The confessional is the interview part of Labyrinth lands which occurs after every showing. The surviving wanderers are allowed to speak with a holographic host and audience, All of who asks a variety of different topics of what just happened.

After the first confessional, Wanderers will start getting Fan Loot boxes. Most will be just items the fans can buy from the interdimensional D/Monix corporation that existed on earth before the show started. The more expensive items can be given by sponsors, assuming the Wanderer in question has a popular enough following.

During an confessional, all combat and HUD info is cut off, and the Wanderers are at the mercy of their cooperate sponsors. Even the System AI is not available for comment...but that might be a good thing.

When you descend down the escalator, there is a bright light. Suddenly you find yourselves in what looks like a waiting room. There is several seats, posters on the wall showing aliens of various kinds holding microphones and speaking to a crowd of aliens. There are writings, but in languages you don't know.

The room is not empty. It has other people...Wanderers, like you. However, Nathan, Conner, and Tsuki notice that Dee, Malcom, and John M are missing.

Sitting in various chairs, are new wanderers you never seen before.

OOC-New Players! You have just seen the old players appear. There does not seem to be a way out of this room. The doors don't open or break. You have all just come from a ancient seeming labyrinth fight spiders and spider-like goblins. Maybe you had other people with you, but they have not been transferred to this room upon using the escalator like you did.

Please post your appearance at what you are doing in the room at the time.

There is a vending machine in the corner. It does not work. It also cannot be broken into. It does have candy.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 19:19, Tue 28 June 2022.

Moya should not be as relaxed as she appears to be.  The remains of her team has been taken from her with Hank and Wee Davey being wanted to fill specialist spaces in other teams, that's what she was told anyway.  Now she is alone, waiting for the others she will join with to enter.

She is not armoured.  In fact, she wears a minimal of clothing to preserve modesty although with ink covering her creamy white skin, she feels more dressed than she appears to the outside eye.  She moves gracefully, making the most of the body she has and smiling a white-toothed smile to those around her.  She notices quickly that the vending machine is not working and so she doesn't waste her energy for now.  Instead she shakes the silken waterfall of darkness that is her hair and moves with serpentine grace to take a seat.

"Hi there everybody here and across the Galaxy.  I'm Moya and I'm well pleased to meet you.  I hope we can have a lot of fun together."  She winks at the point where she imagines the camera to be and licks her lips.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:55, Tue 28 June 2022.

Chalei'nh leans back in her seat and drapes an arm over the backrest to get a better look at the newcomers without having to twist her neck in an odd angle. She had one leg folded with an ankle resting on her other leg

- "Ah, i was wondering when you'd get here. How was the spider demon maze?"

While her skin and hair were differing shades of green, and her elfin ears were long enough to point out from under her hair, she was wearing clothing that would not have looked much out of the ordinary back on Earth, being black cargo pants and a simple black shirt with a depiction of what appeared to be an alien metal band on it. She was also fairly tall at a little over seven feet.

- "I'm Chalei'nh, by the way. Looking forward to working with you."

While she did remain seated, she would offer a fist bump to anyone passing by if they were so inclined.

Moya bumps fists with Chalei'nh and says, "Och I'm well pleased tae meet ye Chalei'nh hen.  As I said, I'm Moya."

Chalei'nh smiled in response, and leaned a little to the side, trying to get a glimpse of whether Moya was carrying something on her back.

- "Pleasure's all mine. Say, i didn't spot a weapon on you, are you one of them magic flingers, a monk like me or just plain unlucky with starting positions?"

Moya showed her weapon. It's small but sharp. It's a sickle. "I guess it's as much a tool as a weapon but aye, I'm a Cleric. I was a shaman in Embra and no much has changed cept magic seems Tae work now."

Chalei'nh grinned in response.

- "Oh, nice! I tooled into Cleric as well, but as a Devotion, so you're likely going to be better at it than me. I guess that makes me your backup?"

She tilted her head slightly to the side.

- "Where's Embra, by the way? Can't say i ever heard of that one."

Moya grins, "Ca'al ae Scotland.  Dunedin in Gaelic."

Chalei'nh nodded. She didn't know enough about Scotland to know where exactly that was, but she knew where the country more or less was from playing Medieval 2. Close enough.

- "Nice! Brisbane, Australia here, but came in from Serbia so my own accent's less interesting than yours. Haven't been there long enough to pick up the Aussie one, i'm afraid."

At that moment, when the two ladies were cit-chatting, a young man walked in. He had short, brown hair and wore Explorer's clothing with a cloak with the hood down. On closer inspection, he was very human-appearing. As far as human standards went, he was fairly pleasant on the eyes. His skin was unblemished and his features seemed almost...too unblemished. Perfect bodily symmetry, no freckles and moles, etc. It had seemed that this young man most likely was a human who had re-formatted himself into some sort of idealized version of a human rather than some other species like an elf or lizardman or something.

Connor looked around, and noted how weird it felt with Cabochon's presence hovering nearby, and the silence left in the wake of the absence of his arrogant chattering. He was surprised by how accustomed and comfortable he had become with the familiar, and having him unavailable felt weird.

"Weird. We're missing people, and now there's some new people instead. Did these game hosts do something messed up and take them somewhere else? Maybe there's more than one confessional and they are trying to mix survivors up. Like they haven't mixed things up enough already." Connor said with a sarcastic roll of his eyes.

He looked around.

"Alright Team? Whoever's still here is everyone okay? The elevator thing didn't mess with anyone else? I seem fine although cannot bring Cabochon out from my HUD but I can tell he's in there somehow. Like he's in my inventory or something."

"I am still amongst the living Conner if you call this living."  say the human following behind Conner. The man also wore leather armor along with a dark cloak. He was carrying a musket that had a scope attached to it. He had the build of someone more wiry than strong.

He is looking around the room as if looking for trouble. For wanderers who have survived this long would recognize what he is doing. The difference is that he observing in a more relaxed manner, looking this was an almost automatic action much like breathing

Chalei'nh looked at Nathan and Connor as they walked in.

- "Hey. Yeah, they probably want to switch things up with group compositions to keep people off balance, makes for more entertainment value i guess."

She gave a 'what can you do' shrug, before giving a somewhat painful looking grin.

- "Hope it goes better than my last group though..."

Moya stood up, moving slowly so as to avoid seeming threatening. "Hiya. I'm Moya fi Scotland and my team got split as well, they said it's because we're specialists. I'm a herbalist and healer, Wee Davey is the best scavenger in all Scotland (and that was true before we even came down here) and Hank was a musician but now he's a bard. Problem is the goblins killed Amal on the way down and Hassan lost his mind when he saw the guy wi the tentacles., so now I'm here and I hope I can help. and hopefully make this entertaining for the fans.".

After a beat she said, "Or maybe it's because we're all fi E'nboro", slowing down the last word to make Edinburgh easier to understand.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:38, Thu 30 June 2022.

Chalei'nh winced as she listened to the fate of Moya's old group.

- "Ouch... In my case, i spent like half a day in character creation working on the details, so i was pretty tired when i got here. While i was taking a nap, my party -- geniuses that they were -- decided to split up to cover more ground. Went about as well as you'd expect."

She patted her shirt, which had obviously alien markings on it.

- "So, after that i spent most of my time in the previous labyrinth kiting what i couldn't outrun and trying to make it to the exit. I did run into some dying alien dude about my size that had gotten himself poisoned, so i took his clothes before his corpse disappeared. Not my finest hour, but i didn't get a new set of clothes when i started the labyrinth and going commando under a white cotton bathrobe made for someone a foot shorter ain't exactly the best setup for doing high kicks in."

- "Now, the good news is i'm trying to focus into Medicine and should be getting healing spells sometime soon, so if you see me eyeing your boots there's no more reason to be alarmed."

She chuckled as she looked at the others, not sure if they would get her attempt at gallows humor, but hoping they did.

Connor listened politely as the two women spoke, although did turn to Nathan and acknowledged the man knowingly.

"Nathan! Excellent. I think I saw Tsuki around here somewhere too but she must be in the restroom or something. But yeah the other three are just gone. I can't do anything about it right now and maybe we will see them later. Hopefully they are okay and D'Monix didn't do something dishonorable to them." he said, turning to the two women.

"Well I'm not going to judge you for how you survived, as long as you didn't actively backstab people and such. Which it doesn't sound like is the case. I know I had to basically sneak my way to the first guildroom while others were setting off traps and being killed by spiders and gremlins and it wasn't my coolest moment either. But I didn't lie to anyone or betray anyone and that's what counts." Connor said to them.

"By the way, I am Connor. I'm basically the facilitator of our group, if you will. I'm smarter than just about everyone now and I use that to help plot and plan for the party as well as interact with the game's knowledge check system, and I also have powers that I use to help grant the party options they don't normally have and to give them extra protection in a pinch. I do have some healing and support options from elixers I can make, but I also can make things like acid flasks and try to predict what can be useful to the group and mix batches of stuff every day. According to this game's logic, I am an Abjuration Wizard with a sub-class of alchemist." he said.

In reply to Nathan (msg # 14):

As Nathan examines the room, he manages to spot a very slight sheen over the floors, walls, and any other non living thing in the room. Most likely that is why the doors dont open and the vending machine cannot be broken into. However, even more interesting it the fact that the normal Information messages the AI would send it due to his special abilities seems to not be working. Nor does his HUD.

In fact, he noticed that in the pervious times, the AI would have said something to him by now. If only a annoying insult. Now there seems no way to contact the machine...for good or ill.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:29, Fri 01 July 2022.

Chalei'nh nodded as Connor introduced himself.

- "Well, i haven't got that much game experience, so i went with what i wanted out of the game. I figured the best place to be was self sustainability, so i went with a class that didn't rely on armor or a weapon and could take a couple of hits, and this one had the potential of getting some kung fu magic going. The ability to shrug off spells sounded important enough, and that's what my class is actually pretty good at. Supporting that, i took a healing and buffing class as Dedication to build on that so i'll be versatile enough to deal with whatever comes my way. In game terms, i'm a Monk with Cleric subclass."

She tilted her head, frowning slightly as she looked at the others.

- "By the way, are we supposed to roleplay this stuff? I don't mind either way, but if we're going to be working together it helps to be in the same mindset."
This message was last edited by the player at 14:08, Fri 01 July 2022.

Moya cocked her head on one side and asked, "How'dye mean 'Role play?'  I would assume we need to do our things in the best way to help the group service while doing so in as entertaining a way as possible, because I'm guessing the people watching want ae get som'n out of it, aye?"

Connor shook his head.

"I've already lost enough to this damned game. I'm not losing my identity too. I mean I'm already naturally slipping into a wizard-role just in my dat to day happenings now. I don't need to go out of my way and talk like it's the middle ages out of a book and some such." Connor replied.

"But no you don't have to role play, to answer your question. I do think, however, that it is good to enjoy your powers and get comfortable in your skin so to speak.

Chalei'nh half-shrugged as she turned to Moya.

- "Oh, basically pretend you're a Monk instead of someone pretending to be a Monk. So i'd go around saying that in my youth, the Head Monks considered me to have the highest powerlevel out of all the young initiates, or Connor on how he was the first to be able to cast firebolt twice at his age or something. Characterization for entertainment value basically, since the System AI is kind of a dick so we have to rely more on the audience."

"Och well," Moya nods, "in that case, my truth should do the trick.  When I dropped out maybe a decade ago, I became a herbalist and shaman so I learned what I learned on the streets ae Embra, but now, there's magic in it."

Nathan will shake his head and snort "They didn't ask us the play 'in character' and if they did I would be more inclined if they hadn't turned our entire  world into matter and energy commodities and it left it's inhabitants into refugees or" Remembering that their 'employers may be listening he paused before saying 'slaves' and instead said 'contestants'

Moya frowned.  "Two questions there Nathan. First, was there really a refugee option, I wisnae paying attention?" and then with wider eyes and a wicked grin, she added,  "Second, have ye no seen Gladiator?"

In her best heroic pose, its effect somewhat reduced by her lack of height, Moya winked at an imaginary 'fourth wall' and said, "We are here to entertain you. Are you entertained?"

Chalei'nh tilted her head again at Nathan's outburst.

- "Well, dunno about that. We saw everything disappear, but that's from our point of view. Maybe it's us that disappeared, like from some of that flying saucer abductee bullshit. This D'Monic is an entertainment company, it wouldn't make sense to just destroy planetary scale cultural history without at the very least sifting through it for ideas or removing, what, six billion potential customers?"

She spread her arms, indicating the group as a whole.

- "Don't forget, their 'offer' was basically because we randomly happened to be outside. From a corporate point of view, it'd be much more profitable to just, i dunno, snag up a couple humans every new series until their mining rights expire, and leave us be in between. I know corporations, worked for them longer than i should have: It's all about cutting costs and maximizing profit with them, and i just can't see alien ones being much different."

