TRP // Dear Ace

[deal_me_in]

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0322

[deal_me_in]

𝒮ℴ 𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ'𝓈 𝒶 ℊℴℴ𝒹 ℴ𝓃ℯ 𝒻ℴ𝓇 𝓎ℴ𝓊, 𝒜𝒸ℯ...

ℐ 𝓈ℯℯ𝓂 𝓉ℴ 𝒽𝒶𝓋ℯ 𝒷ℯℯ𝓃 𝒶𝒷𝒹𝓊𝒸𝓉ℯ𝒹 𝓉ℴ 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯ 𝒶𝓁𝒾ℯ𝓃 𝓅𝓁𝒶𝓃ℯ𝓉. ℐ 𝓀𝓃ℴ𝓌, 𝓇𝒾ℊ𝒽𝓉? ℛ𝒾𝒹𝒾𝒸𝓊𝓁ℴ𝓊𝓈 𝒸ℴ𝓃𝓈𝒾𝒹ℯ𝓇𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓈𝓀𝒾𝓅𝓅𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒶𝓇ℴ𝓊𝓃𝒹 𝒷ℯ𝓉𝓌ℯℯ𝓃 𝓅𝓁𝒶𝓃ℯ𝓉𝓈 𝒾𝓈 𝓀𝒾𝓃𝒹 ℴ𝒻 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓃ℴ𝓇𝓂𝒶𝓁 𝓁𝒾𝒻ℯ ℴ𝒻 𝒶 𝒢𝓊𝒶𝓇𝒹𝒾𝒶𝓃. ℱ𝒾𝓇𝓈𝓉 𝓉𝒾𝓂ℯ ℐ'𝓋ℯ 𝒷ℯℯ𝓃 𝒷𝓇ℴ𝓊ℊ𝒽𝓉 𝓉ℴ ℴ𝓃ℯ 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽ℴ𝓊𝓉 𝓂𝓎 𝓀𝓃ℴ𝓌𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒾𝓉. ℱ𝒾𝓇𝓈𝓉 𝓉𝒾𝓂ℯ ℐ'𝓋ℯ 𝒷ℯℯ𝓃 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽ℴ𝓊𝓉 𝓂𝓎 𝒢𝒽ℴ𝓈𝓉 𝓉ℴℴ.

𝒜𝓉 𝓁ℯ𝒶𝓈𝓉 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓎 𝓁ℯ𝓉 𝓂ℯ 𝓀ℯℯ𝓅 𝓂𝓎 𝒜𝒸ℯ ℴ𝒻 𝒮𝓅𝒶𝒹ℯ𝓈. ℐ𝓉'𝓈 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓁𝒾𝓉𝓉𝓁ℯ 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ𝓈...

[deal_me_in]

So here's a good one for you, Ace...

I seem to have been abducted to some alien planet. I know, right? Ridiculous considering that skipping around between planets is kind of the normal life of a Guardian. First time I've been brought to one without my knowing it. First time I've been without my Ghost too.

At least they let me keep my Ace of Spades. It's the little things...

0404

[deal_me_in]

ℐ 𝓌ℴ𝓊𝓁𝒹𝓃'𝓉 𝓇ℯ𝒸ℴ𝓂𝓂ℯ𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓅𝓁𝒶𝒸ℯ 𝒻ℴ𝓇 𝒶 𝓋𝒾𝓈𝒾𝓉, 𝒜𝒸ℯ. 𝒯𝒽ℯ 𝒽ℴ𝓈𝓅𝒾𝓉𝒶𝓁𝒾𝓉𝓎'𝓈 𝓁ℴ𝓊𝓈𝓎, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓅ℯℴ𝓅𝓁ℯ 𝒶𝓇ℯ 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝓇𝒾ℊ𝒽𝓉. 𝒜𝓁𝓁 𝓌𝒶𝓁𝓀𝓈 ℴ𝒻 𝓁𝒾𝒻ℯ. 𝒯𝒽ℯ ℯ𝓍𝓉𝓇ℯ𝓂ℯ𝓁𝓎 𝓊𝓃ℯ𝓍𝓅ℯ𝒸𝓉ℯ𝒹 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓊𝓃𝓀𝓃ℴ𝓌𝓃 ℴ𝓃ℯ𝓈, 𝒾𝓃 𝓂ℴ𝓈𝓉 𝒸𝒶𝓈ℯ𝓈. 𝒯𝒽ℯ 𝒜ℊ𝓇𝒾𝒾- 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉'𝓈 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓎 𝒸𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓂𝓈ℯ𝓁𝓋ℯ𝓈, ℊℴ𝓉 𝒾𝓉 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝒾𝓇 𝒽ℯ𝒶𝒹𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓈ℯ 𝓅ℯℴ𝓅𝓁ℯ, 𝓂ℯ 𝒾𝓃𝒸𝓁𝓊𝒹ℯ𝒹, 𝒶𝓇ℯ "𝒽ℯ-𝓇ℴ𝓌𝓈" 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ𝒻ℴ𝓇ℯ 𝒸𝒶𝓅𝒶𝒷𝓁ℯ ℴ𝒻 𝓈𝒶𝓋𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝒾𝓇 𝒽ℴ𝓂ℯ.

[Insert rough but still somehow more refined sketch of the typical Agrii fangy smiley face]

ℐ 𝒹𝒾𝒹 𝓃ℴ𝓉 𝓈𝒾ℊ𝓃 𝓊𝓅 𝒻ℴ𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈. 𝒟ℴ𝓃'𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀 𝒶𝓃𝓎ℴ𝓃ℯ 𝒹𝒾𝒹. 𝒮ℴ 𝒻𝒶𝓇 𝒾𝓉 𝒹ℴℯ𝓈𝓃'𝓉 𝓈ℯℯ𝓂 𝓁𝒾𝓀ℯ 𝒶𝓃𝓎ℴ𝓃ℯ'𝓈 ℊℴ𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒶𝓃𝓎𝓌𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ.

[deal_me_in]

I wouldn't recommend this place for a visit, Ace. The hospitality's lousy, but the people are all right. All walks of life. The extremely unexpected and unknown ones, in most cases. The Agrii- that's what they call themselves, got it in their heads that these people, me included, are "he-rows" and therefore capable of saving their home.

[Insert rough but still somehow more refined sketch of the typical Agrii fangy smiley face]

I did not sign up for this. Don't think anyone did. So far it doesn't seem like anyone's going anywhere.

0430

[deal_me_in]

ℋℯ𝓎 𝒜𝒸ℯ. 𝒜𝓁𝓁ℴ𝓌 𝓂ℯ 𝓉ℴ 𝒾𝓃𝓉𝓇ℴ𝒹𝓊𝒸ℯ 𝓎ℴ𝓊 𝓉ℴ 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯ ℴ𝒻 𝓉𝒽ℯ ℊ𝓊𝓎𝓈 ℐ'𝓋ℯ 𝓂ℯ𝓉. 𝒩ℴ𝓌 ℐ 𝓇ℯ𝒶𝓁𝒾𝓏ℯ 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓃𝒸ℯ𝓈 ℴ𝒻 𝓎ℴ𝓊 ℯ𝓋ℯ𝓃 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓈ℯ 𝒶𝓇ℯ 𝓈𝓁𝒾𝓂, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒾𝓉'𝓈 𝓅𝓇ℴ𝒷𝒶𝒷𝓁𝓎 𝒷ℯ𝓉𝓉ℯ𝓇 𝓎ℴ𝓊 𝒹ℴ𝓃'𝓉 ℯ𝓃𝒹 𝓊𝓅 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓈𝒾𝓉𝓊𝒶𝓉𝒾ℴ𝓃 𝓉ℴ 𝒷ℯℊ𝒾𝓃 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽. ℒℯ𝓉 𝓎ℴ𝓊𝓇 ℴ𝓁𝒹 𝓂𝒶𝓃 𝒽𝒶𝓃𝒹𝓁ℯ 𝒾𝓉. ℐ𝓉'𝓈 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝒶𝓃ℴ𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓇 𝒹𝒶𝓎.

[Insert sketches of Jon, Reeve and Tony, side notes reading 'workaholic', 'has a stuffed cat' and 'Trouble', respectively]

𝒯𝒽𝒾𝓈 ℊ𝓊𝓎'𝒹 𝓂𝒶𝓀ℯ 𝒶 ℊℴℴ𝒹 𝒲𝒶𝓇𝓁ℴ𝒸𝓀, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 ℴ𝓃𝓁𝓎 𝒻ℴ𝓇 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓇ℯ𝓈ℯ𝒶𝓇𝒸𝒽 𝒹ℯ𝓅𝒶𝓇𝓉𝓂ℯ𝓃𝓉. ℐ 𝒽𝒶𝓋ℯ 𝒶 𝒽𝒶𝓇𝒹 𝓉𝒾𝓂ℯ 𝓅𝒾𝒸𝓉𝓊𝓇𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒽𝒾𝓂 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒶 ℊ𝓊𝓃. 𝒪𝓇 𝒶𝓃𝓎 𝓌ℯ𝒶𝓅ℴ𝓃, 𝓇ℯ𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎. 𝒜𝒸𝓉𝓊𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎, ℐ 𝒹ℴ𝓃'𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀 𝒽ℯ'𝒹 𝒷ℯ 𝒶𝒷𝓁ℯ 𝓉ℴ 𝒽ℴ𝓁𝒹 ℴ𝓃ℯ. ℋℯ 𝓁ℴℴ𝓀𝓈 𝓁𝒾𝓀ℯ 𝒶 𝒷𝓇ℯℯ𝓏ℯ 𝒸ℴ𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒷𝓁ℴ𝓌 𝒽𝒾𝓂 ℴ𝓋ℯ𝓇. 𝒮𝓉𝒾𝓁𝓁, 𝒽ℯ'𝓈 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝓇𝒾ℊ𝒽𝓉.

𝒩ℴ𝓌 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 ℊ𝓊𝓎 𝓈ℴ𝓊𝓃𝒹𝓈 𝓁𝒾𝓀ℯ 𝒽ℯ'𝓈 𝒻𝓇ℴ𝓂 𝒶 𝓌ℴ𝓇𝓁𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉'𝓈 𝓈ℯℯ𝓃 𝒾𝓉𝓈 𝒻𝒶𝒾𝓇 𝓈𝒽𝒶𝓇ℯ ℴ𝒻 𝓉𝓇ℴ𝓊𝒷𝓁ℯ. ℱ𝒾𝓇𝓈𝓉 𝓉𝒾𝓂ℯ 𝓌ℯ 𝓂ℯ𝓉 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒽ℯ 𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓇𝓉ℯ𝒹 ℊℴ𝒾𝓃ℊ ℴ𝓃 𝒶𝒷ℴ𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝓇𝓎𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓉ℴ 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝒶 𝓃ℯ𝓌 ℯ𝓃ℯ𝓇ℊ𝓎 𝓇ℯ𝓈ℴ𝓊𝓇𝒸ℯ 𝒷ℯ𝒸𝒶𝓊𝓈ℯ 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓎'𝒹 𝓌ℴ𝓇𝓃 ℴ𝓊𝓉 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉ℯ𝓋ℯ𝓇 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓎'𝒹 𝒷ℯℯ𝓃 𝓊𝓈𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒻𝓇ℴ𝓂 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝒾𝓇 𝓅𝓁𝒶𝓃ℯ𝓉. 𝒜𝓁𝓈ℴ, 𝓂𝒶ℊ𝒾𝒸. ℋℯ 𝓂𝒶𝒹ℯ 𝒶 𝓈𝓉𝓊𝒻𝒻ℯ𝒹 𝒶𝓃𝒾𝓂𝒶𝓁 𝒸ℴ𝓂ℯ 𝓉ℴ 𝓁𝒾𝒻ℯ. ℐ𝓉'𝓈 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯ 𝓌ℯ𝒾𝓇𝒹 𝓈𝓉𝓊𝒻𝒻 𝓉ℴ ℯ𝓍𝓅𝓁𝒶𝒾𝓃.

𝒯ℯ𝒸𝒽𝓃𝒾𝒸𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎 ℐ 𝓂ℯ𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 ℊ𝓊𝓎 𝒻𝒾𝓇𝓈𝓉. ℬℴ𝓁𝒹, 𝓈𝒽𝒶𝓂ℯ𝓁ℯ𝓈𝓈- ℊ𝓊ℯ𝓈𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉'𝓈 𝓌𝒽𝓎 𝓌ℯ ℊℯ𝓉 𝒶𝓁ℴ𝓃ℊ. ℋℯ'𝓈 𝓃ℴ𝓉 𝒶𝒻𝓇𝒶𝒾𝒹 𝓉ℴ 𝒸𝓇ℴ𝓈𝓈 𝓉𝒽ℴ𝓈ℯ 𝓁𝒾𝓃ℯ𝓈, 𝒽ℯ 𝓈𝒶𝓎𝓈 𝒶 𝓁ℴ𝓉 ℴ𝒻 𝒸𝓇𝒶𝓏𝓎 𝓈𝓉𝓊𝒻𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓌ℴ𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝓅𝓇ℴ𝒷𝒶𝒷𝓁𝓎 ℊℯ𝓉 𝒽𝒾𝓂 𝓈𝒽ℴ𝓉 𝒾𝒻 𝒾𝓉 𝓌ℯ𝓇ℯ𝓃'𝓉 𝓂ℯ. ℋℴ𝓅ℯ𝒻𝓊𝓁𝓁𝓎 𝒽ℯ 𝓌ℴ𝓃'𝓉 ℊℯ𝓉 𝓉ℴℴ 𝒶𝓉𝓉𝒶𝒸𝒽ℯ𝒹. ℐ'𝓂 𝓈𝓊𝓇ℯ 𝒽ℯ 𝓈𝓉𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝓉𝓈 𝓉ℴ 𝓈ℯℯ 𝓂ℯ 𝒾𝓃 𝓅𝒾ℯ𝒸ℯ𝓈, 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹 ℴ𝓊𝓉 𝒽ℴ𝓌 ℐ 𝓉𝒾𝒸𝓀. ℋ𝒶𝒽! 𝒪𝓋ℯ𝓇 𝓂𝓎 𝒹ℯ𝒶𝒹 𝒷ℴ𝒹𝓎.

𝒪𝒽 𝓌𝒶𝒾𝓉, ℊ𝓊ℯ𝓈𝓈 ℐ 𝓈𝒽ℴ𝓊𝓁𝒹𝓃'𝓉 𝓈𝒶𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓌𝒽ℯ𝓃 𝒮𝓊𝓃𝒹𝒶𝓃𝒸ℯ 𝒶𝒾𝓃'𝓉 𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ.

[deal_me_in]

Hey Ace. Allow me to introduce you to some of the guys I've met. Now I realize that the chances of you even finding these are slim, and it's probably better you don't end up in this situation to begin with. Let your old man handle it. It's just another day.

[Insert sketches of Jon, Reeve and Tony, side notes reading 'workaholic', 'has a stuffed cat' and 'Trouble', respectively]

This guy'd make a good Warlock, but only for the research department. I have a hard time picturing him with a gun. Or any weapon, really. Actually, I don't think he'd be able to hold one. He looks like a breeze could blow him over. Still, he's all right.

Now this guy sounds like he's from a world that's seen its fair share of trouble. First time we met and he started going on about trying to find a new energy resource because they'd worn out whatever they'd been using from their planet. Also, magic. He made a stuffed animal come to life. It's some weird stuff to explain.

Technically I met this guy first. Bold, shameless- guess that's why we get along. He's not afraid to cross those lines, he says a lot of crazy stuff that would probably get him shot if it weren't me. Hopefully he won't get too attached. I'm sure he still wants to see me in pieces, find out how I tick. Hah! Over my dead body.

Oh wait, guess I shouldn't say that when Sundance ain't here.

0518

[deal_me_in]

ℐ'𝓂 𝓂𝒶𝓀𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒶 𝒷𝒶𝓇! 𝒮ℯℯ𝓂ℯ𝒹 𝓁𝒾𝓀ℯ 𝒶 ℊℴℴ𝒹 𝒾𝒹ℯ𝒶, 𝓈𝓉𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝓈ℯℯ𝓂𝓈 𝓁𝒾𝓀ℯ 𝒾𝓉. 𝒫ℯℴ𝓅𝓁ℯ 𝓃ℯℯ𝒹 𝓉ℴ 𝒽𝒶𝓋ℯ ℴ𝓅𝓉𝒾ℴ𝓃𝓈- 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒶 𝓅𝓁𝒶𝒸ℯ 𝓉ℴ ℊℯ𝓉 𝓂𝒾𝓃𝒹𝓁ℯ𝓈𝓈𝓁𝓎 𝒹𝓇𝓊𝓃𝓀 𝓈ℴ 𝓌ℯ 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝓂𝒶𝓎𝒷ℯ 𝒻ℴ𝓇ℊℯ𝓉 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓂ℯ𝓈𝓈 𝓌ℯ'𝓇ℯ 𝒾𝓃, 𝒶𝓉 𝓁ℯ𝒶𝓈𝓉 𝒻ℴ𝓇 𝒶 𝓌𝒽𝒾𝓁ℯ. 𝒲ℯ𝓁𝓁, ℴ𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓇 𝓅ℯℴ𝓅𝓁ℯ 𝒸𝒶𝓃 ℊℯ𝓉 𝒹𝓇𝓊𝓃𝓀 𝒶𝓃𝓎𝓌𝒶𝓎. ℳℯ, ℊ𝓊ℯ𝓈𝓈 ℐ'𝓁𝓁 𝒽𝒶𝓋ℯ 𝓉ℴ 𝒹ℯ𝒶𝓁 𝓊𝓃𝓉𝒾𝓁 ℐ 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯ𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ ℰ𝓍ℴ-ℊ𝓇𝒶𝒹ℯ.

𝒲ℯ'𝓇ℯ ℊℴ𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓈𝓊𝓅ℯ𝓇 ℴ𝓁𝒹 𝓈𝒸𝒽ℴℴ𝓁 𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ. 𝒥ℴ𝓃 𝓂𝒶𝒹ℯ 𝒶 𝓈𝓉𝒾𝓁𝓁. 𝒪𝓀𝒶𝓎, 𝓉ℯ𝒸𝒽𝓃𝒾𝒸𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎 𝒯ℴ𝓃𝓎 𝓂𝒶𝒹ℯ 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓈𝓉𝒾𝓁𝓁.

