Prior to leaving for Earth, the Trio of Televexion receives a network attached storage device that Eleanor is able to connect to her laptop. Through the night, at a very high rate of speed, she downloads compressed data to it that is being collected by the infrastructure equipment she's produced via her spells. This data will be taken to Earth for quantum computer processing and then expert AI analysis.

There has been some cognitive dissonance as Eleanor struggles with the immediate need to visit Earth, yet also with her strong desire to acquire the glaive, Ierglanthor.

But here you are, with your companions, gathered in a summoning chamber and laboratory deep beneath Kualag, where several magi will jointly cast the 5th Circle magic to send your group across the galaxy, to Earth.

Amandiluth is present to see you off. "Any instructions for those learning to use the equipment you have made, Daughter?"

Eleanor thanked the Trio, and put the device to good use straight away.

The next morning, after a short night, Eleanor had packed everything she - and Lida - had in her ring to travel light. Before she could answer to Amandiluth, she yawned. "Uh, sorry." She rubbed her eyes tiredly then shook her head. "Not particularly no. Even if they mess with it, it can't send any message to anyone, it's not designed like that at all so worst case scenario, it just breaks. Though... Well, be careful who you allow to have access to it, one word to the wrong people and it would be a disaster. Best case scenario those two devices would be useless, and at worst... well, not only they'd be a big avenue for disinformation, it would jeopardize quite a few things beyond that."

"For now it wouldn't hurt to separate who has access to it and who makes decisions, so as to not impact what is done in order to prevent raising suspicions. Gather information as much as you can, but try to not act on it if you can, I'll need that access open for some stuff I'm thinking about." She shrugged. "I'll be back in three days or so at any rate, so it's not like much will happen in that time."

She looked at the group of magi, then asked Lida, Choktah and Muchai. "Are we all ready to go?"

Both of your companions nod. Amandiluth steps forward and raises her sceptre. "Spirits of Haught go before thee and forfend. Grace of the Ancestors be yours. Thrive like the Immordials, and return like the Radiants."

So saying, she embraces you, then steps back and the three of you gather in a silver-inlaid circle and the group of gathered magi begin intoning the spell. You feel yourself stretch into a dimension unfamiliar, and you are aware of your two companions accompanying you. The three of you move without walking, gliding through a vaguely crimson-hued realm of shifting shadows, occasional points of varicolored light viewed in the distance in different directions.

Time is strange, and therefore difficult to gauge in its passage, here. But after some time you are wrenched sideways through a Possibility and find yourself in a fog-shrouded alley. A rat skitters away in surprise, and you smell trash and the nearby odor of fried food. It is dark.

The whole thing had made Eleanor a bit uncomfortable, starting with the hug: she wasn't really a huger. Then there had been the weird stretching sensation, not really unpleasant, but definitely...weird. And finally, there had been the whole passage with things appearing to move around her more than anything, to say nothing of the timelessness aspect of it. Hopefully she hadn't spent six months in there, that would definitely piss her off...

Suddenly, she found herself standing on solid ground, back in reality and, hopefully, on Earth. After a quick look around - and a sniff or two - she took the chest out of her ring. The first thing she did was change into "normal" clothes: jean, t-shirt and hoodie. Then, as she dug for her cellphone, she tried to reach Bastet. "Bast? You're around?"

OOC -
Minor detail, but it should be three companions, Lida, Choktah and Muchai.
Wardrobe Quickchange: 6 degrees of success

Lida, Choktah, and Muchai  form a triangular guard around you as you access your ring and Quick Change spell to change clothes. In the distance, you hear a siren scream into the night, followed seconds later by squealing tires. More food smells waft into the alley, the aroma of french fries, hamburgers. You hear people laugh in the distance, caught up in conversation.

You complete your change. Muchai has wrapped herself in illusion, appearing now as a young Earthwoman. Choktah appears odd in his outworld clothing, but otherwise he could pass for anyone else in the city. You feel certain you've returned to Earth. Now, to see where you have arrived...
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:44, Sat 07 Sept 2019.

Eleanor frowned after a few seconds of silence from Bastet. Either the trip had severed the link, or they weren't anywhere near Chicago... While she thought about it, she looked at Muchtai and nodded after a few seconds, then at Choktah and grimaced a bit. "We'll have to find you some clothes, but in the meantime if someone asks, just answer that you're a monk from Tibet and don't speak English too well, it should be enough for now."

