Witchers of Nifelheim - Part 3

Rogue wrote:"Maybe they were lying dormant, waiting for an intelligent species to show up, do Glystaria take other animals as hosts or just Humans?" Rogue asks.

"Technically speaking, the parasites can attach themselves to any life form, before they eat them" Ursula said: "Though it does bring an interesting question, I don't believe I ever saw a fox that become a 'Witcher', so to speak.

Perhaps the other animals have trouble subduing their parasites, once they get infected. But that would make them a more preferable target. A prey that cannot fight back is preferable than a human.

Still, it would make sense for the parasites to hibernate. Once they consume all life on the planet, perhaps they fall into a deep sleep, allowing the planet to heal and life to reset itself. You're probably right."

Rogue wrote:"Unless they bypassed the defence line by just creating another portal, if they can create one once they can do it again" Rogue suggests.

Ursula became very rattled and uncomfortable and didn't reply right away. When she spoke, her voice came out it in stuttering sentences, anxiety ringing loudly:

"..that's.. I mean surely.. surely that cannot be. I mean.. um.. every invasion began in the same location. Even when the Machine Folk knew we were waiting on the other side. Even when they knew we had established a defense ring.

They would send a force through, we'd wipe it out, then they'd send an even bigger force. Each time, they persistently sent more and more men, more flying machines, more spiders. More, more, more, its like they had no choice but to push through with brute force.

Like there was no other option. We began to assume that perhaps there is some kind of limitation on their end, that forces them to use the same portal, over and over. Otherwise they would've stopped trying, after the first few times... r-right?"


She uncomfortably shifted in place: "..surely.. there cannot be another portal.. s-surely..."

Rogue wrote:"There's always those two pyramids back by the door, by the look of it they've been in perfect shape for thousands of years, they might come in handy?" Rogue mentions.

Johan fell into thought and nodded: "Yeah. I guess we can take one... or two."

Rain wrote:Rain carefully glares around, "I get a sinking feeling something terrible is about to happen.

"Hey.. its okay" Kaylee came over and placed a hand on Rain's shoulder: "Radiance still has a radar up, if something tries to approach we'll get a very good heads up. And then we'll have time to prepare and react. Right?" she released a calming smile.

Circi wrote:Circi snaps her fingers, pale white Sparks flash from her fingers and bounce against the floor as she casts night vision. She begins looking for any other exits or rooms for them to explore.

"Eeeeeh, Circi whacha do? I can see your irises all of a sudden" Ursula said, slightly tilting her head and looking at Circi's eyes.


As you carefully scan the room, there don't seem to be any other exits or rooms to explore. The chamber you're in appears to be a dead end.

Something did catch your eye when you glanced over the human remains however. One of the Witcher skeletons was laying prone, just by the door. His body strangely curled up and for a brief moment, you thought you saw something faintly spark under his bony arms and rags. Something that he was seemingly trying to hide with his body.

Kaylee Brown wrote:

Rogue wrote:"Unless they bypassed the defence line by just creating another portal, if they can create one once they can do it again" Rogue suggests.

Ursula became very rattled and uncomfortable and didn't reply right away. When she spoke, her voice came out it in stuttering sentences, anxiety ringing loudly:

"..that's.. I mean surely.. surely that cannot be. I mean.. um.. every invasion began in the same location. Even when the Machine Folk knew we were waiting on the other side. Even when they knew we had established a defense ring.

They would send a force through, we'd wipe it out, then they'd send an even bigger force. Each time, they persistently sent more and more men, more flying machines, more spiders. More, more, more, its like they had no choice but to push through with brute force.

Like there was no other option. We began to assume that perhaps there is some kind of limitation on their end, that forces them to use the same portal, over and over. Otherwise they would've stopped trying, after the first few times... r-right?"


She uncomfortably shifted in place: "..surely.. there cannot be another portal.. s-surely..."

"Sending ever bigger and bigger waves of opponents to the same location'd be the perfect distraction" Rogue continues, "It'd not only mislead you into thinking their power was limited when it in fact wasn't, sort of like holding your sword in your off hand at the beginning of a duel to give you a late-game advantage.

But it'd also force you to concentrate your armed forces around that spot, far out of the way on one side of the continent, instead of opening up the portal in the middle of the landmass within easy striking distance of everything. We know these guys've little regard for Human life, so they'd be more than up for casually throwing away the necessary troops for strategic gain."

Ursula began nervously scratching and slightly tugging at one of her large ears:
"..I know your logic is sound, but I just can't imagine anyone throwing away so many lives for a distraction.

