The Fete at the Observatory

[desertbloomed]

Characters: All (hopefully) uncaptured Heroes of Light
Where/When: At the Heroes' Observatory, the evening of February 10th
Summary: Ashelia has called a meeting - under the guise of a party - to discuss the next steps forward for the Heroes following the revelations revealed in the shared dream.
Warnings: N/A
Note: Each part of Ashelia's speech is centred around a different topic. Feel free to indicate what in particular your character is responding to in the headline for your top level! Alternately, if your character is bringing up something on their own, or not in direct reply to something Ashelia has mentioned, feel free to out the subject in the Subject line! There's a lot going on and a lot of ground to cover, so let's keep it organized so things are easy to find later!

"I would like your attention, please." With her experience as an accomplished politician, Ashelia's voice cut through the din of the gathered Heroes. The high ceiling of the meeting room lent itself well to the sorts of echoes that could easily cause headaches, unfortunately. The Queen planned to bring in some fabrics to soften the effects, but there had been little time for decorating, and it seemed there wouldn't be anytime soon.

The Lady Ashelia stood at the head of the incredibly large wooden table that dominated a good chunk of the room. Wooden chairs lined the edges of the tables, straight-backed and unfortunately not cushioned. It was clear that the Queen of Dalmasca didn't want anyone getting too comfortable in this particular room. There were papers in front of her, books and file folders and ledgers, all organized into neat piles. She picked up one of the papers, clearing her throat quietly before continuing. "If as many of you as possible could take a seat, I can call this meeting to order - and yes, I would like to apologize.

"As you may have guessed, this is not a fete. It is important for everyone to know..." Ashelia paused, waiting for the last straggling voices to quiet down before continuing, "that Mognet has been compromised. There is no longer such a thing as private correspondence, if ever there was. Keep this in mind in the coming months. The war has begun."

Ashelia paused for questions and comments before continuing.

"As many of us have realized, and Markus observed earlier over Mognet, the usual appearance of new Heroes of Light at the Crystal of Fire around the fifth of each month did not occur. This disturbance of the established cycle may seem abrupt, but upon further examination, 'tis not so." The Queen took a sip of water. "The cycle has been disturbed previously, though not in such a drastic manner. Last month, crystal statues appeared and disappeared within the hour. Heroes awakened from the crystal stasis were unceremoniously dropped from the sky. So you see, this disturbance has simply progressed. I welcome your thoughts on this."

Ashelia paused for questions and comments before continuing.

"Next on my agenda is the true motivation behind my calling this gathering. The night of February 5th, I had a dream." She stopped, shaking her head. "No, a vision. It did not take me long to realize I was not the only one to experience this. I've written the contents here." Ashelia held up a file folder. "However, if I am correct, many of you need only read it to refresh your memory." She stopped for a moment, putting the folder back on the table. "The ramifications of this new information are clear. The Empire holds four of our number captive, as well as countless other displaced Heroes in crystal stasis. It is my belief we must act on this information. We must save them."

Ashelia paused for questions and comments before continuing.

"The last subject I would like to cover is this." She held up a small, worn notebook. "This is the diary of the Lady Kalki, one of the Empire's Triumvirate. This woman, more than any other, has made clear her intentions are in opposition to us as a group. I encourage everyone to read through this document." Ashelia put the notebook down on the table and held up another file folder. "I have written a transcription myself, as the original is quite delicate." She put the file folder down. "This document provides invaluable insight into whom we can only assume is our enemy. It , unfortunately, poses more questions than it answers, but it does make clear that it is she who holds the answers that we need."

Ashelia took another sip of water, looking around at the gathered Heroes. "I once again open the floor to questions and comments. I believe it will take all of us to rescue our comrades; however, I also believe that if we do work together as one, we shall not fail."

Comments

[iknowtheconsequences]

Kaji rolls his eyes, "Okay, cute, didn't have to get sarcastic about it. Maybe the simple way is the best. Play the people, not the tech. Or, play the moogles, as the case may be."

"Bribing the moogles? If we've already found that Mognet is easily tapped. Is that how the Empire would have done it? Or would they have just threatened the Moogles, blackmail, rather than a free bribe? I'd have to know more about how Mognet seems to run over there. Which, we can do. Any of us go to infiltrate, we get two agents for the price of one: one inside the Empire, one inside Mognet. We can send Shinji and the others in to scope it out."

[elevatoravatar]

She blinks with a confused look about her, "Sarcastic? I am not familiar with this term."

"As for how the empire manipulated the moogles I can not say. They are not creatures that I have any information on at all."

[iknowtheconsequences]

Kaji frowns slightly at the word 'creatures.' "They're-" Well, what are they? "They're not creatures. People. Just like you and me. Doing a job. And everybody knows what that job is, so a lot of people don't see them as anything else. Don't take them seriously. But I've said since day one that gives them power."

