Witchers of Nifelheim - Part 4

(Radiance)


Before you finished speaking, the bonsai plant on the table already began to wither away. Its green leaves turned rapidly yellow and shriveled up, then turned ashen and black, before falling off into the pot. The tree itself began hunching over, its bark turning ashen as well.

Until the entire plant shriveled up into a formless, pointy hedge of dry sticks, that sat together in a tight ball. All the while, you felt some phantom energy leave the bonsai and flow into your body. You absorbed every last drop of it.

Or, perhaps more accurately, your parasite did. You felt his uncontrollable hunger being slightly satisfied.
To your surprise, you felt a little less hungry as well.




Your wife briefly glanced at the shriveled plant, then returned her gaze at you.
The more you listened to the subtle signs of her body language, the more it seemed all wrong. The woman in front of you sounded the same, but she was never this rigid. This firm.

Each step she took signaled unquestionable authority and will power. You got the feeling she wasn't used to taking 'no' for an answer and was in the habit of steamrolling through whatever obstacle was unfortunate enough to end up in her way.


She sounded like your wife. But she also didn't.




When you spoke on Nyx, the woman reacted, but not the way you expected:


"...what was that language? I never heard a dialect like that before" she spoke on clean Soren. It sounded like her mother language.
Shifting her weight, she stood directly in front of you, on the other side of the table:


"My last name is Alstreim. I will not answer to any other names." For a moment she just drilled you with her eyes, before her voice slightly softened:


"..just who do you believe I am, exactly?" she sighed, then jolted slightly, straightening up:

"Of course... you can't actually see me. Perhaps no more than my blurry silhouette. I was told your eyes are..."


The woman collected herself fairly quickly:

"I will apologize then. I will introduce myself.



I am called Bastila Alstreim. The Curse Breaker. The King of Sleipnir Castle."



She slowly placed her armored, gloved palms on the table, leaning towards you. There was a thinly veiled threat in her body language and voice:

"...and judging by your appearance - you are the assassin, tasked with impersonating my biological father. You are doing a bad job."

(Rain Runner)


Before you finished speaking, the bonsai plant on the table already began to wither away. Its green leaves turned rapidly yellow and shriveled up, then turned ashen and black, before falling off into the pot. The tree itself began hunching over, its bark turning ashen as well.

Until the entire plant shriveled up into a formless, pointy hedge of dry sticks, that sat together in a tight ball. All the while, you felt some phantom energy leave the bonsai and flow into your body. You absorbed every last drop of it.

Or, perhaps more accurately, your parasite did. You felt his uncontrollable hunger being slightly satisfied.
To your surprise, you felt a little less hungry as well.




"Wow. Didn't realize you were so hungry" Viki cheerfully said, glancing at the plant, then back at you:
"Another?"


She picked up the Memory Orb and began absentmindedly playing with it in her hands:


"...You will be going home very soon Rain. As soon as the end of this day." She slightly smiled:
"Of course, that will entirely depend on weather your allies on the other side will take you back.
The portal can only be opened from their side, you see.


By the end of the interrogations, we're going to imprison you all and leave you inside the Machina Portal. Hopefully the folks on the other side will eventually teleport you back. If not. Eh. Shit happens. I guess you'll stay behind and get eaten by parasites, while everyone else migrates away.
Can't have you wandering around Nifelheim either way"



The casual demeanor in which she delivered the news was uncomfortable, chilling. Viktoria continued to pleasantly smile and play with the Memory Orb, but there was such a cold, uncaring darkness behind her eyes, it was unsettling.



She slightly rocked on her chair back and forth, then giggled: "Come on, don't get so serious.

I'm sure your blood thirsty friends in the Machine World are watching this portal like hawks. If they see you sitting there in the open, I'm certain they'll teleport you back in a jiffy.
You'll be the first Machine Folk to ever make it off Nifelheim, after all. A rare honor. I doubt they'd pass up the opportunity to debrief you.


Now then" she smiled and looked down at her Memory Orb: "I'm sure you're wandering what this object is"

(Circi)



Michail heavily sighed. You got the feeling he's looking at you with pity:

"...Circi.. these people are professional infiltrators. Their job was to impersonate the biological parents of the current ruling kings, infiltrate our society, blend in. And finally, get close enough to unleash the killing blow, eliminating our leaders.




We found significant evidence supporting this theory. So we must face it as fact.


They may act pure, they may pretend to help the people around them, but it is only an act.
They are acting. Trying to blend in and earn the peoples trust. Or at the very least, they fight monsters to save their own hide.

There's nothing noble about them."



Michail sighed again, looking at you: "They're dangerous, Circi. Staying close to them and using them as your emotional punching bags, only put you in the cross-hairs.

You have to let them go."



Michail made a long pause, looking over some documents that someone left on the table. Reviewing them, he spoke:

"We... reviewed the Memory Orb you had on your possession.

