so good night unto you all - LIBRARY RETURN

[libraryassistants]

Who: The Editors, one and all
What: The fight is over, the pieces remain... and the Editors head back 'home'
When: Dawn of the Final Day Sunrise after the attack
Where: Leaving Montica, back to the Library
Content warnings: Please make sure to put CW in headers!

By the time morning comes around again, the fires are beginning to die down, thanks to the many efforts of the citizenry to keep them under control. The rebel vampires too have been largely dealt with. These two seemingly insurmountable obstacles were only possible thanks to a combination of factors: the Umbra not being as blind to their human servants as their opposition would have thought, defectors from the Orlocks who were able to counter-act some of their magic, the following Amalia gathered and deployed from Laurelthirst, some suspicious (though welcome) help from suspiciously new arrivals, and of course, House Guildulf throwing their own into the fray to ally with the vampires for this confrontation.

A unity the likes of which Montica has never truly seen.

As the sun rises, there are few left who are able to fight at all; the rebels are beaten, and even the forces built up by both the vampires and werewolves are exhausted or diminished, leaving no one able to take advantage. Citizens of both sides flee indoors, and the remaining rebels are forced to vanish into the woods once more, weakened and unable to strike again any time soon. But there are still repairs to be done, physically and otherwise. Will this unity last beyond tonight? Will young love and youthful hope prevail? Those are the questions that settle over a weary Montica, as light pours into the city once more.

And then, the world begins to fade, static taking over the senses, as the Editors return to the Library.

Welcome back, Editors

It looks much the same as they left it, though the makings of a masquerade are no longer arranged as finely, a few scorch marks here and there, and for some reason there’s some amazing optical illusions on the floor panelling that makes them look like actual manhole covers. Alas, no sewers lay beneath. It may still take Actors a bit of time to shake off the old-new memories, and for some reason the fluorescent lighting seems harsher on the skin than it has any right too. Good thing that the stacks cast long shadows.

The customary tea cart is set up in the Lobby again, and it seems some improvements have been made. The coffee still isn’t strong, but’s far more drinkable than it has been, and there’s an added decaf option now! The tea has still been overstepped, and the stale cookies have been replaced by scones that are hard as rocks, but clearly someone’s getting the message that there are improvements needed. Clearly the tea cart was the place to start.

If someone for some reason doesn’t want stale scones, there’s also a child sized food truck in the lobby, with a sign out front boasting a variety of tamales, including: black beans and cheese, birria, chicken, fire scorpion, man suffering to death via battle wound, and beef. Upon approach, what look like fuzzy puppets pop up to… take your order? They don’t say much, or rather, they make a single noise over and over that seems to be them communicating, but the tamales are good. Just… don’t try to look in the truck. They’ll screech, vanish, and then no tamales for you.

Meanwhile, the bulletin board has a cheerful sign decorated with colorful blocks, declaring: “Join us in the Children’s Area for Lego Club!” Upon locating the room in question, Editors will discover boxes among boxes of legos of various shapes and sizes. There are some ‘how to’ guides for various builds (including a ‘research space ship’ and a ‘vampire’s castle’), but also plenty of encouragement for people to make their own creations! Unlike normal creations, these will actually stick around for a while after they’re finished, and there’s a nice little table where people can display and share what they’ve made.

The Assistants, it seems, are nowhere to be seen: the ‘back in 5’ sign is still in place at the help desk. Still, even without their ‘helpful’ guidance, some facets of the Library may come more easily to some in the aftermath of Montica’s troubles.

[Due to the resolution of the Story, any skills tagged Archivist in the skill tree cost one less skill point (minimum of 1) until the next Story. This can stack with a normal Archivist bonus!]

Comments

[defyingreality]

It takes a lot more to kill directly with his ability. X has done it - a snap and Phobiaclones falling right and left - but he didn't like that sort of thing. It was too easy and gave him a sense that if he just went a little further, he could do more. And he didn't like that feeling so he restrained himself, like he did with so many other little ways.

He wasn't Zero. He at least had the perspective of an adult, as dull as that sounded.

Yet in all that, he rarely saw someone who actually enjoyed the way his powers worked, that they were delighted by suddenly not being real. For a moment X just blinked, hand still raised for the last finger snap, but then he took a breath, and another, lowering his hand and looking away. He was, almost embarrassed by this whole thing.

"You're welcome," he said, and cleared his throat, and yes, he does looked a little flustered.

