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Unity, looking for prey under the water, find themselves staring into the saucer-sized eyes of an enormous cryptid with demonic tentacles, a 100-meter-wide mouth full of teeth, and a look that says "I would find you delicious".
Sorry for your family's loss.
"He has zero knack for the arcane," says John, "But he's into classic fantasy literature and got it in his head to go to wizard school so we let him try." Hector responds to Henri's other question, "Back home, the reptilian invaders stopped coming shortly after you left. I assume that had something to do with you. It took April, John, Zellgato, and me about a year to eradicate what we hope was the last nest of them. Since then, much of our time has been spent protecting that continuity from another future-based organization called FATE which, coincidentally also has a Zellgato and a version of April." "We're going to go meet young Theo for a meal," says John. "Would you like to come with us?"
Phade shudders, "I lie awake at night frequently asking myself 'what if Zellgato is right?' about any number of things. I no longer read security briefings from him after 7. What could the PhDuhminions do with the nanites? Is he right?"
"Couldn't you just find him in the Shuffle?" asks the 13-year-old Genius. "One of my dads explained Zellgato Theory to me. The dimensional barriers mean you can't get him in another dimension by killing him in this one, but if you get him before it all starts while he's in the Shuffle, that works." Phade shrugs, "Maybe. I'm not sure. We could ask someone. But, how do you get him while he's in the Shuffle before it all starts?"
Whispering to not break the moment, Henri asks, ”Does this one know how old he is? Or does he only have memories of all of them muddled together? I wonder how fast a generation passes…” When asked about his age, his mind, and the images displayed in the holoprojector, flicker and reform. You see a sterile room with multiple adult clones being born as other identical clones play the role of doctor. Scarlett plucks the answers from his mind, "He is four. His batch is 117. There have been 116 generations before him in his line. They are fully educated before they're born but not with their own history." Scarlett looks astonished and turns to the group,"My word, they've been travelling from world to world for hundreds of years at least, driven by a mission they don't understand, reproducing themselves and leaving themselves behind whereever they go ... They could outnumber the Zellgatos!"
L.C. sees the torment on Nissa's face. Her eyes show that she feels your pain. "Oh, my poor love, ..." she says quietly enough the Prime Minister of France can't hear. The P.M. of France sees the torment on Nissa's face. He winces as if he too has known grief and regret and recognizes its pall even on the face of a stranger. G.D. sees the torment on Nissa's face and makes a note on the personnel file no one told G.D. to maintain on each of the crew. Henri doesn't notice Nissa's grief because Henri is looking at the PM, who seems upset by something.
They were not expecting that. They looked shocked.
While the PhDuhminions are standing around shocked at some apparent revelation, Theo and Zellgato have time to get up there if they wish and take a full round of actions.
Henri's nanites do the work of converting the information received from the axons in his brain to stuff G.D. can process and sending problems a time-travelling AI might not be equipped to solve back to Henri. It is fast and exhausting. Henri has soon found 3 things:
Zellgato begins hacking through flimsy layers of encryption and security, using the computers networked into the system already. P.H. Drakos was added to the lab's roster by an employee of the Ministry of Science and Security upon recommendation from an EU employee working on the Transdimensional Research Initiative. This employee placed researchers in five different collaborating groups: Pujman Haadin Daabir, Paulo Herberto Di-Amitis, Phillip Henri Desjardins, and Primin Haldis Dietrich. The security team has called Alexandros over the comms. They want to know if you can get past the wreckage and climb up the elevator shaft one at a time. It is possible to do so but with all the glass and metal shards it will take a DC 10 Acrobatics check to do it without injury. Alexandros is ready to start evacuating his employees.
Zellgato manages to avoid any damage and manages to flick a piece of shrapnel onto a new trajectory, preventing it from hitting one of the tubes full of TD-Radiation and, by doing so, saving the entire universe. His move was so deft, no one would believe it. Zellgato's scanner is working fine now. Whatever was disrupting it was lost in the explosion. Everyone is human and no one even talks about getting a union representative in the room when Z begins scanning. They recognize the urgency. PhD's DNA is all over the room.
