malnosso | belatedly

[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?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ ... They did it?

He's not sure what to feel. He'll feel something in a long moment. But for now, a lingering something is crawling in him. He did swear to see this through to the end, and to accept the end. But while he and his are prepared for this, he wants to at least brush on something else ]

The rules are different for people -- ah, beings -- without wings, right?

Hmm... do you mean creatures brought in from off-world who are unaffected by Shifts? I... to be honest, no one really gives them much thought. Not that they don't matter - they certainly do, I have a flying ferret at home - they just haven't been a priority to the science teams.

I believe that as they are drawn in by the residents of the worlds they come from, once those people are no longer on this world, the creatures will go back, as well since there'll be nothing to keep them here. Does that help?

Some of them are born here too though, right? I've seen plenty of birds lay eggs here, for example. Does it apply over generations...?

Ah, but of course that might not have been studied. [ He does clarify, to try to be polite to this person, who is no doubt having a rough time ] What you already said is helpful already.

Yes, there have been generations brought up in this place over the years. There's an entire continent populated by species that never existed naturally here! It's amazing.

You're correct, though- we haven't been studying that much. The running theory is that one of two things could happen: one, their birth here means they're connected to this world instead of anywhere else, or two, their connection to their parents would draw them to their home world in the same way.

It might just be wishful thinking, but we're all kind of leaning on the second option. But wingless creatures live much more natural lives here- they die and don't come back for whatever reason- so it wouldn't be as terrible if they couldn't go back.

Connection to their parents... huh? [ He hums a little. So that means that Linda stands a strong chance of going to that Pokémon world she's never known. And you know what... maybe that's best. Even if she came to Tokyo with him, she would end up in world made of tissue paper whilst being a bull. He drums his fingers a little ]

That's a very sincere answer there. I hope things work out for your ferret too - it'd be a shame if you lost them.

Thank you, I hope so too. I'm sure that if they're raised well, wherever the animals go, they'll find a place they can be happy. Try not to worry!

In my case, she's my partner. [ He says that quickly, because she can't... not worry. He can't even fairly call her an animal, or that she -- ... he supposes he did raise her. He swallows ] But yeah, no point in doing it before I know what's what.

Ah... I'm sorry, then. I'm sure that must be especially hard. I wish you and she all the best, whatever happens.

Thank you. [ A beat, and then he snickers ] I know it's small potatoes as compared to the winged people born here.

Haha, that's... yes, that's very true. I can't imagine trying to convince someone that a pet carries the same value as their child or something. Even if some people treat their pets as kids.

It'll be strange, won't it, if all of those kids go to the worlds of their ancestors. There's got to be generations of... ah, actually, are they still called Lucies? I know that was a thing, I never knew why, in the old world.

They have all sorts of names in different enclosures, actually. A whole section of the science division calls them Bigwigs! You know, because of- the wings. Big wings. It's a pun or something.

But yeah, there's a lot of them... we don't even have a full count, since there's people living outside the enclosures who are, um, breeding.

Oh, so I'll never get to know? Bummer.

[ Outside the enclosures? Huh. ]

belatedly

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