[Insert sketch of still here]

𝒯𝒽ℯ 𝓅𝓇ℴ𝒷𝓁ℯ𝓂 𝒾𝓈 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓉ℴ 𝓅𝓊𝓉 𝒾𝓃 𝒾𝓉. 𝒢ℴ𝓉𝓉𝒶 𝓈𝒸ℴ𝓅ℯ ℴ𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝒽ℯ ℊ𝓇ℯℯ𝓃𝒽ℴ𝓊𝓈ℯ ℐ ℊ𝓊ℯ𝓈𝓈. 𝒪𝓇 𝒶𝓈𝓀 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒯ℴ𝓂𝓂𝓎 𝓀𝒾𝒹. 𝒜𝓈 𝒻ℴ𝓇 𝓃𝒶𝓂ℯ𝓈... ℐ 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝒸ℴ𝓃𝓈𝒾𝒹ℯ𝓇𝒾𝓃ℊ "𝒯𝒽ℯ 𝒟ℯℯ𝓅 ℰ𝓃𝒹." 𝒲𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒹ℴ 𝓎ℴ𝓊 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀, 𝒜𝒸ℯ? 𝒴ℴ𝓊 𝓅𝓇ℴ𝒷𝒶𝒷𝓁𝓎 𝓃ℯℯ𝒹 𝓉ℴ 𝓈ℯℯ 𝒾𝓉 𝓉ℴ ℊℯ𝓉 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝒿ℴ𝓀ℯ...

[deal_me_in]

I'm making a bar! Seemed like a good idea, still seems like it. People need to have options- and a place to get mindlessly drunk so we can maybe forget the mess we're in, at least for a while. Well, other people can get drunk anyway. Me, guess I'll have to deal until I can find something Exo-grade.

We're going super old school here. Jon made a still. Okay, technically Tony made the still.

[Insert sketch of still here]

The problem is finding what to put in it. Gotta scope out the greenhouse I guess. Or ask that Tommy kid. As for names... I was considering "The Deep End." What do you think, Ace? You probably need to see it to get the joke...

0528

[deal_me_in]

𝒲ℯ 𝓂𝒶𝓎 𝒽𝒶𝓋ℯ 𝒶 𝓈𝓁𝒾ℊ𝒽𝓉 𝒷𝓊ℊ 𝓅𝓇ℴ𝒷𝓁ℯ𝓂. 𝒟ℴ𝓃'𝓉 𝓌ℴ𝓇𝓇𝓎, ℐ 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀 ℐ ℊℴ𝓉 'ℯ𝓂 𝒶𝓁𝓁!

[deal_me_in]

We may have a slight bug problem. Don't worry, I think I got 'em all!

0601

[deal_me_in]

𝒜𝒸ℯ, 𝓎ℴ𝓊 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝓃ℯ𝓋ℯ𝓇 ℊ𝓊ℯ𝓈𝓈 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 ℐ 𝒹𝒾𝒹 𝓉ℴ𝒹𝒶𝓎.

[Insert rough sketch of Cloud's bike]

𝒩ℴ𝓉 𝒶 𝒮𝓅𝒶𝓇𝓇ℴ𝓌, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝒻ℴ𝓇 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯ𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓌𝒽ℯℯ𝓁𝓈, 𝒾𝓉 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝓈𝓉𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝓂ℴ𝓋ℯ! 𝒯𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓀𝒾𝒹 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯ 𝓌ℯ𝒾𝓇𝒹 𝓈𝓅𝒾𝓀𝓎 𝒽𝒶𝒾𝓇 ℴ𝓌𝓃𝓈 𝒾𝓉. 𝒩ℯ𝓌 𝒻𝒶𝒸ℯ 𝒾𝓃 𝓉ℴ𝓌𝓃. 𝒮ℯℯ𝓂𝓈 𝓁𝒾𝓀ℯ 𝓌ℯ'𝓋ℯ ℊℴ𝓉 𝒶 𝒻ℯ𝓌 ℴ𝒻 𝓉𝒽ℴ𝓈ℯ 𝓁𝒶𝓉ℯ𝓁𝓎.

[deal_me_in]

Ace, you will never guess what I did today.

[Insert rough sketch of Cloud's bike]

Not a Sparrow, but for something with wheels, it can still move! This kid with some weird spiky hair owns it. New face in town. Seems like we've got a few of those lately.

0615

[deal_me_in]

𝒮𝒶𝒾𝒹 𝒾𝓉 𝒷ℯ𝒻ℴ𝓇ℯ 𝒷𝓊𝓉 ℐ'𝓁𝓁 𝓈𝒶𝓎 𝒾𝓉 𝒶ℊ𝒶𝒾𝓃; ℐ 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀 𝓌ℯ 𝓌𝒶𝓁𝓀ℯ𝒹 𝒾𝓃𝓉ℴ 𝒶 𝓉𝓇𝒶𝓅. 𝒯𝒽ℯ 𝒜ℊ𝓇𝒾𝒾 𝓈𝒶𝒾𝒹 𝒶 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁ℯ𝓇 𝓈𝓉ℴ𝓇𝓂 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝒸ℴ𝓂𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒽𝒶𝒹 𝓊𝓈 𝒶𝓁𝓁 ℊℴ 𝒾𝓃𝓉ℴ 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯ 𝓉𝓊𝓃𝓃ℯ𝓁. 𝒯𝒽ℯ𝓃 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝒹ℴℴ𝓇 𝒹𝒾𝓈𝒶𝓅𝓅ℯ𝒶𝓇𝓈! 𝒯𝓇𝒶𝓅.

ℐ𝓉'𝓈 𝒷ℯℯ𝓃 𝓂𝒶𝓎𝒷ℯ 𝓉𝒽𝓇ℯℯ 𝒹𝒶𝓎𝓈 𝓃ℴ𝓌. 𝒩ℴ 𝓇ℯ𝒶𝓁 𝓌𝒶𝓎 𝓉ℴ 𝓉ℯ𝓁𝓁. 𝒥𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝓀𝓃ℴ𝓌 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒶𝓉 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯ 𝓅ℴ𝒾𝓃𝓉 𝓌ℯ 𝒻ℯℯ𝓁 𝓁𝒾𝓀ℯ 𝓌ℯ 𝓃ℯℯ𝒹 𝓉ℴ 𝓈𝓁ℯℯ𝓅. ℐ 𝓀ℯℯ𝓅 𝓉𝓇𝒶𝒸𝓀 ℴ𝒻 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓉𝒾𝓂ℯ𝓈 ℐ 𝓌𝒶𝓀ℯ 𝓊𝓅. ℬ𝓊𝓉 𝓌𝒽ℯ𝓃 𝓌ℯ 𝓈𝓁ℯℯ𝓅? 𝒲ℯ 𝒹𝓇ℯ𝒶𝓂.

𝒩ℴ𝓉 𝓃ℴ𝓇𝓂𝒶𝓁 𝒹𝓇ℯ𝒶𝓂𝓈, 𝒜𝒸ℯ. 𝒲ℯ'𝓇ℯ 𝒾𝓃 ℯ𝒶𝒸𝒽 ℴ𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓇'𝓈 𝒽ℯ𝒶𝒹𝓈. 𝒲ℯ 𝓈ℯℯ 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ𝓈, ℯ𝓍𝓅ℯ𝓇𝒾ℯ𝓃𝒸ℯ𝓈, 𝓂ℯ𝓂ℴ𝓇𝒾ℯ𝓈. ℐ𝓉'𝓈 𝓃ℴ𝓉 𝓇𝒾ℊ𝒽𝓉.

"𝒲ℯ𝓁𝒸ℴ𝓂ℯ 𝓉ℴ 𝒞𝒶𝓁𝒾𝒷𝓇𝒶𝓉𝒾ℴ𝓃𝓈." 𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓉'𝓈 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝓌𝓇ℴ𝓉ℯ ℴ𝓃 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓌𝒶𝓁𝓁. 𝒯𝒽𝒾𝓈 ℰ𝓍ℴ 𝒹ℴℯ𝓈𝓃'𝓉 𝓃ℯℯ𝒹 𝒶𝓃𝓎 𝓌ℯ𝒾𝓇𝒹 𝒶𝓁𝒾ℯ𝓃 𝒸𝒶𝓁𝒾𝒷𝓇𝒶𝓉𝒾ℴ𝓃𝓈. 𝒰𝓃𝒻ℴ𝓇𝓉𝓊𝓃𝒶𝓉ℯ𝓁𝓎 ℐ'𝓂 𝒶𝓁𝓁 ℴ𝓊𝓉 ℴ𝒻 𝒾𝒹ℯ𝒶𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓂ℴ𝓁ℴ𝓉ℴ𝓋 𝒸ℴ𝒸𝓀𝓉𝒶𝒾𝓁𝓈.

[deal_me_in]

Said it before but I'll say it again; I think we walked into a trap. The Agrii said a killer storm was coming and had us all go into some tunnel. Then the door disappears! Trap.

It's been maybe three days now. No real way to tell. Just know that at some point we feel like we need to sleep. I keep track of the times I wake up. But when we sleep? We dream.

Not normal dreams, Ace. We're in each other's heads. We see things, experiences, memories. It's not right.

"Welcome to Calibrations." That's what was wrote on the wall. This Exo doesn't need any weird alien calibrations. Unfortunately I'm all out of ideas and molotov cocktails.

0625

[deal_me_in]

𝒢𝒶𝓇𝓎 𝒹ℴℯ𝓈𝓃'𝓉 𝓇ℯ𝓈𝓅ℴ𝓃𝒹. ℬ𝓊𝓉 ℐ 𝒽𝒶𝓋ℯ 𝓁ℯ𝒶𝓇𝓃ℯ𝒹 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯ 𝒾𝓃𝓉ℯ𝓇ℯ𝓈𝓉𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ𝓈 𝒻𝓇ℴ𝓂 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯℴ𝓃ℯ 𝓌𝒽ℴ'𝓈 𝒶𝓅𝓅𝒶𝓇ℯ𝓃𝓉𝓁𝓎 𝓃ℴ 𝓈𝓉𝓇𝒶𝓃ℊℯ𝓇 𝓉ℴ 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒶𝓁𝒾ℯ𝓃 𝓀𝒾𝒹𝓃𝒶𝓅𝓅𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ. 𝒯𝒽ℯ 𝒸ℴ𝓃𝒸ℯ𝓇𝓃𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓅𝒶𝓇𝓉? 𝒯𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ 𝓈ℯℯ𝓂𝓈 𝓉ℴ 𝒷ℯ 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯ 𝓈ℴ𝓇𝓉 ℴ𝒻 𝓁𝒾𝓃𝓀 𝒷ℯ𝓉𝓌ℯℯ𝓃 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓈ℯ 𝒜𝓉𝓇ℴ𝓂𝒶 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝒜ℊ𝓇𝒾𝒾. 𝒯𝒽ℯ 𝓈𝒽𝒾𝓅𝓈, 𝒻ℴ𝓇 ℴ𝓃ℯ. ℐ 𝓈𝓊𝓇ℯ 𝒽ℴ𝓅ℯ 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝒜ℊ𝓇𝒾𝒾 𝒶𝓇ℯ𝓃'𝓉 𝓉𝒶𝓀𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒶 𝓅𝒶ℊℯ 𝒻𝓇ℴ𝓂 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓈ℯ 𝒜𝓉𝓇ℴ𝓂𝒶-𝒻ℴ𝓁𝓀. 𝒯𝒽ℴ𝓈ℯ ℊ𝓊𝓎𝓈 𝓌ℯ𝓇ℯ 𝒾𝓃 𝒾𝓉 𝒻ℴ𝓇 𝓉𝒽ℯ ℯ𝓃𝓉ℯ𝓇𝓉𝒶𝒾𝓃𝓂ℯ𝓃𝓉.

𝒪𝓇 𝒶𝓇ℯ 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝒜ℊ𝓇𝒾𝒾 𝒾𝓃𝒸𝓁𝓊𝒹ℯ𝒹 𝒶𝓈 ℯ𝓃𝓉ℯ𝓇𝓉𝒶𝒾𝓃𝓂ℯ𝓃𝓉 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓈ℯ 𝒜𝓉𝓇ℴ𝓂𝒶 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝓅𝓊𝓁𝓁𝒾𝓃ℊ ℴ𝓊𝓇 𝓈𝓉𝓇𝒾𝓃ℊ𝓈?

[deal_me_in]

Gary doesn't respond. But I have learned some interesting things from someone who's apparently no stranger to this alien kidnapping thing. The concerning part? There seems to be some sort of link between these Atroma and the Agrii. The ships, for one. I sure hope the Agrii aren't taking a page from these Atroma-folk. Those guys were in it for the entertainment.

Or are the Agrii included as entertainment and these Atroma all pulling our strings?

0701

[deal_me_in]

ℱ𝓇ℯℯ𝒹ℴ𝓂! 𝒦𝒾𝓃𝒹 ℴ𝒻!

ℬ𝒶𝓇'𝓈 𝒾𝓃 ℴ𝓃ℯ 𝓅𝒾ℯ𝒸ℯ. 𝒞𝒾𝓉𝓎'𝓈 𝒾𝓃 ℴ𝓃ℯ 𝓅𝒾ℯ𝒸ℯ. 𝒲ℯ𝓁𝓁, 𝒾𝓃 𝒶 𝓂𝒶𝓃𝓃ℯ𝓇 ℴ𝒻 𝓈𝓅ℯ𝒶𝓀𝒾𝓃ℊ.

𝒯𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ 𝒶𝓇ℯ 𝓅𝓇ℴ𝒷𝒶𝒷𝓁𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ𝓈 𝓉ℴ 𝒹ℴ, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 ℐ'𝓂 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓂𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒾𝓈 ℊℴ𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓉ℴ 𝒷ℯ ℊℯ𝓉𝓉𝒾𝓃ℊ ℴ𝓊𝓉 ℴ𝒻 𝒸𝒾𝓉𝓎 𝓁𝒾𝓂𝒾𝓉𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒽ℯ𝒶𝒹𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒾𝓃 𝒶 𝓈𝓉𝓇𝒶𝒾ℊ𝒽𝓉 𝓁𝒾𝓃ℯ 𝓊𝓃𝓉𝒾𝓁 ℐ 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯ𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒾𝓃𝓉ℯ𝓇ℯ𝓈𝓉𝒾𝓃ℊ. 𝒲𝒾𝓈𝒽 𝓂ℯ 𝓁𝓊𝒸𝓀, 𝒜𝒸ℯ!

[deal_me_in]

Freedom! Kind of!

Bar's in one piece. City's in one piece. Well, in a manner of speaking.

There are probably things to do, and I'm thinking my thing is going to be getting out of city limits and heading in a straight line until I find something interesting. Wish me luck, Ace!

0720

[deal_me_in]

ℐ'𝒹 𝓃ℯ𝓋ℯ𝓇 𝓉𝒽ℴ𝓊ℊ𝒽𝓉 𝒾𝓉'𝒹 𝒷ℯ 𝓅ℴ𝓈𝓈𝒾𝒷𝓁ℯ, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 ℴ𝓊𝓉𝓈𝒾𝒹ℯ ℴ𝒻 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝓈ℴ𝓇𝓉𝓈 ℴ𝒻 𝒸𝓇𝒾𝓉𝓉ℯ𝓇𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓉𝒽ℴ𝓊ℊ𝒽𝓉 ℐ'𝒹 𝓂𝒶𝓀ℯ 𝒶 𝓉𝒶𝓈𝓉𝓎 𝓈𝓃𝒶𝒸𝓀? ℐ𝓉 𝒾𝓈 𝒹𝒶𝓂𝓃 𝒷ℴ𝓇𝒾𝓃ℊ ℴ𝓊𝓉 𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ, 𝒜𝒸ℯ.

𝒪𝓃𝓁𝓎 𝓉𝓇𝒶𝓋ℯ𝓁ℯ𝒹 ℴ𝓊𝓉 𝒶 𝒹𝒶𝓎 ℴ𝓇 𝓉𝓌ℴ, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ'𝓈 𝓃ℴ𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ ℴ𝓊𝓉 𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝓇ℯℯ𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 ℴ𝓅𝓅ℴ𝓇𝓉𝓊𝓃𝒾𝓉𝒾ℯ𝓈 𝒻ℴ𝓇 𝓌𝒶𝓈𝓉ℯ𝒹 𝒷𝓊𝓁𝓁ℯ𝓉𝓈. 𝒩ℴ 𝓅ℴ𝒾𝓃𝓉 𝒹ℴ𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓌𝒽ℯ𝓃 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ'𝓈 𝓃ℴ 𝓇ℯ𝓉𝓊𝓇𝓃, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 ℐ'𝒹 𝓇𝒶𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓇 𝒽𝒶𝓋ℯ 𝓉ℴ 𝓅ℯ𝓈𝓉ℯ𝓇 𝒮𝓉𝒶𝓇𝓀 𝒻ℴ𝓇 𝓂ℴ𝓇ℯ 𝓌𝒽ℯ𝓃 ℐ 𝓂𝒾ℊ𝒽𝓉 𝓇ℯ𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎 𝓃ℯℯ𝒹 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓂. 𝒴ℴ𝓊 𝓃ℯ𝓋ℯ𝓇 𝓀𝓃ℴ𝓌, 𝒶𝓇ℴ𝓊𝓃𝒹 𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ.

ℐ 𝓀ℯℯ𝓅 𝓌ℴ𝓃𝒹ℯ𝓇𝒾𝓃ℊ, '𝓌ℯ𝓁𝓁 𝓂𝒶𝓎𝒷ℯ 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝒶 𝓁𝒾𝓉𝓉𝓁ℯ 𝒻𝓊𝓇𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓇', 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝓈ℴ 𝒻𝒶𝓇 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝒻𝓊𝓇𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓇𝓈 𝒽𝒶𝓋ℯ𝓃'𝓉 𝒷ℯℯ𝓃 𝒶𝓃𝓎𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ ℯ𝓁𝓈ℯ 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝒹ℯ𝓇𝓃ℯ𝓈𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓂ℴ𝓇ℯ 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝒹ℯ𝓇𝓃ℯ𝓈𝓈. ℐ'𝓁𝓁 𝒷ℯ 𝒽ℯ𝒶𝒹𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒷𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝓉ℴ𝓃𝒾ℊ𝒽𝓉.

[deal_me_in]

I'd never thought it'd be possible, but outside of all sorts of critters that thought I'd make a tasty snack? It is damn boring out here, Ace.

Only traveled out a day or two, but there's nothing out here but trees and opportunities for wasted bullets. No point doing that when there's no return, and I'd rather have to pester Stark for more when I might really need them. You never know, around here.

I keep wondering, 'well maybe just a little further', but so far the furthers haven't been anything else but wilderness and more wilderness. I'll be heading back tonight.

