>>583255
He's asking us to get him information about the tower that Locus is supposedly in.

Skimmy 2015/06/17(Wed)17:08 No. 649107 ID: 556f64
File 143458608298.png - (257.61KB , 800x600 , 215.png )

"Okay," I say, "but Typhon will probably only let you ask for something he wants to give you."
"Don't concern yourself with the negotiations just yet. I didn't assume Typhon would be too generous. Hold out your... hand? Fin? Limb."

I hold out one of my whatever they ares and Tekne whips one of its claws out at me. I feel a slight pinchy pain and realise that it took a tiny, tiny bit of ichor. I can feel a very, very dim awareness of myself in more than one place. The awareness goes away quick though.

...hey, I should tell Typhon about that. Maybe see if I can make tiny Skimmies to cover more ground. Hmm!

"Hm. Definitely an intrinsic connection to the source. I should be able to get to Typhon from there."
"...source?"
"Odon has been studying his ichor reserves, and has theorised a connection to a hypothetical source of all ichor, connecting all composed of it. He wants to use ichor as an improved means of instantaneous communication over large distances. ...as well as determine how to gain full control over structured ichor entities."
"Structured ichor entities?"
"You, Typhon, all of Typhon's creations, creatures like the Monolith. There are several like the Monolith, in fact. Scattered across the world. At least two others confirmed, with sightings of a third and potentially even a fourth."
"Huh. Do you know how far Odon is with his ichor research?"
"Odon trusts me to design and oversee many of his projects, but he is not stupid. I have no awareness of his progress or access to his ichor reserves without his explicit permission and observation. Anyway, we have spent enough time bantering."

Tekne gives me directions to the prisoner's cell.

"I suggest you are hasty, because the easiest way for me to create a diversion that ties into pre-existing information is as follows."
"Uh, ok, on my way--"

It smacks the wall, pushing a button I never noticed.

"INTRUDER SIGHTED IN TEKNE LAB 12. INTRUDER SIGHTED IN TEKNE LAB 12."
"See, from my camera feeds, there's clear evidence that someone came this way -- why you scratched your likeness on the wall, I do not understand -- and logically they would end up here. So, the guards come here, I engage them in informative though time-consuming conversation, direct them as far away from your destination as possible, and why are you still listening to me? Go!!"

Skimmy 2015/06/17(Wed)17:08 No. 649108 ID: 556f64
File 143458612791.png - (126.89KB , 800x600 , 216.png )

I tear down the hallways trying to pretend I'm looking for the intruder! It doesn't look convincing when you're running away from where they're supposed to be, though, but with various other black snake robot things in a rush all over the place no one spots me immediately!

I race as fast as I can and nearly hurtle into a closed door.

I look around for any evidence that it's the cell but it just looks like a normal room. I'm confused. Tekne's instructions said to come here but this just looks like a normal room and nothing about this makes any sense, why would a prison room need to be made to look like a regular room? Wouldn't it need like heavy blast doors or something, I dunno, anything?

No sign of Odon's elite guard or anything! They must have chased after where they think I am or something? Seems weird for an elite guard to abandon the thing they're guarding but I don't know how Fell work!

I realise there's no sort of handle to open the solid metal door or any sort of control panel or anything. Oh. Okay.

I smack the door. No response.

I body slam the door. it opens and slides upwards with a slight grating noise.

Well, okay, I think at this point I'll take what I can get!

Skimmy 2015/06/17(Wed)17:09 No. 649109 ID: 556f64
File 143458616252.png - (242.12KB , 800x600 , 217.png )

The door closes behind me and it's incredibly dark. I take a while to adjust to the lack of bright around me and oh.

Okay. I have to say, of all things, I wasn't expecting this.

This might explain why I couldn't recognise whatever the distress call was. I don't think any of us know Fell distress signals.

Part of me is comparing Odon to Renz and I barely even know who either of them are, except this feels a lot worse.

