Re: The Grand Battle S2G1! [Round Four: New Battleopolis!]
09-12-2011, 06:57 PM
Originally posted on MSPA by slipsicle.
An oddly chipper young man walked into a ruined convenience store and was promptly greeted with the business end of a flaming sword.
Or at least, that's what should have happened. The sword's owner was surprised to find that the young man's head had somehow cleaved straight through his weapon - by teleporting the offending section of flaming metal out the back of his head as it entered.
The young man, creepily unperturbed by a sword to the face, neatly sidestepped his attacker as the momentum of the missed swing threw him off balance.
A voice called from deeper in the store. "Alex, man, he's human!"
"I can see that now!" The attacker, a young man himself with a beard-and-sword pin holding on a navy blue cloak, pulled himself off the floor and stood to face the stranger, who didn't really seem to be paying him much attention. His brow furrowed as he examined the newcomer's face. "I don't think I know you..."
The stranger looked at the bearded swordsman and said, with far too large a smile, "You're probably correct!" He then turned away and went back to his examination of the store.
Alex scratched his head, as another figure approached; a shorter man, dressed in blue, with fingerless hands. A staff levitated near his hands. They watched the stranger begin to rummage through what remained of the store.
The fingerless man looked at Alex, then back at the stranger. "We've already gone through this place, there's nothing left. What scavenging team are you from?"
The stranger looked back at them, smiled again, and said something that tilted slightly to the left. He then returned his attention to the debris.
The two scavengers looked at each other, dumbfounded. "There are a lot of battles," murmered Alex's companion. "Maybe we just haven't seem him before?"
"I dunno, John. I mean, we've been all over this city - it's not that big. And the human encampment has been around for a while..."
"Say!" The two men jumped at the voice, and the stranger was suddenly behind them. "I don't suppose you two strapping young lads have ever found any silver orbs in your searches, have you?"
"Uh... no?" said John.
"Pity! What about other silver stuff, eh? Silver cubes, silver hypercubes, silver candlesticks, silver hands, silver slivers of slavering sli-"
John held up a palm. "Wait, silver hands? As in the Hand of Silver?"
"Yes! That would be a thing that is useful to locate."
"Well, he's not a thing, really, he's a..."
Alex picked up, "Um, he's a person. Kind of. Sort of our leader but no one every really hears much from him. Rheinhardt's the one that gives all the orders. He says they're from the Hand of Silver but..."
"No one's seen him in years," added John. "If you want my opinion, I think he's-"
"Wait, shouldn't you already know all of this?" asked Alex. "I mean, you're from the human camp... right?"
"I'm from everywhere! You say the Rheinhardt fragment has a copy here? I should very much like to meet it!" The stranger smiled again, and Alex glowered at him. He was beginning to hate that smile.
"I don't think so. You're coming with us - you're obviously not from the human camp, so you're probably an anti-human spy."
The stranger's eyes widened almost comically. "Goodness I hope not! That sounds very bad. But I'd love to come with you!"
The three humans stood rather awkwardly for a moment, until it sunk in that the stranger was simply waiting to be led. Alex turned to John, and said, "Well, maybe we'll finally be taken off scavenging duty for this."
John snorted. "If he even is a spy. Personally I think he's just messed in the head. But we should take him back anyways."
John left the store, followed by the odd young man, with Alex in the rear, glaring at the disturbingly cheerful newcomer's back.
---
"... and that's why the entanglement spectra of Non-Abelian fractional quantum Luttinger liquids display Rashba spin-orbit interaction instead of Ginzburg-Landau magnetic order!"
Xadrez and the absurdly happy man were walking in what appeared to be no direction in particular; the man seemed content to explore as he talked, and Xadrez didn't wish to waste the opportunity of such direct communication with the Amalgam.
as fascinating as this has been perhaps we could get to the heart of the matter
I had assumed the Amalgam would be forthcoming with information
regarding this round, its inhabitants
and overthrowing the Grandmasters
"But I'm giving you the secrets of the universe, here!"
Yes and I will be sure to put them to use but for now may we focus on the task at hand please
"Oh we are! And in the interests of partial disclosure, I'm pleased to be able to inform you that we've learned of the existence of a fragment-copy that we believe integral to our plans."
What plans and which 'fragment'
"Your plans! And, a fragment within the Amalgam whose personal timeline will soon cross paths with itself. Locating the fragment's copy within this round has become the highest priority, as it has apparently removed itself from the community."
What about the silver orb
"We still need that too! You see, we are kind trying to contact the same fragment twice... to put it in communication with itself. One fragment, three versions! How cool is that!"
I see
and at any point during this painfully vague explanation are you going to tell me the name of this fragment
"Oh yes silly me, we don't use names in Amalgam, it's easy to forget how much the fragmented world relies on them. The fragment in question is currently named Hand of Silver. You can call me Qwcllyn Thurmson, if you were wondering."
I was not
And what precisely does the Amalgam require from me
"Oh right that. We want the human camp destroyed."
Oh really
"Doesn't really matter how that's all up to you, we're confident you can figure something out."
Indeed
and I assume the Amalgam will not be providing assistence in this matter
The man grinned. "Nope! But we would like to observe, so I'll be accompanying you!"
Lovely
---
High above the city, the Ovoid floated. It had been floating there for some time, appearing to do absolutely nothing.
However, if one was patient, one would observe odd deformities blossoming, very slowly, on the Ovoid's usually perfect surface. There was no clear pattern to their formation, and over time, they continued to grow, and began to thin out into wandering tendrils of oily tan.
If any inhabitant of the city cared to look up during this time, they would have seen nothing more than a small dot in the sky. But the Ovoid's growth showed no sign of halting, slow as it might be.
