imaginarynetwork | new message from user: UN

[A window pops up on everyone's bracers, forcefully installing the System Update that Sans and Sayori developed.

After it's finished loading, the messaging system pops back up, and a new message arrives. It opens without prompting, and a holographic figure projects onto the ground in front of everyone using a bracer.

The hologram is of what appears to be just a regular guy, some ambiguous schmuck. He's not particularly tall looking, wears a pair of big, black-framed glasses, his hair is mousey brown and trimmed short, and he doesn't even wear Faerun clothes.

He stands straight and confident with a smile on his face and his hands behind his back as he addresses the Reclaimers as if looking each of them in the eye.]

Hey! Hi! Hello there. Uh, wow, I gotta say, I wasn't expecting you to get through to me this way, but here we are!

That was pretty amazing.

Well, it's nice to finally meet you face to face! Or... face-to-hologram-projection-of-a-physical-manifestation. Hey! I'm your universe. That's right, the one you're living in right now! The one with uh, Faerun, and all the little folks running around there in places like Thay and Vista Virs.

You might know me as the Story. Some friends of mine like to call me Greg. It's kind of a little joke.

Uh, anyway, I know you're wondering why this conversation is so one-sided, and I'll try to field some questions at the end, but we kinda gotta make this quick, so, storytime! We've got— [he checks his wrist, which definitely does not have a watch.] — Just enough time for that.

Once upon a time, a small group of individuals got pulled throughout time and space, trying to fend off a pretty spooky-lookin' calamity. I'm talkin' end-of-all-worlds big. But saving worlds isn't easy, and more and more folks got pulled into a story and a struggle that was never theirs in the first place.

Those individuals found common ground and worked together to try and stop the calamity, and to reverse the damage it had done.

But despite their best efforts, it looked like they were destined to lose. Though they fought as hard as they could, a cult that sought to stop them from the beginning thwarted their plans and all of a sudden, magic, the hope they'd relied on all along, was snuffed out.

Cut off from magic and cut off from the planes, the heroes turned to each other and gave each other everything they had. They exchanged gifts of weapons, trinkets, armor; all in the effort of strengthening each other against the coming hardships.

As the nights grew colder, the calamity came upon them from the inside. The cult had found a way to plant a seed of doubt in their leader, and that doubt in herself consumed her, threatening to combine with the calamity that already chased the heroes.

None of them were counting on the fact that those heroes had made quite a few friends, notably detective Angus McDonald, a little boy of a particular kind. Those heroes were so kind to him, he'd do anything for them— even make a wish that could have been the end of him.

And so he did. He made a wish on a book that had captured a Relic's light, and that wish met up with all the other wishes those heroes made. Because you see, there's magic in hope. There's magic in love. And there's magic in a wish; Angus the dragon's wish; Lucretia, the cursed crewmate's wish; and yours, the wishes of stolen heroes. When the Relic amplified those wishes, I woke up.

[The hologram man grins even wider.]

I heard it.

I heard the hope in his voice and in yours and it reminded me of something really, really important.

It reminded me... that I really don't want to get eaten!

[The hologram man laughs, eyes crinkling behind his comical specs.]

I don't wanna end!

But see, the thing is, I'm just the story. I can't do anything myself. I had to figure out a way to get you guys all your power back. I realized that when Lucretia brought you here, pieces of your universes came with you. Those pieces became a part of me, including all of the magic that existed in you. With that magic, I was able to stitch the Weave back together.

In other words, we were able to fix the very fabric of magic's existence because of the magic that existed in you.

So I gave us more time by changing what time meant and brought you all here. If I stretched out time, it meant I could not only fix magic, but also take away Angus's entire memory of the thrall of the relic. I just... kind of took your memories of Candlenights, too.

Hey, uh, sorry, Angus, by the way.

The only problem with the whole idea was that in scanning some of the parts of your home, I downloaded parts that were eaten by the Hunger. They became like... vacant information, somehow, and the Islanders here called them "The Cursed." Since all those Hunger-copies really knew was searching for those Relics, they all gathered around the north side of the island, around the Relic that Angus used.

Now, I know that this still probably all seems like a lot of things that weren't your fault, but they sure are our problem. And like I said, I don't wanna get eaten. I'm sure none of you do either.

But I can't stop the Hunger without you.

You are the only ones that can turn this whole thing around. You are the little stars in my skies, the seams in the fabric that sews all your worlds together. You... are everything that makes me me, and I'm everything you bring.

Without you, I'm just... one big swath of space, a page that has yet to be written on.

So... are you ready to take the first step to stopping the Hunger?

((Greg will be open to receive tags (and answer questions) on this post/threadjack until Monday, but not all replies to this post are guaranteed to receive a response from him. You may use this post to speak amongst yourselves as usual, and may even be lucky enough to get responses from other NPCs!

On Monday evening, we will move forward with the CTA portion, starting with signups!))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

What makes this one "the right guy?"