Their last invasion consisted of nearly a thousand men and over thirty war machines. Flying things that rained fire to the ground. Slow, armored boxes that discharged fireballs, shooting them kilometers into the distance. Metal spiders, the size of a tavern. Steel carriages that shot tiny projectiles and carried people behind the safety of metal.

So much resources and lives wasted, just for a distraction? I just can't believe it" Ursula looked at the floor with a mournful expression:
"Is the military of the Machine World really so callous?.."

"Part of this theory is based on a conclusion we haven't confirmed yet." Twilight said, hold her chin with a frown.

"In fact, going by the theory of secondary portals is highly unlikely, unless we know some other military bases that ally themselves with whoever is sending the invading forces. Let's not forget, the towers that sprouted on our side didn't pop up randomly, they were calculated. We were able to determine where one was supposed to appear, because it fitted a pattern. A pattern which is identical on both worlds."

Her brow furrows. "My question is, if the invaders ever got here, how are they communicating? What manipulation of space and time is performed here to keep in touch?"

She paces again. "I think the invaders might not be as bad as they appear. And before anyone attacks me over that, let me explain. When it comes to tactics, sending increasing amounts of soldiers and machines through one place without any ulterior motive is as foolish as they come. And any ulterior motive is shot down because the invading forces don't breach the barricades. Or at least, doesn't come to fruition."

She stops walking. "My guess is that there's someone pulling the strings, big time. And the witchers are a spanner in those plans, at least for a while. Whoever it was, was capable of sending a city worth of people through a portal portal, dropping them in Nifelheim. That was the great exile. After they settled, the glysteria began their uprising, which would have devoured them all if not for General Glasgow conquering his invader and claiming it's power for his own. And That wasn't nearly the end of the problems for these people, but enough to let them catch their breath and develop weapons to combat these creatures."

Her gaze is cast down. "Of course, if the glysteria had already conquered the precursors before dieing out enough for other life to thrive, this search for a dark machine wouldn't be an issue. There is something capable of limiting, crippling of perhaps killing Glysteria on a global scale. That is most likely what you are trying to find out here. And whoever is pulling the strings knows about it, for far longer then us. Maybe they themselves can't touch it, but some duped humans can. Say someone they need to do something to keep their country safe, with evidence, and they'll go for it."

She looks up again. "Maybe that military base is trying it's best to keep our world safe, by bringing the dark machine over. But if that's based on selective information by someone with a hidden agenda, a lack of communication because of dimensional travel AND a hostile, but justified violent response from the people who live there, a needless war was started by a third party who's trying to reap benefit from us killing eachother."

She folds her arms. "We need to get in touch with such an invader. See what their side of the story is. I, for one, believe much information can be gained from them. Provided we catch someone who's in on the conspiracy."

"Could the Glystetia be the third party?" Radiance starts searching the bodies for wallets, dog tags or anything that might hold something with ID.

"Here's my theory. The glysteria lure or kidnap a sizable group from another world either through magic or science that appears as magic. They let this group grow then harvest them for power and knowledge. Each time extending their goal a little and this time the end game is control of both Nifelhiem and Earth. Twice the planets means twice the resources"

Circi quietly looks back at Ursula, the faint glimmer of Johan's light flickers against her enlarged pupils much like cat eyes. Circi approaches the fallen Witcher and with a spider leg pushes his arms open, "Hay guys. I think I found something." Her monotone voice echos through the room.

Rain sighs and nods, "Yeah... I guess your right. That doesn't stop this sinking feeling though." She sighs and shakes her head.

Twilight wrote:"My question is, if the invaders ever got here, how are they communicating? What manipulation of space and time is performed here to keep in touch?"

"It is said that when my people were exiled to Nifelheim, they still had a means of communication with the Machine World." Ursula shifted in place:

"We only have written records of that time and the records were erratic, but it seems that, after the exile, my people pleaded desperately to be sent back home, but the Machine World denied their request and cut off communication from their end.

That's the exact way the records phrased it. The exact methods of communication however, were lost to time, I'm afraid I've no idea how my people once talked with the Machine World"

Twilight wrote:"Maybe that military base is trying it's best to keep our world safe, by bringing the dark machine over.

Ursula narrowed her eyes in a deadpan expression: "...I won't take offense to this, because you haven't seen the memories of the invasion. But please explain how burning down a defenseless, civilian village on Nifelheim, is keeping your world safe?
Please explain how sacking our castle, robbing and butchering the women and children inside, is keeping your world safe?