0723

[deal_me_in]

𝒮ℯℯ𝓂𝓈 𝓁𝒾𝓀ℯ 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯ𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ'𝓈 𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓅ℯ𝓃ℯ𝒹 𝓉ℴ ℴ𝓊𝓇 𝓀𝒾𝒹𝓃𝒶𝓅𝓅ℯ𝓇𝓈. ℰ𝒾𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 ℴ𝓇 𝒢𝒶𝓇𝓎'𝓈 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 ℊℴ𝓉 𝓇ℯ𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎 ℊℴℴ𝒹 𝒶𝒸𝓉𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓈𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁𝓈. 𝒜𝓁𝓈ℴ? 𝒯𝓊𝓇𝓃𝓈 ℴ𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝒜ℊ𝓇𝒾𝒾 𝒹ℴ 𝒽𝒶𝓋ℯ 𝓌ℯ𝒶𝓅ℴ𝓃𝓈. "𝒟ℯ𝒶𝓉𝒽 𝓉ℴℴ𝓁𝓈" 𝒾𝓈 𝓉𝒽ℯ ℴ𝒻𝒻𝒾𝒸𝒾𝒶𝓁 𝓉𝓇𝒶𝓃𝓈𝓁𝒶𝓉𝒾ℴ𝓃. 𝒲𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒽𝒶𝓋ℯ 𝓉ℴ 𝓇ℯ𝓂ℯ𝓂𝒷ℯ𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒻ℴ𝓇 𝒻𝓊𝓉𝓊𝓇ℯ 𝓇ℯ𝒻ℯ𝓇ℯ𝓃𝒸ℯ.

[Insert sketch of Agrii gun-thing]

𝒪𝒻 𝒸ℴ𝓊𝓇𝓈ℯ 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ'𝓈 𝒶 𝒸𝒶𝓉𝒸𝒽. 𝒯𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓅𝓁𝒶𝒸ℯ 𝓌ℴ𝓃'𝓉 𝓁ℯ𝓉 𝓎ℴ𝓊 𝒹ℴ 𝒶𝓃𝓎𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽ℴ𝓊𝓉 ℊℯ𝓉𝓉𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒾𝓃𝒻ℴ𝓇𝓂𝒶𝓉𝒾ℴ𝓃 𝓊𝓅𝓁ℴ𝒶𝒹ℯ𝒹 𝓇𝒾ℊ𝒽𝓉 𝒾𝓃𝓉ℴ 𝓎ℴ𝓊𝓇 𝒷𝓇𝒶𝒾𝓃, 𝓃ℴ𝓉 ℯ𝓋ℯ𝓃 𝓈𝒽ℴℴ𝓉 𝒶 ℊ𝓊𝓃!

ℒℯ𝓉'𝓈 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝓈𝒶𝓎 𝒾𝓉'𝓈 𝒶 ℊℴℴ𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓂𝓎 𝒻𝒶𝒸ℯ 𝒾𝓈 𝓂𝒶𝒹ℯ ℴ𝒻 𝓂ℯ𝓉𝒶𝓁.

𝒢𝓊ℯ𝓈𝓈 ℐ'𝓁𝓁 𝓈𝓉𝒾𝒸𝓀 𝓉ℴ 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓊𝓈𝓊𝒶𝓁. 𝒜𝓃𝓎𝓌𝒶𝓎, 𝓁ℴℴ𝓀𝓈 𝓁𝒾𝓀ℯ 𝓌ℯ'𝓇ℯ ℊℴ𝒾𝓃ℊ ℴ𝓃 𝒶 𝓉𝓇𝒾𝓅, 𝒜𝒸ℯ.

[deal_me_in]

Seems like something's happened to our kidnappers. Either that or Gary's just got really good acting skills. Also? Turns out the Agrii do have weapons. "Death tools" is the official translation. Will have to remember that for future reference.

[Insert sketch of Agrii gun-thing]

Of course there's a catch. This place won't let you do anything without getting information uploaded right into your brain, not even shoot a gun!

Let's just say it's a good thing my face is made of metal.

Guess I'll stick to the usual. Anyway, looks like we're going on a trip, Ace.

0729

[deal_me_in]

𝒥𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝒽ℴ𝓌 𝒻𝒶𝓇 ℴ𝓊𝓉 𝒹𝒾𝒹 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝒜ℊ𝓇𝒾𝒾 ℊℴ? ℐ 𝓀𝓃ℴ𝓌 ℐ 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝒶𝓁𝓁 ℯ𝒶ℊℯ𝓇 𝓉ℴ 𝒷ℯ 𝒷𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝒾𝓃 𝓈𝓅𝒶𝒸ℯ, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝒽ℴ𝓌 𝓁ℴ𝓃ℊ'𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓉𝓇𝒾𝓅?

ℐ ℊℴ𝓉𝓉𝒶 𝓇ℯ𝓂𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝓂𝓎𝓈ℯ𝓁𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓌ℯ'𝓇ℯ 𝓅ℴ𝓈𝓈𝒾𝒷𝓁𝓎 𝒹ℯ𝒶𝓁𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒹𝒾𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓃𝒸ℯ𝓈 𝒻𝒶𝓇𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓃 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃 𝒶 𝓈ℴ𝓁𝒶𝓇 𝓈𝓎𝓈𝓉ℯ𝓂. ℳ𝒶𝓎𝒷ℯ 𝒾𝓉'𝓈 𝒻ℴ𝓇 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝒷ℯ𝓈𝓉. 𝒲ℯ 𝒽𝒶𝓋ℯ 𝓃ℴ 𝒾𝒹ℯ𝒶 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓌ℯ'𝓇ℯ ℊℴ𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓉ℴ 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹 ℴ𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝒻𝓇ℴ𝓂 𝒢𝒶𝓇𝓎'𝓈 𝓁𝒶𝓈𝓉 𝓉𝓇𝒶𝓃𝓈𝓂𝒾𝓈𝓈𝒾ℴ𝓃, 𝒾𝓉 𝓈ℴ𝓊𝓃𝒹𝓈 𝓁𝒾𝓀ℯ 𝓌ℯ'𝓇ℯ ℯ𝓍𝓅ℯ𝒸𝓉ℯ𝒹 𝓉ℴ 𝓇𝓊𝓃 𝒾𝓃𝓉ℴ 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯ 𝓉𝓇ℴ𝓊𝒷𝓁ℯ. ℐ 𝓀𝓃ℴ𝓌 ℐ'𝓂 ℯ𝒶ℊℯ𝓇, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝓃ℴ𝓉 𝒶𝓁𝓁 ℴ𝒻 𝓊𝓈 𝒶𝓇ℯ 𝒻𝒾ℊ𝒽𝓉ℯ𝓇𝓈.

𝒟ℴ𝓃'𝓉 𝓌ℴ𝓇𝓇𝓎, 𝒜𝒸ℯ. ℐ'𝓂 𝓃ℴ𝓉 𝓁ℯ𝓉𝓉𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒶𝓃𝓎ℴ𝓃ℯ 𝒻𝒶𝓁𝓁 ℴ𝓃 𝓂𝓎 𝓌𝒶𝓉𝒸𝒽.

[deal_me_in]

Just how far out did the Agrii go? I know I was all eager to be back in space, but how long's this trip?

I gotta remind myself that we're possibly dealing with distances farther than within a solar system. Maybe it's for the best. We have no idea what we're going to find out there, but from Gary's last transmission, it sounds like we're expected to run into some trouble. I know I'm eager, but not all of us are fighters.

Don't worry, Ace. I'm not letting anyone fall on my watch.

0819

[deal_me_in]

𝒮ℴ 𝓁ℯ𝓉 𝓂ℯ ℊℯ𝓉 𝓎ℴ𝓊 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝒸𝒶𝓊ℊ𝒽𝓉 𝓊𝓅, 𝒜𝒸ℯ.

ℐ'𝓁𝓁 𝒷ℯ 𝒽ℴ𝓃ℯ𝓈𝓉 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓎ℴ𝓊, ℐ 𝒻ℯℯ𝓁 𝓁𝒾𝓀ℯ ℐ'𝓋ℯ ℊℴ𝓉 ℯ𝓋ℯ𝓃 𝓂ℴ𝓇ℯ 𝓆𝓊ℯ𝓈𝓉𝒾ℴ𝓃𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓃 ℐ 𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓇𝓉ℯ𝒹 ℴ𝓊𝓉 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓌𝒽ℯ𝓃 𝓌ℯ 𝒸𝒶𝓂ℯ 𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ.

𝒲ℯ 𝒻ℴ𝓊𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝒜ℊ𝓇𝒾𝒾 𝓈𝒽𝒾𝓅. 𝒲ℯ 𝓁𝒶𝓃𝒹ℯ𝒹, 𝓈𝓅𝓁𝒾𝓉 𝓊𝓅 𝒾𝓃𝓉ℴ 𝓉ℯ𝒶𝓂𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓌ℯ𝓃𝓉 𝓉ℴ 𝒸𝒽ℯ𝒸𝓀 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ𝓈 ℴ𝓊𝓉. 𝒮ℴ𝓂ℯ ℴ𝒻 𝓊𝓈 𝓌ℯ𝓃𝓉 𝓉ℴ ℊℴ 𝓁ℴℴ𝓀 𝒻ℴ𝓇 𝒢𝒶𝓇𝓎, 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯ 𝒽𝓊𝓃ℊ 𝒷𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝓉ℴ 𝓁ℴℴ𝓀 𝒶𝒻𝓉ℯ𝓇 ℴ𝓊𝓇 𝓈𝒽𝒾𝓅𝓈, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓇ℯ𝓈𝓉 ℴ𝒻 𝓊𝓈 𝓌ℯ𝓃𝓉 ℴ𝓊𝓉 𝓉ℴ 𝒹ℯ𝒶𝓁 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝒾𝓃𝓉𝓇𝓊𝒹ℯ𝓇𝓈.

𝒯𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ'𝓈 ℊℴ𝓉𝓉𝒶 𝒷ℯ 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯ 𝒸𝓊𝓉ℯ 𝒶𝓁𝒾ℯ𝓃𝓈 ℴ𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽ℯ ℊ𝒶𝓁𝒶𝓍𝓎 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯ𝓌𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ. 𝒯𝒽ℯ𝓈ℯ ℊ𝓊𝓎𝓈 𝒶𝓇ℯ ℴ𝓃𝓁𝓎 𝓈𝓁𝒾ℊ𝒽𝓉𝓁𝓎 𝒷ℯ𝓉𝓉ℯ𝓇 𝓁ℴℴ𝓀𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓃 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓌ℯ 𝒽𝒶𝓋ℯ 𝓉ℴ 𝒹ℯ𝒶𝓁 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒷𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝒽ℴ𝓂ℯ. ℱ𝓊𝓏𝓏𝓎, 𝓃ℴ𝓉 𝓇ℯ𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎 ℊℴℴ𝒹 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓌ℴ𝓇𝒹𝓈, 𝓃𝒶𝓈𝓉𝓎 𝓈𝓅𝒾𝓉𝓉𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒽𝒶𝒷𝒾𝓉. 𝒯𝒽ℯ𝒾𝓇 𝓈𝓅𝒾𝓉 𝒶𝒸𝓉𝓊𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎 𝓂ℯ𝓁𝓉𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ𝓈 ℴ𝓃 𝒸ℴ𝓃𝓉𝒶𝒸𝓉, ℯ𝓍𝒸ℯ𝓅𝓉 𝒻ℴ𝓇 𝓅ℯℴ𝓅𝓁ℯ. ℬ𝒶𝒹 𝓃ℯ𝓌𝓈 𝒻ℴ𝓇 𝓎ℴ𝓊𝓇 ℴ𝓁𝒹 𝓂𝒶𝓃, 𝓎ℯ𝒶𝒽?

𝒮ℴ 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ𝓈 𝒸ℴ𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒽𝒶𝓋ℯ ℊℴ𝓃ℯ 𝒷ℯ𝓉𝓉ℯ𝓇. 𝒥ℴ𝓃 𝓉𝓇𝒾ℯ𝒹 ℊℯ𝓉𝓉𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯ 𝒶𝓃𝓈𝓌ℯ𝓇𝓈 𝒻𝓇ℴ𝓂 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓂 𝒷𝓊𝓉 ℐ 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀 𝒾𝓉 𝒷𝓇ℴ𝓀ℯ 𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒷𝓇𝒶𝒾𝓃 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒽ℯ 𝓌ℯ𝓃𝓉 𝒸𝓇𝒶𝓏𝓎 ℯ𝓋ℯ𝓃 𝒷ℯ𝒻ℴ𝓇ℯ 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝒻𝒾ℊ𝒽𝓉 𝒷ℯℊ𝒶𝓃. 𝒪𝓇 𝒶𝓉 𝓁ℯ𝒶𝓈𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉'𝓈 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 ℐ 𝓉𝒽ℴ𝓊ℊ𝒽𝓉 𝒽𝒶𝒹 𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓅ℯ𝓃ℯ𝒹, 𝓊𝓃𝓉𝒾𝓁 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯ ℴ𝒻 ℴ𝓊𝓇 ℴ𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓇 ℊ𝓊𝓎𝓈 𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓇𝓉ℯ𝒹 ℊℴ𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓃𝓊𝓉𝓈 𝓉ℴℴ. 𝒢𝓊ℯ𝓈𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓈𝓅𝒾𝓉 𝒶𝒸𝓉𝓊𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎 𝒹ℴℯ𝓈 𝒽𝒶𝓋ℯ 𝒶𝓃 ℯ𝒻𝒻ℯ𝒸𝓉 ℴ𝓃 𝓅ℯℴ𝓅𝓁ℯ 𝓌𝒽ℯ𝓃 𝒾𝓉'𝓈 𝓃ℴ𝓉 ℯ𝒶𝓉𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓉𝒽𝓇ℴ𝓊ℊ𝒽 𝓎ℴ𝓊𝓇 ℊℯ𝒶𝓇. ℐ𝓉 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 ℯ𝒶𝓉𝓈 𝒾𝓃𝓉ℴ 𝓎ℴ𝓊𝓇 𝒷𝓇𝒶𝒾𝓃.

𝒲ℯ ℊℴ𝓉 𝓂ℴ𝓈𝓉 ℴ𝒻 𝒾𝓉 𝒽𝒶𝓃𝒹𝓁ℯ𝒹. ℐ 𝓌𝒶𝓈𝓃'𝓉 𝓆𝓊𝒾𝓉ℯ 𝓈𝓊𝓇ℯ 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓈ℯ ℊ𝓊𝓎𝓈 𝓀𝓃ℯ𝓌 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓎 𝓌ℯ𝓇ℯ 𝒹ℴ𝒾𝓃ℊ, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 ℐ ℊ𝓊ℯ𝓈𝓈 𝓌𝒽ℯ𝓃 𝓎ℴ𝓊 𝓈𝓊𝒹𝒹ℯ𝓃𝓁𝓎 𝓈ℯ𝓉 𝓎ℴ𝓊𝓇𝓈ℯ𝓁𝒻 ℴ𝓃 𝒻𝒾𝓇ℯ, 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ𝓈 𝓅𝒶𝓃𝒾𝒸 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓇𝓉 𝓈𝒽ℴℴ𝓉𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒶𝓉 𝓎ℴ𝓊 𝒾𝓈 𝒶 𝓅ℯ𝓇𝒻ℯ𝒸𝓉𝓁𝓎 𝓋𝒶𝓁𝒾𝒹 𝓇ℯ𝓈𝓅ℴ𝓃𝓈ℯ.

𝒩ℴ𝓌 𝓌ℯ'𝓇ℯ 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝓈𝒾𝓉𝓉𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓉𝒾ℊ𝒽𝓉, 𝓌𝒶𝒾𝓉𝒾𝓃ℊ. 𝒲𝒽𝒶𝓉ℯ𝓋ℯ𝓇 ℴ𝓊𝓇 𝓈𝒽𝒾𝓅 ℊℴ𝓉 𝒽𝒾𝓉 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓇ℯ𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎 𝒹𝒾𝒹 𝒶 𝓃𝓊𝓂𝒷ℯ𝓇 ℴ𝓃 𝒢𝒶𝓇𝓎. 𝒢𝒶𝓇𝓎'𝓈 𝒶 ℊ𝒾𝓇𝓁 𝒷𝓎 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓌𝒶𝓎. ℐ 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀 𝓈𝒽ℯ'𝓈 𝒹ℴ𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒻𝒾𝓃ℯ. 𝒥ℴ𝓃 𝒾𝓈 𝓉ℴℴ, 𝓃ℴ𝓌 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓌ℯ'𝓋ℯ ℊℴ𝓉 𝒽𝒾𝓂 𝒾𝓃 𝓂ℯ𝒹𝒷𝒶𝓎.

...ℴ𝓀𝒶𝓎 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝒶𝓁𝒶𝓇𝓂𝓈 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝓌ℯ𝓃𝓉 ℴ𝒻𝒻. ℐ 𝓈𝓌ℯ𝒶𝓇 ℐ 𝒹𝒾𝒹 𝓃ℴ𝓉 𝓉ℴ𝓊𝒸𝒽 𝒶𝓃𝓎𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ. ℬℯ𝓉𝓉ℯ𝓇 𝓈ℯℯ 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉'𝓈 ℊℴ𝒾𝓃ℊ ℴ𝓃 𝓃ℴ𝓌.

[deal_me_in]

So let me get you all caught up, Ace.

I'll be honest with you, I feel like I've got even more questions than I started out with when we came here.

We found the Agrii ship. We landed, split up into teams and went to check things out. Some of us went to go look for Gary, some hung back to look after our ships, and the rest of us went out to deal with the intruders.

There's gotta be some cute aliens out there in the galaxy somewhere. These guys are only slightly better looking than what we have to deal with back home. Fuzzy, not really good with words, nasty spitting habit. Their spit actually melts things on contact, except for people. Bad news for your old man, yeah?

So things could have gone better. Jon tried getting some answers from them but I think it broke his brain and he went crazy even before the fight began. Or at least that's what I thought had happened, until some of our other guys started going nuts too. Guess that spit actually does have an effect on people when it's not eating through your gear. It just eats into your brain.

We got most of it handled. I wasn't quite sure these guys knew what they were doing, and I guess when you suddenly set yourself on fire, having things panic and start shooting at you is a perfectly valid response.

Now we're just sitting tight, waiting. Whatever our ship got hit with really did a number on Gary. Gary's a girl by the way. I think she's doing fine. Jon is too, now that we've got him in medbay.

...okay the alarms just went off. I swear I did not touch anything. Better see what's going on now.

0901

[deal_me_in]

𝒜𝓅𝓅𝒶𝓇ℯ𝓃𝓉𝓁𝓎 𝒷𝒾𝓇𝒹𝓈 ℯ𝒶𝓉 𝓇ℴ𝒸𝓀𝓈. 𝒲𝒽ℴ 𝓀𝓃ℯ𝓌? 𝒪𝓃 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝒷𝓇𝒾ℊ𝒽𝓉 𝓈𝒾𝒹ℯ, 𝒾𝓉'𝓈 𝒶 𝓁ℴ𝓉 𝓁ℯ𝓈𝓈 ℯ𝓍𝓅ℯ𝓃𝓈𝒾𝓋ℯ 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓃 𝒞ℴ𝓁ℴ𝓃ℯ𝓁'𝓈 𝒹𝒾ℯ𝓉. ℐ 𝓂𝒾𝓈𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒸𝒽𝒾𝒸𝓀ℯ𝓃.

