Time Rift

[hasbeendispatched]

All irregularities will be handled by the forces controlling each dimension. Transuranic heavy elements may not be used where there is life. Medium atomic weights are available: Gold, Lead, Copper, Jet, Diamond, Radium, Sapphire, Silver and Steel. Sapphire and Steel have been assigned.

The two Elements resolve themselves in a span of verdant forest. In one direction, waves crash against a shoreline which is too much a line to be natural. In another, a jagged rift of oily black and red absolutely reeks time disturbance, mayhem creeping through it like tentacles -- Sapphire can feel the fabric of time tugged in that direction as it whizzes like a spindle out of control, tugging a thread to unravel.

Bizarre, Sapphire comments. We are very far from home. This is a young place.

This is out of control. Operatives should have been sent much sooner, Steel replies, striding towards the monstrosity.

The earth shakes, suddenly, making the trees sway and creak. Steel remains stock-still, feet firmly planted, but Sapphire stumbles and nearly falls before Steel extends a hand to catch her.

It's very strong, Steel, she sends, pressed against his side. We must find the source of the disturbance.

Comments

[sturdycoldsteel]

There's... Something, stumbling along over there, towards the rift. A vaguely humanoid shape, but too big, and disproportional. It's covered in - blood?

[steelyglance]

Your problem, Steel tells Sapphire.

[hasbeendispatched]

Sapphire walks cautiously towards the shape.

She's in a forest, wearing a bright blue evening gown. She's probably pretty noticeable.

[sturdycoldsteel]

When it notices her, the shape makes a gurgling sound halfway between 'in pain' and 'angry' and starts running toward her.

It's surprisingly fast. And the fact that time is running faster the closer you get to that black-and-red thing is helping it advance on Sapphire very quickly. It's even more grotesque up close, like someone particularly violent took a human, played with it for a while, and covered it in someone else's oozing, pus-like blood for good measure.



(Someone wearing a solid shell of rocks and gems is flying towards the area, but is probably too far away to help immediately.)

[hasbeendispatched]

Elemental powers are useful at times like this. That water over in the other direction is nice and blue. Sapphire is going to stop being here and go be over there for a while.

Poof.

Steel, I think this is more of a you problem.

[sturdycoldsteel]

Flying-rocks-person shoots out a very thin line of fire from one hand. It neatly bisects the monster, which then does something between exploding and dissolving. And also travels backwards in time to where it was about an hour ago.

This person shouts words down at them. The words are not in any language they know.

[hasbeendispatched]

None of this was in the mission briefing!

The human tech must be the source of the problem, Sapphire tells Steel, waving back at flying-rocks person. Out loud, she calls "Do you speak English?"

[sturdycoldsteel]

Judging by the fact that she tries half a dozen obviously distinct languages then resorts to gestures and... Illusions of some kind, the answer is 'no'.

The illusions show a little map with perfectly triangular sections of forest, mountain, ocean... And a few sickly looking red-black gashes like the one on the far side of this forest. There's also a bunch of caricatures of that monster and ones like it attacking caricatures of Steel and Sapphire. 'It's dangerous here, run away'.

[hasbeendispatched]

Sapphire doesn't speak any of those languages, but she has a few tricks of her own. She reaches back in time and tugs forward a white shawl she was wearing a few weeks ago, then holds it in front of her as a canvas and sends sparkling blue figures dancing across it.

She copies the stranger's triangles, sending them spreading across the fabric, then adds gashes in a darker blue. A sketchy Sapphire and Steel approach; the small Sapphire reaches out her hand, and the gashes recede.

[steelyglance]

Steel, meanwhile, has chosen a more direct approach, and is headed straight for the gash.

[sturdycoldsteel]

The gash is on the other side of a fairly extensive forest, he'll have to walk a little while. Oh, and there's more monsters that way.

Whatever these people are, they're not from around here. That's not how it works! She shakes her head and shows two squares, each identically forest-forest-mountain-mountain for their triangles, and latches them together three times. Forest touching forest: OK. Mountain touching mountain: OK. Forest touching mountain: Bloody-oily gash.

Her original map gets animated addenda of this rock-person clearing out everyone nearby, then smashing all the squares away, leaving a big hole in the map.

(The earth shakes again.)

[steelyglance]

Steel does not have a problem with monsters! He keeps heading off that way.

Hurry up with the human. I want you to find out how the acceleration and loop are interacting.

[hasbeendispatched]

Sapphire thinks the smashing thing is fairly concerning. Catching herself on a tree to keep from falling, she waits for the earthquake to stop and then points at the illusion, frowns, shakes her head. No destroying reality. No. Bad.

[sturdycoldsteel]

Another monster has noticed Steel. This one looks more putrid and slimy than bloody. It launches sizzling green balls of fluid toward him every few seconds. It doesn't have very good aim.


...Does it help if Mountain makes the map three dimensional, shows the squares falling away and then mimes replacing destroyed bits with new squares that don't have the gashes?

[hasbeendispatched]

Noooooope. Sapphire's overall pretty concerned about this.

...how old is this human, anyway? Sapphire takes a good look with her time-sense.

[steelyglance]

Steel ignores the monster, but finds the time dilation as he approaches the rift unpleasant. He stops where he is for the moment.

Hurry, Sapphire.

[sturdycoldsteel]

This... 'Human' is about one hundred and forty five years old.

The earth shakes again, just lightly this time, but she finds it very concerning. She shakes her head and opens up an unobtrusive little bag, tossing a bracelet with a stylized bird's wing as the centerpiece to Sapphire. Another one gets floated over to hover in front of Steel.

[hasbeendispatched]

They have life extension technology, Steel, and I think something that can cause breaks in Time.

There is no way Sapphire is touching that bracelet.

[steelyglance]

The briefing said 1975. That's a significant anachronism. Occupy her until I get there.

Steel also ignores the bracelet and heads back towards the others, having satisfied his curiosity about the rift.

[hasbeendispatched]

Yes, Steel, I know.

[sturdycoldsteel]

Fine. If the square falls, she can swoop down and catch them. They're the only ones stupid enough to be near a mature rift so she won't have a hard time plucking them from the void. Those flight bracelets will continue to follow them until picked up or otherwise interfered with.

She ascends a little bit and pulls out her earlier map and resumes doing the math for her cascade simulation. There's almost no people within ten tiles, but it's best if the destruction is minimized nonetheless. (She absently lances a ghost-like thing with fire, resetting its loop.)

[steelyglance]

Steel jogs back up to Sapphire and takes her hand to show her the information he gleaned from the rift.

[sturdycoldsteel]

Rocksuit person says something else to them, then sighs.

The math says that if she starts replacing tiles it'll cause an unacceptable amount of cascading. Ugh. Who was shortsighted enough to let two adjacent rifts fester, with half a dozen more sitting within a few tiles, anyway? Her money is on either Tenno or Ysender.

She'll have to shore up surrounding tiles before cascading this place. She should probably keep an eye on those two weirdos while doing planning it out.

[steelyglance]

...I don't think that's a good idea, Sapphire...

[hasbeendispatched]

Yes, but I do. It didn't look like she caused the time problems.

"Hallo!" Sapphire calls upwards, waving at the flying human.