[Backdated to August 3rd](Lupnet broadcast )

[thermalwind]

Hey, we have a situation over at the memorial on Umui. We have people trapped under it. Bring something to cover your face with and anything to help you dig.

...if you haven’t been to Umui best you stay away. [His mind is on the Stage One Alert. He has to camp on this island now.]

Who else has talked to Arum 25? We should pool what they said together and see if we have any further clues.

Comments

[want_to_belong]

People? Survivors from whatever happened before?

[thermalwind]

That doesn't seem right. Why would they appear now? Either way, they need help. Two of us have been digging here.

...and be prepared. We found bones.

[counterblows]

Which of you decided to excavate the houses and not the memorial?

[He...kind of assumed they were just Digging wherever, I guess.]

[thermalwind]

Let's focus on what needs to be done first. We can kick ourselves over that missed detail later.

Arum 25 said 'Stage One detected'. Since I was here when they said it I'm camping out on the island. Just in case I have it.

[counterblows]

Do you feel sick? Do you know if anyone does? Stage One is the first sign, according to all the people who died here.

[Just gonna. test those waters here.]

[thermalwind]

[There's a pause. He doesn't want to admit to shit but-]

I...haven't been sleeping well, but that's because my best friend is missing. Spent a lot of time looking for him.

Arum told me that the pathogens were detected. I couldn't get anything about where it was located or what their standard procedures were. Someone or something removed that from their memories. Or it could have been the passage of time.

[counterblows]

It doesn't bode well that they're the only one still working. Do we have any idea why?

[He hasn't talked to them any. He's been...preoccupied.]

[thermalwind]

No idea yet. I was asking about the sickness and what we're to expect if we get it.

[counterblows]

And what's that?

[Sickness. Perfect. Physical threats are easy - they're something one can contest, that one can fight and shoot full of holes if they need to. But something that goes deeper than that...]

[It's like chemical warfare gone wrong.]

[thermalwind]

You're not going to like this. [He coughs once, and takes a deep breath. Okay.]

Stage one there's an itching feeling caused by the flowers growing inside your body. You get fevers, dizziness, hurling, nausea, they said something about numbness to nerves and joints. Breathing starts getting restricted, tremors...I have it written down here somewhere.

Hold on.

[A pause.]

fatigue, difficulty sleeping, vertigo, weakness, tremors, and extreme thirst. Stage two is even worse than that.

[fireindreams]

Greetings Kieth. I am currently speaking to Arum-25 at the moment but I did speak to them in the past when they were first discovered. They said some rather concerning things.

[Very concerning, if Grimm was being honest. He did not have the experience nor knowledge that long-time residents of this world had but even then it put him on edge.]

[counterblows]

[There's a brief pause to collect. He's in full armor. Full, self-regulating, heat-regulating armor. It's very possible he's already started to endure the symptoms, but simply isn't aware of it, muffled as it is by layers of military-grade kevlar and titanium nanocomposite bodysuit. And with no combat-ready H.U.D. working to detail exactly what's gone wrong...]

And we're already infected. Aren't we.

[It isn't a question.]

[thermalwind]

They’re saying concerning things now. What did they say before?

[He pauses and says, carefully.] They tell you some sort of assignment? [The more he thinks about it the more he feels a sick relief Shiro isn’t around right now. He’s...as safe as their lives ever are.]

[fireindreams]

I inquired about Ai'tuoh as it has a connection to this place, yet every single data related to the subject was removed. Arum-25 stated it was likely done on purpose.

[And given how secretive the city appeared to be it should not be a surprise.]

They also had a warning to share about the Storyteller. "Let them be forgotten. Let us never again see their fiction. And do not make them angry." I do not know much about the Storyteller as I am a newcomer to this place, so I cannot say how accurate that warning is.

[But warnings about Gods were ones to keep in mind, from his experiences.]

What have they said to you, my friend?

[thermalwind]

[Silence. Facing death is what Blades do. But this is the first time he is his team’s leader by choice not by force. He wants to keep them safe. They need his experience of this world to survive. His voice is quieter, an attempt to soften the blow they both know already hit.]

I got assigned Eria-87 as my ‘handler’. So yeah, I think we’re already sick. But we have something the people of this world didn’t. We haven’t given up.

There’s got to be some clues about this and what we can do to stop it. We just have to find them.

[thermalwind]

They said stage one pathogens have been detected. Around the subject is all missing. ... [Do not make them angry. He tastes that. He should talk to Storyteller. He’d wondered if Ai’touh had any connections to the rest of the world. Well.]

I think anyone has seen Storyteller would realize they can be dangerous. We all can be. I’ll keep it in mind. ...you ask about Tempide?

[counterblows]

We have a lot of ground to cover.

[And they're already sick, which is going to affect efficiency pretty heavily and - god damn it.]

I have no idea what kind of projected progression we're looking at, either. Looks like some of these people held out for months. And others...not so much.

[thermalwind]

We need to start looking for more labs. No matter what progression we have...we can worry about that when it slows us down. [So far nothing has been dangerous. But he would be stupid if he suggested they split up when they all are sick and they have no idea of progression time.]

We should buddy up. All of us. We can keep going for longer if we help each other out.

[fireindreams]

That is a fair point.

[Gods were subject to the same emotions as others (at least in his world) and the anger of the one the Troupe Master had been close to was devastating. Yet he himself was in the same boat and he has also not met the Storyteller in person.

The people of Ai'tuoh may have had their own opinions on the Storytelling God and their method of forgetting them was something Grimm was eerily familiar with, however.]

I did not. Will to explain it to me?

[thermalwind]

[Maybe some of them will escape this. He grabs that hope and runs with it. There’s a pause as he covers his mouth and coughs. That itch in the back of his throat is starting to piss him off.]

Tempide was mentioned in the scroll we found by the dock. I’m wondering if information about it is restricted too.

Tempide and Rapsho. Just to cover both bases while we can. Rapsho was also called Bliss.

[fireindreams]

[If this truly was an illness then Grimm would have to be careful. He was not like many here, not human and thus his anatomy was different. A God yes, but he was also a bug.

But there are more important matters. They could not proceed if everyone simply concerned themselves with their health.]

Bliss was another one of the Gods, correct? My friend mentioned them to me. Would it be accurate to say that 'Tempide' would be this island's God?

[If he's following correctly.]

[counterblows]

If there was any hostile life here, it's dead now.

[Any life at all is dead. Which is great news for traveling unimpeded, at least.]

You said your friend was missing. Have you still got people you can travel with?

[thermalwind]

I think it’s a place. Either where they ran to or ran from. And yeah, Rapsho Bliss was another god.

[It could be a lead. He has no idea if it is but he’s grabbing every scrap he can.]

[thermalwind]

Lance. And a few others. Possibly more if more of th- [He hesitates then just says it.] my team show up. Right now I’m working on digging these people out.

What about you?

[counterblows]

I've got some people watching my back.

[He has C.T. watching his back - and he's watching hers. It's more than either of them could have ever done for each other under Freelancer. It's the very fucking least he can do now.]

I'm - [He almost says oscar mike, and then doesn't.] ...on my way to the objective now.