Your suspect is fast. Surprisingly fast. Zellgato, although distracted, is faster with a syringe than Doc Holliday was with a gun. (Perhaps also fast than that dentist turned gambler was with a syringe as well, but we may never know.) Your suspect continues to stumble towards the elevator doors. Alexandros says, «Κίρκη, κλείσε γρήγορα τις πόρτες του ασανσέρ. Παράκαμψη ασφάλειας." The doors slam shut before the laboratory's AI answers, "Ναι πλοίαρχος." Your suspect slams into the doors. Alexandros smiles smugly. Your suspect turns and raises a trembling hand to his neck, which is not where the syringe hit him.
"Umm ... Okay," says Valkyrie, trying to figure out why a nuke would need to be launched from orbit when she could have carried one on her belt. She adds shyly, "My name is Valerie. The Powers Institute in Copenhagen knows how to reach me." With that, she takes her hockey stick and flies off at an impressive speed.
"Howdy, I got orders to comin' pick up a ....thamabob tool, that field to go kit thingy? We're apoose to be teaching that new guy, Oaks, how to properly register missing items. I dunno which one, the extra one? It'll be back tomorrow after his test." "Was that Zellgato?" one of the engineers asks another. "One of them," replies the other engineer."What was that about?" the first engineer asks. "No idea," replies the other.
European Parliament in Disarray
Vid-screens watch you as much as you watch them and even a flicker of interest will cause it to start bursts of sound and noise as the story elaborates and unfolds. Most adults try not to look at them. Any eye contact just starts the screens rolling out.
L.C. sits down and puts her hands on her face to hide her tears. She doesn't say anything for a disturbingly long time. When she finally starts talking, she doesn't stop: "I LOOKED for you. We LOOKED everywhere. When we followed your path to Gaia's Prison and there was nothing left ... We KEPT looking. I never let anyone see me give up hope ... but, what was I to hope for? That you survived a dimensional collapse by becoming a goddess? What the f+%&!? So I grieved for you ... grieved for us and everything this could have been, for years. And, now, you're back. The relationship we had, isn't here. We can have something different ... But, I'm the Marshal now ... or am I? I pulled, pushed, prodded, poked, and pestered EVERYONE in power on Tarokh and everyone with powers in TAROT. Looking for you became who I was ... became my job ... And we saved worlds while doing it! But, now, you're back and I don't know who I am anymore." She stops talking and weeps.
At some point in the not too distant past in the expanded 'campus' area of Boston Theoretical: Zellgato walking past a classroom hears, "...which brings us back to the problem of Zellgato." A young professor struggles to explain the challenges our new transdimensional reality poses for physics.
Seeing Zellgato has paused, the professor walks over and closes the door. The look he gives Zellgato when he says, "Excuse me, sir." makes it clear he doesn't know who he is talking to. He goes back to trying to explain why there are so many Zellgatos and only one Theo. He can't. No one can. The academic world is split into two main camps: (1) Zellgatos are inevitable and (2) Zellgatos are necessary. They're looking for a third explanation.
Clicking video links during dinner?!: It's clearly AI generated as it only took a minute or two to be on your feed. You might not recognize the cultural reference but Nissa's fans are into a weird sliver of culture that she keeps referencing, so they are clicking on it and sending it trending. Some likely AI generated voice sings ... Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale,
The mate was a mighty demigod,
The weather started getting weird,
... "Hey, what did you always tell us about no devices during dinner? I thought we had a family rule!" says Ji-Hashar.
Theo and Legato:
Guardian Four may be a bit of a braggart and has no respect for privacy, but he knows how to throw a party. A grey carcass is put on a spit over a bonfire and slowly turned. The spit goes up the trunk, through the fat torso, and comes out the others side with the tail wrapped around it. It is wrapped in fruit, then leaves, then twine. The smell of citrus juice fills the air as it roasts.
The party here is as off-the-hook as you want it to be but with very little privacy. Guardian Four is a glutton. If you have any questions for them, ask away. Meo is still being watched by the Healers. Guardian Four does reveal to Theo that the Healers believe her to be pregnant, but they've never seen that before, so they are not sure. You can ask any questions you wish. Nissa:
Guardian One welcomes Nissa and provides her with anything she wants or needs, but is in quite a hurry to see what she thinks of the book, which is kept in her office.
When Nissa arrives, she finds an office in which one wall is splashed with a series of strange but somewhat familiar symbols. It is that text that looks like Atlantean, but is not. Guardian One explains that it has been here since the beginning and they repaint it every year, but they do not know if it has a meaning. Make a Culture check to read it and another to read the TOC of the book. You can choose which to put your highest check towards. The book is brought out and placed on a low table in front of a couch underneath the graffiti. You can ask any questions you wish.
