ꙮ The 36th Tower, or thereabouts. (Or anywhere you could get to from there, honestly - there’s nowhere in the Academy complex that’s truly -far- from any other point, if you have the right clearances and aren’t concerned about some very visually-intense elevator rides. But you probably were setting off from the 36th Tower, after making sure that everyone was settled in.)
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- Aurelius
- The Awoken
Scene Archives
← Active ScenesThe 36th Tower, I
#archie
#caion
goes to find Caion’s room to discuss some unfinished, and private, business.
opens the door, sees Archie, and really it’s a shame he -doesn’t- have ears to visibly perk up, because it WOULD be really cute. This room in particular is warded - Caion’s used it before, called dibs on it almost as soon as this tower was constructed, actually.
looks at the wards carefully, checking to see their strength and nature - are they enough to protect from prying eyes and intrusive thoughts?
I'd like to roll Pellucid here, if possible
ꙮ Go for it! DC 4, which means you could definitely [Take Half], though.
- The Archivist/Archie invoked their 🔵pellucid gnosis [d8] -> 2.
- The Archivist/Archie has gained 1 Arete, and now has 5.
.
I'll retroactively take half
ꙮ You’re familiar enough with Caion’s work- even if there’s things you don’t consciously, directly remember, it comes back to you, like muscle memory- that you can verify fairly certainly that the wards are up to his normal standards, which is to say, ‘Academy-typical paranoia and then some’.
hints at a smile and nods in appreciation before turning his attention back to Caion. “You noticed it too, didn’t you? When we talked to Solei?”
tilts his head to the side, makes a universally-recognisable ‘go on’ gesture with his hands. “I’ve noticed a lot of things. I’m curious as to what you’re seeing, with fresh eyes, as it were.”
nods. “Something’s going on with him, at the very least. But the Solei I know would have leapt at the chance to study the sample I brought with me. His reaction seemed… stilted, somehow. Muted, maybe. But discernibly different than I would expect from him.”
nods, a bit, and… checks the wards themself, once, sheerly out of habit. “There are things I haven’t caught you up on, things that happened in the tides you were gone that I couldn’t- well. I was distracted when we were in the Library together.” A single breath. “Periegesis is gone. So is Aporia. It hit Solei hard, they’ve been trying not to show it. It’s not… public knowledge, yet.”
keeps a lock on his facial expression out of habit, despite it not being strictly necessary in this space. “Gone how, do you know? In what manner and to what extent?”
sits down on the edge of the bed, staring diligently at the wall. “Thoughtstorms. They’ve been… bad, lately, Archie. People keep seeing glimpses of the Polite Visitors and they’re. They’re not as strong as your friends are. And the mood here has been…” He gestures, vaguely. “We thought we’d lost you. And then Solei was sure they were saying goodbye to me for good when I asked for their imprimatur to follow after you. And I hope that they update based on the evidence of our return.” There’s a slight, but genuine, smile.
leans in towards the center of Caion’s field of vision and gently presses their foreheads together. “Hopefully it helps, knowing that we’ve returned, that returning from the place we went is even possible. Granted, I may have gone a little farther than you last time, but… well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I just… never could have imagined people having a whole thoughtstorm over me. Part of me wonders if that makes me, and by extension the Architect, responsible for the loss of Solei’s home, but. I’m going to do my best to sink that thought for now.”
shakes his head, or nods, but he’s still mid-forehead-nuzzle and so it just ends up being a More Extensive Nuzzle, which may have been Archie’s plan all along, otters are sneaky like that. “Don’t blame yourself, please. And it’s… certainly not just you, it’s the Polite Visitors surfacing, it’s what happened to Tasna, and Thesis, and– it was good to see them– well. It was good to see Synthesis actually talking to people, again. And coming back here.” More of the smile comes back. “What do -you- know about Tasna? I… to think that Thesis was -right-.” Like I was, he thinks to himself, a bit ruefully. “I don’t know how I’m going to bring -that- up with Solei when it’s the right time to, but I know I need to understand it more myself before I do.”
