( QRI'S QUESTIONS )

[spellheal]

Hello everyone, this is Genette.

I'll be receiving some of the answers to your questions today. I'll be sending them as a blanket message to everyone.

Again, I'm a messenger. You're free to ask follow up questions, but make sure they're sent directly to me.

[ OOC: You're free to discuss the answers as responses to the individual top levels. These can be mental telepathy messages with one another or action logs if your characters are nearby. If you want to ask Genette follow up questions, put @Genette or something similar in your subject header! ]

Comments

( MORNING QUESTIONS )

[spellheal]

Why bind people to you [with the signets]?
She has to keep track of us all somehow, as well as sync us together via telepathy. It's also for our own protection. There's not much extrapolation on this point.

How much control do you have over who receives what kind of power?
Some, but it's not totally within her control. Their magic is something that fits their own personal energy and spirit, and Qri endows them with the magic that allows the power to actually manifest within a person. That being said, she can also give someone a power that she forces into them, but this is very rare according to her.

What forms of power align with what you need? How do we tell?
Any forms of magical energy she doesn't create herself can be absorbed into her body as an energy source. On high-frequency worlds she can slowly absorb the magical energy of the world as a whole, but low-frequency worlds are void of this perk, but low frequency worlds can still contain magical elements or supplies via awakening their potential for magic or...the presence of supplies.

( AFTERNOON QUESTIONS )

[spellheal]

Are you a god?
The concept of Gods are based on individual belief systems. She doesn't define herself as a God because she's typically an unknown energy force within the universe. You can't be a God if you're not deified.

Are there other groups besides ours out doing the same thing?
No. There would be no point, unless you mean are there other galactic magical beings who also need energy. She can't say that that's true or not but doesn't think so.

Can you let us choose where we will stay or go to when it’s all over?
If she replenishes her energy, she can do this for us absolutely. I figured this was the case, but the answer excites me!

( DUSK QUESTIONS )

[spellheal]

Does taking magic from these worlds hurt them in any way?
It depends and there's no solid answer. In most cases this won't be an issue, but it may arise on other planets and in other worlds.

How much energy will you need to revitalize the worlds or yourself, and how long do you expect retrieving it all to take?
Based on a 24 hour time system, potentially years. It's hard to quantify either time or the amount of energy because there are a lot of variables involved.

How does taking important possessions from us tie into all of this? What kind of equivalence does that make in the magic?
Magic that is given to us also costs energy. The personal effects and other things are meant to compensate for that and also create an initial link to us.

[fastpaced]

Now hold on a second. I'm not down with doing something that's going to hurt innocent aliens. If that's what Qri wants, then count me out!

( MIDNIGHT NOTICE )

[spellbindmods]

[ There's a disturbance in the telepathic force at around midnight. Even if you're asleep, you'll likely be woken up by the intensity of the message that suddenly invades your brain: ]

I'm sorry. You have so many questions, and you deserve them. I'll talk to everyone myself next time. Thank you.

[rootbound]

[sends one back once the sting of the message fades a little, rubbing his head]

Owww, ow. Good idea, lady. No one's ever properly going to trust you if they can't talk with you.

[he sounds and feels mostly grumpy, but not entirely unkind.]

[rootandbranch]

[Geir's eye is slitted open, watching Vern send that message; depending on how Vern sent it, he might have been able to read it on his lips as he replied...

that woke him up too, clearly.]

[rootbound]

[looks down, notices Geir's open eye, and looks a bit abashed]

...hi...

[rootandbranch]

[slow blink]

Qri herself, huh.

[rootbound]

Our host speaks. What a surprise.

( POSTMORTEM / THE MORNING AFTER )

[rebells]

[rebells]

[The makeshift little awning Jay built to protect his map from the elements didn't stand up that well to a big storm, unfortunately: what's left of it, now, are boards and cloth scattered across the beach in front of the huts. The crate it once rested on, too, has been torn to pieces.

Jay did at least save the map itself, although it's a little worse for wear, and he's laid it out on some of the drier boards as he collects the materials of his erstwhile construction project. There are coins and shells scattered along the beach, too.

Of course, it's not the map or the now-passed storm that's likely to be on everyone's minds this morning, and Jay is no different: he stops in his work from time to time, brow furrowed, seemingly lost in thought, and if he spots you around the beach this morning he might greet you with a,]

Well? What did you think?

[spaceforged]

[He doesn't answer right away. Shiro hadn't slept after the message from Qri herself. He'd turned it over and over in his head. After a minute he shakes his head.]

I'm not sure what to make of it. We have a lot of answers but not a lot of ways to confirm if they're true. ...but, the most important part is we now know she'll speak to us herself.