The insignia you saw... the skull with arrows coming out of its mouth... we know this sign well. It was present in every memory of every invasion. It is the flag of the Machine World. We found no evidence to suggest there are multiple factions."


He looked up at you again: "This is the first time we heard them mention some kind of 'Package'.

Do you.. really believe.. this 'Package' was the main reason for their invasions? They've been searching for it, this entire time?"

(Rogue Fire)


Before you finished speaking, the bonsai plant on the table already began to wither away. Its green leaves turned rapidly yellow and shriveled up, then turned ashen and black, before falling off into the pot. The tree itself began hunching over, its bark turning ashen as well.

Until the entire plant shriveled up into a formless, pointy hedge of dry sticks, that sat together in a tight ball. All the while, you felt some phantom energy leave the bonsai and flow into your body. You absorbed every last drop of it.

Or, perhaps more accurately, your parasite did. You felt his uncontrollable hunger being slightly satisfied.
To your surprise, you felt a little less hungry as well.


"Wow. Didn't realize you were so hungry" Viki cheerfully said, glancing at the plant, then back at you:
"Another?"



She thought for a moment, then pulled out a scroll from her belt and unfolded it over the table. It turned out to be a map.


"No need to worry, you friends are safe and sound. We're not going to harm them. Pinky promise" she smiled:

"So, your planet is called 'Earth'? We call ours Nifelheim"


She turned the map towards you, so the text on it could be clearly read and slightly moved it towards you.












"Over to the left, there is a Castle Town called Nagisa" Viki continued, pointing to it on the map:

"A little less than 40 years ago, they tried to activate their Teleportation Pillar for the first time.
This.. Activation.. requires the Pillar to materialize on Earth, for maybe a few minutes. This establishes a sort of 'Hand Shake' between our worlds.


Then, the Pillar teleports back to our world and enters a 'Stand By' mode. In preparation for the Migration.


Now, during this 'Hand Shake', its actually possible to move between Nifelheim and Earth" Viktoria mimiced a person walking, with two of her fingers over the desk:
"We use this opportunity to sneak in a Witcher unit to the other side, so they can guard the Pillar on Earth, until the Hand Shake is complete."



Her expression became a little wistful and she began staring off into space:

"Now... when Nagisa initiated its Hand Shake... there was... some sort of freak accident. Perhaps the Pillar malfunctioned, or an unexpected earthquake happened on Nifelheim, or some such. The reports are unclear.



At any rate, we know one of their parasite suppression Obelisks fell.

The parasites swarmed the castle in seconds. Most of the Witchers were stationed around the pillar, in the city center, we expected an attack to come from Earth. Not from the city perimeter.
This allowed the parasites to ravage the city and make their way all the way to the pillar, in an incredibly short amount of time.


By the time the Witchers realized what was happening, the parasites were already dangerously close to the open portal to your world.
The Hand Shake was still in progress. They had an opportunity to sneak in and infect your world. In theory."



Viktoria's expression grew gradually sad: "...we only know that most of the civilian population of Nagisa was slaughtered by the parasites.
The surviving Witchers in the center realized they were likely the only ones left. And the Hand Shake was nowhere near being complete.


So to prevent an infestation of Earth, they initiated the Dance of the Swallow sequence. Level 5.

Wiped out the whole town. The parasite horde included."



Viktoria sighed: "When the dust settled, the Hand Shake was complete. And there were no survivors to tell the tale, of what transpired at the Pillars center.

So... this brings forth an unsettling possibility" Viktoria looked up at you, grimly, perhaps for the first time:



"...its possible that during the Nagisa activation, some parasites might have sneaked into Earth, while the portal was open.

We don't know much about Earth, but we know your geography somewhat matches ours. At least in terms of where the Pillars appear.



Do you know where the Nagisa Pillar is located on Earth? Have seen, or heard, anything strange, since its appearance?
People loosing their mind, going insane? Corpses coming back to life? Invisibly monsters killing folk? Any such tales?" Viktoria asked. Her expression was mostly neutral now, perhaps a little weary.

(Twilight)


The bonsai smelled quite nice, a breath of fresh aroma washed over you as you leaned closer to it.
Before you could lean back, the bonsai plant on the table already began to wither away. Its green leaves turned rapidly yellow and shriveled up, then turned ashen and black, before falling off into the pot. The tree itself began hunching over, its bark turning ashen as well.

Until the entire plant shriveled up into a formless, pointy hedge of dry sticks, that sat together in a tight ball. All the while, you felt some phantom energy leave the bonsai and flow into your body. You absorbed every last drop of it.

Or, perhaps more accurately, your parasite did. You felt his uncontrollable hunger being slightly satisfied.
To your surprise, you felt a little less hungry as well.