But what I don't understand is why? Why would there be a distress call from a Fell prisoner inside Odon's territory? I mean, we didn't hear any other Fell distress signals and if they've been infighting all this time then we'd have to have heard them. Did we just not have a good enough observatory or something?

"Hi?" Oh! Whoops! I suddenly remember this is a stealth mission! "Hi?"

No response.

Skimmy 2015/06/17(Wed)17:09 No. 649110 ID: 556f64
File 143458619474.png - (77.16KB , 800x600 , 218.png )

"Remarkable."

Some kinda bigger black snake robot slowly moves in front of the closed door.

"Optical upgrades for all but the lower quartile. Downgrades and reassignment for the lower quartile. Observe this specimen, drone," says the big snake thing. "A complete and perfect template was assembled for all Fell soldiers to adhere to, a complex and intricate balance between capability and subservience. Genetic deviation from the template is a clear indication of malfunction. A failure lying in wait to reveal itself at the least opportune moment."

The snake thing slithers silently over to the prisoner, circling around it slowly, inspecting them the way I've seen Ladon look at really bad ichor designs.

"Some genetic deviations from the standard template are more apparent than others. Some chromosomes in particular. I have little use for deviations from the standard template, but sometimes there are other applications for such mistakes."

I blink. I don't even really know if the prisoner is actually alive but they look like they're breathing? I think?

I'm not quite sure what snakebot is getting at.

"I grow tired of explanations to a force that does not care for nor appreciate them. Your ichor is more useful in my possession than as part of you, and I possess the means to return ichor to an inert, pliable state, free from the burden of will or memory. I suppose I almost need to thank Typhon for delivering me the materials for my grand demonstration in a single ambulatory package."

Oh.

>>649110
Deny him the chance. Self-terminate ASAP. Use the blades surrounding the prisoner if you can't just do it to yourself.

As a distraction, tell him you care. Approach the prisoner and ask what's different about her.

Hm, even aside from the guy in here I am not sure if we could get a Fell without equipment out of this fortress in one piece.
Try and keep obstacles between you and him. I don't suppose we can re-assign ichor into weapons systems? Depending on whether his means of collecting ichor are more a weapon or a passive gathering device, if we can't incapacitate him we might be able to escape by 'dying' in a way other than the one he intends.

>>649110
I possess the ability to self terminate and deny you access to my ichor, now that you've given me that warning. Do you believe your external mechanism can execute faster than my internal command?

In what way is this fell a deviation? This form isn't designed for a detailed scan at this range, but the deviations I recognize from my point of reference (Keya, don't say that) appear cosmetic, at best.

A suicide bluff buys us a little time. But not much. No offense, skimmy, but you're not in good shape to defeat that elite guard, or bring this prisoner out with you. We need the cavalry.

>>649125
That's not an elite guard. That's Odon himself.

keep out of this things reach and keep him talking. Ask if he means if something is wrong with the prisoner or if he's just talking about fell general? And speaking of the prisoner, what gives? is she an experiment, a POW, just some random mook going through cyborg puberty, what? Oh and maybe ask for it's name. Just keep your distance and see what info we can get out of this guy. Also know that snakes are wicked fast when they strike so try to stay at least a body's length away from it... and watch out for guns since it's a robot as well.

>I have little use for deviations from the standard template, but sometimes there are other applications for such mistakes.
Is one of those applications as bait?

We kind of walked right into this. I'm not really sure what we can do here. You aren't exactly built for fighting and I don't see an easy way to get the prisoner out. Is there any apparent way to free her? If not, we might need to abandon the mission and escape. Odon here is saying that he can free your ichor of will and memory which I'm worried means that, unlike how if you're simply exploded you could be remade, he can actually kill you. That's not exactly an acceptable loss here. I'm also not entirely confident that destroying yourself will just free up the ichor and return you to Typhon before Odon can pull something. Run around and try to buy time while finding us more to work with. Whatever you do, don't get caught.