Moya's Gladiator comment brought a chuckle however.

- "Figured you to be more of a Braveheart girl."

"Did ye?" asks Moya, "Well then, if ye ever find a Gaelic dictionary, look up the word Gombeen and dinnae just look at the picture of Mad Max they put next tae it."

Connor shook his head.

"The one thing we have going for us is the very fact D'Monix is a mega-corporation with, apparently, aliens and other stuff watching." he said.

"They have a corporate image to keep, and probably have other business ventures they do besides take over planets and ruin lives. If they lied about the premise of their game show they'd lose a LOT of money and a LOT of trust from corporate sponsors, customers from other...planets, dimensions, whatever, and so on. I also get the sense these Shaitan also have their own sort of pride in their work too." he continued.

"So at the very least...I think their offer is very real. They have to have something to lose that's worth us going through all this craziness and fighting for our lives every day. I mean the odds are surely stacked against us by design, but if D'Monix wasn't honest about the fact we had a legit chance to win and then was dishonest about payout when and IF - a big IF - we actually do win...their corporate reputation would be gone and all their other businesses would go kaput. So even if we don't trust or like D'Monix on a personal level, I do trust them on a business and corporate level. In a twisted sense...their own nature is keeping them honest and as long as we don't give up, we do have a chance to win. That's my assessment, anyway." he continued.

"At the very least, they probably can do a tax write-off if we win or something. Even if we win, I'm sure their overall business will flourish regardless. I can trust in the power of sheer capitalism and pride in one's work at the very least, and I think that applies to the D'Monix folks too. I mean...if this whole thing weren't one huge horror show, you have to admit the game show is very well made."

- "Remind me to annoy the System AI about that when it's accepting calls again."

Chalei'nh smirked at Moya, before turning to listen to Connor.

- "Wouldn't even need to write off taxes actually. Someone winning would be great to them, since it shows others that had been considering joining up that it can be done. Our faces would be plastered all over adverts and they wouldn't even need our permission since, wouldn't you know it, joining up for this meant waiving all our legal rights."

She half-shrugged before continuing.

- "Could have turned it down, wouldn't have been the only person to, but between that and a slow death from the risk of being stuck in a world thrown back into the Stone Age where all my skills no longer apply, this seemed the safer option. Besides, if there's one thing that's certain it's that these guys know what happened to our planet."

In reply to Moya (msg # 26):

"Of course I saw 'Gladiator" said Nathan "And I Damn well know that being 'entertaining' will be vital to our survival. Unlike Russell Crowe and the other actors in that movie the deaths are real and we aren't going home after this 'movie' wrap."

Nathan kept looking for the others in his old team while speaking "It was lunch time. I parked my squad car near  the Barbecue place. I hadn't moved three steps when the city disappeared. The buildings. the vehicles. Viturally every trace of the city of Fullerton GONE. he barely was able to prevent himself from screaming the last word. He took a deep breath,looked up before continuing "Sorry. wouldn't want to upset our audience."

"To make a long story short a voice the survivors in parking lot of the nonexistent shopping center in the nonexistent city was that we had a choice of dwelling in the non-ruins of our extinct civilization or gone a portal to participate in their game. The portal appeared. Sixteen of us entered. twelve were killed in ways that make an IED look humane. I got separated from the last four, I have they are still alive." Still looking around for the others he will call out. "Guys where are you?"

Connor thought about their responses thoughtfully.

"You know what? I agree with you. You're right; if we somehow wont he show we'd be the best advertising for the corporation ever. Yeah they'll be giving us a huge reward, but the fame and publicity it would garner the corporation would really help all their other business ventures. Especially since, like I said, I doubt this show is all they do. I wouldn't be surprised if there were D'Monix Burger joints, D'Monix Laundro Mats up in space stations somewhere. Chains of D'Monix gas stations, and things like D'Monix products like toiletries and other sundries." he replied.

"We'd gain a world, but they'd gain fame in the galaxy. All we've got to do is win. Easy peasy, right?" Connor added, a bit sarcastically but in a light hearted, resigned sort of way..

- "Easy there, Nate."

Chalei'nh took a deep breath along with Nathan.

- "Getting people to think there's nothing left for them back home increases the odds they'll accept the offer. Ain't the nicest way of doing things, but it works. Me, i'm pretty sure the world we knew is still out there, mostly, because D'Monix mentioned stepping through the portals waived our legal rights. That means that whoever didn't -- which includes everyone that, to our perception, disappeared -- would have the legal rights of a galactic citizen whatever those are. Pretty sure that means you can't turn 'em into burgers for the local Maccas."

"I'm Mo," says a hulking figure who has been standing to one side. He is a humanoid...dog maybe? His fur is rangy and his smell more or less fills the room, not so different from a wet dog. So perhaps 'dog' will do.

"My real name's Mohammed Murphy," he continues, "I'm fom London. Reckon I'm here for the fights. Can't say I ever liked fighting much but I'm good at it.

"And you'll want to stand clear of me when there is a fight." He lifts up a stick with a chain attached to the end. On the end of that is a spiked ball. "That's a flail," he says, "Like a nunchuk I guess, only nastier."

Moya grinned.  "Right then Mo, remind me tae keep ye between me and trouble, and in return, keep healing you. because, well why would I not?"

Warning. All video/audio feeds disabled. The AI suddenly said, its voice heard by everyone. Unlike its normal tone, this voice seemed without emotion or personality.

System Admin interrupt now engaged. Note to Wanderers-HUD and Labyrinth empowerment will be offline during system admin direct commutation.

Sure enough, two beings seem to materialize in the center of the room. One is male, the other female. Like some of the murals in the walls of the labyrinth, these beings have very 'devil' like features. However, they are ghostly in nature, and seem to be holographic rather than present in the room with you.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:02, Thu 07 July 2022.

"Greeting...Wanderers." The male says. He looks at all of you like you are some sort of vermin. Even the word 'wanderer' seems to leave a bad taste in his mouth. His voice does have a slight hiss to it.

"I am system administrator V'Varik. I insure the smooth function of the games, deal with problems as they arise, and provide assistance if required. Before you ask, No-assistance in your cases is not required. At all." He says, sounding firm with those last two words.

"You three..." He glares over at Nathan, Conner, and Tsuki. "...you will notice the three you have been working with are gone. They have been...reassigned." He says nothing else, as if that explained every question the group could ask about their absent friends.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:25, Thu 07 July 2022.

The female Shaitan then pipes in. Her voice is pleasant, having a slight purr to it. Although short, she has a wide smile for the group after she types a few things on her holographic clipboard looking device.

"Hiiiii! I am a big fan of your work so far! I am your corporate assigned PR Agent! My name is Gallbry, and I have been addicted to watching the human race for the last 50 years or so! Its so entertaining! Now, before you ask, your friends have been sent off to help less successful wanderers in the labyrinth. You wont see them during the recap, but chances are everything they learned fighting alongside you will be put to good use! Now, do any of you have any questions?" She speaks very quickly, and raises her hand in a hold gesture before anyone can ask anything.

"Please know, I may or may not be able to answer all your questions."

"Ah do have a coupla questions as it goes Hen." Says Moya, "If ye don't mind me askin', what is it you like about the human race and do the audience share your opinion?"

Moya smiles a gentle smile as sweet as Tablet, showing an innocence not seen on her face since she was smaller than a can of Tennants.  She looks around and asks, "And where are the cameras?"

Chalei'nh watched the two people materialize when she first noticed it, and waited for them to finish their introductions. She dismissed the admin almost immediately after he had finished speaking, denoting him as 'disgruntled manager' in her mind, which in her experience meant he would not be of any use to them in the foreseeable future -- if anything, V'Varik likely saw them as just being there to create more work for him, seeing as how he was in charge of bugfixing.

Gallbry on teh other hand seemed way too enthusiastic, making her wonder what part of it was actually real, and what part of it was actually running through a PR script to get the candidates motivated. Probably a mixture of both. Still, she did not want to appear too jaded, and so she decided to humor her.

- "Two questions actually."

She waited until Gallfry had answered Moya's questions, or otherwise held her attention if her intent was to answer all of them in a single pass.

- "First, i hope you can't fault us for wanting to know what happened to the rest of our species, those either inside buildings at the time or deciding not to take you up on your offer. Second, legal rights were mentioned as applying to those staying behind, what would those entail?"

She gave an apologetic shrug.

- "I'm afraid that, as a relatively new species to the galactic community, we are unfamiliar with its laws and regulations. There is also the matter that several individuals back on Earth rely upon me to support them, therefore the opportunity to make arrangements to transfer this duty to another would need to be provided. Not for my sake of course, but for theirs."
This message was last edited by the player at 17:00, Thu 07 July 2022.

Moya nods and reaches out to give Chalei'nh's hand a little squeeze and to smile at her.  She doesn't say anything though.  Context is everything.

"I´m just wondering if I still count as human," Mo says, slobbering a little as if to emphasize the point.

Connor frowned slightly as the admins appeared, although he did his best to contain his feelings given some of the others were cracking a bit. But deep down, he wanted nothing more than to unleash unholy magical hell on the two of them. Especially the disgruntled male Shaitan. But he knew such things, at least right now, were just the daydreams of the victimized and of the downtrodden. He had to balance out his anger with his very-solid grasp on the present reality.

And the female Shaitan seemed more sympathetic to them than the male did. If it was real or not had yet to be seen, although Guildmaster did tell them that not all shaitan were necessarily "the bad guys." The problem is Connor had no way to tell the good ones (or at least the helpful ones) from the bad ones.

"I'd like to ask you both...what do you really get out of doing all this? Yes, you're a giant super-corporation, and yes you're finding ways to monetize the gameshow just like any other normal Earth gameshow. But I mean...what D'Monix is doing to us and to the Earth is flat out imperialistic and cruel. I mean people were defenseless and getting eaten by spiders and stuff..." he said, but with forced calm.

"I don't expect pity, but I mean...wouldn't this make your company look really bad to all of your inter galactic customers, or whatever else it is you people do besides torment lesser races? Or is this some sort of natural-selection thing where you're actually trying to go good and uplift your lessers, but only if we deserve it or something?"

V'Varik seems to ignore all other questions, but his eyes narrow upon Chalei'nh's statement. Even as Gallbry seems to want to jump in and provide answers, he raises his hand and silences her.

"Maybe you lesser creatures don't understand your situation here. You are part of the mining and farming right D/Monix has claimed to this planet. You have no more legal concerns than the rocks, plants, or...animals we reconvert into new shapes and materials. Your concerns matter to us as much as a fly's need to provide for its maggots matters to you. Fight or die...ether way we will film it."

He turns to someone off to the side the hologram does not show. "I am done here. No. I am too busy to waste my time with such...vermin." His image then vanishes.

Gallbry's face changed from smiling salesperson to utter loathing as V'Varik vanishes. She then sits on a unseen chair, pulls out a long pipe witch lights itself, and blue smoke moves around her and forms shapes of people and what might be boats...or cars? Its unclear due to the smoky nature of the images.

"Well, thank Zuzu he's gone!" She sighs. "Anyways, let's get you guys some real answers, huh?"



Gallbry answers Moya's question first. "The human race is one of a kind in the galaxy. Your ability for conflict and hatred while at the same time struggling for peace and unity is noted in the universe. Plus, you inspired several fast food chains across the galaxy. Many of us have watched you from the time of your first cities. Many of us explored your world while you still lived in caves. However, this is the first time Labyrinth lands has come to earth, but many species within the multiverse confederacy have been looking forward to seeing it."

She then gestures all about her. "The cameras, as you call them, are everywhere. We end up using less than 1% of the footage. The AI sorts through most of the materials and then incorporates it into its personality matrix. Which may be why its sort of malfunctioning these days..." she sighs.



Gallbry sighs. "Yes, that is the question most worlds ask when taken over by the games. As you and your people are not recognized citizens by the confederacy, you are classified as wildlife. Those without legal rights can have their matter reorganized and their memories altered. Its not death...but it could be worse depending on who you ask. As for those outside the games...well, they have legal rights until they choose to surrender them. D/Monix is not required to do anything to or for them until they sign away such rights. Given the state of the world outside, it might be tempting for those who must rebuild your world's civilization."



Gallbry smiles at Mo. "Your matter might be all turned about, and your memories might be altered, but even D/Monix cannot tell you who you are. Only you can do that."