Charles: The artists delight in Charles. It's quite a lovely estate and everyone and everything is quite beautiful. When they find he is interested in animals, they bring him to see the paintings of the animals of Utopia. They look like they could have evolved from the same ancestors as the species Charles knows best, but they are also quite different as well. A few animals have no resemblance to any Earth species living or dead.
You can ask any questions you wish.
Nissa:
The microsecond the nano-sludge drops into the blood, some of it comes to life. From Nissa's perspective, the nanites have obvious differentiation. They are as varied as puzzle pieces, but the purposes of each piece are not obvious. Some dart like nanites awaken in the presence of the blood and propel themselves into individual cells. If the nanite was the size of a person, the red blood cell would be the size of a building.
H After the darts fire, there's a pause for all of 2 seconds as these darts swell just a bit and then start emitting energy, which seems to summon a rush of nanites who swarm towards the dart and then into the cell like Black Friday shoppers when the doors open. This is happening in hundreds of red blood cells at once. The cells well and blacken and are replaced by black tubes made up of nanites. Other nanites, sleeping until now, begin to attach to the tube, but they start to form a long black fiber. Ten seconds after the nanites hit the blood, a dozen fiber tubes are thrashing about in the blood, trying to attach themselves to something, but it isn't clear what. Whatever it is, apparently is not there. Henri:
I assume you can analyze your blood after this reaction? Not sure if you'd pick this up during the procedure, but the nanites reduce your hemoglobin and iron levels. Given the amount you put in and the amount of the reduction, which is sudden, but quickly plateaus, Henri would feel faint if he injected or drunk this entire vial. While Henri and Nissa are experimenting, a Builder steps forward. He says something in Utopian. The meaning arrives in your head, "The Director said you needed a test subject. I am required to volunteer."
Utopia, Later.:
"I learned the word for those born to be pilots in their language," says the recently returned Pilot, turning in from their shift on duty. "They call us 'Henri'. 'Henri' means 'Pilot'." The Pilot points Henri towards a hill and then towards a glyph carved into the surface of the hill. Nissa would recognize it as the Atlantean letter 'Mau--The Sea Cow'. She has seen enough usage of this Neo-Atlantean writing system now to know that this letter is naming the site. This is Site M.
Beyond the landing site, you see a few recently erected Utopian structures, and the entrance to another underground structure of those who came before.
The Healers: The Healer less directly affected by Theo's divine splendor seems worried. She summons other healers from the other chamber and they usher away the shuddering healer. She looks back at Theo in amazement as she exits. The Communicator starts to translate her last utterance for you and then blushes, stops, and rephrases: "It was like an org- ... It was like a sexual event."
Leave it to Theo to create chaos in a place of rest and meditation, while sleeping.
The bus sends a message to April and opens the 'rainfall warning' message. Underneath the flashing 'rainfall warning' link is a confidential message from RAIN to April. The message, when opened, reads "Missing Network operative Henri Patineur near your location. Find and debrief in secure location regarding events at ARIZ-29." April's face appears on the screen, "Hector's driving us up to the highway now. RAIN wants me to bring you in, Henri. Any trouble at the camp?" There was trouble at the camp. Henri and Nissa see at least three small armed vehicles following April's bus.
As Theo enters Lab 6 in the Development corridor, he spots movement from the corner of his eye. A spare Last Atlantean android head sits on one of the workstations. It spots Theo and exclaims, "Cousin! Son of Zeus! So nice of you to visit me in the hospital. I'd get up but I'm afraid I've suffered a wound of some sort. The medical care on your world is phenomenal though. On Atlantis Prime, if my head were separated from my entire body, my chance of survival would be 50-50 at best!" The head pauses and stares more intently at Theo, "Is something wrong, Cousin? You look aggrieved!"
The Zellgato changes all sound reasonable. We can always find a way to justify them, but the easiest way is that, when Zellgato returned for a visit to World 12 something shifted in the timeline and Zellgato became a slightly different version of himself. About 20 years after Zellgato's first adventure FATE started manipulating the timeline and World 12's TAROT tried to stop them. Things got messy. If April Patel never becomes Ms. Gray then Zellgato's world becomes quite different.