Skimmy 2015/06/18(Thu)18:55 No. 649293 ID: 556f64
File 143467890155.png - (234.41KB , 800x600 , 219.png )

Okay. Bluff.

"Well I do care for them but I'm sorta, I mean, I can just die and then I go straight back home? Not sure why you revealed your plan? Oh well. Bye."

I walk over to the blades.

"Such convenience. Very well. I won't hurry you."

I pause.

"I am very well experienced in manipulating ichor, gaseous, liquid or solid. No ichor will escape the walls of this facility against my will. Freeing your living bonds will make the processing much, much simpler. Hm. It is a weakness of mine to reveal so much, I suppose. One I must address at some point."
"Who are you, anyway?"
"The heir to Locus, and future world administrator. My name is Odon, until my significance is such that there would be no need for a name at all."

Okay, uh. I don't like how things are going and I don't know how to fight.

Skimmy 2015/06/18(Thu)18:55 No. 649294 ID: 556f64
File 143467893420.png - (75.70KB , 800x600 , 220.png )

New tactic. Prisoner. Yes.

"What's wrong with this prisoner? She looks like any other Fell soldier I've seen."
"The template is male. The male property is a simple irrelevant consequence of unmitigated factors. A female soldier has at least one self-evident flaw or defect in template replication. Karx wastes resources on establishing performance metrics for defective assets. Renz wastes more resources by assigning defective assets to roles within his tower. All unnecessary."
"...so what's wrong with--"
"The optimum would be to remove extraneous, unnecessary characteristics and systems such as reproductive organs from the template, of course, but this is difficult. Pointless, also. Machines can circumvent many pattern defects. I will be using this one as a stitcher component soon enough."
"What's wrong--"
"Of course, for a genuine distress signal, there is no easier method of generating a unique signature than to use a unique individual. I keep some limited quantities of otherwise useless assets from the central factories due to the lack of direct evidence of a single warmind's involvement, just for situations such as this one."
"So is she just faulty because she's a girl or--"
"I am weary of wasting my explanations on something so limited in its capacity for understanding them. Are any of your superiors listening to this?"
"Yeah, yeah they are!"
"I will continue. Few appreciate my methodology, but few can doubt my results. There has been great cost, but the processes and techniques for reducing error and repurposing mistakes are only improved by each new misstep. Once the creation of raw neural matter separate from irrelevant tissue is perfected, no more mistakes like this can happen again. The cost is high, but few have the vision to understand the price required for a united, peaceful world. It can be bought only in blood and the lives of millions. Conflict can never be avoided. Only concluded."
"That sounds sort of insane!"
"Our values do not align and cannot be reconciled or compared. Do not attempt this further."

"So what are you going to do to her?"
"I tire of your babble. Are you going to destroy yourself, or am I going to have to do it myself?"

I'm not going to come back if I die here, am I?

...

"Is-- is there anything I can do t-to not be killed?"

Odon tilts its head.

Skimmy 2015/06/18(Thu)18:56 No. 649295 ID: 556f64
File 143467896821.png - (201.53KB , 800x600 , 221.png )

"hek hek hek hek hek hek hek."

Odon twitches its head violently.

"Hek hek hek hek hek hek hek. How mortal you are, insect, and how terrifying it must be to realise this. How desperate you must be to ask such a question. So powerless. So pathetic. No. I have no need of your inefficient services as a scout or an infiltrator. You have proven yourself to be a failure on both counts."

I can't back away any more. Odon slowly approaches me and I ball up.

"But if there is one thing I am known for amongst all warminds, it is that I am the most resourceful. I can repurpose abject failure of raw materials into something more. And if you do not wish to die, there are many, many uses I have for the experiences and connections of an ichor creature. So, little scout. What will it be? Remain faithful to your creator, and know oblivion? Or abandon your ichor collective, live separate and severed from the ichor link, and serve me? There are no more options for you to take, scout."