Eleanor considered simply stepping from Shadows to Shadows to reach her home, but in the end she decided to avoid it for now: she didn't want to risk stepping in a difficult situation with no explanation, and there was the matter of the protections Marcus had put around her house: for all she knew, it would prevent her from reaching her destination at best, and send her into a trap at worst.

So in the end, she simply turned to Lida... But whatever she was about to say, she didn't: she had considered asking her to use her phone - since it had been switched off almost as soon as they had arrived on Haught, it should still have enough battery - but she didn't want to leave tracks until she knew more.

"Hmm, give a moment while I try to find out where - and when... - we are." With that said, Eleanor connected to the OpNet, and looked for the information she wanted. While she did, she also sent a mail to Bastet. "Hey Bast, are you around?"

OOC -
OpNet spell: 3 degrees of success
Investigation: 6 degrees of success

Luck: 4 degrees of success & 3 degrees of success
And Luck I forgot for the Quickchange SWS (which was incidentally, the 100th): 1 degree of failure

So that's +3SWS, +15XP, +2AP.

After a few moments, you receive an email reply:

Eleanor? When did you get back? There are sporadic problems with cellular and opnet communications due to the ongoing skirmishes. Where are you? I'll send a team to retrieve you. It's not safe!

"I just came back now, with a few others. Not too sure where," or when...
"yet to be honest. It might not matter too much though, is it safe to go home? Else just tell me where and I'll just go there directly, shouldn't be hard. As long as there are a few shadows around anyway."

While she waited for Bastet's answer, Eleanor looked at the date first, then at where they were.

The date is 193 days after the date you departed Earth. Your cellular connection links up. Geolocation has you tagged in Old Town, Chicago. Bastet's voice sounds in your mind. Oh, good: the cognonexus still functions. I guess now we know there are distance limitations on this ability, however. It is good to sense your presence again, Eleanor. Your home is safe, guarded by both wards Marius has placed and by several androids that we've produced in your subterranean compound. But you must be careful. The alien creatures are appearing much more frequently, and in larger, highly aggressive groups.

"Uh... That's weird..." Eleanor frowned, wondering why the link had failed to transmit her message a few seconds before. The idea that there was some kind of lag seemed far fetched. "Anyway. We're in Old Town, so I can bing everyone home easily. It's just... Are Graham and Evelyn there? I'd rather avoid them until I know a lot more of the current situation and what they've been told."

After a slight pause, she added. "Wait, 193 days!? It's been 193 days since I got sucked into Haught? That doesn't make any sense. You told me six months had gone by in barely more than a day for us, then two weeks between the message I sent and the moment you sent my laptop whereas for me it wasn't even two hours. And after that, three days passed on Haught, and I'm supposed to believe no time at all passed here? Time is seriously messed up but still! It should have been something close to 72 more days than that!"

I cannot explain, Bastet replies across the cognonexus. Much of our infrastructure has been damaged, it's true. But I'm quite certain of the date. Either the time disparity between Earth and Haught is in flux, or parallel realities could be involved, theoretically, or ... I suppose if this magic stuff is real, it could somehow be that.

Graham and Evelyn are ensconced out in the country in an estate owned by Marius and guarded by some of his mob-friends. Nothing short of a military strike is going to get to them, trust me. How many of you are there? What preparations do you need made at your hidden facility?

"Mmh. That might have something to do about that Bright thing, but..." Eleanor stopped there, pensive, then grumbled. "A lot of my plans depended on time going faster here than on Haught..."

She groaned, sighed, then added. "Anyway, good to know about Evelyn and Graham. I suppose..." She'd probably have quite a few questions to answer to though, especially regarding the mob part... "We're four. I'll just go home directly, but it's probably the easiest and simplest for the time being, even if we might want to go somewhere else later on. See you in a few."

Turning to the three with her, she said out loud. "Alright, it's... Well, weird. We're pretty close to my home, and we're going to go there in a minute." looking at Lida she added a few details. "We're in Old Town, exactly 193 days from when we left. Which doesn't make sense, but... Well, that's how it is. Apparently the creatures attack in group so it's probably not too safe to walk around. So..."

