belatedly

[malnosso]

[and then the button is pressed]

Ah- testing, testing. Okay, it looks like we're good to go.

Yes? I think? Yes. Right.

Attention, residents of Luceti! There was... a bit of a mix-up. Sorry. You've probably all been wondering what's going on out there, aren't you? I mean, aside from what you've figured out yourselves. Well, The World of Their Future Organization is here to help!

...That's what we're called. I mean. For those who don't remember or haven't heard. It's a thing. You know, I never really understood that name until now? Because it never existed except that it's been around for hundreds of years? Time travel is so weird.

Anyway, this was supposed to be conveyed to you, like, forever ago, but then things got crazy busy and a couple of things were... overlooked? By someone. I mean. It's a big world, things happen.

But this is from Romaeus! For real! Aaaaand... go! What button is-- oh.

----

Greetings, residents of Luceti. I'll warn you ahead of time that the following message is pre-recorded, as I am currently on an expedition of sorts. It could be months before I return to the village [edit: it's been three so far!] and rather than leaving you all in the dark, I'd prefer to be able to convey some information immediately. [edit: or not! sorry!!]

As you've likely already deduced, the mission was a success. The cultists have been all but eliminated, General Theo saved, and the organization known as Malnosso never formed. I'm not generally one for dispensing praise, but in this instance it is deserved. Well done, you saved the world.

The main benefit of this turn of events is that it gained us several hundred years worth of resources and time not spent on fighting murderous cultists, as well as the vast majority of manpower we lost to the army or through sacrifices. With the information you brought to my past self, the progress made at this point before your venture was nothing compared to where we are now.

I will be blunt: we are going home. We're not there yet, and it's not likely to be easy, but we will succeed this time. This eternal cycle will end.

For the sake of protecting this project from outside interference, I can't share all the details yet. What I can say is that there isn't much time. A few months, perhaps. [edit: it's been three!] We're so close.

What weaknesses you have now, physical, emotional, mental- anything you struggle with. Develop them. Surpass them. They will be targeted. This could be the difference between life and an endless death for you all. Or, perhaps more importantly, the difference between remaining here forever or going home.

I can't give you an exact answer for when this will occur, but be prepared. And whatever business you wish to conclude in this place, do it soon. There may be no coming back.


----

Okay, here's a more up-to-date message. I'm sure Mr. Romaeus didn't know that we'd get such a big influx of newcomers, but wow, did we ever! It's been happening all over the world, in every enclosure we've got. Stragglers still appearing out in the world have been in danger of Natural Shifts, so Shift experimentation has been pretty much halted since it all started. All our manpower has been funneled to search and rescue, supply distribution, and trying to figure out just what the heck is going on. It's been a very busy couple of months!

The running theory right now is that whatever Mr. Romaeus is doing has triggered something within the planet that reversed all the Shifts we created to send people home in the first place. They used to reverse themselves at random before, because we hadn't found a permanent solution yet, but it's normally scattered and a lot slower. This was like - bam! - suddenly everybody's back. Nobody saw it coming. We're taking it as a good sign, since I don't think it would've happened if we weren't making progress, but... yeah. Downside being we're totally overloaded, now. Hundreds of years worth of sendbacks and they're all here again...

Anyway, we're a lot better off now! Which is why we're trying to get back on track with you guys. Like Mr. Romaeus said up there, you guys must have questions and he's set up a bunch of pre-recorded answers via ANI. I'll handle whatever he didn't anticipate and get a proper answer to anything we don't have immediate information for as soon as possible. Sound fair?

Comments

[biophilia]

How-- specific can you be about "targeted"?

[malnosso]

Think of it as a very specific Shift. Sometimes they change you physically, or emotionally, or whatever- but they're often pretty random, right? They're annoying but a lot of the time they're just kind of inconvenient.

This is different. This is like... knowingly hitting you where it hurts. So if you work on those targets you've got in you, try to develop yourself so it hurts less, you'll be a lot better off.

1/2

[biophilia]

[invisibly, on the other side of the journal, Ginko closes his eyes]

Ah.

[biophilia]

I can see how that would affect us individually, but how would it impact the whole endeavor?-- "endless death", he said.

