[Lup-Net] Datapad Discovery 7/17

[shatteredlenses]

Gladio, Prompto, and I have been exploring a rather large square of area near the eastern coast, just below where the land starts to widen, over the last 4 days.  There are quite a few buildings, the most important being a secondary lab marked as 'Beta.'  We've found a fair number of robots here, much like have been found in other places, along with some tools and an old computer.  From what I've been told, there is nothing of use that can be salvaged from the computer, unfortunately.  On the other hand, the datapad we found on the other side of the building has proven more useful.

For those of you who know me, you are aware I'm unable to write down what I've found, though I do have a device that will allow me to read what the datapad has on it.  If someone would be so kind as to add this to the information we already have, I will be in your debt.

[Ignis pauses for a few moments to let anyone willing to transcribe get ready.  He then begins to read the below in a slow, but steady voice.  It takes sometime as he is actually translating it into braille to read back, but it gets the job done.




  Translation is here.]

There are more buildings down to the south of the area, but we have been here for 4 days now and it is long passed time we left this place for a while.  Anyone who is looking for a new place to pick up there search from, please considering picking up here.  The three of us will be spending a lot of time at our cottage over the next few days should you want more details on the location.

Comments

[attheclocktower]

[ She doesn't have the materials to transcribe, nor the time to get them by the time he starts. But she does listen as best she can. ]

Asteraceae?

[ She catches that word. The similarity behind it. The flowers on the island. ]

I... I've been meaning to head over there to help look. I could try there, if nobody else does.

[shatteredlenses]

Yes. Asteraceae.

[The name similarity hasn't escaped him either.]

To be quite honest, I'm half expecting to run across some mention of the gladiolus flower next.

[Lets just hit all the people with flower names he knows, right?]

If you go, please promise me you won't go alone. We spent three nights there and didn't run into anything hostile, but I highly doubt things will stay that way. Ziziphus seemed fairly safe at the start too.

[And they all know how that ended.]

[attheclocktower]

[ There's a quiet little huff of laughter. One that isn't... actually all that amused. More tired. ]

Don't worry. I know I've been acting pretty dumb lately but... I remember that much. [ From here and the Tower both. ] I'll make sure someone else is there.

[shatteredlenses]

[He worries because he cares, Aster. Not because he thinks you're dumb.]

We all process these kinds of intense situations differently. There is no right or wrong way. Try not to be so hard on yourself.

Do you know how soon you will be going over? There are going to be a couple new additions to our household soon and I thought you might like to see them.

[attheclocktower]

[ There's... a brief silence. Not awkward or disapproving. More... thoughtful. Ignis cut right to the heart of the matter pretty quickly. That being said, she still doesn't think she handled the aftermath of Ziziphus well. She knows she's handled similar things better.

...and maybe worse. At least she didn't die some three times in the space of a month this time. ]

I'm not sure. Not right away. I should... talk to Shion, probably. Try to get caught up on what's been going and what's been found.

... I can come over now.

[shatteredlenses]

You're welcome here whenever you wish. Would you like me to throw something to eat together? I'll fill you in on all I know as well. Some of the bits are more upsetting than others.

[Ai'Tuoh. He means the references to Ai'Tuoh.]

Shion will likely have a lot he can fill you in on too. He's been keeping himself very involved in things.

[There is concern in his tone, like he is worried Shion might be pushing himself too hard. Fortunately, with Aster getting back into things, if he is, she will see that he gets a rest.]

[attheclocktower]

That... would mean a lot, thank you.

[ Yeah, she's definitely been worried about Shion too. She always is! But... he had to take care of her this past month while she withdrew, along with himself, along with keeping himself involved. It's a lot for anyone. ]

I'll see you soon, then?

[savedbyasong]

Got it Ignis. [His notebook had already been out when Ignis had made his announcement.] Thanks for reading it out.

Asteraceae... Another of the largest families of flowering plants. Much like astragulas in their amount of species.

[He's not sure that's relevant. But it is interesting.]

[shatteredlenses]

You're welcome. I'm not exactly the best person to be doing something like this, but the information needed to be shared and it hit a little too close to home for me to ask Prompto to do it.

[Ignis doesn't know much about botany, but he has a feeling it's no accident that these two names match large families of flowers.]

So the ill are being classified by the larger flower family types and then by smaller sub-groups within them? Is that what the word 'Leucanthemum' is? A sub-group?

[savedbyasong]

A genus, yes. A sub group within the family of Asteraceae. [The fact the families were large was worrying, if this was a disease it was likely to have been one with so many strains it was impossible to cure.]

The names are probably literal, me and Ceej figure the disease was probably caused by genetic parasitic flowers. Most likely something that only affected certain people. It may be that the designations were the type of flower they were infected by.

[shatteredlenses]

[Ignis frowns as he listens to the theories. They are sound--probably much better than he could have come up with himself considering his limited knowledge of the field--but something strikes him as wrong about it.]

If it was something that only affected a few because of some kind of genetic disposition, why quarantine everyone so harshly? According to this datapad, they aren't letting anything off the island. Not even letters. It seems to imply that the trigger, at least, is easily spread, if not the infection itself.

[savedbyasong]

They perhaps didn't know. It wouldn't be obvious and also it might have been all of them...

[A pause. Because he tries to stick to science and actual facts but the truth of the matter is he's seen too much to believe that science can actually explain everything. At least not the science that he knows and understands.]