returns the nuzzle-nod, but pulls away to make eye contact, reaching for Caion’s hand to keep the space between them from growing too wide. “Our first destination when we left Sanctuary, against the Architect’s wishes and with the help of the Omniclast, was Almachadta, a world primarily defined by its Flourishing gnosis. A short while after our arrival, we connected with a person named Tsen, for short, who mentioned that he had been keeping in touch with Tasna by means of Academy code sent over a specially-attuned crystal. Tsen informed us that Tasna’s most recent response had been within a matter of days and that her last known whereabouts were on Beast, a world defined by its relationship to Burning gnosis. Beast is where Aurelius and Unua, two of my companions, call home. We believe she most likely got there by means of a Strange Path, which is the agreed-upon nomenclature for such passages, that took her from the Serpentrione to Beast. Something there is what shattered Thesis, but if we’re going to go after her, as is the current plan… we’ll need to be ready for it.” He lets out something between an exhale and a sigh. “Confronting something that made even Thesis shatter is a little worrisome, but I can’t imagine better company to do it with.”
looks… thoughtful, processing all of that, mind going off in several directions at once. “That… answers several of my questions definitively, and raises several more. I need to re-read a few of Tasna’s notebooks, if she managed to actually make a farcaster work then there’s no reason Synthesis and I can’t figure it out too. Sometimes you just need to know that something’s possible. And… hunh.” He looks a bit distant, for a second, but then nuzzles into Archie. “Getting Solei to sign off on a third Expedition isn’t going to be easy, even for us, after everything that’s happened, but I’m pretty sure we’ll manage. Especially if… Tasna’s actually still out there. First Principles, I could never have imagined.”
: “(O River Without Water, that you always bring back to our hands that which once was lost.)” And then he nuzzles into Archie’s side, actually relieved.
hugs him. “So far as we’re aware, alive and well. Probably working on who-knows-what, knowing her. I can’t wait to find out, and I’m sure you can’t, either. Her homecoming is getting closer by the day. I just wish we could help Thesis recompose. Do you think the pearls he lost would have stayed at the Serpentrione? We may be able to find them.”
sighs, and shakes his head. “They may have shattered fully, or dispersed, or… They’re Synthesis, now, and Synthesis is a good, -strange- friend to have. Or maybe I’m wrong? Regardless, it would be good to– I think even Synthesis would very much like to see Tasna again, though, yes.”
nods. “That’s really all I care about. After so much pain and hurting and missing and loss, Synthesis deserves to see her again.” A pause, then, a little hesitantly: “You reminded me of when I first went to the Academy. The time when we promised each other that, no matter where we went, there would be space in our lives for each other, a home to claim and warmth to share. I know Tasna and Thesis didn’t have our kind of relationship, but… I would feel awful if we got to have our reunion and they were denied theirs.”
smiles, again, and rests his forehead against Archie’s side. “Solei, too. I hope that they and Synthesis have the chance to speak while Synthesis is here. It’s been hard for both of them, in ways that… mm.” He looks up, something undefined in his expression, meeting Archie’s eyes until he’s satisfied that they’re still there, and then goes back to nuzzling. “…the thought of there being entire -worlds- out there, to see. I know it won’t actually -hit- me until I get to see it with my own eyes. Salme’s mask showed me a vision, or a memory - I think that someone in - Al-matcha-da?- must have figured out the Rhizomata spellwork, it’s incredible - anyways I briefly saw a glimpse of what her world must have looked like. I can’t wait for you to take me there.”
gives him a look somewhere between a playful grin and a sincere smile. “I’m glad you’re going to come willingly so I don’t have to stuff you in a sack. I wasn’t sure if now would be the time to discuss it, but… I’m not willing to leave you again. For the record, I’m not the only person who wants you to come with us. But that promise that we’d always have a space for one another wherever we went? That space is right beside me. And fuck anyone, Architect or no, who says otherwise.”
looks like his ears caught on something Archie said but his eidesis and the sincerity of the statement caught up to him first, and he just… beams. “I hope that I -can-. I worry that I won’t be able to, but we’ll. We’ll -find- a -way-. Even if it takes time. Haven’t faced a puzzle we haven’t been able to pick apart yet, have we? But.” Exhale, inhale. “I don’t want to leave you either. Especially not after-“ -he frowns, deeply, pauses, can’t hold it any more, deeply amused and sidetracked mid-thought. “Okay, why in the vast depths would I want to… fuck the Architect, is that a thing that they say in Almachadta?” He got it right this time!
laughs a little with the joy of a foreign exchange student teaching their host family a new swear word. “It is, I must have picked it up there! In this usage, it’s more meant as ‘aggressively disregard’ than ‘engage with sexually’. Believe me, having seen the Architect, I can’t imagine anyone wanting to engage with them sexually. Except, perhaps, the Omniclast, though who’s to say?”
laughs! And laughs, and laughs, and presses his forehead against Archie’s side, shoulders shaking with it. “Almachadta is wondrous strange, then. Okay. Okay. Hang on.” He summons forth the fullness of his eidesis, and, with absurd gravitas, announces: “Fuck the Architect.” He’s only -very- barely holding it together. “Did I do it right.”
