Ongoing: All Teams

[voidtreckermods]

The first few days are taken up with solving the problems in the various sectors, all the while getting closer to their goal. The Great-Winter, Great-Summer, Great-Spring and Great Autumn.

On Day 9 of the month of Jelly they will see on their map a clear indicator of where to go. As they draw near it will be obvious what they are looking for.

The Overseers

In the centre of each of the sectors there is a large metal tube, hundreds of pipes lead from it, spanning up to the ceiling above and down below, creating a field of pipes and tubes to clamber over and crawl under to reach the central tube. On the tube itself there is a panel, wrapping around it in a circle. The SCA's of the Voidtrecker show an exclamation mark, if they click on them they will see the message.

Reach the panel, enter the inner systems and give your aid.

As Voidtreckers step towards the tubes it will seem as if the world shifts around them. Instead of metal and wire they will see trees. The Great-Spring is a tree in blossom, pink leaves spreading up across the canopy. Great-Summer has strong green leaves, Great_Autumns leaves are brown and falling and Great-Winter has no leaves at all.

The panel is still there, the only part of the scene that doesn't look organic. As the Voidtreckers move towards their goal the tree begins to move, branches fighting against those trying to get through the roots. The aim seems to be to push intruders away, going as far as flinging them back with higher branches.

The branches aren't the only security measures in place. As they push forwards they will find creatures coming at them from the trees.

Strangely the creatures look like creatures from their own worlds, any creature they would expect to see in a tree. Regardless of species they attack with claws and with lazers from their eyes. They don't move far from the branches, but try and stop invaders from getting close to the trunk.

For those that get through they will find that as they draw close to the 'trunk' the attacks stop, as if they have reached an eye of a storm.

Going Further

The panel is a simple glowing screen, there are no instructions but their SCA's will beep softly and if they press their SCA to the panel they will find everything vanishes, the trees, branches and weird animals.

Or perhaps it is they themselves that vanish as they find themselves in a large white room, everyone is together here. No matter what sector they had travelled through and which overseer they entered through.

There are four tubes filled with liquid, pink, green, orange and white towering over them.

"Our systems have been compromised." The four voices ring out. "Heal what has been harmed, destroy what should not be here. Find the source and purge it from our world."

The overseers and the room vanish and the voidtreckers find themselves in a forest, a forest that is slowly being choaked by red sickly vines.

The Voidtreckers themselves will find themselves looking different, almost like the hard-light holograms of the Helpmates though they certainly feel like themselves. They are carrying a sturdy stick but nothing else and depending how imaginative they are will quickly find they can alter their appearance to fit their wishes.

Heal and Destroy

The voidtreckers will find themselves drawn towards the vines, if they touch them they will be able to soothe, a glowing blue light from their hands that runs down the vine before it fades away, freeing the trees that it held in its chokehold.

There are many pathways, many vines and it will be a long task to clear it all. It is not long also before the first threats find them. Threats that look like mongeese, small creatures that will lunge at them, teeth bared and claws out.

Luckily the Voidtreckers will quickly learn the ability to soothe is not the only power gifted to them.

On the Outside

For anyone who does not enter through the panel it will seem like their fellow Voidtreckers have entered a deep trance. The area they are sat around the tree is calm, no threats enter there. But outside that area there are still threats, the branches attack, the animals attack and sometimes Helpmates try to evict those they see from the area, claiming it 'restricted.'

Comments

[subcircuits]

Devero turns back and takes in the changes. It's a little strange seeing him in anything but those flowing, off-white robes he's used to. "Huh! Is this the uniform you wore when you were still in training? At--" He lifts his left hand, unthinkingly starting to check in his files to make sure he has the name right, then gets distracted when nothing happens.

...Right. Not his real Interface. He purses his lips and drops the hand again.

"--the mountain temple?" (Nailed it.)

He notices the absence of the chakra last, and leans in for a closer look at Koumyou's forehead as soon as he does. "Your thing is gone!"

Super nailing it.

[its_dad_sanzo]

"Yes! The black belt marked me as a member of the first squad, otherwise it's the same as all the students wore there."

Koumyou even gives a spin, showing off the grey gi with its spiraling black design on his left shoulder.

But that last comment makes the priest blink up at Devero in confusion.

"My... thing is gone?"

What? What thing?

"Should... should I be... concerned?"

[subcircuits]

He cups Koumyou's cheek high and runs his thumb lightly across the smooth middle of his forehead. "Your thing here," he says. "I'm sorry, I know you've told me what it's called, but it's escaping me right now. The red thing. You didn't always have it?"

