[Locked to Luceti Residents]

[malnosso]

My dear people of Luceti --

An invasion, all under the guise of a fantasy. What’s been done will not be forgotten. Certainly not by you, and not by the denizens of a dozen other enclosures who suffered similar attacks at the same time. As we speak, programmers and engineers hard at work combing through the barrier’s nuts and bolts. If the Cultists and his Lordship exploited some natural weakness in the dome, they will find it. Patch it up. Curious, isn’t it, that the Count chose yours to invade with his own two feet?

But there are other matters to discuss. I spoke with some of you only a few months ago. Let me announce more completely what I, back then, only intimated. I’m Carol, and I intend to spend some time in our little town. If you like, you can consider my resolve to continue my work here a sign of good faith. I remain unarmed and -- I assure you -- wholly peaceable. In this way, I hope I may have faith in you as well. After all, we are kin in a strange kind of way.

It is my duty -- as well as my pleasure -- to be Luceti’s liaison with the Organization. You must have many questions, concerns, and many many curses. Bring them to me, and we’ll see what can be done. We can talk here. But if any of you find the journals distasteful, you can also come have a seat with me at the sweet little tea shop. I’ll be there for the afternoon.

[As usual, this voiced post has a neatly typed 'written' section as well.

A thread with CJ can be found here.]

Comments

[liaising]

Oh! Good. I was hoping to be recognizable, but that can be a difficult thing when there are so many people I haven't met yet. And you are...?

[yourfononsarewhack]

Colonel Jade Curtiss. [He says as he reaches to adjust his glasses.] There truly must be an abundance of inhabitants if you haven't been able to memorize us all by now. [He tries to be relatively civil and cordial. He needs information, after all.]

[liaising]

My aim is not to memorize, Colonel. But to learn. And I find that learning is best done in person.

[yourfononsarewhack]

Oh? [That gets an amused smirk out of him.] I suppose that's one preference that we have in common. [And more than he really expected from the Malnosso.]

But I'm sorry to say that I'm not much of a teacher. [In that he's good at keeping his true thoughts and feelings concealed.]

[liaising]

I'm sure we have much more in common than you might expect.

[yourfononsarewhack]

Unless, of course, I already expect it. [He just says just a bit lightly while keeping up his formal air.] But talking around it will do us little good. Why don't we talk business? [Inwardly he immediately questions his word choice just because of something so minor. He remembers the other week - when talking business meant something so different. When he was a frivolous aristocrat. But he shoves that thought to the side - it's unimportant in light of what this conversation could hold.]

[liaising]

..And what is your business, Colonel?

[yourfononsarewhack]

I'm here to discuss our little invasion, of course. I'm afraid that your journal message did not contain nearly enough detail for my liking.

[liaising]

What is it you wish to know? Be warned, of course, that I am a...civil servant, of sorts. And hardly a great military leader. I may not have the answers you seek.

[yourfononsarewhack]

Let's not be so down on ourselves. I'm sure your answers will be helpful in some extent. [He pauses as he receives his tea.] Actually, before I start asking you questions relating to the enclosure-wide situation as a whole, perhaps you'll have an easier time with this one. What were your whereabouts during this invasion?

[liaising]

[A nervous chuckle.]

Honestly, Colonel? I was supposed to be here. There are only a very few reasons which allow a liaison to excuse herself from duty. A death in the family, an official subpoena, or for summits and meetings on matters pertaining to her assignment's well-being.

[yourfononsarewhack]

I see. As grim as some of those choices may be, it certainly sounds like a fortunate convenience at your part. A liaison wouldn't have been particularly effective in that instance, regardless. [His light smile fades as he goes on.]

However... The greater Malnosso forces could have been. That leads me to a larger question. How was this invasion able to not only infiltrate this barrier, but hold power over us for over a whole week without any outside Malnosso intervention?

[liaising]

...Perhaps you aren't familiar with the man they call the Count? I'm afraid he was uniquely positioned to plan an attack such as this, having once been a very prominent figure in the Organization.

[yourfononsarewhack]

You're referring to the man who was Lord Mayor of that delusional dream-land? [Zompano. The man who killed Jade. Or would have, were it not for his fake daughter's tears.] I've read what little the Guide has on him. However, him being associated with the Third Party would be news to me.

[liaising]

...It was news to us, too. It was news to me.

[yourfononsarewhack]

I suggest that your corporation keeps better track of its former employees. Am I to assume that it's because of his involvement that the Malnosso were unable to send us any cavalry within an entire week or has that half of question officially been dodged?

[liaising]

I suggested much the same, Colonel, upon the discovery of the Count's changed allegiances. [ ... ] As for the delays? The answer is hauntingly simple. Luceti was not the only enclosure targeted.

[yourfononsarewhack]

Ah, yes. So they couldn't quite pick an enclosure to help first over all that time. If I recall correctly, you mentioned on the journal that they were all subjected to a fantasy similar to our own.

[liaising]

Decisions must be made. Luceti, you may already know, has proved herself over and over again. There were younger enclosures involved in the attack with less of a chance for survival. [Her sweetness and diplomacy here -- for just a moment -- turns wry. As if she sees some nature in this man to which she can appeal.] Luceti is in the midst of great growing pains. Hold her hand, and she clamours for more freedom. Let her be, and she demands to know why she was not saved first.

[yourfononsarewhack]

[He raises an eyebrow and gives his own wryness.]

Oh? Am I the entire enclosure, now? And here I thought those reckless days of adolescence were far behind me. Of course, I'd classify my statements as inquiries rather than demands. And I admit that said decisions sound tactically sound. We were able to pull through by ourselves, after all. At the same time, I only would have been comfortable with this independence to fight the Cultists if I was in my proper state of mind. My altered self... [He frowns dismissively.] well, he couldn't quite make the cut in terms of an effective counter-strike.

[liaising]

You mistake me, Colonel. I speak of those who have already spoken to me. It is, it seems, a common opinion.

[yourfononsarewhack]

It sounds like it could be. I can't deny that a number of the populace could slot into that opinion. [He folds his hands together.] Still, I take it that your own opinion is of a more positive nature?

[liaising]

I would not be here if it wasn't. Luceti is -- ah, let's see. I'm very fond of the place, you see.

[yourfononsarewhack]

That's mildly flattering. How long have you been here?

[liaising]

In this world? Twenty years. Since I was a little girl.