melodiesoflife | Hidden Truth [Log]

Hidden Truth [Log]

What: A log for everyone to gain the information in the Hidden Truth video tape.
Where: The Observatory.

There had been a flurry of letters sent out from Jack and Chiaki, first to Zelda to ask to borrow the Observatory, and then to every Hero of Light, alerting them that they had uncovered some intelligence received in the Heran Empire before the Capital had fallen to Crystal, and that everyone needed to see it immediately.

Jack, Chiaki, and a few others brought in a screen connected to a machine that some would recognize as a VCR. "With our peace mission to the Imperial Capital over Christmas, we returned with a recording made on 20th-century Earth technology, the kind that doesn't have an analogue on Crystallis. It took us time to build a machine to be able to play it. This information comes from Kalki, recorded what appears to be years ago. We obtained it from the Imperial Spy, Jenni. As of right now, we still have no reason to believe that Kalki is alive. But this comes from her, and I apologize to everyone who might be upset by seeing her again."

With that, Jack plays the recording. He stands by the screen and repeats the words for everyone to hear, for those who cannot understand English. Since Kalki's first words are to explain why she is recording it this way, it makes sense why he has to do this. He keeps his own emotions in check throughout, until the explanation of the Bard song that everyone gets to hear. That seems to upset Jack.

Once the recording is over, Jack pauses. "We will need some help from any other English speakers to create a written transcript of the recording so that anyone can access this information at any time. The tape and player will remain here for any Heroes to review. We ask that you please be careful with the machine."

Finally, Jack sits down to let the room descend into the inevitable chaos.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

There was no blood, thankfully. Just a few big shards of pottery, and a lot of soil. She raised her head dizzily, wincing as she allowed Jack to check her throbbing skull for injuries.

"Th-they didn't even apologize!" she stammered, flabbergasted at the sheer rudeness. And they'd been in the middle of a really important conversation, too! A conversation about...

...about...?

Rukia blinked blankly. "What were we discussing again?"

That wasn't quite it, but she wasn't really in the mood to elaborate. If she was giving up on the plan, then that was that. She didn't need to feel torn or ashamed about considering it in the first place.

"I'll do my best as well," she agreed with a nod. "I don't think I'll catch up to everyone else before four Heroes are able to maximize their potential, but it can't hurt to be prepared in case something happens," she sighed.

But now that Cloud was here, that reminded her of something. "...Yuki laid an egg yesterday," she told him. "I'm not sure what kind of chocobo will hatch from it. How long do you think it will take before it hatches?"

"Oh, I'm sure she believes what she's sayin'. But that don't make it right."

Sparks folded his arms sharply. Getting him on Kalki's side was going to be tough.

"Besides, even if she is right somehow - would you trust anyone in this group to become a god?"

Sounds like even less reason to trust her.

Let me be straight: I ain't sayin' she doesn't believe what she's telling us. Bit that don't mean I trust her. She ain't proved herself to be a paragon of virtue. I'd been to that lab.

[There's really nothing Kalki can do to redeem herself fully in his eyes after that.]

"Only one person in all of time and space I'd trust with that kind of power, and she's not here. So nope."

"It's not right. Anybody tries to go through with that plan, and they know they'll have the rest of us stopping them. Same thing with the Bard song. I feel a little dumb for picking Bard up, any of those Jobs we got from the Empire. What other tricks does she have hiding for us? It's infuriating."

"But it's out of the damn question."

Wow. Gee, thanks Twilight. Sheena knew she wasn't too bright, but you didn't have to rub it in...

Still, the ninja watched as the pony spoke and drew at the same time, her eyes widening at the second group of pictures. Reaching out, she slid the finished pictures towards herself and stared at it as she spoke to Twilight.

"One incident. That one that had an impact on all of you. The one that changed everything." She was talking slowly, gathering her thoughts before turning to her friend.

"Twilight, you're probably right about Zelos, since we have different memories, but doesn't this strike you as familiar? Not because you went through it at home, but because of that vision?"

Are they now caught up in heading in that direction thanks to Kalki and this whole recording?

Sorry, Twilight's still learning after all of this time. Old habits are hard to kill. However, hearing what Sheena said did get her thinking.

"Hmm... that's... that's disturbing." Twilight admitted. "But, at the same time, it doesn't feel like there's the air of despair coming in here, just that Kalki's... well... nuts."

She let out a sigh as she thought about this. "The only thing I have a problem with this is that Kalki is trying to push us in that direction. That she gave up after one try and decided to go the destructive route."