>I'm not going to come back if I die here, am I?
I don't get how. He's not blocking your connection to the collective- you can still hear us. And we can hear you. That's a two way communication channel.

I mean, even the people we lost to ether / ichor annihilation didn't die and just fell back to the collective. And their constituent ichor ceased to be!

Is he just bluffing to get you to surrender instead of terminate?

>choice
Death or torture serving a madman who will mold you into gods knows what.

...either way he still gets the ichor. I wish we had a means to deny it him. I wonder if Cadmea could get Nyx to summon your alternate?

One dumb ploy would be to surrender with the intention of being rescued or escaping later, but I expect he'd be more than prepared for that.

Could we swap your mind out? One of us take your place, and take the fall, so you make it back?

Could we spend the ichor making your body up on something? Burn it for research or something so there's nothing left for him.

Does ichor have a self destruct sequence? Could we order it to convert to inert, useless materials? Or release all the energy- detonate it?

>>649295
I don't think he understands. I don't think you understand. You're part of Typhon's hivemind. You are not just the ichor that composes your body. How else could we talk to you without him knowing? He is bluffing- he can't kill your mind. Not unless you let him.

Don't let him use fear against you. Return to us.

Yeah, looks like the only way he can stop your mind from returning is if you accept - and what he does to you after that will no doubt be terrible.

The best gambit is to withdraw your consciousness into the collective rather than sever it. And even if he can...

There is still a piece of ichor with Tekne. If your consciousness has nowhere else to go it will go there.

can you turn yourself into a bomb? just violently destroy your physical form to cause damage. lunge at them too if you can so they take the brunt of the blast. or fling a glob at their head that is a bomb, blow their smug face off.

well this isn't looking good. No obvious exits and there's a crazy person in here. Well if you can't come back to us and you don't want to be this thing's test subject of the week I think you're going to have to try and fight your way out. You may just be a scouting drone but you do have speed on your side. Try to get over to the prisoner. I mean do you see all the sharp objects around her? if you could get your hands on one you could at least try and fight your way out of here. Also use the prisoner as a shield if you really have to. I mean if nothing else she's someone to hide behind and I don't think that anti-jetal weapon he MAY have will work to well on regular flesh and blood. Just whatever you do don't give up, it isn't over till it's over no matter how bleak things may look. If nothing else if you can hold him off long enough you might find another way to escape from.

The fact that you are communicating with us now means that you are still linked to the collective, and if could survive Mannimarco ichor annihilation I do not think a device for collecting dispersed ichor would be any more effective. Don't tell Odon about this, by the way, since if he finds out about it he will probably try to research something that actually can interfere with the mind link.
A pity that he will be gaining that much ichor, but if you can't see any physical exits to the room dissipation will have to do.

>Bomb
I don't think we have the capability to do that now, but we should definitely look into upgrading the scout body with an ichor/ether annihilator for the next time someone wants to steal ichor from our scouts.

>>649360
I still think ichor/ether annihilation brings the end of the world closer. So let's avoid using it at all if possible.

I'll be honest, if I was in your place I'd self-terminate, even if he is being truthful.

Better to be dead than to be subservient to him, as the prisoner right in front of you shows.

I'll miss you if you really do die Skimmy. :(

I'm not really sure what to say, as it's ultimately going to end up being your choice, but it's not a choice between living and dying. It's a choice between dying on your own terms or on Odon's terms when he inevitably doesn't want you anymore. Assuming he doesn't do something worse than death. This was our fault but let's at least try not to make things worse. Maybe we can at least convince Typhon to build you a statue somewhere.

Skimmy 2015/06/20(Sat)19:55 No. 649726 ID: 556f64
File 143485531886.png - (177.55KB , 800x600 , 222.png )

I don't think I can make myself into a bomb! Or any part of myself! I guess my only option is to just try and blow up in a different way!

I hope I come back if I do this though!

