HALO 183: The Not Remotely Gritty Reboot

[5a Violista]

[Candlelit Kitchen]

I'm sure we can get three or four more layers of doubts in there.
But she's glad that he understands.

Carlie smiles, glad that he kinda felt the same way, too.

She scoops some food onto her fork, but just lets it hang there.
"I...prefer monogamy, and I'm fine with it being serious," she says. However, she's not really sure what she wants for him, which is why she was hoping he would decide. What if she says she wants all of them, but then they start to resent her because that's inherently unfair? She'll only be able to spend time with one - or maybe two, max - at a time, unless she just rotates through them constantly? But if she wants only him and the other clones can do what they want, won't they also resent her for separating yet another one and gives them special treatment? Especially so if they consider each other to all just be him instead of them. And what if she mistakes another clone for this one and comes up behind him in a kiss?

She sets down her fork to think more.

And she dislikes how he put this choice on her, when she already tried to force the decision on him. Half the reason she tried to make him decide is because she doesn't know how all the other hims will react! But he's probably thinking the same thing - he doesn't know what she wants and how she'll react - so that's why he's making her decide. So she can't get mad at him for doing that. Ugh. Really, this would all be easier if she had just said turned down sleeping with him, because then she could consider the choices without all the emotional complications and they could have gotten to know what each other would prefer before getting to this conversation. This is all her fault for making it so complicated. But if that first evening had turned out differently, would they have even considered dating? No, probably not.

As she gets closer to coming to a decision, she lifts her fork again.

Because, really, what would feel worse? Occasionally mixing up a couple clones in horribly awkward situations and getting instinctively jealous because she sees one in the distance flirting with another woman? Or making so many of them hate her for treating each of them differently and not spending enough time with each of them and feeling trapped because her whole life is consumed by trying to appease dozens of what are essentially identical twins who all have the same needs and desires?

She puts the food in her mouth, and begins chewing.
When she puts it that way, it's obvious which is preferable. One of those, she'd feel inadequate and in the wrong - but the other, she'd feel hated and trapped. Being at fault because you're not good enough is a much better feeling than feeling hated with no way out.
Carlie looks down and plays with her food with her fork.
"Thinking about it, it'd probably be for the best if I just have one of you. Seems like it could get complicated with more," is what she says to answer all her thoughts on the matter.

[Gullara]

[Fourth Tower Visit]

Dena seemingly brushes this sudden firmness off and simply nods her head. "Right, well the thing is that all he told me about the ritual is from this translation of some old scripture he claims he owns. Something which is impossible to fact-check as I don't know anyone who'd know anything about this sort of things. The ritual is supposedly not his own though but rather dealing with what's called the 'chimera-essence'." She looks down to her phone again and makes a few taps.

"So it's, allegedly, something within all gorgons. Like their magic-essence or whatever. However, that same essence, again allegedly, also existed within all dragons. Thus this ritual is supposed to manipulate it so a new dragon could be created from the gorgon." Dena suddenly pauses. "Huh, I never thought about it until just now but the words dragon and gorgon do sound similar to one another. Wonder if this is the reason." She idly speculates before looking up at Vax again. "But anyway, if you can create a dragon out of it you could also alter its... I dunno, makeup? I got no clue what these things are supposed to be made of. Either way, you could also use the ritual to alter undesirable features such as the petrifying gaze, etcetera." The gorgon makes a circular motion with her hand. "So that's what the offer was. Helios would give me the full ritual and in exchange I would have someone, probably Astrana, use it to get his dragon and also fixing me while she's at it."

[Fourth Tower Visit]

Vax lets the silence after Dena's explanation hang for a moment. "Very well. We'll use this information to track down what we can about this Helios and his claims. Is there anything else you can provide to aid our investigation?"

