"It's Ereza Ramier speaking to you from S.I.N, we have a breaking story still in development," introduces a woman whose blonde hair is tied in a ponytail, dressed in a dark red dress, seated at a glassy table where a wide screen sits behind her covering the remainder of the view to display an animated screensaver depicting a simplified solar system, monochromatic globes slowly circling around a central stationary sphere. A large red box appears on the top left of the view with the large text: 'BREAKING NEWS,' as she continues to explain: "Just last night we received reports in forty five different Earths of what we can only describe as some demonic invasion. All the reports we've managed to scrape bear resemblance so our experts have determined it to be the same phenomenon, those reports citing what has been described as 'giant tentacles and tree roots growing out of the ground,' which itself had devastating results, leading to mass casualties especially in urban centers. Now we are going to play a few clips we got from the air, but viewer's discretion must be advised."
The entire view of the woman and table vanish as the screen is replaced by video footage taken high in the sky seemingly attached to a pod as indicated by the gentle constant hum, angled down over a dense city composed of tall rectangular skyscrapers, some of which have pointed tips though their design is fairly generic. Seconds into the video, down on the low ground there appears emergences of many black root, seemingly small from the position of the camera but it quickly rises many stories high in just the matter of seconds, at first only seeming to grow from the streets which lead to quick fright as those streets are filled with pedestrians who run away. Those roots rise higher before branching off, those branches splitting as well, which is when some branches puncture out of the walls of various skyscrapers, revealing that some grew inside buildings themselves. Distant cries echo all the way to the camera, far enough that there's left an airy tone but the surplus of screams is present enough that it overshadows the pod's hum.
The video then abruptly switches as told by the sudden change in scenery, now fixed on a different city with familiar blue skyscrapers that have pointed tips in resemblance to medieval architecture, roots also growing from the ground which ensues screaming, all of which is being played on the wide screen that nearly covers the curved wall of the Peak's lounge, taking the place of the usual window screen. The white walls of the lounge have dimmed their lighting, resulting in the screen being the primary source of light, shining over the couches and tables, as well as the woman sitting on the couch facing that screen, her long pink hair let down, draping against her white hoodie.
Again the video switches now to another city with towers that seem to be built with hardwood strangely enough, the roofs of which featuring gable roofs reminiscent of ancient Japanese architecture but in an urban form. These towers are also pierced by roots, those same black roots, too far to discern detail from but even at these angles the woman watching leans forward in curiosity. Her focus suddenly shifts to the left however upon hearing a familiar grumpy groan, which emits from the end of the sofas across from her, specifically from a man who is currently laying on said sofas as if it was a bed, rubbing his eyes as his brown overcoat's sleeves graze his face.
The man slowly sits up as he groggily rants, "God how early is it, why do you need to play it with speakers some of us are trying to sleep here."
Shocked by the presence of the man which she seems to not have sensed prior, the woman's pink eyes widen before she realizes, "Eki-? Wait, why are you here?"
Ekitai, his eyes still being rubbed, thus is unable to use vision for sensing, just turns his head towards the voice before identifying back, "Kookie…, is that you? I'm trying to-," though he pauses to release a heavy yawn, stretching his arms while still rubbing his eyes to continue, "-I'm trying to sleep, god that Contest of Chairs finale was such a bore…I don't think it even resolved half the plot lines I mean I don't know how much of it I was awake for but still, I almost hope they make a spinoff just so they can get a redo. And before you ask, it was finished months ago so they really had no excuse."
He finally stops rubbing his eyes, dropping his arms though rapidly blinking to adjust to the light exposure. He then glances at the screen, tilting his head in confusion before asking, "What are you watching anyways? Is that a new Wonder movie?"
At first perplexed by the question, Kokei shakes her head to correct, "What- no, Ekitai this is the news, this happened last night," to which Ekitai swings his legs over the floor to stand up, rubbing his eyes again and walking around the table to approach Kokei while apologizing, "Oh shit my bad, wait what's happening?"
He ambles in uncoordinated stumbles towards Kokei who turns back to face the screen, finding another clip this time surveying a city of pure white towers with smooth curves juxtaposed by the black roots growing over it, but that clip shrinks into the confines of the former red box, returning the view back to the studio where the anchor can be seen again, placing both hands on the table before noting, "Now from the information we've managed to gather, it seems these sightings occurred roughly in the same time, that being 8:30 P.M Earth 50 eastern time, and the growth lasted for about a minute. It would be best if we could end the story right here, but unfortunately that's only the start of it."
Ekitai plops down on the sofa beside Kokei, leaning back against the cushion as he casually asks, "When was this from? I hardly even recognize it."
"Like a few hours ago," Kokei simply answers, leading to Ekitai turning his head towards her with his eyebrows raised in bewilderment, seeking clarity: "Wait, this just happened?!"
She keeps her eyes on the screen to again briefly answer, "Yeah, it's still pretty recent so there's not that much coverage on it but I've just been going through the feed."