"No! Never! I'll just die!"

Odon is silent and pulls away from me.

"Hm."

It stands really freakily quiet for a bit and looking off into the distance while I slowly creep over to the blades again.

Odon just stands and stares into the distance.

Skimmy 2015/06/20(Sat)19:55 No. 649727 ID: 556f64
File 143485535931.png - (123.38KB , 800x600 , 223.png )

"You're still here?"

Odon slowly looks towards me.

"This has taken long enough. Leave this facility and do not return to my territory."

The door opens. Odon is as still as a statue and not looking at me or the prisoner.

I, uh. Um.

I don't have any idea.

"Wh-what about the prisoner?"
"Leave this facility and do not return to my territory."
"But--"

Odon tilts its head and all of the blades in the room point towards me.

"As you appear to struggle with complex instructions, I will narrow it down to one command. Do not return to my territory."

Odon tilts its head the other way and all the blades suddenly--

Skimmy 2015/06/20(Sat)19:56 No. 649728 ID: 556f64
File 143485538532.png - (94.07KB , 800x600 , 224.png )

shnk

Skimmy 2015/06/20(Sat)19:56 No. 649729 ID: 556f64
File 143485541446.png - (160.25KB , 800x600 , 225.png )

--gnh.

Did I die?

Ladon's here. I'm in a vat.

"Well," says Ladon, "I did tell everyone you wouldn't be good in a fight. You did good, Skimmy. You did good and none of us thought Odon would do something like this so soon after showing up to parley."

"What happened?"

"You became an ichor pincushion. It's weird. Ichor's ridiculous as a building material. It can be as stiff as metal and yet still yield to puncture wounds like you were made of sponge. Your internal structures got too mangled and you just sort of collapsed into a puddle, and then you died. End of Skimmy."

"End of... end of."

"Your ichor's still coming back home. Apparently Odon is either a bad liar or overconfident. I tapped into some of the expended research ichor to make you a body sooner. It's like you're a totally different Skimmy now!"

Ladon 2015/06/20(Sat)19:57 No. 649730 ID: 556f64
File 143485544582.png - (183.41KB , 800x600 , 226.png )

"Skimmy? Are you okay? ...you know what, I'm just going to, uh, I'm gonna go ask Typhon to maybe relieve you of duty for a bit."

[ Advisor control has changed to Ladon. ]

Oh dear. Okay, I admit I might not know the source of all my memories and skills, but I don't remember having to deal with ichor creatures being, I dunno, traumatised like this before.

Colin was a little shaken after being destroyed but less than an hour later he was back in action. I guess constantly creating and reforming barely sentient ichor designs has done terrible things for my... bedside manner? Oh good I'm the closest thing we have to a doctor.

Oh shit, I'm the closest thing we have to a doctor.

Uhh. Yeah. Maybe I should take Skimmy to Typhon to argue my case for letting him have a rest before going back into the field for a bit. He's a wreck. He'll just get himself killed again like this.

"Wanna go ask Typhon for a break? Maybe stay here and if you wanna help out me or Errol for a bit that's fine?"
"uh huh"
"Okay, let's go see Typhon. Sshh. Come on, let's go together."

Ladon 2015/06/20(Sat)19:57 No. 649731 ID: 556f64
File 143485546924.png - (369.41KB , 800x600 , 227.png )

Typhon is in the lab with Nashi.

Oh right. Nashi is the soroi. She picked the name herself after rejecting literally every name Typhon could think of. I have no idea where the name came from but she decided it was her name now.

Also I think Nashi is just de facto a part of our, uh, crew, or gang, or whatever the hell we are. Also, Iiii might have seen Typhon and Nashi leave the lab for a bit before Typhon's connection to the weird ichor mindcloud thing went dark for mysterious unannounced reasons. My only guess is round two. But here they are now, work unimpeded. Man. I wish I was that productive.

Anyway that aside we're here for Skimmy.