It just feels... familiar.

Maybe not to you, but to another very important part of the universe.

Right. I'm sure you realize just how completely confusing this whole thing is for all of us. I'm not sure where we're even supposed to begin.

Personally, I'd recommend talking to your friends here! I think you know where to find Lucretia... and you've got Lola on your side against the Cursed.

I mean, I could tell you some of the answers, but there's some things I just can't tell yet, or uh... well.

[He clears his throat, and then begins to speak again, but all that comes through is a bunch of static.]

You get any of that?

[Wash startles when he hears that. His memories past Candlenights might be from another version of this universe, but he already knows that some of them are still accurate - no reason not to run with that.]

There's another fucking voidfish, isn't there. The baby.

[They've all been inoculated; why else would they be hearing that static?]

...You know about the baby voidfish?

Wait... Does... does everybody know about the baby voidfish?

Holdover from the universe that doesn't exist.

And they do now.

[Thanks for the confirmation!]

Well, no, it exists here. That's the only reason I know about it.

But I can't tell you anything about it or what it knows!

Me knowing about it is the holdover. We got beneath the Bureau, remade the Weave, and found it on the Starblaster. Which-

[...ah, fuck. If anyone has answers to this...]

Yeah, we need to get Lucretia back, don't we.

Ding, ding, dingeroni bingo, my guy!

[There's even a highly digitized sparkle as he makes jazz hands.]

Please don't ever say that again.

[Why is the universe the kind of person who says dingeroni bingo, oh my god]

[ She sighs. ]

Of course not. That would be too easy. But, there's one thing I'd really like to know. You said you had to mess with time to help us here. And I really don't know how deities work around here, like if they exist outside of you or... inside of— that sounds weird. What I mean is: Istus. She's a goddess of time. And she gave me this bag that she said would have what I needed when I most needed it inside. But does that not apply anymore when it's you who stretched time and not her?

Istus!

I know her. She's a part of me, too!

We work together. The weird thing is, I don't know what it is, either. I mean I do, because it's a part of me, and that thing knows what it is and I know it is because it's me, but I don't know because it also hasn't happened yet, and you don't know, and it hasn't entered... the universe... yet.

[At least he does slow down like he realises it sounds like he's crazy.]

...Look, the point is: I don't work against Istus, at least, not while the planes are reconnected. Hold on to that bag.

[ This reminds her of her days as a med student, where her peers would be drunk at the bar and trying to explain heart surgery. ]

Okay. Because I've been doing just that and wondering if it's silly of me to hope I can do something with it. I know I shouldn't think of it as a magical-fix-it, but...

[ She trails off, unwilling to say that the few times she's contributed to the capture of a relic/helping the populace affected by it, she's felt really useless. Not working fast enough, not having the skills required, and the last time she couldn't even get the damn bag open. It wasn't ready to help back then. She hopes it will now. ]

But I'll keep holding onto it.

Well, yeah, you're right. It's a tool, not a magical fix-it.

[Greg points up at Christine from his hologram real quick before crossing his arms behind his back again.]

You're the ones who're gonna fix it. You're a part of that, Christine. And you're a part of the magic that fixed the Weave.

[ Pursing her lips, she realizes that if what he's saying is true, than even just being who she is was somehow enough. Funny, she's always been an overachiever. She's always striven to be the best at what she does. But she didn't take into account that by just being her, she's managed to do something here. ]

Well, nothing to do but get on with it, I guess. Are you reaching out to us now because there's a time limit on this?

Yeah, that's right.

[Greg's smile falls.]

I can stretch time, but there's only so much to stretch. There's an end to everything.

Yeah. And you're never ready for it.

[ It's clear she's speaking from experience. But then she squares her shoulders and nods. ]

But we're gonna be as prepared as we can be. All the pieces are here, right?

Yeah, you've got pretty much every piece I can give you by now.

Put 'em together, and I'm sure you'll get to Lucretia.

And if you can get her out, well, then she can tell you what you're missin'.

But if not...

[Greg lifts a finger as if to pause the moment, staring right into Christine's eyes despite only being a hologram.]

I'm not gonna leave you guys. We'll figure out something.

Just, try not to fail, you know?

[ Christine's a realist, and there's a question forming in her mind about whether or not Lucretia will actually tell them what's missing. She's been a mysterious figure the whole time Christine has been part of the Bureau and she's not sure she trusts that now the Director would suddenly be more forthcoming.

That's why what Greg says next means a lot. They'll figure something out. ]

Yeah, I get it. All of us will give it our all.

[ ... ]

Well, like 90% of us, I'm sure.

[ Look, she's not gonna name names here, but she's sure the Universe here can figure it out. ]

[At that, Greg begins to laugh.]

Hey now, 90%'s still a passing grade, y'know.

90% ain't bad at all.

And all we need to save everything is a passing grade, right?

[ Here's hoping. ]

I guess I'd better get started.

new message from user: UN

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