And then there shall be bestowed upon the elect wisdom

[warriorscribe]

Characters: Enoch, Zelda, Tohko, and the people they invited, also something for Naoya before the meeting. (Invitees, please add your tags as you come in!)
Setting: Sauna floor(F77), 3pm, March 27th (2:30pm for Naoya's pre-meeting thread)
Format: Whatever works!
Summary: Finally, all three people who were contacted after Dax's death will meet. Plotting ensues.
Warnings: None thus far.

The letters had been sent. Now, all there was, was to wait. Enoch, and possibly one or two others, was there already, sitting at the far end of the room so they couldn't be heard through the door, sitting up straight and a hand resting on his knee as he waited for the others. His leadership potential often went unused, Enoch being the submissive type, content with the role of the follower. But he would have been next in line for his father's priesthood, a leader role of sorts - he could and would take the lead if he had to.

((Links:

Naoya's pre-meeting thread Mingle Meeting

Nothing has to be a single continuous thread, but please name new conversation topics in the subject line for the meeting itself for the sake of ease of browsing.))

Comments

[warriorscribe]

"He seemed to be wielding pure darkness when he attacked the wedding. I'm willing to take your description exactly as you said it, Princess... I assume "evil" here is as in opposition to God- ... The divine?"

It was easiest, he'd learned in his time traveling the many cities with their varied worship, to speak in general.

[sageprincess]

"Not... precisely," is her initial response, the formality of her tone broken slightly by uncertainty with Enoch's description. "Ganondorf hates the Goddesses of Hyrule, to be sure, but at the same time, the power he seeks over any other is their very essence - what was left behind when they left the land they created for the heavens."

Discreetly, her hands shift in her lap, the left moving to cover the back of the right. To most, it might seem a meaningless, fidgeting gesture, but to those who might know or sense where Wisdom lies...

"We call him evil because his reign saw unprecedented strife in Hyrule, unmatched by any war. He killed one guardian deity, brought another to the brink of death, and nearly drove one race to starvation even before he assassinated the king and rose to power. He would then attempt genocide on three different races, brainwash his own people and turn them into mindless killing machines if they spoke out against him, and those who were able to escape those fates were lucky if they could live the life of a refugee in their own country."

Her jaw is tight, her hands, clenched, but otherwise she does not allow herself to appear visibly shaken by the events she recounts.

[crouching_sin]

Naoya bites back his initial answer to Zelda - that this is not an unusual tactic, politically - since he knows that's unlikely to help him in this situation. This is not a time to get into a moral debate. That can happen later.

"Should we need to topple him directly I have one or two people in mind that can help. But I suspect that Ganondorf is not the focus of our discussion here, so I suggest that we move along to whatever it is, before someone either involved with his side or uninvolved but suggestible wanders into here."

/slides in all late-like

[repeatingsun]

Solas's eyes narrow as she hears that description. Guardians - like herself, then. This Ganondorf - she'd heard of him, she's sure of it. No better than Ekiamiel, though possibly less fixated on bleeding people dry in the most literal sense. Still, that doesn't make it better.

"He sounds horrible. How on earth hasn't he been locked up here?" There's a pause as she considers it. "Oh right...the admins. Still, if I can do anything to help, I shall." She finishes her short statement with a determined nod.

[warriorscribe]

"Hopefully, he won't interfere. We're here to discuss how to find the information Dax wishes us to find. There are some here who have already been under outside of Dax's help. I was one of these, but it was when the tower was as it was last week. We couldn't now, for the weather, but... has anyone else here been down to their levels otherwise?"

Enoch felt he had to get the conversation on track. He was the one who had started the tangent, after all...

[sageprincess]

"... I have," Zelda answers, all too willing to change the topic away from such a personal one. "It was a long time ago, but I once led a break-in attempt with the goal of stopping one of Jason's experiments."

Yeah, she's done this during a Jason month. When the Tower was fully functional. Let that sink in for a moment.

