If you follow, there may be a tomorrow

[warriorscribe]

Characters: Whoever signed up for the hacking plot, and Enoch in the pre-plot mingle, March 10th
Setting: Secret floor for briefing/mingle, and places with terminals for the actual hacking action
Format: Do what you want!
Summary: Enoch doesn't do tech, himself, but he sure as hell can find people that can. It's a mad scramble for Dax's research before time runs out!
Warnings: Things may happen to those involved, and there's no telling what they'll find...

*Everyone who offered their services to the cause will receive a letter in their mailbox (except Mitchell, whom Enoch will contact with whatever method he left him with):

It's time. Meet me in the place.

When everyone is gathered in the secret room, Enoch has to take a moment to take in the sight of this odd group, one of which has endangered his life personally and deliberately. But that didn't matter now, not now when their worlds were at stake.*

You already know what I've gathered you all for. This is strictly for finding what Dax has left us. We must try not to alert Ruana - she is always awake now, so this will be difficult. Do nothing that would immediately draw her attention - do not pursue anything related to her, or to the number thirty-seven. Try to mask your steps, and the others', as well as you can. My role here is as a scribe - I will be making rounds among you and transcribing what you have found, and carrying any messages you may have for the others among the group. We will not escape punishment for this. If you wish to back out now, you may. But this is for our worlds. Does anyone have any questions before we go?

Comments

[attheclocktower]

[Ohhhh boy. She... isn't even sure how to begin decoding a password Dax might have. She's taking a leap though and... maybe he'd try to leave a clue somewhere. She tries to remember messages he's left in the past - like the one in July. But only one phrase from it jumps out - thanks to certain members of her friends]

> thingsthatarestilltrue

[Longest shot in the whole world, but...]

[animusnpcs]

[Clever. Incorrect, though, I'm afraid.]

[attheclocktower]

[... wait.]

> canyouunderstandme

[animusnpcs]

[Yes.]

[attheclocktower]

[PROGRESS. Xion smiles briefly, forgoing password-style typing for now if possible.]

> I'm a resident and we're looking for Dax's information on what happened to our worlds and how to maybe restore them.

[animusnpcs]

[Please hold still for identity confirmation.

A sweeping red laser shoots out of the terminal. It causes no harm or pain.]

[attheclocktower]

[Xion jumps a little in surprise but then freezes and holds still as she's scanned.]

[animusnpcs]

[Identity: Xion (X1176980). Correct?]

[attheclocktower]

> Yes. [and after a moment's thought] Thanks.

[animusnpcs]

[You're welcome. Please wait.

There's a pause of perhaps ten seconds.

Resident determined to likely be trustworthy.

The screen now displays a list of files:

RUANA
RIKI
JASON
ZO
s'edizehrtleez,eolosiohede
Fiu½hiAofonh(s(aaofhe-nelnyl]

[attheclocktower]

[Now Xion's hesitating again. Enoch told them to focus on the worlds and nothing that might alert Ruana to what they're doing, so... focusing on the gibberish folders, for now.

A brief (handwaved) interruption with Enoch later, and Xion knows that one of the others is already working on the first file. So she'll work on the second. If it worked for him, then maybe...]

> decrypt Fiu½hiAofonh(s(aaofhe-nelnyl]

[animusnpcs]

[To anyone watching Xion, she will appear to be sitting at her terminal as normal. To Xion, however, the world melts away until she floats with the terminal screen and keyboard in a black void.

Decryption will begin. Are you ready (y/n)?]

[attheclocktower]

[Xion gasps quietly, looking around the void. God, this place again? She'd thought this was over when February had ended... But the computer is still there, so maybe... maybe it wasn't quite the same.

She turns back to the screen, steeling herself.]

All right. Here we go.

[typing again]

> Yes.

[animusnpcs]

[Do not look away from the screen. Do not close your eyes except to blink. Do not scream.

In an instant Xion will feel as if she is being flung forward at an unnaturally rapid speed--the force presses into her body painfully, making it difficult to breathe. Something in the distance hums, growing louder and louder with each passing second.]