His jaw dropping in astonishment, Ekitai just stares straight at Kokei before following up with the question: "How long have you been-," before Kokei interrupts, "Wait I didn't catch this part," which successfully silences Ekitai, leaving the only speaking voice to come from the screen, "From all the sources we've gathered in these incidents, we were told that an invasion came out of these trees. Now we are not allowed to show the footage of this due to excess brutality, so I'll do my best to explain the situation from what we've been given," as a distant hum grows down to the right of the lounge which only Ekitai picks up on whereas Kokei remains fully fixed on the video.
The news anchor takes in a deep breath as if needing to calm herself down before proceeding, "Several reports from survivors described this invasion as being of 'wild beasts.' These descriptions of course vary with different degrees of specificity, some survivors choosing not to comment on the appearance, but this is the best we've come with. We were told that they were highly aggressive and lethal, some descriptions comparing them to wild animals. Military action responded swiftly to these affected areas at the time of this invasion, and an evacuation effort was made for as many civilians that could be found. Safe zones are being set up on various other Earths for the evacuees to be stationed for the time being, and while there has been notable unrest about what many have called a forced relocation, we have been assured that the E.G.A is working quickly to return these civilians close to home once they can ensure safety. There are currently search parties operating in these affected zones, but what we already unfortunately know is that within the populations of the affected areas, the majority of civilians are currently labeled as missing, and for now presumed deceased," during which the rising hum hits an abrupt cut, but seconds later there follows the whoosh of dematerialization leading to approaching footsteps.
Ekitai's focus has returned to the video, leaning forward in intrigue as he mutters to himself, "Wait…that couldn't be those things right?" Kokei however turns to face him to innocently ask, "What things?"
A third voice speaks but in a question, "Wait…what are the two of you doing here this early," being asked by another woman who enters the lounge, dressed in a black blazer and leggings with neatly tucked amber bangs. Her head swivels around the room before centering on the screen as Kokei answers, "Oh hey Dana, have you seen the news?"
Dana however scratches her head, shaking it before admitting, "Sorry I've been pretty busy with all the work. Also how long have you been here, I don't think I've ever seen you up this early, I'll cook extra for breakfast if either of you haven't already eaten."
"Wait Dana, you should probably hear some of this," urges Kokei to much of Dana's confusion, which she verbalizes with a perplexed, "Oh…okay?" Nonetheless she complies, not passing the two of them but instead stopping beside Kokei and spinning around to face the screen, still standing up instead of settling but at least giving her attention.
All eyes on the screen, the three watch the news anchor announce sternly, "All Earths part of the E.G.A is restricting interplanetary travel to any worlds with these invasion zones, but seeing as this is their first response, we believe these policies will be adapting as they get more of a handle on this situation. They are moving quickly to establish stations to prohibit exports and imports from these Earths, and have issued a statement advising everyone to stay on their worlds, and to limit travel if possible. We can confirm that Earth 50 was not impacted and is thus not affected by these restrictions, and it has been made public that there have been no such incidents that have occurred in the hours after the initial outbreaks, but given the recency of this event, we cannot with confidence state whether or not there are more to come. We also have little information on the current states of these affected zones as we have not been told if military response managed to exterminate any of these phenomena, but we hope to receive official updates soon."
Swamped with this flood of information, Dana just blinks twice before dully asking as it's clear she's still fatigued, "Wait…what's going on?? Invasion? Outbreak? Was there some kind of supervirus outbreak?"
Glancing over to her, Kokei shakes her head to correct albeit apprehensively, "Huh, no it's not a virus it's…well I'm not really sure…. I don't know what's going on," before she faces back to the screen, leaving Dana further lost with a frown. She turns towards the door at the far end of the lounge which would lead to the fridge, but then she turns back to face the screen and sit down beside Kokei, prioritizing the broadcast instead.
The news anchor taps on the table twice, then adjusting her posture before detailing, "Again, this story is still very much in early development, and we will be sure to cover any new details as they roll out. For now all I can ask from everyone is to stay where you are, if you have loved ones in regions that were affected, try to Connect them, but don't assume the worst if they don't answer right away, we are right now going through an unprecedented time and we all need some patience to work through this together, which we will. This is Ereza Ramier from S.I.N, stay safe everyone." With that conclusion, the whole video freezes and darkens before being overlaid by a grid of square images functioning as thumbnails, most of which are of other news anchors in similar studios or images from clips of the prior aerial footage. A few of those images are slightly darker than others, to which Kokei sighs before mentioning, "Well I wonder if anything else released in the time we watched that, there's probably a lot more to be honest."
"Kookie you'll need a week to try watching everything, actually way more than that," Ekitai reasons rather soundly, Kokei frowning at that acknowledgement before her attention is pulled towards Dana who asks with justified concern, "Wait so when did this happen exactly? I haven't heard about anything like this."
Kokei frowns, quickly eyeing the screen before returning to her to answer, "Just last night, I'm sort of surprised they even have all this information out, getting interviews with the survivors and everything, it must be so chaotic wherever they are."
Dana's eyebrow lifts as it seems that answer has only opened the door for many more questions, one of which she follows up with, "Wait, survivors? Was there some kind of attack or…oh no…did it happen again-?"
Kokei sighs to the frantic questions with the simple offer, "Do you…want me to play another video? Sorry I don't really know if I can describe it well, I don't really understand what's going on myself but there was a lot of context you missed, we can just watch another one-."