"Hey, Typhon?"

Looks like Typhon's busy at work wrapping up doing the job I'm supposed to do. Well, he's the boss.

Nashi is, uh. I'm sure she's doing something useful, I just can't tell what it is.

"Ah. Ladon. Excellent. I've got the groundwork down, and I have a few parts in this design I think you're more prepared to refine. I've requested a geist to move everything directly to the spawnery, I'll discuss it with you shortly."

Typhon looks at Skimmy.

"I'm catching up with what just happened in your mission, Skimmy. Errol was supposed to be giving you information. Was she? Did she say anything?"

"n-no."

"I'll have to ask her what she's been doing for however long it's been. Normally I'd send you straight back into the field but, well, I suspect you won't be working at your best. I'm relieving you of duty, but I'm afraid I don't have anything for you to do around here. I don't have any ichor or research invested in any form of recreational distractions."

That's it? Well, I guess that's still more than I was expecting. Poor Skimmy.

Hot springs episode! Take Skimmy somewhere fun/relaxing.

>>649735
Yeah, this is a good plan. Let's go find something fun to do. Bring everyone who's not busy or who typhon won't notice. You guys deserve a break from this whole fate of the world thing.

>Oh shit, I'm the closest thing we have to a doctor.
Maybe we need to spend some ichor building a therapist / councilor unit. Someone whose job it is to look after the mental well being of the rest of the collective.

...honestly, considering Typhon's past, insurance against our sanity is something we should have considered a lot earlier.

>>649731
When is anyone here gonna wear some clothes. How hard could a clothes fabber be to make.

>help skimmy
Maybe a hug? Hugs are simple and good.

Maybe you could bring him to talk to Keya? Maybe if he talked to her about what he saw Oden doing he'd feel better.

One thing to consider Oden might be using the transfer of ichor to Tychon's stores to get a clearer reading on how exactly it works. Skimmy is quite small and the amount of ichor he embodies isn't that much. It'd be a much greater victory for Oden to learn as much as he can now to block future ichor transferrels or even block Typhon and his troops from accessing his stores mid-battle.

>>649738
If we get a way to make clothes we're not just making them for the soroi, of course. We need fancy tailored clothes for all of the ichor creations too. I'm sure Skimmy will feel more up for another mission if he's got a classy spy suit!

Ask Mannimarco if he's invented any games that Skimmy could use as a distraction. Like rolling tiny multifaceted cubes to manifest alternate realities.

well we could always just walk around the ship with skimmy, maybe see what the others are up to and how their projects are going. If nothing else it should help take skimmy's mind off what just happened... Also a refresher on what's going on around here wouldn't hurt anyone. After that we can plan on our next move.

>>649728
I'm having issues translating this. There are three new symbols, and even the parts I have all the symbols for are difficult to fill in the blanks for. Phonetic translation is REALLY HARD for me sometimes... plus in some spots I can't be sure if there's a space or if the symbols are just a little farther apart than normal. Mostly towards the middle of the image.

Also I think cirr is being stingy with the vowel signifiers in this one.

This is what I have so far, with numbers for the symbols I don't recognize, parenthesis around untranslated words, lowercase is comments, or part of the Th symbol.

I believe the new symbol shaped like an N is a "z" sound, and "was" is WZ instead of WS now. Also, contrary to the first image we got like this (the shining empires one), "there" is now ThR instead of Th*R.

title on the side: THE (DM*Z) OF THE SOURCE

main text: ONCE THERE WAS ONE.
THE FIRST AGE MADE TWO.(split between ichor and ether, I'm guessing)
SO
(N) (1) (SP*T=spite? spat? split, missing l symbol?), THERE BECAME FOUR.
(N) (ThRMB2N), THERE BECAME EIGHT.
SO
AN AGE (PD=passed? missing s symbol? the D symbol should really be a T here in that case anyway), AND EIGHT REMAINED.
ONE BECAME FIVE AND SEVEN REMAINED. (what? Maybe this refers to the void marble being shattered.)
SO
THE (SRS) OF (KR**2N) IS BROKEN.
FOUR AGES HAVE PASSED.
ONE (*NF) (L) (DS). ONE (W1).
BEYOND THIS, OBLIVION.