[attheclocktower]

[Xion clamps her jaws down, sucking her lips in and biting on them to keep herself from opening her mouth, sucking air in through her nose for all she's worth. Her hands jackrabbit away from the keyboard, and as the noise grows louder, they snake up to cover her ears, not tightly, but enough to provide some protection.

She blinks - rapidly at first, but soon more slowly, fighting to try to keep her eyes open and watch the screen]

[animusnpcs]

[The noise grows louder and louder, and slowly the void around her turns from black to grey and then white. A machine appears before her--considering the speed she's going at, and her inability to stop, it appears as if she's going to be hurtled into shining metal and angry gears.]

[attheclocktower]

[The hands covering her ears tighten as the noise gets louder. And then there's the machine, she can see it in her peripheral vision. It's getting closer and closer, she wants to stop, to not hit it, to look away or flinch.

no she can't she can't she can't-

focus on the screen. focus on the screen

It's a fight, to focus entirely on the screen, block out her peripheral vision, but it's her only chance]

[animusnpcs]

[The machine opens up just before she hits it, blossoming like a flower and allowing her to pass through. The void turns from white to blood red.

Xion finally comes to a halt, albeit an abrupt one, floating above a planet in marbled blue and green. A point of light appears far below before it shoots up into the sky, engulfing Xion. There's unimaginable pain, as if her soul is being torn away from her, as if she's being from the inside up and out.]

[attheclocktower]

[There's tears streaming down her face. Her pain tolerance was a lot higher than it was when she first arrived two years ago, but even so, this pain is overwhelming, as bad as when Jason vivisected her, if not worse. It's enough to override most of her conscious thought, just as it had then.

The only thing keeping Xion from screaming is her earlier measures, only now she's biting down on her lips to draw blood - a lot of it. The taste of it gives her something to try and focus on, along with the constant stream of don't scream don't look away don't scream don't look away don't-]

[animusnpcs]

[Xion finds herself sitting at the terminal again. The pain fades away.

A list of files appears:

RUANA
RIKI
JASON
ZO
s'edizehrtleez,eolosiohede
RESEARCH]

[attheclocktower]

[It takes Xion a few moments to start really breathing again. Slowly her hands unclench from around her ears.

She takes several shaky breaths. Wipes at her face to get rid of the tear tracks, though even an unobservant person could probably still tell she's been crying. She also unclenches her teeth from around her lips. Thankfully she didn't bite through them, though they'll be painful for a while. Swallowing a few times to get the worst of the taste of blood out of her mouth (though it's still bleeding), she double-checks what she's seeing, then turns to wave Enoch over.]

Enoch, I- [she swallows again] I think I got it.

[warriorscribe]

*all he knows is that two of the team are looking like they're in pain while the screen tells them not to close their eyes, look away, or scream. It's unsettling, and he wants to know what's going on, so when Xion speaks up as he makes his increasingly uneasy rounds, he hurries over.

I think I got it, and on the screen, RESEARCH. He nearly sobs as he bends down to hug her tight, not even thinking about what he's doing.*

What in the world did he-...never mind. *He tears out the back page of his notebook and hands it to her.* Here, I don't have any cloth, but this might help your mouth at least a little. I'll see if anyone else has anything better after this. *A light clap on the shoulder.* You can start whenever you're ready.

[attheclocktower]

[The hug is actually welcomed, with Xion relaxing into his grip briefly before pulling back. She accepts the notebook page with a nod, putting it to her mouth to try to catch any blood leaking out and to carefully dab at the spots on the inside of her mouth.

Her lips make it a little sore to move around too much, including speaking, so she mutters her thanks briefly before turning back to the screen.

Now, to see what they found.]

> RESEARCH

[animusnpcs]

[> MULTIVERSE
> VIRUS
> RAGNAROK]

[attheclocktower]

[... yeah Xion definitely stares at that last file. Reno had told her what Ragnarok meant, when their own group had been named for it. Was it something to do with them? But no, if that were true, why wasn't there a file for Pandora? It must be something else.

She'll definitely make sure to check that later, if she can. But first... why they were here.]

> VIRUS