"Wow. Didn't realize you were so hungry" Zoy cheerfully said, glancing at the plant, then back at you:
"Another?"

Ryu shifted his weight. He seems to be trying to get a read on you, watching your body language.

He was still heavily leaning on Zoy's shoulder. She didn't seem to mind, as she continued:


"Its true that a parasite needs to eat at least once a month, but he won't devour you if he won't receive any food. He physically can't. You're in control, you established a Glasgow Synergy with him after all.

If you starve him for too long though, he'll just khhhhhk" Zoy traced her thumb over her throat, tilted her head and stuck her tongue out:


"Dead. He'll be proper dead. And if he dies, so will you. Your souls are linked after all"


Zoy looked to the side and gently patted the spiky remains of the bonsai: "Contrary to popular belief, parasites don't actually have to devour sentient creatures to survive. All kinds of flora will suffice, plants, trees, even grass.

Stand in an open, grassy field for a while, he'll do the rest. These bonsai tree's are pretty good for that. They have just enough energy to satisfy a strong hunger.
What's better is that, if your parasite ate, technically, it means you did as well. He's in charge of your bodies regeneration and metabolism after all.

Its pretty handy in the field, if your supplies are stretched thin. Any patch of flora will do.



Anyways, lets talk about youuuu" Zoy playfully pointed her index finger at you, stopping short of booping your nose:

"How come you didn't age at all. Eighteen years passed and you still look the same.
What's your secret? Some of us here could really use it, on this frozen rock" Zoy giggled.

Ryu subtly resisted an urge to roll his eyes.

Kaylee Brown wrote:(Rogue Fire)So... this brings forth an unsettling possibility" Viktoria looked up at you, grimly, perhaps for the first time:



"...its possible that during the Nagisa activation, some parasites might have sneaked into Earth, while the portal was open.

We don't know much about Earth, but we know your geography somewhat matches ours. At least in terms of where the Pillars appear.



Do you know where the Nagisa Pillar is located on Earth? Have seen, or heard, anything strange, since its appearance?
People loosing their mind, going insane? Corpses coming back to life? Invisibly monsters killing folk? Any such tales?" Viktoria asked. Her expression was mostly neutral now, perhaps a little weary.

"Well I have heard of what happened in Nagisa during my time here, and I have to say, what happened on our side now makes a lot more sense" Rogue replies,

"I do know where the Nagisa pillar is on our world, I was actually there when they came through, one Witcher and a bunch of Glystaria. People had been going crazy for a while before that though, having nightmares, and we lost all access to our magic.

Of course, we didn't know who any of them were at first. Ironically, we thought the Glystaria hosts were refugees at the time, fleeing from a bounty hunter named The Witcher. So, we tried to help them, protect them from him, fight him. The Witcher killed all but one of them, but while we were distracted with him, the Glystaria fled, and we lost her."

(Rogue Fire)


The longer you spoke, the more Viktoria was taken off balance. It didn't look like an act either. Several times, she opened and closer her mouth, became distracted, tried reaching for a piece of paper to write something down, then left it alone to listen again. Unsure what to do yet. Unsure how to react.

One thing read clear in her eyes. Fear.


She pulled out a canteen from her belt and took a long drink. The room began smelling with chamomile, until she closed the canteen and hid it again, wiping the sweat from her forehead:


"...people had been going crazy... before Nagisa?... but that would mean-" she swallowed:

"The parasites on Nifelheim, can somehow cause mental breakdowns on Earth... they found a way to transmit their influence through the Pillars, even though the Pillars are dormant, on standby."


She covered her eyes: "No but... that shouldn't be possible. Each Pillar is surrounded by parasite suppressing Obelisks. We've built them specifically to prevent mental breakdowns.

The parasites shouldn't be able to influence anyone into going insane, if they're inside the Obelisks sphere. Our castles are protected, no one goes insane there. And the pillars are at the castle center. Its the portal to Earth, so by extension, no one should be going insane on Earth either"



She covered her face with both hands: "...have we miscalculated?... no... mental breakdowns don't happen inside our castles. Only on Earth.

Is it possible... our people developed.. some kind of resistance? A small amount of parasite influence still sneaks into our castles, but our people just grew resistant to it? But the Earth folk... didn't... they didn't live side by side with parasites for a millennia..

Is something like that really possible?...




Our pillars... are causing Mental Breakdowns on Earth?!" Viktoria leaned back in her chair. She was looking at you, but her eyes were looking right through you, staring off into space.




It took several moments before she slowly snapped back into reality and became very grim. Serious:


"...There is 1 loose parasite on Earth. I see.

What happened to the Witcher? You killed him?" she looked at you with a very heavy stare.

"My secret?" Twilight blinks. "Strange, many say I age poorly, must be the stress."

She frowns. "What am I talking about, I'm still in my early 20's! This is a long story, it may sound tall, but it's the truth. Let's see, where to start..."