𝒲ℯ'𝓇ℯ 𝒽ℯ𝒶𝒹𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒽ℴ𝓂ℯ, 𝒜𝒸ℯ. 𝒲ℯ𝓁𝓁, "𝒽ℴ𝓂ℯ" 𝒶𝓈 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝒜ℊ𝓇𝒾𝒾'𝓈 𝒽ℴ𝓂ℯ. 𝒯𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ𝓈 𝒽𝒶𝓋ℯ 𝒷ℯℯ𝓃 𝓋ℯ𝓇𝓎 𝒸ℴ𝓃𝒻𝓊𝓈𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒶𝓃𝒹 ℐ'𝓂 𝓃ℴ𝓉 𝓈𝓊𝓇ℯ 𝒶𝓈 ℐ 𝓊𝓃𝒹ℯ𝓇𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒶𝓁𝓁'𝓈 ℊℴ𝒾𝓃ℊ ℴ𝓃 ℴ𝓇 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓂ℴ𝓇ℯ 𝒾𝓈 𝒶𝓉 𝓅𝓁𝒶𝓎. 𝒯𝒽ℯ 𝒜ℊ𝓇𝒾𝒾 𝓈ℯℯ𝓂 𝓉ℴ 𝒽𝒶𝓋ℯ 𝓁ℯ𝓈𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝓈𝓌ℯ𝓇𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓃 𝓌ℯ 𝒽ℴ𝓅ℯ𝒹 𝒻ℴ𝓇, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 ℐ 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝓌ℯ ℊℴ𝓉 ℴ𝓊𝓉 ℴ𝒻 𝓇ℯ𝓈𝒸𝓊𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓂 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝓂ℴ𝓇ℯ 𝓆𝓊ℯ𝓈𝓉𝒾ℴ𝓃𝓈.

𝒜𝓉 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓇𝒶𝓉ℯ 𝓌ℯ'𝓇ℯ 𝓉𝓇𝒶𝓋ℯ𝓁𝒾𝓃ℊ, 𝒾𝓉'𝓁𝓁 𝒷ℯ 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯ 𝓉𝒾𝓂ℯ 𝒷ℯ𝒻ℴ𝓇ℯ 𝓌ℯ 𝒽𝒾𝓉 𝓅𝓁𝒶𝓃ℯ𝓉-𝓈𝒾𝒹ℯ 𝒶ℊ𝒶𝒾𝓃. ℳ𝒶𝓎𝒷ℯ 𝓌ℯ'𝓁𝓁 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯ 𝓂ℴ𝓇ℯ 𝒾𝓃𝓉ℯ𝓇ℯ𝓈𝓉𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓅𝒾𝓉 𝓈𝓉ℴ𝓅𝓈. 𝒲𝒶𝓉𝒸𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒯ℴ𝓃𝓎 𝒸ℴ𝓂𝓂𝓊𝓃𝒾𝒸𝒶𝓉ℯ 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝒢𝓇𝒶𝓆 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝒻𝓊𝓃 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒶𝓁𝓁, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 ℐ'𝓂 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝒻ℴ𝓇 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒶 𝓃𝒾𝒸ℯ, 𝒷𝓊𝓈𝓉𝓁𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒸𝒾𝓉𝓎 ℴ𝓇 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯ𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ. ℐ 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀 𝓌ℯ 𝒸ℴ𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝒹ℴ 𝒻ℴ𝓇 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯ 𝒸𝒾𝓋𝒾𝓁𝒾𝓏𝒶𝓉𝒾ℴ𝓃.

[deal_me_in]

Apparently birds eat rocks. Who knew? On the bright side, it's a lot less expensive than Colonel's diet. I miss that chicken.

We're heading home, Ace. Well, "home" as in the Agrii's home. Things have been very confusing and I'm not sure as I understand what all's going on or what more is at play. The Agrii seem to have less answers than we hoped for, and I think all we got out of rescuing them was more questions.

At the rate we're traveling, it'll be some time before we hit planet-side again. Maybe we'll find some more interesting pit stops. Watching Tony communicate with the Graq was fun and all, but I'm all for finding a nice, bustling city or something. I think we could all do for some civilization.

0928

[deal_me_in]

𝒮ℴ𝓂ℯ 𝒾𝓃𝓉ℯ𝓇ℯ𝓈𝓉𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒹ℯ𝓋ℯ𝓁ℴ𝓅𝓂ℯ𝓃𝓉𝓈. ℐ𝓉 𝓈ℯℯ𝓂𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 ℯ𝓋ℯ𝓃 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝒶𝒷𝓈ℯ𝓃𝒸ℯ ℴ𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓈𝒾𝓃ℊ𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒷𝒶𝒷𝓎 ℴ𝓇 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉ℯ𝓋ℯ𝓇 𝒾𝓉 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝒜ℊ𝓇𝒾𝒾 𝓌ℯ𝓇ℯ 𝓊𝓈𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓉ℴ 𝒷𝓇𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝒾𝓇 𝒽ℯ𝓇ℴℯ𝓈 𝒾𝓃, 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯℴ𝓃ℯ'𝓈 𝓈𝓉𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒹ℴ𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓂 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝒻𝒶𝓋ℴ𝓇. 𝒯𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ'𝓈 𝒶 𝒸ℴ𝓊𝓅𝓁ℯ 𝓃ℯ𝓌 𝒻𝒶𝒸ℯ𝓈 𝒶𝓇ℴ𝓊𝓃𝒹- 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒶 𝒻𝒶𝓂𝒾𝓁𝒾𝒶𝓇 ℴ𝓃ℯ.

𝒮𝓊𝓃𝒹𝒶𝓃𝒸ℯ 𝒶𝓅𝓅ℯ𝒶𝓇ℯ𝒹 𝓉𝒽ℯ ℴ𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓇 𝒹𝒶𝓎. ℐ'𝓂 𝒽𝒶𝓇𝒹𝓁𝓎 ℊℴ𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓉ℴ 𝒸ℴ𝓂𝓅𝓁𝒶𝒾𝓃 𝒶𝒷ℴ𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉- 𝒻ℯ𝓁𝓉 𝒹𝒶𝓂𝓃 𝓌ℯ𝒾𝓇𝒹 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽ℴ𝓊𝓉 𝒽ℯ𝓇- 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝒾𝓉 𝓈𝓉𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝓁ℯ𝒶𝓋ℯ𝓈 𝓆𝓊ℯ𝓈𝓉𝒾ℴ𝓃𝓈. 𝒮𝓉𝒶𝓇𝓀 𝒶𝓁𝓈ℴ 𝓉𝒽𝓇ℯ𝓌 𝒶 𝓅𝒶𝓇𝓉𝓎, 𝓂ℴ𝓇𝒶𝓁ℯ 𝒷ℴℴ𝓈𝓉ℯ𝓇, 𝒶 𝓈𝓉𝓇ℯ𝓈𝓈 𝒷𝓇ℯ𝒶𝓀ℯ𝓇. ℐ 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀 𝒾𝓉 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝓌ℯ𝓁𝓁-𝓇ℯ𝒸ℯ𝒾𝓋ℯ𝒹. ℰ𝓋ℯ𝓃 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓆𝓊ℯ𝓈𝓉𝒾ℴ𝓃𝒶𝒷𝓁ℯ 𝒾𝒸ℯ 𝒸𝓇ℯ𝒶𝓂 𝒻𝓁𝒶𝓋ℴ𝓇𝓈. 𝒯𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓈𝓅𝒶𝒸ℯ 𝓉𝓇𝒾𝓅'𝓈 𝒷ℯℯ𝓃 𝓁ℴ𝓃ℊℯ𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓃 𝒶𝓃𝓎ℴ𝓃ℯ 𝓅𝓇ℴ𝒷𝒶𝒷𝓁𝓎 𝒸𝒶𝓇ℯ𝓈 𝒻ℴ𝓇, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝓌ℯ'𝓋ℯ 𝓂𝒶𝒹ℯ 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝒷ℯ𝓈𝓉 ℴ𝒻 𝒾𝓉. ℐ𝓉'𝓈 𝒶𝒷ℴ𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝒽ℯ ℴ𝓃𝓁𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓎ℴ𝓊 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝒹ℴ, 𝒶𝓈𝒾𝒹ℯ 𝒻𝓇ℴ𝓂 ℊℯ𝓉 𝒸𝒶𝒷𝒾𝓃 𝒻ℯ𝓋ℯ𝓇. 𝒯𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀 ℐ'𝓋ℯ 𝓂𝒶𝓅𝓅ℯ𝒹 ℴ𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓋ℯ𝓃𝓉𝒾𝓁𝒶𝓉𝒾ℴ𝓃 𝒹𝓊𝒸𝓉𝓈 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝒾𝓇 ℯ𝓃𝓉𝒾𝓇ℯ𝓉𝓎.

ℐ𝓉'𝓈 ℯ𝒶𝓈𝒾ℯ𝓇 𝒻ℴ𝒸𝓊𝓈𝒾𝓃ℊ ℴ𝓃 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉'𝓈 𝒾𝓃 𝒻𝓇ℴ𝓃𝓉 ℴ𝒻 𝓎ℴ𝓊𝓇 𝒻𝒶𝒸ℯ 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓃 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝒹𝒾𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒽𝒶𝓋ℯ 𝓃ℴ 𝒶𝓃𝓈𝓌ℯ𝓇𝓈, 𝒜𝒸ℯ. 𝒜𝓉 𝓁ℯ𝒶𝓈𝓉 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓎'𝓇ℯ 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ𝓈 𝓎ℴ𝓊 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝒹ℴ 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯ𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒶𝒷ℴ𝓊𝓉. 𝒩ℴ𝓉 𝒾ℊ𝓃ℴ𝓇𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ𝓈 𝓌ℯ 𝒽𝒶𝓋ℯ𝓃'𝓉 𝒻𝒾ℊ𝓊𝓇ℯ𝒹 ℴ𝓊𝓉, ℐ 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀 𝓌ℯ 𝓃ℯℯ𝒹 𝓂ℴ𝓇ℯ 𝒶𝓃𝓈𝓌ℯ𝓇𝓈, 𝓂ℴ𝓇ℯ 𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓉𝓈 𝓉ℴ 𝓂𝒶𝓀ℯ 𝓈𝓊𝓇ℯ 𝓌ℯ'𝓇ℯ 𝓃ℴ𝓉 𝓁ℴℴ𝓀𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒶𝓉 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓂𝒶ℊ𝒾𝒸 𝓉𝓇𝒾𝒸𝓀 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒻ℴ𝓇ℊℯ𝓉𝓉𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒶𝒷ℴ𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓂𝒶ℊ𝒾𝒸𝒾𝒶𝓃...

[deal_me_in]

Some interesting developments. It seems that even with the absence of this singing baby or whatever it was that the Agrii were using to bring their heroes in, someone's still doing them the favor. There's a couple new faces around- and a familiar one.

Sundance appeared the other day. I'm hardly going to complain about that- felt damn weird without her- but it still leaves questions. Stark also threw a party, morale booster, a stress breaker. I think it was well-received. Even the questionable ice cream flavors. This space trip's been longer than anyone probably cares for, but we've made the best of it. It's about the only thing you can do, aside from get cabin fever. Think I've mapped out the ventilation ducts in their entirety.

It's easier focusing on what's in front of your face than the distant things that have no answers, Ace. At least they're things you can do something about. Not ignoring the things we haven't figured out, I just think we need more answers, more hints to make sure we're not looking at the magic trick and forgetting about the magician...

1018

[deal_me_in]

𝒜𝓃𝒹𝒶𝓁'𝓈 ℴ𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ. ℬ𝓊𝓉 𝒾𝓉'𝓈 𝓃ℴ𝓉 𝓇ℯ𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎 𝒽𝒾𝓂. 𝒮𝓊𝓃𝒹𝒶𝓃𝒸ℯ 𝓀ℯℯ𝓅𝓈 𝓉ℯ𝓁𝓁𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓂ℯ 𝒶𝓈 𝓂𝓊𝒸𝒽.

𝒲ℴ𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝓎ℴ𝓊 𝓇ℯ𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎 𝓁ℴℴ𝓀 𝒶𝓉 𝓂ℯ 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓌𝒶𝓎, 𝒾𝒻 𝓎ℴ𝓊 𝓌ℯ𝓇ℯ 𝓈𝓉𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ, 𝒷𝓇ℴ𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓇?

𝒯𝒽ℯ𝓃 𝒶ℊ𝒶𝒾𝓃, ℐ 𝓅𝓇ℴ𝒷𝒶𝒷𝓁𝓎 𝒹ℯ𝓈ℯ𝓇𝓋ℯ 𝒾𝓉.

[deal_me_in]

Andal's out there. But it's not really him. Sundance keeps telling me as much.

Would you really look at me that way, if you were still here, brother?

Then again, I probably deserve it.

1112

[deal_me_in]

𝒴ℴ𝓊 𝓀𝓃ℴ𝓌, ℐ'𝓂 𝓇ℯ𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎 𝓃ℴ𝓉 ℴ𝓃ℯ 𝒻ℴ𝓇 𝒷ℯ𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒹ℯ𝓅𝓇ℯ𝓈𝓈ℯ𝒹. 𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓈𝓉ℴ𝓇𝓂? ℐ𝓉 𝒹𝒾𝒹 𝓃ℴ𝓉 𝓅𝓁𝒶𝓎 𝒻𝒶𝒾𝓇, 𝒜𝒸ℯ. ℐ𝓉 𝒹𝓊ℊ 𝓇𝒾ℊ𝒽𝓉 𝒾𝓃𝓉ℴ 𝓎ℴ𝓊𝓇 𝒽ℯ𝒶𝒹 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯ𝒽ℴ𝓌, 𝓅𝓊𝓁𝓁ℯ𝒹 ℴ𝓊𝓉 𝓎ℴ𝓊𝓇 𝓌ℴ𝓇𝓈𝓉 𝒹𝓇ℯ𝒶𝒹𝓈, 𝒷𝓇ℯ𝒶𝓉𝒽ℯ𝒹 𝓁𝒾𝒻ℯ 𝒾𝓃𝓉ℴ 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓂 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉'𝓈 𝓌ℴ𝓇𝓈ℯ, 𝓅𝒶𝓇𝒶𝒹ℯ𝒹 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓂 𝒻ℴ𝓇 ℯ𝓋ℯ𝓇𝓎ℴ𝓃ℯ 𝓉ℴ 𝓈ℯℯ.

𝒩ℴ𝓉 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝓂𝒾𝓃ℯ, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 ℴ𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓇 𝓅ℯℴ𝓅𝓁ℯ'𝓈. 𝒲𝒶𝓈𝓃'𝓉 𝓇𝒾ℊ𝒽𝓉. 𝒜𝒸𝓀𝓃ℴ𝓌𝓁ℯ𝒹ℊ𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓎ℴ𝓊𝓇 𝒻ℯ𝒶𝓇𝓈 𝒾𝓈 ℴ𝓃ℯ 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ, 𝒻ℴ𝓇𝒸𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓂 𝓉ℴ 𝒷ℯ 𝒻𝒶𝒸ℯ𝒹 𝒶𝓃𝒹 ℊℯ𝓉𝓉𝒾𝓃ℊ ℴ𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓇𝓈 𝒸𝒶𝓊ℊ𝒽𝓉 𝓊𝓅 𝒾𝓃 𝒾𝓉? 𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓉'𝓈 𝒶𝓃ℴ𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ ℯ𝓃𝓉𝒾𝓇ℯ𝓁𝓎. 𝒜𝓁𝓁 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓂ℴ𝓇ℯ 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 ℐ ℊ𝓁𝒶𝒹𝓁𝓎 𝓅𝓊𝓉 𝒹ℴ𝓌𝓃 𝓌𝒽ℴ ℴ𝓇 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉ℯ𝓋ℯ𝓇 𝓂𝒶𝓃𝒶ℊℯ𝒹 𝓉ℴ 𝓂𝒶𝓃𝓊𝒻𝒶𝒸𝓉𝓊𝓇ℯ 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓈ℯ 𝓊𝓃𝓃𝒶𝓉𝓊𝓇𝒶𝓁 𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓅ℯ𝓃𝒾𝓃ℊ𝓈. 𝒥𝓊𝓈𝓉 ℊℴ𝓉𝓉𝒶 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓂 𝒻𝒾𝓇𝓈𝓉, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓎'𝓋ℯ 𝒶𝓁𝓇ℯ𝒶𝒹𝓎 𝓅𝓇ℴ𝓋ℯ𝓃 ℴ𝓃ℯ 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ: 𝒶 𝓂𝓎𝓈𝓉ℯ𝓇𝓎 𝓅𝒶𝓇𝓉𝓎 ℯ𝓍𝒾𝓈𝓉𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓎 𝓁𝒾𝓀ℯ 𝓉ℴ ℊ𝓁ℴ𝒶𝓉. ℐ'𝓁𝓁 𝒷ℯ𝓉 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓎 𝓌ℴ𝓃'𝓉 𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓎 𝒽𝒾𝒹𝒹ℯ𝓃 𝒻ℴ𝓇ℯ𝓋ℯ𝓇. 𝒪𝓃ℯ ℴ𝒻 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓈ℯ 𝒹𝒶𝓎𝓈, 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓎'𝓁𝓁 𝓅ℴ𝓅 𝓊𝓅 𝒾𝓃 𝓅ℯ𝓇𝓈ℴ𝓃, 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝓉ℴ ℊℯ𝓉 𝒶 𝒻𝓇ℴ𝓃𝓉 𝓇ℴ𝓌 𝓈ℯ𝒶𝓉 𝒻ℴ𝓇 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉ℯ𝓋ℯ𝓇 𝓉ℯ𝓇𝓇𝒾𝒷𝓁ℯ 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ𝓈 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓎 𝒹ℯ𝒸𝒾𝒹ℯ 𝓉ℴ 𝓅𝓊𝓉 𝓊𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝓇ℴ𝓊ℊ𝒽. 𝒜𝓃𝒹 𝓌𝒽ℯ𝓃 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓎 𝒹ℴ? ℐ'𝓁𝓁 𝒷ℯ 𝓈𝓊𝓇ℯ 𝓉ℴ 𝓇ℯ𝓈ℯ𝓇𝓋ℯ 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯ 𝒷𝓊𝓁𝓁ℯ𝓉𝓈 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝒻ℴ𝓇 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓂.