If the invasion armies only targeted Witchers, I'd understand. That would be war.
But every time they showed up, they went out of their way to kill every civilian they came across.
Its not a war for them, its an extermination.

I don't want to hear about the invaders being not so bad."

Twilight wrote:But if that's based on selective information by someone with a hidden agenda, a lack of communication because of dimensional travel AND a hostile, but justified violent response from the people who live there, a needless war was started by a third party who's trying to reap benefit from us killing eachother."

Kaylee slowly paced along the room:
"A third party.. with a hidden agenda.. gave misinformation to the Machine World, prompting them to seek out the Dark Machine.
The reason is... the third party cannot touch the Dark Machine on their own?... or something else?...

But who is this third party and what do they want with the Dark Machine?"

Radiance wrote:"Could the Glystetia be the third party?"

"I suppose it would make sense" Kaylee nodded: "If the Dark Machine is a weapon against the parasites, naturally they'd want to dispose of it.

But why do something so difficult as summoning another species from different dimension, just so they can get it touch with the Dark Machine?

Surely there have to be easier ways to dispose of it?"

Radiance wrote:Radiance starts searching the bodies for wallets, dog tags or anything that might hold something with ID.

Searching the bodies of the Witchers, you only find rags and faded journals, so old that all the words from them have faded and the pages crumbled to dust at your touch. You find two daggers in your search, but they were so old and rusted, its unclear how long they'd hold on in a fight, before breaking.



While searching the body in the environment suit, you don't find any dog-tags but you do find a wallet. The bills inside are so faded you just barely recognize the universal Union currency, prevalent all across Earth. You used the same currency every day back on Earth.

Apart from the bills, you spot something that could've once been a photograph. Faded completely, the only thing remaining was something that could've been someones living room back on Earth and three silhouettes of people, sitting somewhere in the background.


"..could've been his family" Johan quietly said, leaning over Radiance's shoulder.


"I don't care" Ursula coldly replied, crossing her arms and turning her back to the corpse: "He was a monster"

Radiance wrote:"Here's my theory. The glysteria lure or kidnap a sizable group from another world either through magic or science that appears as magic. They let this group grow then harvest them for power and knowledge.

"But they never let us grow" Ursula said, thinking: "The records say, my people were attacked by Glystaria almost immediately after the Exile.
My people had nothing but the clothes on their back, we were basically sent back to the stone age. We had to invent everything from scratch. Something so basic as a wooden wheel or a latrine, had to be constructed by hand.

It took us over a thousand years to come up with anything scientifically important, and the entire time, our efforts were continuously hampered and sabotages by Glystaria, who went out of their way to devour us.



Science doesn't advance were quickly, its not even a major priority, when every day we fight for our basic survival.
If the parasites wanted to harvest our knowledge, it would've made more sense for them to remain hidden and let us thrive on this planet. Left to our own devices and un-threatened by extinction, our scientiffical breakthroughs would go so much faster.


Our population numbers would also explode. With nobody eating us, in a thousand years we'd densely cover the entire planet.
Then, in the end, it would make sense for the parasites to make themselves known and attack.

They'd have more bodies to harvest and better scientifical breakthroughs to steal.



I can sense that this theory is close, but something still doesn't add up" Ursula fell deep into thought, intently staring down at the floor.

Circi wrote:Circi approaches the fallen Witcher and with a spider leg pushes his arms open, "Hay guys. I think I found something."

In the pale light, you spot a small crystal ball, clutched firmly between the bony hands of the Witcher. The bones break apart and crumble at the touch, releasing the ball from their grasp.

Its surface was transparent, blue, and deep inside, a hazy teal mist slowly swiveled around, glowing ever so slightly in the darkness.




Ursula looked at it from a distance, her eyes slightly widened:

"That... That is a Memory Orb"

Kaylee Brown wrote:

Twilight wrote:"My question is, if the invaders ever got here, how are they communicating? What manipulation of space and time is performed here to keep in touch?"

"It is said that when my people were exiled to Nifelheim, they still had a means of communication with the Machine World." Ursula shifted in place:

"We only have written records of that time and the records were erratic, but it seems that, after the exile, my people pleaded desperately to be sent back home, but the Machine World denied their request and cut off communication from their end.