She breathes to get the story straight. "To get to the point, the flow of time goes faster on Nifelheim. It seems one day on Earth is equal to a little less then 5 years here. It sounds ridicilous, I know. But if anyone should know that it's true, it's you, Zoy..." She looked directly at her. "You were with us on that cruise, when suddenly that storm hit Ragnveig. If I'm correct, that happened about 21 years ago from your perspective. Then, almost a year later, you were send here by a similiar phenomenon. Despite that only a year had passed for us, there was more then a millenium of human and witcher history. There are more such examples, but I would be here all day."

She shook her head. "After visiting me, you should go to Kaylee. She's desperate to meet you again."

She turned her head to a child of her. "And I know the exact feeling she's going through."

(Twilight)


At the mention of Kaylee name, Zoy's face contorted, her palms slowly collected into fists, so hard that her knuckles turned white:

"I have nothing to say to that woman" she quietly said under her breath. Her lips collected into a very thin line. She was pissed.


Ryu's grasp on her shoulder became just a little more firm and Zoy took a deep breath:


"...We decided it would be best if I didn't conduct her interview. I couldn't guarantee that my opinion of.. her.. would be fully objective." Zoy muttered the word 'her' with disdain:

"More or less, for the same reason, we decided that the White Flames won't be conducting your interview. Its very important for us to avoid becoming emotionally compromised during this briefing. We only need to establish the facts, without letting our personal feelings cloud our judgement.


We decided it would be best if Viki interviewed Kaylee and I would interview you.
Don't mind Ryu here, he's just an observer" Zoy said and released a polite smile.

Ryuuken seems to be still watching you, trying to get a read on your facial expression and body language.



"We got sidetracked, I'm sorry" Zoy absentmindedly took out a clipboard with documents from under the desk and looked over it: "..what were we talking about?"


"Does time really flow slower in the Machine World?" Ryu quietly asked.



Zoy's eyes caught focus again and she slowly looked up at you:
"Wait a minute... are you saying" her eyes slightly darted left to right, as if she was running some sort of calculation in her head:
"One day on Earth, equals five years on Nifelheim.. that would mean..."



Her eyes widened in bewilderment: "...no more than 9 months had passed on Earth?!"

Zoy's expression began to be distorted with anger:

"Are you saying... the person who Exiled my people... this monster.. this... Chair-Man... still draws breath?
Over twelve generations of people, lived and died on this frozen planet-.." Zoy gritted her teeth, her fists were clenching harder with each passing moment:


"And that Bastard lived for a little less than a year?..." Her angry muttering began to grow into a hysterical giggle:


"Good.... good... that means... I'll get to tear his arms off, the moment we Migrate back to our planet" Zoy began to laugh, quietly and uncontrollably. Ryu increased his grip on her shoulder again, but Zoy just continued to laugh.

Rain shakes her head, "Going back now would be a mistake. The migration will only lead to death and a completely unnessessary war, and unnessessary losses on both sides." She looks her interigator in the eyes, she speaks in nyx, "As general of the nyx military, in alliance with the union, I Rain Runner give you my word under the fault of imprisonment and execution, for with my life I shall not lie when these words are spoken." She pauses, and then repeats herself in nifel so the king can understand, "I'm going to tell you the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help me god." She sits back, resting her hands on the table. Rain takes on a diffrent demenor, ready to converse her body language completely changes, sitting up streight, formal, "Thats a memory orb. Circi had one in her possession and im hoping you looked through it as well." She pauses, "It began back home, we had found out a pattern to all the pillars appearing within our world, they caused insanity within their wake, familys ripped themselfs apart for no apparent reason, bloodshed on the streets, people jumping from buildings." She doesn't look away from victoria, watching how she reacts, "Me and nearly everyone with me excluding Diana and Circi were given a mission. Stop the final pillar from opening. So we did our best, we tried our best to save as many lives as we could. We didn't know what the pillars were nobody back home does, all they know is that it brings violence in its wake." She gazes firmly into Victorias eyes, "We now know diffrently." She takes a breath, "Somebody on our planet wants something and we dont know what that is. Me and my friends, the only thing we have to do with them is figure out what the hell their doing executing a full on war with an entire planet of refugees after somehow teleporting an entire city into an alternate dimention. As one of the generals from the mechanica we need to resolve this issue, I want no quarrels with you or your people, I want no bloodshed. This is a threat to all of us, and even we dont know who or whats behind all of this."



Circi seems puzzled, she gently taps the tips of her fingers against the ball, "They made themselfs obvious. The only evidence I think you have is their conversations about their mission and I doubt they say anything close about killing the king." She pauses, "I think if you listened to what they have to say you might learn a thing or two. Their target isn't us, you saw how the mechanica treated our men and even their own, I saw it with my own mind, they killed their friend because he was exposed to our world, these ones got indoctrinated into it. Those mechanica are afraid of us and our parasites, they are terrified of whatever it is in here breaking loose out there. Even if it was hundreds of years ago I dont think they would change their mind on being so insufferably sterile."