[curzed]

A wholly unique and completely unfamiliar experience is a precious thing and Konrad appreciates them in the rare moments they're actually found. "The sheer utility of such a skill must be very high. No need to carry packs of items around, when it can simply be manipulated so."

And of course combat applications.

Perhaps it's the embarrassment, perhaps it's realizing he's looming about like some great glacial gargoyle, but the Night Haunter abrubtly crouches, sitting on his heels, so he's not just. Lurking over someone building a lego ... eldritch nightmare castle. "A handful of months ago I would have claimed it impossible, for the simple violation of basic physics. Now.." Now X can turn people into paper and back, and someone conjured an entire bar out of nowhere. Being a primarch was becoming small potatos, and he rather liked it. "Now I think I'm going to stop trying to make sense of anything."

[defyingreality]

"It's very useful," he said, and then laughed with a shake of his head. "So useful that the Commission thought to put a Termination Order on my head only for it to fail even after they sent in ten other Heroes and a squad of armed forces."

They had really really tried. He wasn't sure if the attempt amused him still, or just made him sigh at how utterly ridiculous they were being. It wasn't like X wanted to continue being the X after all.

"I always feel that basic physics is just a guideline," he said, picking up a couple lego blocks and letting them shift through forms until he had two shaped like flowers. "Not an absolute rule."

[curzed]

"A story for the ages. I assume you were put in place by this Commission, and they grew resentful you are now beyond their easy control." If X can turn people two-dimensional, what is a commission going to be able to do, really?

This team of other heros though, meant more powers like this exist out there. Or at least, powers in general.. maybe not quite like this. "We are separated by aeons, if not entire realities, so I admit it's curiosity and little more that compels my questions, but I admit, things like this.." And he points with one ragged nail to the lego turned flowers, "Are not of the material universe I know. In the Immaterium, perhaps, that place is unchangeable and unknowable and physics are .. a mild suggestion."

[defyingreality]

"The Commission?" He laughed and placed the flowers just so along the edge of what he considered the castle's outside wall. A little twist of his fingers and he coaxed them to grow slightly, making it appear like a part of the design.

"No, they have no control over who gets what abilities, though they do try to point the agencies in the direction they feel would be best for new Heroes. No, they had no hand in my Trust or abilities, and they don't like that."

Neither did the agencies when it comes down to that. He was outside of any control and they were getting scared.

"They say that they're trying to contain me because people are starting to call me a god - and where I'm from, once people believe too strongly in someone, they shape them into that belief. It's just I don't work that way, not quite. People do affect me slightly, but not in a way that matches current understanding."

[curzed]

It doesn't matter how many times he watches what X is doing, it still seems like straight up sorcery. Which .. he's pretty sure it is. "If this Commission does not select who becomes a 'Hero', then how do you become what you are? You are born that way? A role you choose?"

It's very much clear that while Konrad is very interested in what X is doing, the idea of him being a god is an entertaining one, not reality. "It truly is another planet's form of the Immaterium. I am told repeatedly that there are multiple realities, but everything tells me there is only one, merely different parts of it. Why else would certain things be so common?" He hums under his breath. "Your particular gifts notwithstanding. They are beyond my ken."

[defyingreality]

"It's... Trust." How to explain it? X frowned and tapped his fingers against the wall of the castle. Could he use the story of a Hero to explain? "Most everyone has some trust for each other, for themselves...."

Maybe he should use a story.

"Like there was a firefighter, a good one. He has trust in his teammates and in his own skills, so he is good at his job. Then he goes into a burning building and finds a child in the rubble. He reaches her to pull out and the walls shake, the building collapsing, and he's a good person, a good fire fighter. He braces himself and presses back against the weakening walls, holding them up. It hurts him, but the child trusts him to not bend, to hold that building upright, and that Trust helps. It's an energy, a belief, and he holds strong from it until the rest of the crew reaches them.

And when they open the wall, a reporter is there who takes a picture. That picture turns him into a local hero, and then that Trust spreads. Everyone calls him a Hero that never bends, never breaks. Because their belief makes him that way."

He turns his hand up and tugs his sleeve up. There's a brief moment of static as numbers appear like an after thought. "Each number represents a person's trust in me, but the first number always comes from the heart. A hero first must believe in their own capabilities before they can gain the trust of others."

A flick of his fingers and the numbers were gone and he was back at piling more lego blocks around, working on building some trees and gardens around the castle. "From what I know of dimensions, I think that we are more like echoes and mirrors. Each reality echoes each other, all that changes is how those living in them refer to everything."