imeeji_frontstage | (no subject)

(no subject)

Who: Those who returned, and those who never left.
Where: Tokyo-F
When: Day 99, early morning

[ Hopefully enough of you got word out—

It's dawn in Tokyo-F, and the last few of your number to make it spill through the crack in the world, before the world boundary seals itself up again. Now your phones work once more, and the light down here is the dim twilight light of early morning.

Some of you might be missing, but most of you are here. Do you want to talk about it? Should you talk about it? Perhaps it'd be wiser not to address it where the cameras might see. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ YES. FUCK. ]

Intensity what happened?

Not out here. Your dorm or mine.

Yours is fine.

[ he'll be more comfortable there, he'll want to account for his people. Comparatively, she's fine. ]

[Doing a quick check: Angel, Duality, B, C, X, Anubis. But fuck, so many people missing. No Wild City?! At all!

Leading her to the elevator]

[ puts her game face back on, and brings along a container of tea and not-tea ]

[Then enjoy that awkward elevator ride (that feels longer than usual to just go to the 5th floor) as Intensity sulks in his corner of the elevator]

[ Yvette has. Mmmmostly evened out. She already broke character twice on camera and she's vibrating with too many feelings to identify, but she's got her game face back on. ]

[Once they reach FiN, he doesn't even bother taking her to the lab. The common room will be just fine for this conversation. Maybe the rest of his unitmates will learn a thing or two]

Sit.

[ does as she's told without even bothering with her typical routine of minding her clothes. This is too serious ]

[Going to grab pencil and paper. Luckily he has a lot around the dorm for drafting purposes]

The quick version is that a portal --- or more like a rift --- was momentarily opened between Tokyo-F and another space. I can only presume it was Heaven based on what I saw there, but it also overlooked Hell. Or at least some fashion of it. Many of us went to explore it, and it appears that many people also did not return.

[ she did a quick survey of the room, before they left. She has a pretty decent idea of who's missing, based on the reactions ]

Did the state of Heaven fall in line with statements that God's seat is vacant?

Yes. There wasn't a living soul there that I found. Though someone else - someone on Lilis - said they heard echoes of one.

[Pulls out a golden fruit from his pocket that he yanked from Heaven. It's bright - ridiculously bright to look at it, and vaguely apple shaped but who's to say really. And wherever Intensity has touched it, the light has dimmed. He sets that as a glorified paperweight as he begins drawing.]

The rift opened where you found us. And it opened into a open gate, two courtyards, and the another gate at the far end -- which was closed. Once Angel stepped over the thresh hold, the first gate closed. And she, Hurricane, and C stopped moving completely. Claiming that they were unworthy to be there.

I don't know all three of them well enough to understand the pattern, but they must have something in common... right?

Two have visited Lilith. One was permanently scarred from an earlier game, before your time.

Which is scrubbed out of my usual notes for obvious reasons.

Regardless - they must have be considered tainted. The first clue that we were in Heaven's domain. Angel kept saying how she belonged in the Abyss.

Luckily, Nine-Nine and Primrose were able to find the source of whatever magic was holding them and break the spell. Something in the floor. And then the gate opened, revealing the Abyss beyond. Which could possibly be this Hell - not just Tokyo-F, but all of it. Everything backstage that we can't see.

[ Prim was there, but didn't come back. ]

And people went to investigate that.

Nine-Nine jumped into it. Blue Eyes wasn't able to fetch his body if it did land somewhere.

[ why are people like this. Frustration bubbles up, a little bit escaping as a sigh ]

B, X, and Silver managed to get the second gate open.

[He continues drawing]

It opened up into a courtyard. There were tables, mats, practice weapons. Your standard gathering place - like the lobby is here. That's where I got the fruit.

[He points to the shiny golden paperweight]

It looked abandoned. As if people had just got up and left quickly. But it also felt like no one had been there for ages.

[He continues drawing]

From there, there was a path down into the earth, some battlements, and a tower. I only had time to explore the first.

[ she'll look at the fruit as best she can, given the brightness. Proof that heaven is real. It should be amazing, but hmm hmm the state it's in is not great. ]

I see.

[ at least from the drawing ]

[Silence had been listening in on their conversation—she abruptly joins them, to stand over the table to examine the map he's been working on. after a quick glance at the fruit, she ducks her head enough for her bangs to hide her eyes]

I do not like this at all. The feeling washing over me is one I cannot find words to describe.

[Nudging a cube chair over toward Silence for her to sit on]

Sit. You should hear this, too.

Some of the people who went in didn't come back out. Mostly Heart Soldier Senshi and Wild City. Everyone from future is now made it back, though - myself, Duality, and Angel.

Angel stayed behind at the rift to see if the others would be coming back soon.

Did she have anything left to say about those who were left behind?

[ she studies the map, managing to at least sound like she's asking for intellectual reasons, but. She's very Concerned. ]

[sits down, looking between them both]

Yes—why are they still there?

Are you asking why Heaven is still a thing?

[Shrugs]

Ozy did said God was dead. The emptiness lends some credit to those words. And with a power vacant like that, there's bound to be a struggle over who to fill it.

Add in the fact that we just had our first Heaven graduation and who knows what power balance is shifting in the background.

[Continues drawing a hallways with an infinite set of rooms]

Below the courtyard was the living quarters. All abandoned. And a freakish one that had some sort of repelling magic that then disappeared when someone did manage to bust their way through. A girl from Lilis.

She and the people that were with her also did not come back.

[ well, there's her answer about Silver and Prim. ]

I think I know which one. I'll talk to her.