Gallbry looks briefly at the floor and takes a deep inhale of her pipe. Breaths out the smoke. "One of the main reasons the multiverse is not at a constant state of war is the games. People make enormous sums of money off the games, but other planets also find unity around the games. Our peace is bought by the spilling of less advanced species blood." She then looks Conner in the eyes, which is weird, because her eyes are just glowing fields of light. "It does not mean all of us are happy about it."

"Anyways, I need to tell you what a cooperate sponsored PR agent does, and what the confessional means. Do you have any other questions or can I begin?" She says, looking at each person present.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:28, Fri 08 July 2022.

Moya tries to think of an interesting question to ask but she can't so she says, "No thank ye, Hen.  Feel free tae carry on."

- "Work-related stress is a result of a failing business strategy as much as treating those that have no power over you is childish. Have fun with that."

Chalei'nh smiled as V'Verik disappeared, giving Moya's hand a small squeeze back in return. Once he did, she turned to Gallbry after she was done replying.

- "Actually, in our society wildlife does have some moral rights independent of their usefulness to humans, and the fact that we are having a conversation and have the mental faculty to understand what it meant to step through a portal does imply we share a similar level of sentience. To regard everyone outside of one's zone of control as lesser than they -- despite overwhelming evidence -- is, quite honestly, surprisingly primitive for an organized government. Could you tell me more about how the Confederacy is run?"
This message was last edited by the player at 16:33, Fri 08 July 2022.

Connor considered her responses, and thoughtfully nodded.

"Understood. And what happens if we, through some slim chance, end up beating the games? Do we get acknowledged as our own galactic faction and treated with legal rights? And how about our powers and abilities? What happen to those if we win the game? Are they limited to inside the game or can they become real if we win somehow?" he asked, curious to what she'd say.

He was told early on that if he won they won they'd have rights to all of Earth's salvaged matter, as well as the excess matter from other planets and such that they currently use for the game. While he'd free guildmaster and such, could that allow him to remain a Wizard and reformatted super-human?

Gallbry sighs. "Well, you have convinced me. Now you just need to convince V'Varik, his entire fundamentalist movement which has taken over my dimension and own the majority shares of D/Monix. Good luck with that..." She rolls her eyes, or at least you think that's what she is doing, because she does not have pupils or even an iris. "As for telling you how the Confederacy is run...I am not allowed. That would be cheating, and if it was discovered I told you my neck would be on the chopping block...so to speak. Now, if you find out on your own, that's not my fault." She seems to imply something else, but its not clear what.



"Those are good questions. And I can tell you honestly I have no idea what happens if you win. Nobody has won...ever. However, I do know you planet's matter will revert to you as the winner. It's why people keep at the games so intensely. There are beings within the labyrinth who have played for centuries, if not longer, just trying to get to the end and free their people. And should tell you, D/Monix barely plays by the rules. That being said, those rules are enforced by the AI itself. Even D/Monix cannot totally bypass its will. Unfortunately...its sorta insane. No one can guarantee the AI's favor, and that favor is often fleeting as its demented whims."

She shakes her head. "However, as your PR Agent, I can help you with those rules that involve my job. Unless anyone else has any other questions?" She looks at those who have not spoken.

Moya smiles and asks, "Are tattoos popular in your culture, Hen?"

- "Oh?"

Chalei'nh tilted her head in wonder.

- "Why would asking about the political structure of the Confederacy be considered cheating? That wouldn't have anything to do with the entertainment industry, would it?"

She paused, allowing her mind to linger on that train of thought.

- "Unless... what is actually running the Confederacy would be part of the same AI in charge of these games, making you as much a prisoner of this system as we are."

"Aye, just like Effie Trinket in Hunger Games." Moya lifts her hand with her three fingers straight and her thumb covering her little finger.  "Youse need a Mockingjay, Hen."

"Well, at least they ain't gettin' us to vote and pretending we have any say in anything," Mo concludes, having let most of the conversation wash over him but having picked up the key points.

"I was gonna ask if we age like normal, if anyone lives to retire, but I've got my answer."

He decides to sit on the floor, leaning his bulk against a wall, and wait for things to move on.

"If our civilization could have been more entertaining and could been become a contributing member of  your Confederation if had been given the chance." Nathan realized that antagonizing the sponsor, the audience and their advisor he decided to concentrate on surviving and the slim chance of recovering their people. "Let's move then. Tell me, are there any hot button topics to avoid so me don't alienate our audience and sponsors?"

Connor nods his head.

"Anything you can tell us about the confessionals will be helpful. Especially topics we should stay away from, but equally ones that you think could help us get the sympathy of the crowd and the Shaitan. I mean anything we can do to make it a bit easier on ourselves would be helpful!" connor asked.

"So do the viewers decide stuff about us like in Big Brother?" Mo asks, I never did see Hunger Games. I saw Jennifer Lawrence in that space film where this pervert wakes her up because he fancies her, and that Russian one, but never any of those Hunger Games ones. Here..."

He gets up and flicks a V at where he thinks cameras might be, moving his hand around to get all the cameras.

Tsuki remained quiet, in the back of the room as everyone spoke and asked their questions before she finally spoke up. "Because knowing how their society and government is ran would give us an edge in how to appeal to certain peoples while trying to achieve our goals. If we knew how it was ran, we could angle ourselves to appeal to the senses of those in charge. Dictatorship, act more militantly. Republic or Democracy, act more humbly and honorable, and so on. Right now all we know is that these 'games' are ran for money and profit. Is that not correct Agent Gallbry?"

Then she looked to the others. "Also, I am Tsuki. Originally I hailed from Japan. I was a priestess of Kami-Inari at one of it's temples."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:24, Tue 12 July 2022.

Chalei'nh shook her head.

- "That would only be useful if we also knew about demographics. Besides, there is a fair chance acting that way would backfire as we do not know the cultural and societal norms of the other races in the Galaxy. Humans are pretty diverse as it is and that's just one planet, miss Gallbry mentioned being from another dimension so we may be dealing with entirely different galaxies here. Even influenced by Earth culture there's no guarantee acting a certain way will lead to a certain outcome."

She motioned at Mo.

- "For all we know those 'V' signs Mo is making is considered a strong insult. Best to act ourselves, i say, less chances of breaking character under pressure. Speaking of, Tsuki, was it? Might i ask who Inari is?"

"Not really. In monarchies and dictatorships those in power tend to hold all the influence. You appeal to the and they can influence the powers that be to get things to you. Same with a communist style of government. But in a more republic, democratic, and capitalistic styles it's not so much the case. You would have to pick and choose who you appeal to, and again knowing the style of government even then would allow you to more cater to the whims to one side or the other, even so much so that we could begin playing them all against themselves while we ourselves work together." She explained. "So by not telling us that very key piece of information, it leaves any chance of us receiving any outside help up to random chance all while also keeping us from affecting their politics through the game itself."

"Inari is the Japanese Kami of Foxes. She is a popular deity in Shinto and Buddhist beliefs in Japan. Kitsune were her messenger's according to belief. She is the patron of  foxes, fertility, rice, tea and sake, of agriculture and industry, of general prosperity and worldly success, blacksmiths, and the protector of warriors." Tsuki explained. "I was a priestess at the shrine at Fushimi-ku, Kyoto in Japan." She continued. Her tone was soft, calm, and soothing. Far different then during the fight earlier when she sounded like a raging storm. Then she continued more. "Kitsune have many abilities, and it seems that I have managed to acquire many of them in some form. I question if I  may acquire more."

- "True, though the competing in game shows for prizes and the commercial sale of new property does hint at a more capitalistic style of government. Given the name 'Confederation', i would wager it is a smattering of different types of government with appointed representatives making up a senate of sorts, perhaps comparable to the -- what's the name again -- United Nations?"

Chalei'nh leaned back, crossing her legs as she listened to Tsuki.

- "Ah. I am from Australia, though i have never had the opportunity to visit Japan. Was your faith a factor in how you chose to recreate yourself?"

"The Golden Horde was said to be a Confederation in name, but they were in fact a Autocracy. Names can be deceiving." She explained. "After all, look at the Russian Federation. Says it is a Federation, and it is in name only. It's Duma has no real power." She continued. "That means even though we are competing for prizes we could simply be competing for the the eye of a bunch of autocrats. We do not know and can only make assumptions, meaning that for now until we learn more about our 'caretakers' we should do our best to simply give them a good show whiling also doing our best to win."

She considered Chalei'nh's next question a moment, then nodded. "Of course. It is also why I have the friend I do. You will get to meet Keyla soon enough. Though Conner and Nathan can tell you about my Dire Fox companion I am sure." Then she considered again. "When we win, and put our world back to what it was, you should visit it."
This message was last edited by the player at 03:18, Tue 12 July 2022.

"Can't tell you...it would be cheating. I know that sounds insane...and it most likely is...but it is what it is." Gallbry does the odd 'rolling' of her glowing eyes as she takes another drag on her odd pipe.

Chalei'nh questions are responded to in a similar fashion. "Cheating...its cheating..." Gallbry groans in annoyance.





"Good questions..." Gallbry says, but her tone not changing very much. "...but I can't fully answer that. What pleases one sponsor may very easily piss off another. In fact, by getting one sponsor you may be making an enemy of a different faction, which will cause them to try and bid against you. However, anyone who does offer to sponsor you will contact me, and I will inform you.

That is what the confessional is all about. Its allowing you, the wanderers, to talk to the multiverse audience. Its format is very similar to one of your earth talk shows. There is a host, and there may be other Wanderers or visiting guests depending. I will try to book you on the most far reaching shows, but ultimately its a bidding war form the sponsoring corporations."



"Bingo. That is what you humans say, right?" Gallbry responds, shooting a 'finger gun' at Tsuki.

"In any cause, you bunch should be ready for showtime really soon. I have some notes for your earlier performance, and here are my suggestions for each of you in order to appeal to the most sponsors.

Moya, you need to do more plant work. Plants are your thing, and you need to play it up!

Chalei'nh, I want more wind from you. You need to make sure those air strikes are in constant effect.

Mo-think fire! Lots and lots of mass arcing burning death! You don't take any persistent flame damage, so take advantage of that!

Connor, we need more spells from you. The whole protect the group thing is nice, but the cameras are missing out on magical zaps, which is a big crowd pleaser.

Nathan, try to call your shots. We are getting a lot of positive feedback on you being a marksman. Don't worry if you don't hit every time, most of the footage is edited anyways.

Tsuki, play up the weather angle of your abilities. There are already a bunch of watchers who love the whole 'lady of the storms' thing.

Ok, you will be ushered into the waiting area soon, and then you will see the recap. After that the host and the audience will appear. Good luck everybody!"

With that, Gallbry vanishes.

- "I see. In that case, among the digitized materials from our planet, may i recommend to you 'I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream', by Harlan Ellison? It is a short science fiction story about an AI in control of everything, there are some parallels with our current situation. D/Monix' introduction was already almost straight out of 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' so i assume there is a database of similar materials available."

Chalei'nh smiled at Gallbry in response. She really could empathize with the agent's hands being tied by corporate protocols. Once she had disappeared, she turned to her companions, pointing at each of them and herself in turn.

- "So... Earth, Fire, Wind, Water... If Nathan wants to play the Cupid angle and be Heart i guess that would make Connor our Captain Planet?"
This message was last edited by the player at 13:01, Tue 12 July 2022.

Moya smiles.  "Plants" she whispers.  "Herbs and roses, can you hear me darlings."  She expects no answer yet, but she'll keep trying.  Sooner or later, they will reply.

"So Gallbry," Mo has a parting question, "How much is your success tied up in ours?"

Connor nodded at Galbry as she responded and disappeared.

He turned to Mo.

"Mo? she's gone. Seems it's time for us to go on stage, so to speak. And I hope her success is tied to ours as it will keep her honest." he said.

He looked at Chalei and chuckled, as he understood the reference well.

"Yes...Captain planet suits me well as far as the team roles are concerned. I'm the one who's been playing facilitator and arbitrator on the team and overall am like the glue. And I'm fine with that - it's a strategy that let us beat the Apex with out casualties. Although it was close at the end." he replied.

"She gave us some good info just now. We now know there's factions we can appeal to, but that we also can appeal to individual viewers and that developing more of a theme of schtick can help too. Like Tsuki as "storm lady" and so on."

She would walk up and place a hand on Conner's shoulder. "If you are the Captain, then Sir, I am the General. After all I did kinda have final say on most things." She said with a small smile to him.

Moya grins, "An' Ah'm the cactus in the Field Marshall's Office.".

She's sure that banter will work with some factions, but which ones can help them the most, she doesn't know... yet.

Connor smirked at Tsuki.

"I view myself more as a facilitator. I make plans, and try to figure out how to mobilize our resources and what options we have. Can I lead? In a pinch yes. But really I'm more of the rule-from-on-high or power-behind-the-throne type that only conquers the world at the end of the movie, if you will. When it's too late to stop me." he replied with a chuckle.