beams and plants a kiss right on the center of Caion’s forehead, even as it bounces against Archie’s chest with the shaking of his own laughter. “See, that’s the kind of quick-thinking cultural adaptability that makes you a perfect cross-world travel companion!”
sprawls backwards onto the bed with his arms out, still laughing, shaking his head, taking a breath or two, steadying himself, determined. “But while we’re Bubbled, I… When I was talking to Salme in the Library, the reason she showed me her mask, and the vision. It was when she and Wolf were taken from their world. I had a hypothesis and I believe I was correct. Whatever they -saw- there had the same gnosis-signature as whatever took you from the Geode, I’m as certain of it as I can be without having appropriate samples and a lab environment.”
straightens up and lets his laughter die down. “Do you think it’s a what, or a who? If it’s a person, it seems reasonable to suggest it may have been the Architect himself, but if it’s a thing, that may be a revelation worth investigating more fully. I hate to borrow Aunt Silver-Throat’s glass ship again, but it may be worth taking another look at the geode. I never got to see what happens when the icosahedron I found in my pocket when I woke up interfaces with the spellwork there.”
: “And this is why I love you. My working theory is that it was the Architect, based on what Salme told me, but its gnosis-signature did not feel like anything I’d perceived before. When I first felt it in the Geode I was convinced initially that it -was- a what, rather than a who. Still gathering data. If it -was- the Architect, I… well. I said some rather intemperate things to Salme in the Library and I stand by them.” ⁂
sits up, again, then, curiously, looking up at Archie. “What did you find in your pocket? Is this the- you mentioned you had something, when you were on the other side and we were signaling to each other through the threshold.”
starts digging around in his coat’s innumerable pockets. “I actually have a few things in here that I think you would find interesting. But starting with the question you actually asked, as you’ve so often helped me remember to do…” He fishes around for a few moments and finds the blinking icosahedron. “There’s a space-between-spaces where the Strange Paths seem to converge and branch off from, which we have come to know as the Obsidian Road. After leaving Almachadta, we were stuck for a short while trying to open the portal to Samudra. There was some kind of active interference, and after studying the problem, I believe it may have to do with the geode’s purpose: the protection of this item. Our time in the geode was brief, but I did spot a place in the center of the spell-workings there that seemed purpose-built for it.”
he sits up, peers at it - reaches towards, but does not touch it, exploring it with pellucid gnosis. After a few moments: “May I flagrantly advance a hypothesis which you may have, already, advanced?”
smiles. “By all means.”
: “First: I am certain you are correct that the Geode existed to /protect/ this object. I spent lumens examining a gem-setting in the central room’s arcanima. Second: You opened the Geode, and -took- this object from it, and it did not, apparently, stop you. Third: Something, which may or may not have been the Architect, took you from the world after you obtained it, -after- which point the Geode’s defense mechanisms kicked in, causing the interference.” His foot’s increasingly-insistently wiggling, as he goes on. “But that force either could not, or did not, take this object from you. Fourth: Either this object is, itself, the kleis mentioned in your notes concerning the Geode, or you were always in possession of the kleis, somehow, I know not how that could be, and your taking this was the proof, and nothing, even something which could take you from the world itself, could take it -from- you.” He glances up at Archie, in wonderment.
looks at it with newfound reverence and astonishment. “Did I share those notes with anyone else? I wonder if Synthesis would know anything about it. There’s a lot that I need to - okay, time for you to learn more loan words that have entered my lexicon since you’ve last seen me: ‘(rotate)’ is used by certain inhabitants of Almachadta to refer to a prolonged period of internal contemplation, typically involving reflexive analysis and evaluating multiple potential angles of interpretation. So to use it in context, what you’ve just confirmed to me means I have much I need to (rotate) before I’m ready to make further assumptions or ideate on practical uses of this information.”
shakes his head. “They were all deeply encrypted and I shall invent an edible hat and then eat it if anyone other than me could have broken your encryption. (Sorry about that, by the way.)” And then a beat. “(Rotate). Hunh. Turning the idea around in your head to look at it every which way at once. I like that one too, I think it might catch on.”
