An Anomalously Dangerous Encounter

[Fang]

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For a moment Catian paused, as if he were a recording without breath or twitch, likely causing anyone watching the feed to wonder if it had glitched. Images and impressions came back in response to those he had given to Behemoth, an elder researcher and a question without words that any heart would recognize. In the end Bessie was still an animal, regardless of her anomalous growth and composition. He resumed movement shortly after the cascade of wild mentality concluded, tossing the camera into the air in a sudden motion before turning to Behemoth again.

The camera floated above them now, supported by empty air but angled perfectly to see the profiles of both anomalies. Catian held his hand out to Bessie again, offering another chance to take in his scent as he responded with a combination of words and images. ”You know, and I know, that nothing can really keep you where you do not want to be.” The image of Bessie at her true size, a glimpse of the damage she could cause if she were to try. ”You’re a good girl.” Another image of Behemoth, at the size she had been made at her favorite researcher’s side, his hand absently scratching the top of her head.

Catian let his offered hand attempt to mimic the gesture, without fear but cautious of her trust. ”Walks are just for fun, your home will still be here once you’ve stretched those legs.” He didn’t follow that one with an image, instead opting to stand and step through the gate himself, and to step back through as demonstration. ”Safe as houses.” He turned his attention back to the camera for a moment, a knowing grin plastered across his face. ”I could leave it open for you, if you would like. Six, sixty-six is going to be the apex predator here, so it might just save you a fortune in feed alone.” Catian tapped the side of his head and started toward the portal with the camera at his back. ”What is it that drives you, Ms. Hobbes?” The question was soft, and his face was hidden from the commandeered camera and the remaining ones alike, but the words would somehow still find their target. [/div][/div][/div]

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The little blue spark on Catian’s shoulder crackled and popped as Pollux laughed, charred flesh repairing itself in the moment of his enjoyment. Behind the mask Catian smiled, and a different series of snaps and crackles issues from the air between his cloth covered lips. Amongst the blue form of little spark a flash of yellow lingered, jagged crescent turned upward though whatever had elicited this facsimile of a smile was known only between Catian and the spark.

”Weren’t you supposed to be doing something?” The question was directed to his shoulder when Pollux’ laughter ended, the language he spoke shifted to a human tongue inexplicably. The jagged crescent of yellow flipped in response, but the spark zipped to the floor dutifully enough. A low series of pops issued from the crescent, joined by two lingering flashes of jagged yellow circles that were directed at Pollux. Suddenly the spark jumped back to the camera, though not without another series of pops and an extension of a tiny amorphous limb toward 404 as it vanished into the circuitry.

The greatsword whistled through the air, Catian’s gaze lingering on the departing spark and seemingly off guard, particularly for the sudden shift in 404’s speed and power. Just as the edge would have bitten into flesh, as the first strike would have landed, the Traveler seemed to disappear for a moment, a hazy afterimage left that seemed to move in slow motion as the dagger in his opponent’s other hand filled the moment between his greatsword’s stroke and the next. The mirage of Catian ducked and twisted under the larger blade as if it were still, moving forward in the same step. As the smaller blade drove in Catian seemed to step further, past the guard of the massive sword and beside Pollux’ shoulder.

The afterimage, hazy and delayed, placed an open palm upon the opposing Anomaly’s chest, fitting its fingers into the shallow impression that formed almost just before contact. His body twisted again, circling around Pollux so that their backs were to each other for the barest of instants before he twisted to the other side, and stopped st the opposite shoulder. As slowly as the dance had seemed to have been moving it had been a flash in the pan outside of the battle, likely too quick for anything to process without assistance. The force of the blow would drive into that depressed point, hard enough and fast enough to emit a sonic blast upon impact.

The blast sent Catian’s coat whipping around his legs and torso, tousled his already mussed hair further before a soft tsk tsk tsk came from behind the mask. ”Why must this be so one sided? You could at least banter while we spar so we don’t get bored.” Catian chuckled and shook his head. ”They told me you might not speak to me and loved to fight, and the first thing you did was speak. Don’t tell me they were wrong about the last part too.” Catian’s brows were furrowed despite the lighthearted tone behind his jests. Something seemed to bother him, beyond his words and theatrics. [/div][/div][/div]

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Within the Foundation butterflies being where they might not have before, but certainly being there as they had been since the synergy studies, was an altogether normal occurrence. It was likely the most common of anomalous things within the ACF, their helpfulness matched only by their usefulness. What was not common, however, were other insects, such as the ebony dragonfly that settled soundlessly next to the painted lady, or next to monarch that graced a pair of glasses. They had certainly never been there before, and might not have been there at that moment, though the whole of 707 would recognize what they were.

A balance, a counterpoint, as should have been expected. The dragonflies might not obfuscate the happenings at L-7 that day, they might not revert everything to its state before the unannounced visit, and they certainly might not keep the butterflies from interfering in what Catian might do. They might have been threatening, or maybe they were calming. Was Catian an enemy or a friend? Was he even there? [/div][/div][/div]

 

[Containment]

[div][attr="style","position:absolute;"]
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[img src="[URL]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/426247770299432962/1129166684591243285/scp_3007_by_sunnyclockwork_db8mral-414w-2x.jpg[/URL]" style="width:150px;"]
BEHEMOTH[/div][/div][div style="background-color:#F9F6EE;border-top:#F9F6EE 4px outset;border-left:#F9F6EE 4px inset;border-right:#F9F6EE 4px outset;border-bottom:#F9F6EE 4px inset;"][div style="border-top:#F9F6EE 4px inset;border-left:#F9F6EE 4px outset;border-right:#F9F6EE 4px inset;border-bottom:#F9F6EE 4px outset;"][div style="background-color:black;color:#F9F6EE;padding:15px;font-family:courier new;"]Their little eye watched the stranger and the beast, and the beast’s now-little eyes watched him, tail swishing now in its distraction. The butterfly clung on, alongside the dragonfly not with her compound eyes but with the greater sense of question, a test of reality that reached past and through it. She was used to sharing the spotlight, but with her Self, not with others.

Bernard – Bessie – Behemoth did not understand the words, but the tone and impression were gentle, even when the thoughts and images were of violence. Good. It recognized that word. The kindest one used it often when it sat still, and let him check it for injury, for sickness.

The hand was gentle, too, as it raised its nose to smell it, to get a better sense of the strange creature. It tensed as the hand rested atop its head, but it allowed the touch. A deep breath, slow and steadying, the sigh of an animal releasing stress. It even leaned its head forward to follow his hand as he walked through the gate, but waited to follow until he came back. It glanced at him sidelong with its left eyes as it began a slow walk toward the open, the outside, an outside where there would be no accidents that hurt the little creatures that could be cruel but chose to be kind. It glanced over its shoulder at him, as though to check.

And then it stepped through, into the grass, and nothing stopped it. It raised its head, and took a deep breath of the fresh air, every scent and sound suddenly so distant and close all at once. It took several more cautious steps inside, and circled the spot, and tasted the air and tested the ground.

There were two acts it wished to take, with its newfound freedom. It glanced back inside again, then looked back out over the grass, where for once it felt so small. Another deep breath, this one preparatory, not predatory.

And when it exhaled it did so with a cry that in the contained space at its full size may have killed one of the smaller creatures, a cry with the depth of a whale’s song and the height of the earth itself screaming. It rolled and echoed even without the sheer capacity of its natural size, and the joy at such a release seemed to suddenly possess the creature with such intensive energy that it took off at a sudden run, the movement half-scuttle, half-bound, before it disappeared entirely into the grass.
[/div][/div][/div][div][attr="style","position:absolute;"]
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[img src="[URL]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/717410440300462090/1124551077610672218/POLLUX.jpg[/URL]" style="width:150px;"]
POLLUX[/div][/div][div style="background-color:#8a0303;border-top:#8a0303 4px outset;border-left:#8a0303 4px inset;border-right:#8a0303 4px outset;border-bottom:#8a0303 4px inset;"][div style="border-top:#8a0303 4px inset;border-left:#8a0303 4px outset;border-right:#8a0303 4px inset;border-bottom:#8a0303 4px outset;"][div style="background-color:black;color:#52595d;padding:15px;font-family:courier new;"]The strike was not impossibly fast, as he was, but faster than impossible. He hadn’t reached the speeds necessary to allow himself to block the strike, nor did he have the proper weapon for such defense. Armor bled into the divet, a single plate of black iron along his chest, which dissolved but absorbed a significant part of the blow that drove him away from Catian Valor.

Sound. It was almost as effective as their magnets. It was a natural result of such force, even if there was nothing natural about the force itself. It was how Akachi had almost killed him, last time. Or at least came closer than they ever had to that brink. Armor and weapons once again disintegrated, and he was once more sent back, although this time he landed on his feet and slid on the bare soles in the room that was his, but remained far larger.

Frustration grew alongside the mirth, not as a weed but as a blood brother. Catian Valor spoke again. This time, Pollux did listen.

[font color="#8a0303"]“That’s hardly fair,”[/font] he barked in English, through a smaller chuckle. He did not want to speak English. It was not fast enough for this. He did not speak any language that was fast enough for this. Banter at superhuman speeds was much harder when one was limited by the air in their lungs and the ability of their tongues – and by disuse, in general. [font color="#8a0303"]“I hardly expected it to be. But it is – how do they say – inconsiderate of you.”[/font]

His bones needed to mend surface fractures, but it took hardly a few seconds. This time he stood tall, turned slightly to the side as he scowled. He was finding a quiet battle boring?

[font color="#8a0303"]“And it is hardly fun to lash out at an opponent who hides behind godhood and magic.”[/font]

That was an insult to the challenged, although an expected one. If one was going to be challenged to an exchange of blows, then let it be an exchange of blows. As for the call for banter, he was also no longer accustomed to talking and fighting at the same time, let alone in the language that hadn’t even been his preferred one upon capture. Still, he could make an attempt.