That's the exact way the records phrased it. The exact methods of communication however, were lost to time, I'm afraid I've no idea how my people once talked with the Machine World"

"Well Lucretia was able to communicate with us telepathically between the two worlds whilst we were unconscious, so maybe they either also know how to use that technique, or they've built a machine that replicates the effect?" Rogue suggests.

Kaylee Brown wrote:

Radiance wrote:Radiance starts searching the bodies for wallets, dog tags or anything that might hold something with ID.

Searching the bodies of the Witchers, you only find rags and faded journals, so old that all the words from them have faded and the pages crumbled to dust at your touch. You find two daggers in your search, but they were so old and rusted, its unclear how long they'd hold on in a fight, before breaking.



While searching the body in the environment suit, you don't find any dog-tags but you do find a wallet. The bills inside are so faded you just barely recognize the universal Union currency, prevalent all across Earth. You used the same currency every day back on Earth.

Apart from the bills, you spot something that could've once been a photograph. Faded completely, the only thing remaining was something that could've been someones living room back on Earth and three silhouettes of people, sitting somewhere in the background.


"..could've been his family" Johan quietly said, leaning over Radiance's shoulder.


"I don't care" Ursula coldly replied, crossing her arms and turning her back to the corpse: "He was a monster"

"For all we know, he was a good man at heart, but he was forced to travel here to this alien world, and fight against his will only to die for a cause he didn't believe in, to protect those he loved from those who sent him here" Rogue muses, "Everybody has got a backstory..."

Kaylee Brown wrote:

Circi wrote:Circi approaches the fallen Witcher and with a spider leg pushes his arms open, "Hay guys. I think I found something."

In the pale light, you spot a small crystal ball, clutched firmly between the bony hands of the Witcher. The bones break apart and crumble at the touch, releasing the ball from their grasp.

Its surface was transparent, blue, and deep inside, a hazy teal mist slowly swiveled around, glowing ever so slightly in the darkness.




Ursula looked at it from a distance, her eyes slightly widened:

"That... That is a Memory Orb"

"Well that's convenient, we were literally just talking about those things" Rogue comments, "I guess it saves the long explanation as to their function, but it still feels like lazy writing."

Circi carefully picks up the orb, holding it in her palms. She gazes into it, tilting her head slightly, looks like your our answer." She whispers.

Rain steps up to the floating pirimids, she places her hands onto it's sides to stop it's rotation before lifting it up and off it's pedestal.

"How do we use the Orb?" Johan asked, looking at it from a distance.

"You must make physical contact with it, and reach out to it with your mind" Ursula said, coming closer to Circi:
"Clear your mind of any thoughts and let the memory flow into you."


"..can several people use it at once?" Kaylee asked, biting her lip.

"It is possible, yes" Ursula nodded: "You will experience the memory, from the eyes of its witness. The experience can be a bit jarring at first. Remember, whatever you see in there, the memories can't physically harm you and you can't change what happens."


Ursula stood next to Circi and tilted her head slightly, looking at the blue sphere:
"Looks intact.. I think its safe to view this memory, whenever you're ready"


"Rain, do you think-... Rain?" Kaylee called, then looked around in alarm, realizing that Rain wasn't there.





The two merchants still sat by the stairs, on the other side of the chasm and played on an old board of chess. When they saw Rain flying back over the Shimmer alone, they looked at her in alarm:

"Is all okay? Why are you returning alone?" one asked, looking at Rain, as she walked toward one of the pyramids.

As you stop the pyramids rotation and lifted it upward, the pyramid suddenly exerted a considerable force, trying to pull itself back to its place.
It felt like tugging on an invisible spring, that exerted more and more growing forces, the father you stretched it, trying to bring itself back to its original position.


You find yourself straining quite a bit, just holding the pyramid in place.

"Oi! Be careful!" One of the merchants called, looking at the rebellious pyramid in alarm.

Kaylee Brown wrote:"How do we use the Orb?" Johan asked, looking at it from a distance.

"You must make physical contact with it, and reach out to it with your mind" Ursula said, coming closer to Circi:
"Clear your mind of any thoughts and let the memory flow into you."


"..can several people use it at once?" Kaylee asked, biting her lip.

"It is possible, yes" Ursula nodded: "You will experience the memory, from the eyes of its witness. The experience can be a bit jarring at first. Remember, whatever you see in there, the memories can't physically harm you and you can't change what happens."


Ursula stood next to Circi and tilted her head slightly, looking at the blue sphere:
"Looks intact.. I think its safe to view this memory, whenever you're ready"

"Is there danger in using a damaged memory orb?" Rogue asks Ursula.