She looked up, an concerned look on her face. "My only problem is that, if we try anything here, we'll have everyone else trying to play it safe..."

"So are we gonna bother listenin' to her? Or are we gonna try out own plans? Whatever they are."

Granted, it's not like he has much more in the way of ideas, but at least it wasn't attempting to become a god.

"Actually," Saori looked back at Mary, "I would like that. Lead the way, please."

She gave her notes to Brigid, asking her to quickly copy and distribute them to anyone who needed a Japanese translation. Quietly, she put on the hood of her Assassin's uniform before walking out. Fresh air sounded like something the doctor ordered.

"I can't even make head or tails of any of this, honestly."

"Funny you should ask that, because one of those alternate plans probably involves you." Jack looks at the Marshal seriously, eyebrows raised in an appraising manner.

"Temple of the Heroes of Light, whatever's waiting in there, you can't get in without mastery of the Onion Knight job, according to the people who went to Mysidia," Jack nods in Rukia's vague direction.

"You're one of the most powerful people in the room. If I had'ta bet money on it, I'd guess on you, Zelda, Ramza, Cloud, and that ten year-old as being the closest."

Sparks wouldn't turn down the compliment of being one of the strongest guys around. Appealing to his ego seems to get him to loosen up a little.

"Uh, well, I am comin' up on completed Job number 6, true. I'd be further along if I, um, hadn't gotten used to the idea of havin' my own airship around." He'd been quite fond of Sky Pirate.

"Gonna be me one of the XP orbs. See if I can't hurry the process along a little."

Of all the things she had expected anyone to say to her following what they had just watched, it wasn't what Zack had just said and it showed in the surprised look on her face. For a few seconds she looked at him with wide eyes, then willed her face to relax into a more wistful expression. Maybe there was more to her former housemate than she had initially thought.

"Maybe it isn't, but this doesn't seem like an ideal situation in which to become one." And didn't he just say that it involved a lot of hard work and sacrifice? "I'm sure there was more to the decision than simply choosing to do it."

"Selen..." The girl nodded in both acknowledgement of the older woman's presence, and to communicate that she was more or less thinking along the same lines she had. Even now—after so many of them had vowed to defy what they had seen—they were still in disarray, so to decide who would be the ones to control it?

However, that also meant deciding who would have control of the crystals they had acquired, which would be another trial of its own. "Maybe we all want to believe we're doing the right thing, but not a single one of us is qualified to do that, not even the Avatars as you said."

[ Personal experience. Trust him. ]

Yeah. It's definitely best to try everything else first before doing that.

"Yeah, I get that. I mean, becoming God is probably not the best idea." Zack shrugged a little as he turned towards Tear.

"I mean, I get that it's an avenue, but it's not an avenue that most of us want to explore. But it does explain what she was thinking, right?"

Ramza is not sure he can translate his feelings into words that will make sense to Cloud. But the Calamity would not create Avatars for no reason. He's sure of it.

"If it devours the world, it will have to move on to find sustainable. If it continues like that, it will destroy everything, and then starve itself. Does it not make sense for it to find a way to survive without constantly destroying its food source?"

Cloud was in agreement. Just because the image she saw called for four Heroes didn't mean they shouldn't be as ready as possible. And there was no telling what their enemies might do if they thought that the Heroes were on the verge of stopping them.

"Oh! Congratulations. It may be some time, but probably not very long. Chocobos back home would hatch pretty fast. I'll ask at the ranch next time I'm there. Do you know who the sire is?" As far as he knew it wasn't Zack. Best to keep this news from his bird if so.

(ooc: was Yuki one of the chocobos who changed color? I wanna get that thing done so we can sort it out. As for hatching speed, check with the mods)

"In Hydaelyn they are, yes. However I've yet to see one speak even in their own tongue here." It wouldn't be the first time that someone tried to do just that, nor the last. Though the Path's attempt was less than fruitful, if she recalled correctly from Urianger's letters.

"He is a false god--a shade brought into being by fervent prayer and at great cost. The least of all being one's free will." A truth she knew far too well, which is why she stressed it so. "Which leads me to the conclusion that Primals and Eidolons are completely separate entities. One real, another false. Though this is only a theory of mine."

Aye, I know I was there too. [She slips her own cleared crystal from her pocket, just showing it off before putting it away.] The woman has my pity, but that doesn't mean that she's cleared of her crimes.