[its_dad_sanzo]

Koumyou blinks almost owlishly up at him through his short, neat bangs. And then reaches up to feel his own forehead, visibly surprised to not have that hard half-circle affixed there.

"...Huh! No, of course not."

Duh. Why would he have always had it?

But his smooth and unbroken forehead skin is so, so weird. After decades with the marking...

"I didn't have one until I became Koumyou. The chakra marks me as... approved by the Gods as a Sanzo priest. They put it there. It's equally as holy as the sutras I guarded."

Which is probably part of why his appearance bothers Natsuno so much even when he puts the Seiten away, out of sight.

But now there's magic nerdery to be had, and he muses, "...I suppose an illusory body wouldn't automatically have it... huh."

[subcircuits]

"Vice and virtue," Devero says softly. He backs off a step-- glances around quickly to make sure they're not about to be jumped by weasel-things-- and then just. Smiles at Koumyou. "Of course the gods put it there. I should have known."

After all, he knows how amazing Koumyou is. How powerful, how strong, how talented. Why wouldn't the gods of his world want to mark him out as special?

"I'm not sure these bodies are illusory," he remarks, indulging in some nerdery of his own. "Artificial, but maybe not illusions. --Either way, they're definitely reacting to-- to how we see ourselves. And right now, you see yourself--"

A pause, as he actually remembers one thing from Koumyou's past on his own. "As Houmei. This is Houmei, isn't it?"

[its_dad_sanzo]

"Wow... you remember my old name?!"

Gosh, Devero. The priest flashes him an almost sheepish grin.

"I suppose that must be true, although it's something I... gave up a long time ago."

'Something' being, you know. His old identity.

And that's more than just a name, isn't it?

[subcircuits]

It is. And the way Koumyou says that makes Devero step in and grasp him lightly. "And you became Koumyou," he says quietly. "But... does that mean Houmei's not still in there somewhere? You can't just... turn off a part of yourself."

[its_dad_sanzo]

"I mean..."

The fact that Koumyou has to actually think about that is probably pretty telling, all by itself.

[subcircuits]

Sure is. And in that pause, he remembers the exam room, and Koumyou's bloody hand, and talking about muichimotsu.

"'Hold nothing'," he says gently. "Not even the man you were. The Seiten has demanded absolutely everything of you, hasn't it?" Koumyou had talked about seeing Ukoku's soul shrivel away as he'd embraced muichimotsu; Devero finds himself wondering what Koumyou's teachers might have said about his own.

He finds himself thinking about a distant, cold moon.

[its_dad_sanzo]

"I... don't know if it's the Seiten, exactly?"

'Hold nothing' is more a result of Koumyou's world. All the deaths of friends he's watched, refusing to look away because that acknowledgement is all he could offer.

But that's not exactly a denial of Devero's over-all point.

Koumyou glances down, at his hands that are bare for once -- and even now, that seems strange.

"The Sanzos of the Taisouji generations, like Goudai, Tenkai, and I, we were... expected to. To give up everything. To die in training, or if we succeeded, to renounce our old selves. Just like a monk renounces their old life, when they join a temple."

[subcircuits]

Devero takes Koumyou's hands in his own, holding them just gently. "I can't understand that," he says. "If Houmei undertook all that... intense... training to bear a burden like your sutra, how would renouncing him help Koumyou? It doesn't make any sense to me!"

[its_dad_sanzo]

"It doesn't," Koumyou agrees gently, quietly. His eyes stay mostly on their hands together, but he glances off into the jungle periodically. It's reflexive looking for danger.

"That's just how it was... it's what was expected of us. To give up everything, to become a Sanzo. To even potentially become a Sanzo. Nothing less was acceptable."

The hands in Devero's gentle grip grow a little bonier, a little sharper. His grip on 'Houmei' is tenuous at best.

[subcircuits]

Devero brings his hands together, sandwiching Koumyou's between his own, enfolding them in the warmth and stability of his grip. "Would you do it again?" he asks. "If you could step back in time and speak to Houmei for a moment, would you encourage him to go through with it?"

Was it worth it? he asks, without quite saying it so explicitly. Was Koumyou Sanzo worth the sacrifice of Houmei?

[its_dad_sanzo]

"Yes," Koumyou doesn't even have to think about that. "What else could I have done if I hadn't? I..."

Had never known anything else, anyway.

"I was given to the temple as a baby. I didn't have a life to surrender before becoming a monk, I didn't know anything else, I had no concept of another life. When I was selected for the first squad, it seemed perfectly natural to just... do what I was told."

Familiar, wasn't it?