[Fourth Tower Section]

"It's..." Dorota struggles to put this into words, even though she has spoken about it before. "It's partly personal and partly philosophical. The form of alchemy I study are based on an idea of refinement and purification into ever higher forms. No one is quite sure what waits at the end of this road. Some say the gods, but I rather doubt it. And if the gods are just like mortal rulers but with more power or don't exist at all... is there anything up there at all? Or is it just us?"

[Fourth Tower Section]

"Is the perfection of your craft and your own personal improvement not enough to satisfy that need you feel?" Onyeka poses. "Pardon me for being presumptuous, but from my perspective personal achievement is more meaningful than any sort of outside validation, no matter where it comes from."

[Morty]

[Fourth Tower Section]

"Perfecting my crafting used to satisfy me, yes." Dorota still sounds uncertain, but presses on, trying to express a dissatisfaction that's been gnawing at her. "It still does, but not as much as before. Not since I began thinking about divinity. It seemed to me like most of my people don't think about it much. To them, the gods just... were. Or had been. Many accepted their divine plan as just the way things were. They might not have liked it, but they didn't question it. It's not about outside validation, either. More like... trying to find a pattern to things. If there even is one."

[Reinholdt]

[Candlelit Kitchen]

Of course Harley prefers serious monogamy. Reinholdt could have figured that out with thinking it through. Should have figured it out. Yes, she's adventurous and reckless like Tina or others, but that teary confession in his office wasn't born of someone steeped in polyamory. He was being stupid.

And she was taking a long time to think it over. How could she not? It was a lot to throw at her. Too much. Did they really need to talk about this now? The clones were supposed to be back-ups, extra lives making everything less complicated. Instead it was making things far more complicated and awkward and uncomfortable than it needed to be. How did Magtok do it?

Wait... he didn't.

Why didn't Reinholdt see it before? All of Magtok's relationships have crashed and burned because of his clones. They weren't a blessing, they were a curse in disguise! A monkey paw wish at best. How long before Tovia and Carlie inadvertently bumped into each other and both walked away unsatisfied from Rein in disgust?

"Hey, you don't have to decide- oh, yeah. Yeah... That works." Trying to take the pressure off and let her choose an indefinite amount of time later doesn't work when she's already made up her mind. "That, umm, is probably the easiest one honestly. I just stop getting memories from them." So he doesn't develop feelings outside himself. Though he still gives memories in case something goes wrong and Harley needs a back-up Rein.

Recognizing the silent awkwardness he's inflicted on them both, Rein picks his fork back up and resumes eating. "Sorry to ask that of you. It's a lot to figure out... so thanks. Uhh... this is delicious by the way." How to steer the conversation back to something lighter without a paddle? "Sooo..." What's your astrological sign? Baby's middle name? Favorite color? "What'd you do after AMEN?"

[5a Violista]

[Candlelit Kitchen]

Harley once dated Magtok, and the relation didn't crash or burn because of clones.
...Instead, it fell apart because the whole relationship was built on her basically blackmailing him and giving him favors in exchange for dates.

Carlie is glad that it's the easiest option. And it sounds like - with memories no longer being shared - it has a smaller chance of problems than she was anticipating.
((but..."Hey! I need a backup, mine stopped working. Yes, I've tried turning it off and on again." ;p))


"Thanks," she says, as she eats some more as if trying to see which part he thinks is delicious. "I'm just glad more of it didn't burn."

Aries.
Hadn't thought about it yet.
Green.
"After AMEN, I was basically just homeless in Inside for a while, just doing whatever random jobs came up, then Eastside had its election so I got that house and ran for office. After that, started building up a couple different lives, but then that demon invasion happened. For some reason, that magic barrier that kept all the demons trapped also affected me, so I couldn't leave Riverside for a while. Had to abandon a couple lives as a result, so I used a bunch of my new free time to learn to drive and get a job at a vet's. Once that was over, I sort-of got into investigation whenever I was at Inside, to take a break from everything that was going on in Riverside." All-in-all, pretty boring. But it seems Carlie - the vet's assistant - and Holly - the investigator - both came around as an indirect result of being trapped in Riverside and having little else to do.

