"Is there some expert we can consult on this thing? Maybe they would be able to understand this writing?" Cyro says, creating an ice replica of the writing he had memorized as he saw it.

"I got about 5 seconds of this...transmission? Of course I can't read it...but someone can."

He gestures, and the light around his icy form bends and twists. Showing a very odd pattern of light that could very well be some sort of language.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:58, Wed 13 Dec 2023.

Blackhawk looks at the hoop and then the symbols Cry forms. "Does that look like a language to anyone?" he says, giving a hopeful look to the various Doctors in the room.

Hatfield removed his hat and stepped out of the shadows in the corner of the lab scratching his head.

"That ain't a language young un. That there's a spell."

"Question is whar and how'd you see it Cryo? Ain't 'xactly yer bailiwick is it."
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:51, Thu 14 Dec 2023.

In reply to Hatfield McCoy (msg # 156):

"It showed up on a non visible light spectrum. My ice form allows me to bend all forms of light around me in several diffrent ways. I can't sense 'magic's, which seems to be some sort of extra dimensional energy. What I can see is when that energy effects the laws of physics in this world."

Guardian let the others handle the magic stuff. "Dr Roller have you ever heard of The Nine Eyes?"

He sratched his head again and then pulled his flop hat back on.

"Well you shouldn't be able to see it. Hoop must be affecting the spell work and that can only mean one thing...."

He looks concerned and walks a lap around the Iron Hoop before he continues.

"...Gods@#$% Techno-wizardy!"

"We got it back home but it ain't supposed to work here. This world don't make enough magic for that mess."

He slaps Cryo on the shoulder.

"Ye done good boy! Could have took weeks to figure that out without that image. Hell, maybe never!"

"US led Intelligence cooperative with several European nations..."

"...Philophy followed by Egyptian Royalty..."

At that point he stopped staring at the Hoop and looked Guardian in the eye.

"Neither of which would make your face look like that so I'm going to go with "No".

For possibly the first time the people in the lab saw Doc's attention focused on only one thing,

"What is The "Nine Eyes"?"

Blackhawk looks more and more out of his depth with the talk of sorcery and now techno-wizardry. He looks to Hatfield. "Is that maybe a side effect of the portal, or why they built it in the first place? To leak through enough magic on this side so the magic from their side works here? That.. would seem to be bad."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:46, Sun 17 Dec 2023.

PM

In reply to Hatfield McCoy (msg # 159):

"Well, I was never into techno at the club. Should I assume techno magic is worse? It certainly let our nine eyed senior monster doing some henious stuff. I dont suppose we can use what we know of technology and apply it to this weird magic?" Cryo asked.

Not having anything to add to the discussion about languages or tentacle monsters Alana took her time to land in a safe place after dropping off the ring, change back to her android form, and rejoin the group through the regular sized doors, even then it took her a few moments to sort out what she could possibly add to the discussion.  ”I can't speak to how magic would work with technology, but this ring is designed to draw a considerable amount of power, far more than almost any machine I have ever see, surely more than anything its size.”

"So this Iron Hoop pulls energy, that doesn't exist here, from the other side of the portal and then uses that energy to open a portal from there to here large enough for creatures to cross over to our side."

Doc put his hand on top of his head.

"And these creatures...At least Nine Eyes but maybe all of them, the Reina Cartel has no control over them at all.."

"That is insane. Absolutely Nuts."

He blew out a breath.

"Meanwhile Nine-Eyes has one upped our plan to draw a reprisal from Reina. We've caused some trouble but this thing killed dozens of her soldiers. It'll be a higher priority than we are on her hit list."

He punched his left fist.

"There is another thing. Reina has a coincidental connection to Grey Guardian. Nine-Eyes has a coincidental connection to Grey Guardian."

"Two unrelated coincidences means that the odds are neither of them is a coincidence."

"She thought this thing would go right after you."

Guardian shrugged, "I don't know either of them. I am very frustrated."