Kaylee Brown wrote:"Rain, do you think-... Rain?" Kaylee called, then looked around in alarm, realizing that Rain wasn't there.

"When did she leave?" Rogue says in confusion.

"Everything's fine!" She reassures the merchants, "Help me pull these off the pedistals! You want artifacts so let's take em! I'm also curious if we pull them both off if we'll open something!" She squints at the pedistals, "They seem to be attached to the pedistal somehow. You think if we shot a spell at it, it would blow up the pedistal leaving only the pirimid?" She releases the floating geometry. She steps back and cracks her knuckles, "What do you think squiggles?"

Circi looks across the cavern, "You would think it would be hard to miss a heavily armored Pegasus flying across a cavern. I guess we're wrong." She whispers. Her eyes return to the orb she focuses in on the memory, opening her mind to it and looking inside.

"Don't shoot anything!" Radiance who can easily hear the merchants and Rain yells across the gap. "If this place caves in were all dead and not respawning at the last bonfire!"

"... What the hell is she doing?" Twilight asks. "Seriously..."

She looks back at the memory orb. "Hmmm... So this is the memory orb. We'll see soon how objective it really is."

She reaches out to it, clearing her mind as much as possible.

Rogue wrote:"Is there danger in using a damaged memory orb?" Rogue asks Ursula.

"I wouldn't say its dangerous per say, but it could become extremely uncomfortable" Ursula said, shuffling her feet:

"Attempting to view a cracked or visibly damaged Memory Orb can result in some very undesired effects. The memory may be corrupted, parts of it may be missing or it will skip around a lot. It may display events out of order, or replace them with sheer darkness.

In extreme cases you will be flooded by a strobe light effect, splices of events flashing and fading in quick succession.
Since a memory can last up to 5 minutes, being treated to a strobe light burning your retinas for that long may become... unpleasant.

Some Witchers have trouble shutting off a corrupted memory on their own and may require the help of their partners, to snap them out of the memory and into the real world.


This Orb we found appears to be intact, so there shouldn't be a risk of those things occurring"

Rain wrote:She releases the floating geometry. She steps back and cracks her knuckles, "What do you think squiggles?"

Like an invisible spring that was stretched too far, upon release the pyramid flew away from you with such force that it smacked the wall behind it, leaving a giant dent in the walls surface. Then, much like a spring, it began wobbling back and forth, shortening its amplitude until it slowly came to a stop on its original axis and began lazily rotating.


"Scaryyy" Squiggles said, prolonging the word: "We should be careful Rain, I'm afraid of that thing ricocheting into our face, if we're not careful.
Non the less, it seems to behave like a spring or a magnet. Logic would dictate that if we pull hard enough, we should tear it away from whatever invisible force that has it anchored."

Radiance wrote:"Don't shoot anything!" Radiance who can easily hear the merchants and Rain yells across the gap. "If this place caves in were all dead and not respawning at the last bonfire!"

"Whaaat?" One of the merchants called aloud, placing his palms in a megaphone shape over his mouth: "Speak up, we can't hear you"

"Whaaaat?" Kaylee called back over the chasm.



"Khm hm, anyway" one of the merchants coughed into his fist, turning to Rain: "I don't think blowing things is safe, we do not know how these contraptions will react."
The two anxiously approached Rain and stood by her sides, getting ready to help her pull at the pyramid.

Rogue wrote:"When did she leave?" Rogue says in confusion.

Circi wrote:Circi looks across the cavern, "You would think it would be hard to miss a heavily armored Pegasus flying across a cavern. I guess we're wrong." She whispers.

"Harlequin's ninja antics must have rubbed off on her" Kaylee said, looking back across the chasm.

Circi wrote:Her eyes return to the orb she focuses in on the memory, opening her mind to it and looking inside.

Twilight wrote:She reaches out to it, clearing her mind as much as possible.

Kaylee, Johan and Ursula all approach the Orb as well, gingerly placing their palms on the transparent sphere.

"Ready?.." Ursula asked, looking into the eyes of everyone in turn: "...here we go"



As you close your eyes, all remains still for a moment, then all your senses suddenly faded and your consciousness flew forward somewhere, seemingly into the depths of the blue little orb.







A barrel of a handgun pointed right between your eyes was all your mind managed to register, before you went deaf, as a bullet blasted right through your forehead, piercing the tissues of your brain.
Loosing control of your body, the force of the impact knocked your head back. You slumped over the wall and fell prone on the floor.