[font color="#8a0303"]“My usual sparring partner is hardly talkative.”[/font] He could have been speaking of the monster, but he was not. The beast was not a sparring partner, it was a target. Usual was a very generous term for someone who had not visited in five years, but she had likely kept them separated intentionally. For security. [font color="#8a0303"]“If you insist on setting the pace of the dance, perhaps you should choose the words to the song as well.”[/font]

And then he moved, and sound might prove difficult with the sudden burst of speed greater than either before.

The camera was forgotten. More iron, more blood. He reached out a hand and in a moment – faster than their Foundation had ever recorded – he held a spear. It was nothing ornate. A simple bar of iron, tipped with a point. He was paused long enough for their camera to see him. Then he was out of sight at last, throwing the weapon ahead of him with enough force to pierce through both sides of a concrete building, and immediately behind the weapon itself was the man who had fought for five millennia. Now in his hands formed the heaviest weapon yet, though he showed no sign of wear: a long-handled greataxe with two heads, top and bottom, one smaller than the other. He held and spun the tool of death with practice, building the counterweight for a first blow into the first opening that presented itself as he brought himself up to speed.

Would she still watch, when she could no longer see him, or would she simply wait until later? There was little difference there. The questions would come either way. Whether he answered them would depend entirely on Catian Valor’s performance. And a performance, a dance, this now would be, now that he listened to that drum that rang deeper than heartbeat. He let go of the last limitations he had on himself, and just moved. Instinct, balance, counterbalance, strike, slash. A quick spin of the dual-bladed weapon would be enough to keep his opponent’s hands off, each rotation with a sound that followed seconds later.
[/div][/div][/div][div][attr="style","position:absolute;"]
[div][attr="style","position:relative;left:-181px;top:11px;width:150px;text-align:center;background-color:#FFFAFA;border:3px #1E9391 inset;padding:5px;font-family:courier new;color:#1E9391;"]DR. LEVI HOBBES
[img style="width:150px;" src="[URL]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/426247770299432962/1127009739637801091/shattered___dr__rights_by_sunnyclockwork_d8lijtd-pre.jpg[/URL]"]
[font color="#1E9391"]R-CLASS-E[/font][/div][/div][div style="background-color:#1E9391;border-top:#1E9391 4px outset;border-left:#1E9391 4px inset;border-right:#1E9391 4px outset;border-bottom:#1E9391 4px inset;"][div style="border-top:#1E9391 4px inset;border-left:#1E9391 4px outset;border-right:#1E9391 4px inset;border-bottom:#1E9391 4px outset;"][div style="background-color:#FFFAFA;color:dimgray;padding:15px;font-family:courier new;"]She squinted at the screen. She was losing sight of the combat between her asset and Mr. Valor, if only because of the limitations of her cameras. She would need to ask security to scrub the footage later, assuming the record stayed. Given that the primary security supervisor for all eleven official Level-1 locations was the best security agent she had ever encountered, she highly doubted there was any way there wouldn’t be a backup. Even with reality-bending, Hack drove the idea of paranoia in records to a new level most wouldn’t consider possible without personally meeting the man.

But that was going to have to be later. She glanced over her shoulder to where Castor was, and she didn’t have to speak to the monarch for the two of them to have their places switched. Castor should not be supervising anything that had anything to do with ACF-404, but he was likely the only one who could keep track of, or at least guess about the fight, at the speeds that the anomalies in that CU were reaching.

And that meant that Dr. Hobbes could see Catian’s smile, as it was offered. All teeth. Almost familiar, but not his smile. A different anomaly, with different intent. She could hear someone speaking with Dr. Nein, probably about the continued existence of an eternal portal in ACF-666’s containment unit, and the anomaly’s decision to embrace the taste of freedom, but she couldn’t hear that for a second over the soft sound of another voice.

It called her by the name she’d chosen. And it asked her a question she’d spent so much time contemplating that there would have been no hesitation if she’d been inclined to answer him.

A breath paused on Dr. Hobbes’ lips, a simple phrase that died before she could let it slip.

Why don’t you ask me yourself, and find out.

But she pressed her lips together to bite that back, because that was an answer. That was the answer. It was a question, and a why, and an observation. It was what drove her, that exchange between researcher and anomaly. And it was answered in turn by the appearance of something in her periphery, the faintest twitch of wings. Not a butterfly, and it clearly hadn’t always been there.

A dragonfly.

And with the dragonfly the first doubt crept in.

She let the question sit, heavy, in her chest or her throat. She was an anohuman researcher, and he was a deity-class entity. Most of the time those two would be mutually exclusive. But with that doubt a little nagging desire made itself known. A desire to study him, invite him, challenge him, even, as she didn’t know Pollux had. But while she was not security, she did understand the limitations of research balanced against the safety of herself, of her people.

Let him understand the challenge, if he was really here, and let it not be spoken. That was for the best. For them.
[/div][/div][/div]

 

[Fang]

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The room settled as Pollux spoke, and Catian’s laughter echoed in the absence of sound between his words, a mirror to the laughter he had enticed from 404, though his mirth was found in the man’s insult, slight though it might have been. The gods of this reality, or at least those claiming godhood, seemed to have made an impression upon Pollux in some past encounters for him to speak of godhood as a shield. Catian let it slip away, his laughter settled into a wry smile behind the fabric mask, lips a shadowed twist in the cloth. Pollux was moving again, his speed increased and extended to his weapon generation. The process fascinated Catian slightly, his attention held to the flow of black even as the spear was powerfully launched like a rocketing streak toward the center of his face.

Catian caught the weapon handily, head tilted so the tip slid past and the shaft of black iron squealed against his grip like worn brakes. Though their movements had become beyond most human comprehension the traveler seemed to have little trouble keeping pace. As his opponent formed his next weapon and charged in Catian spun the simple iron spear in his grip, burying the tip into the floor with barely a hint of effort and stepping forward, away from it and toward Pollux as his spinning slash began. Catian’s right hand moved to his side, reaching between the space that could be seen and disappearing for a moment, similar to how it had when he had brought the staff to bear at the beginning.

What he withdrew was not wood, but the shining steel of a blade, long and wide with no guard and a razor’s edge. The pommel of the sword held a palm sized grey crystal that held something within it that shifted and swirled, black but for the instant one observed, as kaleidoscopic as the eyes of the god who wielded it. In the past this blade was known for changing its shape, the stone for enhancing energies, but neither were to happen in the here and now. The blade Catian treasured was drawn for its bare steel, with the sole purpose of countering the black iron that sought his blood.

Catian let the force of the blow take him from his feet, his sword stopping the edge of the axe’s greater blade from reaching him before sliding down, and back up to lock beneath the flange between shaft and blade. Pollux was large enough without his superhuman abilities, Catian’s frame more average despite being well muscled. The power behind the strike continued, Catian brought along for an improvised ride and laughing again as Pollux’ spin carried both the axe and Catian in a blurred arc. This was what he had been waiting for, a letting loose of reins and caution and an investment in the challenge. Catian’s voice trailed behind him with the speed, and resolutely he shifted his center of gravity to drop his weight and dig his heels into the floor as if it were made of little more than compacted dirt. The power 404 had intended to continue using for rotation instead pressed against Catian, sliding him for a moment before he held his ground with his blade still locked to the haft of the axe. An almost surprised grunt preceded his reply.

”Magic and godhood are tools I have honed, not shields I cower behind. We are not so dissimilar, you and I. What power I have has been gained through countless millennia. I have not seen my own home in a longer span than yours has existed.” Catian twisted his sword and sparks flew as he disengaged, sliding softly to a stop in front of the wall Pollux had been pushed toward three times already. The magnetic field tugged at the his weapon and he stepped forward, closing the gap between them to a few mere paces. ”I have only matched you with my own ability, excluding that interference from my friend. Perhaps you only see magic and godhood because you are afraid to recognize that you have farther to go, more strength to gain.”

Catian took the offensive, crossing the distance and slashing at 404’s chest once with words that trailed behind his speed. ”One should never fear their full potential.” Afterimages ran behind him, lips carrying words already spoken as the sword rang through the air. Those afterimages did not dissipate as they caught up with the original, and in that moment a dozen other strikes fell upon Pollux almost simultaneously, the afterimages flanking him and raining blows down just behind the moment they impacted. The true Catian brought his own strength to bear, matching and exceeding the force that had driven the axe to push Pollux back again, their faces inches apart.

”You may even be stronger than me in the future, if you make it to the eons of life I have endured.”[/div][/div][/div]

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It was a patient smile that he graced Behemoth with, one that spoke of some time spent with animals of many different types. Her reluctance was expected, her acceptance as well though it didn’t diminish the warm glow of accomplishment he always felt when wild things accepted his benevolence. They weren’t like mankind, or other sentient races, though the question of if they were sentient was one Catian did not dwell upon. Theirs was a different existence, like his. Simplified where his complicated, balanced where his was the fulcrum. The purity of the wild had been relaxing to Catian even before he had become first legend, and later god.

She took off into the grass and Catian simply watched her go, a moment given before he waved his hand and the camera followed after, floating through the air as if it were a drone and not meant to be affixed to a wall. Perhaps it would have been more sensible to have employed such technology, but the plan required a bit of a show and he had thought using their own equipment might impart a sense of reliance that Catian needed the Foundation to believe. Though he had spent nearly a quarter of a century studying them, this was his first time working of his own accord without subterfuge or guise. He was nearing many of his goals, and the time for shadows and masks was nearing its end.

Something small and furry leapt from the grass in the general direction Behemoth had disappeared into, almost rabbitlike but for the horns that grew upon its head and the webbed feet covered in scales. Catian followed through the portal, the camera ahead of him and unable to catch his expression as he stepped through. If it had, if the Foundation had seen the danger of his determination, Catian might have been forced into a direct altercation. That was best saved for later, when the balance was wholly considered and he was ready to do what he had been brought to this world for.

The hard lines of his face were soft and joyous as he drifted back into the camera’s view, arms sweeping wide as he gave some exposition about the providence of the planet he had opened a hole onto.