"Hmmm, yes, I suppose around 9 months have passed. Maybe a bit more, given the fact we bore our childeren during the time of Ragnveig's dissapearance and the appearance of the obelisks." Twilight says, remaining as professional as she could in this situation.

"Nonetheless, I can't exactly let you run in there and murder the man or woman behind this all. It would only make the situation we are heading to even more shaky. It's likely that with so many testimonies, the we can easily gather enough evidence to completely wrap up their organization, putting them under arrest, locking them away for good."

She then turns her head slightly away. "Although, we can't always keep an eye on everything and everyone, can we? And to wrap up an organization that large, it's bound to not go perfectly, someone will get hurt, ot worse." She gives a very slight smile, the kind of smile that hides something.

Kaylee Brown wrote:(Rogue Fire)It took several moments before she slowly snapped back into reality and became very grim. Serious:


"...There is 1 loose parasite on Earth. I see.

What happened to the Witcher? You killed him?" she looked at you with a very heavy stare.

"No, we arrested him for violating our law. Murder under any circumstance's a crime back home, y'know?" Rogue explains, "Last time I saw him, he was giving a statement, but the language barrier prevented us from understanding much of what he had to say.

When you get there in the Migration, he'll be waiting for you. I'm sure we'll be able to work out a prisoner exchange."

(Twilight)



"I'm glad we're on the same page" Zoy slowly stopped laughing and looked at you:

"This city... Ragnveig... that was the name of the city, where my people lived before they were exiled?
They didn't vanished. It wasn't an accident. We still had communication with Earth back then.
My people spoke with the Chair Man, they begged to send them back to Earth. But he refused. Cut communication from his end.

He left us here to die, Twilight.

Throughout history, this title, The Chair Man, popped up several times in the memories of past invasions. It even came up in the Memory Orb we found in your possession.


Now it seems it could've been the same person, all this time... a millennia... and he still draws breath" Zoy sighed:


"This person is responsible for the travesty that was unleashed upon my people...
He is the High King of your world, isn't he? This person has seemingly inexhaustible supply of men and war machines. He throws his forces at us with reckless abandon. And every time he has more.

These do not seem like the actions of a small organization. Your entire world is behind it, isn't it?"



Zoy leaned forward, closer to you, looking into your eyes:

"Tell me his name Twilight. What does he look like? He must be your government or military leader. You must know his identity. Tell me who he is. Show me a memory of him. You know this is fair."

(Rogue Fire)


"That is fair. Very good. Thank you for keeping him in your care" Viktoria nodded in appreciation:

"Your knowledge of our language is superb by the way. It honors us greatly, that you would take the time to learn it to such a flawless degree" she was speaking on Nifel and smiled:



"There is something else I wanted to ask you." She pulled out a small piece of paper out of her pocked and passed it to you. On the paper, there was a colored sketch.

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.



"This crest was replicated from the Memory Orb you had in your possession. It also matches the crests worn by the Machine World forces, during the previous invasions" Viktoria said:

"Tell me about this crest. What does it represent? Why do your soldiers wear it in combat?


But, more importantly-" Viktoria looked you in the eyes: "...why did the.. Chair Man... declare war on Nifelheim?"

(Rain)



For some reason Viktoria's palms collected into fists. Her lips turned into a very thin line and she frowned:

"...our pillars are causing Mental Breakdowns on Earth? No. You lie. That is impossible.
This is a ploy to make us abort our migration" She sat back in her chair, obscuring her mouth with her hand:



"...you understand what causes the Mental Breakdowns, yes? Most creatures on Nifelheim possess a natural ability to communicate with others, using telepathy. Sometimes over very vast distances.

While the harmless cat spirits that live in the forests, and our blue fox allies who help us on the roads, use this ability sparingly, to communicate with their loved ones... the parasites use this ability to gradually destabilize their prey.


They subtly broadcast violent thoughts to their targets. Show them images of violence, of death, of erratic behavior. Their victims may not even be aware that they're being targeted. The influence is gradual and very subtle.

But over time, it drives the victims insane. They loose all capability of analytical thinking and turn into mindless, broken puppets. Easy prey for a parasite.


Unshielded humans are most vulnerable. The parasites can affect them over great distances, influence their thoughts and behavior.
That's why we constructed the Obelisks around our cities. The Obelisks don't just repel parasites, they ward off their telepathy. Everyone inside our cities are safe. They never suffered a mental breakdown.


And since our Teleportation Pillars are located in the heart of our cities as well, then by extension, your world should be safe from mental breakdowns as well. There's no way a parasite can project his violent thought to your world."






