lifenet | [Lup-Net] Datapad Discovery 7/17

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[Lup-Net] Datapad Discovery 7/17

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.

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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.]

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?

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.

[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.

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.]

[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.

[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.]

Edited 2018-07-20 13:20 (UTC)

[For several long moments there is just silence from Ignis' side of the crystal. The longer the silence goes on, the more it becomes clear that 1.) he hadn't heard this and 2.) hearing it does not make him feel very comfortable.]

Well, that's certainly not the kind of news I wanted to hear after spending 4 days over there.

[Ignis tries to make it sound like a joke, but it falls very flat.]

I didn't think Ai'Tuoh and its laws would be turning up again so soon.

[Shion keeps waiting, he's worried for his friend but he's also aware that it's a lot to take in and that Ignis probably needs some time to process it. He hopes he's alright, not panicking. It's hard when he cannot see Ignis or be near him to tell.

He's relieved when he speaks even if it's clear that Ignis is upset.]

Neither did I... I hoped we were done with it. But Ceej found a memorial and among other things it said: "They lived and died free of the draperies of their fiction." That's pretty distinctive.

Yes, I was with that group, but I don't remember...

[Ignis trails off suddenly as he does remember one thing.]

That's why everyone got so quiet. I thought maybe it was just because of the nature of the memorial, but it was because of the tie to Ai'Tuoh.

[And everyone was so surprised--and perhaps angry too--that they didn't stop to think he couldn't read it. After all, aside from Mira and Ardyn, he didn't know the others in the group that well.]

They didn't tell you... [Then again, Shion can't blame them. He forgets Ignis is blind a lot.]

I imagine they were all pretty shocked. Though we perhaps should have been expecting a link. The islands are not all that far away from each other after all. Ceej says that they are all a similar distance away from Enso as each other with Enso in the centre. I can't really remember... a lot of the trip back from Ai'Tuoh... it was a day? Perhaps more?

[He hadn't been in a good place, all he can remember from that journey was the fight with Gabe because it often replayed itself in his mind.]

[Ignis is quiet for a few seconds as he thinks back to that day, then he shakes his head even though Shion can't see it.]

No, not more than a day. Six to eight hours max, but as out of it as you were, it probably seemed longer.

[Especially if he was drifting in and out of focus at the time.]

If the islands aren't that far away and Enso is the center, it would make sense we are limited as to how far out we can go on the water before being turned back. In some ways, it may be to protect us.

[In others, it may be to keep them from learning what they aren't suppose to.]

Oh. [He blushed. He had been even more out of it than he had thought.] That makes sense I guess, some kind of protection... Or for some reason we aren't allowed further out.

[Either would work...] Perhaps it is as simple as the Story Tellers influence only extends so far.

They have mentioned that their influence reaches only so far. Whether or not that will change as we continue to tell them stories is anyone's guess.

[That's how it usually works, but nothing is really 'usual' about this place.]

I know some of us probably find the limits frustrating, but I have a feeling the Storyteller is doing it with good intentions. After all, they do seem to feel at least somewhat responsible for us and if we go beyond their reach, then there is no way for them to help us should we need it.

Perhaps. They do seem willing to at least assist us in getting out of danger.

[His opinions on the Story Teller are complicated. He wants to believe that the Story Teller is doing their best, that any mistakes are that of a god who was not used to working with mortals.

But there are flickers of power. The Story Teller had power over them and in Shion's experience those with power over others were rarely benevolent, especially if it didn't benefit them.]

No matter how well seeming, it's hard to completely trust someone who has power over you.

[Ignis' own feelings about the Storyteller are complicated as well, though more positive than they were before. Right after he learned just how much the Astrals screwed them over, Ignis hated any deity that had power over him and his. The Storyteller's constant efforts and seeming empathy to them have won him over for now, but he will always be cautious. He can't help it.]

Exactly. [Perhaps if he had came here right from his first world he would be more trusting. He is at least somewhat aware that a lot of his instinctive distrust of the Story Teller comes from his past experiences with the administrators of the Tower. A base reaction to anyone having that much power over him and those he cared about.

And also, they had never warned them about Bliss. Even if they didn't think they would be as big a danger as they had been... They could have still told the islanders of the potential threat.]

If you wish to go searching for the god on Umui please let me know, I'd be glad to go with you.

If they still need finding in a couple of weeks, I will take you up on that.

[Even if Umui's god may be the best source of information on what happened there, Ignis is uncertain if he wants them to be found before or after he can take Shion up on that offer.]

We have a pair of chocobo eggs that are about to hatch, so that's going to keep us busy for the next week or so at least. You're welcome to come visit them if you'd like.

Alright. [He will remember and if a couple of weeks passes before the god is fine then he will ask Ignis.

But his next words make Shion grin.] Chocobo eggs? You are going to have more baby chocobo's? [Yes he wants to visit them! Chocobo chicks are so cute!]

I would love to come and visit them, is it alright if Aster comes too? [Because if anything is going to cheer Aster up it will be cute fluffy animals.]

Of course!

[He can't help but chuckle at Shion's enthusiasm.]

Both of you are always welcome to stop by. We believe the actual hatching date will be on the 20th, since the 20th of last month is when Gladio got them from the Storyteller. It took about a month for Coco to hatch, so I assume these two will be the same.

Thank you Ignis! That's not long! I hope everything goes alright with the hatching.

As do I. I look forward to seeing you then.

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[Lup-Net] Datapad Discovery 7/17

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