Your eyes remained open, unblinking, as your nervous system began to shut down. Laying in complete silence, unable to move, breathe or blink, you saw someone's legs, encased in a hard, environment suit stand before you.


The armored legs moved away, revealing the contours of the room. You were still in the same chamber, laying flat on the floor and staring at it. The room was full of people, at least six of them, all encased in the same, armored environment suits.

The suits looked similar to the ones you used, when you first entered Nifelheim, but these ones looked more advanced somehow. More gear attached to them. Larger, armored backpacks, camera's strapped to their helmets. Firearm holsters strapped to their belts.



The armored legs you saw earlier, slowly moved across the room, toward the bodies of two other Witchers who laid on the floor, un-moving, same as you. The armored legs stopped next to each one and quickly double tapped both of them in the brain.
You didn't hear the sounds of the gunshots, but you saw the bullets fly out, piercing their heads.



You nervously and suddenly inhaled. Blinked once. Nobody noticed. The deafness in your ears began to fade, replaced by the ringing of bells. Blood was still trickling down from your forehead. You did your best not to move, not an inch, so no one would notice. So no one would realize you're alive.



The six figures in environment suits continued to shuffle across the room, until one of them moved, revealing a mighty pedestal in the rooms center.
Atop the pedestal, hovered a large pulsing red sphere. It felt as if a tiny firestorm was raging inside it, waves of fire continued to circle deep in its center, moving and changing with each passing moment.



"...this is it" one of the armored figures called and you heard him. The ringing in your ears had all but faded away.

The armored figure spoke Soren.

But not cleanly, it wasn't his native tongue and it showed. But you just couldn't place his strange accent.
It could've been Altheian, Demeter or even a Rhea'n accent, or maybe something entirely different. You couldn't tell.




"Begin sterilization process" called the figure that just completed double tapping the bodies. It seemed like he was in charge.

One of the others approached the red sphere. Gently lifting it off the pedestal, he carefully placed it inside a metal container. Once the sphere was inside, the figure closed the containers lid and pressed a few buttons on it.
A strange hissing sound began to emanate from inside, something that reminded you of a bursting steam pipe.



"..I'm hit.." you heard a weak voice and the armored figures parted, looking off to their side.
There, you noticed one of the men in an environment suit. He was sitting next to a wall, gripping his stomach and heavily breathing. Streaks of blood were pouring over his armored fingers and onto the cold floor.


The figure in charge, slowly approached the wounded man and looked at him:
"Was your suit breached?" he asked, matter of factly.


"The bastard cut through my stomach" the wounded man wheezed: "Did you see their weapons? They materialized out of thin air! I've never seen anything like that.."


The man in charge slowly reached out and pressed something on the wounded mans helmet. The helmet beeped and opened its visor, revealing the pained face of the wounded man underneath:
"I can't believe how many bullets they ate... its inhuman.... what are you doing?" the wounded man asked, looking up through the open visor.



The man in charge didn't say anything. You couldn't see his face under the armored helmet. He simply lifted his handgun once more and pressed it against the head of the wounded man:
"...you know the protocol. The Plague cannot be allowed to reach Earth"


"Hey.. wait!... WAIT!" the wounded man screamed out in panic. No one in the room moved to help him. They weren't even looking in his direction:
"Stop! You don't even know if I'm infected!" the wounded man screamed, staring down the barrel of the gun:
"Just help me seal the suit and put me in quarantine! Maybe I'll make it!! YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW THE INFECTION GETS TRANSFERRED!" he screamed out in desperation.



The one in charge pressed the pistol against his head more firmly: "...I know we've been on this rock for 3 weeks. I know we all had environment suits on and none of us showed symptoms.
And I know the locals have no environments suits, they wither and die.

Your suit has been breached, you know the protocol"



"Please!" the wounded man screamed: "I have a daughter!"

"So do I" the man in charge coldly said: "And you don't get to infect either of them." The gunshot rang loudly across the cavern, ringing in your ears for several seconds. The wounded man slumped back and stopped moving.




"Sterilization - Process - Complete" A synthetic female voice rang from the metal container and a green light popped up on its lid.

The six figures in environment suits began getting ready to leave. One of them scooped up the metal container and placed it under his arm.
He had a strange insignia painted on his shoulder. You got a brief glimpse of it as he got up and moved passed you.


It was a yellow skull of a pony, screaming in a threatening rage, as three golden arrows flew out of its mouth. There was a golden, spiked, wooden wheel behind it. And the entire insignia was encased in a gold triangle.