Blackhawk listens to the doctor with increasing concern on his face, then he looks to Grey Guardian, and then the others, to gauge what they seem to be feeling. He looks back to the doctor. "Maybe that's the point - that they are not controlled. They make the bargain, 'hey, you get to roam around in our world', then set them loose to cause as much chaos as possible, tie up resources?" He pauses, and then shakes his head. "Sorry, just thinking out loud. That doesn't make much sense unless they're some kind of apocalyptic cult. Most gangs want to make a lot of cash as soon as possible, and that course of action doesn't seem like it leads to a lot of cash," he says. The young man looks concerned and frustrated, and he looks back to the hoop.

Guardian was very troubled, and he knew that keeping his secret was part of that. He exhaled slowly as he made a decision. "I do not know how, but it seems our enemy has certain information that I thought I had kept secret. Since they know keeping it from all of you will just make things more difficult in the long run. There has only ever been one Grey Guardian. I am Hernando Escobar, and I was born in 1513 in Madrid. In 1542 I sailed with Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo. We attempted to set a fort right here, where this building stands. I met and fell in love with a Native American lady. Before we could be wed her people were attacked by a hostile group. I and some of my men went to their aid and I was greviously wounded. I hovered at the verge of death and the tribe's medicine man came to me in a kind of dream. He offered me life in exchange for being bound to this land and it's people. I accepted. What I did not know was that the woman I loved bargained herself, marrying the Shaman if he would spare my life. So you see I am over five centuries old. This thing, the Nine Eyes claimed to have been present what this all happened. So you see, there is more going on here than any of us knows. Know that by telling you all this I am placing an enormous trust in all of you, I believe that keeping this a secret ensures my ability to continue to guard this City...my city."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:04, Fri 22 Dec 2023.

In reply to Grey Guardian (msg # 168):

"Ummm...ah...ok." Cyro said, for the first time being at a loss for words. "Do you want me to stop making old person jokes about Nine Eyes?"

Doc almost flinched when he heard that part.

"And now a woman with your name is trying to destroy Century Station. Furthermore she has summoned a powerful creature that was there when you became the Grey Guardian. And so far the only thing that has so much as scratched Nine Eyes is a tomahawk given you by the shaman that performed the ritual?"

Guardian took some offense at Roller's insinuation. "Do not speak ill of my Flower, Doctor."

Doc continued, not without sympathy, "There are too many intersecting factors for it to be coincidence and they all intersect right through you."

"You're either being targeted now or you were targeted in the past."

"We can't disregard that because it is painful."

Nodding, "Agreed, I've felt targeted. She died, and while I kept track of her children, I lost track of the line around 1680 when they relocated."

Done with her assessment of the big hoops Alana turns her analytical capabilities to the conversation about the big monster.

”Is it possible that the Shaman had a different way of accessing the same dimension, the one with the energy the portals use to stay open, and some how used that to empower or extend your life?  If that power is some kind of food or environmental comfort for the entity that tried to come through the portal it might be impossible to stop similar events without disconnecting you from it.”

"It's impossible to prevent it completely regardless of what we do. There is so much mystic energy in that other world that almost nothing is completely impossible there."

"I'd sure like to talk to this "Shaman" fella. Cause he's starting to sound more like a Shifter than a holy man ta me."

"I'm guessing he's long gone though what with mortality an' all."

"We should leave this to the experts...which sure as hell is not me!" Cryo mentioned, most of the discussed materials sounding impossible and crazy. Then again, so did a man of ice sliding around at 240 mph. So he really was not in the position to claim what was real and what was not.

"I agree with Cryo." He lay his tomahawk and ancient pistol on the table. "Study them, it might help."

"Alright. Stand your team down but don't leave HQ."

"We'll study the Hoop and your weapons and see if we can't pickup a lead."

"Once we do you're back on the case."


That is the end of this issue. Team assignments for the next issue may be slightly different.