She held her hand out to Lida. "Take my hand and hold each others. Follow me, don't let go. And I suppose it would be less disturbing if you closed your eyes."

Once they had formed a chain, Eleanor went to the nearest shadow, and stepped through it to reach her house's living room.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:43, Sun 15 Sept 2019.

May 14, 2105

And in what feels like only a few brief steps, you and your companions are standing at the periphery of your estate. You immediately hear a low growl. A pair of androids, accompanied by a pair of Dobermans, appear out of the darkness. "Eleanor," one says (an android, not a Doberman), inclining its head. "Bastet informed us you were coming. This way, please."

And a minute later you and your companions are safely ensconced inside. Fortunately, the estate is plenty big enough that there are multiple guest bedrooms. A house android has already begun whipping up sandwiches and coffee. A different android approaches and inclines her head. "Do you require anything while food is being prepared, Eleanor? Estate security is intact. You have 195 email messages and 58 cellular calls in your queue."
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:55, Sun 15 Sept 2019.

When she reached her home, Eleanor looked around. She jumped when she heard the dogs' growls, not having expected that, and almost took her glaive out to defend herself but settled down when the android talked to her. "That's me." She glanced at the dogs once more, thinking about how she'd have to make them understand who was the boss around here, then motioned the others to follow.

She blinked in surprise a couple of times when she noticed yet another android, wondering how many Bastet had produced and, more importantly, if any of then were sentient. "That's a lot of missed calls, and not so many mails..." She shook her head. "I'll look into that a bit later. For now, just bring Lida, Muchai and Choktah to their rooms." She indicated each of them in turn. "We'll need to get some clothes for all of you, but the lack of ID for Muchai and Choktah will make things difficult..." She turned to the android. "I guess for now we'll just order a couple of sets of clothes for all of them, and bring them shopping when they have IDs." Which would almost certainly require talking to Marius, but...one thing at a time.

Turning to her three guests, she added. "Once you've seen your rooms, you can come back to the kitchen if you want." She looked at Lida. "I'll go grab my old laptop if you want to read your mails, or the news. Other than that..." She frowned slightly. "I suppose you can go pretty much everywhere in the house. Though even if there shouldn't be any danger, try to avoid touching stuff you don't understand." She looked at the androids. "Muchtai and Choktah come from a place without technology, so take that in consideration when you show them to their rooms"

After that, while the other three were guided to their rooms and shown the few important places - like bathrooms, living room, etc. - Eleanor went to her office to grab her old laptop and a chip for her phone, since she had sent the original one from Haught to Earth. Then she went back to the kitchen and set both laptop on the counter. Before she looked at her mails she prepared a bowl of hot chocolate milk, something she had missed quite a bit, looking at the android preparing a few sandwiches from the corner of her eyes, obviously a bit uncomfortable.

Her bowl ready, she sat in front of her laptop and plugged the device in which she had stored everything she had obtained on Haught and sent to Bastet "I've plugged the stuff I got from Haught on my laptop. Can you get that to Hestia and Vulcan, and start analyzing all of it? The sooner we start on that, the better. I didn't have the time to study it yet, but I'm hoping it'll answer quite a few questions." Starting with the AIs numbers and plans. Following that, she opened her mails. As she started reading, she asked Bastet "There are also a few blueprints for stuff I made, but that's not important for now. Other than that, before I dive in my mails and calls... There are a lot of things I want to do, and probably quite a few I will need to do, but is there something I must do right now?"
This message was last edited by the player at 00:38, Mon 16 Sept 2019.

Nothing of immediacy, Bastet sends back along the cognonexus. Vulcan and I have almost doubled the total square feet area of your compound in your absence, as well as installed secondary and tertiary power systems and multiple evacuation routes. I am forwarding the data you've collected to Hestia for analysis.

There is a pause.

We have three submersible androids patrolling the underground river. There are five regular non-sentient androids in the compound and no sentient ones. Hestia and I felt your permission should be secured before attempting their creation. We do have a pair each of heavy-duty construction droids and heavily armored combat droids.

Bastet sends you schematics of the expansion of your caverns. Eleanor, do you require any supplement to the android staff at your estate?

I'll soon have that mini-game ready for you to try out online, to obtain Ierglanthor, the Glaive.