ℐ𝓃 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓂ℯ𝒶𝓃𝓉𝒾𝓂ℯ, 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓈𝓉ℴ𝓇𝓂'𝓈 𝒷𝓁ℴ𝓌𝓃 ℴ𝓋ℯ𝓇. 𝒜 𝒻ℯ𝓌 𝓅ℯℴ𝓅𝓁ℯ 𝓁ℯ𝒻𝓉 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒾𝓉, 𝓂𝒶𝓎𝒷ℯ ℯ𝓋ℯ𝓃 𝒷ℯ𝒻ℴ𝓇ℯ 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉. 𝒟𝒾𝒹𝓃'𝓉 𝓀𝓃ℴ𝓌 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯ 𝓉ℴℴ 𝓌ℯ𝓁𝓁, 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓀𝒾𝒹 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝒽𝒶𝒾𝓇, 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓁𝒶𝒹𝓎 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝒷𝒶𝒷𝓎, 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓌𝒶𝓁𝓀𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒽ℯ𝓁𝓂ℯ𝓉 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓀𝒾𝒹... ℒℴ𝓉𝓉𝒶 𝓀𝒾𝒹𝓈 𝒶𝓇ℴ𝓊𝓃𝒹 𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ, 𝓃ℴ𝓌 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 ℐ 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀 𝒶𝒷ℴ𝓊𝓉 𝒾𝓉- ℴ𝓇 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ 𝓌ℯ𝓇ℯ. ℳ𝒶𝓎𝒷ℯ 𝒾𝓉'𝓈 𝒻ℴ𝓇 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝒷ℯ𝓈𝓉 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓎'𝓇ℯ 𝓊𝓅 𝒶𝓃𝒹 ℊℴ𝓃ℯ 𝓃ℴ𝓌, 𝒽ℴ𝓅ℯ𝒻𝓊𝓁𝓁𝓎 𝓌𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓎 ℴ𝓊ℊ𝒽𝓉 𝓉ℴ 𝒷ℯ.

𝒞𝓁ℴ𝓊𝒹, 𝒽ℯ'𝓈 ℊℴ𝓃ℯ 𝓉ℴℴ. 𝒲𝒶𝓈 𝒶 ℊℴℴ𝒹 𝓀𝒾𝒹, 𝓌ℯ𝒾𝓇𝒹 𝒽𝒶𝒾𝓇 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒶𝓁𝓁. ℬℯℯ𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝓇ℴ𝓊ℊ𝒽 𝒶 𝓁ℴ𝓉, 𝓉𝓇𝒾ℯ𝓈 𝓉ℴ 𝓉𝒶𝓀ℯ 𝒸𝒶𝓇ℯ ℴ𝒻 ℯ𝓋ℯ𝓇𝓎𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒽𝒾𝓂𝓈ℯ𝓁𝒻. 𝒲ℴ𝓊𝓁𝒹'𝓋ℯ 𝓂𝒶𝒹ℯ 𝒶 ℊℴℴ𝒹 𝒢𝓊𝒶𝓇𝒹𝒾𝒶𝓃. 𝒫𝓇ℴ𝒷𝒶𝒷𝓁𝓎 𝒷ℯ𝓉𝓉ℯ𝓇. 𝒦𝒾𝒹 𝓌𝒶𝓈𝓃'𝓉 𝓌ℯ𝓁𝓁. ℐ𝒻 𝒽ℯ'𝓈 𝒷𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝒽ℴ𝓂ℯ, 𝒾𝒻 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓎'𝓇ℯ 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝒷𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝒽ℴ𝓂ℯ... 𝒲ℯ𝓁𝓁, 𝒾𝓈𝓃'𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓌ℯ 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝒽ℴ𝓅ℯ 𝒻ℴ𝓇 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓁ℴ𝓃ℊ-𝓇𝓊𝓃?

𝒩ℴ𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 ℐ'𝓂 ℊℴ𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓉ℴ 𝓈𝓁𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝒶𝓃𝓎. ℐ'𝓋ℯ ℊℴ𝓉 ℊℴℴ𝒹 𝒻𝓇𝒾ℯ𝓃𝒹𝓈 𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ. ℳ𝒶𝓎𝒷ℯ 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯ 𝒹𝒶𝓎 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓎'𝓁𝓁 ℊℴ 𝓉ℴℴ. ℳ𝒶𝓎𝒷ℯ ℐ 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁. ℐ'𝓁𝓁 𝓈𝓉𝒾𝒸𝓀 𝒾𝓉 ℴ𝓊𝓉 𝒶𝓈 𝓁ℴ𝓃ℊ 𝒶𝓈 ℐ 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝒽ℯ𝓁𝓅 𝒾𝓉 𝓉𝒽ℴ𝓊ℊ𝒽. 𝒢ℴ𝓉 ℊℴℴ𝒹 𝓂ℯ𝓂ℴ𝓇𝒾ℯ𝓈 𝒶𝒷ℴ𝓊𝓉 ℊℴℴ𝒹 𝓅ℯℴ𝓅𝓁ℯ 𝒶𝓃𝒹 ℐ 𝒽ℴ𝓅ℯ ℐ ℊℯ𝓉 𝓉ℴ 𝓀ℯℯ𝓅 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓂.

𝒮ℴ 𝒻ℴ𝓇 𝓃ℴ𝓌 ℐ'𝓁𝓁 𝓀ℯℯ𝓅 𝒽ℴ𝒶𝓇𝒹𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 ℐ 𝒸𝒶𝓃. 𝒜𝓃𝒹 𝓂𝒶𝓎𝒷ℯ 𝒾𝒻 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯℴ𝓃ℯ 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹𝓈 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓈ℯ 𝓁ℯ𝓉𝓉ℯ𝓇𝓈, 𝒶𝓉 𝓁ℯ𝒶𝓈𝓉 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯℴ𝓃ℯ ℯ𝓁𝓈ℯ'𝓁𝓁 𝓀𝓃ℴ𝓌 𝓉ℴℴ, ℯ𝓋ℯ𝓃 𝒾𝒻 ℐ 𝓂𝒾ℊ𝒽𝓉 𝓃ℴ𝓉.

𝒩ℴ𝓌 ℯ𝓍𝒸𝓊𝓈ℯ 𝓂ℯ, ℐ ℊℴ𝓉 𝒶 𝒷𝒶𝓇 𝓉ℴ ℴ𝓅ℯ𝓃.

[deal_me_in]

You know, I'm really not one for being depressed. That storm? It did not play fair, Ace. It dug right into your head somehow, pulled out your worst dreads, breathed life into them and what's worse, paraded them for everyone to see.

Not just mine, but other people's. Wasn't right. Acknowledging your fears is one thing, forcing them to be faced and getting others caught up in it? That's another thing entirely. All the more will I gladly put down who or whatever managed to manufacture these unnatural happenings. Just gotta find them first, but they've already proven one thing: a mystery party exists and they like to gloat. I'll bet they won't stay hidden forever. One of these days, they'll pop up in person, just to get a front row seat for whatever terrible things they decide to put us through. And when they do? I'll be sure to reserve some bullets just for them.

In the meantime, the storm's blown over. A few people left with it, maybe even before that. Didn't know some too well, the kid with the hair, the lady with the baby, the walking helmet with the kid... Lotta kids around here, now that I think about it- or there were. Maybe it's for the best they're up and gone now, hopefully where they ought to be.

Cloud, he's gone too. Was a good kid, weird hair and all. Been through a lot, tries to take care of everything himself. Would've made a good Guardian. Probably better. Kid wasn't well. If he's back home, if they're all back home... Well, isn't that what we all hope for in the long-run?

Not that I'm going to slack any. I've got good friends here. Maybe some day they'll go too. Maybe I will. I'll stick it out as long as I can help it though. Got good memories about good people and I hope I get to keep them.

So for now I'll keep hoarding what I can. And maybe if someone finds these letters, at least someone else'll know too, even if I might not.

Now excuse me, I got a bar to open.

1124

[deal_me_in]

ℋℯ𝓎 𝒜𝒸ℯ, 𝓎ℴ𝓊 𝓀𝓃ℴ𝓌 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒷𝓁𝒾𝓃𝓀𝓎 𝓁𝒾ℊ𝒽𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ ℐ 𝓉ℴ𝓁𝒹 𝓎ℴ𝓊 𝒶𝒷ℴ𝓊𝓉? ℐ 𝒹𝒾𝒹 𝓉ℯ𝓁𝓁 𝓎ℴ𝓊 𝒶𝒷ℴ𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉, 𝒹𝒾𝒹𝓃'𝓉 ℐ? 𝒲ℯ𝓁𝓁 𝒶𝓃𝓎𝓌𝒶𝓎, ℐ 𝒶𝓁𝓌𝒶𝓎𝓈 𝓈ℯℯ 𝒾𝓉 𝒻𝓇ℴ𝓂 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝒸𝓁ℴ𝒸𝓀𝓉ℴ𝓌ℯ𝓇 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓊𝓈 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎 ℊℯ𝓉𝓉𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯ 𝓉𝒾𝓂ℯ 𝓉ℴ 𝓈ℯ𝓉𝓉𝓁ℯ 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯ, ℐ 𝓇ℴ𝓊𝓃𝒹ℯ𝒹 𝓊𝓅 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓊𝓈𝓊𝒶𝓁 𝓈𝓊𝓈𝓅ℯ𝒸𝓉𝓈 𝓈ℴ 𝓌ℯ 𝒸ℴ𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒸𝒽ℯ𝒸𝓀 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓅𝓁𝒶𝒸ℯ ℴ𝓊𝓉. 𝒮ℴ𝓂ℯ ℊℴℴ𝒹 ℴ𝓁𝒹 𝓇ℯ𝒸ℴ𝓃 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒶 𝒻𝒾𝓇ℯ𝓉ℯ𝒶𝓂. ℱ𝓊𝓃 𝓈𝓉𝓊𝒻𝒻.

𝒲ℯ𝓁𝓁, 𝓃ℴ𝓉 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝒻𝓊𝓃. 𝒯𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ𝓈 ℊℴ𝓉 𝓌ℯ𝒾𝓇𝒹 ℴ𝓃𝒸ℯ 𝓌ℯ ℊℴ𝓉 𝒸𝓁ℴ𝓈ℯ𝓇. 𝒮𝓉𝒶𝓇𝓉ℯ𝒹 𝓈ℯℯ𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ𝓈, 𝒽ℯ𝒶𝓇𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ𝓈. ℐ'𝓂 𝓉ℯ𝓁𝓁𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓎ℴ𝓊, 𝒾𝒻 𝒮𝓊𝓃𝒹𝒶𝓃𝒸ℯ 𝓌ℯ𝓇ℯ𝓃'𝓉 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ, ℐ 𝒹ℴ𝓃'𝓉 𝓀𝓃ℴ𝓌 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 ℐ 𝓌ℴ𝓊𝓁𝒹'𝓋ℯ 𝒹ℴ𝓃ℯ. 𝒩ℴ𝓉 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝒽ℯ𝓇 𝓉𝒽ℴ𝓊ℊ𝒽. ℐ ℊℴ𝓉 𝒶 ℊℴℴ𝒹 𝓉ℯ𝒶𝓂 𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ. 𝒮ℴ𝓂ℯ𝓉𝒾𝓂ℯ𝓈 ℐ 𝒻ℯℯ𝓁 𝓁𝒾𝓀ℯ ℐ'𝓂 𝓉𝒽ℯ ℴ𝓃ℯ 𝒷ℯ𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓁𝒾𝒶𝒷𝒾𝓁𝒾𝓉𝓎. ℐ 𝓀𝓃ℴ𝓌- 𝒻𝓊𝓃𝓃𝓎, 𝓇𝒾ℊ𝒽𝓉? ℳ𝓎 𝒲𝒶𝓇𝓁ℴ𝒸𝓀 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓂𝓎 𝒯𝒾𝓉𝒶𝓃 𝒹ℴ𝓃'𝓉 𝒹𝓇ℯ𝓈𝓈 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓅𝒶𝓇𝓉 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒽ℯ𝓁𝓁, 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓎 𝒶𝓇ℯ𝓃'𝓉 ℯ𝓋ℯ𝓃 𝒢𝓊𝒶𝓇𝒹𝒾𝒶𝓃𝓈 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓎'𝓁𝓁 𝓈𝓉𝒾𝒸𝓀 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝒾𝓇 𝓃ℯ𝒸𝓀𝓈 ℴ𝓊𝓉 𝒻ℴ𝓇 𝓂ℯ ℯ𝓋ℯ𝓃 𝓈ℴ. 𝒮𝓉𝒶𝓇𝓀 𝒷𝓊𝓈𝓉ℯ𝒹 𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒶𝓇𝓂 𝓈𝒶𝓋𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓂𝒾𝓃ℯ. ℳ𝓎 𝓃ℯ𝒸𝓀, 𝓃ℴ𝓉 𝒶𝓇𝓂. 𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒻𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝒹𝒾𝒹 𝒶 𝓃𝓊𝓂𝒷ℯ𝓇 ℴ𝓃 𝓂ℯ 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝓃ℴ𝓉 𝒶𝓈 𝒷𝒶𝒹 𝒶𝓈 𝒾𝓉 𝒸ℴ𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒽𝒶𝓋ℯ 𝒷ℯℯ𝓃. 𝒪𝒽 𝓎ℯ𝒶𝒽, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓃 𝒥ℴ𝓃 𝒶𝓁𝓂ℴ𝓈𝓉 𝓈𝒽ℴ𝓉 𝓂ℯ 𝒶ℊ𝒶𝒾𝓃. ℐ𝓃 𝓉𝒽ℯ ℯ𝓃𝒹 𝒾𝓉 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓉ℴ𝓌ℯ𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒽𝒶𝒹 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓁𝒶𝓈𝓉 𝓁𝒶𝓊ℊ𝒽.

𝒲ℯ 𝒻ℴ𝓊𝓃𝒹 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯ 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ𝓈 ℴ𝓊𝓉. ℋ𝒾𝒹𝒹ℯ𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ𝓈. 𝒮𝓉𝒾𝓁𝓁 ℊℴ𝓉 𝓃ℴ 𝓇ℯ𝒶𝓁 𝒾𝒹ℯ𝒶 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓌ℯ 𝒸𝒶𝓂ℯ 𝒶𝒸𝓇ℴ𝓈𝓈, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝒾𝓉'𝓈 ℊℴ𝓉𝓉𝒶 𝒷ℯ 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯ𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒷𝒾ℊ. 𝒜𝓈 𝓂𝓊𝒸𝒽 𝒶𝓈 ℐ'𝒹 𝓁ℴ𝓋ℯ 𝓉ℴ 𝒷𝓁ℴ𝓌 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓌𝒽ℴ𝓁ℯ 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ, 𝒥ℴ𝓃'𝓈 ℊℴ𝓉 𝒶 𝓅ℴ𝒾𝓃𝓉 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓌ℯ 𝓈𝒽ℴ𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒻𝒾ℊ𝓊𝓇ℯ ℴ𝓊𝓉 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒾𝓉𝓈 𝓅𝓊𝓇𝓅ℴ𝓈ℯ 𝒾𝓈. ℋℴ𝓅ℯ 𝓉𝒽ℴ𝓈ℯ 𝒷𝓊𝓉𝓉ℴ𝓃𝓈 ℐ 𝓅𝓊𝓈𝒽ℯ𝒹 𝒹ℴ𝓃'𝓉 𝓈ℯ𝓉 ℴ𝒻𝒻 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯ𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒷𝒶𝒹 𝒻ℴ𝓇 𝓊𝓈.

[deal_me_in]

Hey Ace, you know that blinky light thing I told you about? I did tell you about that, didn't I? Well anyway, I always see it from the clocktower but with us all finally getting some time to settle some, I rounded up the usual suspects so we could check the place out. Some good old recon with a fireteam. Fun stuff.

Well, not all fun. Things got weird once we got closer. Started seeing things, hearing things. I'm telling you, if Sundance weren't there, I don't know what I would've done. Not just her though. I got a good team here. Sometimes I feel like I'm the one being the liability. I know- funny, right? My Warlock and my Titan don't dress the part and hell, they aren't even Guardians but they'll stick their necks out for me even so. Stark busted his arm saving mine. My neck, not arm. That fall did a number on me but not as bad as it could have been. Oh yeah, and then Jon almost shot me again. In the end it was the tower that had the last laugh.

We found some things out. Hidden things. Still got no real idea what we came across, but it's gotta be something big. As much as I'd love to blow the whole thing, Jon's got a point in that we should figure out what its purpose is. Hope those buttons I pushed don't set off something bad for us.

1224

[deal_me_in]

ℋℯ𝓎 𝒮𝓉𝒶𝓇𝓀-

𝒴ℯ𝒶𝒽, 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 ℴ𝓃ℯ'𝓈 𝒻ℴ𝓇 𝓎ℴ𝓊. 𝒴ℴ𝓊'𝓇ℯ 𝓉𝒽ℯ ℴ𝓃𝓁𝓎 ℴ𝓃ℯ ℐ'𝓋ℯ 𝓅𝓇ℴ𝓋𝒾𝒹ℯ𝒹 𝒶𝓃 𝒶𝒸𝓉𝓊𝒶𝓁 𝓂𝒶𝓅. 𝒪𝒻 𝒸ℴ𝓊𝓇𝓈ℯ, ℐ 𝒹ℴ𝓊𝒷𝓉 ℐ'𝓁𝓁 𝓇ℯ𝓂ℯ𝓂𝒷ℯ𝓇 𝓌𝒽𝒾𝒸𝒽 𝓈𝓅ℴ𝓉 ℐ 𝒶𝒸𝓉𝓊𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎 𝒽𝒾𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 ℴ𝓃ℯ 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽, 𝓈ℴ 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓂𝒾ℊ𝒽𝓉 𝒷ℯ 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝒻𝒾𝓇𝓈𝓉 ℴ𝓇 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓂𝒾𝒹𝒹𝓁ℯ ℴ𝓇 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓁𝒶𝓈𝓉. 𝒪𝓇 𝓂𝒶𝓎𝒷ℯ 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯℴ𝓃ℯ ℯ𝓁𝓈ℯ ℊℴ𝓉 𝓉ℴ 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 ℴ𝓃ℯ 𝒻𝒾𝓇𝓈𝓉. 𝒯ℴ𝓂𝓂𝓎? 𝒲ℴ𝓊𝓁𝒹𝓃'𝓉 𝒷ℯ 𝓈𝓊𝓇𝓅𝓇𝒾𝓈ℯ𝒹 𝒾𝒻 𝒾𝓉 𝓌ℯ𝓇ℯ 𝓎ℴ𝓊. ℐ𝒻 𝓎ℴ𝓊 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒻𝒾𝓇𝓈𝓉 𝓎ℴ𝓊 𝓅𝓊𝓉 𝒾𝓉 𝒷𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝓇𝒾ℊ𝒽𝓉 𝓌𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ 𝓎ℴ𝓊 𝒻ℴ𝓊𝓃𝒹 𝒾𝓉. 𝒜𝓁𝓈ℴ 𝓈𝓉ℴ𝓅 𝓇ℯ𝒶𝒹𝒾𝓃ℊ. ℐ 𝓂ℯ𝒶𝓃 𝒾𝓉!