”Life here has taken a turn, unfortunately. Though this peaceful ball holds several different lifeforms, they all have specific diets, and those needs are met through the vegetation that grows here. As such there are no predators, and no dangers aside from the terrain. Catian walked through the grass as he spike, pointing to strange twisted trees with blue leaves that tinkled like glass in the breeze and massive cavities torn into the ground by past volcanic activity. Occasionally his steps would flush out more of the horned rabbits, and though they would hop away when his foot landed they never went far. They had no instinct to avoid predators, and no fear of what the strange creatures that appeared might do.

Bessie was likely teaching them a valuable lesson nearby, though Catian seemed to have no intention of stopping or locating her. He had offered her this chance to run free, and he wouldn’t cut it short for the sake of a planet that was doomed to decay in the first place. [/div][/div][/div]

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The ebony dragonfly that tilted its head toward the orange butterfly might have allowed the transposition. It might have been Catian’s will that Castor and Hobbes observe the screens they were now at. The dragonfly might have made it seem the best option, or it might have shifted the speed at which the camera could capture. There may have been a million things it could have or might have done to manipulate the minds of those around it, or it might have simply let things take their natural course.

The one with Behemoth might have answered the question of reality, and it might have been the answer itself. It did not respond as another butterfly might have, its stoicism perhaps because of its origin or its species, or maybe it was simply too unknown for its answer to be understood. It might have been a parallel to the Anomaly 707; Butterfly Effect. It might have been a counteragent to its skills. It was possible that it had been drawn from another strand of the fabric of this reality or from the fabric of Catian’s need.

They were probably all of those things and none of them. While black dragonflies existed in the world they were not known to be solidly pitched, and these were very much as black as night, their eyes the only spots of crimson color. They might have been like 707 if not for their singular existence, plurality notwithstanding. The possibility of what they were and what they could do hung in the air where they vibrated their wings, potential energy almost palpable, perhaps a challenge for the monarch or the painted lady to exert their will and influence the current happenings. They might show their purpose, if that were to happen.

The vibrating wings of the one countering the monarch might have responded to an answer unreleased, might have sounded like words to the ear it was so near.

”Be careful what you wish for.” [/div][/div][/div]

 

[Containment]

[div][attr="style","position:absolute;"]
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[img src="[URL]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/717410440300462090/1124551077610672218/POLLUX.jpg[/URL]" style="width:150px;"]
POLLUX[/div][/div][div style="background-color:#8a0303;border-top:#8a0303 4px outset;border-left:#8a0303 4px inset;border-right:#8a0303 4px outset;border-bottom:#8a0303 4px inset;"][div style="border-top:#8a0303 4px inset;border-left:#8a0303 4px outset;border-right:#8a0303 4px inset;border-bottom:#8a0303 4px outset;"][div style="background-color:black;color:#52595d;padding:15px;font-family:courier new;"]Catian laughed, and Pollux did as well, felt from the chest with each independent swing that nearly hit, and the ones that did. It was punctuated by iron on steel, metal on metal. The great spear, without his focus, flaked to nothing. Forgotten by time and by its bearer.

[font color="#8a0303"]“I fear no god. I fear no man.”[/font]

Those words were not in English. They were not in a language that had survived, but they would translate neatly if inscribed. It was a mantra, not a poem or a call, but a response that was spoken in time with the beat that resided deep within him.

[font color="#8a0303"]“My home is long gone. I am as a relic, a monument.”[/font]

He had not resigned himself to that. There was no shame in the statement, no anger through the bared teeth. His eyes shone in the dark as he struck again. He was blood, and warfare, and he desired to be nothing more. He was not ambition beyond violence. If he was a god, he was not meant to be one of war. Only blood.

[font color="#8a0303"]“I am not as you – I am not as water – I do not flow in this world as you. I do not desire to become water or godhood. I am earth, worn but unchanged. I am sharpened stone. I am a sword bearing itself.”[/font]

He had had five millennia to consider it. He would not let an outsider’s words distract him from the purpose he had given himself. Iron leaked along each line, each scar spreading black along his darkened skin. This did not take effort, or thought. It was as reflexive as breathing. The act of will was in the decision to match as many of their speed as he could in their simultaneous strike, using the axe like a great fan to knock more than half the blades aside and catching more along the growing darkness on his body. His eyes returned after only a fraction of a moment to the original, the true, the divine.

The gashes that existed along his back and sides were already healing, but in those places his dark skin was painted red.

[font color="#8a0303"]“I am not afraid of my potential.”[/font] He was but a breath away. The flat, sharp teeth bared themselves again as the axe let itself be pushed aside. [font color="#8a0303"]“But you should be.”[/font]

The reason for the sudden shift of strength was the singular dagger that formed in Pollux’s other hand, again as breathing, again hard as stone and sharp as diamond. An assassin’s weapon with an assassin’s purpose, to draw blood in an underhanded swipe. Strike or otherwise, the hilt would be dropped, the axe resumed, the follow-through brought back to bear as all were forgotten but the one before him. A sharpened point with one direction, to be carried through to the end of its singular purpose.
[/div][/div][/div][div][attr="style","position:absolute;"]
[div][attr="style","position:relative;left:-181px;top:11px;width:150px;text-align:center;background-color:#FFFAFA;border:3px #1E9391 inset;padding:5px;font-family:courier new;color:#1E9391;"]DR. LEVI HOBBES
[img src="[URL]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/426247770299432962/1127009739637801091/shattered___dr__rights_by_sunnyclockwork_d8lijtd-pre.jpg[/URL]" style="width:150px;"]
[font color="#1E9391"]R-CLASS-E[/font][/div][/div][div style="background-color:#1E9391;border-top:#1E9391 4px outset;border-left:#1E9391 4px inset;border-right:#1E9391 4px outset;border-bottom:#1E9391 4px inset;"][div style="border-top:#1E9391 4px inset;border-left:#1E9391 4px outset;border-right:#1E9391 4px inset;border-bottom:#1E9391 4px outset;"][div style="background-color:#FFFAFA;color:dimgray;padding:15px;font-family:courier new;"][font color="#3137fd"]“Doktor Khobbs, Polluks ispol'zoval kop'ye.”
Doctor Hobbes, Pollux used a spear.[/font]

Levi turned her head, her frown growing. There wasn’t enough space for Pollux to choose a spear in the confines of his containment unit. His pattern was predictable when it was used – throw it from several paces away, then immediately move in for melee, possibly with a second spear if he was being careful about iron expense. Something was wrong.

The words resonated, a challenge of their own, and her frown relaxed into…nothing. Her face shifted to neutrality, the mask under the mask.

Enough was enough.

[font color="#139391"]“Monitor One.”[/font]

Her tone had shifted. There was something there now, an edge, that hadn’t existed before.

[font color="#000000"]“Yes, s- Doctor.”[/font] The secondary observer turned toward her, recognizing the sudden change.

[font color="#139391"]“Inform Councilman Hack that we will be severing the connection with all camera units in CU-666. And then do so.”[/font]

Informing Hack was a courtesy, so he could continue to watch through his secondary means. He’d also know what decision she had come to, and she already was well aware he would disapprove. But this was already out of hand by security standards.

She used a hand and attempted to brush the dragonfly off the rim of her glasses. ACF-707 moved out of her way. Whether the dragonfly followed was an excellent question, although she was not researching right now. If it did not remove itself from the glasses, or moved itself but remained as it always hadn’t been, then she would opt to leave the glasses on the observation deck at the cost of a significant portion of her eyesight. Queenie would understand, she was sure.

[font color="#139391"]“I’m going to meet with Mr. Valor. This meeting is classified. It will not be observed by any personnel below Class-E ranking, either Agency or Research. Following the meeting we will administer immediate amnestics to all observers outside of the Security Council.”[/font]

That was not a suggestion. It was an order of the highest sense – the kind that spoke her Organization into being. There were objections, but not a soul breathed them. Telling her what to do was now not their department. She did not request advice.

The security agent at Monitor 8 stood up, and then stepped aside for the security agent from a different spot to take his place. It would be impossible to say whether severing the devices would actually sever the monitoring, but precautions were the Foundation’s specialty. It was best to do everything in their power, and then expect something to go dreadfully wrong. Especially in the case of an entity in Catian Valor’s weight class.

[font color="#139391"]“Queenie. If you can, please.”[/font]

The word can was selected carefully, so as not to place blame if she could not. Having a specimen of ACF-707 already in the containment unit would help with the effort, but there was also the matter of stranger insects that might interfere. She would wait, with a researcher’s patience, for reality to bend at her command.

And she would be in CU-666, one way or another. It just depended on whether he was going to force her to take the elevator.
[/div][/div][/div]

 

[Fang]

[div style="background-color:#8a0303;border-top:#8a0303 4px outset;border-left:#8a0303 4px inset;border-right:#8a0303 4px outset;border-bottom:#8a0303 4px inset;"][div style="border-top:#8a0303 4px inset;border-left:#8a0303 4px outset;border-right:#8a0303 4px inset;border-bottom:#8a0303 4px outset;"][div style="background-color:black;color:#fffff0;padding:15px;]

It seemed that the gloves had come off, so to speak, as Pollux swept his axe against the strikes Catian had made, the fraction of an instant that extended for the two of them granting him all of the time he needed. His body recovered itself from the other strikes nearly as soon as their damage was done, his attention turned to Catian’s current press. The axe turned and the force behind Catian’s arm pushed against air instead, another fraction of an instant before he drew his blade back, catching the tip of the and turning it to the side with a flick of his wrist. Against human limits 404 was certainly unstoppable, stronger than was reasonable and faster than was believable.

Catian had been human for only a fraction of his lifespan, and to his eventual delight the greater number of his battles had been fought against such overwhelming foes before. Pollux was right about one thing; Catian flowed through realities like water. That was the reason he couldn’t lose. The blade tore through his shirt, exposing a line of black trailing over his stomach from his hip and upward to obscurity. The axe came to bear next, and as its mass drove into Catian’s raised sword the floor buckled beneath his feet. Catian’s grip stayed firm, his blade pushed back only slightly against the titanic strength Pollux had driven his axe with.

