azume | Departure.

INCIDENT.

The weekend starts off...loudly.

The commotion is coming from the direction of the Galactic Warehouse on the northern side of town, fairly late into the morning; given how quiet and peaceful (for better or worse) the city tends to be, it's unbelievably noticeable when something is going awry. Even more so when it sounds like something may have quite simply exploded.

You might want to see what's going on there, in other words.

Arriving to the scene to check it out will reveal a standoff occurring between the buildings and warehouses of the compound; on one side of the lot stands Cynthia, proud and tall, long blonde hair flowing down her back and a large, rather intimidating Pokémon at her side; it's worth noting that the Pokémon, too, doesn't seem to be suffering from the same sense of apathy as everyone and everything else that you've seen - its gaze is alert, and the sound it offers is loud and harsh, a bellowing roar from an aggressive, hunched-forward stance, aimed at anyone who might consider coming near its trainer.

And there are a fair amount of people to consider potential threats, standing near the building.

Most of them seem to be dressed the same way you were when you first arrived; there's a decent number of them, maybe ten or so, all just as blank-eyed as ever. However, there's someone else with them, a young man who can't be much older than his early twenties standing in front of them with his arm out to the side as though instructing them to stay back, one of those red-and-white capsules (Pokéball, those of you who have done your research should know what it's called by now, he's got a Pokéball with him) clutched firmly in his other hand.

There are two things that are likely immediately obvious about this man - one being that he looks completely different from the other members of Team Galactic that you've seen, which probably means something important. The other is that judging from his actions and the intense look in his eyes, he's just as alert and emotionally intact as Cynthia is.

She doesn't seem fazed by him, however; if anything, her voice sounds bright when she addresses him, reaching out to pat her Garchomp's neck affectionately as she does so.

"Commander Saturn!" She sounds downright cheerful, really. "Have we reached an agreement or not?"

The more astute among you will likely notice that the area around them is looking...rough, covered in scorch marks and still-unsettled dust. The man - Saturn, apparently - just glares at her for a long moment before he responds, though his gaze isn't steady; he pauses for a moment to make direct eye contact with the lot of you, obviously acknowledging your presence, before he glances back at the grunts as though to make sure they're staying back and away from the conflict.

Eventually he'll speak, though, and his voice is surprisingly low in pitch and smooth in timbre; outwardly it seems calm enough, but it's difficult to ignore the way it's brimming with something somewhere between anger and contempt, especially given how blank the others are by contrast. "Just the one warehouse, isn't it?"

"That's right," Cynthia replies, offering him a smile that's edged with something sharp. "Just the one."

Saturn pauses. Glances back again. It's clear that the grunts behind him are his charges, in one way or another; he keeps checking on them.

After a moment, though, he'll throw a key card across the way, sending it clattering to her feet; she bends down gracefully and picks it up, toying with it between her fingers. "Thanks, sweetheart," she says evenly; Saturn just clicks his tongue agitatedly and turns to leave, issuing orders to his grunts as he goes. Oddly enough, despite the tension, he seems to have no qualms about giving her his back, and she doesn't move to attack him.

"Fall back, and defend the main building if necessary. If there's trouble, report directly to me. Immediately."

Cynthia watches them go, still toying with the key card between her fingers; it's then that she notices the rest of you.

"Oh, this is wonderful, I was just about to come get you." When she smiles at you, the expression is far more genuine, far less hard. "I've got something for you."

The warehouse the key card opens up is comparatively sparsely-used; there are boxes and the like scattered everywhere, but perhaps more important is what's inside them - namely, an outfit you'll notice as belonging specifically to you, as well as a personal item you'll recognize.

"You shouldn't stay here," Cynthia says. "I'll stay in town long enough to ensure that he doesn't decide to give you any trouble, but it's in your best interests to leave. Take the southern exit out onto the route, and make your way toward Lake Valor; if you run into him or anyone like him, don't engage. He folded easily enough today, but chances are he won't go lightly on you. As much as I hate to say it, as you are now, he will defeat you.

"So stay out of his way, and try to stay out of trouble, all right? Take care of yourselves, and stay safe."

[OOC: Welcome to the end of Week 1! In the boxes you've been granted access to, you'll find one canon outfit belonging to your character, as well as one of your submitted material regains, whichever you decide that one regain to be! The one stipulation is that it's probably something small this time.

If your character is the sort to ignore the commotion going on, Cynthia will find them and tell them to get their stuff, and give the same general advice before leaving them be - get your stuff and get out of town, it isn't safe to stay here.