"Please don't watch another one," Ekitai urges, placing his hand on Kokei's shoulder as if trying to stabilize her. She turns towards him to argue, "Wait but she doesn't-," only for Dana to alleviate instinctively, "It's okay I can find them on my own later, I mean I'll probably learn more than what's already out there in my first meeting…," as she slowly lowers her head.
Suddenly her eyes expand and she lifts her head up upon recalling, "Oh right, meetings, I was making breakfast, yeah did either of you two eat," as a question both Kokei and Ekitai are about to answer only for her to continue, "Wait, meetings, shoot some of them are currently off world if I remember correctly since the Express Stations have been getting hit with delays, they might have been affected by all this…."
She then turns back to Kokei who has shut her mouth upon recognizing that the conversation has already shifted topics, though Dana then directly asks, "Wait so…where exactly did this happen?"
Kokei sighs with a low head before answering somberly, "Forty five Earths," to an immediately shocked expression from Dana, her jaw dropped in disbelief.
She turns her head away again, lowering it as her body shivers subtly, shocked to hear a number so great. Her wide green eyes just stare at the floor as she recounts, "Forty…five…oh my god… All last night, wait like was this happening throughout the night or-?"
"All at once is what they're saying," Kokei interjects with the answer, yet she admits with a frown, "But I'm not even sure if I believe that, it just sounds so impossible." She then lowers her head in deeper reflection, "But then again…I guess now it doesn't sound that impossible…I'm not sure what's even impossible anymore. And who knows if it'll happen again, and who knows where it could. I'm not sure where it's safe if there's anywhere."
Ekitai turns to her after hearing that anxiety with a frown, though he then raises his head high to the ceiling while wondering, "Huh…were Earth 3's floating islands hit? I'm not sure if they could…but if they were…that's tough luck damn…."
He then lowers his head back to Kokei to comfort, "Well in most cases I'd pray for the E.G.A to stay incompetent, but if they did actually manage an evacuation that quickly, maybe they are stepping up their game. Worse for me but hey…maybe it'll mean they'll be ready for something like that to happen again?"
"I'd like that to be the case, but they're internally collapsing in on themselves right now, I'm sure this just made everything a whole lot worse," Dana weighs in to much of Ekitai's discontent as he lowers his head before weakly spilling, "I'm trying to help her cope over here."
"Sorry," Dana apologizes with a frown, turning back to face the two after she drifted into her own space. She sighs as she places her hands on her forehead, squeezing her eyes to try pushing against the stress, elucidating despite knowing it may be for the worse: "It's just that they're already spreading thin, this can't be helping. At a time like this we have corporate protocols to mobilize certain sub-departments into emergency research teams that'd work in tandem with partnership programs we have both on the planetary and E.G.A level, but those departments are more or less dissolved. We've been trying to work on restructuring the entire staff so I don't know how I'm going to all of a sudden try reorganizing something like this out of the blue, we were hoping to get the first iteration maybe in a month or so but we've hardly gotten anywhere. Why does this have to happen right now…I should be ready to help…dammit."
Ekitai sighs before muttering to himself, "This is why I could never work as a corp, life sounds miserable up there." He pats Kokei's shoulder twice before confessing to Dana, "Yeah I can't really figure out a good way to bullshit optimism to you, I tried. But I guess I'm sure you'll figure something out, I don't know if these work the same way but I know back when the syndicate wasn't all that well structured it was actually a bit easier to shift resources around, they could pretty much decide to completely change operations on a dime and everything would move accordingly. I guess when there's less of a current structure, there's less that needs to be broken to be reshuffled, right?"
"It's more complicated than that," Dana argues back, but she pauses and contemplates silently for a few seconds. She sighs before confessing, "But I guess I get where you're coming from, maybe an approach like that could help, and worst comes to worst I'll say I got it from a crazy old man."
Ekitai smiles softly, using the brief jest as a means to uplift his own mood, swinging his arm around Kokei and asserting, "Yeah well maybe I've become wise, maybe that's where I'm at now. But anyways, it's not like we have anything else to do, Kookie's up for grabs now so you can make her do all the paperwork if that's a thing you guys actually do, and unless you want to trust me with your finances or some shit I can be on nurse duty checking the sleeper downstairs."
Dana subtly smiles from the more positively leaning proposition, however as she further processes the statement, that smile dwindles to a frown as she faces the floor, recalling somberly as it resurfaces through this flood, "Yeah…he's still down there…huh. No idea what's happening, and I'm not sure when he'll find out…. I wish he was up here with us…we need him…," before murmuring in a whisper only for herself.
"I need him…," is spoken at the very moment that, far down below on a different floor of the fortress, in a different room currently darker than even the lounge for none of the lights are active, the wide yet dull starry azure eye dimly glows. Then, the star within the iris flashes a sudden bright white, as if in that moment the eye itself explodes, bursting with a sudden shock of life as the eyebrow just subtly lifts, for the facial muscles have suddenly reanimated.