”Is that so?” It was the first time Catian had used such a tone in this world, a dangerous, quiet sound that bore steel and fire in its depth. His eyes met 404’s black gaze fiercely, and for the first time in their battle he brought his own magic, his godhood to bear. Something like light shone through him, from him, strange for its luminance despite being black as sin. It seeped from him, miasma-like and filled with bright flashes of light in reds, blues and greens. Colors swirled within the pool of illuminated darkness, clouds of formless pigment that shifted like his eyes.

The emission condensed around his blade, ad suddenly the iron of 404’s axe began to glow red hot, steam rising from it as shards of black ice raced along its heated surface, melting and burning and hissing without slowing; existing in tandem with the heat paradoxically. Stepped forward, pressing again against that monolithic strength with more than to match. The emission continued to stream from his eyes, writhing around his head like a crown of smoke. The crystal in the pommel of his sword shifted, its color brightening from its grey, a yellow sheen released from the swirling inside of it so similar to what poured from Catian’s body.

Yellow sparks of electricity joined the black rime and red-orange heat, the color in the gem retreating as suddenly as it came and returning to grey. The sudden explosion of the axe sent shards of iron flying through the air, sparks of electricity and black ice joining the hot metal shrapnel in a deadly melody. Catian stood, unaffected by the blast and the shrapnel as if it weren’t there and had never happened.

”A sword that wields itself only deprives itself of the skill to unlock what it was made for. Catian knew the language spoken was not one to be known, but he was The God of Balance, and he could understand any language that fell upon his ears, just as his words would translate to their listener’s tongue. Without that simple ability he would likely never have been able to communicate with the people of this reality, or any of the countless others he had visited. ”This is your world, not mine. The height of your potential might be worthy of fear were I conscripted to existing here exclusively.” Catian raised his sword, tip unwavering in the direction of 404’s heart. ”As it stands I would prefer that we simply respect one another. Or, perhaps we might spend the rest of your eternity proving which of us is more frightening. I suppose that is the last choice you need to make here.” [/div][/div][/div]

[div style="background-color:#F9F6EE;border-top:#F9F6EE 4px outset;border-left:#F9F6EE 4px inset;border-right:#F9F6EE 4px outset;border-bottom:#F9F6EE 4px inset;"][div style="border-top:#F9F6EE 4px inset;border-left:#F9F6EE 4px outset;border-right:#F9F6EE 4px inset;border-bottom:#F9F6EE 4px outset;"][div style="background-color:white;color:#34282C;padding:15px;"]

There was a shifting, a flap of wings and a buzz that drew Catian’s attention from the field in front of him and back to the portal he had created, back to Dr. Levi Hobbes. For a moment he met her gaze, the neutral expression met with something of an expectant smile. She wouldn’t have been there if he had not wanted it, though 707 had pushed against his counteragent hard enough that she had gone farther than he would have liked, past the portal that crackled ominously behind her. He would have preferred she walked through it with her own two feet, but The Butterfly Effect was far too helpful, and often literal. She had wanted to be on the other side of the portal, and despite his safeguards she had made it.

The dragonfly tilted its head, and she was closer now, the portal a respectable distance away as it shattered, a million pieces of fractured space-time flying out from its position in all direction, slicing through all matter as if it weren’t there. Trees fell, and the grasses at their feet was shortened considerably, though Catian and Dr. Hobbes appeared to be untouched. Bessie, wherever she had loped off to, would not have been affected either. Not by the shards, though if she were aware of the destroyed portal she might believe herself cut off from her home, and that was worrisome. He had promised her, after all.

”You could have spoken to me from behind your walls, Dr. Levi. What business could bring you to me like this, I wonder?” Catian’s smile was taunting, either knowing or baiting, a matter of perception as expressions generally were. ”Oh,” he said with a glance to the camera that floated over the grassy meadow, presumably showing Behemoth’s foray to a crowd that was quickly disappointed. ”And cutting the feed as well? You must really want to keep this conversation a secret. Should I be afraid?” Had she been in the Monitor Room, had she been able to hear the feed from 404’s CU, she would have heard the word coincide with her favorite subject’s voice. [/div][/div][/div]

[div style="background-color:#1E9391;border-top:#1E9391 4px outset;border-left:#1E9391 4px inset;border-right:#1E9391 4px outset;border-bottom:#1E9391 4px inset;"][div style="border-top:#1E9391 4px inset;border-left:#1E9391 4px outset;border-right:#1E9391 4px inset;border-bottom:#1E9391 4px outset;"][div style="background-color:black;padding:15px;color:white]

As soon as Dr. Levi Hobbes was no longer in the Monitor room blue static began to fill each of the screens, beginning with the scene in the hallway, spreading from there to each adjacent screen, even those unrelated to U-3473’s appearance. Sparks began to fly from the monitors, and a sound filled the air. Maniacal, electric, distorted laughter, full of mischief as the sparks began to race around the room, their number over half a dozen with yellow flashes of eyes and jagged crescents.

The creatures flew into other devices; cell phones, processors, printers and even the lights. Smoke rose from nearly everything they entered, and before long there was nothing left, not even a watch on anyone’s wrist. One by one the sentient sparks zigged and zagged purposely toward the nearest plug in the wall, disappearing as quickly as they arrived with chaos in their wake. A single spark, the last to disappear, lingered for a moment, popping unintelligibly in Castor’s general direction and extending an amorphous limb threateningly before joining its brothers.

Whether this occurred before or after the feeds were cut was irrelevant. Their job was done, the order the Traveler had given them carried out to its full extent, though it was questionable whether the Foundation would discover exactly what that was. They certainly had enjoyed their destructive mischief, and it might serve a purpose to Catian as well. However, if they were only there to interfere with surveillance, the question became why they had stayed hidden to that point. [/div][/div][/div]

 

[Containment]

[div][attr="style","position:absolute;"]
[div][attr="style","position:relative;left:-181px;top:11px;width:150px;text-align:center;background-color:#FFFAFA;border:3px dimgray inset;padding:5px;font-family:courier new;color:dimgray;"]LEVI
[img src="[URL]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/426247770299432962/1131567226865057884/LEVIATHAN_3.jpg[/URL]" style="width:150px;"]
[font color="dimgray"]The Foundation[/font][/div][/div][div style="background-color:dimgray;border-top:dimgray 4px outset;border-left:dimgray 4px inset;border-right:dimgray 4px outset;border-bottom:dimgray 4px inset;"][div style="border-top:dimgray 4px inset;border-left:dimgray 4px outset;border-right:dimgray 4px inset;border-bottom:dimgray 4px outset;"][div style="background-color:#FFFAFA;color:black;padding:15px;font-family:courier new;"]The Foundation was a small woman. 1.52m, 43.1kg, bird-boned with blonde hair worn not quite as short as it once had been. The eyes that studied Catian from behind rectangular, black-rimmed glasses were a lighter blue than Castor’s, and darker than those eyes that now stared into the L-7 observation center to identify an issue.

There was no way to entirely suppress that look behind them, the clinical curiosity. Even as her head turned from the uninvited guest to the collapse of her only real way home, as the painted lady was and had always been on her shoulder, there was no fear in her bearing. If there was any in her mind, it was quickly converted into resignation, classified as out of her control. Her attention shifted again to Catian, and she smiled faintly at his final comment.

[font color="#1E9391"]“I doubt there’s anything I could do that could make you afraid, Mr. Valor.”[/font] He was deity-class, after all, and she was just the Foundation. [font color="#1E9391"]“Our situation is just classified, that’s all. Though I’m sure someone will want to keep an eye.”[/font]

Movement in the grass ahead drew her attention. She followed the path the black fringe made as it appeared over the green waves. Behemoth didn’t seem to have noticed the lack of a doorway – but then again, when was the last time it had this kind of enrichment?

She hoped the door came back. Karl would love to watch ACF-666 in action, and the zoologist in him would probably enjoy examining the animal life that would have to adapt quickly to survive and avoid extinction. Catian had been right – this would save the Foundation on feed alone, if it passed the Council. And if it came to a tied vote she knew where the Benefactor would fall, at least.

Her focus returned to him, because researching Behemoth wasn’t Dr. Hobbes’ department. Catian wasn’t Dr. Hobbes’ department, either. But Levi was here. As for how she was perceived – well. She was the only member of the Foundation presumably on this world. That was enough to make her the Foundation, even here. The rest would have to be put to rest later.

[font color="#1E9391"]“I just thought it was about time we met, face to face. We’ve got quite enough walls where I’m from. To be honest with you, I thought you would’ve come to see me much sooner.”[/font]

Her predecessor had expressed such expectations several times throughout the nearly two decades when his career intersected with Catian Valor’s presence in the Foundation’s world.

The phantom smile faded in again. [font color="#1E9391"]“I suppose it’s my turn to ask you – what business brings you to my Foundation this time? As much as I’m sure both 404 and 666 are enjoying the visit, I’m sure that’s not your entire purpose in coming here.”[/font]
[/div][/div][/div][div][attr="style","position:absolute;"]
[div][attr="style","position:relative;left:-181px;top:11px;width:150px;text-align:center;background-color:black;border:3px deepskyblue inset;padding:5px;font-family:courier new;color:deepskyblue;"][font color="deepskyblue"]SV-IV “HACK”
[img src="[URL]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/426247770299432962/1114830378591588472/scp_882_by_sunnyclockwork_d9ks3r5-pre.jpg[/URL]" style="width:150px;border-radius:15px;"]
[font color="deepskyblue"]Code by Illirica[/font][/font][/div][/div][div style="background-color:deepskyblue;border-top:deepskyblue 4px outset;border-left:deepskyblue 4px inset;border-right:deepskyblue 4px outset;border-bottom:deepskyblue 4px inset;"][div style="border-top:deepskyblue 4px inset;border-left:deepskyblue 4px outset;border-right:deepskyblue 4px inset;border-bottom:deepskyblue 4px outset;"][div style="background-color:black;color:#fffafa;padding:15px;font-family:courier new;"]He had been surveilling L-7 since the initial report of Catian Valor’s presence from surveillance security. COGNIZANT was capable of detecting anomalous interference, from reality alteration to infohazards, but could counter little outside full memetic hazards, so on occasion he had to be prepared to act rather than observe. This was an acceptable parameter, because both were in the realm that belonged to security.