No NPC response will be given to this post, though you can thread here amongst yourselves if you wish; we'll see you tomorrow at noon with a new log for your further adventures!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Hm?

[Ignis tilted his head slightly, half to listen to her and half out of simple curiosity.]

Of course, Zelda. What can I do for you?

Strike a pose for me!

[ She says, holding out this Sheikah Slate so that she can... take a picture of him... This is a thing we're doing with a smile!

Once she's convinced that he's got a good position, click, and there's a snapping sound as she takes the picture! ]

[His almost immediate reaction was a charming smile; he'd been confronted by a sudden camera enough that it was practically a reflex at this point.]

Did you find a camera? [As familiar as that felt, it was paired with a sense of homesickness that he very quickly covered up.]

... Oh, are they more commonplace for you? [ She does back off a little, regretting she can't show him the photo, but smiling as she opens it and sees how handsome he is. She nods to herself and, ] I found the Sheikah Slate, with its camera rune on it.

It's reasonably common technology for us. I have a friend who makes quite the hobby of photography, in fact.

[So. Magic camera, that's a new one.]

I'm not familiar with a Sheikah Slate, how does it work?

Edited 2018-06-09 17:04 (UTC)

[ She animatedly holds the thing out for hm to hold. Better to let him touch it, right? And as she does, ]

Honestly, I still have not fully worked out the power source for it! Most of the ancient Sheikah technology is like that, though, powered through self-powered runes and an energy source which resembles the blue fire. We've been able to replicate it using specialized furnaces, but as you can feel, the Slate isn't particularly warm to the touch... Regardless of the power source, however, the device mostly serves as a repository for information and module from which runes can be accessed. Link has told me that in his travels he fond many more, but it seems that the majority of them are inoperable at the moment... but even so, it can take realistic portraits instantly, and it has access to a complex map of Hyrule itself as well as a Compendium of information on the flora and fauna and monsters associated with the land! I am rather impressed by the completion of the information, in truth...

[Ignis reached out to take it at the sound of motion, carefully running a hand along the screen and designs. Odd, it didn't seem so different from a phone or tablet from Insomnia.]

[...he didn't exactly expect Zelda's world to have magic-based internet, but apparently this was just a situation for all kinds of surprises.]

So this is essentially your world's magitek? It sounds quite the fascinating and useful thing, to have such a range of use and a self-contained power source. Does it ever need charging?

[ She nods fervently until she remembers that she doesn't ... that he can't see. And yeah! It's a little on the big side for a phone, but that sure is a tablet aside from the big fuck off handle and the eye carved into the back. ]

Yes, I believe so! [ As compared to what he said about magitek earlier?? ] It is a piece of ancient Sheikah technology, one of the first that we were able to make operational after the discovery of that technology. I've personally used it for some time... and no, I do not believe it does need to charge. That is another mystery of its power source.

It's quite impressive. [He handed the slate back to her with a small smile.] Even if there's little else to it, a camera might yet be useful. Just in case we've need of documenting anything.

Oh of course! ... Though I do wish I knew more about it... That I had been able to speak with Purah, perhaps. If I could have added a compendium on her, perhaps some Sinnoh compendium, the knowledge base that we could draw from would be tremendous...

[ Though she does take it back with a smile. It's still... actually really reassuring to have this again. ]

I suppose it can't be helped. We'll simply have to learn as we go along--perhaps you can find away to create a compendium of your own.

I will be taking one of those books from the store, and taking my own notes... but yes, perhaps.

[ She again looks at the photo of him, smiling at it. Man, he takes a good photo. ]

[years of practice and prompto leveling up his photography stat, clearly]

Either way, it'll be good to have a dedicated researcher with us.

[ With some pride, she answers... ]

I shall do my best. ... And I will be sure to help those who said they were inexperienced in the wilds as best I can as well.

I think you'll do just fine.

Thank you for saying so.

[ But okay.

Nailed it. ]

Don't worry. You'll certainly have my support should you need it, and I would presume to not be the only one that would say as much.

[ . . . Would she?

No, perhaps she would. She nods, but then yeah oops, so she makes a noise of acknowledgement. ]

...Zelda? Is there something wrong? If I've overstepped some line, please do say so.

No... not at all. [ She smiles to herself, ] I merely was lost in thought for a moment. Your support is very kind.

Think nothing of it. We're all rather in this predicament together, so we should look after one another where we can.

[ Just what she's been thinking, really. She nods ]

To that, we are very much in agreement!

Departure.

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