"But all jokes aside, you're great with people Tsuki. You have a certain presence and way with words most of us don't have. If I am the one who comes up with plans, then you're the one who helps get them done and as dynamically as possible. You're the executive branch to my judicial branch, if you will. And I very much value that dynamic energy you had given us throughout our time together on the first level." he continued.

"And I'm hoping you continue to help light the inner fire of our group, Tsuki, into the second level and beyond. I can't make it through this game without you, and my plans won't work without people like you pushing them into action and getting other people on board with things. In that way, you very much are like a general to my...whatever I am. LOL." he added, enunciating the L-O-L verbally letter-by-letter.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:32, Fri 15 July 2022.

Chalei'nh looked at the others.

- "As for me, i'm still trying to find my spot, honestly. Let's talk tactics for a bit: Obviously i'm going to be mobile and shrug off spells, but i'd need to fit in with you. Heard Gallbry mention a lot of us have magic, do we have a specialized tank?"

"C'est moi," said Mo.

To demonstrate the point, he stepped back to give himself room. He raised the haft of his flail, the chain and ball following into the air.

He drew the contraption around in a slow arc and got his broad shoulders going swinging it about his head. The chain erupted into flame and the ball became a smoking meteor. Mo's eyes lit up too, like burning coals.

"The weirdo said I'm flame resistant," he said once he had finished his display, "So it's for the rest of you to cast fire magic at me, through me. I can't say I've put it to the test mind."

He shrugged and went back to his seat against the wall.

The door, which had been sealed all this time suddenly opens. Inside the other room is darkness, expect for a spotlight on six very normal looking chairs arranged around a desk. It is a holographic desk, with no one at it. The desk looks like it comes from any late night show someone might have watched before all this happened.

A holographic sign appears, and it says:

PLEASE BE SEATED. LIVE BROADCAST WILL OCCUR WITHIN 1 MINTUE AFTER RECAP IS AIRED.

Then the words vanish, only to be replaced with a timer counting down from 60, with another set of words appearing.

TIME TO RECAP IN...59...58...
This message was last edited by the player at 15:40, Fri 15 July 2022.

- "No problems fireballing into melee. Duly noted."

Chalei'nh chuckled for a moment, and then scooted over a bit to allow the others more room to sit on the sofa. At the countdown starting, she could be heard softly humming a tune which most would recognize as the theme to the Muppet Show.

Mo shuffles in and sits, scratching at his fur.

"Forgot to ask about fleas," he says

"Oh for the love of..." Connor said as he rolled his eyes as the others suddenly, somehow, started talking about ways to use him in friendly fire strategies. And with literal fire too.

"...you know what? I'll think about it. But it's confessional time in a bit. Can't keep our glorious Shaitan overlords waiting too much longer, now can we?" he said sarcastically as he proceeded to his seat.

"It's time for me to look pretty for the camera."

Moya sat down, stretching as luxuriantly as she can, displaying her ink as a tree displays its flowers or a bird its feathers.

In reply to Connor (msg # 75):

"If they wanted pretty or at least presentable they should have peroxided a better 'Green Room' to freshen up before the show'

Nathan prepared to do his part to be entertain on behalf his team and the world they all once knew

- "If they had a green room my head would look like a floating set of eyes and a mouth. So i kind of can understand that."

Chalei'nh smirked, giving Nathan an over-the-glasses look.

- "I can cast some quick Prestidigitation spells though, great for hygiene and if you've got a preferred scent...?"

"Juniper", says Moya and winks at Chalei'nh. She knows why she winks but does anyone else?

Chalei'nh nodded and quickly cast the cantrip, removing dirt, stains and dried sweat from the dungeon from Moya's skin and clothes, and leaving behind a subtle scent that did indeed smell like juniper. She would do the same for any other that asked, and would eventually give herself a scent of lily of the valley. She was unaware of the symbolism of the choices though.

"If they wanted pretty they would have allowed Keyla in here." She said with a small shrug. "By the way, I hope you all do not mind being wet. He was not kidding when he said I have a weather angle to my abilities."

Connor frowned.

"Sadly our cantrips don't work right now. They did something and our abilities are shut off. On the plus side, I don't have to hear Cabochon's relentless whining. So who knows maybe this is a reprieve?" he said with a smirk.

"But it is what it is. The audience will just have to see us at our finest...even if that finest is us being scruffy around the edges."

Moya makes a noise in her throat and says, "Speak fi yerself.  Ah'm scruffy tae the core."

Sure enough, the countdown reaches 0.

The system message reads:

RECAP COMMENCING.

First there seems to be some sort of recounting of earth's history. The language translation that seem to be automatic via the HUD is not working. At least for the group. There are videos and images showing earth's conflicts, crimes, and catastrophes. What is not shown is any positive image of human culture, or its events most likely taken out of context. For example, it shows a three stooges clip, but done in a documentary like form. Thus taking all the humor out of it, and only showing the most negative context.

Then the group sees modern images of images of people fighting. Clearly people from earth. Mostly they are people who did not reach the guildhall, and died fighting the spider mites and their deadly pets. Including some who fell to traps. Some quick flashes are people who went into the labyrinth with the group members as humans, but did not make it.

Finally, there is video of the group as they are now. Transformed and fighting with power and skill. You also see people you have never met, in new forms fighting enemies you have never seen. A tiger man with a sword fighting humanoids with squid heads. A tall women with three giant dogs that breathe fire at animated vines. A man in boxers, a leather jacket, and no shoes beating the crap out of goblins, being aided by a cat that shoots lasers from its eyes.

Finally the images briefly show the part themselves. Mo swinging his burning flail. Moya growing deadly plant spines from her body. Chalei'nh using punches and kicks while wind comes from her limbs with deadly effect. Tsuki, Connor, and Nathan even see some clips of them fighting the Web Troll.

Then the recap ends, and the holographic sign reads:

INTERVIEW PORTION COMMENCING IN...60...59...

The countdown runs its course, and the sign changes, and a voice is heard. It's the AI, sounding more like its old self, and its voice doing the game show host-like imitation.

"You know him, you love him! It's....QUAAAAAAAAAAAASAAAAAAAAAAR!"


An image appears, in strange alien writing, but for each of you it is automatically translated as: THE QUASAR SHOW.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:24, Wed 20 July 2022.

At the desk appears a holographic alien waving to a crowd, with a unseen band playing him on. The crowd is also unseen at first, but then starts to blink into existence all around you. They are also holograms, and seem to be in the darkness that surrounds the stage you are on. Its hard to make them out, but you manage to see them, both seated and screaming in pleasure, are many strange beings. Some are Gnolls, like Mo. Some are Kitsune, like Tsuki. There are elves, and goblins, and all manner of beings. There are also humans...but they seem off. Not like earth humans, although its hard to tell. Some have extra shaggy eyebrows, and that's the only difference. Others are odd colors, like green. Nobody is dressed like they come from modern earth, only in strange jumpsuits or ancient clothing.

"Thank you! Thank you! I love you all! Please, please, sit! I gotta talk to these mooks! Forgettaboutit!" Came the voice of the host. Quasar, presumably, looks a lot like a classic 'Grey' of science fiction film fame. Expect he's wearing a tux made of what looks like tinfoil. You know he's not speaking any earth language, but the translation has kicked in again. He's speaking some language you know, but his accent sounds like he's from Jersey Shore, as in the reality TV show.

The alien sits at the desk, and gestures to you all. "I would like to thank my guests for being here. Nathan, Tsuki, Connor, Mo, Maya and Chalei'nh. Welcome to the Quasar show!" The crowd burst into screaming applause once more, and he waves both his oversized hands at them to be quiet. They eventually do.

"So, we have seen some big things from you mooks. What can you tell us about yourselves?" He asks. His large, black, unblinking eyes seem to take in the entire group at once.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:01, Thu 21 July 2022.

Chalei'nh smiled at the crowd when the host was being introduced, though when the attention was back on the host she leaned slightly towards Moya, mumbling something.


When they were being introduced she waved, making some mock punches like she had been shown doing in the recap for show. She wasn't quite sure whether it'd make any difference in the long run, but it was best to just play along.

- "Well, what's there to tell? Lived in a peaceful little corner of our world where the only thing trying to kill you is the air conditioning bill, and then your people presented an offer that was hard to refuse. After stepping through i did spend half a day glitch hunting though, so..."

She shrugged, leaving it at that. She felt that if they were listening enough to ask for a followup  question they would ask one, and if not then nothing she said would be considered important anyway in this section and this would mostly be about Quasar having his face on camera.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:40, Wed 20 July 2022.

Moya stretched, letting the audience enjoy her tattoos.  "Hello there boys girls and other genders." she said.  "Ah'm Moya fi Embra and all mah life ah've loved trees and flowers and herbs in general. Dis'nt matter whether they're green or red or brown and I love fungi just as much, especially magic mushrooms."

Connor rolled his eyes at everything. If their PR-Rep told them they should each have a schtick or theme, being the dark-humor sarcasm guy seemed like as good a fit as any.

"Well let's see...I was living a perfectly peaceful life. Well peaceful enough if you don't count my annoying ex frequently being annoying that is. But seriously I was at a bar celebrating turning 21, and went outside to catch some fresh air, then turn around only to see the whole block vaporized along with everyone in it. Including some of my friends might I add. Then having Earth reverted to like the middle ages over night since this show ate up all the buildings that were out infrastructure too. Then stumbling into one of these portals and surviving death spiders, gremlins, and trolls. And somehow figuring out a way to still look good during this craziness..." Connor said to the audience with a firm dry tone.

"So um...yeah, that about sums it up." he added.

He then considered.

"But I guess if you want to know more about me as a person...I like long walks on the beach, Cheesecake is my favorite dessert, I am partial to the color periwinkle and to hell with anyone who says it isn't a real color and merely the invention of a certain very popular crayon brand that was a favorite of kids everywhere, and I also totally consider Pluto to be a planet. I enjoy chemistry, but I also like geeky things too. Like for instance I think the fantastical elements of this 'death-game' are actually pretty neat and I'm really enjoying it. Well you know, except for the 'death' parts anyway." he said.

"Oh and by the way? Those images they just showed you all just now? The ones that looked like snap shots of Earth culture and history? They totally miss the point. If you guys think that's all there is to Earth, you're missing a LOT of context and nuance. I mean I get it humans aren't always great, but you guys are totally getting the wrong gist of the three stooges."

Mo is most defintiely not good at this. "I'm from London," he says, "And that film is all wrong, just like they say."

He stares at the lights, bright in his face, and freezes. He feels sick. He doesn't know what to do.

Moya mutters a string of Scots and Gaelic obscenities under her breath.  She reached out and lay her hand on top of Mo's.  "Hey, big man, luik at me, nae at them.  Ye see me?  Guid.  Now, imagine ahv got me tuts oot.  Diz that help?  No.  How about this then.  "When Scotland played Yorkshire at Crucket, who won the toss?  Dinnae ken?  That's cause nobody did and nobody knows whither ut was McPherson or Sidebottom who pocketed the coin?^*"  She smiled.  "Stay with me Mo.  Tell me, what's your favourite flower?  Who's your football team?  Better now Mo?"

^* This works just as well with Scotland against the Netherlands at football but only when they other person's Dutch.

Mo looks down at Moya. She's far shorter than him so that gets his eyes out of the lights and away from the audience, which is a good start.

The eyeful of flesh is less helpful though, so he flushes and makes to move away. Or he would flush but his face is all muzzle and fur now.

He decides to imagine she's one of his sisters and suddenly her pale skin doesn't bother him. "Arsenal," he replies with a hyaenic grin, "What's that got to do with anything?"

"Well then, ye're fi London. Ye're a Gooner,. Now tell me what ye're all about.".

In reply to Moya (msg # 92):

Nathan will wait until the interplay between Moya and Mo is complete before he speaks. waiting for them to indicated they are done.

Moya smiles, "Nathan, wid ye mind taking ye're turn while I help Mo get ready Hun?"

Connor looked at Mo.

"If you can't or don't want to talk a lot...then just don't No pressure. The audience knows it's gonna get varied responses from us because we're different people. So just gather your thoughts and speak when you're ready and good for it." he said encouragingly.

"And who knows? If you need some conversation practice I'll introduce you to Cabochon soon after this. Trust me...he'll keep chattering away until he gets put away, if you get my drift. you'll be a speaking master under his tutelage by the time we beat the next apex." he added with a grin.

- "Pretty much. Don't know much about showbiz, but if there's one thing that stuck watching it, it's 'character'."

Chalei'nh smirked, half-turned to watch the exchange between Mo and Moya play out. With Connor lending his advice as well, she figured she may as well chip in with her own.