>>649749

the demise of the source
[...]
in their ambition, there became eight
[...]
the source of creation is broken
[...]
when enough (L) (DS) [heck if I know]

No idea what mystery symbol 1 is.

>>649749
I am once again amazed by how you figure this shit out.

so what I'm getting from this is it's giving use the origins of the marbles. But that last bit sounds kind of like the warning we were giving about how the destroyer will come through once we have all the marbles and Typhon hooks back up with Nyx. I mean we collect all the marbles leaving only the two of them left with they're powers and when the two meet ichor and ether mix destroying each other but also creating that third element which I can't remember if we named it yet or not. After that there is only one, the Shatterer and with his arrival marks the end of everything. So in short this seems to me just like a more poetic telling of what the guy in the tower told us.

>>649752
>>649749
>when enough (L) (DS) [heck if I know]
>BEYOND THIS, OBLIVION.
So, when the shit comes together, the end of the world occurs 'cause it all goes back to the stuff of creation. Good to know.

>>649767
Let's not come to any conclusions without a full translation. Keep in mind they were, at one point, together and used all at once. We know the world was sundered by use of the Void marble, not by using all of them. Typhon literally punched a hole in the world.

[ so it's readily apparent that I'm incredibly rusty at my own dumb script but I significantly cocked up a couple words that I'm gonna help out with here as an apology:

Unfolds
Passed (you're right I thought it sounded like a d in my accent but it does not)
Waits ]

>>649798
I don't think the marbles are enough. In the tower it was suggested that Typhon and Nyx are the eventual trigger mechanism of the end, but it's likely that the marbles play a role as the things that must be gathered.

>"I don't know exactly what created you, per se, but you exist only to serve two purposes. To gather the things the Shatterer requires, and to provide form for its entrance. When you have everything you need, Nyx becomes an obsession of yours. She's involved in this process too, I believe. You merge either through trading a simultaneously lethal blow, or merge in a... different sense, if you'll excuse me. And from that, the Shatterer is born into the world for the rest of the world's very, very short lifespan. I've seen this happen in different permutations. One time it was just a very enthusiastic handshake. You both seemed very surprised that time."

So we need to avoid too many marbles being in one place, and avoid directly interacting with Nyx in general. It would probably be in our best interests to keep the Void Marble from reforming as well.

Alright sounds like symbol 1 is a "ts" sound.
Mostly-complete translation:

THE DEMISE OF THE SOURCE

ONCE THERE WAS ONE.
THE FIRST AGE MADE TWO.
SO
IN ITS (SP*T=spite? spat?), THERE BECAME FOUR.
IN THEIR AMBITION, THERE BECAME EIGHT.
SO
AN AGE PASSED, AND EIGHT REMAINED.
ONE BECAME FIVE AND SEVEN REMAINED.
SO
THE SOURCE OF CREATION IS BROKEN.
FOUR AGES HAVE PASSED.
ONE UNFOLDS. ONE WAITS.
BEYOND THIS, OBLIVION.

So the Fifth Age is the current one. The Sixth Age is the next one. There is no Seventh Age, according to the prophecy, but I don't believe in prophecies.

Alright, now that that's done with...

>>649731
Go talk to Errol. Find out why she's being so quiet.

Maybe make a small toy out of some of the incoming Ichor. Paddle ball?

Ladon 2015/06/22(Mon)19:40 No. 650212 ID: 556f64
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Well, like Typhon said, I can't really think of many places that would be fun or relaxing. There's a forest filled with plants that attack on sight, there's soroi territory but we might end up breaking some rule we never heard of or get attacked by chaos creatures, and then, well, Fell territory isn't really an option. Then we have a couple of prisoners we need to think about, and Nashi's banished from soroi lands, an enemy in akari lands, and would probably suffocate in Fell lands.