Once upon a time she was known as The Felonious Feline, but she retired from crime to spend the money she stole on a shelter for cats. Bored in retirement, at 59, she became one of the founding members of Animal Control. That was 10 years ago. Few in the hero community know she used to be a semi-super-villain.
"Happy birthday, Nissa," shouts Pah. As Nissa zips off he calls out, "You will remember to return those guantlets you borrowed ... Oh, dear."
Not even a minute into the fight, one of the AIs streaming this battle has produced and is beginning to sell a video game. It has an old-fashioned kind of look to it. Players play Theo and either climb the stairs or flip up well dodging pots thrown by a giant monkey.
Theo's agent calls.
Boston Theoretical has cells for all sorts of creatures. Currently, you're living in a bunch of them, but there's a whole wing of unoccupied cells. There's also 'Animal Control', a group of super-powered vets, horse trainers, lion tamers, and cryptid hunters.
Inside the packages are a pair of cakes that read "Come work for us, Kai!" says one.
"That was just our cover story in case we got caught," says Tosh. "Exactly, like we'd just tell you we were sneaking in to recruit your employee," says Channer.
"This first card," she says, "Gets to the heart of the matter. What is the essence of your query." Mrs. Rosewood turns over The World. "The World, a major arcana. This card normally would represent a successful voyage, but, inverted represents the opposite. You're stuck. Stagnant. You need to know where you are going." "This next card represents the challenges that you face, the obstacles in your path. In this case, they may be the things that stop you from making the journey you need to make," says Mrs. Rosewood, turning over the Two of Swords. "The answer is, YOU do. You're getting in your own way. You see how she is blindfolded? That represents reflection. And how the swords point in two different directions? They point towards possible futures. See how it is inverted though? How the card is upside down? You are think you are reflecting on the best course of action, but you are simply refusing to make a decision. You are fooling yourself or being fooled. It's time to choose. Enough thinking, Hamlet, it's time to act!" "This next card crowns you and represents your ideals," says the witch, turning over The Star. "Another major arcana. The fates have plans for you. The Star. Not inverted this time. You seek a better future." "This card sits at your feet. It is the thing you have that will work for you; some aspect of your past that can help you," she says turning over a card with a moon sitting between two towers. "The Star and then The Moon! Both major arcana, and cards with powerful connections to the fate. All that is missing is The Sun. This card reveals hidden enemies, deception, and occult forces. But, given its position, these are now at your disposal. They may have worked against you in the past, but in the future are yours." "The Four of Swords, reversed, in your recent past," she says turning over another card and placing it on the left of the spread. It shows a knight lying on his tomb. "Too much introspection! An abundance of caution! The cards say again that you have been delaying. Time to act!" "And here's the man of action, in your future!" she says turning over the King of Swords. "Reversed like this he says the same thing ... enough thinking, time to act. I have never seen the cards hector a querent so, but they are very clear." She starts a new column of cards off to the right. At the bottom she places the Knight of Cups. "This is your attitude towards the question. You've been tricked, deceived, and don't know who to trust. What's holding you back is an inability to determine where the truth lies." "Your family and friends," she turns over another card of a divine being pouring water between two cups, "Your family and friends will support you, cautiously, in this decision you must make." "Now, your hopes and your fears," she turns over The Sun and snaps her fingers. "There it is. Powerful forces are at work in this reading. This card represents happiness and contentment. Is that your hope or your fear? Are you afraid of the better world you want to build?" "The final outcome," says Mrs. Rosewood, turning over one last card and placing it above The Sun. "It's time to cut your losses. You're afraid to let go after so much time invested, but it is time to choose your new path."
"You know I'm 17, right?" asks EIG a little surprised."What?! 17's legal in Mass, right?" EIG rolls her eyeballs. Cameras turn towards Theo. Luckily they don't notice EIG and no context is provided for his words. He is in hostile territory though and has been caught on video rambling bizarrely.
