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[paletteswap]

Kombat will settle this.

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[inthenightmods]

The next time Kuai swings by the post office, the Postmaster General will eagerly hand him a letter! It reads:

I can't repair what is kept from me.

Attached is a sketch of his brother's lantern.

Dec 7 | text | @silent

[callada]

Probably should have told you Jason and I were going out on the water a couple days ago. Maybe you heard what happened.

But I'm back now and could use a hard drink. Meet me at the bar?

[paletteswap]

Were you with Stone and Bodhi? I saw something about that.

I'll be there in a moment.

[callada]

[Rather than responding to that question via text, he'll just wait for Kuai at the bar. He's got himself a seat at a table near the back wall and while he's seen too much of this room in the last few weeks, there aren't many other great options for drinking. It's frigid outside and he's seen enough snow for a lifetime.

There's already a bottle of whiskey on the table, his usual preference, and a couple glasses. He looks up from his tablet when he notices Kuai has arrived, and gives him a nod in greeting.]

You saw Bodhi and Stone fall, then?

[Might as well just continue from there.]

[paletteswap]

[Kuai is pretty used to seeing the same four walls for months at a time, but even he is a little tired of seeing these ones. It feels a bit like having a loss rubbed in his face. Not that they really lost, but seeing the aftermath of the barricades and the bloodstains doesn't feel much like a win.

But he's also aware he's the only one enjoying the weather.]

I saw Stone's network post, not the act itself. We're you out there together?

[He takes a seat, even though he's not exceptionally fond of whiskey he can't deny that he could damn well use a drink after all this.]

[callada]

No, I was on shore.

[He fills a glass for Kuai, then tops off his own. This is not intended to be a chat about plans or protocols. If he gets drunk, who cares. Now's as good a day for it as any and he's just getting started.]

I was just supposed to watch while they checked in on the tablet. Figured as long as they were headed toward the portal, we'd test how far the tablet network reaches. Didn't really get to test that out.

[paletteswap]

[He's mentally fought the past battle a thousand times a day so honestly the last thing he wants to talk about is preparations for the next one. Or worse an analysis of what went wrong last time. At this point he could recite a hundred item list with examples - none of which is honestly very helpful.]

I see. It's a valid query to see the distance of the network. Did they simply ... sink?

[You're probably supposed to swirl whiskey and sip it or something along those lines. Kuai skips right past that to actual drinking. He does stare into it's depths as if it might hold all the answers. It very much doesn't.]

[inthenightmods]

[After the Night Market has descended back into the lake, Kuai receives an inbox message!]

THANK YOU FOR PURCHASING ONE (1) HINT FROM DR. SCHICKSAL'S HINT-O-MATIC. YOUR PAYMENT HAS BEEN PROCESSED.

[Kuai's skin is now a vibrant shade of blue. It will stay this way until the next full moon.]

@silent | Dec 18

[callada]

I'd like to head toward downtown as soon as this snowstorm lets up. Will you be ready?

[paletteswap]

I can be ready whenever necessary.

The snow does not bother me. Nor the cold.

[callada]

Glad to hear it. General Hughes will be along as well. Xayah is unwell and will sit this one out, unfortunately.

If we get caught in a snowstorm, will your abilities help to get us through it in any way?

[paletteswap]

That's unfortunate. I hope she recovers. Has anyone else fallen ill? Is it tied to the market that was here recently?

I could perhaps create a shelter or a windblock but I'm not sure how useful that would be to anyone but myself. I'm not hindered by the cold.

[callada]

She wasn't inclined to give details. I'm sure she has her reasons.

All right. Good to know. Bring enough personal supplies for a week in case we get stuck out there anyway, I suppose.

[paletteswap]

Understandable.

Who is the other accompanying us? I don't think I've met them.

( text; jan 17, friday.) | @daylit.

[sunborne]

Hi Sir Kuai Liang.

I'm Daylight; we talked a bit in the past when you chatted with me when I expressed an interest in meeting the green-eyed spirits.

Well, I hope this doesn't come across as too weird or anything but can we talk somewhere private soon? Soldat brought you up when we were discussing something super serious, and I wanted to bring some stuff up with you too as a result of it.