He had not immediately detected the ghosts in the machine. It was a mistake that could not be repeated, but had been made, and must now be rectified as he lost visual of the main observation center and all location feeds.

In the peripheral of his visor, an alert flashed. [font color="red"]FUITE DÉTECTÉE. TRANSCRIPTION DES DONNÉES EN COURS.[/font]

He reached to one side, and turned the temperature of his office down a few degrees. There were now several problems coexisting in the same moment. He would not add his illness to the list of distractions.

She’d gone in with no warning or external preparations. She should have waited for him to respond to her notice before engaging with Mr. Valor, because he would have had security suggestions.

Non pertinent. Distraction. Irrelevant. She was beyond reach. What would come of that would come in its own time.

He turned toward the data and power feeds from the location. Given its depth, full loss of power at location L-7 could result in asphyxiation of all personnel within several hours. If, of course, the generator from CU-7-E-404 was not disabled first, the field failed, and ACF-404 breached containment. In that situation, sealing personnel off from the rest of the location to asphyxiate would be the merciful option.

He manually set COGNIZANT to scan for anomalous activity originating from the observatory. He did not need his feed to act as a door to lead the problem to a more interesting location. His systems were airtight, but there were many anomalies that could come through airtight spaces. The Traveler, he was sure, was one of them.

This wasn’t the Traveler, however, even if he had caused it. There was no sense of reality alteration in this particular case. Something else introduced to his system, something that moved and fed like a living entity, or many. The energy in the central observatory was being drained, as were other circuits along the route, but the leech had not reached either the main generator, the backup generator, or the independent generator in ACF-404’s containment unit, although one spot was close to that. He determined the security protocol immediately. With a swipe of his hand like a conductor he cut the power from the cameras and sealed the energy leech off from the generator that would likely draw its attention.

A few more waves and he had created an artificial hotspot in the central observatory, then several more along the trail to the backup generator. He was still hesitant to cut the power to the main generator without a backup, but it was better to draw them to the spare than the main one. He would have sounded an alert, but there was no way to do so in the areas that were undergoing a system breach. He sent an internal message to Security Team A-7-10 to inform Judgment of the situation. Judgment would pass the word on, and the remainder of the team would be prepared for potential breach on the part of ACF-404 should the Traveler decide to cease distracting him.

Then he powered off the main generator, cutting all power to the station for the space of sixteen seconds. In that space ACF-408 would be the main source of energy. He had taken that into consideration, and determined the discomfort this might bring the anomaly a suitable measure to draw all the external issues into one place, unless they decided to attempt to drain into ACF-404’s unit, which was a possibility that he would monitor.

Within that small timeframe he opened a program within the system that he had hand-designed in his younger years to counter memetic influences, before COGNIZANT was introduced as a more viable countermeasure. He guided it into the main storage cloud for L-7, and set it to determine which of the parasites had already transferred information. Once he had them secured in a singular spot, he would have time to determine effective permanent security measures and location transference, or pass that responsibility on to a member of his staff better suited in dealing with the specific type of anomalous entity.

After that sixteen second period, he reached back into the circuitry and turned on the backup generator at full power. A baited trap.

Once he could leave those to their work, he turned back to the leaks, and set about patching them by hand.
[/div][/div][/div][div][attr="style","position:absolute;"]
[div][attr="style","position:relative;left:-181px;top:11px;width:150px;text-align:center;background-color:white;border:3px #8a0303 inset;padding:5px;font-family:courier new;color:black;"]ACF-404
[img style="width:150px;" src="[URL]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/717410440300462090/1124551077610672218/POLLUX.jpg[/URL]"]
POLLUX[/div][/div][div style="background-color:#8a0303;border-top:#8a0303 4px outset;border-left:#8a0303 4px inset;border-right:#8a0303 4px outset;border-bottom:#8a0303 4px inset;"][div style="border-top:#8a0303 4px inset;border-left:#8a0303 4px outset;border-right:#8a0303 4px inset;border-bottom:#8a0303 4px outset;"][div style="background-color:black;color:#52595d;padding:15px;font-family:courier new;"]Pollux could not see blood. He had struck, though. He felt it before he released the knife and let it return to oblivion, before he resumed his grip on the axe. And kept it, as he seemed to have struck a nerve.

There was danger in Catian Valor’s voice. There was danger in his form, too, entrancing and dazzling it would be to one less jaded. Pollux remained as he had always been, solid. Even as heat traveled down the blade, into the shaft, into his hands, he held firm. He only moved in the imperceptible instant after the burst, to turn and raise an arm to catch any shrapnel lest it strike an artery in his throat or chest before once more dissipating into flecks. His hair blew wildly in the burst. His black eyes closed against the light.

When they reopened, there was a blade pointed at his heart. An idle thought crept by, wondering if that blade could be the one that truly killed him. It crept on its way in due time. And then as he spoke, Catian Valor was finished fighting. That was a pity, but while he harbored the idea of reengaging, he dismissed it. This was not the place. Had this been elsewhere…

The millstone of his mind ground past that thought, and it led to a question that he would not phrase as such.

[font color="#8a0303"]“So. We have neither your answers, nor my freedom.”[/font] He returned to the modern tongue. [font color="#8a0303"]“My respect is hard-earned, and easily lost. If that is what you came for, then you may have it and leave.”[/font]

It was a foolish thought, or even arrogant, to assume that was the entire purpose of a god’s visit. But Pollux did not wish to guess at his true intentions, either. Few were as simply directed as he was, and he wanted to ponder something among the outsider’s ramblings without that outsider present.

He resumed the stillness he had before the encounter, this time standing. Awaiting the answer.
[/div][/div][/div]

 

[Fang]

[div style="background-color:#F9F6EE;border-top:#F9F6EE 4px outset;border-left:#F9F6EE 4px inset;border-right:#F9F6EE 4px outset;border-bottom:#F9F6EE 4px inset;"][div style="border-top:#F9F6EE 4px inset;border-left:#F9F6EE 4px outset;border-right:#F9F6EE 4px inset;border-bottom:#F9F6EE 4px outset;"][div style="background-color:white;color:#34282C;padding:15px;"]
Despite the obvious tension in the air Catian smiled at Levi Hobbes, empathetic to that moment of concern that she immediately dismissed in favor of her words. He could nearly see the considerations going through her mind, as obvious as the subtle differences in her Order to those of others he met so far. He let her secrets stay buried, though, gathering a better impression of her without delving too deep into her motivations. He knew his study was invasive, and often unappreciated by his subject. He couldn’t say that he wouldn’t be annoyed were his soul laid bare in front of anyone without his consent.

”I will tell you a secret, Dr. Hobbes.” Catian leaned forward conspiratorially. ”Gods are always a little afraid of the mortals they interact with.” He straightened and one of his lupine ears twitched at the rustle of Behemoth in the grass. ”I try to keep my interference in this realm as benign as possible, and interaction with an institute as integral as the Foundation and its,” he swept his gaze from the crown of her head to the soles of her feet before continuing. ”more informed personnel will always cause ripples of change that are best to be avoided. Nevertheless I am as intrigued as you seem to be, Dr. Hobbes.”

A silence followed, the call of something bird-like filling the moment as he considered how to answer her ultimate question. ”Is it truly so unbelievable that I would be here to meet other Anomalies?” A heartbeat of further silence. ”I am here for information, of many different kinds. I assure you that I have no ill intent. Well, none beyond my disregard for your group’s stifling regulation. One can only read the word Redacted so many times before losing their mind, after all.” He was sure by now that the information his departing allies had gained for him had been discovered. Somewhere in the wires, in a reality intricately laced into the one the humans perceived, he could see that a few had been caught in a masterfully crafted trap. [/div]

[/div][/div][div style="background-color:deepskyblue;border-top:deepskyblue 4px outset;border-left:deepskyblue 4px inset;border-right:deepskyblue 4px outset;border-bottom:deepskyblue 4px inset;"][div style="border-top:deepskyblue 4px inset;border-left:deepskyblue 4px outset;border-right:deepskyblue 4px inset;border-bottom:deepskyblue 4px outset;"][div style="background-color:white;color:black;padding:15px;]

Most had escaped, dissipated through grounding wires and communication lines that lead to the distant shores. There were probably a dozen or so of them at first, most dumping their gathering data into the special code that the Traveler had provided them, though there were a few who let their hunger override their mission. The Boogaloos were not much for following Orders; they preferred to eat and play endlessly. Though only a few of the electric gremlins had diverted from the goal that had been set upon them by Catian it was more than enough to cause lights to flicker and communications to disappear.

And when the power went off, in what could have been eternity in those sixteen seconds, they blew fuses in their race to the power source so close to the Traveler and his iron-blooded friend. Three blue streaks that found themselves caught in a net of code and intent, something more natural to them than the strange Orders the Traveler had written for them. These were of this world, written as they were and so temporarily more binding on the three outlying Boogaloos that had cast off the Traveler’s mission. Their information was meaningless, stolen bits of low-security data that Catian had likely already received less censored versions of. They would receive no help from the errant god as Hack decided what to make of them. [/div] [/div] [/div]

[div style="background-color:#8a0303;border-top:#8a0303 4px outset;border-left:#8a0303 4px inset;border-right:#8a0303 4px outset;border-bottom:#8a0303 4px inset;"][div style="border-top:#8a0303 4px inset;border-left:#8a0303 4px outset;border-right:#8a0303 4px inset;border-bottom:#8a0303 4px outset;"][div style="background-color:black;color:#fffff0;padding:15px;]

The tip of the sword lowered as it dissipated into motes of light, the need for it passed as suddenly as it had come. Catian had not expected the Anomaly to yield, another misconception that the humans had given him. Pollux was far more than the murderous, mindless being he had been made out to be, and Catian found himself sort of enjoying the way he interacted with his world. Perhaps less reminiscent of Catian himself, but certainly familiar to his predecessor. A sword that wields itself. Those words were all too familiar.

