middleofsomewhere | Under the Sea: Conclusion and aftermath

Ritual

The jellyfish is no more and as red team take stock of their injuries, or collapse from exhaustion the lights zip around them, singing their song of joy. They gather around the light that had been inside the jellyfish and now that it has been released it is obvious this light is different. Stronger. They surround it and the song gets even louder as they begin to move towards the plinth.

In the caverns where the purple and orange team are there is a stillness. For those in orange team still in the cavern they can only hope that the instructions they gave out had been followed. Luckily for them they have been, Purple team have done a remarkable job of defeating the crabs and cleaning the temple. The priests gather around the shell on the alter, arms linked together in prayer as they seek to re-sanctify their temple. As their prayer begins they will invite the voidtreckers to join them, though no one is forced into taking part in the ritual. They suggest that they use their strange wrist jewellery to open communication with their friends in Bui.

The monster on the beach is defeated and though the fight is still raging against the crabs, a beacon has been built and lit. The islanders who are not fighting gather around it, linking arms, drawing any voidtreckers who don't object to joining them into the circle.

The song begins hesitantly, almost as if everyone has forgotten the words and only half remembers the tune. The SCA translates, the prayer is simple, a blessing on the land and its people, deliverance from the darkness and hope for the future.

The light from the jellyfish reaches the plinth and is set upon it. The song heightens and the light shoots upwards, blinding in its brilliance.

Through the dark storm clouds a light streams towards the island, most of it towards the beacon on the island though there is a break away light that goes towards the train, where some of orange team have set up a second beacon. It swirls around those on the train roof, singing a song of happiness and bounces back towards the island.

The light reaches the main beacon and hits it with a strength that lights up the whole sky. The light splits more solidly into two and speeds off over the ocean. Light pours into the underground caverns, not caring about the ocean and rock in the way, the light pools into the shells, the caverns glow warmly.

Outside the storm calms, clouds roll back, the sun shines. The sea stills. The wind stops. The sun is rising, a beautiful dawn. Any monsters left scuttle away, vanishing into the ocean, away from Bui.

Those with any powers that they couldn't reach before find them returned in a rush. Those who can sense life find this world teeming with it. A song that dances between every plant and creature.

Some of red may have evacuated to the train but those who stayed to see the ritual through, the world around them seems to melt away and they find themselves back next to the rock pools. Among their number there are some confused looking islanders who intrinsically draw closer to those who helped free the lights.

Orange and Purple

Down underwater there's noise and a babble of voices as the citizens of Bui wake up. There's a shimmering around the city now, like a shield though they can pass through easily. Parents scramble to locate their children and all check on loved ones and friends.

The familiar voice of train announcements is heard through Orange team's SCAs. Orange return to the VoidTrecker Express. Once everyone is on board it flies low over the ocean, skimming the waves.

In the underwater temple the priests finish sealing the ritual and then it is time to begin the return trek. There are no monsters this time and after a few hours, as they emerge onto the first of the sandbanks they will find the VoidTrecker Express is waiting for them.

Red and Blue

The monsters gone, those of the island gather everyone from the rock pools and for a few hours everyone sleeps.

At about noon the islanders begin to stir, begin putting things to rights. Wood is moved from the strategic points to more communal campfires on the beach. Any dead monsters that haven't been gathered for food have been washed out to sea, disappeared into the depths. They begin to prepare food and won't turn away any helpers. Though those who have been fighting are encouraged to rest.

The islanders bring blankets and start to gather. Everyone is exhausted but the children, in the way of children find the energy to play in the sea and the sand.

Beach Day

Early afternoon the train lands on the beach and everyone gets a holographic message to their SCA.

Mission successful. Well done Voidtreckers. Enjoy the rest of your day. You will find suitable clothing in the dressing room. A new recipe has been added to the kitchen information points.

The dressing room is indeed open once more, this time it holds swimsuits of every style, shorts, t shirts, wraps and beach skirts. Sun hats and sunglasses can also be found. It's a bit of a mush mash but they should be able to cobble together something other than their uniform wet suits.

Time to laze around on the beach or for those who still have energy swim or play. A few hours later a ripple across the water brings some of those from Bui and they swim or lounge on rocks to talk.

Food and stories

Food is cooked and shared, the islanders will happily try the voidtreckers' offerings and share their own. As the sun begins to set they gather around the fires. Stories and songs are shared and there's even some dancing for the brave.

Voidtreckers can choose whether to sleep in their own beds or spend one last night on the island before the train flies off into the sunrise and into the void.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Marshmallow? I've never had that before, what is it?"

"It's a dessert, usually made from sugar, water and gelatin. It can be used as a filling in baking, but it is popular to mold it into a shape and coat it with corn starch. At campfires people like to put them on sticks and roast them over the fire. It softens the inside and caramelizes the outside."

Conan rattles all of that off without pausing to think.

Alice blinked a bit owlishly and then back towards the little marshmallow. The more he rattled on, the more Alice became lost on the whole thing. She sighed and pressed her lips together resting her chin in her palm.

"Does this dessert have a name?" she sighed.

"Roasted marshmallows, I suppose. But its called s'mores if you make it into a sandwich with graham crackers and chocolate. Belatedly, Conan recognizes that expression. It was one he got rather a lot, usually just after he'd gone into far much detail on a topic.

Alice would apologize for her expression if she knew he was upset. She supposes she's grateful for his explanation, she would have asked about all that in any case.

But that is neither here nor there. She gave a small nod.

"I've never had either... if I ask you if you've had either, you're not going to go into a history about it, are you?"

He wasn't upset, just resigned. He was a walking encyclopedia of knowledge on all kinds of obscure topics. It was hard to remember that most people didn't want to know everything about a topic.

He makes a face at the question. "Of course not. I only go into detail like that on facts. I'm a detective, so its important to know lots of things about all kinds of topics."

"You're a detective?" she looked him up and down, tilting her head. "Exactly why do you need to know so much about all sorts of things? Isn't it better to know all about how to read people?"

"Reading people is important, but it is also important to know lots of information about lots of different things. A detective should be able to walk into a room and immediately figure out what is out of place or doesn't belong. And the best way to do that is to know the way things should be."

"How do you mean?" Alice had never encountered a detective before, so the logic was somewhat hard to follow.

Conan frowns in thought. He'd spent so much of his life within the world of detectives and detective novels that it was difficult to explain what seemed so obvious to him.

"Think of it like this," he says at last. "A crime is committed by someone. The culprit doesn't want to be caught, so they try and hide the evidence of the crime. Sometimes they create fake evidence so that the police will think that the crime was done by someone else. But no matter what they do, the truth is still hidden there. It is a detective's job to know what everything should look like, so they can figure out what is missing or shouldn't be there."

He frowns as he tries to think of an example that didn't involve murder.

"For example, lets say that some of the evidence of the crime was in a picture hanging on the wall. The culprit would remove the photo to keep the police or the detective from knowing it was there. But when a photo hangs on the wall for a long time it leaves a mark there from where it prevented sunlight from reaching the wall. If you pay close attention, you can see where something has been removed. So a detective would ask who would benefit from removing the photo and where it is now, and that becomes the key to solving the case."

Under the Sea: Conclusion and aftermath

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