"We managed to get into the experiment area before we were found, which leads me to believe that Jason can become distracted by his 'work'. I have discussed this with Arthur and Ruler-" she gestures to each of her companions in turn, "-and... as counter-intuitive as it might be, I propose we make our move during one of Jason's months because of the possibility of him being distracted."

[warriorscribe]

"When I went into Jason's laboratory with Sheba, Felix, and Shion, we found that the last thing Jason had been doing at his desk was watching us. If he is not working, he will notice. So we must be certain he is occupied..."

Of course...there was a way to be certain. To make work for him somehow. But how to do that without making it obvious it was a distraction...?

[crouching_sin]

"I have. It was about nine months ago, during the event with people split into different groups with the administrators watching them and performing tests. However, I wasn't able to glean much information from it, due to the fact that the visit was... cut short."

Richtofen... ugh. That idiot.

[tohko_amano]

Tohko listened to everyone, making notes in her notebook and thinking as she spoke. She had heard of people going down below before, but she wasn't aware of all these separate incidents.

"I have not been down to the levels below. I have heard of and met people who have been below though..and if distracting Jason will let a small party downstairs..then we have to make sure that he's enjoying his horrible experiments enough that he won't notice a few mice."

[warriorscribe]

"The problem is...his experiments often involve watching us anyway. We must hope this month's experiment is something he is more directly involved in..."

...The more he thought of it, the more a distraction seemed inevitable. But, again, wasn't that suspicious in and of itself? What reason other than to be a distraction would anyone...

[crouching_sin]

"Hopefully. I wouldn't put it past him to somehow be watching things nonstop regardless. He must know that there are some who intend to assault the administrative levels again."

He could make a distraction, but the length of it wouldn't be guaranteed, given that he was just one person.

[sageprincess]

"If we wish to ensure a distraction, I have thought of two ideas we could implement. However, I have to admit neither is especially palatable."

The use of scapegoats, as helpful as it might be, still leaves an unpleasant feeling in her stomach.

"The first is to take advantage of the latent anger that rises whenever Jason is in charge. It would not take much to instigate a sort of riot against him, and if the results are the same as the last time such a tactic was used, he may even make an appearance in the residential portion of the Tower as well. At the very least, this would give us the time it takes for the elevator to go from wherever he would be to the upper tower to find Dax's research and get out. Additionally, he would likely be kept busy repairing any worker or retrieval units that were damaged, as well as reviving the fallen. I did not see anything that would suggest he watches over the tower while he does his work in 'processing'."

The memory of how close her group had been to Jason's office - how they were right under his nose - sends shivers down her spine. And that isn't even mentioning the soul extraction process she had a front row seat in witnessing.

"The second idea is much smaller in scale, but also more risky for those involved. It plans for a secondary group to go in with the main team and function as a destructive distraction force. They would move separately from the group meant to collect Dax's research, causing as much noise and destruction as possible in order to keep eyes off of the main team. I... do not particularly like this idea, but it has worked in the past. I believe the only reason my group was able to escape the processing room unscathed was because Feferi's group reacted so violently when they encountered Jason, and thus drew his attention away from the rest of us."

[crouching_sin]

"I would do the first one, though I don't have that kind of sway with many people here. The second idea might work better, at least on my end... I would have no problems leading such a group, though. They would have to all be prepared to die and do as much damage as possible before that. Ideally we'd want people with massively destructive powers, but it depends whom you think we can trust."

He'd think of asking Asako for this, but... no. He doesn't want her to die. He doesn't care about his own life, but seeing her die hurts every time, even if it's sometimes needed.

[tohko_amano]

While Tohko had her own ideas, which involved trying to soul-swap with the retrieval units, she knew that almost no one would go with that idea. Plus..it would be very, very risky for whoever tried it. Not to mention the fact that they had no idea what materials they would need or how they would even perform that plan.

So, she sighed and nodded, thinking.

"I don't think the first option would work as well as the second. Since it's already been done once, Jason would be very suspicious if something similar happened again. While it might be a suicide mission for those involved, I think the second plan has more of a chance of working. I can pull a couple of people into the distraction team, if we decide to do that."

Not that she herself would go into it. She had to stay with the main group, and any attempts to shake her off would not be taken well.