Viktoria frowned: "You wanted us to deduce, that the only way to stop the mental breakdowns on Earth, was to shut down our Pillars. Which would lead to the cancelation of our migration.

If this was your attempt to play on our conscience and force us to abort our migration to Earth, I'm sorry to say that it failed.



I'm sure you'd like nothing better, than for us to stay on Nifelheim forever and die here, while you happily live without us on Earth. I'm sorry but that's not going to happen.

The Great Migration will continue as planned. The Pillars firing sequence has already been activated and we have passed the point of no return. There is no way we are aborting the launch sequence.

And if your forces attack our Castle Towns upon our arrival... they will regret it dearly"







Viktoria's lips collected into a thin line again. She was visibly agitated.
After a short pause, she continued on Soren:


"...that second language you spoke earlier, what was it? I've never heard a dialect like that before.

And this... Nyx... this Union... what are they?"



She leaned back in her chair again:

"We looked through the Memory Orb you had in your possession, this is the first time we heard of the Machine Folk looking for some sort of 'Package' on Nifelheim. Do you know what this Package may be?"



She looked down at the glowing sphere she held in her hand and continued to absentmindedly play with it:

"...you say you do not seek bloodshed... that you want to establish some sort of understanding between us... yet you said something very different, a short while ago"


Viktoria slowly shifted her gaze up at you: "...this is not the Memory Orb we found in your possession...
This is a different one...

Would you like to see... what's inside it?.." she slightly reached out, moving the Orb closer to you:



"...Please explain this" Viktoria coldly said, presenting the Orb to you.

(Circi)



"But we did listen to what they had to say, Circi" Michail sighed: "And they did say quite a lot.. about killing the king."


From under the desk, he slowly pulled out a Memory Orb and slowly placed it on the table, within your reach:

"...this is the evidence against your companions... this is the reason why we are keeping them locked"

He let go of the Orb, his gaze falling down on it.

Rain shakes her head, "This is no lie, the pillars really are causing breakdowns on earth. Whatevers on that memory orb, whatever the hell we say on here I have no fear of imprisonment if this proves we are here to kill you so be it." She hardens her gaze, "I encorage you, and every witcher to try to make it out of here but as a general and with the thought of about a million bat ponys and a wife and a beautiful daughter. Im asking you to please look into the issue, the magic is unstable and unreliable." She stares at the orb, "Nyx is a country within the union, the union itself is a collection of world leaders who have nothing to do with whats happening, myself and my wife are part of this union and within my country there WERE slaves. Thankfully my friends and I were able to liberate the land and make the lives within it equal to everyone elses. Johan is one of those batponys, he can vouch that this is true." She takes the memory orb and stares into it, worried that perhaps her tongue slipped at some point.

Circi gives the witcher a doubtful look, "You witchers always have a plan for everything. I believe this is no diffrent." She whispers, looking into the orb.

(Circi and Rain)




The sound of falling water was the first thing you heard. A small river flowed along a sandy beach, turning into a waterfall that fell into a small lake down below. This nice patch of an oasis was surrounded on all sides by a forest. A small breeze ruffled the leaves nearby, some old trees released a few cracks. A bird chirped in the distance.


And just on the edge of the waterfall, sat Rain, on her knees. And behind her stood Carvos. The wind slowly ruffled their hair.


Rain's knees were pressed against the sand. She was blindfolded, blood slowly dropping down her cheek and onto the sand. she was missing her armor and gear. Everything was taken. She was only wearing her shirt and her trousers.

A ball was grasped firmly between her palms, tied to them. Carvos had a knife pressed firmly against her neck, pressing hard against her shoulderblades and the back of her head, restricting movement.




He smirked:
"But it doesn't have to be that way...

I can kill you painlessly, quickly and without drawing blood. It will decrease the trauma your daughter will inevitably sustain, when you die. Its the best deal I can offer.


All you have to do... is... tell me...

When will the next Machine World Invasion begin?
How many flying machines will they bring this time?


Answer, and I will make your death quick and bloodless. Its the best deal you're going to get"




Rain smirked: "Wouldn't you like to know big guy!" She scoffed back at him:
"I'd endure anything you can throw at me or my daughter to get that information from me." She snickers:

"You think getting information from a mechanica general would be that easy?" She raises her head up to the knife, "You think im here for HER?" She softly shakes her head, "You must think im dumb if you think im here for my daughter. Think of all the resources! The expantion of our relm is above her." She scoffs.

Her smile becomes wicked, "Unless..." she chuckles and shakes her head, "nono... none of my deals will intrest you." She looks up at Carvos through her blindfold, her smile probably matching his, "Per say... might I intrest you with an entire worlds supply of food... in exchange for... say... companionship?" She laughs, "What am I saying, you only have yourself in mind... even when the opportunity is in your. Best. Intrest." She emphasizes her words, taunting him with them."