- "Talk a lot? It's your character. Don't say much? It's your character. Show up in a dress? It's what your character would do. Best thing you could do is to just be yourself, it may not give off the absolute bestest impression -- whatever that may be -- but at least no one will catch you breaking it."

Nathan decided now was a good time as any to start speaking. "We are new to all of this. give us a chance and we can witty and entertaining as we are deadly to our enemies" Nathan will give a wink and a smile. 'I feel like a absolute tool' he thinks to himself

He will continue. "Unlike many of the recent 'volunteers' I had have experience in combat. The two most useful skills in the military that I am making the most use of is spotting the enemy before they spot me and as well as finding and neutralizing the traps the enemy tried to hurt us with."

"while I survived my tour of duty the things I experienced made it hard for me to interact with people whose only experience with violence was viewing it from a distance in the comfort of their safe and comfortable homes." Keep it friendly with your current audience. Nathan said to himself bad rating could get you and your team killed

"After a year of introspection on the street" While avoiding dying from the elements, other homeless or drinking myself to death I manage to get to college and get a job in law enforcement. I was working in Police department in California for about three years before my city and most of friends disappeared.

"Well, at least now you are a star! Am I right, folks!?" Quasar waves to the audience, who screams their approval. Chalei'nh notices there are several elves all in one section. They have a holographic banner up hovering above them, with an image of her going through several martial Katas. Words above the moving image says 'Fist of the wind!'



"Everybody loves the magic mushrooms! Just ask the actual magic ones, right over there!" Quasar replies. He gestures, and in the audience there are a group of mushroom humanoids. The only features they have on what passes for faces are glowing eyes. The rest of it seems to be a giant mushroom with arms and legs. They don't cheer, or make any noise really. Instead, they release a spoor cloud that shows an image of Moya herself, and words form over her. Saying 'Grow for me!'



Quasar seems to gloss over most of what Connor says, but his black eyes seem to widen upon hearing one thing. "An ex, huh? That is very...interesting." His long fingers tap together, and he puts on a smirk that looks anything but friendly. He does gesture, and Connor notices a group of what looks like floating rocks. Very familiar looking floating rocks. They each glow, one after the other, and an image of Connor's familiar appears. A smaller version of Connor himself seems to be off to the side.



Quasar smirks at Mo. "Our research team is top notch, my friend. We know about your three violent gods that you folks watched all the time. Larryzous, Shempus, and Mo. Which clearly you are named after. And your fans love it!" He gestures to a group of Gnolls in the audience, who have a very normal looking banner with a picture of Mo wielding his flail. It's words read 'MOMO, the burning arc of death!' They let off hyena like cackles upon seeing Quasar gesture to them.



"We know. We got plenty of your fellow cops...on file." Quasar snickers darkly. "That being said, you got a bunch of folks excited to see what you can do!" He gestures, and the spotlight shows a group of various human-like beings, with minor differences from earth humans. Many of them are dressed like Nathan, and have obviously toy rifles slung over their backs. They also have a banner, saying 'One shot, one kill!' They cheer and wave their fake weapons about as the attention falls on them.

Quasar seems about to say something else, but then touches the spot where a human's ear would be on his enormous head. "Gentlebeings, I am being told there has been a sudden change! Coming from the outer void which he was being stored in...it's...MALCOM!!!"

The crowd goes wild, and Malcom suddenly appears from nowhere among his fellow Wanderers. He looks confused, and shocked as he clearly was not prepared for any of this, and may not even have gotten to talk to his PR agent. A group of people, of various races, and each having a copy of the amulet he wears around his neck stand and scream their approval at the top of their lungs. Malcom and the other wanderers have no idea what any of that means...
This message was last edited by the player at 18:46, Thu 28 July 2022.

Chalei'nh let out a loud guffaw when Quasar mentioned the names of their 'gods'. While religion in itself could turn into a rather violent affair at times, she doubted the Three Stooges were any part of that.

- "They... may have missed one or two things. Those three, we watch them for entertainment, they're in the same line of work as you are."

When Malcom appeared, Chalei'nh decided she could not resist playing along, and waved the winged man over. As she shifted in her seat to turn towards him, she nudged the person she was sitting next to, hoping they'd get the hint and join in as well.

- "Malcom! Glad to see you could make it. Here, we saved you a spot."

He blinks at the bright lights for a second as confusion spreads across his face, then he decides to roll with it. This is not the strangest thing that has happened since the event.

He throws his arms up in a 'V' and screams "VICTORY OR OOOO-BLIVION!!!" He flexes his wings, snapping them out the sides. When he doesn't rise in flight he almost stumbles but instead takes a half step towards those wearing copies of his amulet. He pumps his arms in the air three times to an accompanied "Hoo! Hoo! HOO!"

Then he turns and trots over to the offered seat. Leaning in to Chalei'nh as he sits down. "Where the heck are we now?" He whispers.

Chalei'nh lowered her voice as well, but not to the point where she couldn't be heard by Malcom over the crowd.

- "Long story short, pre-show for the next Dungeon. Welcome to the team."

"Weren't we supposed to get a rest or something?" He raises a fist for a bump as she welcomes him. "Glad to be aboard"

Moya smiles to see Malcolm but she looks back to Quasar and asks, "Are there no people here from Earth's other intelligent species?  No Daleks? No Pigs? No Rabbits?"

In reply to Moya (msg # 103):

Quasar smirked, and interlocked his fingers and tapped his large thumbs together. "Earth only had one intelligent species...dolphins. They left before the corporate take over." 

Moya matches Quasar's smirk with one of her own. "Aye thass whit we thought as well until 2004 when we found out that Magpies were more intelligent than dolphins or humans and they were running things.  I don't suppose you saw any of them?  Little black and white birds with a penchant fi gran' theft planet?"

In reply to Moya (msg # 105):

"Well...that's what the Dolphins wanted you to think!" He laughed and laughed, and a good portion of the audience laughed with him. The people most clearly not laughing seems to be Malcom's fans, who gripped their amulets tightly.

- "Or maybe that's what we wanted the dolphins to think. After all, they're not taking part in this show now, are they?"

Chalei'nh smirked at Quasar, spreading her arms after the fist-bump with Malcom. Quasar had once again been referencing Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and so she wanted to see what the reaction would be if she'd follow along that path.

- "I mean, letting the mice think that was great fun too, don't get me wrong, but getting the dolphins to deal with Vogon bureaucracy on immigrations? Oh yeah."

In reply to Chalei'nh (msg # 107):

"No they are not taking part of the show..." Quasar said, his voice turning a bit cruel. "...you see, they are recognized as intelligent beings. Therefore they have rights in the confederacy. I have no idea who these 'Vogons' are, but they are certainly not coming to help any of you, wanderer!"

He looked down into his Amulet hoping to find some solace in figure of the girl he is protecting, while trying to make sense of the conversation around him. Did I just fall into a talk show hosted by a reincarnated Douglas Adams?

In reply to Malcom (msg # 109):

Malcom sees the amulet glow, the tiny image of the sleeping girl seems to move in reaction to some dream she was having. The light, the same light from the audience, catches Malcom's eye. He turns to see the people who cheered for him, all wearing similar amulets to him, their necklaces where also glowing. They all had what looked like a copy of his crystal. They all met his gaze, and nodded grimly.

In reply to Chalei'nh (msg # 107):

Moya grinned and leaned over to 'whisper' in Chalei'nh's ear just loud enough for the audience to hear, "Hey hen, d'ye ken any o that Vogon poetry, and if so, do ye mind whit ye ken?  Might come in useful later."

Mo sniggers to himself. He wouldn't mind seeing some Daleks, so long as they weren't real. While the others are talking about magpies and dolphins - he doesn't get that reference - he waves at the gnolls then swings his flail a little to see if he can get a rise.

Connor's eyes squinted dangerously a moment as the host Quasar began showing an image of Cabochon. He wasn't exactly sure what the host was getting at - it could be interpreted in many ways - but Connor did know it was an attempt to rile him up and he wasn't going to let himself be baited while they were doing a confessional. and so he relented, and shrugged for now.

Then Malcome suddenly fell into the picture!

"Oh look everyone! Now this is a real knight in shining armor. Or or less anyway. Cape wingy armor." Connor said with a smile as Malcome re-appeared.

"Hey buddy! What happened to you before? I thought D'Monix sucjed you into some portal and put you on another team or something. That's what happened to some of the others. Or were you just a bit late taking the exit out?" he asked.

"Well whatever the case it's glad to have you back. We picked lost of people and picked up a few new ones for our team. We're in the confessional now and out there is a real live audience. So wave and look pretty at them and stuff." he added.

Connor then turned to the audience and gave a wave and a few poses himself, just to go along with the mood right now and hopefully to throw off the host.

Tsuki just shakes her head at all the antics, and Malcom's sudden appearance. "Nice of you to join us Malcom." Tsuki said matter of factly.

She then looked towards Quasar finally introducing herself. "I am Kuki Tsukiko," She said, stating her name in the traditional formal Japanese manner of the last name first. "and I come from Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, Japan." Then she looked towards the crowd. "I am a priestess of the Kami-Inari. But more so, I am now a Yokai known as a Kitsune, Tsuki. And I have but one goal." As she says that last sentence electricity plays along her tails, before dissipating.

As Nathan is groaning inwardly he is giving a smile and a thumbs-up to his fans.

When Quasar mentions his fellow cops having been filed he will calmly smile back And in that file is some of the best people I have ever worked with. Those people understood the value of teamwork. "

He will look first towards his original teammates "Together me and my new friends here, with no time to train together and no previous experiencein this type of game, have managed to pull together as a team.

Nathan looks to his new teammates "We have succeed with a our first level the addition of our newest friends we will continue winning

As he continues smiling at ET's and Lex Luthor's love child he will think to himself  And if there is any justice left in this universe we will live to see our feet on your masters' collective  necks

In reply to Quasar (msg # 108):

Chalei'nhs smirk turned into a grin as Quasar replied, visibly scanning the audience.

- "Yeah, see, i don't see any of them in the audience today either. Shame, that: I wonder why that is..."

She could imagine a number off reasons, chief one being the dolphins would most likely be working off their transportation debt given that, if they had been capable of reaching Galactic civilization by themselves, then Earth wouldn't have been in this mess to begin with. Served 'em right, the fookin' traitors. She turned to Moya.

- "Hmm... I'll work on it. No promises though, i'll need to find a way to avoid friendly fire first."

Moya doesn't hear this but she is beginning to think like a plant and have you ever thought how Japanese Knotweed is thinking as it pushes its tendrils into concrete, or how willow feels as it begins the process of new forest growth in the place that was formerly your local railway station.  Moya and her kind will live to rewild the place formerly known as the galactic empire/republic w-evz.

In reply to Tsuki (msg # 114):

Quasar has to restrain himself from snapping at the other wanderers, but nods at Tsuki instead. "Yeah, your one goal...the goal of all of you, is to survive! And lets give them a big round of applause for them getting this far!" He gestures at the crowd.

They scream, cheer, and hoot in appreciation, and Tsuki sees a group of fox-people like her, carrying an elaborate silk banner. Tsuki recognizes the Japanese writing, but for the others the sign is translated. 'Lady of the Storm!' it reads, with an image of Tsuki firing lighting from her tail, with similar energy coming from her eyes and hands.

"Well, we got a lotta other Wanderers to get to, so with any luck some of you will survive after the next level!" Quasar gestures, and the holographic audience vanishes. "We are gonna have a lot of...fun...surprises for you next level." He sneers at the Wanderers, and then he vanishes as well.

After that, the red holographic sign appears.

PREPARE FOR TRANSPORT TO LEVEL 2. INITATATING...

OOC-To be continued in the Level 2 Guild hall

Once again, you appear in what you think is the backstage at some sort of talk show. You are unsure if its Quasar's or some other show, but it does look almost the same. Then again, the first show you where on was a holographic display, and your physical location did not change. So it could be that you are just at some sort of broadcast location.

As before, you cannot open the doors. You also cannot access your extra-dimensional inventory, your weapons, and any unnatural powers you may posses.

You also notice Connor is missing.

Doing the standard head count that he does without even realizing it, he notices Connor's absence almost immediately. "Son of a bitch!. Where's Connor?" He asks as his head turns from side to side.
This message was last updated by the GM at 03:13, Tue 05 Mar.

Nathan also noted the absence "Dammit I really hate having friends keep disappearing like this." He just hoped that he would at least see his growing list of disheartening friends once again

Chalei'nh took a deep breath which resulted in a long sigh.

- "Crap... Well, on the bright side, it didn't happen during the bossfight. He knows how to survive, if we focus on doing the same, i'm sure we'll run into him sooner or later again."