You're fairly certain you've never seen this mark before.



"Contact the Chairman" the one with the handgun said:
"Inform him that the package is secure and instruct him to open the portal in exactly 1 hour and 16.2 minutes from now, in Earth Time.
I don't want to spend a second more on this rock than I have to"


One of the men, carrying something that looked like an armored, bulky radio pack on his back, with a giant antenna sticking above his head, nodded and pressed a button on his helmet. Then looked to the side:
"...we're too deep underground. The signal isn't coming through."



"Alright. Let go" the one in charge said and the six figures began shuffling out of the room: "Destroy the bridge behind us" you heard him say as he left your peripheral vision.



For a few moments, you listened to their quieting footsteps, before you dared to inhale properly. Your body was beginning to contort in indescribable pain. The bullet was still lodged in your brain, preventing the arteries from healing.

With a weak hand you reached into your pocket and pulled out a Memory Orb. Its surface dark and no mist swirling inside. Placing your bloodstained hand on its surface, you audibly whispered on Nifel:

"...I hope you find this... I believe you'll find this... I hope you find this... I believe-" the words froze in your mouth, your vision darkened.





You blinked and once again stood in a tight group, gathered around the Memory Orb.
Kaylee and Johan looked pale. Ursula looked somber. The memory didn't seem to phase her as much.

Twilight is left silent for a moment, taking it all in. After a moment of silence, she goes to analyse in h mind what happened.

"This gives us a clearer target. Whoever is on that side, knows the details of travel between these two dimensions. They even have ways of communicating between the different flows of time. That's interesting..." She chuckles. "This is going to be one of the most dangerous conversations we'll ever have."

Internally: "Echo, can you search my memories to see if I've ever interacted with anyone who carries the accents of our unknown friends?"


Radiance isn't phased by the memory at all. He steps over to the machine folk corpse and using his wazikashi carefully removes the skull from the body "These bones could still give us some valuable information and lugging around a corpse is less awkward then just a skull. I'm thinking that Rouge and myself can build a makeshift forensics lab, analyses the skull and any other machine corpses we come across."

He stores the skull, carefully wrapped in his bag.

We have the macro knowledge of the memory orb, now we need some micro knowledge. This is not our first rodeo with black ops secret Earth projects and vague bull shit. I'd like for once to stop this with our skill and not by pure luck"

"Mm" Kaylee nodded to Twilight: "I wander who the Chairman is.. strange title. And what was that insignia on their shoulders? I've never seen one like that before"


Ursula slowly looked up at everyone, as if you were pulling her leg:
"...that is the flag of the Machine World, of course"


Kaylee looked at her in confusion: "..Ursula I can guarantee with a hundred percent, that is not the flag of the Machine World"


"But every invader wore this flag on their shoulders! In every invasion!" Ursula persisted: "It was even printed on their war machines! And this... Chair Man is clearly the leader of the Machine World!"


"No but.." Kaylee looked down: "Our world isn't ruled by a single man, but by a group of people. And their titles are Councilmen and Councilwomen, not Chairmen.." she squinted at the stone floor.



In the depths of Radiance's soul, Echo was silent for a long few moments before he replied:
"Mm.. no.. I can't find anything definitive. Their accent was too weird, I dunno which language was their native one."


Johan watched with a grimace as Radiance removed the skull and placed it in his bag:
"..I don't know how much we'll be able to do with the local technology, but couldn't hurt to try"



"We still need to find the Dark Machine" Kaylee said, concentrating: "..if we assume that no invader ever made it off Nifelheim, then the Dark Machine should still be here. We just need to figure out how to track its whereabouts, after it left this cave"

"..should we head back to the surface for now?" Ursula asked: "Or look around some more?"

Twilight nodded. "I suggest we go up now. Unless someone stumbles onto some hidden clue by accident, we're not going to dfind anything else here. And the further from the maddening green mass, the better."

She gave a glance towards Ursula. "If you like, I can tell you how the current political structure is on the other side. At least, for the most part. I don't know about this new group enough."

She looks down in thought. "That insignia though, what does it mean? What is it raging against?"

Rain grabs the pirimid by it's bottom and begins pulling back, "Stupid magic spring thing." She growls as she pulls, "Come on!"

Circi quietly rolls the memory orb in her palm before wrapping her fingers around it, "I'll hold onto this just in case." She says quietly as she pockets the orb into her robe. She makes her way to the edge of the cliff and crosses her legs, listening to the whispers of the shimmer.