She brings her head back down her tone turning serious, "Imagine how hopeless ursula would feel... finding that her very own mother betrayed her." She growls, "That stupid child doesn't know the first thing about running an army or controling her own intrests. I'd be happy to be rid of her, and I will gladly tell it to her face in fact."






Whoever was watching these events unfold, was standing a few meters away. You witnessed the memory of someone who was watching the scene, just from the edge of the forest line.

At this point, the memory skipped several minutes, then began playing again:





"Is this blindfold really necessary anymore." Rain sighs, "you already took one of my fucking eyes."

She pauses, "also dont act like you fuckin' know me dickhead!" She growls,

"I come from a diffrent dimention asshat, if im a general you dont have any proof that im not what i say I am." She scoffs, "asshole."
She mutters under her breath, "you dont seem to realize that im a general who marches with her troops, im not going to sit behind some goddamn desk for the rest of my life while my squads die. I have no way of speaking to my soldiers from the mechanica, as such the rest of the story should be given away."



She glares into the blindfold,

"Im here for the resorces.

My daughter being ripped into here was a deciding factor but shes a secondary objective, primary...


kill the kings, take the land, eliminate the parasite threat." She glances up at him,


"If we make a temporary alliance's with the shared knowlage that at some point one of us is going to kill the other im sure we could make a short lived alliance between me and you." She sighs, "If it means forwarding mechanicas objective so be it."




The memory slowly faded away. Before you knew it, you were back in the tiny cramped room with no windows.

Kaylee Brown wrote:(Rogue Fire)"That is fair. Very good. Thank you for keeping him in your care" Viktoria nodded in appreciation:

"Your knowledge of our language is superb by the way. It honors us greatly, that you would take the time to learn it to such a flawless degree" she was speaking on Nifel and smiled:

"Naturally. As we learnt with the Witcher on Earth, communication really is gonna be key to resolving the differences between us, and avoiding bloodshed." Rogue nods.

Kaylee Brown wrote:(Rogue Fire)"There is something else I wanted to ask you." She pulled out a small piece of paper out of her pocked and passed it to you. On the paper, there was a colored sketch.

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.



"This crest was replicated from the Memory Orb you had in your possession. It also matches the crests worn by the Machine World forces, during the previous invasions" Viktoria said:

"Tell me about this crest. What does it represent? Why do your soldiers wear it in combat?


But, more importantly-" Viktoria looked you in the eyes: "...why did the.. Chair Man... declare war on Nifelheim?"

"The crest I can't help you with, I'm afraid. I never saw it before coming here, so I've no idea what it means" Rogue explains, "It could be a symbol indicating what military unit they all serve in, the logo of the organisation they all work for, or even a religious icon?

As for the Chairman, I don't know who he really is, what his true goals are, or how the people of Nifelheim fit into it all. All I know for sure, is that he wants an anti-Glystaria superweapon called the Dark Machine, built by the Precursors to wipe them out.

The only Glystaria to survive was Kaznachey, and we don't know how he managed that, but as a result, all the Glystaria alive today all descend from him.

Anyway, the Chairman sent a strike team in to Nifelheim to recover the Dark Machine from some Precursor ruins, during the last invasion, but whether they were successful or not, I don't know."

She shook her head.

"I wish it was that easy. I don't know anything about a chairman, at least not as a single figure at the top."

After a breath, she continues. "You were a little too young to remember it, but the setup we live in is a lot more different. There is an organization spanning the world, named the Union. The group was made in the name of peace, not war. But I'm not the right person to talk about the Union, since I have... Very strong opinions on the Union that many disagree with because it's easier to comply. "

She cleared her throat. "With that said, I will say this about the leadership. The ruling body of the Union is not a king. It's a council, made by ambassadors of every nation under it's flag. It's flag that looks nothing like the insignia you've seen. If I could tell more, I could. Sadly, your knowledge is greater then mine."

She holds both hands to her chin. "It is curious though. With everyone we brought here somehow unaware of the existence of this group, being off the radar for the most part... Yet it has the forces and equipment for multiple devastating raids on this planet full of foes they can't see. Something in all these facts does not add up here. We might have to work together here, to get to the bottom of this."

"That means all of this pain and worry wasn't worthless," Radiance lets out a sigh of relief. "every moment before this one I've been worried that I'd find you and you'd be dead or your body would belong to something else.

My path from when I entered Nifelheim to this very room has all been for the purpose of making sure you where alive. I knew that after we found Rain's daughter that the fight for survival would shape you into a different woman than what your mother and I started off with and that finding you wouldn't be simple or a direct path.