Since she needs to get back to eating, she turns the tables with a question of her own: "How'd you get around to leading HALO? I remember it having completely different leadership the last time I was here." Granted, that was before Vigil came around.

[Shadowcaller]

[Fourth Tower Visit]

Dena puts away her phone. "Well, there's also two names which I'm already investigating. Arik Mithar and Ambrosia Ithil. They supposedly know much more more about Helios. The former is more difficult to find than the latter however."

[Lord Magtok]

Location Tag

"It's this way. You know, I used to be a professional tour guide, right?" she says, to make conversation. "Whenever I am somewhere, I automatically-" she snaps, to show how fast automatically is "-know where everything is."

Magtok looks...what's the word, upset? No, not quite. Confused, maybe? Lost for words? I don't think he expected it would be this easy. He takes his ID card in hand, raise it up as if to swipe and gain access to the arsenal before him, and just...stops. His hand hovers there anxiously, unwilling or unable to fully commit to this booze-inspired break-in. Is this really the best way forward? Is this truly how we're going to wrest control of our life back from the foul, unknowable forces that would have us rot in chronostasis for eternity? Just gonna steal a big gun from Felandria and shoot something important?

"Where everything is, huh? Remind me to invite you over next time I've lost the remote, or there's a hungry xenomorph stalking the MagCave vents, waiting for the right moment to do gross alien monster stuff," he remarks, mostly to buy himself an extra few seconds to think while his warm human hand continues to have cold feet. What is this hesitation about, anyway? A guilty conscience that doesn't want to hurt people? Pfft, Intersection is just jerks and NPCs, they're not even close to being people. Reputation, perhaps? Bah, like anyone has a positive impression of us anyway. Every single one of the heroes who still remember us are just as liable to behead us now as they were five years ago, Magtok. A little NPC slaughter isn't going to change that, and it's not like we'd be fighting them for nothing. We need extravagant screentime. We'll fade away again without it. If becoming a villain again is what it takes to not die, well...

"Right, this dramatic pause has gone on long enough. Now, without further ado, let's crack open this armory!" Magtok declares, pushing through his doubts and discomfort to swipe his HALO ID and step inside the armory to behold row after row of gleaming, beautiful-


...Nerf guns. Plastic toy weapons, and their foam dart ammunition. He came all this way, smothered his conscience to death with a pillow, begrudgingly humored all of Julie's nonsense, carefully avoided revealing so much as a hint of his diabolical intentions to her, and betrayed Felandria's trust by using his own membership here to try to steal a weapon that would be traced back to HALO...for a bunch of Nerf guns. I-I don't understand, how could HALO's entire armory just be...I mean, I guess this makes a sort of sense. It's not like Felandria uses weapons, and Reinholdt would be too paranoid to stash any of his own here. I just...Magtok's always believed his life to be some sick cosmic joke, but to see it this clearly, to have irrefutable evidence staring back at him like this...

"...****. Well there goes all of my plans for today," he sighs, visibly deflating. I guess we'll need a slightly more complicated way to stay in the game than inciting armed conflict between Inside's police force and the forces of undersea justice. Hrm...become a mobster and start the Nexus's biggest organized crime family? Reopen MagMart and/or the Gambling League of Gambling? Challenge Wenomir to a duel? Scrape our last few pennies together and start a game show, perhaps?

[5a Violista]

[Location Tag]

"..." Julienne looks into the weapon vault. "Huh," she says. "Last time I was here, there were more weapons." Since the last time she was here at HALO's armory was just before the HALO-Watchtower merger, she adds, "I guess Watchtower must've taken them?"

It is a little disappointing, to be honest. Julie was expecting to see a bunch of weapons, and instead it's just a bunch of toys. "Or maybe...maybe they just painted them to look like toys?" She walks in and grabs a nerf gun and fires it at her foot. Nerf bullets come out. "...nope."