Kaji pauses, glances over at their gracious hosts, then decides he doesn't care if he gets yelled at, and lights up a cigarette. "The Moogles have the potential to be the greatest information network ever. Info brokers from my home world would give up their right arms for these guys."

"So how did the Empire convince them to not do their jobs? And how do we do the same?" Kaji folds his arms. "I know, nobody has the answer, until we get over there, but it's an interesting question, all the same."

[elevatoravatar]

Elizabeth pauses, then opens her book and flips through it for a moment shaking her head.

"So the standards of classification from home, are invalid here. Are the angels and demons people as well? I spent most of my time classifying them for someone and acting as an intermediary. I know that many back home would get very offended at being lumped with a race like people. Still, I do not quite understand this place."

"How does anyone convince someone to do something without creating them? This is one of the answers I have been trying to figure out. I have not even found the magician, yet you speak to me as the Hierophant. Still, one would imagine if they are anything like little Theodore they do it out of a sense of duty, and possibly an addiction to that pink potion he so enjoys."

Ahahaha Kaji? Hierophant? Hanged Man.

[iknowtheconsequences]

The word 'angels' gets a very startled reaction from Kaji and a quick but firm, "No." Fuck. He takes an extra long drag off his cigarette for that.

"Hey, I'm just making this up as I go along. Angels? Demons? You're talking about things that aren't of this world. Them? Probably not people. But the moogles? They share this world with everybody else. Sure, they're not people people, but they act and react just like us. They want the same things. It's crap that everybody treats them the way they do, but they've adjusted pretty well. Betting it's the same thing with the," Kaji waves a hand, "whatever Jessie is, Tarutaru?" The researcher is the only one of her kind that Kaji knows of.

"Sure, it's weird, only, what-do-you-call-it," Kaji gestures with his cigarette. "Race? Species? The only one of those that's around where I'm from is people. Humans. Never run into this before. But just from looking around? We're not so different."

Yes, but he's speaking as the established order. That and Liz is dumb about some things.

[elevatoravatar]

"Angels and Demons were a part of my world. I frequently had to interact with them as an intermediary or at least an associate for my master. Come to think of it, he is the one who did most of the actual negotiations. Still many demons walk the Earth I came from, they just kept to places that the collective consciousness of mankind allowed them to."

She pauses and ponders, "And I have heard stories of worlds where YHVH took for his angels and they walked the streets... But from what I have heard, they do not sound like places I would like to walk. Neither order nor chaos should ever be an absolute. Still, that was not what we were discussing, were we?"

"Oh! Yes!"

She nods and taps her book, "I just come from a place where that is not an insult, perhaps that is where the confusion comes from. Oh my, were someone to call Nyarlathotep of The Metatron a person... That would be quite the pickle."

[iknowtheconsequences]

This entire conversation is bringing up exactly what Kaji hasn't been wanting to think about. Angels. People. Fuck, he was so close to the truth before he wound up here! Which probably also meant he was close to a bullet in his head, but he was willing to take that risk.

Kaji looks off into the distance, and his voice takes a cynical tone. "Angels. People. What's the difference? Maybe you're right. Aren't we really the same, just desperate creatures lashing out, trying to get close to what we think God is? Why else would we have made the Evas?"

No. He's supposed to be putting all of this out of his mind. "Not that it matters," his tone goes back to that slightly teasing casual note. "If what I saw on my way here is true? Ikari messed up, and angels, people, and all, are gone now. So we might as well worry about this world, instead, hmm?" He shoots Elizabeth a flirtatious grin. "Sorry to make a pretty lady worry."

[elevatoravatar]

"If you would like, I do have some rather detailed notes on angels and demons, but this may not be the time to have me show them. Still, I am not really worried, nor am I certain why a bevy of women named Eva have anything to do with this. Perhaps a persona I do not know."

She shrugs, "Either way, I suspect it is one of context. I did not have the... What is it called? Ah yes, human point of view when I came here, I merely was made to look as one to better facilitate my old job. The one I had before I left. Still, perhaps getting back on the topic of how to befriend the moogles who run the network would be for the best."

[iknowtheconsequences]

Hmm. Maybe that would be for the best. Her tone, and the way she seems to be not reacting emotionally, it all seems a little too familiar. What is she reminding him of?

"If you think you can bribe the moogles undetected, how would you get the information back to here? Somebody would have to be making regular trips to the Empire, or the moogles would be the ones at risk making the trips? Hmm. Does bring up the question of how they're getting our information out, too."

You know, if she knew about that Rei crack, Liz would be mortally offended.

[elevatoravatar]

"Hrm, I do not know of anything that I myself can do undetected. Stealth is not a virtue I have. I was taught to boldly present one's self. But there are others here, ones who are more well suited to moving about in the shadows."

She taps her chin a bit and shrugs, "It would make sense that the empire simply would not consider a moogle moving by to be of much consequence. Why they are everywhere, are they not? Most law enforcement personnel look for things out of the ordinary, yet a moogle delivering messages is completely within the norm, is it not?"