[malnosso]

If our failure is widespread, then this world gets to keep us. We live here, we die here. By endless death, it's... well, the life and death and rebirth cycle here, basically. When you die, you lose something. Die again, and you lose more. The more you die, the less of you comes back. But it's not like you ever stop dying. There's always a little more to take from you.

That's what "endless death" is.

[biophilia]

Mm. [Somewhere, in the darker corners of that labyrinthine mental encyclopedia of mushi and their effects, he's heard of a fate not unlike this. Nothing new under the sun, eh?]

And there's no more specific way to prepare for this shift than-- [Armchair psychology? Positive thinking? Medicine? A good night's sleep?] -- staying wary?

[In a sense, that's all he's done his entire life; no weakness left unturned or unchallenged, if not by himself than by circumstance. He can't imagine he's the only one. There's some godlike willpower to contend with, in this village. Luffy, amusingly, comes to mind. As sickening as the thought of such an incisive kind of torment is (and he knows exactly what stop thinking about it), especially suffered by loved ones, friends-- the threat isn't overwhelming.]

[malnosso]

We can't really tell you what to do because it would vary a lot from person to person. One might get stronger through meditating because their weakness is lack of focus. Someone else might be physically weak so they can start training themselves to be stronger. Maybe your weakness is smoking and you have to quit! ...That's probably not it, but you know. There's options.

I'd focus on the big ones, though. They'll hit you hardest.

1/2

[biophilia]

[tightly] I can imagine.

[biophilia]

[a heavy exhale.

It's still instinctive not to trust. But he's been listening to the other conversations.]

Thanks for the brave face. Not the kind of exchange I'm used to, so far as memory can be trusted. [It's too easy to forget we're not alone in this.]

[malnosso]

Ah... I can't say much about that, I'm afraid. I don't remember what it used to be like at all! But the impression I'm getting, and the research I've done, shows that we weren't that pleasant to work with. I'm hoping to change some opinions, even with what little time we probably have left. Mending bridges and all that!

[biophilia]

[after a long pause] You said "our" failure.

[malnosso]

O-oh, did I? What of it?

[biophilia]

Seemed to imply you'd be apart of the same targeted shift.

[malnosso]

Well... yes. Many of us will be joining you on the expedition, to assist, run the equipment and additional tests, as well as get ourselves home, too. Whatever your fate will be, we'll share it.

[biophilia]

I see.

[It's funny, for all that he learned in Luceti-past, he thinks this is the most like a village Luceti has ever been]

Mending bridges, huh? [Suspicion or no--] There are a lot of strong wills in this place. [Including the many presently expressing themselves as anger and frustration...] Enough to hope.

[malnosso]

I think so, too. Luceti has... well, it's always been something of a favourite. Many of you were specifically hand-picked and given access to this enclosure because of the kind of people you are- not because you're strong, or super-powered, or smart, though you all have your own gifts, of course. It's just that there's... something very special about each and every one of you. And you've changed the world, whether any of us remember it or not.

It's an honour, getting to work with you all.

[biophilia]

Somehow, that's not a surprise. [quietly, almost kindly, for all the racket of suspicion] And I could say the same.

[the thin sound of wind, blowing over the pages. It's cold, to hold the book open like this, standing in an unsheltered space. He'd only meant to check--

This has changed his perception of the time-travel changes entirely. Maybe every person outside deserved the chance to live their life without the shadow of war. Maybe that wasn't a cheat, at all-- just mercy.

Having your life handed back to you.

Time...]

Eh, I-- [uncharacteristically, he hesitates] -- you just said [to Katara-- he can feel his heart rate increasing; it isn't the whip of cold air] that preserving our memories was a priority.

That could result in some serious changes.

[ Unimaginable ]

[ Unimaginable changes ]

[malnosso]

Yes... that is a risk, unfortunately. We don't know what will happen if we go back and our minds still contain the memories of this place, or what we might have learned about our worlds, or our future...

But what can we do? If we let the memories be removed as usual, there'd be such a public outcry. Even now, with the possibility of losing those memories, we're getting requests - demands, even! - that the problem be resolved. It was such a world-wide issue that as an organization we finally decided that if people want to remember everything then we'll give them the choice to do so. If there are consequences afterwards, they can deal with them on their own.

I'm sorry, that sounds cold, doesn't it? The intent is to offer everyone the free will to decide for themselves, whether it's what's best for them or their worlds. That's really all we can do.