Ekitai releases a heavy sigh from the introduction of the touchy subject, reeling his arm back to his side and calming, "I'll be checking up on him, don't worry." He then leans forward and prepares to stand up from the sofa as he determines, "And besides, I'm sure if he was here, he'd be scrambling around trying to pull us into some crazy stupid mission. Anyways let's go get some food, I don't think I'm going back to sleep anyways," just as the table right in front of them snaps from the middle, punctured from below by a streak of bright blue light like lightning, blinding the three for an instant but in the very next they find that stumbling right past said table between the other row of sofas is the man whose black cape waves, same as the black wavy hair over the black hood connected to the cape. The man catches himself on the sofa as simultaneously Ekitai, Kokei, and Dana leap backwards, Ekitai and Dana both landing on the ground with one of Ekitai's hands lifting his overcoat so his other can rest inside, whereas Kokei–who shrieks–lands on the sofa, trying to balance on the soft surface that depresses from her weight as the table halves drop on the floor.
Kokei remains frozen in fear, Ekitai also still, although in concentration with his hand prepared to unholster, yet it's Dana who springs forward with the exclamation: "Medit??" The man she refers to grabs the sofa with his other hand to better stabilize himself, but is given better balance as Dana places both of her hands around his shoulder, holding him up straight and asking, "Medit, did you just wake up??"
While Ekitai is still steady with his hand, only slowly now letting it drift away from his coat but clearly on edge, Kokei leans forward to peer down at the middle of the broken table, shocked to find a hole through the floor, one that continues down to the next room that has a hole in the same spot, continuing to the next with the same spot, on and on, the pit instantly dug through several levels.
Slowly Kokei climbs down from the sofa, being cautious given the lack of firmness to the surface she stands on, taking Ekitai's attention as he lets his arm fall back to his side. In front of them, the man maintains his tight grip on the sofa, wearing gauntlets with a smooth metallic black material covering the backhand, though the other side has a soft white leather, similar material to the sofa that is being stressed from the tense hold. Each knuckle of the hand is adorned with a small embedded crystal made of a frosty translucent material that gently pulses albeit the luminescence gradually dims, similar to an azureous glowing strip that runs along the forearm between extensions of the black and white material that each form braces. The hand loosens from the sofa given the lack of necessity, falling to its side against the similar white leather padding on the outer thigh beneath the golden belt which features an insignia in the center of an obelisk resembling a pencil, emitting an azureous glow, the same tone as more of those glowing streaks that run down the main blue material covering the rest of the thigh. Similar streaks run above the belt, converging with those that run across the arm, leading to the center of the chest that houses a larger insignia of the same pencil-like obelisk, the origin of many more rays stretching to the other arm and around the back. Some rise up beneath a smooth, sleek golden layer functioning like a pauldron that rests over the shoulders between the elbows and rising up to the neck for additional coverage, where fitted on the shoulder blades are two frosty crystals cut in the same pencil shapes.
Ekitai watches Kokei land on the ground from the sofa though stumble forward, her eyes popping wide in terror as she trips towards the hole, but is held back by Ekitai's quick arm raised to block her chest. She stumbles backwards and sighs in relief as Ekitai glances again at the hole left in the middle of the lounge somewhat concerningly, created by the man who turns his head towards Dana, his Latino face itself uncovered to reveal his eyes the stars of which are distinctly brighter than before during rest, though they've returned to their original blue shades and don't shine as blindingly as the white. His lips are slightly parted, his hair calming from the rustle now upon recovery of the sudden thrust, but he manages to answer in a fatigued voice, "I…what do you mean-," though he suddenly turns his head forward and places his hand upon it, squeezing his eyes tight as if under a migraine, groaning which only further worries Dana.
Behind the both of them, Ekitai cautiously creeps around the table, leading Kokei as he raises his head up to the man before announcing, "Hey Meditat, I guess this is more your house so it's your rules but you sort of left a mess, that must have been one hell of a nightmare."
Meditat drops his hand back to his side to turn around, away from Dana to face back at the two behind him, who stop after grabbing his attention. Kokei awkwardly raises her hand to slowly wave as Meditat lowers his focus to the broken table over the hole, frowning before apologizing, "Oh I-...didn't mean to do that. Sorry, I'll plug it in later, hopefully nothing significant was damaged, I'll get to that."
Taking another peek through the hole that extends down an incalculable many stories, the ceiling of the exposed level underneath losing small chunks as debris that rain down among the dust, Ekitai just lets out a casual sigh and recalls, "I guess you could fix it in a couple seconds so it's not that big of a deal, I remember the commotion that would come out of just breaking small furniture, wall repairs was a whole other fight since it's hard to just Connect regular repairmen," before lifting his head back up.
Despite his hand now dropped to his side, Dana remains at his side, holding him up with worry in her eyes as if she believed letting go could result in him collapsing. She just observes his expressions as he frowns down at the hole he made before sighing heavily. He lifts his head back up, glancing from Ekitai and Kokei before he starts frantically questioning, "Wait, how long was I out for? It doesn't feel like I've been out for a long time…and yet it feels like I'm late…like there's something I've missed. What has happened since?"
Stunned by the rapid fire, both Ekitai and Kokei just freeze in place, Ekitai the first to chuckle nervously before remarking while scratching the back of his head, "Well…that's a pretty loaded question. Uh, I guess the first thing off the top of my head is that Kokei got fired."