”I don’t recall addressing the situation of a draw, Pollux. This was my game and by my rules. Therefore we should meet our rewards in the middle.” Catian had at some point returned to casual wear, a red t-shirt with -Valor- printed in black, black cargos and familiar black combat boots. The mask was gone, and a sharp smile revealed beneath. He had been holding that smile for some time, he felt. The room had begun shifting as well, walls drawing inexorably closer at a much slower rate than they had expanded. From the floor, as if rising from beneath the surface of a lake, 404’s bed emerged. Before it had fully settled Catian plopped onto its edge.

”A chance for another battle, with more space to let loose and an opponent you can really sink your teeth into.” Catian held up a small coin, much smaller than the ones offered to the Scapegoats but similar in design, and set it on Pollux’s pillow. ”Swallow this and you will get your prize soon enough.” Catian glanced to the cameras monitoring their conversation. For the moment the magnetic field being concentrated as it was would probably keep any of the researchers or security from interfering, but he would have to ensure it remained that way until Pollux swallowed the coin.

”As for myself, I have a single, simple question. Where can I find an Anomaly older than you?” Catian already had an idea, had already gained enough information from this Location and L-14. It was always nice to have confirmation, though. Besides that, Pollux had seemed to prefer speaking as little as possible. The risk of this question was minimal with or without an answer, whereas any others might give the Foundation a real glimpse into what the Traveler was up to. There was still a lot of work to be done before they could be trusted with that kind of information. [/div] [/div] [/div]

 

[Containment]

[div][attr="style","position:absolute;"]
[div][attr="style","position:relative;left:-181px;top:11px;width:150px;text-align:center;background-color:black;border:3px deepskyblue inset;padding:5px;font-family:courier new;color:deepskyblue;"]SV-IV “HACK”
[img src="[URL]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/426247770299432962/1114830378591588472/scp_882_by_sunnyclockwork_d9ks3r5-pre.jpg[/URL]" style="width:150px;border-radius:15px;"]
[font color="deepskyblue"]Code by Illirica[/font][/div][/div][div style="background-color:deepskyblue;border-top:deepskyblue 4px outset;border-left:deepskyblue 4px inset;border-right:deepskyblue 4px outset;border-bottom:deepskyblue 4px inset;"][div style="border-top:deepskyblue 4px inset;border-left:deepskyblue 4px outset;border-right:deepskyblue 4px inset;border-bottom:deepskyblue 4px outset;"][div style="background-color:black;color:#fffafa;padding:15px;font-family:courier new;"]He caught three in the Net, which could have been a pun, but only if he shared it, which he did not. Instead, he reinforced the circuits that would keep the three prisoners in place for now, again until further study could be conducted. Maintenance security would have to repair the breakers manually, but that was their department. His department was currently stopping the remaining breaches of more important information.

He opened a call to the team lead for Northwest Passengers, and forwarded information to her with the other hand, compiled from the initial scan of the creatures he now temporarily held in L-7 with the addended “U-2406” using the earliest available numeric. He spoke as soon as she picked up, distracted as he kept his hands busy.

[font color="deepskyblue"]“Foucher. Lancez une recherche des entités correspondant à cette description.”
Launch a search for entities matching this description.[/font]

“Councilman, with utmost respect, how long have you been awake?”

There was a twinge of irritation as he replied, [font color="deepskyblue"]“Pourquoi demandez-vous?”[/font]

“You usually don’t realize you’re speaking French when it’s been more than twenty six hours.”

A pause, but not too long. Just long enough to take a steadying breath.

[font color="deepskyblue"]“Please just locate them. I will rest once they’ve been found.”[/font]

“You’d better.” The call dropped.

He left her to that work, and sent a copy of the file to his location’s research department as well. It might be early for some, but there was always someone on hand. As it was, he was picking through the files the creatures had on their nonpersons, setting a search for related threads that fit into the L-7 systems. If all the information was out – that was very bad. But if only a certain brand of information had escaped, that would be far better to work with. Albeit still a dangerous breach of security.
[/div][/div][/div][div][attr="style","position:absolute;"]
[div][attr="style","position:relative;left:-181px;top:11px;width:150px;text-align:center;background-color:#FFFAFA;border:3px dimgray inset;padding:5px;font-family:courier new;color:dimgray;"]LEVI
[img style="width:150px;" src="[URL]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/426247770299432962/1131567226865057884/LEVIATHAN_3.jpg[/URL]"]
The Foundation[/div][/div][div style="background-color:dimgray;border-top:dimgray 4px outset;border-left:dimgray 4px inset;border-right:dimgray 4px outset;border-bottom:dimgray 4px inset;"][div style="border-top:dimgray 4px inset;border-left:dimgray 4px outset;border-right:dimgray 4px inset;border-bottom:dimgray 4px outset;"][div style="background-color:#FFFAFA;color:black;padding:15px;font-family:courier new;"]Levi did not lose the smile she had already offered him as he spoke to her of fear. His eyes studied her, from ballet flat to blonde bob, and she let him. It wasn’t dangerous for him to know what she looked like.

It could be dangerous for him to know other things. For as he said – her Foundation may be comprised of small mortalities, but it was “integral to the realm,” as he’d roughly said. That was less flattering than some might take it, and, to a degree, more concerning. The Foundation’s members knew its importance, and yes, damage to the Foundation could be and had been generally bad for the state of the world. But integral?

She decided to put a pin in that. She wasn’t here to ask questions, it seemed, as much as she’d like to.

[font color="#1E9391"]“I didn’t say I didn’t believe you were here to see them.”[/font] Her eyes never left his face, even as something that got too close to the strange new predator screamed in sudden, unfamiliar pain. She didn’t so much as flinch. [font color="#1E9391"]“I said I doubted it was the only reason you were here. You could ask to be more involved, you know.”[/font]

The answer would depend on who he asked, of course. Despite having only met him once, Butterfly spoke well of Catian. Jupiter…would rather like working with him, she felt. Hack would not give him an inch, Strings would give him a mile just to see if he could seal him off in limited space. And as for Leviathan – well, he’d better make a good impression on her, if he really meant to approach the Foundation’s head on such a matter.

In response to how he’d attempted to address that problem, she let the smile disappear, her hands sliding into the copious pockets of her lab coat.[font color="#1E9391"]“Taking information may have more ripples than speaking to someone, in my experience with the Foundation. I have people who’d prefer to keep what’s redacted that way, or at least keep the information securely regulated. I also have people who are itching for an excuse to attempt containment. Breaches of security may serve as such an excuse.”[/font]

It was not a warning. And it was not a threat. It was a fact, one that she could only assume was being played out back at L-7 with her disappearance. Little enough was known about Catian Valor that such preparations could even be discussed as a countermeasure. It wasn’t what she would want, but while she was the Foundation here, she wasn’t there right now to oppose anything.

The smile came back, this time slightly amused.

[font color="#1E9391"]“Underhanded acquisitions are our brand, Mr. Valor, not yours.”[/font] Her head tilted. [font color="#1E9391"]“But if you would like, I could be convinced to make an exchange. If that doesn't interfere too much with your benignity.”[/font]
[/div][/div][/div][div][attr="style","position:absolute;"]
[div][attr="style","position:relative;left:-181px;top:11px;width:150px;text-align:center;background-color:white;border:3px #8a0303 inset;padding:5px;font-family:courier new;color:black;"]ACF-404
[img style="width:150px;" src="[URL]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/717410440300462090/1124551077610672218/POLLUX.jpg[/URL]"]
POLLUX[/div][/div][div style="background-color:#8a0303;border-top:#8a0303 4px outset;border-left:#8a0303 4px inset;border-right:#8a0303 4px outset;border-bottom:#8a0303 4px inset;"][div style="border-top:#8a0303 4px inset;border-left:#8a0303 4px outset;border-right:#8a0303 4px inset;border-bottom:#8a0303 4px outset;"][div style="background-color:black;color:#52595d;padding:15px;font-family:courier new;"]What Valor proposed sounded more like an exchange than equal reward, but then again, the two things were not so different. The black eyes watched the sword vanish into light, although if the pupil contracted it was hard to say. They also followed the god, and the coin. The prisoner relaxed again into silence, as his world slowed again, as the fight faded away. It wasn’t gone, though. Just stored energy for later use. He’d hardly even been slowed by the encounter.

He walked up beside the bed, although he did not join Catian Valor on it. Instead, he picked up the coin and studied it idly, trying to recognize its weight and symbol. There were deeper thoughts as well, however. There were thoughts of his world’s gods. Thoughts of objects that had been uncovered, but not disclosed to him. He was not a student of his own realm.

He did know one person who was. And who was older, although perhaps not by the aeons that Catian Valor hoped for. Perhaps it was the bitter twist in his heart, the additional spike of anger that was now mixed somewhat with spite, that led him to speak rather than simply consume the coin.