She looked at the place Connor had been standing a moment ago, mumbling to herself.

- "I wonder if this happened back when i joined as well?"

Another door opens...in midair, and someone is more or less dropped to the floor. Everyone, including the newcomer, gets a message from the System AI. The 'game show host' voice can also be heard in the room.

"Congratz, you have been offered a replacement Wanderer! Everybody give a big hand to Avilaya! At this rate she will most likely be labyrinth chow in less than a day! Bets are being placed as we speak!"

There is no applause, but there is someone dropped face down from 8 feet in the air. Which looks painful.

OOC-Avilaya, feel free to post! Like the others, you cannot use any abilities, gear or weapons.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:29, Wed 06 Mar.

- "Ah, D'Monix, classy as always."

Chalei'nh didn't bother to hide the sarcastic undertone in her voice as she calmly walked over to Avilaya and offer a hand to help the newcomer up.

"....ow...." Avilaya groaned moments after she hit the floor.  It was an impressive faceplant and it hurt.  "...and with a cat-like grace, Avilaya alights gently upon the stage...ouch..."  She lifted her head up off of the floor and felt her nose.  It didn't feel broken.  And her chest really hurt from the impact.  Who would've thought that?

The purple-haired woman looked up to see a hand extended towards her.  Accepting the assistance, she rose unsteadily to her feet and brushed at her clothing.  Her outfit was mostly leather consisting of a sleeveless high neck vest the length of a minidress over top a simple blouse, tight leather pants and nearly knee high boots.

Avilaya smiled up at her saviour.  "Thanks for the hand.  Never going to get used to that.  Does my nose look broken?  It doesn't feel broken but I could just be blinded by shock and pain.  Name's Avilaya.  You all are...."

- "Well, our abilities may be locked, but not our skills, so let me take a look."

Chalei'nh tentatively reached out to touch Avilaya's nose, trying to discern if it was indeed broken or just slightly bruised.

- "I'm Chalei'nh, by the way. My class is Monk, though i've been dabbling into curing people lately. Not the magical kind mind you, just... y'know, this."

19:39, Today: Chalei'nh rolled 27 using 1d20+8 with rolls of 19.  Medicine (Avilaya's nose). – 27

...Yeah, pretty sure i got it, and whatever else might be wrong :P
This message was last edited by the player at 00:20, Fri 08 Mar.

He steps forward and offers a hand to shake. "Malcom, pleasure to meet another human. Wish it were under better circumstances."
This message was last updated by the GM at 19:19, Thu 07 Mar.

He will smile at their new team member. "I certainly glad hope you stick around and help out with the only game that matters right now: staying alive."
He looked awkward for a second worrying that he might have come across a little brusque. during his second tour he was reminded by the CO to remember that FNGs still required a little more empathy to help integrate them with the team. His CO was right of course, but after watching other squad members die it became harder and harder to feel for a F*****g New Guy who might get themselves killed just after he started to develop a strong attachment to them.

He straitened him self and gave the best genuine smile he could muster. "Let go put a good show on for the paying guests, with luck they will throw extra prizes to allow us to survive another day."

Chalei'nh's medical exam easily finds no damage at all, not even any blood. A fall from 8 or 9 feet should have done something to the human body, but wanderer bodies where more durable after the transformation.

As everybody gets introduced and gets off the floor, sounds of music could be heard from the other room. For those tv watchers, it sounds like the jingle for a sports program-with full orchestrion. However, the door resists all efforts to open-and there is no way to see what is going on.

It was then another hologram forms, this one standing among the wanderers and is very familiar to most of them.

Gallbry, or the semi-transparent image of her, is seen sitting on invisible furniture while drinking some sort of orange liquid from a strange looking glass that seems more like a plant. She sighs as she observes the group, and nods at Avilaya.

"Greetings wanderers. Wanderer Avilaya, I am your PR Agent Gallbry. I am sure you have questions, and I am not allowed to answer all of them. However, as your fellow wanderers will fill you in, I am your PR representative when dealing with the System AI and the D/Monix corporation. Feel free to start asking questions everyone." She sighs and takes another drink.

- "Ah, just the person i wanted to see."

Chalei'nh walked up to Gallbry, and tried to subtly feel around for anything she could sit on. If she would find something she would, otherwise she would remain standing.

- "I was wondering about the prize at the end of all this. While we would have an obvious desire to have our home planet returned to us, where we are from corporations tend to buy and sell assets all the time. What are D/Monix' legal obligations should someone defeat the Labyrinth, and what would happen should the winning contestant state a desire for something not or no longer within D/Monix' ownership?"

Avilaya stayed as still as she could while Chalei'nh examined her nose.  It was hard because Avilaya kept on trying to look up into the other womans face.  Keeping her eyes level put the focus on other things.  "Thanks.  I'm not used to making an entrance like that and that took me a little by surprise.  You are really tall.  I mean I thought that I was tall but you...you could play basketball."

She said that last part as she stepped back from the examination to greet the others.  Avilaya shook Malcoms hand first before addressing Nathan.  "Nice to meet you, Malcom and...hooded guy.  I'm looking forward to working with you, and making sure that we all get through all of this."

Before much else could be said, the semi-transparent image of Gallbry appeared.  "Gallbry.  Got it.  I guess new group comes with new PR agent."  Avilaya started.  "So, how are we doing in the ratings?  With the fans?  We have an interview coming up next right?  I've just been dropped in here, and I do appreciate that, but I'm not sure of the group dynamic.  Who's the cocky one, who is the smart one, the heart throb?  Which boy band member are we missing?"

"I think we're currently missing the smart, cocky, heart throb. You've got some pretty big shoes to fill." He says with a chuckle.

- "Hey, speak for yourself, i'm fabulous."

Grinning, Chalei'nh flipped her hair over her shoulder in a deliberately exaggerated theatrical gesture, using her wind magic to enhance the dramatic effect despite her hair being done in a long braid, not to mention the lot of them being indoors. She then turned to Avilaya with a half-shrug.

- "Anyway, never did basketball. Was more of a soccer guy myself."

Avilaya grinned back at Malcom.  It was good to see that this group had a sense of humour.  "Well, I'll have to rely upon my inherent star power and oodles of talent then."  She said airily, waving a hand as if to indicate that this was a common occurrence.  "I guess that makes you all my back up dancers.  Alright, Malcom.  Let's see some moves."

She didn't miss Chalei'nhs reply.  "Soccer...guy, hmmm?" Avilaya said with a smile and a knowing wink.  "So Miss Fabulous, if you don't play basketball, what do you do?"

- "Yep. MMO habit, felt the most appropriate. At least this way i can pretend it's some kind of VR game, plus it'd feel weird to have my dad bod do backflips all of a sudden. I know what i used to be capable of, and that ain't it."

Chalei'nh laughed for a moment, before turning to the matter at hand if she had interpreted Avilaya correctly.

- "Well, i'm pretty much a Monk fighting with my hands and feet, but i also have some minor control over wind so i can basically use that to punch people at a distance. Confident i could also break someone's fall using wind, though before we go jumping off cliffs i should mention i can only use it on one person at a time. And of course i've been looking into nonmagical healing, though i'd need some tools i can hopefully get a chance to buy on the next level, given that this is the first time the system awarded us prize money. Oh, and i'm good at sneaking around, though we haven't gotten to do that much."

She then looked around, waiting to see who would be going next.

"You are de Bomb" Nathan will wink and Chalei'nh. He will reply to Avilaya. "The hooded guy apologizes for his poor manners. My name is Nathan. I have no problem being one of you back up a dancers in a combat situation. I have moves that can help trip up and distract your dance partners. On the way to those combats I am usually up front  to spot traps before cause you harm and spot the enemy before they spot us. Recently I learned how to set up my own traps to provide early warning or preemptive mayhem." He will offer his hand but will take no offense if the gesture is not returned.

He will ask the PR agent. "Will we have a opportunity to either create or purchase gear before we get thrown back into the dungeon? Second I should have remembered to ask sooner. What are limits on what we can store in our HUD?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:07, Mon 18 Mar.

"You need to discuss that with your lawyer about your season contract. Before you ask, you don't have a lawyer, and you don't get one until we know you can survive down in the lower levels. D/Monix is also under no obligation to show you your contract, as you waved all rights entering the Labyrinth in the first place." She shakes her head.

"Company policy, not mine. As for your planet, because it did not register with the closest Starfaring notary, D/Monix is allowed to mine and develop your world as they wish, with some small resverantion made for the suriving populace that did not enter the Labyrinth. Trust me, those people are doing great either. At least you get a chance in here." She rubs her forehead, looking upset. "Again, Company policy."




Gallbry sighs. "I am not allowed to give you a Fan rating system yet. Your new interviews are Zork, Callifur, and Nork. Their show is the equal of a...sports panel? So it should be a friendlier sitdown than Quasar gave your fellow Wanderers last time." She says, taking a sip, and then breathing out pink smoke.



"Workshops and living spaces are available next Labyrinth floor, along shops. All must be purchased by yourselves, or by fan donation. Your extra dimensional inventory is limited by what you could personally carry. Anything beyond that can be stored in your living space-transferable from your current location to said living space. Living space access are only available in safe zones." The smoke caused by the liquid she is drinks orbits her head like a halo.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:07, Mon 18 Mar.

Chalei'nh nodded. It had been the same question she had asked during their last conversation, only reframed in what D/Monix' obligation would be, so she had already more or less expected not to get an answer. On a more positive note however, it did open up the possibility of a followup question, and one she hadn't known she had been thinking about until it had been brought up just now.

- "I see. On that note, you mentioned 'lower levels' a few times. How many levels are there and, like with the lawyer example, what are the approximate breakpoints where we get access to new facilities and permissions? Since this is, after all, a contest, this means there is some kind of structure at play, which wouldn't have us endlessly clearing dungeon floors over the next hundred years or so, yes?"

Malcom chuckles at the idea of him being a backup dancer. "I'm a white biker. I can't even touch my toes, nevermind have any moves. Of course that was before I started the very committed cosplay of Archangel. Now who knows, I might even have rhythm I certainly can jump now."

Gallbry touches one of her pointed ears, as if listening to someone. "What? What do you mean, she's been there the whole time? I thought...dammit! Let me know this in advance!" She seemed disgusted with whoever she was talking to. "Well, it turns out you have another party member I was just made aware of. She is sorta a big deal with the fans, so after losing her first group of wanderers she should be a major asset. She is...uhhh...behind that chair."

Gallbry gestures to a lone chair against the wall. None of you see anything. Then, something very small walks from behind the leg of the chair...

While not entirely behind the chair in the sense that larger people think of chairs having backs and thus a zone behind them the small woman behind the front chair leg looks like she had been sitting on the floor under the chair, perhaps leaning up against one of the rear legs.  When it becomes clear that she is being talked about she leans out around the chair leg like it is some kind of tree nearly twice her height.

After a few moments consideration she hopes up into the seat of the chair with alarming ease, it isn't any farther than most humans could step up but at double her height it somehow just looks more impressive.  Waving a little hand over her head, and angled up to where she can see the PR agent she speaks in a somewhat quiet voice but nothing like the whisper one might expect.

”Sorry about that, I wasn't sure if anyone would need to be sitting on the chair and that sort of confusion can get very awkward very quickly.”

"Judge you by your size I do not. Hello I am Nathan" At this point in time all the less skilled or lucky were most likely 'recycled' by now this time it was likely she could defend herself
This message was last edited by the player at 18:51, Wed 20 Mar.

Chalei'nh was waiting for Gallbry to answer her question when she overheard her talking to someone over her earpiece. Would she even need an earpiece, knowing that while their powers and abilities were locked she was still very much Chalei'nh right now? Probably not. Regardless, she turned to face the not-so-newcomer, sending her a smile but not approaching in order not to intimidate her with the size difference between the two, given that she was the tallest out of everyone present.

- "Cheesy puns of being overlooked aside, welcome to the group. I'm Chalei'nh. ...Just to double check, you heard when we discussed what we could do, right? I don't mind going through it again, just asking if i need to."

Rather than try to sit in the chair, or lie down as she could easily do even along its shortest dimension, the little painted metal woman stays standing in the center of it as if she were on a stage or raised dais.  When her new allies address her and begin introducing themselves she turns away from the PR guy to focus on them.

”It is nice to meet you all, I am Heidi.  I am good at hitting stuff and a lot tougher than I look, I believe an MMO would call me a stealth tank.”

Avilaya was taking in all that was being said, and was about to mention what she did, when Heidi was introduced.  "A stealth Tank?  That will be interesting to see."  She said, kneeling down to get a closer look at the tiny metal woman.  She grinned.  "How do you tank being so small?  I guess we'll find out, eh?  Oh, I'm Avilaya.  Nice to meet you.  I guess you can consider me a striker so we'll probably be working together.  I can't help but think Fastball special when I look at you."