Immediately, Kokei's eyes widen before fury erupts as she faces Ekitai to bellow, "Laid off, there's a difference!"
"Was the compensation package any better?" Ekitai retorts, which shuts Kokei down with a frown as she's unable to return a better comeback, huffing and turning her head away.
Less focused on the banter, Meditat seems stunned as well, dwelling instead on: "Wait…laid off…? Why would…," however the question is answered to himself before he can finish it, a question he shows shame towards even pronouncing out loud as he winces and lowers his head, recalling softer: "Oh…of course…I can't even imagine the changes to all the Earths…. Everything must have changed again…I apologize, I should've been here, I should've-."
"Medit, it's okay, it's not your fault," Dana assures gently, patting him on the shoulder to try quelling his panic, though to little effect as he instead lifts his head and follows up, "I'll need to research on my own, see what I can do, has there been anything substantial recently, more than the rest? With all the official structures shaken, I can only imagine criminal activity must be spiking, there has to be isolated groups in need," before turning to Dana to directly ask, "X-Prints, how is everything there? I can't imagine the internal chaos, I'm sorry I wasn't helping, I'm here now, what can I do?"
"We're managing Medit, really," Dana again attempts to calm, though she does admit more sheepishly, "I mean…we're not really managing perfectly…but we're doing the best with what we have. But it's mostly just boiled down to more meetings. But you should take it steady, you need time to process and it's clear you're still not completely rested."
Meditat tries to take a deep breath, attempting to calm himself down at first per her advice, though his body still visibly shivers as he struggles to keep up with this sudden mass of information. Nonetheless he extends his arm forward as he formulates to the group directly in contrast to that advice, "I take it that the E.G.A and each Earth's own officials are trying their best to contain the situation, I'll see if I can help with inadequate supply lines, I'm sure I'll have some contacts left that I can reach to. At the very least you're all here, safe, The Peak should still maintain all its necessary systems but I'll do some diagnostics tests to confirm such. I know Dana must have her own load of work to tend to, I'll reach for assistance if need be but it'll depend on what tasks need to be done. At least right now the needs should be humanitarian, at worst there might be a rise in crime but there shouldn't be dangers too great actively threatening lives other than a lack of resources."
Immediately Ekitai winces and clenches his teeth in an awkward grimace, but even beside him Kokei immediately drops her head low as if to hide her own expression, letting her pink hair cover her face though her body movements are suspicious themselves.
Dana's eyes pop wide before she glances back towards the screen as Meditat takes notice of the strange reaction, raising his eyebrow and cautiously examining, "What…is there a flaw in that plan? What was it that I said?"
Dana winces as she turns back to Meditat and frantically assures, "Well uhm like I said maybe first take some time to let yourself fully rest and process everything, a lot's happened so jumping into the action so instantly might not be the best for you-," but then Ekitai utters, "If only it was just that…."
Dana's head snaps towards Ekitai in a deathly glare as Kokei lifts hers to stare at him in shock, like a boy tattle telling on the whole group. Meditat just stands with an innocently perplexed gaze, though he notices that Ekitai's eyes don't focus on him but rather past his shoulder, leading him to turn around to which Dana desperately tugs on his shoulder while pleading, "Wait Medit you need to relax-," but he's already turned around, now directly facing the wide screen providing a grid of images displaying still frames of videos whether it be of various news studios or, more pressingly, images seemingly taken from the air, observing various cities that have been infested with towering black veins sprawling over the streets and penetrating through buildings.
Dana's hands slip off his shoulder as he takes a step away from her, pacing around the sofa to get a better view of the images, completely silent at first. The other three just remain still and silent as well, focused on his impressions as he stops on the other side of the couch, just gazing directly at the images.
Those images of torn cities reflect in his starry irises, his mouth hangs open, and his very first question is: "What…is all this? When…did this happen?"
Defeated for she could no longer restrain his intense curiosity, Dana just sighs with a low head, the guilt hitting Ekitai late with a nervous chuckle and another head scratch before dropping his arm and answering with an attempted upbeat tone, "Well to be fair, we learned about this like a minute ago so you actually didn't miss this part. I hardly even know what's happening, but hey Kokei watched a lot more about this so she's the expert."
Beside him, Kokei sighs now that she's been forced to the spotlight or at the very least become the subject of Meditat's shifted gaze, and so she raises her gaze to meet his before explaining apprehensively, "Well I mean I don't know much either…and also I didn't watch that much, all I know is there's been some sort of infestation or attack or something along those lines on a bunch of Earths, it all happened last night which is why we're only learning about it now."
Dana raises her head and chimes in optimistically, "At least the E.G.A seem adamant on rescuing civilians trapped in those zones and evacuating them to safe regions, they responded pretty quickly so they're taking this seriously. I mean maybe later we can see if there's anything we can do but honestly for something of this scale, I'm not sure if one person can do much, you'd need the mass personnel they do to effectively contain this problem."
That assurance only peeks Meditat's curiosity deeper as he next asks, "'This scale'...how many places were affected by this? It looks like multiple Earths were hit, do they know how many?"
