❧ Allow Me to Introduce Myself

[luministimods]

[Once the black spots from the flash of light go away, the otherworlders will find themselves in a large room filled with boxes, computer equipment similar to that seen in Lab #4, and a seemingly ancient camera resting to the side of someone fast at work at a computer terminal. If they look behind them, they'll see the air duct grate that most of them had seen before being transported out of it and brought back to proper size. (The others had seen the one leading back into Lab #4.) They'll also see a door with the label "Lab #5" next to the doorjamb, but it won't open if anyone tries to pry it open.

A frustrated noise comes from the person working at the terminal. A black fedora rests atop of the man's head as he furiously enters commands and mutters under his breath, his back to the group of people suddenly in the room with him. Several screens flicker past as he scrolls through various security camera feeds. All pomposity is gone from his rough tone of voice as he growls at the terminal.]

No, no, no! Where have they gone?! [His gaze turns towards a second terminal beside him, the screen simply counting down how long it'll take before a transfer completes--and it's less than an hour. He frowns severely at it--before he becomes aware that there are other people in the room with him. Stiffly, he looks over his shoulder at them, not moving for a second.]

So...that is his game, eh? [Ferran lets out a small chuckle and slowly turns his chair around to face them, one hand moving to tip his hat forward a bit over his smirking face.]

Go on, then. [He finishes swiveling around, crossing one leg over the other as he gestures towards the group.] Do what you will.

[On the computer screen behind him, the words "DISTRACT HIM" appear on-screen for the otherworlders to see.]


Plot Details: Allow Me to Introduce Myself - **Quick-time Endgame Event**

This is it, everyone. The penultimate plot post, and who better to head it up than the man himself? Of course, he didn't seem too happy to see them there, but Ferran is a man who adapts easily to situations thrown at him.

The question is: what all are you going to do?

You have free reign to do what you want. Talk to Ferran, yell at him, attack him, try to escape the room, search the boxes, stand there befuddled because "omg I was in that air duct a moment ago and was tiny but now am normal-sized again wtf.", etc etc. Seriously. You all saw what happened to Nathan when Filippo shot him. He was only out for a few minutes, and Ferran's anchor is still alive so he'll come back no matter what people do. Kill him as many times as you want. He kinda deserves it.

Oh right, there is the matter of that computer terminal counting something down... Everyone heard different things in the air duct; those who went away from the "wind" heard things related to Nathan, while the others got to hear things happening relatively at that moment. Time was skewed and bet a bit in there, but the one that wasn't involved a countdown that Kon, John, and Luke heard. It's counting down how long it'll take before a transferring process is complete and there is less than an hour left. (Granted, that might make it seem like the world's slowest computer considering it's in the future, but the program being transferred is gigantic.) But what is being transferred? Why did everyone hear that they heard--and who got them out of the air duct? Because it sure as hell wasn't Ferran who pulled them out. If he had his druthers, he would have left them to get creeped out by fake spiders, rats, and lord knows what else until they were reduced to, well, it's probably best the whole thing was interrupted.

Well, one thing is for sure: Nathan is still out there, so there is a good chance he's in a position to help everyone if that message behind Ferran says anything.

Your goals: Distract Ferran, and Nathan will do what he can to aid and poke people so they can stop the transferring process and locate certain items so everyone can finally go home once and for all.

I'm going to give us through the 30th of November--or until we accomplish our main objectives if we go past that time for this plot. There are six objectives total, but only three of them are absolutely vital to stopping Ferran. To give you a hint at what the hidden ones might be (and in case you wanted to ask Ferran anything), I've compiled a list of the questions you all wanted to know the answers to. You can find it here! There were some I was able to answer now as I didn't think they'd come up in the course of a natural conversation or anything, but there were common themes to the questions asked that I couldn't answer there.

Anyway, below I'm putting a list of the objectives and their status! I'd love to accomplish them all if we have the time for them.



Objectives! Objective #1 = Find out what the transfer is and stop it. | Status: Done! Objective #2 = Find the negatives Nathan spoke of. | Status: Found! Objective #3 = Find the photos of everyone in the game. | Status: Found! Objective #4 = Find out more about Ferran | Status: Done in various threads! Objective #5 = Discover the nature of how the whole process works. | Status: Done! Objective #6 = Discover "why them?" | Status: Done!



All action will occur in this entry, and similar to previous posts, I've made comments for:


• Talking to Ferran
  
• Doing other things to Ferran (and in this one, you do have my permission to do whatever you'd like with/to him so don't worry about asking)
  
• Investigating the room (for these, I'll respond with what you'll find and such. If you want to investigate AND talk to Ferran, you can do so in either spot. I'm flexible~ It's just so people can initially start off doing one or the other. That kind of thing!)
  
• And as always, OOC comments/questions.


We've come this far, everyone. And while it's been a long journey, let's finish strong! o/

Comments

[fortune_sought]

Research? [she scoffs] Yes, I'm certain that's rather like wizards who claim black magic is "study"! [she glares at him at his sympathizing] And you say that as if you care! That's rather missing the point when you're clearly causing that suffering yourself--quite happily, it seems.

[at this point, she's cross enough that she decides to take a risk. she spins on her heel and marches over to the nearest set of boxes. she reaches out to move the top one--and then stops. she glances back at Ferran with a glint in her eye before she addresses the boxes in a business-like tone:] Come now, you must see it'll take forever to go through you like this! And you look much too heavy to move. Topple over, please. And do be quick about it if you can.