Also clothes would cost ichor and you know how frugal we are with ichor around here. Also, because Typhon is never going to tell you this himself, he much, much prefers everyone going around in the nude. Yeah I said it. I'm pretty sure Nashi wouldn't wear clothes anyway.

After giving Skimmy a hug for a bit I think maybe going to see Errol would be a good idea. I think I can come up with something a little more sophisticated than a paddle ball when I get back to the spawnery, too.

Ladon 2015/06/22(Mon)19:40 No. 650213 ID: 556f64
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"Errol?"

I enter the observatory and Errol is, uh.

Well, she hasn't been staying idle, that's for sure. She's also, uh, kind of creeping me out. Her tendrils are flying fast over the surface of an ichor device I don't remember being here last time with her back to the wall.

"Finally," she says.
"What?"
"I've been cross-referencing everything I've been sent. The information and its ramifications are concerning. We need a scout back in Fell territory. I must have more information. I need to make it clear to Typhon that the equipment in this observatory could stand to have some upgrades without the need to endanger anyone."
"Didn't Typhon ask you to help out Skimmy?"
"He also told me to map the extents of the soroi territory and what territory is claimed by chaos creatures. There wasn't much I could do for Skimmy anyway. The tech facility just thwarted my every effort to see anything in there that Skimmy didn't already see. It took some effort just to figure out where you were, Skimmy, the distress call came from the north and we somehow received it as coming from the south of Fell territory."

She pauses, and flips away the coverings over her eyes, looking apologetic. "Sorry, Skimmy. I let you down. I should have told you sooner."

Skimmy sluggishly nods.

She flips them back on. "My report's ready for Typhon and I'm waiting for another assignment."

Typhon comes into the observatory and looks at Errol in stunned silence.

"Okay. Yes. We're all taking a break. All of us. We'll figure out where we can actually go once Colin gets back. He's on his way now, so it'll be a few hours before he returns. Plenty of time for Ladon to actually do what I asked him to and put the final touches on the combat drone."
"Aw come on."
"And while you're doing that, there's something I want to do that I haven't done for a long time."
"What's that?"
"Actually sleep for once. Wake me up when Colin gets back."

[ Advisor control returns to Typhon. ]

Ladon 2015/06/22(Mon)19:42 No. 650214 ID: 556f64
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Ugh. I much preferred time in the field. Not that this quieter work is unimportant, and it's a good deal less stressful, but if I was the one in that facility I wouldn't have had my best explorer broken in this manner.

I can't fault him. I still fear death and I've already died twice in this era alone. The only thing I fear more is becoming detached from this sense of mortality. While I acknowedge my vulnerability and shortcomings, I keep myself grounded. I stop myself from becoming the monster I was or the monster I'm apparently destined to be.

I can only wonder how Colin's diplomatic meeting with Akar went. If things had gone disasterously wrong, I would have had some sort of message from him by now. If he'd been killed, he'd have come back here much more quickly. But I haven't heard anything, positive or negative. It's concerning.

Still, they're all good at what they do. Even if they slack off sometimes. Although, I don't know what got into Errol that she suddenly swung from doing her job at her own pace to locking herself into her work so fiercely. She wouldn't even respond to me until I physically came to the observatory. I don't know what she's seen or figured out but it worries me if it's had this much of an effect on her.

I haven't slept for a very long time. I don't need to.

But for some reason, I feel like it might help.

well that was a ride. looking forward to the next part.

>>650213
Hmm. It looked like there was another a new symbol at first but it's actually just the symbol for K, drawn backwards by mistake I assume. Translation:

left word=UNCLEAN
middle word=DANGER
right word=CLEAN

>>650214
The translation here is obvious.

I assume next chapter begins with us assisting Colin.