"Wait right there!" shouts a voice Theo thinks he recognizes, but barely. Turning, he sees the First Responder known as The Patriot, "Theo! So great to see you here, buddy! You've gotta come in and see our press conference. It's going to be amazing! Big surprise at the end." The Patriot manhandles Theo into the studio. Reporters from SuperHeroNews are physically present in the room, but dozens of other journalists are virtually present. Their faces and logos bob and weave around the walls of the room as they chat with each other and jockey for positions closer to the stage. Easily Ignorable Girl is sitting near one of the walls, unnoticed. "Hi Theo," she says. The Patriot doesn't hear her. The rest of the First Responders are sitting on stage. There are two empty chairs. While digital nameplates introduce The Patriot, Plantwoman, and Animal Boy, the two empty chairs have question marks.
The lights come on just in time for Theo to see Zellgato leap on top of the other Zellgato who moved as if he knew what his alter was thinking. (It's like they share one mind!) It is the unbound and slightly older Zellgato that gets hit by the ceremonial dagger.
The dagger flies out of Brother Andrew's hand.
The intercoms from the alternate future work. The suppression technology only worked on device from the 21st century.
A couple of kids run between the InstahutTM brand temporary shelters. The last to run through is a girl with red hair and eyes such a bright green that you can see them from 20ft. away. She slows a bit and then disappears into another alley in the tent city.
How about these rules ...: So, you failed your Will save when you used your Wand and now you want to know where you ended up. Here are the tables your GM is going to roll on to randomly determine that.
TABLE 1 (1d6)
TABLE 1.1 (1d6) Almost the right place (Some other location near the target)
TABLE 1.2 (1d6) Right place, wrong time (past)
TABLE 1.3 (1d8) Right place, wrong time (future)
TABLE 1.4 (1d6) Hey, I know this place!
TABLE 1.5 (1d20) Some other world in the TAROTverse
TABLE 1.6 (1d6) Don't look now Dorothy, but I don't think we are in Kansas anymore.
Pausing as he takes a treat. "I would suggest taking the time to relax for a moment from your world. But last time I did that a pirate prince killed a coworker, mind controlled kidnapped another one, and then Theo had to rituatlly fight him to the death or risk invasion en mass. So. Don't relax too much." "Pirate prince, eh? That does sound tough," he says taking another sip of his Cawfee. "This stuff is terrible. How did this world manage to avoid getting attacked by demons but still f!~@ up coffee?" The cafeteria is still serving mushroom-based 'Cawfee' instead of real coffee. I think one of the heroes bought an espresso machine, a grinder, and real beans, but they're downstairs in the detention area TAROT has given to you to use as bedrooms.
Doc Z joins Zellgato is trying to slip out of the crowd and away from the camera drones.
He's not as stealthy as Nissa and Zellgato, but you manage to slip away. Within an hour SuperHeroNews is running clips of Doc Z and Zellgato side-by-side and speculating about whether one is an android, an apprentice, an alter from another dimension, or a future self. The most popular theory is on an android future version of Zellgato sent back in time to save us from demons.
Doc Z suddenly finds himself surrounded with camera drones. A few of them project holographic talking heads of famous newsstreamers. All of them shout questions, "Mr. Zellgato, why are you wearing a mask. ... Where did TAROT go? ... Did you fight any demons today, Mr. Zellgato." Doc Z draws his wand and prepares to blast the closest one out of the sky.
Alt-Greer asks, "So, Theo and, uh, Charles, ... what are you going to do until your friends get back? You need a shower? Rest? Meet the rest of the whack jobs at TAROT HQ? I see Kai is pretty busy. I guess she, I mean, he, ... um ... Well, I guess Kai is your MacGyver? I don't suppose they're still making that in your future. You want to watch some McGyver? We have a half-dozen VCRs and a huge library of VHS tapes for downtime!"
Charles makes sure the civilians get on before getting on himself... if there's still room.
As soon as everyone is in, Alt-Greer heads away from the tower, in the direction the civilians had been heading before they got stopped. This is the direction Alt-Greer pointed when he said, "out of the radius." The two suriving civilians are crying in the back of truck. They're clutching knapsacks stuffed with things. One of the knapsacks references an alien furry called "Alf." You don't recognize the species. "What did you get?" asks Doc Z pointing at the backpacks. "Chocolate? Booze? Hope it was worth it." The civilians cry harder.
Okay, I've created a rough battlemap for the other location. Nissa and Charles have moved to that location as have most of the demons.
The moment before Zellgato fires at the creature, something else strikes the big beast from behind. It seemed like a green laser beam and it was coming from further down the road. A second vehicle is rushing towards the big demon and the other car. |