𝒮ℴ ℐ 𝓉𝒽ℴ𝓊ℊ𝒽𝓉 𝓁ℴ𝓃ℊ 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒽𝒶𝓇𝒹 𝒶𝒷ℴ𝓊𝓉 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓈ℴ𝓇𝓉 ℴ𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓎ℴ𝓊'𝒹 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝓉. 𝒮𝒽ℴ𝓇𝓉 ℴ𝒻 𝓉𝒶𝓀𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓂ℯ 𝒶𝓅𝒶𝓇𝓉, ℴ𝒻 𝒸ℴ𝓊𝓇𝓈ℯ, 𝒷ℯ𝒸𝒶𝓊𝓈ℯ ℴ𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓇𝓌𝒾𝓈ℯ 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓆𝓊ℯ𝓈𝓉𝒾ℴ𝓃'𝓈 𝒶 𝓃ℴ-𝒷𝓇𝒶𝒾𝓃ℯ𝓇. 𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓉'𝓈 𝓈𝓉𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒶 𝒷𝒾ℊ '𝓃ℴ' 𝒷𝓎 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓌𝒶𝓎. 𝒯𝓇𝓊𝓉𝒽 𝒾𝓈, ℐ 𝒹ℴ𝓃'𝓉 𝓀𝓃ℴ𝓌 𝒽ℴ𝓌 𝓌ℯ𝓁𝓁 𝒮𝓊𝓃𝒹𝒶𝓃𝒸ℯ 𝓂𝒾ℊ𝒽𝓉 𝒷ℯ 𝒶𝒷𝓁ℯ 𝓉ℴ 𝓀ℯℯ𝓅 𝓅𝓊𝓉𝓉𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓂ℯ 𝒷𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝓉ℴℊℯ𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓇. ℒ𝒾ℊ𝒽𝓉'𝓈 𝓈𝓉𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝓂𝒶𝓎𝒷ℯ 𝒶 𝓆𝓊𝒾𝒸𝓀 𝒻𝒾𝓍 𝒾𝓈 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝓈𝒽ℯ 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝓂𝒶𝓃𝒶ℊℯ. 𝒜𝓃𝓎𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓂𝒶𝒿ℴ𝓇, ℴ𝓇 𝒽ℯ𝓎, 𝒾𝒻 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓅ℴ𝓌ℯ𝓇 𝒸𝓊𝓉𝓈 ℴ𝓊𝓉 𝒶ℊ𝒶𝒾𝓃? 𝒲𝒽ℴ 𝓀𝓃ℴ𝓌𝓈. 𝒞𝒶𝓃'𝓉 𝓈𝒶𝓎 𝒾𝓉'𝓁𝓁 𝓇ℯ𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎 𝓀ℯℯ𝓅 𝓂ℯ 𝒻𝓇ℴ𝓂 𝒹ℴ𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 ℐ 𝒹ℴ. ℐ'𝓁𝓁 𝓉𝒶𝓀ℯ 𝒶 𝒷𝓊𝓁𝓁ℯ𝓉 𝒻ℴ𝓇 𝓎ℴ𝓊 ℴ𝓇 𝒥ℴ𝓃 𝒶𝓃𝓎 𝓉𝒾𝓂ℯ, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉'𝓈 𝓃ℴ𝓉 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝒷ℯ𝒸𝒶𝓊𝓈ℯ ℐ 𝒻𝒾ℊ𝓊𝓇ℯ ℐ 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝒽𝒶𝓃𝒹𝓁ℯ 𝒾𝓉 𝒷ℯ𝓈𝓉. ℐ'𝓂 𝒷𝒶𝒹 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓁ℴ𝓈𝓈ℯ𝓈. 𝒴ℴ𝓊 𝓀𝓃ℴ𝓌 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉? ℐ𝓉'𝓈 𝓃ℴ𝓉 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯ𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ ℐ 𝒹ℯ𝒶𝓁 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓌ℯ𝓁𝓁. 𝒜𝒻𝓉ℯ𝓇 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓎ℴ𝓊 𝒹𝒾𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 ℴ𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓇 𝒹𝒶𝓎, 𝒷𝓇ℯ𝒶𝓀𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓂𝓎 𝒻𝒶𝓁𝓁, 𝒷𝓊𝓈𝓉𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓎ℴ𝓊𝓇 𝒶𝓇𝓂- ℒℴℴ𝓀, ℐ 𝒶𝓁𝓇ℯ𝒶𝒹𝓎 𝓌𝒶𝓉𝒸𝒽ℯ𝒹 𝒥ℴ𝓃 ℊℯ𝓉 𝓈𝓅𝒶𝓉 𝒶𝓉 𝓉ℴ 𝒶𝒷𝓈ℴ𝓁𝓊𝓉ℯ 𝒹ℯ𝓁𝒾𝓇𝒾𝓊𝓂 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒾𝓉'𝓈 𝒶 𝓌ℴ𝓃𝒹ℯ𝓇 𝒽ℯ 𝒹𝒾𝒹𝓃'𝓉 ℊℯ𝓉 𝓈𝒽ℴ𝓉 𝒷𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ ℴ𝓃 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝒜ℊ𝓇𝒾𝒾 𝓈𝒽𝒾𝓅.

𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓉'𝓈 𝓃ℴ𝓉 𝓇ℯ𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎 𝓂𝓊𝒸𝒽 ℴ𝒻 𝒶𝓃 ℯ𝓍𝓅𝓁𝒶𝓃𝒶𝓉𝒾ℴ𝓃 𝒶𝒻𝓉ℯ𝓇 ℐ 𝓇ℯ𝒶𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝒾𝓉'𝓈 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝒷ℯ𝓈𝓉 ℐ'𝓋ℯ ℊℴ𝓉. 𝒮ℴ 𝓂𝒶𝓎𝒷ℯ 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓈ℯ 𝒶𝓇ℯ 𝓁ℴ𝓊𝓈𝓎 𝒟𝒶𝓌𝓃𝒾𝓃ℊ ℊ𝒾𝒻𝓉𝓈. "ℋℯ𝓎 𝒞𝒶𝓎𝒹ℯ, 𝓌𝒽𝓎'𝓇ℯ 𝓎ℴ𝓊 ℊ𝒾𝓋𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓂ℯ 𝓎ℴ𝓊𝓇 𝓈ℯ𝓃𝓉𝒾𝓂ℯ𝓃𝓉𝒶𝓁 𝓁ℯ𝓉𝓉ℯ𝓇𝓈 𝓉ℴ 𝓎ℴ𝓊𝓇 𝓅ℴ𝓈𝓈𝒾𝒷𝓁𝓎 𝒾𝓂𝒶ℊ𝒾𝓃𝒶𝓇𝓎 𝓈ℴ𝓃?" 𝒯𝒽ℯ𝓎'𝓇ℯ 𝓂ℯ𝓂ℴ𝓇𝒾ℯ𝓈. ℐ 𝒹ℴ𝓃'𝓉 𝓀𝓃ℴ𝓌 𝒽ℴ𝓌 𝓁ℴ𝓃ℊ 𝓌ℯ'𝓁𝓁 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝒷ℯ 𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ, ℴ𝓇 𝓌𝒽ℯ𝓃 𝓌𝒽ℴℯ𝓋ℯ𝓇'𝓈 𝒷ℯℯ𝓃 𝓂ℯ𝓈𝓈𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒶𝓇ℴ𝓊𝓃𝒹 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓊𝓈 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒹ℯ𝒸𝒾𝒹ℯ 𝓉ℴ 𝓉ℴ𝓈𝓈 𝓊𝓈 𝒷𝒶𝒸𝓀. ℐ 𝒹ℴ𝓃'𝓉 𝓀𝓃ℴ𝓌 𝒾𝒻 𝓌ℯ'𝓁𝓁 𝓇ℯ𝓂ℯ𝓂𝒷ℯ𝓇 𝒶𝓃𝓎 ℴ𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈. 𝒯𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒶𝒷ℴ𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓀𝒾𝓃𝒹 ℴ𝒻 𝒽𝓊𝓇𝓉𝓈 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓂ℴ𝓈𝓉, 𝓈ℴ ℐ 𝒹ℴ𝓃'𝓉. 𝒮ℴ ℐ 𝒻𝒾ℊ𝓊𝓇ℯ 𝒶𝓉 𝓁ℯ𝒶𝓈𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓌𝒶𝓎 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓎'𝓁𝓁 𝒷ℯ 𝒶𝓇ℴ𝓊𝓃𝒹 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯ𝓌𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ, 𝒻ℴ𝓇 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯℴ𝓃ℯ.

ℐ𝓃 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓂ℯ𝒶𝓃𝓉𝒾𝓂ℯ, 𝓌ℯ 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝓈𝓉𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒽𝒶𝓋ℯ ℴ𝓊𝓇 𝒻𝓊𝓃.

𝒞𝒶𝓎𝒹ℯ, ℴ𝓊𝓉. ♤

[deal_me_in]

Hey Stark-

Yeah, this one's for you. You're the only one I've provided an actual map. Of course, I doubt I'll remember which spot I actually hid this one with, so this might be the first or the middle or the last. Or maybe someone else got to this one first. Tommy? Wouldn't be surprised if it were you. If you find this first you put it back right where you found it. Also stop reading. I mean it!

So I thought long and hard about what sort of thing you'd want. Short of taking me apart, of course, because otherwise that question's a no-brainer. That's still a big 'no' by the way. Truth is, I don't know how well Sundance might be able to keep putting me back together. Light's still there, but maybe a quick fix is all she can manage. Anything major, or hey, if the power cuts out again? Who knows. Can't say it'll really keep me from doing what I do. I'll take a bullet for you or Jon any time, and that's not just because I figure I can handle it best. I'm bad with losses. You know that? It's not something I deal with well. After what you did that other day, breaking my fall, busting your arm- Look, I already watched Jon get spat at to absolute delirium and it's a wonder he didn't get shot back there on the Agrii ship.

That's not really much of an explanation after I read this, but it's the best I've got. So maybe these are lousy Dawning gifts. "Hey Cayde, why're you giving me your sentimental letters to your possibly imaginary son?" They're memories. I don't know how long we'll all be here, or when whoever's been messing around with us will decide to toss us back. I don't know if we'll remember any of this. Thinking about that kind of hurts the most, so I don't. So I figure at least this way they'll be around somewhere, for someone.

In the meantime, we can still have our fun.

Cayde, out. ♤

0124

[deal_me_in]

𝒟ℯ𝒶𝓇 𝒜𝒸ℯ,

ℐ 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀 𝓌ℯ 𝓈𝒸𝓇ℯ𝓌ℯ𝒹 𝓊𝓅 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯ𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒶ℊ𝒶𝒾𝓃.

𝒟ℴ𝓃'𝓉 𝓌ℴ𝓇𝓇𝓎, 𝓎ℴ𝓊𝓇 ℴ𝓁𝒹 𝓂𝒶𝓃'𝓈 𝓌ℴ𝓇𝓀𝒾𝓃ℊ ℴ𝓃 𝒾𝓉. 𝒫𝓇ℴ𝓋𝒾𝒹ℯ𝒹 𝓌ℯ 𝒹ℴ𝓃'𝓉 ℊℯ𝓉 ℴ𝓋ℯ𝓇𝓇𝓊𝓃 𝒷𝓎 ℊ𝒾𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝓈𝓅𝒾𝒹ℯ𝓇𝓈. 𝒲𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒾𝓈 𝒾𝓉 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓅𝓁𝒶𝒸ℯ 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓈𝓉𝓊𝓅𝒾𝒹𝓁𝓎 𝒽𝓊ℊℯ 𝒷𝓊ℊ𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝓎𝓌𝒶𝓎? ℳ𝒶𝓀ℯ𝓈 𝒶 ℊ𝓊𝓎 𝒶𝓁𝓂ℴ𝓈𝓉 𝓂𝒾𝓈𝓈 𝓉𝒽ℯ ℋ𝒾𝓋ℯ. 𝒜𝓁𝓂ℴ𝓈𝓉.

[deal_me_in]

Dear Ace,

I think we screwed up something again.

Don't worry, your old man's working on it. Provided we don't get overrun by giant spiders. What is it with this place and stupidly huge bugs anyway? Makes a guy almost miss the Hive. Almost.

0210

[deal_me_in]

𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓁𝒾ℊ𝒽𝓉'𝓈 𝒷𝒶𝒸𝓀. ℬ𝓊𝓉 ℐ ℊ𝓊ℯ𝓈𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒹ℴ𝓃'𝓉 𝓂𝒶𝓀ℯ 𝓈ℯ𝓃𝓈ℯ 𝓊𝓃𝓁ℯ𝓈𝓈 𝓎ℴ𝓊 𝓌ℯ𝓇ℯ 𝒶𝓌𝒶𝓇ℯ 𝒾𝓉 𝓌ℯ𝓃𝓉 ℴ𝓊𝓉 𝓉ℴ 𝒷ℯℊ𝒾𝓃 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽. 𝒲ℯ𝓁𝓁 𝓁ℯ𝓉 𝓂ℯ 𝒸𝒶𝓉𝒸𝒽 𝓎ℴ𝓊 𝓊𝓅.

𝒥ℴ𝓃, 𝒮𝓉𝒶𝓇𝓀 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓂ℯ, 𝓌ℯ 𝒻𝒾ℊ𝓊𝓇ℯ𝒹 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯ𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝓊𝓅 𝒶𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓉ℴ𝓌ℯ𝓇 𝓌ℯ 𝒻ℴ𝓊𝓃𝒹. 𝒯𝒽ℯ 𝓈ℴ𝓊𝓇𝒸ℯ ℴ𝒻 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝒸𝒶𝓊𝓈𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒸𝓇𝒾𝓉𝓉ℯ𝓇𝓈 𝓉ℴ ℊℴ 𝓃𝓊𝓉𝓈. 𝒮ℯℯ𝓂𝓈 𝒾𝓉 𝓈ℯ𝓇𝓋ℯ𝒹 𝒾𝓉𝓈 𝓅𝓊𝓇𝓅ℴ𝓈ℯ, 𝒷ℯ𝒸𝒶𝓊𝓈ℯ 𝒾𝓉 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝓈𝒽𝓊𝓉 𝒹ℴ𝓌𝓃 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓉ℴ𝓊𝒸𝒽 ℴ𝒻 𝒶 𝒷𝓊𝓉𝓉ℴ𝓃, ℯ𝒶𝓈𝓎 𝒶𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉. 𝒯𝒽ℯ 𝒸ℴ𝓃𝓉𝓇ℴ𝓁 𝒸ℯ𝓃𝓉ℯ𝓇, 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓉ℴ𝓌ℯ𝓇- 𝒾𝓉'𝓈 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝒹ℯ𝒶𝒹. 𝒯𝒽ℯ ℴ𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓇 𝒻ℴ𝓁𝓀𝓈 𝓉ℴℴ𝓀 𝒸𝒶𝓇ℯ ℴ𝒻 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓈𝓅𝒾𝒹ℯ𝓇𝓈 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓂ℯ𝒶𝓃𝓉𝒾𝓂ℯ. ℐ'𝓂 𝒽ℯ𝒶𝓇𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉'𝓈 𝒶 𝓌𝒽ℴ𝓁ℯ 𝒹𝒾𝒻𝒻ℯ𝓇ℯ𝓃𝓉 𝓂ℯ𝓈𝓈 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝒶𝓉 𝓁ℯ𝒶𝓈𝓉 𝓌ℯ'𝓋ℯ 𝒸𝓊𝓉 𝒹ℴ𝓌𝓃 ℴ𝓃 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝒹 𝓃𝒾ℊ𝒽𝓉𝓁𝓎 𝓅𝒶𝓇𝓉𝒾ℯ𝓈 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓉ℴℴ 𝓂𝒶𝓃𝓎 𝓁ℯℊ𝓈. ℐ'𝓂 𝓈𝓊𝓇ℯ 𝒮𝓉𝒶𝓇𝓀 𝓌ℴ𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒽𝒶𝓋ℯ 𝒶 𝓇ℯ𝒿ℴ𝒾𝓃𝒹ℯ𝓇 𝒻ℴ𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉.

𝒮ℴ 𝓎ℯ𝒶𝒽. ℒℴ 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒷ℯ𝒽ℴ𝓁𝒹, ℴ𝒻𝒻 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽ℯ ℴ𝓅𝓅ℴ𝓈𝒾𝓉ℯ 𝒹𝒾𝓇ℯ𝒸𝓉𝒾ℴ𝓃 ℐ 𝓈ℯℯ 𝒾𝓉, 𝒶𝓃ℴ𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓇 𝓁𝒾ℊ𝒽𝓉, 𝒷𝓁𝒾𝓃𝓀𝒾𝓃ℊ ℴ𝒻𝒻 𝒾𝓃 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯ 𝓊𝓃𝓀𝓃ℴ𝓌𝓃 𝒹𝒾𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓃𝒸ℯ, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 ℯ𝓋ℯ𝓃 𝒯ℴ𝓂𝓂𝓎 𝒸𝒶𝓃'𝓉 𝓇ℯ𝒶𝒸𝒽 𝒾𝓉. ℐ 𝒻ℯℯ𝓁 𝓁𝒾𝓀ℯ 𝒾𝓉'𝓈 ℴ𝓃ℯ 𝒷𝒾ℊ 𝓉𝒶𝓊𝓃𝓉. "𝒮ℴ 𝓎ℴ𝓊 𝓉𝒽ℴ𝓊ℊ𝒽𝓉 𝓎ℴ𝓊 𝓌ℯ𝓇ℯ 𝒸𝓁ℯ𝓋ℯ𝓇 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 ℴ𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓇 ℴ𝓃ℯ, 𝒽𝓊𝒽? 𝒲ℯ𝓁𝓁, 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉'𝓇ℯ 𝓎ℴ𝓊 ℊℴ𝓃𝓃𝒶 𝒹ℴ 𝓃ℴ𝓌?"

ℐ 𝓌ℴ𝓃𝒹ℯ𝓇 𝒽ℴ𝓌 𝓅ℴ𝓈𝓈𝒾𝒷𝓁ℯ 𝒾𝓉 𝓌ℴ𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒷ℯ 𝓉ℴ 𝒷𝓊𝒾𝓁𝒹 𝒶 ℊ𝒾𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝓇ℴ𝒸𝓀ℯ𝓉 𝓁𝒶𝓊𝓃𝒸𝒽ℯ𝓇...

[deal_me_in]

That light's back. But I guess that don't make sense unless you were aware it went out to begin with. Well let me catch you up.