She turns around and sees Magtok deflating.
"Hey! Hey, it's not that bad," she says. Um, um, what can she do? She looks around, trying to figure something out, since so far Magtok's been pretty nice so she doesn't want to see him this way. Julia reaches behind her back, and grabs a knife made of bone and metal out of her hospital gown. She holds it out to Magtok. "Here, I know it's not much, but you can have my knife," she says.

Looking at the nerf gun in her hand, she then quickly adds, "And...and we could paint them like fancy guns. Nobody would know the difference."

[Reinholdt]

[Candlelit Kitchen]

I mean turning it off and then on again is the primary cause of the problems. Better to update his software.

"I don't mind getting a little burned. I mean I don't mind if the food's a little burned. It's a decent flavor too." Raw is best though. Though they probably won't reconcile their differences on fish for a while.

"Oh yeah, Eastside elections. Those are coming up soon, aren't they? Not looking forward to that." Felandria will have to defend her title and those kind of things can get very messy very quickly.

"You've probably abandoned more lives than I have died!" Uhh... Hopefully? "Which ones do you have now? Or... Had just before getting stuck?"

Reinholdt pauses to take a drink and considers Carlie's own question. "Well... I mostly just hung around. Back then I was trying to court a goddess that lived here. She was interested, just at a glacial years long pace I couldn't match, so it didn't work. And I had a bunch of other friends here too. Mostly divine." Now that Rein thinks about it, was he hoping for some divine intervention in regards to his sins? Or maybe just had a thing for the pure and powerful. "Anyways, drama and time happened and for a couple of months it really was just me and Felandria in this base. I coulda just taken the real estate for myself. Wouldn't have been the first cool base I inherited. But I thought there was still some good to be had for everyone, so Fel and I rebranded and tried again to get some life in here. She's in charge though. I'm just helping."

[5a Violista]

[Candlelit Kitchen]

Carlie takes advantage of the opportunity to answer questions by taking a break from eating and setting her fork down.

She laughs at his joke. "Yeah, probably."
"I think I had, like...ten?" she says, after mentally counting it out.
And then, counting it out on her fingers, she goes through them one by one.

"Carlie Hopps who works at the vet, Holly, and Harley Zorzo," she says, counting those three out quickly. "And then Ms Martinez, councilwoman. Actually, if the elections are coming up soon, I probably won't be able to run again; I'm only able to keep on doing work there because I had always worn a mask and my secretary's a genius, but if a bunnygirl suddenly takes the place of a human on the debates and ads and stuff, I don't think even she could make that work."

And, number five: "I actually had another one that I was using to keep tabs on black markets and rumors and stuff around Skyside, but just last month I discovered that somehow a fairy stole it."

And now for the last five, that have only ever been offscreen: "There's one where I was...human-ish?" Very much like a gerudo. "Tall, doing constructionwork as a walk-on." Seven: "Another human that I have all my library cards in." Eight: "I made a half-demon half-angel one, but because I have no idea how to get to fly, I've been using mismatched wings - one feathery and one leathery - as an excuse for why I never fly around like that."

She then complains: "It's so frustrating! If the wings are too small, then flying's impossible, but if I make them big enough then my muscles aren't strong enough and I weigh too much! The best I can do is glide. I've checked out tons of books on wings and wingspan and flight mechanics and stuff, and I still can't get it to make sense."

Back to counting. Nine: "And, um...the next is a...lamia? nagi? nagini? Not exactly sure what it's called, but...like, imagine mermaid but with snake instead of fish," she says. "Worked at a convenience store," she says. With a sigh, she adds, "I had to quit over text because I couldn't come in as her anymore. I'd also hang around universities during the summer, to pick up on the latest in biology and material science. Was really looking forward to this summer, too, because she's cold-blooded and it feels really nice just to lie in the sun." She sighs: "Also kind-of why my right eye can only see heat right now. With her, I got a lot of practice making those, so just after the bus crash it was one of the things I could quickly do because of all the practice I had."