[she's never tried to have that big of an influence on physical objects before--particularly potentially heavy ones--but in the current situation, she can't resist trying. and it should be a distraction, particularly if it works. just in case it does, she takes a few steps away from the boxes]

[luministimods]

[He watches her for a moment, intrigued to see this magic of hers for himself first-hand before he responds. In the meantime, however, the boxes she's talking to take a second to think, internally debating with each other whether they should since they are heavy, but the bottom decides that it is for the best and begins to jostle and bounce, which only proceeds to unsettle the other two atop of it. Then they all throw caution to the wind and topple over--with the exception of the bottom one which merely opens its flaps now that is free to. The others have willfully spilled their contents on the ground.

Sophie will find various pieces of camera equipment inside (thankfully, none have broken) that might not seem familiar to her. One box was filled to the brim with various cannisters (some empty, some full, and some still in wrappers) meant to hold film. Another was filled with different solutions needed to develop said film as well as trays to do it in. The last box holds all of the various pieces of equipment meant to develop the pictures found in those cannisters spilt all over the floor.]

You are very fortunate to have not ruined any of those. [Ferran...doesn't sound incredibly happy.] Are you quite happy now? I would address the black magic wizards and how I am different from them, but unfortunately, I do not know any personally. I have observed some in your world and others, but did not find them to my liking--but for entirely different reasons.

[fortune_sought]

[Sophie kneels down, opening canisters in an attempt to find anything like the film that Nathan showed her a picture of]

Oh? And why is that? [she glances up at him, her expression sharp. she scoffs] You say that as though you expect me to believe you've no idea what you've done to us. [she continues her search--but a thought occurs to her then, and she pauses in what she's doing, her eyes wide] Nathan's CAT--that was you! Ohh, you are wicked! Worse than the Witch and Djinn--combined!

[luministimods]

[It'll take her a few cannisters to find ones that hold both the used film and a scroll of negatives. If she holds the negatives up to the light, she'll see the images (albeit inverted) of the other otherworlders, as well as the townspeople of Luministi.]

What offence am I meant to have done that is both worse that a witch and djinn? [He has done many things to Nathan's CAT, so it is a matter of clarifying which incident...]

[fortune_sought]

[her eyes widen when she holds up the strange items and gets a better look at the image in them. throwing a nervous glance at Ferran, she quickly slides the film and negatives back into the canister, closes it, and drops it into her pocket]

[and at that question, she glares at him. her expression is as dark as her tone, quieter than her usual bluster in a way that only punctuates the seriousness of the offense] You replaced our lives. [her tone rises] You made up new ones! You replaced my family!

[again, the force of Sophie's will behind that anger acts without her conscious direction, and Ferran may notice his tie tightening around his throat]

[luministimods]

[In that quick glimpse at the images inside, she'll see Cissie and Stephanie, friends she hasn't seen in a long while--but they're in their own home universes, so any background images might not be familiar to her.]

[Oh, he does notice--but he also remembers this little trick when she pulled that with Filippo. He pulls out a simple pocket knife and cuts his tie free before it can become too much trouble for him.]

Your family is safe and sound. [He casually puts his knife away in his inner jacket pocket.] It only seemed right for you to be finally married to that damnable Doctor, albeit temporarily. And if you have not noticed, Mrs. Hatter--or Pendragon, or Jenkins--these things tend to be temporary around here. If I wanted you to forget your family exists--to forget your infant son exists--forever, then I would have done so by now.

Yet I have not. Preserving who you are and your ties to the people back in your world is important, not only to yourself, but to me as well. Otherwise, I would have no need of you.

[fortune_sought]

[it's good to see her old friends in their homes, but she hopes those images are from before their stay rather than after. she would hate to think he's still watching them--all of them. but for the moment there's too much else to worry about to ask]

[she's startled when he cuts away the tie because she didn't realise what she was doing, but it only takes her a moment to work it out--although that's quite startling as well. she scowls, funneling her worries into anger] You say that as though I should be grateful! As though it's not you who's keeping me away from them in the first place. As though you cared!

[she practically spits the word in her anger, but thankfully her magic hasn't found another dangerous outlet to try against him yet]

[luministimods]

But I do, to some extent, else I would not bother to keep you all in comfortable living situations. [He lets out a sigh.] If you were not perfect for my experiments--or if your husband had any of the qualities I was looking for--then you would be with your family. Your son does not interest me either.

[Ferran falls silent for a moment, pursing his lips.] Perhaps it is time to... No. [He breathes in deeply, his head tipping back just a bit. He can sense her emotions in ways she probably won't understand.] Not yet. Your emotions are overwhelming at times, but powerful. So very powerful, Sophie.

[fortune_sought]

Pah! [she practically spits the word in her disdain--and disbelief--at his comment. and her eyes widen as he mentions the potential of bringing Howl here--or Morgan. the chair behind Ferran begins to rattle as Sophie's anger is made real]

And!? [her voice is tight and shrill as she struggles to keep some ounce of her composure--and not to show her fear. because under all that anger, she is terrified that he might do something to her family] And what good is my magic to you? What good is any of this to you? What is it all for!? Besides your hideous, sick enjoyment, I mean!

[luministimods]

[Ferran makes a note to make one of his next experiments one where the otherworlders can have a moment's reprieve from their stresses and fears. Coming back to them after will be a nice shock.]

Your magic does nothing for me. I just find it fascinating the way your emotions and words fuel it. We do not have magic like that amongst my people, so I am studying it. I am an anthropologist first and foremost. When I have no further need of you, I let you go. If I were truly sick, I would not allow anyone to go home ever--but yet I do. [He shrugs] But I know what I say will not change your mind. I have had quite some time to notice that stubborn streak in you. Your opinion of me will never change.