Jon, Stark and me, we figured something was up at that tower we found. The source of what was causing critters to go nuts. Seems it served its purpose, because it was all shut down with just the touch of a button, easy as that. The control center, the tower- it's all dead. The other folks took care of the spiders in the meantime. I'm hearing that's a whole different mess but at least we've cut down on the wild nightly parties with too many legs. I'm sure Stark would have a rejoinder for that.

So yeah. Lo and behold, off in the opposite direction I see it, another light, blinking off in some unknown distance, and even Tommy can't reach it. I feel like it's one big taunt. "So you thought you were clever with that other one, huh? Well, what're you gonna do now?"

I wonder how possible it would be to build a giant rocket launcher...

0214

[deal_me_in]

[Flecks of pink and red glitter stick to the page here and there.]

ℬℯℯ𝓃 ℊℯ𝓉𝓉𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒶 𝓁ℴ𝓉 ℴ𝒻 𝓃ℯ𝓌 𝒻𝒶𝒸ℯ𝓈 𝒶𝓇ℴ𝓊𝓃𝒹 𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ, 𝒜𝒸ℯ. 𝒩ℴ𝓉 𝓈𝓊𝓇ℯ 𝒾𝒻 𝒾𝓉 𝓂ℯ𝒶𝓃𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝓎𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝒾𝓉 𝓂𝒶𝓀ℯ𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 ℴ𝓁𝒹 ℯ𝓂𝓅𝓉𝓎 𝒸𝒾𝓉𝓎 𝓁𝒾𝓋ℯ𝓁𝒾ℯ𝓇. ℳ𝓎 𝒷𝒶𝓇'𝓈 𝒷ℯℯ𝓃 𝒶 𝒽𝒾𝓉. 𝒯𝒽ℯ𝓃 𝒶ℊ𝒶𝒾𝓃, 𝓈ℴ'𝓈 𝓂𝓎 𝒸𝓁ℴ𝒸𝓀 𝓉ℴ𝓌ℯ𝓇. ℳ𝒶𝓎𝒷ℯ ℐ 𝓈𝒽ℴ𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓇𝓉 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓇ℊ𝒾𝓃ℊ, ℐ 𝓂ℯ𝒶𝓃, 𝒾𝓉 𝒹ℴℯ𝓈 𝒽𝒶𝓋ℯ 𝒶 𝓃𝒾𝒸ℯ 𝓋𝒾ℯ𝓌.

𝒲ℯ 𝒽𝒶𝒹 𝒶 𝓌ℯ𝒾𝓇𝒹 ℊ𝓁𝒾𝓉𝓉ℯ𝓇 𝓈𝓉ℴ𝓇𝓂- 𝓃ℴ𝓉 ℊ𝓁𝒾𝓂𝓂ℯ𝓇, 𝓂𝒾𝓃𝒹, ℴ𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓇𝓌𝒾𝓈ℯ ℐ 𝓌ℴ𝓊𝓁𝒹𝓃'𝓉 𝒸ℴ𝓂𝓅𝓁𝒶𝒾𝓃, 𝓌ℯ𝓁𝓁, ℯ𝓍𝒸ℯ𝓅𝓉𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝒻𝒶𝒸𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ'𝒹 𝒷ℯ 𝓃ℴ𝓌𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ 𝓉ℴ 𝓈𝓅ℯ𝓃𝒹 𝒾𝓉 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝒶𝓇ℴ𝓊𝓃𝒹 𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ. ℐ'𝓂 𝓈𝓊𝓇ℯ ℐ'𝓋ℯ 𝓈𝓉𝒾𝓁𝓁 ℊℴ𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒷𝓁𝒶𝓈𝓉ℯ𝒹 𝓈𝓉𝓊𝒻𝒻 𝓈𝓉𝓊𝒸𝓀 𝒾𝓃 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝓈ℴ𝓇𝓉𝓈 ℴ𝒻 𝓅𝓁𝒶𝒸ℯ𝓈. 𝒞𝒶𝓃 𝓎ℴ𝓊 𝒷ℯ𝓁𝒾ℯ𝓋ℯ 𝒾𝓉'𝓈 ℯ𝓋ℯ𝓃 -𝒾𝓃𝓈𝒾𝒹ℯ- 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝒷𝒶𝓇? ℐ 𝓉𝓇𝒾ℯ𝒹 𝓈𝓌ℯℯ𝓅𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓊𝓅, ℐ'𝓋ℯ ℊℴ𝓉 𝓅𝒾𝓁ℯ𝓈 ℴ𝒻 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓈𝓉𝓊𝒻𝒻 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓃ℴ 𝒾𝒹ℯ𝒶 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓉ℴ 𝒹ℴ 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒾𝓉. 𝒜𝓉 𝓁ℯ𝒶𝓈𝓉 𝒾𝓉 𝒽𝒶𝓈𝓃'𝓉 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁ℯ𝒹 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝒻𝒾𝓈𝒽-𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ𝓈 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓅ℴℴ𝓁 ℴ𝓊𝓉𝓈𝒾𝒹ℯ. 𝒟ℴ𝓃'𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀 𝒶𝓃𝓎ℴ𝓃ℯ 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝓉𝓈 𝓉ℴ 𝓈ℯℯ 𝒻𝓁ℴ𝒶𝓉𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒸𝒶𝓇𝒸𝒶𝓈𝓈ℯ𝓈 ℴ𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓌𝒾𝓃𝒹ℴ𝓌.

[deal_me_in]

[Flecks of pink and red glitter stick to the page here and there.]

Been getting a lot of new faces around here, Ace. Not sure if it means anything, but it makes this old empty city livelier. My bar's been a hit. Then again, so's my clock tower. Maybe I should start charging, I mean, it does have a nice view.

We had a weird glitter storm- not glimmer, mind, otherwise I wouldn't complain, well, excepting the fact that there'd be nowhere to spend it all around here. I'm sure I've still got this blasted stuff stuck in all sorts of places. Can you believe it's even -inside- the bar? I tried sweeping up, I've got piles of the stuff and no idea what to do with it. At least it hasn't killed the fish-things in the pool outside. Don't think anyone wants to see floating carcasses out the window.

0216

[deal_me_in]

𝒮𝓉𝒶𝓇𝓀 𝒷𝓊𝒾𝓁𝓉 𝒶 𝓈𝓅𝒶𝓇𝓇ℴ𝓌. 𝒮𝓅ℯℯ𝒹ℯ𝓇, ℯ𝓋ℯ𝓇𝓎ℴ𝓃ℯ ℯ𝓁𝓈ℯ 𝒸𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓈 𝒾𝓉, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝒽ℯ𝓎, 𝓉ℴ𝓂𝒶𝓎𝓉ℴ 𝓉ℴ𝓂𝒶𝒽𝓉ℴ. 𝒜𝓈𝒾𝒹ℯ 𝒻𝓇ℴ𝓂 𝓉𝒽ℯ ℊ𝓁𝒾𝓉𝓉ℯ𝓇𝓎 𝒸ℴ𝓁ℴ𝓇𝓈𝒸𝒽ℯ𝓂ℯ, 𝒾𝓉 𝓌𝒶𝓈𝓃'𝓉 𝒶 𝒷𝒶𝒹 𝓁ℴℴ𝓀𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓇𝒾𝒹ℯ. 𝒯𝒽ℯ 𝓈𝓅ℯℯ𝒹𝓎 𝓀𝒾𝒹 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝓉ℯ𝒹 𝓉ℴ 𝓇𝒶𝒸ℯ 𝒾𝓉, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝒮𝓉𝒶𝓇𝓀 𝒶𝓃𝒹 ℐ 𝓀𝓃ℯ𝓌 𝒷ℯ𝓉𝓉ℯ𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓃 𝓉ℴ 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝓉𝒶𝓀ℯ 𝒾𝓉 𝒹ℴ𝓌𝓃 𝒶 𝓈𝓉𝓇𝒶𝒾ℊ𝒽𝓉 𝓅𝒶𝓉𝒽 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯ 𝒽ℴ𝓉𝓈𝒽ℴ𝓉 𝓌𝒽ℴ'𝓈 𝒻𝒶𝓈𝓉 ℴ𝓃 𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒻ℯℯ𝓉. ℐ'𝓂 𝓃ℴ 𝒹𝒶𝓇ℯ𝒹ℯ𝓋𝒾𝓁 𝓁𝒾𝓀ℯ ℳ𝒶𝓇𝒸𝓊𝓈 ℛℯ𝓃 𝓌𝒽ℯ𝓃 𝒾𝓉 𝒸ℴ𝓂ℯ𝓈 𝓉ℴ 𝓈𝓅𝒶𝓇𝓇ℴ𝓌 𝓇𝒶𝒸𝒾𝓃ℊ, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 ℐ 𝓀𝓃ℴ𝓌 𝓂𝓎 𝓌𝒶𝓎 𝒶𝓇ℴ𝓊𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓈ℯ 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ𝓈. 𝒮ℴ ℐ 𝓉𝒽ℴ𝓊ℊ𝒽𝓉.

𝒪𝓀𝒶𝓎, ℐ ℊℴ𝓉 𝒸ℴ𝒸𝓀𝓎, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 ℐ 𝒹ℴ𝓃'𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀 ℐ 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝓉𝒶𝓀ℯ 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝒷𝓁𝒶𝓂ℯ 𝒶𝓃𝒹 ℐ 𝒹ℴ𝓃'𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀 𝒮𝓉𝒶𝓇𝓀'𝓈 𝒶𝓉 𝒻𝒶𝓊𝓁𝓉 ℯ𝒾𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓇. ℱ𝓇ℯ𝒶𝓀 𝒶𝒸𝒸𝒾𝒹ℯ𝓃𝓉? 𝒫ℴ𝓈𝓈𝒾𝒷𝓁𝓎. ℳ𝒶𝓎𝒷ℯ 𝒾𝓉 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝓉𝒽ℯ ℊ𝓁𝒾𝓉𝓉ℯ𝓇. ℋ𝒶𝓇𝒹 𝓉ℴ 𝓉ℯ𝓁𝓁 𝓃ℴ𝓌. 𝒜𝓁𝓁 𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓅ℯ𝓃ℯ𝒹 𝓉ℴℴ 𝒻𝒶𝓈𝓉. 𝒮ℴ𝓂ℯ𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓈ℴ𝓊𝓃𝒹ℯ𝒹 ℴ𝒻𝒻. 𝒮𝓊𝓃𝒹𝒶𝓃𝒸ℯ 𝒸𝒶𝓊ℊ𝒽𝓉 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯ 𝓌ℯ𝒾𝓇𝒹 𝓅ℴ𝓌ℯ𝓇 𝒻𝓁𝓊𝓍. 𝒩ℯ𝓍𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ ℐ 𝓀𝓃ℴ𝓌, ℐ'𝓂 𝒽𝓊𝓇𝓉𝓁𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓉ℴ𝓌𝒶𝓇𝒹𝓈 ℴ𝓃ℯ ℴ𝒻 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝒽𝒶𝓃ℊ𝒶𝓇𝒷ℴ𝓊𝓃𝒹 𝓈𝒽𝒾𝓅𝓈, 𝓂𝒶𝓈𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝒷𝓇𝒶𝓀ℯ𝓈 𝓁𝒾𝓀ℯ 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ'𝓈 𝓃ℴ 𝓉ℴ𝓂ℴ𝓇𝓇ℴ𝓌. 𝒯𝒽ℯ 𝓇ℴ𝓊ℊ𝒽 𝓁𝒶𝓃𝒹𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓂𝒾ℊ𝒽𝓉'𝓋ℯ 𝒹𝒶𝓂𝒶ℊℯ𝒹 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓂, ℐ 𝒹ℴ𝓃'𝓉 𝓀𝓃ℴ𝓌. ℐ 𝓇ℯ𝓂ℯ𝓂𝒷ℯ𝓇 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓃ℴ𝒾𝓈ℯ 𝒶𝓈 ℐ 𝓉𝓇𝒾ℯ𝒹 𝓅𝓊𝓁𝓁𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒽ℯ𝓇 𝓊𝓅𝓌𝒶𝓇𝒹𝓈 𝒾𝓃 𝒽ℴ𝓅ℯ𝓈 𝒾𝓉 𝓌ℴ𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝓈𝒽𝒶𝓋ℯ ℴ𝒻𝒻 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓈𝓅ℯℯ𝒹. 𝒩ℴ 𝒹𝒾𝒸ℯ.

𝒯𝒽ℯ𝓃 𝓈𝓊𝒹𝒹ℯ𝓃𝓁𝓎 ℐ 𝓌𝒶𝓈𝓃'𝓉 𝒹𝓇𝒾𝓋𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒶𝓃𝓎𝓂ℴ𝓇ℯ 𝒷ℯ𝒸𝒶𝓊𝓈ℯ ℐ 𝓌𝒶𝓈𝓃'𝓉 ℴ𝓃 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓈𝓅ℯℯ𝒹ℯ𝓇, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝒶𝒾𝓇 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒯ℴ𝓂𝓂𝓎 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓌ℯ'𝓇ℯ 𝓈𝓉𝒾𝓁𝓁 ℊℴ𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓉ℴℴ 𝒻𝒶𝓈𝓉. ℋℯ 𝒽𝒾𝓉𝓈 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝒻𝓁ℴℴ𝓇 𝒻𝒾𝓇𝓈𝓉, ℐ 𝓇ℴ𝓁𝓁 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒽𝒾𝓂 𝓉ℴ 𝓌ℯ𝒶𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓇 𝓊𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝓇ℴ𝓊ℊ𝒽 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓇ℯ𝓈𝓉 ℴ𝒻 𝒾𝓉 𝓊𝓃𝓉𝒾𝓁 𝓌ℯ 𝒽𝒾𝓉 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓌𝒶𝓁𝓁. 𝒯𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝒻𝒾𝓇ℯ, 𝒶 𝓁ℴ𝓉 ℴ𝒻 𝓎ℯ𝓁𝓁𝒾𝓃ℊ, 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯ 𝒹𝒶𝓂𝒶ℊℯ, 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯ 𝒾𝓃𝒿𝓊𝓇𝒾ℯ𝓈. 𝒞ℴ𝓊𝓁𝒹'𝓋ℯ 𝒷ℯℯ𝓃 𝒶 𝓁ℴ𝓉 𝓌ℴ𝓇𝓈ℯ. 𝒜 𝓁ℴ𝓉 ℴ𝒻 𝒸ℴ𝓊𝓁𝒹'𝓋ℯ𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒾𝒻'𝓈. ℐ𝓈𝓃'𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒶𝓁𝓌𝒶𝓎𝓈 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝒸𝒶𝓈ℯ?

[deal_me_in]

Stark built a sparrow. Speeder, everyone else calls it, but hey, tomayto tomahto. Aside from the glittery colorscheme, it wasn't a bad looking ride. The speedy kid wanted to race it, but Stark and I knew better than to just take it down a straight path with some hotshot who's fast on his feet. I'm no daredevil like Marcus Ren when it comes to sparrow racing, but I know my way around these things. So I thought.

Okay, I got cocky, but I don't think I can take all the blame and I don't think Stark's at fault either. Freak accident? Possibly. Maybe it was all the glitter. Hard to tell now. All happened too fast. Something sounded off. Sundance caught some weird power flux. Next thing I know, I'm hurtling towards one of the hangarbound ships, mashing the brakes like there's no tomorrow. The rough landing might've damaged them, I don't know. I remember the noise as I tried pulling her upwards in hopes it would shave off the speed. No dice.

Then suddenly I wasn't driving anymore because I wasn't on the speeder, but in the air with Tommy and we're still going too fast. He hits the floor first, I roll with him to weather us through the rest of it until we hit the wall. There was fire, a lot of yelling, some damage, some injuries. Could've been a lot worse. A lot of could'ves and what if's. Isn't that always the case?

0301

[deal_me_in]

ℒℴℴ𝓀𝓈 𝓁𝒾𝓀ℯ 𝓌ℯ'𝓇ℯ ℴ𝓃 𝒶𝓃ℴ𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓇 𝓈𝓅𝒶𝒸ℯ 𝒶𝒹𝓋ℯ𝓃𝓉𝓊𝓇ℯ, 𝒜𝒸ℯ. 𝒜𝓈 𝒾𝓉 𝓉𝓊𝓇𝓃𝓈 ℴ𝓊𝓉, 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝒜ℊ𝓇𝒾𝒾 𝒽𝒶𝓋ℯ 𝒷ℯℯ𝓃 𝓌ℴ𝓃𝒹ℯ𝓇𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓌𝒽𝓎 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ'𝓈 𝓈ℴ 𝓂𝒶𝓃𝓎 ℴ𝒻 𝓊𝓈 𝒸ℴ𝓂𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒻𝓇ℴ𝓂 ℴ𝓃ℯ 𝓅𝒶𝓇𝓉𝒾𝒸𝓊𝓁𝒶𝓇 𝓅𝓁𝒶𝒸ℯ. ℐ'𝓂 𝓃ℴ𝓉 ℯ𝓋ℯ𝓃 𝓈𝓊𝓇ℯ 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓉ℴ 𝒸𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝒾𝓉 ℴ𝓃 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝒶𝒸𝒸ℴ𝓊𝓃𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓌ℯ 𝒽𝒶𝓋ℯ 𝒶𝒷𝓈ℴ𝓁𝓊𝓉ℯ𝓁𝓎 𝓃ℴ 𝒾𝒹ℯ𝒶 𝓌𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ 𝒶𝓃𝓎𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒾𝓈 𝒾𝓃 𝓇ℯ𝓁𝒶𝓉𝒾ℴ𝓃 𝓉ℴ 𝒶𝓃𝓎𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ ℯ𝓁𝓈ℯ. 𝒢𝒶𝓁𝒶𝓍𝓎? 𝒰𝓃𝒾𝓋ℯ𝓇𝓈ℯ? ℳℯ𝓉𝒶ℊ𝒶𝓁𝒶𝒸𝓉𝒾𝓋ℯ𝓇𝓈ℯ?

[Insert sketch of Coruscant]

𝒜𝓃𝓎𝓌𝒶𝓎, ℐ ℊℴ𝓉𝓉𝒶 𝓉ℯ𝓁𝓁 𝓎ℴ𝓊 𝒶𝒷ℴ𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓅𝓁𝒶𝓃ℯ𝓉. ℐ𝓉'𝓈 𝒶 𝒹ℯ𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒾𝓉ℯ 𝓈𝒾ℊ𝒽𝓉 𝓉ℴ 𝓈ℯℯ, 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝓁𝒾𝓉 𝓊𝓅 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓇𝒾𝓃ℊ𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓁𝒾𝓃ℯ𝓈 ℴ𝒻 𝓁𝒾ℊ𝒽𝓉𝓈 ℴ𝓃 𝒾𝓉𝓈 𝓈𝓊𝓇𝒻𝒶𝒸ℯ.