This is going to sound a bit... On my first world there were parasistic bees. [Hopefully Ignis doesn't have the same reaction to parasistic bees as Ceej had.] They infected humans, living inside them and then when they were ready to hatch sucked all of the nutrients out of them, killing them.

But they only effected those inside the city of No.6. No.6 had a town next to it, outside the walls in the wasteland. No one there was killed by the bees...

[He took a breath.] There's a lot I am unsure of because it comes from visions of the future, but from what I understand some higher power was involved... as in a god. These islands are all ruled by gods. What if this was the work of a flower god. Some kind of punishment...

[Or blessing. After all Bliss had seen no harm in killing them with happiness, perhaps a flower god had decided to bestow flower parasites on their followers.

Or something. He's not sure what's more terrifying.]

[shatteredlenses]

[Aside from a frown, Ignis doesn't show a whole lot of reaction to the idea of parasitic bees. After the daemons he's seen and fought, not much phases him, but he is suddenly rather glad that all the Killer Bees they ran into did was cause status aliments.

Who knew that there would ever be a time he would be thankful for confusion!]

Or a gift.

[Shion doesn't say it, but he doesn't have to. Ignis' mind goes to the very same place almost instantaneously.]

Gods, divine beings, messengers--whatever name they give themselves--can have the best of intentions, but they don't think like we do. They don't value the things we value. Their lives are too long and their responsibilities too great. The Storyteller tries, and perhaps has a bit more success because the very thing that gives them power also exposes them to so many instances of what makes us who we are, but they still struggle a great deal.

[Ignis falls silent for a few moments before shaking his head.]

Perhaps we should be spending less time trying to piece this all together then and more time trying to find whatever deity calls this island home.

[savedbyasong]

[The fact that Ignis came to the same conclusion is both reassuring and worrying. Reassuring that he's coming to a logical conclusion, worrying that it makes it more plausible.]

Perhaps, finding the god that rules this island will give us more of an idea of what happened.

I am not sure if you have heard from others, but some of the writings people found have phrases similar to those in Ai'Tuoh, it may be that the survivers of whatever happened here are those in Ai'Tuoh and their rules are... Reactions to what happened.

[So whatever happened was so bad that casting their children to a void of eternal sleep was considered the better option. That did not bode well.]

[suspecteverything]

Not sure if it will do any good, but I'm pretty good with tech. I could see if there's anything else hidden on either thing. I can't damage it any, so it might be worth a shot even if I can't find anything.

[shatteredlenses]

From the description I was given of the computer's condition, I suspect not even one with god-like technology skills will be able to get anything from it, though if you wish to confirm that for yourself, I will be happy to give you more detailed instructions on where to find it. The datapad, on the other hand, has more promise considering it is actually still working. You're most welcome to come and take a look at it. Perhaps we can find more entries saved somewhere in its memory?

[suspecteverything]

I'm definitely willing to take a look. Shouldn't take very long.

[He hasn't had the chance to play around with technology in ages, so he's really looking forward to this even if it doesn't turn anything up.]

[shatteredlenses]

Would you like to come over now then? I have the datapad with me at the cottage. Once you've done all the messing with it you can, we can talk about the location of the computer in more detail.

[But, you know, give him a few minutes to be a good host and pull some food and drink together. He's just that kind of dork.]

[suspecteverything]

I'll be there then.

((OOC: I'm guessing he won't find anything else on the pad even though he can infiltrate the entire system?))

[shatteredlenses]

I'll be waiting outside near the fire pit. The cottage isn't too far from the mana pool so it won't be hard to find.

(OOC: Unfortunately, that's right. The datapad is working just a smidgen better than the computer in that it lets us see anything at all. Otherwise, it's totally fried. I dunno if there is even enough left of the system for him to get into by the sounds of things.)

Moving to action

[suspecteverything]

[He doesn't even respond to that and simply shows up when he gets there. Ignis was right though. It hadn't been hard to find.]

Hey.

[yorisearching]

Excuse me, sir.

Thank you for the data.

Is the computer at all functional, even if it contains nothing of use?

[As someone who lived inside a computer until recent events, Yori has opinions on proper rescue of salvage.]

[shatteredlenses]

Please just call me Ignis, dear. There's no need to be so formal.

[Says the man whose who demeanor tends to scream 'formality' most of the time.]

As my friend so eloquently put it, the computer is 'well and truly fried.' When I say there is 'nothing of use,' I mean both in terms of information to be gathered and useable parts. If you'd like to verify that for yourself, though, I am happy to give you directions to where it can be found. Just promise me you won't go looking for it alone. Not matter how safe these islands seem at first, they never stay that way.

[And this one doesn't even seem all that safe with the repeated mentions of the flower infection they keep running into.]

[yorisearching]

[Yori can appreciate the invitation, though using it comes a little harder.]

Thank you. You're quite right about the dangers. I promise not to go alone.

[Systems that cannot be rescued should perhaps still be mourned, but Rinzler would never forgive her for going into this much known and unknown danger without him as backup. She'll have to consider the risks.]

[shatteredlenses]

[Ignis nods to himself, glad she is so accepting of the warning.]

I hope you don't think I'm underestimating your skill. I've just seen too many people--myself included--take more risks than we should with these new islands. At this point, I would rather warn someone and risk their anger, then to not do so and later be forced to mourn them instead.

[Even if that person is someone he's just met.]

Would you like to look at the datapad as well? It's barely working better than the computer, but perhaps you will be able to find something I haven't?