Realizing she's only fueling the fire, Dana reaches her hand out to reword herself but it's Kokei who answers first gloomily, "They said forty five…."
Instantly Meditat's head snaps around with wide eyes, horrified by a number that great. He can't even provide an immediate verbal reaction, at least giving the stage space for Dana to again remind, "Like I said, the E.G.A is vigilant on this case, I wouldn't be surprised if they're putting the majority of their resources to this threat alone. We can see if they need our help but those people are getting help, it's clear they're extending their reach to worlds that aren't even part of the alliance so they have coverage over this. Maybe there's some way we can assist them, we can look into that, but at least there is an active solution."
Meditat lowers his head with a contemplative expression, silent for a few seconds before inquiring, "Where did you get that Earth count?"
Both Dana and Ekitai turn to Kokei who finds herself becoming the designated spokesperson despite being in similar fog to the news, nonetheless after a huff she answers, "The news reports, that's where I've been getting all this information anyways, it's still all so recent.
That earnest answer oddly results in a suspicious look from Meditat whose eyebrow raises, and he lifts his head, turning back towards the screen before commanding, "Orial, can you map out the solar system and highlight all Earths that have been identified to be affected? Just a small tabletop is fine."
The request which isn't directed at either of the three allies leads to no answer for a few seconds, that is until one is pronounced from Meditat's body itself, spoken in the familiar British male voice which greets with an awkward tone, "Ah, greetings sir, I wasn't sure when to chime in but I wish to address a health check diagnostic report I ran after your awakening, there are a few critical areas we may want to-."
"Later, thanks Orial, can I get the map first?" Meditat coldly interrupts, silencing the assistant for a couple more seconds before it apprehensively obliges, "If you wish, sir, that specific data hasn't yet been publicized but I'll retrieve the relevant records."
He turns around towards the other three allies just as a hologram projects from him, not of a flat upright screen but instead a three-dimensional projection that sits parallel with the floor similar to a table: the hologram consists of a great cluster of small blue globes that all slowly orbit around a single larger cyan orb in the center, all to represent the solar system, each globe smaller than a golf ball due to the sheer quantity as there are a hundred of them. The four huddle around the display in curiosity which is when suddenly about half of the globes switch to a red color tone, the concentration completely random which Orial clarifies as, "The red signifies Earths that have been listed as affected by the recent contaminations, using the most recent data updated forty five minutes ago."
There is a random distribution of red planets amongst the blue as there's some closest to the central orb representing the sun as well as others at the edge of the model, as while the four of them are interested in the graphic itself, none of them have reason to act shocked. Oddly enough though Orial mentions, "I have just reviewed an odd discrepancy with a previous comment, the records I retrieved indicate fifty Earths to be affected. This conflicts with Kokei's earlier report of forty five."
Meditat raises his head and crosses his arms over his chest, facing directly at Kokei with suspicion, warranting her to raise both of her hands and exclaim, "Wait what, I swear that's what the news report said, I thought so at least." She then frowns before doubting herself in a softer volume, "I mean we just watched it, did I already mix the number up?"
Beside her both Dana and Ekitai turn from her to each other before simultaneously shrugging, Ekitai first to mention innocently, "Hey I wasn't awake at that part so I wouldn't know, that's what she said. I guess it's not that far off though."
Dana hums before turning to Kokei and assuring in a gentle voice, "It's fine, it's early anyways, I probably would be prone to making the same mixup."
However it's the voice of Orial that vindicates, "I have just reviewed all relevant articles and video reportings, the official broadcasts do in fact indicate only forty five Earths to be affected. Kokei is not at fault."
Kokei sighs in relief and thanks in Meditat's direction, given he's the source of the voice, "Thank you Orial, I'm not crazy."
Dana tilts her head and comments befuddled, "Weird, I'd be surprised if they all made the same mistake though."
She returns her focus back to the model as do the other three, focused yet again after the correction. Kokei wears a perplexed frown, still thrown off by the error, a similar foggy expression worn by Dana and Ekitai who just stare at the display though they gaze somewhat aimlessly with little to specifically center their attention to. At first Meditat has a similar confounded expression while studying the models with analytical eyes, though it then shifts to suspicion with a raised eyebrow, before then transitioning to a stern, somewhat discontent face. He keeps his eyes trained on the model though requests, "Orial, isolate all Earths ranging from 91 to 100."
The other three turn to Meditat with perplexed gazes all but for Ekitai who's more intrigued, watching as the holographic model animates with the globes at the furthest edges rising up to distinguish themselves from the rest of the system, hovering about a foot higher before stopping. About half of the separated globes are blue with the others red, which seems fairly proper given the random distribution across the solar system.
At first the other three only seem confused by the fixation, Kokei's eyebrow raising before she asks audibly stupefied, "Uh…what's that for?"
Beside her, Dana and Ekitai also seem lost by the seemingly random request, Dana studying the separated chunk to read that exactly half of them are in fact red, a perfect split. Still she's not entirely sure what judgment to make, same as Ekitai who just turns towards Meditat just as he then sternly asks, "Orial, excluding Earths 91 to 100, how many Earths were affected as documented by the database you pulled from?"