𝒯𝓊𝓇𝓃𝓈 ℴ𝓊𝓉? ℐ𝓉 𝒾𝓈 𝒶 𝓂𝒶𝓈𝓈𝒾𝓋ℯ 𝒸𝒾𝓉𝓎. 𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓉'𝓈 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝒾𝓉 𝒾𝓈, 𝒷𝓊𝒾𝓁𝓉 𝓊𝓅 𝓁𝒶𝓎ℯ𝓇 𝒷𝓎 𝓁𝒶𝓎ℯ𝓇 𝒶𝓃𝒹 ℐ'𝓂 𝒶𝓈𝓈𝓊𝓂𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ'𝓈 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯ ℴ𝓇𝒾ℊ𝒾𝓃𝒶𝓁 𝓉ℯ𝓇𝓇𝒶𝒾𝓃 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯ𝓌𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ 𝓉ℴ 𝒽𝒶𝓋ℯ 𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓇𝓉ℯ𝒹 𝒾𝓉 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝒾𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉'𝓈 𝓃ℴ𝓉 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯ𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓉ℴ 𝓉𝓇𝓎 𝓌𝓇𝒶𝓅𝓅𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓎ℴ𝓊𝓇 𝒽ℯ𝒶𝒹 𝒶𝓇ℴ𝓊𝓃𝒹...

𝒪𝒽, 𝓎ℴ𝓊 𝓀𝓃ℴ𝓌 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 ℐ 𝓁ℴ𝓋ℯ 𝒶𝒷ℴ𝓊𝓉 𝒸𝒾𝓉𝒾ℯ𝓈. 𝒞𝒾𝓉𝒾ℯ𝓈 𝓂ℯ𝒶𝓃 𝓅ℯℴ𝓅𝓁ℯ. ℱℴℴ𝒹. 𝒫ℴ𝓉ℯ𝓃𝓉𝒾𝒶𝓁 ℊ𝓊𝓃 𝓈𝒽ℴ𝓅𝓅𝒾𝓃ℊ. ℐ 𝒹ℴ𝓊𝒷𝓉 ℐ'𝓁𝓁 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝒶 𝓁𝒶𝓈ℯ𝓇 𝓈𝓌ℴ𝓇𝒹 𝓁𝓎𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒶𝓇ℴ𝓊𝓃𝒹 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝓎ℴ𝓊 𝓃ℯ𝓋ℯ𝓇 𝓀𝓃ℴ𝓌. 𝒲ℯ'𝓋ℯ ℊℴ𝓉 𝒶 𝓁ℴ𝓃ℊ 𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓎 𝒶𝒽ℯ𝒶𝒹 ℴ𝒻 𝓊𝓈, 𝓌𝒽𝒾𝒸𝒽 𝒾𝓈 ℊℴℴ𝒹 𝒸ℴ𝓃𝓈𝒾𝒹ℯ𝓇𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒽ℴ𝓌 𝓂𝓊𝒸𝒽 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ 𝓁ℴℴ𝓀𝓈 𝓉ℴ 𝒷ℯ 𝓈ℯℯ𝓃. 𝒴ℯ𝓉 𝓃ℴ𝓉 ℯ𝓋ℯ𝓇𝓎ℴ𝓃ℯ 𝓌𝒶𝓈 ℯ𝒶ℊℯ𝓇 𝒶𝒷ℴ𝓊𝓉 𝒾𝓉. ℒ𝒾𝓉𝓉𝓁ℯ ℊ𝓇ℯℯ𝓃 𝓀𝒾𝒹? 𝒯𝒽ℯ ℴ𝓃ℯ 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓁𝒾𝓀ℯ𝓈 ℯ𝒶𝓉𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓂𝓎 𝒹𝒾𝓈𝓅𝓁𝒶𝓎 𝒻𝒾𝓈𝒽? ℋℯ 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝓃ℴ𝓉 ℊℯ𝓉𝓉𝒾𝓃ℊ ℴ𝓊𝓉 ℴ𝒻 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓁ℴ𝒸𝓀ℯ𝓇 ℴ𝓃𝒸ℯ 𝓌ℯ 𝓁𝒶𝓃𝒹ℯ𝒹. ℐ 𝓉𝓇𝒾ℯ𝒹 𝓉ℴ 𝒷𝓇𝒾𝒷ℯ 𝒽𝒾𝓂 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒸ℴℴ𝓀𝒾ℯ𝓈 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝒽ℯ 𝒹𝒾𝒹 𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓂𝒶ℊ𝒾𝒸 𝒽𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓂𝒶ℊ𝓃ℯ𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒶ℊ𝒶𝒾𝓃 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒸𝒽ℯ𝒶𝓉ℯ𝒹. 𝒫𝓇ℯ𝓉𝓉𝓎 𝓈𝓊𝓇ℯ 𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒹𝒶𝒹 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝒶𝒷𝓁ℯ 𝓉ℴ ℊℯ𝓉 𝒽𝒾𝓂 ℴ𝒻𝒻 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓈𝒽𝒾𝓅 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝓇𝒾ℊ𝒽𝓉 𝒶𝓉 𝓁ℯ𝒶𝓈𝓉.

𝒮ℴ 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓅𝓁𝒶𝒸ℯ? 𝒢𝓊ℯ𝓈𝓈 𝒾𝓉'𝓈 𝓁𝒾𝓀ℯ 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯ 𝓃𝒾𝓃ℯ 𝒽𝓊𝓃𝒹𝓇ℯ𝒹 𝓎ℯ𝒶𝓇𝓈 𝒷ℯ𝒻ℴ𝓇ℯ 𝒶𝓃𝓎ℴ𝓃ℯ ℴ𝒻 ℴ𝓊𝓇 ℊ𝓊𝓎𝓈' 𝓉𝒾𝓂ℯ. 𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓉'𝓈 𝒹ℯ𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒾𝓉ℯ𝓁𝓎 ℯ𝓋ℯ𝓃 𝒷ℯ𝒻ℴ𝓇ℯ 𝓂𝓎 𝓉𝒾𝓂ℯ 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝓌𝒽ℴ'𝓈 𝒸ℴ𝓊𝓃𝓉𝒾𝓃ℊ?

𝒲ℯ𝓁𝓁, 𝓉𝒾𝓂ℯ 𝓉ℴ ℊℯ𝓉 ℴ𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ 𝒶𝓃𝒹 ℯ𝓍𝓅𝓁ℴ𝓇ℯ. ℐ 𝒶𝓂 𝒷𝓇𝒾𝓃ℊ𝒾𝓃ℊ -𝓈ℴ- 𝓂𝓊𝒸𝒽 𝓈𝓉𝓊𝒻𝒻 𝒷𝒶𝒸𝓀. 𝒞𝒶𝓉𝒸𝒽 𝓊𝓅 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓎ℴ𝓊 𝓁𝒶𝓉ℯ𝓇, 𝒜𝒸ℯ.

[deal_me_in]

Looks like we're on another space adventure, Ace. As it turns out, the Agrii have been wondering why there's so many of us coming from one particular place. I'm not even sure what to call it on the account that we have absolutely no idea where anything is in relation to anything else. Galaxy? Universe? Metagalactiverse?

[Insert sketch of Coruscant]

Anyway, I gotta tell you about this planet. It's a definite sight to see, all lit up with rings and lines of lights on its surface.

Turns out? It is a massive city. That's all it is, built up layer by layer and I'm assuming there's some original terrain somewhere to have started it all but if that's not something to try wrapping your head around...

Oh, you know what I love about cities. Cities mean people. Food. Potential gun shopping. I doubt I'll find a laser sword lying around but you never know. We've got a long stay ahead of us, which is good considering how much there looks to be seen. Yet not everyone was eager about it. Little green kid? The one that likes eating my display fish? He was not getting out of the locker once we landed. I tried to bribe him with cookies but he did his magic hand magnet thing again and cheated. Pretty sure his dad was able to get him off the ship all right at least.

So this place? Guess it's like some nine hundred years before anyone of our guys' time. That's definitely even before my time but who's counting?

Well, time to get out there and explore. I am bringing -so- much stuff back. Catch up with you later, Ace.

0304

[deal_me_in]

[There's a pair of Sabacc cards tucked along with this note. ]

𝒮ℴ, 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒞ℴ𝓇𝓊𝓈𝒸𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝓅𝓁𝒶𝒸ℯ? ℬ𝓊𝓈𝓎 𝒶𝓉𝓂ℴ𝓈𝓅𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ. 𝒮𝒸ℯ𝓃𝒾𝒸 𝒸𝒾𝓉𝓎𝓈𝒸𝒶𝓅ℯ. ℳℴ𝓇ℯ 𝓁𝒶𝓎ℯ𝓇𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓃 𝒥𝒾𝓃'𝓈 𝓈𝓅ℯ𝒸𝒾𝒶𝓁𝓉𝓎 𝒹ℯ𝓁𝓊𝓍ℯ 𝓇𝒶𝓂ℯ𝓃 𝓉ℴ𝓅𝓅𝒾𝓃ℊ.

𝒜𝓁𝓈ℴ 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝒾𝓇 𝓇ℴ𝒷ℴ𝓉𝓈 𝒶𝓇ℯ𝓃'𝓉 ℯ𝓍𝓅ℯ𝒸𝓉ℯ𝒹 𝓉ℴ ℯ𝒶𝓉 ℴ𝓇 𝒽𝒶𝓋ℯ 𝒻𝓊𝓃, 𝓌𝒽𝒾𝒸𝒽 𝒾𝓈 𝒶𝒷ℴ𝓊𝓉 𝓂𝓎 ℴ𝓃𝓁𝓎 𝒸ℴ𝓂𝓅𝓁𝒶𝒾𝓃𝓉. ℐ𝓉'𝓈 𝓁𝒾𝓀ℯ ℐ 𝓃ℯℯ𝒹 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯℴ𝓃ℯ 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓈𝓀𝒾𝓃 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒷ℴ𝓃ℯ𝓈 𝓉ℴ 𝒽ℴ𝓁𝒹 𝓂𝓎 𝒽𝒶𝓃𝒹 ℯ𝓋ℯ𝓇𝓎 𝓉𝒾𝓂ℯ ℐ 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝓉ℴ ℯ𝒶𝓉 ℴ𝓊𝓉 ℴ𝓇 ℊℴ 𝓈𝒽ℴ𝓅𝓅𝒾𝓃ℊ! 𝒞ℴ𝒷𝒷 𝒽ℯ𝓁𝓅ℯ𝒹 𝓂ℯ 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝒶 𝓉ℯ𝓂𝓅ℴ𝓇𝒶𝓇𝓎 𝒻𝒾𝓍 𝓉ℴ 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉, 𝒶𝓉 𝓁ℯ𝒶𝓈𝓉 𝓈ℴ 𝓌ℯ 𝒸ℴ𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝓉𝓇𝓎 𝒹ℴ𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒶 𝓁𝒾𝓉𝓉𝓁ℯ ℊ𝒶𝓂𝒷𝓁𝒾𝓃ℊ. 𝒰𝓃𝒻ℴ𝓇𝓉𝓊𝓃𝒶𝓉ℯ𝓁𝓎, 𝓌ℯ𝒶𝓇𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒽ℯ𝓁𝓂ℯ𝓉𝓈 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝓂𝒶𝓀ℯ𝓈 𝓎ℴ𝓊 𝓁ℴℴ𝓀 𝓂ℴ𝓇ℯ 𝓈𝓊𝓈𝓅𝒾𝒸𝒾ℴ𝓊𝓈 𝓈ℴ ℯ𝓋ℯ𝓃 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒶 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁𝒾𝓃ℊ ℊ𝒶𝓂𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓉𝒶𝒷𝓁ℯ 𝓉ℴℴ𝓀 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯ 𝓌ℴ𝓇𝓀. 𝒪𝒻 𝒸ℴ𝓊𝓇𝓈ℯ 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓂ℴ𝓂ℯ𝓃𝓉 𝓎ℴ𝓊 𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓇𝓉 𝓌𝒾𝓃𝓃𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒶 𝒻ℯ𝓌 𝒽𝒶𝓃𝒹𝓈 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓎 𝒶𝓊𝓉ℴ𝓂𝒶𝓉𝒾𝒸𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎 𝒶𝓈𝓈𝓊𝓂ℯ 𝓎ℴ𝓊'𝓇ℯ 𝒸𝒽ℯ𝒶𝓉𝒾𝓃ℊ. 𝒲ℯ𝓁𝓁, 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓎 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝒶𝓈𝓈𝓊𝓂ℯ 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯℴ𝓃ℯ ℯ𝓁𝓈ℯ 𝒾𝓈 𝒸𝒽ℯ𝒶𝓉𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓌𝒽ℯ𝓃 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓎 𝒻𝒾ℊ𝓊𝓇ℯ 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓎'𝓇ℯ 𝓈𝒽ℴ𝓇𝓉 𝒶 𝒸ℴ𝓊𝓅𝓁ℯ ℴ𝒻 𝒸𝒶𝓇𝒹𝓈...

ℐ 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓁ℴ𝓌ℯ𝓇 "𝒹𝒶𝓃ℊℯ𝓇ℴ𝓊𝓈" 𝓁ℯ𝓋ℯ𝓁𝓈 ℴ𝒻 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝒸𝒾𝓉𝓎 𝒶𝓇ℯ 𝓂ℴ𝓇ℯ 𝓉ℴ 𝓂𝓎 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝒾𝓃ℊ, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉'𝓈 𝒷ℯ𝒸𝒶𝓊𝓈ℯ 𝓅ℯℴ𝓅𝓁ℯ 𝒹ℴ𝓌𝓃 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ 𝒶𝓇ℯ 𝒹ℯ𝓈𝓅ℯ𝓇𝒶𝓉ℯ ℯ𝓃ℴ𝓊ℊ𝒽 𝒻ℴ𝓇 𝒽ℯ𝓁𝓅 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓎 𝓌ℴ𝓃'𝓉 𝓉𝓊𝓇𝓃 𝒶 𝒷𝓁𝒾𝓃𝒹 ℯ𝓎ℯ ℯ𝓋ℯ𝓃 𝓉ℴ 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯℴ𝓃ℯ 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓎 𝓌𝓇𝒾𝓉ℯ ℴ𝒻𝒻 𝒶𝓈 𝒶 𝒹𝓇ℴ𝒾𝒹, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 ℐ ℊ𝓊ℯ𝓈𝓈 𝒷ℴ𝓊𝓃𝓉𝓎 𝒽𝓊𝓃𝓉ℯ𝓇𝓈 ℴ𝒻 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓁𝒾𝓀ℯ 𝒶𝓇ℯ𝓃'𝓉 𝓊𝓃𝒸ℴ𝓂𝓂ℴ𝓃. 𝒯𝒽ℯ𝓎 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝓃ℯ𝓋ℯ𝓇 𝓈𝒶𝓌 ℴ𝓃ℯ 𝓌ℯ𝒶𝓇𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒸𝓁ℴ𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓁ℴℴ𝓀𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 ℊℴℴ𝒹. ℳ𝒶𝒹ℯ 𝓂ℴ𝓇ℯ 𝒸𝓇ℯ𝒹𝒾𝓉𝓈 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓃 ℐ 𝒹𝒾𝒹 𝒶𝓉 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝒮𝒶𝒷𝒶𝒸𝒸 ℊ𝒶𝓂ℯ𝓈, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 ℊℴ𝓉 𝒶 𝒻ℯ𝓌 𝓂ℴ𝓇ℯ 𝓌ℯ𝒶𝓅ℴ𝓃𝓈 𝓉ℴ 𝒷ℴℴ𝓉. ℐ 𝒷ℯ𝓉𝓉ℯ𝓇 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝒶𝓃ℴ𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓇 𝓅𝓁𝒶𝒸ℯ 𝓉ℴ 𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓈𝒽 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ𝓈, 𝒾𝓉'𝓈 ℊℯ𝓉𝓉𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓀𝒾𝓃𝒹 ℴ𝒻 𝒻𝓊𝓁𝓁 𝓊𝓃𝒹ℯ𝓇 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓂𝒶𝓉𝓉𝓇ℯ𝓈𝓈, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓌𝒽ℯ𝓃 𝓎ℴ𝓊 ℊℴ𝓉 𝒶 𝓀𝒾𝒹 𝒶𝒷ℴ𝒶𝓇𝒹 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓈𝒽𝒾𝓅 𝓌𝒽ℴ 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝓁𝒾𝒻𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ𝓈 𝒷𝓎 𝒽ℴ𝓁𝒹𝒾𝓃ℊ ℴ𝓊𝓉 𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒽𝒶𝓃𝒹, 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝓂𝒶𝓀ℯ𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ𝓈 𝒶 𝓁ℴ𝓉 𝓉𝓇𝒾𝒸𝓀𝒾ℯ𝓇.

ℛ𝒾ℊ𝒽𝓉, 𝓃ℴ𝓉ℯ 𝓉ℴ 𝓈ℯ𝓁𝒻: ℊℯ𝓉 𝓂ℴ𝓇ℯ 𝒸ℴℴ𝓀𝒾ℯ𝓈. 𝒟ℴℯ𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓅𝓁𝒶𝓃ℯ𝓉 ℯ𝓋ℯ𝓃 𝒽𝒶𝓋ℯ 𝒸ℴℴ𝓀𝒾ℯ𝓈? 𝒢𝓊ℯ𝓈𝓈 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ'𝓈 ℴ𝓃𝓁𝓎 ℴ𝓃ℯ 𝓌𝒶𝓎 𝓉ℴ 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹 ℴ𝓊𝓉.

[deal_me_in]

[There's a pair of Sabacc cards tucked along with this note. ]

So, this Coruscant place? Busy atmosphere. Scenic cityscape. More layers than Jin's specialty deluxe ramen topping.

Also their robots aren't expected to eat or have fun, which is about my only complaint. It's like I need someone with skin and bones to hold my hand every time I want to eat out or go shopping! Cobb helped me find a temporary fix to that, at least so we could try doing a little gambling. Unfortunately, wearing helmets just makes you look more suspicious so even finding a willing gaming table took some work. Of course the moment you start winning a few hands they automatically assume you're cheating. Well, they can assume someone else is cheating when they figure they're short a couple of cards...

I find the lower "dangerous" levels of the city are more to my liking, but that's because people down there are desperate enough for help that they won't turn a blind eye even to someone they write off as a droid, but I guess bounty hunters of the like aren't uncommon. They just never saw one wearing clothes and looking this good. Made more credits there than I did at the Sabacc games, and got a few more weapons to boot. I better find another place to stash things, it's getting kind of full under the mattress, and when you got a kid aboard the ship who can lift things by holding out his hand, then that just makes things a lot trickier.

Right, note to self: get more cookies. Does this planet even have cookies? Guess there's only one way to find out.