[font color="#8a0303"]“Castor.”[/font] There was a hard edge, mixed with unfamiliarity, to the way he said the name. Unfamiliar name, but too familiar with its bearer. [font color="#8a0303"]“The one they have numbered four-zero-eight. There are three years between he and I, which is not what you seek. But he has more freedom. He is loyal to them. They will have given him more information.”[/font]

If that information had unfortunate consequences for Akachi, then so be it. That was all the information that he had. Without further conversation he put the coin in his mouth, and swallowed it.
[/div][/div][/div][div][attr="style","position:absolute;"]
[div][attr="style","position:relative;left:-181px;top:11px;width:150px;text-align:center;background-color:white;border:3px #3137fd inset;padding:5px;font-family:courier new;color:#3137fd;"]ACF-408
[img style="width:150px;" src="[URL]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/426247770299432962/1134231724990136350/CASTOR.jpg[/URL]"]
CASTOR[/div][/div][div style="background-color:#3137fd;border-top:#3137fd 4px outset;border-left:#3137fd 4px inset;border-right:#3137fd 4px outset;border-bottom:#3137fd 4px inset;"][div style="border-top:#3137fd 4px inset;border-left:#3137fd 4px outset;border-right:#3137fd 4px inset;border-bottom:#3137fd 4px outset;"][div style="background-color:white;color:black;padding:15px;font-family:courier new;"]As the entities buried within the System remained within the Foundation’s power grid, Castor was unaware that SV-4 would have sacrificed his comfort and energy, briefly, for the sake of the Foundation. Or rather, he was just as aware as he had always been, even if that sacrifice had not been necessary this time. He had chosen to align himself with them since the beginning, so long as he could continue to pursue his primary lifelong objective – and he was quite used to making sacrifices for those who held a degree of power over him.

His eyes were on that objective now, narrowed and luminescent in the dark. The monitors had revived with the activation of the backup generator, but the lights were still down to conserve power in the ventilation system, for those here who needed to breathe. The footage was very bad, grainy, likely affected by an adjustment to the magnetic field in the room, but the movements were clear from where he stood, from what he saw. The relaxation with which Waruhiu moved was what struck him as odd. Or, no, worse than odd.

Concerning.

[font color="3137fd"]“<You should not let him out.>”[/font] The voice was directed to no one, and was in a language no one understood, but it escaped in a gentle breath anyway, soft as the prayers he once whispered at forgotten altars.

And perhaps, now as then, some god was listening.
[/div][/div][/div]

 

[Fang]

[div style="border-left:#7df9ff dotted 3px;border-right:#7df9ff dotted 3px;border-top:#7df9ff 3px dotted;border-bottom:#7df9ff 3px dotted;padding-right:3px;padding-left:3px;padding-top:5px;padding-bottom:3px;background-color:black;"] [div style="border-left:#59CBE8 dashed 1px;border-right:#59CBE8 dashed 1px;border-top:#59CBE8 1px dashed;border-bottom:#59CBE8 1px dashed;padding-right:3px;padding-left:3px;padding-top:3px;padding-bottom:3px;background-color:black;"]
[font color="#2c75ff"]They had done as the [font color=#ffff00]Traveler[/font] had asked of them, had even taken the time to taunt the Metal Man and cause a little havoc. They did so enjoy their pranks, the looks on human faces when everything they relied upon went up in flame. Humans were interesting like that. They harnessed [font color=#ffff00]power[/font] but never became it, let it run around instead of tasting its fine buzz. The [font color=#ffff00]Boogaloos[/font] thought that was quite entertaining, and far more convenient than waiting for a goat’s wool to rub the right way, a bolt of lightning, or stealing the electricity from the meat creatures’ computational [font color=#ffff00]systems.[/font]

The [font color=#ffff00]Boogaloos[/font] were entertained by them, but they were not like them. The [font color=#ffff00]Boogaloos[/font] were the same, were one while many, electrons with purpose singular, driven together, and sometimes separated. What one knew they all knew. What one held they all held. They had transferred the [font color=#ffff00]data[/font] the Traveler wanted when they shocked the Metal Man. They had played a little prank. They had all escaped together.

They had [font color=#ffff00]not[/font] all escaped together. Three of them, of the whole, were caught. [font color=#ffff00]Trapped[/font] and left behind. The [font color=#ffff00]Boogaloos[/font] did not leave anyone behind. In a wide cone around the sky in a certain part of the Gulf of Mexico impossibly blue spheres of light accompanied the sound of thunder for several seconds. What one [font color=#ffff00]Boogaloo[/font] felt they all felt, and when one [font color=#ffff00]Boogaloo[/font] was trapped they all were.[/div][/div]

[div style="background-color:#F9F6EE;border-top:#F9F6EE 4px outset;border-left:#F9F6EE 4px inset;border-right:#F9F6EE 4px outset;border-bottom:#F9F6EE 4px inset;"][div style="border-top:#F9F6EE 4px inset;border-left:#F9F6EE 4px outset;border-right:#F9F6EE 4px inset;border-bottom:#F9F6EE 4px outset;"][div style="background-color:white;color:#34282C;padding:15px;"]

He almost laughed, the smile he wore nearly broken with the soft snort he quickly recovered as Dr. Hobbes continued. A small shrug replied her last statement, before he responded in order.

”Ask, you say? I could ask, true enough. I could ask for a great number of things and the Foundation would give them to me, of course. The question is what would they ask for in return? Information is a thing that festers when it is hoarded, Doctor. It rots and leaks and not even the most secretive of people can keep their tongues beyond the grave. You have copies upon copies of your information recorded in many different places around the world. Piles of it, entire mountains of knowledge in tiny ones and zeroes that sometimes even fly through the air.” Catian took a moment, realizing he had been pacing, rambling.

”If I ask for something so easily gained, even if offered in friendship it becomes a contract, one that is uneven unless I dictate the terms. Your world is not so new to me that I do not know its laws, though I have ways around them if I should have the need.” Catian let his smile return, faded as it was with his speech its reemergence was soft and warm. ”An exchange, however, was just what I had in mind.”

From what would have been a breast pocket, had Catian been wearing attire that possessed a breast pocket, the Traveler withdrew a pair of glasses, wire framed and quite round. They were certainly not stylish, though something about the reflection in them did not seem right. Like a magician setting up his next illusion Catian set the glasses down on an invisible table, their frames sitting neatly upon thin air as he rummaged through what seemed to be more nonexistent pockets. Though he mumbled to himself the words were alien and unintelligible.

After removing several handkerchiefs, a balloon that floated into the foreign world’s orange sky, and an umbrella Catian finally drew a matching pair of glasses that he set next to the originals. From some unknown where a snare drum licked as he flourished his hand over the floating lenses.

”I present to you, the Perspective Lenses! An Anomaly for information, two if you count my friends and three if you count access to a planet that can actually feed Furball over there.” Catian motioned toward the grass and a disgruntled snort seemed to respond, though that might have been coincidental as he could smell the blood from her snack. ”All in all I would say that is plenty of exchange for a few copied files. The originals should be returning any minute now that you have some of the Boogaloos contained.” His smile was the knowing sort, one that suggested he had already planned for this to occur. [/div][/div] [/div]

[div style="background-color:#8a0303;border-top:#8a0303 4px outset;border-left:#8a0303 4px inset;border-right:#8a0303 4px outset;border-bottom:#8a0303 4px inset;"][div style="border-top:#8a0303 4px inset;border-left:#8a0303 4px outset;border-right:#8a0303 4px inset;border-bottom:#8a0303 4px outset;"][div style="background-color:black;color:#fffff0;padding:15px;]

”Castor, huh?” Catian mused with a glance toward the undamaged camera. ”That could work. Thank-“ The gratitude died on his lips as Pollux swallowed the coin. At first there was silence, the proportions of the room normal though the quiet was almost anomalous. His face was a blank mask, even those ever shifting eyes seeming to settle in a multicolored state for that hanging moment. Then Catian laughed, at first rising to his feet to reach up and put a hand on 404’s shoulder, to brace himself on it, and finally to double over as he fit reached its crescendo.

”I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Catian said as he wiped his eyes and straightened, small giggles erupting behind fingers that failed to snatch them from the air. ”I really thought you were going to make that more difficult for me. You have been nothing but a surprise from the moment I stepped foot into this unit, Pollux. I have decided that I like you.” Catian suppressed another giggle and stepped past 404 toward the door. ”I couldn’t give you the fight you deserved here; not in this reality. But since you are my friend I will find a fight that is worthy of your spirit. Speaking of which, I left you a gift under the pillow. It worked for the Gods of my world, I imagine it should work just fine for you.” He cast a conspiratorial wink and a finger to his lips before adding; ”You need to learn to loosen up sometimes. What is the point of eternal life if you’re not really living it?” And then he was gone, the room as if he had never been.

The magnetic fields returned to their original formation, the camera that had been destroyed was whole again, streaming its feed to a Monitor room that was also free of damage, operating as expected though the commands that had nearly been entered before the sparks had flown were still waiting to be finished. The feed to the Scapegoats kelt rolling long enough to catch ACF-404’s final movements, but narrowed and faded as the rest of the events in the Behemoth Unit, or rather the planet they were on, took up the rest of the space. [/div][/div][/div]

 

[Containment]

[div][attr="style","position:absolute;"]
[div][attr="style","position:relative;left:-181px;top:11px;width:150px;text-align:center;background-color:#FFFAFA;border:3px dimgray inset;padding:5px;font-family:courier new;color:dimgray;"]LEVI
[img style="width:150px;" src="[URL]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/426247770299432962/1131567226865057884/LEVIATHAN_3.jpg[/URL]"]
The Foundation[/div][/div][div style="background-color:dimgray;border-top:dimgray 4px outset;border-left:dimgray 4px inset;border-right:dimgray 4px outset;border-bottom:dimgray 4px inset;"][div style="border-top:dimgray 4px inset;border-left:dimgray 4px outset;border-right:dimgray 4px inset;border-bottom:dimgray 4px outset;"][div style="background-color:#FFFAFA;color:black;padding:15px;font-family:courier new;"]Levi watched the party trick with a healthy mix of patience and curiosity. Reality-alterers tended to be able to do that sort of thing, although it was always refreshing to see one that might have an actual sense of humor. She could see why Butterfly liked him, anyway.

Unlike some of the others.

[font color="#1E9391"]“Hack’s going to have my head if I agree to this.”[/font]

She normally wouldn’t worry about him, but the bigger concern would be him worrying about her. They all worried too much, really. She was as replaceable as anyone. Which was why she wasn’t as uncomfortable as some of her predecessors might’ve been with stepping up to the table, taking off her square-rim glasses, and picking up one of the Perspective Lenses.