[warriorscribe]

Enoch thought about the plans involved. The riot, too, would disrupt things for people simply trying to go about their day. Mondo's riot had been on the day of the green collar checkups, for example...

This had the advantage of being quieter for those still in the tower, but...

"...Then there is nothing to pull Jason's eyes from us. He could see us enter the elevator as a group."

[sageprincess]

A legitimate concern. Zelda frowns, quieting for a moment as she brings her fist up to her mouth in thought. If there is no way to deliberately draw Jason's eyes away, then perhaps...

"... What if we stuck at night? Save Ruana, there is no evidence that says the administrators have need of sleep, but there is not much to learn from watching a slumbering Tower populace, I would think. Especially after at least a year and a half of running this 'mission'. And Jason does not strike me as a man who enjoys wasting his time."

[tohko_amano]

At that suggestion, Tohko actually smiled and nodded. This was an idea she had thought of too, so it was good that she wasn't the only one who had thought of it.

"That does seem like a good idea! After all, most of the residents keep to the dorm rooms to avoid the monsters at night. There's not much to learn from us then, so he might be tending to other places in the basement. Going at night could give up a slight advantage."

[warriorscribe]

Enoch nodded, as well. That sounded like a good plan. Especially because if they were indeed as human as they said and needed to sleep, too, it might spare the distraction team.

"The team meant as a distraction might return with information of their own, then, if everyone else would be asleep. ...But we must be wary of Ruana. Do we know when she is awake?"

[crouching_sin]

"No, we don't. However, I may be able to keep her... amused, should things end up turning sour."

While he hasn't really spoken with her directly... if his inklings about her personality are correct, he might be able to do it.

"Though if we attack at night while others are asleep, it may be more likely that he will spot us quickly. During the day there are others to keep watch over - we don't have much indication of what he does at night."

[sageprincess]

"She should be asleep by now, I believe. In the past, she has said she requires a great deal of sleep after being active for a month, so, theoretically, she should not be active while Jason is in charge."

Perhaps it's a bit presumptuous to think as much on so little evidence, but it fits with the pattern she's noticed thus far.

"Either strategy carries its risks - he will see us enter the elevator if we go during the day, he may notice something is wrong quickly if we go during the night. I believe we will have a better chance at retrieving the information if we go at night, but perhaps the distraction team should remain quiet until they have evidence the administrators are active."

[warriorscribe]

"We know they tire, we saw it when the visitors came. Surely they must sleep, too."

The only other option was to go in the daytime but ensure Jason had a distraction - it meant either gambling on his experiment or sacrificing someone...

"I agree with the idea of going at night, if we can be sure Ruana is asleep as well."

[sageprincess]

"There is evidence that she has been awake just before and just after her time in control of the Tower - before the wedding, and when those strange audio recordings appeared on the network. But I cannot recall a time when she has shown herself to be active two months after her own. Another reason why I believe striking during a month when Jason is in control is the best course of action.

However, even if we manage to plan for avoiding the administrators, there is still the matter of the 'security' Dax himself placed on his research to prevent others from finding it. That conflict is guaranteed, so we need to prepare for whatever 'security' might mean."

Her first thought is modified retrieval units, ones that had been altered to follow his orders and not the others, but she's aware enough of the technology the Tower runs on to know that is not the only possibility.

[crouching_sin]

"If it's a matter of breaking through digital security, I can take care of that - or I likely have the best chance of those assembled to do so. I have hacked the elevator before, and I was one of those who worked out how to summon the drones to get the appropriate chemicals when we had that... body swap situation."

He's not totally confident that he can break through everything, but he's probably got the best shot.

[warriorscribe]

Enoch smiled at that. "I was hoping you would do so. Force alone is unreliable for getting inside, and we need reliability. But for Dax's research...we can only try to prepare as well as we can in general. I believe we have some flexible skills among us as it is."

[repeatingsun]

Solas nods. "I can heal, create barriers, makeshift air, food, and water supplies...and if worse comes to worst I can probably give the administrators nightmares. The rest of you will have to look away if I try that though."