A few moments of silence follow as none of the other three interrupt, all four of them listening to the response that follows, its own tone curious, "Excluding those last ten Earths, there are forty five Earths reportedly affected."
"And what was the source of this data," Meditat immediately follows up, as if expecting that answer.
There is a momentary pause though before Orial answers albeit noticeably befuddled, "I retrieved it from the E.G.A data servers using a port from the Oracle-XS E5 alpha station, though as you know it is restricted from public access, and accessing it is indeed breaching laws that carry punishments such as life under-."
"At least right now I doubt there's any other organization that can compile this data, they must have been the source relaying the information, but they gave an incorrect number, excluding Earths from the Rim," Meditat ultimately concludes, interrupting the felony warning. Instead, he raises his head to focus on the split portion of Earths before asking, "You can discard the rest of the model, focus on the Rim."
According to command, the larger holographic model of the solar system including the central sun vanish, allowing the remaining ten globes to descend to the same level as the system was previously before then slightly enlarging, scaling up the model to allow for greater detail but maintaining consistent spacing. As he surveys the transition, Ekitai clenches his teeth in a sign of unease whereas Dana turns to Meditat to query apprehensively, "Are you implying that they are intentionally obscuring the entire Rim's endangerment? Maybe there was an error or-."
Meditat doesn't turn his gaze away from the model though he snappily explains, "It wasn't an error, it was a calculated choice. It makes sense to a certain extent, the Rim doesn't have proper contact to the extended internet, they would likely be unable to view those reports and would certainly be unable to contest it. Only the Rim is isolated in that sense, whereas other Earths that aren't necessarily part of the E.G.A still are connected, and could communicate and thus disprove attempts at excluding them."
Dana's eyes expand in shock at the accusation, turning her full attention towards him to assert, "Medit, don't you realize how…messed up that'd be? They wouldn't do that, right?"
Meditat finally attends to Dana but only with his eyes, as his head remains fixed forward, and then further theorizes in that same cold tone, "They are stretched thin, and they likely understand that deciding to only prioritize E.G.A Earths won't have them perceived well, and at a weak point like now such an overwhelming public discontent wouldn't be desired." He then turns his head to face her directly before continuing, "Dana, The Shield's primary purpose was to eliminate threats to worlds that were not part of the alliance, and thus received no aid from them. To be honest, many of the missions we underwent could've probably been accomplished by the E.G.A if they just sent resources, they're not incompetent as they've been excellent at defending their own worlds. But back then it was clear they did not prioritize the safety of populations not directly in their alliance, it's this very fortress that housed the people who had to take that responsibility upon themselves."
He then turns back to face the globe models while prefacing, "I will admit, it seems they have taken strides at expanding their help, and I am certain far more people would be in danger if they never changed their priorities. But they've always been stingy about the Rim, you know that, you of all people know that, Dana. They knew they wouldn't be discovered for excluding the Rim, and they're correct, I'd be surprised if anyone discovers this unless someone else tests their luck on their servers but I assume it hasn't weakened."
He lowers his head and sighs gently before specifying, "I just want to say, I'm not antagonizing them, I understand they're in a difficult position, and I'm sure they have reasons they have determined to be valid to make that choice. I never harbored hatred towards the E.G.A, The Shield has always operated adjacent to them, we didn't view them as malicious. This is just how they operate, that's a fact we just need to accept: they cover what they can, and someone else just needs to cover the rest."
Facing him with a frown as the continuation of this discussion has already been realized despite it not being desired, Dana lowers her head and sighs before perceiving, "And you're that someone, yes?"
Both Kokei and Ekitai turn straight at him, stunned, Kokei especially anxious as she takes a minor step back. They watch Meditat lift his head to face her, providing a single firm nod before confirming, "I need to, Dana, right now they have no one. There's a lot I'd wish to do, I know people everywhere need help, but you're right, to a certain extent there are others doing what they can. But there's also people who aren't getting any aid, and judging by the scale of retaliation, I can only imagine the worst that might come to them if left alone."
He faces the holographic model and briefs, "I'll try to reach each Earth affected to see what I can do. Orial, do we have any data more specifically detailing distinctions with the effects, any intensity levels, density readings, coverages? Anything that we could use to determine priority, we could use it."
After a couple seconds, Orial answers with an apology, "I apologize sir, but the only available data is rather simplistic and lacks details of that variety. Understanding that there is little use in resisting your mission, may I instead propose taking a route of shortest distance for maximum efficiency?"
Dana chuffs before lecturing, "Come on Orial, you could've tried at least."
Meditat turns to her, softening his stern expression to more empathetically acknowledge, "I know you have X-Prints to tend to, I wish I could be here to help you through it, I'll offer what I can once I return. Remember, I'll always make myself available if you need to Connect me, you don't need to think about it."
Dana takes a deep breath and lets it pass out in a sigh, huffing with a subtle smile before she corrects, "Medit…you know I'm coming."
Meditat's eyebrow raises, stuck appalled, opening his mouth to rebuttal but is interrupted with a heavy yawn coming from Ekitai whom he turns to, finding him stretching his arms over his head and playfully whining, "I just got up and now this, man what did I say would happen? Well I guess I'm already getting bored of the city, back to the Rim we go."