High above the city, the Ovoid floated, and the Amalgam prepared for what was to come.
An oddly chipper young man walked into a ruined convenience store and was promptly greeted with the business end of a flaming sword.
Or at least, that's what should have happened. The sword's owner was surprised to find that the young man's head had somehow cleaved straight through his weapon - by teleporting the offending section of flaming metal out the back of his head as it entered.
The young man, creepily unperturbed by a sword to the face, neatly sidestepped his attacker as the momentum of the missed swing threw him off balance.
A voice called from deeper in the store. "Alex, man, he's human!"
"I can see that now!" The attacker, a young man himself with a beard-and-sword pin holding on a navy blue cloak, pulled himself off the floor and stood to face the stranger, who didn't really seem to be paying him much attention. His brow furrowed as he examined the newcomer's face. "I don't think I know you..."
The stranger looked at the bearded swordsman and said, with far too large a smile, "You're probably correct!" He then turned away and went back to his examination of the store.
Alex scratched his head, as another figure approached; a shorter man, dressed in blue, with fingerless hands. A staff levitated near his hands. They watched the stranger begin to rummage through what remained of the store.
The fingerless man looked at Alex, then back at the stranger. "We've already gone through this place, there's nothing left. What scavenging team are you from?"
The stranger looked back at them, smiled again, and said something that tilted slightly to the left. He then returned his attention to the debris.
The two scavengers looked at each other, dumbfounded. "There are a lot of battles," murmered Alex's companion. "Maybe we just haven't seem him before?"
"I dunno, John. I mean, we've been all over this city - it's not that big. And the human encampment has been around for a while..."
"Say!" The two men jumped at the voice, and the stranger was suddenly behind them. "I don't suppose you two strapping young lads have ever found any silver orbs in your searches, have you?"
"Uh... no?" said John.
"Pity! What about other silver stuff, eh? Silver cubes, silver hypercubes, silver candlesticks, silver hands, silver slivers of slavering sli-"
John held up a palm. "Wait, silver hands? As in the Hand of Silver?"
"Yes! That would be a thing that is useful to locate."
"Well, he's not a thing, really, he's a..."
Alex picked up, "Um, he's a person. Kind of. Sort of our leader but no one every really hears much from him. Rheinhardt's the one that gives all the orders. He says they're from the Hand of Silver but..."
"No one's seen him in years," added John. "If you want my opinion, I think he's-"
"Wait, shouldn't you already know all of this?" asked Alex. "I mean, you're from the human camp... right?"
"I'm from everywhere! You say the Rheinhardt fragment has a copy here? I should very much like to meet it!" The stranger smiled again, and Alex glowered at him. He was beginning to hate that smile.
"I don't think so. You're coming with us - you're obviously not from the human camp, so you're probably an anti-human spy."
The stranger's eyes widened almost comically. "Goodness I hope not! That sounds very bad. But I'd love to come with you!"
The three humans stood rather awkwardly for a moment, until it sunk in that the stranger was simply waiting to be led. Alex turned to John, and said, "Well, maybe we'll finally be taken off scavenging duty for this."
John snorted. "If he even is a spy. Personally I think he's just messed in the head. But we should take him back anyways."
John left the store, followed by the odd young man, with Alex in the rear, glaring at the disturbingly cheerful newcomer's back.
---
"... and that's why the entanglement spectra of Non-Abelian fractional quantum Luttinger liquids display Rashba spin-orbit interaction instead of Ginzburg-Landau magnetic order!"
Xadrez and the absurdly happy man were walking in what appeared to be no direction in particular; the man seemed content to explore as he talked, and Xadrez didn't wish to waste the opportunity of such direct communication with the Amalgam.
as fascinating as this has been perhaps we could get to the heart of the matter
I had assumed the Amalgam would be forthcoming with information
regarding this round, its inhabitants
and overthrowing the Grandmasters
"But I'm giving you the secrets of the universe, here!"
Yes and I will be sure to put them to use but for now may we focus on the task at hand please
"Oh we are! And in the interests of partial disclosure, I'm pleased to be able to inform you that we've learned of the existence of a fragment-copy that we believe integral to our plans."
What plans and which 'fragment'
"Your plans! And, a fragment within the Amalgam whose personal timeline will soon cross paths with itself. Locating the fragment's copy within this round has become the highest priority, as it has apparently removed itself from the community."
What about the silver orb
"We still need that too! You see, we are kind trying to contact the same fragment twice... to put it in communication with itself. One fragment, three versions! How cool is that!"
I see
and at any point during this painfully vague explanation are you going to tell me the name of this fragment
"Oh yes silly me, we don't use names in Amalgam, it's easy to forget how much the fragmented world relies on them. The fragment in question is currently named Hand of Silver. You can call me Qwcllyn Thurmson, if you were wondering."
I was not
And what precisely does the Amalgam require from me
"Oh right that. We want the human camp destroyed."
Oh really
"Doesn't really matter how that's all up to you, we're confident you can figure something out."
Indeed
and I assume the Amalgam will not be providing assistence in this matter
The man grinned. "Nope! But we would like to observe, so I'll be accompanying you!"
Lovely
---
High above the city, the Ovoid floated. It had been floating there for some time, appearing to do absolutely nothing.
However, if one was patient, one would observe odd deformities blossoming, very slowly, on the Ovoid's usually perfect surface. There was no clear pattern to their formation, and over time, they continued to grow, and began to thin out into wandering tendrils of oily tan.
If any inhabitant of the city cared to look up during this time, they would have seen nothing more than a small dot in the sky. But the Ovoid's growth showed no sign of halting, slow as it might be.
High above the city, the Ovoid floated, and the Amalgam prepared for what was to come.