Rain sits for a moment, her face blank. She inhales calm and collected, "Now I can see why you think im here to kill you." She shakes her head a soft laugh escaping her, "You guys have been watching. That was a very difficult situation as you can imagine, open lies and deseption on our part. I politely ask you to keep an open mind throughout this." She clears her throat, "Allow me to add some context. After ariving here in nifelhime we arrived in the town of beluclair, I believe thats how you pernounce it. We arrived here in a humvee, its a big military grade metal box with wheels and it propels itself with flamable liquid. Good for crossing long distances quickly, before that however we got infected by our parasites, thankfully Diana was there to guide us through the process. From there we did our best to blend in with our enviroment, we played the part of witchers, looking for our children." She takes a deep breath, "Diana is my daughter, her adopted mother was killed by carvos, the parasite you see in the memory knew she had attached herself to me so while we made sure to evacuate the town he kidnapped me and made an attempt to further diminish ursulas mental state by murdering me in cold blood in front of her." She nods, "Dont ger me wrong, what I said at the time is irrifutable evidince that I am indeed here to kill you, but in truth it was an act, stalling, steering the conversation." She tilts her head at Victoria, "Have you ever been in a situation like that Victoria?" She smiles, "Where you have to pretend you're someone you're not?"

Circi remains silent for a long moment, "What I saw is a woman who was bound against her will." She takes a deep breath and sighs, "That was indeed her. I do not doubt that she did say these things, and it does make her look really bad, however." She hesitates, "The circimstances she is in seems... inopportune" she shakes her head, "The plans far too simple. Shes arrogant and hateful here, a far cry from her apparent calm that i've seen."

(Rogue)



"An anti-Glystaria superweapon?" Viktoria asked, shifting her weight in her chair:

"..it almost sounds too good to be true. Almost.. I don't know.. too easy. Do you really believe it exists?


And this.. Chairman.. that's how his title is pronounced? He's been after this.. Dark Machine this whole time?"


Viktoria fell into thought: "But why would he need it? There haven't been any Glystaria on Earth.. at least not until the Nagisa Castle incident.
And why is the Chairman trying to wipe out all the humans on Nifelheim?"



Viki spent a few moments, thinking things over, then finally continued:

"Alright. We'll discuss it further with the other kings. At any rate, I can guarantee that no Machine Folk strike team ever made it off Nifelheim.

Every invasion soldier that came here, eventually stayed here. Their bones are still burried under the snow.. close to the Machina Portal" Viktoria looked off to the side somewhere, possibly in the direction of the portal.



Then she looked back at you and smiled:

"Just.. one last question..

How did you level up so fast?"

(Twilight)



Zoy sighed. Both hers and Ryu's faces darkened slightly:

"I wouldn't mind working together Twilight, unfortunately there's two factors preventing us from doing so" Zoy looked at you with a mix of sorrow and firmness:

"The first, it is a historic fact that every person.. hmmm... every adult who came here from Earth, has tried to eradicate the people of Nifelheim.

The second, one of your comrades went on record, stating she did have a biological daughter here, but only came to Nifelheim to expand the realm of the Machine World, to take our land, kill our kings and eliminate the parasite threat.


We have a Memory Orb of her confession, if you want to look at it. Such things cannot be faked.

The memory came from a parasite, and it was a parasite interrogating her. But under the circumstances, we had no choice but to accept this into evidence. She did threaten the parasites as well"






Zoy grimly leaned forward, placing her elbows on the table and intertwining her fingers, using them to obscure her mouth:

"...under the circumstances, we cannot rule out the possibility that your group are enemy infiltrators, tasked with blending into our society and distabilizing it via assassinations, in preparation for a greater Machine World invasion"



Zoy leaned back in her chair again and sighed, letting her arms fall down on her lap. Her expression became somewhat mournfull:

"...unfortunately, I really was too young to remember what really happened on Earth. For the longest time, I was convinced that I was born and always lived on Nifelheim. I thought that cruise ship party took place on Nifelheim.


It is only during my joining ritual into the Witchers, did my parasite dredge up that memory... of the day I was sent into Nifelheim.."



Zoy scowled at the table. She went quiet for several moments before she looked up at you again:
"...I'm afraid I'm not much of a witness. Your children weren't yet born, when I met you. And if you were pregnant at the time, I never saw the faces of those who were born.
I can't testify if you really are Viki and Ryu's mother.




But, on the off chance that you are... I'm afraid we can't take the chance of unconditionally trusting you.
The possibility of your group being enemy infiltrators is too great. Our jobs forbid us to risk the Migration, based on our personal feelings.

I'm afraid we won't be working together" she heavily sighed and looked at Ryu:



"..I'm finished with the interview for the most part" she quietly whispered on Nifel to Ryu:
"..was there something else you wanted to ask?"


Ryu quietly nodded to her, then stood up, walked over to you and took a seat by your side.
Taking hold of the palm of your hand, with both of his, he looked with sorrow into your eyes and gently asked:

"..mom... how are you doing? Can I get you anything? Food, water? The walls are really cold here, I'll get you a blanket"