: “Anyways, I… have some very tentative theories, but nothing I feel confident building on, yet. Glad we’re still as much on the same page as ever, though.” Another smile.
kisses him on the nose, this time, the inches separating their lips shortening with each new expression of affection. “You have nothing to apologize for. If anyone could do it, I always knew you could. I would have used even more obscure methods if I wished it otherwise.” He lingers on the moment, lips pressed to the tip of Caion’s nose, before he pulls back. “But there are two more things I want you to have that I should really make sure make it into your hands before we permit ourselves any further distractions.” He rummages around in his coat again and pulls out a different, ever so slightly smaller jar than the one he presented to Solei, but still containing the same, strange substance. “I bet you can immediately guess what this is, though I still want to hear you say it. But the even more interesting detail is where it’s from.”
looks like there is a perilously thin margin within which the word ‘permit’ will continue to have any meaning as pertains to distractions, and leans forward as Archie pulls away like he’s drawn by a magnet; his eyes ARE immediately drawn to the substance in the jar and his eyebrows go up. “Quintessence. It -does- exist. And you have some in a… jar, in your pocket. As one does. Hunh.” He leans forward, again, for several reasons, tilting his head at it. “Okay, where’d you find it?”
smiles. “Off the path of the Obsidian Road. The space there seems to reconfigure itself slightly every time we go, adding more structures and details. It’s not possible to tell yet whether these are permanent fixtures of the space or if they’re only there because we’ve projected them into the quintessence itself and that others experience the space differently. But almost the entire ground, save for the obsidian that makes up the Road, is quintessence, as far down as you can tell. There’s an entity there with a song which references its own incomplete nature. My personal hypothesis, though it’s far too early and difficult to test, is that there was once something there which will continue to be uncovered/renewed as we keep connecting and improving the worlds, and that the Obsidian Road itself may in fact be a sixth world unto itself associated with liminal gnosis.” He takes a moment to pause, catching his breath as the words chase each other out on their way past his lips, before continuing, “Of particular interest is the fact that, on a world primarily suffused with a singular type of gnosis, the quintessence ‘evaporates’ - for lack of a better term - into that dominant form of gnosis. Which poses a few interesting questions. First, if this is an inherent quality of quintessence, then what would have been the catalyst for the first development of quintessence into Flourishing, Burning, etc. gnosis? Second, if this is not an inherent quality of quintessence, does that imply the existence of something which draws quintessence towards certain forms of gnosis in certain locations, and could that help explain the existence of separate worlds with each dominated by a type of gnosis?”
lets out a long, slow whistle, (rotating) all of that for a minute. See, he’s already learning how to use that word, too! He nods. “That… tracks with the theorised properties of Quintessence if it were to exist. An inherently unstable compound that would collapse into a known state in the presence of more stable gnosis…” He peers at it, curiously, not hiding a single flicker of the wonder and -joy- on his face. “Which… yeah. Like in recrystallisation experiments. You have a substance that wants to crystallise in a medium, but you need a seed crystal or a disruption to the system in a particular direction, in order for the system to reorder itself into the lower-energy state…” He shakes his head. “…I’m not in my lab, I’m not going to -be- in my lab for. A while.” And he looks up at Archie, then. “I -can- wait, as it turns out. But thank you, -very- much, for this gift.”
wiggles with excitement watching Caion’s sharp mind at work untangling the questions he had been secretly considering for weeks. “You’ll make it up to me soon enough, I’m sure.” He doesn’t quite wink, but there’s a wink in his voice that’s unmistakable. “Okay, last thing for now, I promise. I’m glad you’ve taken to the semblance of the creature I met in Almachadta so well, but I wanted to bring back an organic specimen that you could observe and study directly, so I brought you these.” He produces a notebook from his bag, Delicately opening its pages, he reveals a small collection of about five leaves from different Almachadtan plants, carefully and skillfully pressed and preserved. “This is only the beginning. There are many more plants like this for you to see, and see them you will, with your own two eyes. But for now, while we’re home, I thought maybe you could start here. It doesn’t have to be now, or even soon. But the next time you do retire to your lab, even if you just need to do something to stimulate that wonderful mind of yours, they may yet reveal interesting revelations.”
has very, very, remarkably good eidesis. Truly remarkable. He is exercising it, in this moment. A smile, his breath only slightly caught- and then his eyes go wide at the pressed leaves, and he grins, and- just shakes his head, from side to side. And then, very gently, he puts the (very delicate) samples somewhere on the desk, where they won’t be at any risk of being crushed, because that would be -very- unfortunate indeed after all the work Archie went to to preserve them.
crushes Caion in a hug as soon as the samples are somewhere safe. He all but tackles him in the ferocity of it, and by all appearances, it seems that he’s decided that “soon enough” means “now, actually”.