[He studies the damage around them and starts collecting boards, setting the most damaged into one pile away from anything salvageable.]

We also know we're being tracked.

[rebells]

[He sees that and starts doing the same, setting the boards into piles according to how damaged they are.]

I expected as much. Why give us these otherwise? [He places a hand over his collar, where the signet isn't actually visible under a turtleneck, but where it would be located.] The real question is how closely she's capable of tracking us. If she's telling the truth about our telepathic messages overwhelming her, then I'd guess it isn't all that closely, at least unless she focuses deliberately.

[He bends down to pick up another board.]

We don't have much evidence to to back up what she said, no. What we have is just her story, which is interesting in and of itself, I think.

[spaceforged]

I agree. ...an unknown force in the universe. [If that's true then there's only a small chance any world will have notes or awareness of her harvesting energy from them. He checks a board more carefully to make sure he's not putting any cracked boards in the salvage pile.]

If she's telling the truth...we're being expected to do this for years. [Potentially lifetimes. He glances out at the ocean and shuts his eyes.] That's asking a lot of a group of people she selected without their input. If, we don't find ways to speed up the process.

[oneandmikleonly]

It's not a lot of information we weren't already speculating on being true, but it's nice to get confirmation and a promise of a personal talk...? Some of what she confirmed really worries me, though.

[the question he most wanted answered didn't get answered either, so he is wigging out about that a little, internally; it doesn't show on his face, though. much.]

[rebells]

[Dryly:]

What, were you not planning on being here for years?

I'll give her credit for not answering to placate us, at least.

[oneandmikleonly]

Honestly, I could wait years. Only if she confirmed Sorey not being at home didn't cause some truly serious problems, though -- and she didn't confirm that, so that leaves me still uneasy about the whole thing.

[imsorey]

[he shifts on his feet, leaning his weight on one foot and then the other as he ponders the question. he steals a curious look at Jay before taking a few steps out from under the awning to pick up some of the debris on the beach, restless and looking for a way to keep his hands busy.]

We were able to confirm some things and she promised to talk to us later, so it's a good start. I'm actually pretty happy that she decided to talk to us; it means some of our persistence got through to her. But she didn't answer all of our questions, and the ones she did were ones we'd mostly guessed at already. I wouldn't say we're back to square one, but I had hoped we would get more information than we did.

[rebells]

[He glances away at Sorey's look, seeming abashed--he hasn't been avoiding Sorey since the dream incident, precisely (in fact, if Sorey was watching carefully he might have caught Jay studying him once or twice), but he hasn't gone out of his way to speak to him, either.]

I agree. That she's speaking to us now is an encouraging sign. But in some ways, I think what she didn't answer is more interesting than what she did.

[imsorey]

[he continues to pick up the scattered debris around the awning and piles it up in little stacks, one for trash and one for keeping. that only occupies him for a short period of time, though, and once he's finished he settles near Jay. he doesn't go out of his way to avoid eye contact, but he doesn't seek it out, either, as a sort of concession to give Jay some space. instead, his eyes end up falling on the map as he picks through notes on landmarks he hasn't seen yet.]

I'm willing to give her some benefit of the doubt now that we've heard from her. It shows that she's willing to have a conversation at some point and sort of supports the theory that we can't have an extended conversation with her right now, given what happens when she reaches out to us. But she should have been able to give Genette more than she did in response; it seemed like she was avoiding talking about the bigger issues. I'm guessing that's what you're referring to when you say "interesting".

[talim]

[ not only had jude gotten sick wandering around in the storm, but his shack has been totally destroyed. for the time being, he's going to be staying with 9s and 2b at their place. it should be more comfortable there, anyway.

but for right now... he's more focused on qui than anything else. there's a pinched, trouble expression on his face, eyes narrowed. ]

I'm... frustrated.

It's not that I think she's lying, but is there a valid reason she has to be so elusive? Is there a valid reason she took so long to answer these questions in the first place? Some of us have been here for months. I'd be more likely to take her a bit more seriously if she'd spoken up sooner, but I guess you're busy when you're picking and choosing people to spirit away.

[rebells]

[He tilts his head at Jude, mouth twitching a little. It's almost comforting to see someone else be visibly frustrated at the situation.]

Don't hold back, now.

Perhaps that should be one of our next questions to her. "Why not just answer our questions through Genette? Do you have a reason for being vague?"

[talim]

It'd be a good question to ask until you realize it will probably take her a good six months to answer it.

[ yes. jude is. frustrated. ]

[rebells]

Complaining won't change anything, you know.

[With a small smile playing around his mouth:] Well, unless you do it to Qri herself, maybe. Directly and repeatedly.