Avilaya had a sudden thought and turned to look up at Chalei'nh and chuckled.  "Heh heh.  Big woman, small woman, and me in the middle.  This is going to be a very interesting front line."

Malcom starts chuckling. "Hello Angels." He says in his best John Forsythe voice.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:40, Thu 21 Mar.

"Anyways, your two new members should make up for the loss of your other members off on ad junkets." She sighed, took another drink, and blew out more mist.

"The recap episode should be starting soon, and you can watch it from in here. As soon as it finishes, walk through those doors. Remember, your fans are going to be out there, and your survival depends on those donor boxes. So do whatever it is you do, but don't be dull. That's all the advise I am allowed to give you by the rules. Within a couple of floors, you should be getting access to your fan feeds. And before you ask-that's all I can tell you about that. Good luck."

With that, the image of Gallbry vanishes. The AI's 'recap episode' begins, a hovering movie above you on the roof. You see many wanderers, some human some not, fighting the Bloat's minions. For those of you with the group in the last level, you see the wanderer group you met on the pervious level. All of them getting to the stairwell and making it down safely. You see your battle with the Bloat's minions at the frog village...but only about 5 seconds worth. You are also seen standing over the Bloat's corpse. Then you see a bunch of what looks like men in camo with machine guns shooting at the Florida Men Redcaps, only to eventually fall to them. You also see some sort of mutant alligators consuming some other wanderers. Very few seem to survive, expect for a man in boxer shorts and a leather jacket, who is carrying a cat on his shoulders who wears sunglasses. They also make it down the stairwell.

From beyond the doors, you hear a cheering group, and what sounds like three people talking nearby. You think that is your introduction.

Avilaya was a little distracted by everything going on around her that she caught sight of Gallery vanishing before the recap.  "Hey!  Wait!"  She called out.  "Don't we need wardrobe and makeup?  We need to look our best out there for the crowds right?  Or how do you guys want to play this?  If we need donor boxes then we should give the crowd something memorable."

Somehow managing a very realistic shrug with tiny metal shoulders Heidi gestures casually to wave away Avilaya's concerns, or at least suggest that she doesn't share any of them herself.  With a quick jumping flip up and backwards she grabs onto the top of the chair and tips it over backwards in what should be a crashing motion but instead places herself below it to crouch and absorb the impact with little more than a soft tick like one would expect from tap shoes.

Lifting the chair many times her own height from its back into a vertical position she carries it balanced that way through the now open doors out onto the stage before the cheering audience.  When she arrives she does something like the reverse of the procedure, throwing the back of the chair up as the legs come down, then jumping into it herself to finish the motion required to settle the chair on the stage with herself atop it.

Raising her voice to shout she can still only barely be heard even with the typical acoustic advantage of a stage, without the disruption of the chair trick to create a breath of silence she might not have been at all.  ”Hello everybody, how are we all doing this fine evening?”

Chalei'nh chuckled in response to Avilaya.

- "Yeah, pretty sure most of the footage we were on saw us with mushroom bits splattered onto our clothing, sick due to spores or beaten to a pulp like those guys with the guns from the recap. I'd say 'clean and healthy' is pretty much giving a good impression as it is."

Seeing Heidi walk out with the chair to make a show of her entrance, she turned to the others.

- "Shall we?"

After taking a few seconds to confirm her sash was where it was usually worn rather than the improvised balaclava she had used it as in the previous level, and straightening her clothes, she walked out onto the stage giving the audience a small wave in the process. Once at where they were supposed to sit down -- going by human talkshow logic there would be a couch or a line of chairs since they were scheduled as a group -- she made herself comfortable and crossed her legs as she sat down, calmly waiting for the others to arrive as well.

Malcom went for the gusto instead of the calm that Chalei'nh exuded. He leaped through the door and flapping his wings far more than he needed to get across the stage, soared over to his spot where he dropped to the floor, landing in a defensive stance for a two count. He then stood up straight, snapped his wings wide and posed for either the visible audience or for the cameras if that's all that's available.

He will smile first at his team members "Yes let's go out and wow our audience". He will try to guag3e the mood of the audience in hopes of figuring how to best make the most possible impression. He winds out spends to much studying the crowd he missed an opportunity the make a grand entrance. He will mumble to himself 'Damn it. I got to get my head in this game, missed opportunities to impress could make our next mission harder than it needs to be.'   he hope that his friends can help get this mob on their side and hope he can provide assistance to their efforts. As they headed to their chair he will also 'clue  in' on the audience to help with interacting with them and stay on their good side.

When the party moves through the doors, the feels a beam of energy move over their bodies. Everything tingles, but no apparent harm is done. However, when you look at your selves and others you find your clothes are clean, and some sort of makeup as been applied to make you look your best. Otherwise you seem the same, only cleaner and nice.

The set-as it is-seems to be a bunch of chairs set up in a format to see an audience. The audience in question is not visible, nor the host. However, you do hear them. Cheering, hooting, and hollering. Glowing holographic word hover over the stage saying just one thing.

SIT.

Once everybody does, although Hedi must leap up to the human-sized seat, suddenly everything comes into full visual focus.

The holographic crowd blinks into being. Various beings from different planets, and maybe even other dimensions, scream and cheer for the group.

Chalei'nh sees a picture of her self being held up by elf-like beings. They also seem to be floating over their seats while sitting cross-legged in midair.

Avilaya eyes light on a group of what might be humans...with inhuman colored hair and dressed like space pirates. They are clanking mugs and singing what sounds like sea shanties. However, the normal translation provided by the System AI does not seem to be working on those songs. Its clear they are singing about Avilaya, because they keep adding her name to the song-the only word anyone can understand.

Hedi's fans keep chanting very loudly "LITTLEBIG! LITTLEBIG! LITTLEBIG!" They seem to be a collection of small beings of various types. They also all have dolls based on Hedi.

Malcom's fans have a large paper banner of him with his wings outspread. It shows him shielding young creatures of various kinds with his wings from some sort of horrible monster. They scream loudly when he does his flashy entry.

When Nathan enters last, his crowd makes their familiar cry of "ONE SHOT, ONE KILL!". Mostly they seem to be well armed humanoids with various firearms draped all over themselves.

However, its the host that draws the most attention, after the AI introduces them...

"GENTLEBEINGS FROM ACROSS THE UNIVERSE...WELCOME TO THE BIG THREE!" The AI sounds off in it most 'game show host' voice.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:42, Thu 28 Mar.

Sure enough, despite being holographic, some sort of 30' long dinosaur suddenly roams across the stage. Despite its clear being made of light, the party can feel the vibrations that something that big would leave in its wake. Unlike most dinosaurs you have seen in the museums, this thing had six long serpent like heads. Three of the heads just sort of hung there, looking asleep or dead.

The other 3 where far more active. The heads all had some sort of headphones with a speaking mike attachment. The central one was Green. "Hello Labyrinth Lands Earth! I am your host Primary!" It said in what sounded like a bad Irish accent. However it was clear the thing was being translated by your AI.

The left most head then spoke. "I am your host, Leftos!" The Blue head said, its accent sounding like a deep  voice with a British accent.

Then the rightmost head, which is Red, spoke. Its sounded Australian. "And I am your host, Rightos!"

"AND WE ARE THE BIG 3!"

"AND WE ARE THE BIG 3!"

"AND WE ARE THE BIG 3!"

All three spoke at once, and the crowd went utterly berserk with chanting and screaming the title of the creature.

Primary then gestured with its massive tail at the Wanderers. "We would like to welcome our intergalactic champions to our show, and thank them for making it this far! Let's hear it for them!"

The crowd then goes wild for the party once more, and the creature's tail gestures to the crowd to bring down the noise.

The three heads turn about, and hover over the party. Despite the voices, the creature did look like it was about to eat them. The red one, Rightos, was even drooling.

"Well, as you are new to the show, do you have any questions for us?" Primary said with a bit of a cheery voice.

"You know the rules keep us from telling you anything that could be used for cheating?" Leftos added, its voice sounding a bit down.

"How does your species taste when seasoned?" Rightos added. Then it noticed the other two heads staring at it. "What? Its a reasonable question! The fans have the right to know!" It quickly added defensively.

The crowd laughed.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:39, Thu 28 Mar.

"We aren't a prey species but I have been told that our organ meats go well with Fava beans and a nice Chianti. And if you can ask a question like that I get to ask, What happened to the other three?" He gestures to the dangling heads.

Chalei'nh leaned over to Malcolm from where she was sitting, a smirk visible on her face.

- "When you're hungry enough, everything's a prey species. But let's not give people weird ideas now, shall we?"

As Malcolm asked his question, she looked at the multiheaded dinosaur -- hydra, she believed it was called according to Gre... Earth mythology -- and tilted her head slightly.

- "Hmm... If i may hazard a guess, our host has a brain working somewhat similar to dolphins back on Earth, in that half their brain is taking turns sleeping. By the time Leftos, Rightos and Primary would need to sleep, the other three heads would wake up to allow him to keep going, with all six heads only being awake during transitions and emergencies, correct?"

She then smiled at the multiheaded game show host.

- "Well, as you said, this is our first time visiting or, i regret to admit, even watching the show. Could you tell us more about the format? I fear we've gone in quite blind and we haven't really heard how you'd prefer to run the show."

Addressing the right most head from her perch on the chair Heidi doesn't make any effort to conceal the taunting in her retort.  ”You are welcome to come down here and find out, but I warn you, nothing that has ever tried has liked the results. . . if they even survive.”

"First off a shout out to fan base" acknowledging the fans out in the audience. "I think our species has more to contribute to the universe than just calories. Just looking around I see looking around the audiences that human culture has contributed a definite spiciness to their lives and it would be a shame if that was lost."    He will look toward Rightos "As a obvious gourmand could he tell if you can detect a difference between digitized food and the original product?"

- "Heh, a great cook and the right spices can make anything taste good."

Chalei'nh shrugged before continuing.

- "I'd say the 'human factor' is already mostly lost. D/Monix has essentially introduced humanity to the galaxy at large -- and multiple dimensions of it at that -- and with the exchange of concepts, technologies and ideas it will undoubtedly change what has made the human perspective so unique. And of course, the experience is somewhat tainted by the first impression having been to have everything they've built up and worked for taken away, and either participate in a death game for people's amusement or wither away in a camp somewhere with the knowledge that, should they rebuild, everything can be taken away again in a matter of seconds at the whim of another. From my perspective it was extremely poorly handled if the goal was galactic integration and the propagation of human culture so popular among many members of the audience."

She did not sound angry as she spoke, adopting a conversational style similar to how one might have a friendly debate. The instructions they had given was to 'not be dull', but there hadn't been anything about being forced to make D/Monix look good. Not to mention, she figured Earth not to have been the first planet to have received this kind of treatment, so there was that angle to consider as well keeping sponsors in mind. All the while making sure she did not sound angry to avoid falling into the common stereotype, not that she hadn't been prepared to defend every single point she had just made.

Avilaya eyes kept darting to the group of space pirates that were chanting her name.  She gestured over to them, pointing in a grand flourish which was followed up with a grand, sweeping bow.  As she sat, Avilaya would favour that same group with little flirty winks and tiny smiles, not only acknowledging them personally.  Maybe a little flirting with the crowd would work?  It never hurt to play to the fans.

"That is an excellent question, Rightos.  As our dear Malcom has pointed out it would greatly depend on the garnishes."  she replied.  Avilaya leaned a little closer and crossed her legs.  "I can't help but wonder myself just what your species would taste like?  Humans do have a very wide and diverse diet that includes a number of sentient species."  She paused a moment, as if giving thought to her question.  "But really, I'm sure that your audience is not here to see us try and eat each other.  Right?"  This last part was directed to the holographic audience and Avilaya paused for the audience reaction.  Regardless, she pressed on.

Avilaya turned her attention to the central head.  "Now Primary.  I want to ask, what are the burning questions that your fans have for us?  Surely your universe-wide audience would love to find out more about us.  Not just as human beings, but as personalities."

Rightos moves his head, and a screen appears in front of one of his reptilian eyes. "Mark down Fava beans and Chianti...whatever that is."



"Well done, earther!" Primary says. The massive head turns to the crowd. "See everyone! I told you all they are much cleverer than they look! And act. And smell like." The crowd laughs, and the green serpent head seems to smile like a crocodile.



A portion of the holographic crowd chants once more. "LITTLEBIG! LITTLEBIG! LITTLEBIG!" Rightos seems to look away from his computer list, and then looks around-past Hedi. "Did anyone hear someone talking? I could not make it out."