[subcircuits]

Very. Koumyou's rationale resonates strongly with Devero's own history, with an 18 year old kid going into the World Guard because he had to, you can't waste this size, this strength, Devero, don't you want to help people?

"You didn't have a choice, did you?" he says softly. "Not a real one. Not when everybody expects that one certain thing from you."

[its_dad_sanzo]

"I mean... not really? But it didn't bother me. What else would I do with my life? Become a farm-hand? Teach?"

Koumyou just laughs at that, the sound bitter, and tries to pull his hands free so that he can pace away a little. The chakra's still gone one second, and then it's back in the blink of an eye.

His grey temple gi is turning pale, the sleeves and top lengthening.

"At least I had talents that would serve me well as a monk. Being able to cast spells without chanting first to build the needed focus... in my entire life, I've met two other people who could do that. What a waste, if I didn't use it. If I didn't do something important with it."

Sounds really fucking familiar, doesn't it Devero?

[subcircuits]

Houmei's slipping away, but Devero doesn't try to pin the spectre from Koumyou's past here. After all, it's not Houmei he knows and loves-- it's Koumyou.

He laughs himself, with that same bitter ring to it. "Can't have that, right?" he says. "You had an obligation, didn't you?" He jams his hands into the pockets of his pilot's suit and looks away.

"...I understand that."

[its_dad_sanzo]

Looking like Houmei takes effort. Looking like a younger Koumyou takes... none. It's just the natural state of his sense of self.

Complete with an illusory sutra over his shoulders as his usual Sanzo garb finishes replacing the Taisouji greys. The Seiten's as much a part of him at this point as his own eyeballs, after all.

"...Yeah."

Having reclaimed some space for a moment, the priest wanders back in again, reaching to take his sword back up with one partially-covered hand. He also reaches up to squeeze Devero's shoulder with his other.

"It doesn't bother me, being Koumyou Sanzo. And I think there's still... I think 'hold nothing' did more damage to 'Houmei' than any attempts to renounce that identity. I'm..."

A deep breath.

"...slowly, reclaiming myself from that. I think. I hope. Houmei just hasn't been my name in twenty three years, but I don't feel that much different under it all."

[subcircuits]

"Good," Devero says softly. His hand comes up and he cups Koumyou's cheek, leaning in close to him. "That's that most important part. Those wounds won't heal unless you're willing."

He leans back and releases him. "That said," he continues gently, "if you ever decide you want to go back to that name, or take a different name, or update your pronouns or anything, just say something, okay?"

[its_dad_sanzo]

Koumyou leans into the cheek-cup when it's happening, smiling up at Devero. When the other man pulls back, the priest only stays where he is because they're in... essentially, enemy territory.

"You're the sweetest person I've ever known, you know that?" Look at that big, gentle giant. Look at him! "You might be the only one around here who doesn't just call me 'Sanzo' anyway."

Even before he'd given Devero the rare permission to use his homyo by itself, the man had often used the whole thing! That stood out!

[subcircuits]

"That doesn't mean I can't call you something else!" Devero sputters. "If you ever wanted!" Why do you do this to him, Koumyou.

He's smiling back, though. "Thank you," he murmurs--

Then pitches abruptly into Koumyou with a grunt as something slams into his back, right between the vice-ridden shoulderblades.

[its_dad_sanzo]

Whelp! No rest for the wicked! Koumyou catches him with his free arm and swings the sword in his other hand down behind Devero, close enough to almost skim his... armor? with the non-blade.

Several creatures get scraped right off, howling their objections and moving to leap-- and a blast of water sends them flying back into the woods.

The priest goes up on his toes to plant a kiss on Devero's cheek, and then breaks away to stalk the area for more hostile non-animals.

"I like 'Koumyou'." So. There's that! "It fits me."

[subcircuits]

It feels like Koumyou's got them off him before he can even react, which honestly is fine by Devero. He beams down at the priest as he's smooched. "My hero," he tells him without a trace of irony.

As Koumyou goes back on critter patrol, Devero returns to working on the trees. He thinks about the meaning of the name as Koumyou had relayed it to him, and nods. "I think it does too."

[its_dad_sanzo]

"As you so poetically told me, that one time," Koumyou says with a soft laugh, staying near enough to guard Devero but never staying in one spot for more than a second.

The critters are going to have to work at it to find a blind spot, here.

"You're such a romantic. No wonder you're from that region!"

[subcircuits]

Back home, he never, ever would have thought of himself as a romantic. Back home, he's-- not the person he is here on the train. Not really. He'd had no idea that this person was even lying dormant inside of him, not really.

He shakes his head and laughs, a little wonderingly. "That has nothing to do with it!" he protests.