[Kidd is about to turn away when something else occurs to her.]

Speaking of labs, that talk of the Rift reminded me. Wasn't that something that lead to the disaster in the lab in that vision?

Yuffie looked over at Cloud quizzically before talking again. “She did fall down a really big hole that was directly connected to the calamity. She probably isn’t the woman that we met in the past but considering we have no bases of comparison I don’t think it matters. She is who she is now be it a person or just another part of the Calamity.”

She didn’t know how she was taking this so calmly. She didn’t want to get riled up about it and she knew yelling and screaming won’t help. Her time as Kalki’s prisoner only haunted her in her sleep, she wasn’t going to let it bother her waking hours too.

“That song will get us killed. We should probably save it for last.” Not that Yuffie minded dying, if it was between her and her friends she’d gladly take that roll but she knew the other heroes. She knew that more than a few of them would volunteer.

“We aren’t any help to this world dead. So we’ll do what we can first.”

"Well, yeah. I mean obviously. I don't think anyone would come out the same after being thrown into something like that." He blinked as he got a sudden sense of vuja de but shrugged it off.

"And I'm not saying we forgive her because of it either. I guess I just pity her." It was complicated. But he definitely wouldn't wish what happened to her on anyone. And in the end she wound up sacrificing herself to save them, or at least she thought she was. That had to mean something.

"But yeah, definitely a last resort." And one he hoped wouldn't be needed at all.

"Yes, none of us do. It's the matter of what will be the best outcome for us all. We're talking about worlds, and people. Shouldering such a burden would be quite difficult for just for a selected few no?"

She mused tilting her head. Tear had a point and she agreed with the girl as well. It was just her observation and from seeing such things-- and how they resulted in the vision, she wasn't sure how to take everything. Of course, at least now they had a choice of changing the future the way they saw fit without all the carnage and sacrifice.

Selen had faced a rather dark time in that vision and she should not have allowed herself to end up like that ever.

Yuffie shrugged at Cloud, it wasn't that she didn't have an opinion on Kalki but that's what he was getting from her. Their relationship was complicated and she didn't want to talk about it.

"Looks like we have that decided."

She looked out other the others gathered and sighed.

"Now we just wait to see what others have to say."

K'pandolu startles at first, but frowns as she listens, processing the information as best as she can while taking it in.

"So those lights under the Crystal were key after all," she mutters to herself, tail flicking. "A direct link to the planet's power, perhaps…?"

There's still more to the tape, though, and she listens, ears forward. It's not entirely new, but the reminder is… useful. She freezes on the mention of becoming a deity, though, frown becoming a scowl. "Becoming a god… that's pure folly. A strong will is needed, of course. But who could maintain it? Who could swear that they would not be swayed from this purpose?" She shakes her head, folding her arms. "That's not the answer," she says, soft. It can't be.

There's a distinct flinch when Kalki mentions the previous Heroes of Light. That guilt hasn't gone anywhere.

Still, now- there's a point of interest. She settles back, folding her arms. "The eidolons…" Well. She doesn't like it, but there's a spark of interest in her eyes as she glances around the room. "Are we able to talk to them? I still wonder why that guardian dragon did not seem to rise, in Aqures Tosf."

She unfolded her arms and put her hands on her hips, obviously considering. "There's another matter, that might be useful. That time, when we were drawn into the memories of other times… there was a great crystal, cracked and with its light seeping out. Perhaps stoppering that flow might allow this star some strength of its own. Or else, perhaps we might deprive the Calamity of some power. There's no way to tell from here, but I should like to hear what others think of this."

Something about what Alisaie is saying clicks in Jack's mind, and his eyes go wide. "Ohhh. Oh." Understanding, of something. "It's like-" waving a hand as if trying to pull the words that he's looking for out of the air.

"You get enough focused belief of a group of people funneled through something powerful enough to channel that belief into reality? A telepathic effect that starts very weak can grow stronger as people's belief in it grows. Can even pull things across from one reality into another. I've seen similar effects before." Now it's like the ideas are racing through Jack's mind and out his mouth, he's talking so quickly. "But once that belief gets a form?" Pause.

"Then what? What's the purpose of them?"

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Page 7 of 10

Hidden Truth [Log]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

Re: Captain Jack Harkness - Open

no subject

Yuffie | OPEN

Re: Yuffie | OPEN

no subject

Yuffie | OPEN

no subject

Re: Captain Jack Harkness - Open