The crowd then responds with a "OOOOOOOOH!".



The crowd answers with a "ONE SHOT, ONE KILL!"

However, Leftos seems to turn and meet Nathan's gaze. "There are humans all over the multiverse. Your tiny blue dot is one of billions, if not more. However, you spent most of your planet's history being loathsome to each other. If left to your own devices, this world would be a barren husk before D'Monix had ever bought the mining rights."



Primary tilts its head to the side. "What makes you think the goal was galactic integration? As Leftos has pointed out, your species has not developed the unity to prove themselves good citizens of the multiverse. A species with your track record might easily prove a danger to all of us if someone where to arm you properly. Thank goodness that has not happened!" Primary then stares at the ceiling, as an image of Chalei'nth beating a Mushroom man into the ground. Its splatter all over her as she strikes it again and again. "An excellent showing of your innate brutality, and why you get such ratings! But it takes more than that to be a citizen of the multiverse!"



While the space pirates like fans cheer Avilaya's bow, Primary twists its long neck and nods at her. "Indeed! We have been watching some of your actions as well, and you have just been assigned to this group of wanderers! What where you thinking at this moment in your career?" An image of Avilaya fighting with a glowing rapier is seen, and all around her are giant spiders. She leaps, bounds, and strikes-managing to stay one step ahead of the poison fangs. However, several other wanderers are laying under hordes of spiders, being dragged away by webbed nets.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:32, Tue 02 Apr.

Chalei'nh smiled in response.

- "Well, we do try our best to be as unappetizing as possible."



- "Indeed. This can be traced back to prehistoric times, or our prehistoric times anyway, with respect to the more established species out there of course. When compared to Earth's fauna, humans are distinctly subpar when it comes to natural abilities. We are not apex predators, we did not rise to the top through the strength of our teeth or the sharpness of claws. Rather, we banded together for protection not because we necessarily wanted to, but because we needed to. And so, we began to rely upon social packs bound together by common interests. These packs included nonhumans as well, wolves and sometimes tigers appeased and partially tamed with food and be accepted into the social pack against common enemies alongside the humans. This became so ingrained that, once tools had compensated our weaknesses to the point that this cooperation between man and beast was no longer strictly necessary, rather than discarded they became domesticated into dogs and cats respectively as we moved from hunter-gatherers to primal farming communities."

She took a deep breath before continuing.

- "This is the origin of the constant duality between nature and nurture that humanity is dealing with. An apt description would be that we are, and always have been, a pack of barbarians that have reached a working compromise. And therein lies the problem: By taking everything away, D/Monix has left us with nothing to compromise with or for, leaving us with nothing but to default upon... shall we say, less developed tendencies. In addition, they have also scattered social packs across the globe, with numerous people -- those that did not join the Labyrinth -- being either gone or displaced. In doing so, i foresee D/Monix being viewed as an instinctual enemy of mankind, one whose destruction is considered necessary for the stability of the species' own continued existence. Only a minority may actually act on this, but on a population of billions, that's a lot of homemade shivs."

She then motioned at Primary and his other heads in a sweeping measure.

- "So you see... From my point of view, there are two options available. Either the galaxy moves to appeal to the social side by trying to smooth things over by trying to convince humanity that the current string of events was an exception rather than the rule, or we may very well see my species shift to rampant xenophobia and focus on the creation of a fleet for the express purpose of opening fire on anything venturing within a few light-years of the solar system. Either option may take a while, true, but my species is nothing if not stubborn, and has always had a penchant for reverse engineering."
This message was last edited by the player at 12:04, Wed 03 Apr.

Malcom leans forward and gives Chalei'nh a raised eyebrow. "And where was all this when we were trying to devise a battle plan?"

As the crowd started chanting the tagline they had themselves determined for her Heidi started jumping up and down on the chair, gaining a considerable amount of height with each jump and landing with a fairly quiet tapping noise and a very small rattle to the chair itself.

The long description of the human condition does not at first draw her attention, but eventually it overwhelms her focus on the audience and she lands on the chair with a slightly harder thud quickly converted into the classic hero pose three point landing.  Only after the requisite dramatic pause and a moment spent adjusting herself on the chair does she comment as well.  ”I think that about covers it.  Perhaps we can find out what our next challenge is going to be rather than dwelling on what is now effectively ancient history?”

Avilaya had been unabashedly flirting with the crowd during the interview, her answers to their hosts questions were light and playful.  That changed once the footage rom her last adventure was shown.  The smile slowly slid from her face as she watched the fight footage.  There she was on the holo, laughing and grinning as she leapt about the fight, using her glowing sword to thrust and slash at the giant arachnids.  "...I...it felt.."  she stammered, her soft words buried beneath Chalei'nhs monologue.

For all of her agility and acrobatic prowess, there were some close calls of course.  Holo-Avilaya landed and rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the dripping mandibles of a giant spider.  It attacked her again, it's mandibles closing on the spot where she had just been.  Her sword swept out, it's mystical glow leaving behind a brightly coloured trail like a sparkler, cutting off both mandibles before finally thrusting home, embedding itself in between the spiders eyes.  Holo-Avilaya whooped as she cartwheeled away from another strike to carry on her battle.

That wasn't what Avilaya was focussing on though.  She remembered the fight and how she felt.  Carefree, invincible, and in a sense she was.  At least at the time.  Watching the battle from another angle, Avilaya was not watching herself but the rest of her party.  She watched as one of her party was fell beneath one of the giant arachnids, it's mandibles biting deep into its victims chest.  He was the first to fall.  Holo-Avilaya evaded another spider attack, laughing like a mad-woman as she spiralled away, leaving another team mate to face the brunt of the creatures attack.  It was only a small wound, but enough to inject a measure of poison and slow them down.  Avilaya couldn't turn her eyes away as she watched a second party member fall.

Her breathing quickened along with her pulse.  "...I should have...the others..." she said softly, struggling for the words as the violence on the holo continued.  It was violence that she had been present for but had not noticed.  So wrapped up was she in the joy of such easy movement, that Avilaya had neglected to watch out for her teammates.  To protect them.

Tears formed in her eyes as the holo images began to mix in with memories.  The Elven rogue pinned against the wall by a spider web, calling out for help, became a soldier in desert camouflage crying out while a red stain slowly crept across their uniform.  A giant arachnid rearing up on its legs into an attack position became an explosion of mixed sand and metal.

Avilaya looked away from the holo recording, and brushed away a spot of wetness running down her cheek.  Maybe their hosts would be too busy with Chalei'nhs philosophical discussion or Heidis jumping up and down to forget about the question asked to her.  She didn't want to answer, for she didn't like what her answer would be.  She'd been selfish, self-absorbed in her newly acquired abilities that she had forgotten the basic tenet of any squad; look out for each other.  She hadn't, and people died.

Chalei'nh chuckled in response to Malcolm, wagging her finger as she replied.

- "Applicable knowledge, my boy... For example, i could tell you the type of mushroom that likely caused the zombie outbreak, but that wouldn't be of much help when they're trying to bite you in the ass."

When Heidi spoke up, she gave a brief nod in agreement, already having said what she wanted to say and wanting to avoid turning the interview into a scientific debate. With her attention now on two members of the party, she decided to check the reactions of the others, which was when she noticed Avilaya's current mental state.

- "Hey Avilaya... You okay?"

The audience laughs at the banter.



Leftos moves closer to Chalei'nh. Its reptilian eyes gazing into both of hers. "Are you...threatening D/Monix on behalf of your species? That seems like a lot of bravado for a group that has had most of its planet taken in seconds. Not to mention none of you seem to be able to remove yourselves from you current situation. Still...its what makes humanity somewhat entertaining to watch."

All 3 heads then move closer together, and speak in unison.

"Somewhat."

"Somewhat."

"Somewhat."

They all sigh, and even roll their eyes as they say the line. Given the crowd reaction, you might expect this to be the Big 3's catchphrase.

It was after that Primary decided to invoke  Avilaya's past and the hologram showing the result. Her clear emotion reaction causes the crowd to silence itself, and she can hear almost a dirge-like song from her space pirate fans. However, the translation function of her AI still fails to come up with any results.

Primary seems confused by her display of tears. "I notice humans do that a lot. Is that some sort of eyewash in reaction to the air? Your atmosphere processors should working fine..." He says, although there is a bit of a sense he knows precisely why she is upset.

"There is no need to mock lesser beings, Primary." Leftos points out.

"Yeah, why should she care? She was powerful, they where weak. She's better off without them!" Rightos adds its two cents in.

Leftos glares at its own red head. "Its is the purpose of the more evolved to show grace to the less evolved. Its one of the reasons I don't tear off your neck most of the time!" Leftos growled.

"That's big talk coming from a book wyrm!" Rightos snapped, quite literally as it nearly takes a chuck out of Leftos' neck.

Primary quickly gets between the two growling and hissing heads, causing all three necks to entangle themselves.

"That's enough you two! Don't force me to call on the other three, ok?" It says, looking from Leftos to Rightos.

The other two heads merely nod and move apart, disentangling themselves.

"What?" Avilaya was startled by Chalei'nh talking to her.  Lowering her eyes, she brushed the cuff of her shirt across them.  She just wanted to meld into her seat and hopefully be ignored for the rest of the interview, which was a stupid thing to think considering that they needed to make a good impression on potential fans and donors.  Putting on her best fake smile, she replied.  "...Oh...uhm...I'm right as the morning snow...or mail...whatever.  Why do you ask?  Anyone else finding it...uh...dusty in here?"

Avilaya wiped at her eyes once more, as their three-headed host turned its attention to her.  Just great, she thought.  Now the focus was back on her, which was the last thing that she wanted with her emotions all raging to the surface.  "Look, you're both sort of right." she said to the bickering heads.  For a moment Avilaya glanced back at Chalei'nh and the others, and took a deep breath.

"They were my team mates.  We were supposed to look after each other, have each others back, and I...I...why is this so bloody hard?  I need a drink."  Avilaya exhaled.  Drinking wasn't going to help.  That, she'd already proven back on Earth before all of this stuff with the aliens.  There was nothing else but to power through this and ignore those pesky doubts and feelings.  Maybe she'd have a break down later, off camera, but now she had to come up with something good or she risked letting down another squad.

"I learned in the military that a squad was only as strong as it's weakest link." she started soberly.  "I might have appeared to be the strongest one of my old team but I was really the weakest one.  No one is going to get through these challenges alone, you need someone watching your back, standing at your shoulder.  That was me, I thought.  Avilaya, team player.  But..."  Avilaya sniffed, feeling those damnable tears coming back.  "...I was so excited...no...overjoyed...to be able to walk again, thanks to D/Monix, and be able to do amazing things, that I lost sight of that.  Instead of the strong protecting the weak, it was the strong having fun and ignoring everything else around me."

Avilaya turned to the holo once more and pointed at it.  "That's what you are seeing up there.  I should have been helping the others out.  It didn't matter if they were weaker or less evolved, they were my squad mates, I mean team mates.  And I...failed them.  And they died.  My failure is your entertainment, but seeing that stabs me right here,"  She thumped her chest.  ", and it isn't the first time that I've experienced loss like this so...it's bringing back very bad memories."

Chalei'nh seemed taken aback by the reply.

- "Threatening? Oh no, not at all. The only headaches i plan to give D/Monix is having them struggle to come up with something new once we make it past the lower levels. I was merely attempting to point out what, going by precedent, the likely reaction of my species would be to oppression by force as opposed to peaceful integration. This is not just restricted to my own species, mind you, this is true even for several species of animals on our world, most notably lesser evolved primates among them. A... necessary matter of decorum between one civilised species and another. I shan't bring it up again."

She then turned to Avilaya as she shared what had happened to her earlier groups.

- "As bad as it sounds... it happens. I got stuck in a bad group when i first joined, with everyone going their own way and not agreeing on anything. I spent so much time hiding and sneaking around that spider level it surprised me i even qualified for a levelup at the end of it. But then i got to this group and not only did we beat the level with no casualties, we saved a member of a different group in the process. So things are improving."

She motioned to where the display had been projected a moment ago.

- "Point is... this can only show you what you were, not what you are. And if the current you is trying to correct the mistakes of your past then that's good enough for me... though, admittedly, convincing yourself may take more effort."

Having seemingly placated her own fans Heidi settles herself down into the chair, with her shoulders leaning at an angle up against the chair back her fully extended legs still don't come anywhere near the edge of her seat.  She seems quite content to avoid the aimless banter at least until there is something interesting she can actually do.  If you hadn't seen her get into the chair and jump around earlier her current pose would be completely indistinguishable from that of a discarded child's toy simply resting where it was last posed until picked up again.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:53, Thu 11 Apr.