"I'm gonna head back to the other side" Ursula said: "I don't wonna leave my mom without backup.
Twilight, can you tell me about the political structure in the Machine World on the way?" she asked, unfolding the four of her wings and taking flight again.



On the other side, the two merchants took a firm hold of the pyramid and began pulling with Rain. The pyramid started to fight back with renewed strength and pushed back as hard as you pulled it. The two merchants who weren't taking it too seriously at first, began grunting and gritting their teeth pretty soon, taking the pyramids defiance as a personal challenge, as if it was casting shadow on their physical strength.


The pyramid began crazily shaking and wobbling, as you pulled it away, inch by inch from its pedestal. For a moment, it felt like it was going to ricochet back with frightening strength, until you almost palpably felt something invisible breaking and all three of you suddenly flew back and fell on the floor.


The pyramid secure in your hand, no longer fighting to return to its original axis.
It might've been your imagination, but it felt as if it glowed a little bit dimmer now.

Internally: "Shit. Well it was worth a try. On that note keep that accent at hand I want to know immediately if we find a match to anyone out there."

Radiance steps over to Ciri, keeping a safe distance from the edge and mysterious mind melting stuff.

"The universe sharing any of it's secrets today?"

Circi closes her eyes her head slightly turns to Radiance, "A man long ago was riding in a cartage. One fox misstepped and tumbled to the ground, unlucky for all of them the misstep just so happened to be beside a cliff on the stormiest week in Nifelhime. The Fox caused a landslide and tumbles over the edge. The cartage tips crushing the first foxes neck sending it's weight limply tumbling down. The other is thrown over the top of the carrage and is thown high into the air breaking the straps and sending it crashing against a rock. The man inside is engulfed in thousands of pounds of land. Buryed alive in his own carrage. That is until it caved in from pressure, the weight breaking every bone in his body and killing him instantly." She opens her eyes again, "I'm simply listening to their story's. Death is just another part of nature."

"HAH!" Rain laughs in triumph, "And that's teamwork! Let's take the other one now!" She steps up to the second pyrimid and grabs it by the bottom before pulling back as hard as she can.

"Certainly. I'll try to keep objective." She said as she follows Ursula into the air.

"Let's see... Up until recently, a few years on earth, countries existed seperately. Each country kept to itself, which depending on the avaiable technology and resources meant that certain nations were more prosperous then others. This inevitably brought conflict along, though there were other reasons. That's a very long story for another time."

She looked at her. "The idea of a world united has always existed, but Logan Krauss was going to put that into action. He did this under the name of 'the Union', and was very succesful in this. Willingly or needing some convincing, almost all of the known world would gather under this flag. After that was done, Logan Kraus stepped down, with various representatives of each nation chosen to discuss these meetings. That is what became the Union council, the highest authority in all nations that have agreed on joining the Union."

She looked ahead. "The upside to this was that the borders opened, allowing people of the different nations to mix resources, knowledge and technology. Nations within the Union are also protected better, as if something would invade that agressor would feel the full force of multiple nations coming in. On paper, it's a win-win situation, as a nation would get more to provide it's citizens with and would face the risk of war far less."

She looked ahead. "There is a flag of the Union, but it's not something you'll see on the agressors. The Union flag is that of a pegasus, holding a sword pointed at the ground. It's wings spread and the world as a background. It stands there as a protector, though the protection of an entire world is quite ambitious. The roaring skull with spikes, it's clearly an intent of agression. Whatever nation that is, or even what that group is, there's no denying that simply asking them to stop will be ignored."

She looks at Ursula. "Anything else you want to know?"

Kaylee Brown wrote:"Mm" Kaylee nodded to Twilight: "I wander who the Chairman is.. strange title. And what was that insignia on their shoulders? I've never seen one like that before"


Ursula slowly looked up at everyone, as if you were pulling her leg:
"...that is the flag of the Machine World, of course"


Kaylee looked at her in confusion: "..Ursula I can guarantee with a hundred percent, that is not the flag of the Machine World"


"But every invader wore this flag on their shoulders! In every invasion!" Ursula persisted: "It was even printed on their war machines! And this... Chair Man is clearly the leader of the Machine World!"


"No but.." Kaylee looked down: "Our world isn't ruled by a single man, but by a group of people. And their titles are Councilmen and Councilwomen, not Chairmen.." she squinted at the stone floor.

"Whoever these guys are, they clearly don't share our values. We don't execute the ill the last time I checked" Rogue adds.