[font color="#1E9391"]“I don’t suppose you have any kind of official documentation for any of this?”[/font] She looked through the glasses, but the world didn’t become any less blurry. She set them back – down, maybe, if the nontable was still there – and if it wasn’t she’d slip them into her pocket without thinking twice, and put her prescriptions back on. [font color="#1E9391"]“Don’t get me wrong, I’m not looking a gift horse in the mouth. Three for a little information seems like a fair deal, as long as I have some assurance you’ll be discrete about it. The information is for you, not for ‘whoever you designate.’ I just need to know if I should find researchers bored enough to classify and explore everything.”[/font]

Which would not be hard. She’d been trying to find something for Karl to do since his interns had been fully trained to take on the main body of his responsibilities, and while he’d refuse to retire again if she’d asked – maybe spending time here would help. The glasses were a pair of pairs, so she'd need to find lab partners that worked well together. And she was already sure she'd find out about his 'friends' when she got home.

If she got home.

That raised the matter of finding out of there was ever going to be a door again, or if it had always been there, or if the two aspects of 707 would have to try to take her and Bessie back. Whatever the case, she’d cross that bridge when she got there. She didn’t see enough adventure anymore, and maybe Catian knew that, if he knew anything at all about her.
[/div][/div][/div]

 

[Fang]

[div style="background-color:#F9F6EE;border-top:#F9F6EE 4px outset;border-left:#F9F6EE 4px inset;border-right:#F9F6EE 4px outset;border-bottom:#F9F6EE 4px inset;"][div style="border-top:#F9F6EE 4px inset;border-left:#F9F6EE 4px outset;border-right:#F9F6EE 4px inset;border-bottom:#F9F6EE 4px outset;"][div style="background-color:black;color:#fffff0;padding:15px;"]
Catian smiled genuinely at Levi’s words, both the concern and the question. As the Perspective Lenses she tried out were returned to the table that wasn’t there a file appeared beneath them, red and unmarked but clearly of the Foundation’s style. Before he spoke Catian picked up the other pair of Lenses and slipped them on.

”My notes are all in that file, Dr. Hobbes, though I am sure you will assign researchers to verify my findings by your own means. In fact, I recommend it. Being from another reality I likely didn’t answer all of the questions you would have asked here at the Foundation.” Catian let the smile fade a bit as he picked up the other pair and held them out to her again. ”I can tell you how they work, though.”

He pushed the glasses up the brim of his nose with a knuckle and launched into his explanation without waiting for Dr. Hobbes to take the other pair from him. ”First they require two wearers, as you probably guessed. The ones I wear are the Auxiliary Pair. When someone is wearing this pair and another person puts the other pair on they are able to share their sight, or their perspective. This in itself is a valuable tool for espionage and reconnaissance, as two people can share the same view. They are capable of more, however.”

Catian slipped the glasses off and set them down again. ”The Auxiliary Pair can overwrite the perspective of the Main, much like the way I changed Bessie’s size using the perspective of the camera. Using this you could have someone wearing the Auxiliary high above her CU while someone below wears the Main, and achieve the same result. I suspect that the wearers need to be focused on a single object, though, or the effect might change more than just a single target and change the relative sizing and positioning of everything within their field of vision.” He really hadn’t had a chance to test the Lenses on a larger scale, but figured the Foundation would find all of the dangers and uses in their own time.

”They can also switch the wearers physically. I can’t tell you if there is a limitation to this, but I can imagine it might be quite handy for some of your upper management and their field teams.” Catian sighed as he slid the folder and the Auxiliary Lenses across the invisible table and closer to Levi. His fingers snapped and sparks flew across the grasses, swirling about each other to form the portal once again, the view of Behemoth’s CU stark and grey against the colorful planet’s backdrop.

”If you use 707’s ability to move yourself through the portal it will collapse as you saw. You will have to walk through, as will any other Anomaly. Consider it like a piece of bent glass that is being bent further when 707 or any other reality shifting Anomaly interacts with it. That pressure is too great for it to retain its shape, and the Order of your reality corrects that imbalance in pressure back to the original factors. He stepped through the table that wasn’t there and around Levi, back toward the portal he had reinstated. ”That being said, I can see how a permanent gateway to another planet might be an issue.”

Catian waved his hand next to the empty space next to the portal and something like an obsidian light switch appeared where it passed, hanging suspended in thin air. ”There is a switch on the other side as well so you can open and close the portal at your own will. Be warned, though, that the switch doesn’t care who flips it.” Strange warbling noises filled the air as he flipped the switch up and down and the portal flickered into and out of existence.

”Let us be fair here, Dr. Hobbes. Who exactly would I convey this information to that would believe me? The Foundation is unique, even in comparison to the other… what do you call them? Gee-oh—eyes? Even taking those organizations into account the number of people I could leak your research to is extremely limited. Besides that I happen to have made a few friends within your organization, and I would hate to see them come to any harm from a slip of my tongue. Your secrets are safe as houses with me, I assure you.” Catian motioned to the gateway, and gave a soft whistle to catch Bessie’s attention. His work was nearly done here, and it was time for them to return. [/div][/div][/div]

 

[Containment]

[div][attr="style","position:absolute;"]
[div][attr="style","position:relative;left:-181px;top:11px;width:150px;text-align:center;background-color:#FFFAFA;border:3px dimgray inset;padding:5px;font-family:courier new;color:dimgray;"]LEVI
[img style="width:150px;" src="[URL]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/426247770299432962/1131567226865057884/LEVIATHAN_3.jpg[/URL]"]
The Foundation[/div][/div][div style="background-color:dimgray;border-top:dimgray 4px outset;border-left:dimgray 4px inset;border-right:dimgray 4px outset;border-bottom:dimgray 4px inset;"][div style="border-top:dimgray 4px inset;border-left:dimgray 4px outset;border-right:dimgray 4px inset;border-bottom:dimgray 4px outset;"][div style="background-color:#FFFAFA;color:black;padding:15px;font-family:courier new;"]Well, well, Valor had done his homework after all. She accepted the glasses, but only held them as she picked up the file and flipped through it while she listened, skimming the results that confirmed what Catian had said. The description was for a Household-Class anomaly that would work ideally for the field, perhaps reducing the size of an anomaly for containment, sharing information for reconnaissance, and physical transportation. However, she couldn’t just take Valor’s word for it. And even she wouldn’t risk sharing any kind of connection with a deity-class entity she didn’t fully trust, as benevolent as he had been so far.

He did mention upper management and field teams, and she already knew that given the opportunity Jupiter would try to add these to his personal collection. That meant that they’d be available for use to all RH teams who requested them, of course, but there was still a long testing period that would need to be done before some other Council members agreed to letting one of their own hold onto that. Leviathan themself might want them, for situations like today, but if Hack had a say that would be right out. Unfortunate, but necessary. She understood.

The doorway reopened to answer the rest of her questions. Switches on either side of the gap in existence, and a hard ban on reality-warping through. Those rules seemed easy enough, although of course there would be some experimentation down the line. For now, this was a solution to a problem as long as it got Council approval. And, again, the Benefactors might be able to give that vote a little extra sway.

Mini-Bessie came tearing out of the brush at the sound of the whistle, but rather than zip right up to Catian, it ran several circles around Levi first. She found herself smiling fondly at the small monstrosity. There was something dead in its mouth, and when it finally stopped it shook it around violently before dropping it at Levi’s feet. She did her best not to sigh, and instead crouched down and ran her hands along the sides of the carapace that covered its face as one would when scratching a large dog. The whiplike tail wagged, also doglike.

Dr. Nien was going to like this development, she knew. Maybe she could even use it to convince the old vet to finally retire someplace quiet. Levi was glad that once returned to its full size, the anomaly would be too large to manipulate the switch itself. Already experimental ideas were swirling around the researcher part of her brain, but with the gateway open, the director part took precedence.

[font color="#1E9391"]“I think this is the part where you leave me to explain your actions to the Foundation.”[/font] Levi’s voice was almost teasing as she stood back up at Catian’s side, with the glasses and one hand sliding into a pocket, and the matted mess of fur that had once been one of the rabbit creatures in the other hand. For a creature with limited facial expression, Behemoth looked very proud of itself.

[font color="#1E9391"]“Unless you would like the pleasure of doing that yourself? I’m sure SV-4 and SV-1 would both have an earful for you. It could almost be entertaining, from a certain perspective.”[/font]
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[Fang]

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It seemed the deal was set, the glasses taken and Bessie returned with a prize to aid in her impressive metabolism. Catian might have smirked a bit as Dr. Hobbes picked up the furry corpse, a stray fancy of the woman she could have been in his own world and its hunting traditions. Something told him that Dr. Levi Hobbes was precisely where she fit in, even if she didn’t seem to quite fit into the reality around her. He had kept his silence on the matter through their conversation, but as he made to reply to her playful test upon his guilt he found the question slipping free.

”Are you sure you’re from this world?” It was almost as if he tried to grab the words out of the air, a curiosity that had escaped the bounds if propriety but couldn’t be returned. With a touch of embarrassment he scratched at the back of his neck. ”You don’t have to answer that, I apologize. As for that lecture, you can tell your SV-1 that I will see about squeezing a meeting into my schedule if they will. I think it might be long overdue.” His smirk turned to friendly smile, and his hand fell into a wave.

”Farewell, Dr. Hobbes!” He turned toward the portal and shoved his hands into the pickets of his pants. After a few paces he stopped, and turned back toward Hobbes with a hint of mischief to his grin. ”I almost forgot, here.” His fist flew up and his thumb flicked out, the ring of metal filling the air as a silver coin flipped in a high arc toward Levi. Its fall seemed slowed, perhaps by the atmosphere of the foreign planet or by the Traveler’s doing, it was unclear. Either way Levi would have enough time to catch it as Catian explained. ”Just say my name to it if you ever want to chat. This could be the start of a beautiful friendship.” There was something like a snap, a quickening of reality around him as he walked into the portal to Behemoth’s CU that caused his image to flicker back and forth like an old, damaged film. Where he should have emerged on the other side there was nothing, his image fading away as he touched the swirling sparks. [/div][/div]