Before a reaction can follow, Kokei steps in to declare, "I've just been wasting away job hunting, I'd rather do something that makes a difference. I'm ready when you are."
Being canceled out of a response, lastly Meditat turns his attention back to Dana, who smiles back at him before prompting, "Lead the way, captain."
Standing at the rim of the holographic model, Meditat just turns his head to gaze at the three who've so quickly offered their support without being asked, dumbstruck. History has already made it clear that the path has been set with no changes, and understanding this, he takes a deep breath and washes his expression with a solid determination, nodding in compliance. He waves his hand, signaling the hologram to vanish, for the brief has already effectively taken place.
He closes out boldly, "If nobody has objections, then we have nothing to do but depart."
He takes a panoramic gaze across the three, finding no doubts as they give back committed nods. He nods back to the three and declares, "Then we're off," before he marches off for the exit of the lounge, walking around the backs of the sofas. One by one each of the three follow, Dana first behind, then Ekitai, and Kokei last. She glances back at the hole remaining in the middle of the room, still not having been patched, though understandably so she doesn't bring attention to it. Instead she fixes her gaze ahead, following the group out of the lounge to where the elevation pad is.
That elevation pad eventually rises up, initially at a slow but steady pace, yet it would gradually accelerate, passing many of the floors above such as the armories and storage rooms, being passed at such speeds that they eventually can only be registered as blurs of the red or white lights that illuminate them. The speedy climb up the mountain eventually drags slower until coming to an absolute stop within the expansive white hangar room, the tall white wall opening up a wide doorway enough for a pod to pass through. That opening reveals the polished stone elevator shaft that the pad navigates through, stopping at perfect alignment with the shiny white floor that Meditat steps forth onto. He marches onward, leading Dana, Ekitai, and Kokei into the hangar, their footsteps echoing through the open space brightly lit. As they march forth, Meditat's right hand closes to a fist, and as soon as his irises flare up, his fist suddenly ignites an azure fire that consumes it, the flames dancing up in twirls yet doesn't burn his own hand. Instead it follows guidance, as when Meditat raises that right arm to aim his hand forward, he opens the fist which releases a burst of blue fire forward about fifteen feet before it abruptly combusts, expanding in all directions like an explosion but one with a shape that morphs from a chaotic bubble to the refined hull of a sleek sedan-model pod. Once that shape smoothens to the point where the flames no longer dance independently, the entire texture transforms into a solid material, a sleek metal consisting of a base azure body embellished with white and black rims. The pod is already hovering about a foot off the ground, its right side facing back at the team, and after completion all four of the doors dematerialize concurrently.
Both Meditat and Ekitai walk around the pod at the same time that Dana and Kokei slip through the closest doors, Dana in the front passenger seat and Kokei in the back. Upon seating themselves, those two doors wall back up, leaving the last two open which Meditat and Ekitai reach. The two of them crawl through their doors, Meditat at the driver's helm and Ekitai behind, and once they situate themselves those doors are then closed to fully enclose the pod. The next moment is the awakening as the pod unleashes a ferocious roar that rumbles the whole hangar, igniting the pod with the power to make its ascension, slowly pulling forward as it approaches the white ceiling. It passes the black SUV pod still present in the hangar, slightly further on ahead, at rest as the only other vehicle in the entire gargantuan room.
That solid ceiling suddenly vaporizes, or at least a chunk does in the shape of a diamond, beaming cyan sunlight onto the rising pod, the cyan reflecting off the azure. The vehicle lifts itself through those diamond gates where the roaring winds lie.
Shining brightly under the rising sun just emerging from the horizon, the pod continues to ascend above the white-tipped mountain that towers over the vast green forest beyond, many other mountains surrounding it but none even remotely close to its size. Hills stand further in the distance, The Peak being the apex of the wavelength, the waves beyond slowly becoming shorter but wider, not even the immediate neighbors crowned in white. From all directions the only land that can be seen is the forest, no change in biome nor the borders to the sea. However, regardless of how vast the forest is, there's no mountain that challenges the superior stature of The Peak, as just drifting slightly above it places the pod high above the whole of the woodlands. The green is far enough that it can be mistaken as grass when in actuality it's the dense pack of trees that are in fact colossal themselves, akin to redwood trees, and yet there's no indication of their height at an altitude this great.
Rising with the sun, the azure pod begins to rotate around and tilt its nose up, where it then slowly drives forwards at an initial crawl towards the sky that hasn't yet reached its soft blue, but is instead overwhelmed by the cyan tones which even tint the clouds that scatter over the sky.
The gentle hum of the pod reflects its calm glide, one that quickly accelerates along with the sudden intensification of that hum into what would more resemble a growl leading to a roar. That acceleration is only smooth for about a second before hitting a great jump signified by a thunderous boom that fires the pod like a bullet towards the atmosphere, blasting the snow underneath the closed doors like an immense gust of wind as it similarly punctures a hole straight through the clouds.
. That thunder echoes in all directions throughout the forest, even as that pod becomes nothing but a black dot in the sky, fading from the fortress, returning to the cosmic highway, starting a journey that would only begin at its destination.