And, ten. She's not really sure how worried this would get him - she hopes not that worried, which is why she's saying it - "Um...the last one was basically just a life-draining not-quite-vampire person that I used to get into fights in the dangerous parts of the cities to try out new ideas with my shapeshifting. And to make sure I kept up on my skills." And to get an adrenaline rush. "Especially when I didn't feel like doing any magical girl stuff." Because she hates that she has to use magic.

Anyway.
Done talking about herselves, she asks, "There's a bunch of divine people around here?" Her view of divinity is a little different than most people's, but..."That's...pretty interesting, I guess? You know them all?"
Carlie has not, in person, ever met a divinity or god or whatever, as far as she knows. Well, Felandria is kind-of, but she also seems like a normal person if normal people were tall.

[Reinholdt]

[Candlelit Kitchen]

"Ten? Phew. That's a lot of juggling." Reinholdt thought maybe six at most. "I guess that just means I owe you at least eight more dates, huh?" Rein says with a gentle smirk to Carlie. Even if they aren't different personality wise, he supposes he'll need to get used to her in different forms. That is, if they have time to date after the baby is born. Those tend to take up a lot of free time.

Rein raises a bit of an eyebrow at the fairy fiasco. Fey magic was dangerous and weird. Even if practically speaking one should just be able to shift into that identity and use it, it often couldn't be done because fairy. "They didn't steal anything else while they were at it, did they?" What if she could no longer smell the color orange? That'd be awful.

Waving his hand at her flying problems, he points out some of the basics. "I mean, it's not just about the wings right? An entire body has to evolve to fly and those that can are usually very light. There's probably not any natural physical way you can do it. Gliding is still really cool though." At least Rein thinks so.

"Naga? Well or Lamia. Yeah, I've met one of those. Nagas have slight celestial origins and Lamias have slight demonic origins and they're both really the same." Reinholdt shrugs. Probably a lesson to be learned there somewhere. "You can only see heat? Gah, that sounds awful. You should have told me. We have a bunch of scientists here, I'm sure we can get one of them to make you specialized glasses that'll help with that." If she hasn't gotten used to it by now.

Reinholdt grows pretty quiet as she explains her near-vampiric escapades in the darkest parts of town. He looks down for a bit, gets a piece of food, chews it. Swallows. "Yeah. Ok." Doesn't seem like he's going to add much to that. "Oh yeah. I suppose I need to see the magical girl thing too. Nine more dates." He nods his head sagely, trying to pretend he's not looking forward to the idea.

"There WERE a lot of divinities. Like I said, it fell down to just me and Fel." Reinholdt shakes his head. "There are probably some still out in the Nexus. I don't know everybody. Not yet anyways. Civvy's still about? I think. She's the Hope and Pink one. There was also one for Assassins, the Lust Goddess, a music goddess, at least three death goddesses I knew, umm... whatever that kid Kore was in charge of, and a Butterfly one. Uhh... Eve might have counted too? The three in one, first woman goddess. Oh and there was a different God of Music that was decidedly less fun. The seven deadly sins gods too, but they were kinda one step away from the Nexus and also I killed one so maybe just six and I didn't actually meet all of them." He was on less friendly terms with those so maybe best he didn't meet them all. "Some others I'm sure. After awhile, the ones that just pass through all kinda start to blend together."

"I tried being a paladin for a couple, but I was never very good at it." Rein frowns. "Well, at the end of the day I'm still around and they're not, so I guess I'm doing something right? Though... I do miss the friendlier ones from time to time."

[5a Violista]

[Candlelit Kitchen]

"Yes, you owe me so many more dates," Carlie says, agreeing and nodding with a completely serious face. "Granted, I used some of them a lot more often than others," she admits. There's actually two elegant solutions to going on dates after having a baby: one, bring the baby on the date, and two, ask somebody to watch the baby.

As far as she knows, nothing else was stolen other than that particular identity. She only found out it was stolen some time after it was already stolen. So, she shakes her head and shrugs.

