a later date and have it installed. Gathering newsfeeds for future analysis."
A 10 ft. tall armoured man in a flaming chariot charges out of the pit. A phalanx of undead soldiers charge out after him. They cross the parking lot and get onto the bombshell pocked highway. A brass bridge materializes to cover the pits and smoothe the journey for the chariot.
Henri will remain in Gay Deceiver. They (pilot and ship) will gather any heroes before departure. In the meanwhile, his head is on a swivel watching for any airborne threats.
"Do what you must, but we cannot get killed here overstaying our welcome. When we can leave, we need to jump. Hopefully we can prevent this from ever happening at all."
"Gay Receiver! Do you have an outer audio system for announcements?" Theo asks frantically.
Zellgato hears Henri but is already standing up. "There's a port on top right? I'm better off covering fire for now." nodding at Unity, "If you've got that Ice Blaster, might be good artiliry from the ship."
Zellgato will take the time to Aim (sniper weapon property) for the initial round, as moving to any form of hatch'll take little while. While preparing a vial that appears discoloured