Thanks!!
Daylight.

[paletteswap]

Certainly. Anything important shouldn't be passed through the network where others can see. Where are you? I can meet you.

[sunborne]

I'm at #5 Miner's Castle. It's just me right now since Coraline is out.

We can talk there if you're okay with that.

-> Action

[paletteswap]

You room with Coraline?

I'll be there shortly.

[He's on his way. Avoiding Coraline might be best since there's so much snow and ice around and she'll inevitably ask him to make more snowmen. Or bears. Or dragons. Which he will because he's secretly a big softy.

He politely knocks on the door and folds his arms to wait, wearing his normal leather armor with his upper arms exposed. Apparently the blizzard from a week ago doesn't seem to bother him.]

[sunborne]

[ daylight quickly opens the door and crouches down a bit to meet sir kuai liang's eyes, smiling nervously as he waves hello and, then, waves him inside. ]

Um- To answer your earlier question... Yeah. I room with Coraline. We're friends.

[ an awkward beat passes by as daylight tries to find the words to explain himself. you'd think he would have them by now while waiting for his guest to arrive.

you'd think and yet- ] So... Soldat mentioned you when we were talking about something... pretty important. Um- To make a long story short: I made contact with Dr. Solis and she invited me to meet her.

She said I could bring someone and that's why Soldat mentioned you. He thought you could be someone who could possibly come along with me.

[ he raises a servo up. ] I just- I just need you to know I'm going to talk to others about this. Multiple names came up and, um, I want to hear you all out. And I want you all to know because this is... big. This is big and the others trusted you with this so I trust you to know what's going on in turn.

[paletteswap]

[He follows him in, briefly glancing around to assure this isn't some sort of trap. Daylight doesn't seem the type, but he knows he's not the best judge of character.]

To meet in person? That could be incredibly useful if we were to ask the right questions. Unless you are considering this a social occasion.

[Whatever he expected Daylight to ask that is definitely not it. He folds his arms and thinks about everything he knows about Dr. Solis, the lab Ignis had found bearing her name, something about a radio tower and her being able to ... reuse the lanterns? There had been a lot of information thrown around in a short period of time.]

Are you going to try and convince her to make herself known to others? You said she was afraid we would kill her?

Feb 24 | text | @m.hughes

[dadandgone]

I received a package and letter from our doctor friend. I won't transcribe it word for word, but I wanted to make you all aware of some information that I think needs to be known NOW.

1. Confirmation of the amusement park. The coaster we saw a flier for does exist and does do what we hypothesized it would...it's a "humane method of suicide." If any of you go exploring and happen across the amusement park DO NOT LET ANYONE ON THE COASTER.

2. She thinks it will soon be time to connect to the network. She didn't give a day, but it sounded like it would be soon. I don't know if we're to wait to reveal her presence then or if you all think we should finally call another town hall to inform everyone else about this.

If you're curious about reading the letter for yourself, let me know.

[paletteswap]

That's what we all surmised about the coaster, but it is a little unfortunate to be proven right. It would have been a welcome surprise to find out otherwise.

That's good news at least, communication will be key the more we find out about this place. I think a town hall would be premature, especially with so many questions we can't answer. That might lead to people who weren't able to talk to her demanding access. It might be better to connect her and let her introduce herself.

[dadandgone]

It's one thing for it to be a theory, it's another to have confirmation of it. The way she talked about it in her letter makes me nervous about any other rides that might be in the park. It sounds rather likely that the roller coaster wasn't the only way to go out at this park...

Cao Pi expressed a similar stance, so it would seem that's the general consensus in terms of moving forward. Although I haven't heard from everybody yet.

[paletteswap]

Did she say if there was a reason they needed such a device? Were that many people eager to die?

Because there are far simpler, and less painful, ways to go about that.

[dadandgone]

Fear? A way out when they saw no other option available to them from what I understood. It sounded like there were enough willing for it to be built if nothing else.

I don't know...the coaster design and her response lead me to believe it wasn't painful at the very least.