In the discussion about flying, she pouts: "It's just that there's so many different people and animals that can fly, in so many different ways; you'd think I would eventually be able to successfully copy at least one of them."

Re: seeing heat: "It's just one eye. I can deal with it." But it would be nice to be able to read without having to close an eye.

"Well, until the baby's born," she says, holding back a laugh because she thinks it's funny imagining someone seeing him on a date with a different girl every day but - surprise - it's all just her, "the only dates we can do are the bunnygirl, mermaid - but still with bunny ears...merbun? - and magical girl ones." Also still with

Anyway,
back on topic:
"That's still a lot more deities than I was expecting," she says. Carlie eats, and thinks about what to say next. Missing people is pretty sad, so what can she say to make it so the topic doesn't dwell on that? she wonders. "Being a paladin sounds pretty interesting. It's like a knight, right? How was it? And what part made you not good at it?" she asks.

[Reinholdt]

[Candlelit Kitchen]

Reinholdt thinks he'll talk to one of the members about making Carlie some glasses anyways and surprising her with them. Preferably sooner rather than later since it (supposedly) won't be a problem anymore after the baby's born.

"Might be hard for an airbreathing guy like me to date a mermaid. But I'll try my best. We still have a pool around here somewhere I think... Unless someone's appropriated it as liquid coolant for a supercomputer or something." Always a possibility.

Rein tilts his head in thought for a bit. "A knight's not a terrible comparison. Maybe a bit more proactive? Knights can be proactive I suppose, but they're generally protectors first. I think. I admit I forgot to ask our knights in my old kingdom what they actually did. War mostly I imagine." He shrugs. "Whereas paladins are supposed to get out there and embody the deity-that-chose-them's ideals. Spread the word through representation."

Frowning, he never really put much thought into why he was so bad at it before. Just that he was. "I guess that's why I was bad at it. I represent too many other things to really let someone else shine through me. The real paladins out there are something special."

[5a Violista]

[Candlelit Kitchen]

It's got to be hard to create glasses that can phase-shift light from 5-30 μm to 400-700 nm.
...
Unless, of course, you use magitech or sci-fi tech. Which I think HALO definitely has available.

It's really frustrating as a mermaid underwater, though, because water tends to strongly absorb infrared.

"I saw the pool, but...haven't really been thought to go swimming there," she says. "Sometimes I've gone up to the surface to just be on the beach and coast, though."

As a former knight, Carlie thinks about the concept of paladin as it's explained. "Honestly, somebody who just represents one specific thing and doesn't...color the 'shine' going through them? Sounds pretty useless to me." She thinks a little more. "Also, the whole 'follows or chooses a single god of a pantheon at the expense of the others' thing or, like, how gods are in conflict has always weirded me out and confused me. I know that's, like, how lots of the worlds people come from work, and I know that what a god is varies wildly, but...it feels weird."

[Reinholdt]

[Candlelit Kitchen]

It would be the kind of groundbreaking research that could prove helpful to the masses. Exactly the kind Rein imagined would happen when gathering a bunch of not quite mad scientists together for the greater good. Extremely limited application over the top science.

"A date on the beach sounds nice. Just say where and when." He pauses to think for a moment. "I don't know what makes a good magical girl date. Fighting a monster together?" That can be romantic, so long as Rein wears a tux and a mask.

"I mean they do good works in general, so it's not like they're one note or anything. Just... when you think of someone, you don't always think of their intricacies, just the parts of them that stand out. If that makes any sense." He's probably not the best to explain it. "I don't find the idea of following a god any less weird than the idea of following a leader of a nation or even an organization. So I just think of it like that. Again probably why I was bad at it. Cats are notoriously bad at listening to commands." Contrary for the sake of being contrary.

[5a Violista]

[Candlelit Kitchen]

In that case, making those glasses sounds like a really good idea.
And, to make sure the research doesn't go to waste, it could also be made to work in reverse, to give people the option to see the world in thermal vision just by wearing glasses. Seems like there's lots of situations that'd be useful.

"Yeah, those both sound fine." Beach date and fighting-monster date. "I'll come up with a time soon."

Anyway,
"I guess that makes sense?" she says. "Like, a soldier following a leader. Still feels a little weird."

She drinks a little. "It's okay, though. Cats are cute enough to make up for their disobedience." That's a well-known fact.

[Reinholdt]

[Candlelit Kitchen]

That would be handy.

"Gets even weirder when you've become friends with the god or goddess and sit and talk like we're doing now," Rein admits. Not that he did that much with the ones he briefly championed for.

"Are they now...?" Reinholdt smirks a little. "Well I guess that means the rules just don't apply to me huh?" He says as if he ever followed rules in his life to begin with. For instance, he finished his dinner first. Aren't you supposed to always let the other person finish first? Or at least slow down to match finishing times. A complete disregard for the foundations of society!

[5a Violista]

[Candlelit Kitchen]

"Yup. That's what it means," Carlie says, sounding like she's completely serious.

She puts one last bite of food into her mouth and sets her sliverware down. After chewing, she goes to the sink clears the rest of her plate using the disposal and rinsing. It's okay if Reinholdt doesn't follow the foundations of society, Carlie knows them adequately enough to improvise so they still finish at the same time.

All that's left is to clean up the pots, pans, leftovers, and deal with the candles, right?

Instead of that, Carlie goes over to Rein, to wrap an arm around him and kiss his cheek as a distraction so that she can take his empty plate away from him.

[Gullara]

[Fourth Tower Section]

"Perfecting my crafting used to satisfy me, yes." Dorota still sounds uncertain, but presses on, trying to express a dissatisfaction that's been gnawing at her. "It still does, but not as much as before. Not since I began thinking about divinity. It seemed to me like most of my people don't think about it much. To them, the gods just... were. Or had been. Many accepted their divine plan as just the way things were. They might not have liked it, but they didn't question it. It's not about outside validation, either. More like... trying to find a pattern to things. If there even is one."

[Fourth Tower Section]

Onyeka smiles. "In another reality you'd have been a fine member of the Tower. I do wish I had the ability to help you with your questions, though. We've yet to delve deeply into how our own talents interface with the cosmologies of other worlds." The young woman leans back and steeples her fingers over her lips. "While your gods might be an enigma to me, your alchemy does make me think of some concepts from our home. Perhaps there'd be something to gain from a collaboration."

[Fourth Tower Visit]

Dena puts away her phone. "Well, there's also two names which I'm already investigating. Arik Mithar and Ambrosia Ithil. They supposedly know much more more about Helios. The former is more difficult to find than the latter however."

[Fourth Tower Visit]

"I'm afraid these names have no meaning to me. I trust you don't expect us to investigate these people. I'd expect your organization is much more suited to that task."

[Morty]

[Fourth Tower Section]

Dorota quirks a smile as she's brought back to less lofty concerns.

"I'm flattered. And I'd be glad to cooperate on a goal more practical than hammering away at the gates of heaven. It's why we're here, isn't it? What were you reminded of, exactly?"

[Gullara]

[Fourth Tower Section]

"I didn't mean it to be a total shift in topic." Onyeka clarifies. "Your description of your craft reminded me of my own in a way. We're not just summoning spirits and monsters here. There are some writings from our order that describe every thing to have a core essence that defines it. For you and I it is the complicated tapestries of our souls, but for simple objects it's something much more rudimentary. There's some theories that you can take an object extract from it the very essence of itself."

[Shadowcaller]

[Fourth Tower Visit]

"I'm afraid these names have no meaning to me. I trust you don't expect us to investigate these people. I'd expect your organization is much more suited to that task."

[Fourth Tower Visit]

"We already are investigating them. But since you're insistent on getting all my information I'd figure I mentioned them just in case." A beat. "But are we done for now then?"

[Gullara]

[Fourth Tower Visit]

"I'd say we are. I'll be in touch as soon as we have the information you're after." Vax stands behind the desk. "I trust you know the way out."

[Morty]

[Fourth Tower Section]

Dorota considers it for a moment.

"Extracting essence of objects and people is something many alchemists have tried," she finally says. "I don't think it has ever worked, however. Some call it quintessence, based on the outdated idea that the world is composed of four elements and the soul is the 'fifth' one. I believe there's something to it, based on personal experience. At least for living beings. One of the books I read called it the 'Divine Fire'. But it's elusive and I only saw it work once, when my wife and I created our golem."

[Gullara]

[Fourth Tower Section]

Onyeka's eyebrows shoot up. "A golem? A being made of clay? You're saying this golem was given life with this divine fire?" Oh, Dorota absolutely has her interest now.

[Reinholdt]

[Candlelit Kitchen]

"Yup. That's what it means," Carlie says, sounding like she's completely serious.

She puts one last bite of food into her mouth and sets her sliverware down. After chewing, she goes to the sink clears the rest of her plate using the disposal and rinsing. It's okay if Reinholdt doesn't follow the foundations of society, Carlie knows them adequately enough to improvise so they still finish at the same time.

All that's left is to clean up the pots, pans, leftovers, and deal with the candles, right?

Instead of that, Carlie goes over to Rein, to wrap an arm around him and kiss his cheek as a distraction so that she can take his empty plate away from him.

[Candlelit Kitchen]

"Ah. Good for me?" Man, it's so much less fun when he has permission to break the rules. What's even the purpose at that point? Rein does his best to hide a gentle pout.

Oh right. And she's done as well. Which means standing and help-no. Apparently it means a warm hug and soft kiss that dispels his pout and makes him glow a little with warmth. And gives her the opportunity to sneak his plate away. Well fine. He'll let her steal from him, that's how much he likes and respects her. But she can't stop him from handling helping clean up by taking care of the candles.
...
Oh wait, gotta turn the lights back on first. That would have been a good thing to do before blowing them out, but it's exactly what Rein didn't do. Oops.
"Gah. Sorry," he apologizes, going very still as he allows his eyes adjust.

[Shadowcaller]

[Fourth Tower Visit]

"I'd say we are. I'll be in touch as soon as we have the information you're after." Vax stands behind the desk. "I trust you know the way out."

[Fourth Tower Visit]

"Yep, I'll see myself out. Just contact me on my number if there's anything." It can be assumed that Vax give Dena some kind of contact information so she wouldn't need to travel to HALO again if there was anything. Dena would have given Vax her number.

[5a Violista]

[Candlelit Kitchen]

"Only on weekends, though," Carlie quickly adds - she saw his reaction but pretends like she didn't; she instead rinses the dish. "No amount of cuteness can let you get away with rulebreaking on weekdays. Sorry, but that's just how it works."

After the lights go out, she says, "It's okay. I can still see." She pauses, then clarifies: "Things still have heat, after all."

Eventually, I'm sure they'll have everything put away and sneaks over to him to ensnare him in a hug from behind. "So all I really had planned was a candlelit dinner," she says.

[Morty]

[Fourth Tower Section]

"That is correct... or rather, what I believe given what happened." Dorota isn't surprised to see Onyeka's interest. It was something of a miracle. "I had created Sizewell from clay, using advanced alchemical processes and rare materials, but to truly animate him I needed a spark of life. Something the material I had referred to as the Divine Fire. How I obtained it... well, that's a little personal. I went on a spiritual journey of sorts with my wife. As I understand it, there's no one way to obtain this spark, so every golem is different."

[Gullara]

[Fourth Tower Section]

"Fascinating. I've love to see this golem. I'm sure everyone here would. Granting true life, and not just an ego, is almost unheard of where I come from. It's something I've only read about in theory. If what you say is true it'd be remarkable to observe." Onyeka pauses very briefly and them makes a warding motion with her hands. "Not that I don't believe you. I was taught to be a skeptic." She laughs.