towerofanimus | Endgame: This is the Way the World Ends

Energy doesn't just disappear, though. Assuming it hasn't been used for some other kind of purpose, it should still be there in some form.

- a thought. Do you think the reason Zo was able to open the portals to our worlds is because of his own power, or because Riki was successful in linking them?

Zo has links to all of us because he brought us here, right? I assumed he was using his own ties to us and the machine only allowed him to focus more easily on those ties. After all, while we did generally end up on the worlds of those close to us, it was still random where we went when.

[Diarmuid shrugs.]

To me, at least, that makes it seem more likely it was not that Riki linked the worlds, but that Zo was attempting to use powers he was not completely sure how to use. The AI also said, if I am remembering what I read from Reno's notes right, that Zo has gained power at an alarming rate over the last few years. It would make sense he is not quite sure how to use or control some of his abilities.

[Which means, it probably a very good thing they were able to gain control of the machine even if they aren't sure what all it can do.]

Mm.

[She nods.]

My thoughts were that if the worlds are already linked in some form, it's one less function of the machine we would need to risk using, assuming that whatever we do to one world passes to the others. That's how the 'virus' worked, no? It's clear that the fewer functions of the machine we risk using, the better off we'll all be.

...That's actually excellent logic. If the worlds are indeed linked, then we could theoretically spread a 'virus' of our own. In other words, if we restore one world we may possibly restore them all.

I am not sure how feasible this is, but I was wondering if we might not be able to use our links to Zo to help guide him to restoring our worlds?

[Diarmuid pauses a moment to think on the best way to explain his idea.]

What I mean is, we still remember what our worlds were like before they were destroyed, and with his link to each of us, maybe he will be able to use our memories to help guide him as he adjusts the barriers between our worlds being destroyed and not destroyed?

[He motions to Waver acknowledging his idea.]

It's not quite a virus, but it could work like one, with him jumping from world to world to world through the links. Since many of us still have strong links those who have gone, he could probably use those to reach the worlds of the people no longer here too.

[That gets a smile and a nod out of her.]

It's not quite a virus, no, but it doesn't have to be exactly the same to work. The principle is the same.

[Patchouli thinks for a moment, tilting her head to one side. She's quietly talking herself through the logic, looking for any holes that might be in it.]

The one remaining question is whether he can do it without the memories of everyone upstairs. If someone doesn't make it back - gods forbid - then that's a world that can't be restored.

We would have to hope that the connections between us is what connects all the worlds. If someone upstairs dies... [His voice falters, he has many friends up there] Then they are someone we know, someone we care about. We have to hope that that will be enough to restore their world even if it won't have them in it...

Speaking of those connections... considering those shadow children are what are supposedly the souls of people Zo tried to bring in and couldn't... what will happen to them?

[Nothing that he cares about... but he does have to ask.]

[That was right! It wasn't just the worlds... Otherwise... what was the point of it all?]

If they're people from our worlds then we need to make sure they're fixed too. Put back and restored the way they were.

[Something tells her this won't be as simple or as easy as simply restoring their worlds might be, though]

Well, if we go along with the idea of Zo adjusting barriers to fix each world, I don't see why he couldn't fix the people of each world as he goes by adjusting the barrier between life and death like he will be doing for the whole planet. I think it will help that they are here to use as something to focus his powers on. They can also help provide links to worlds that might be harder to connect to otherwise.

[Diarmuid agrees with Xion. Fixing the people will probably be harder because they are people, not things, but since they have access to their souls and aren't trying to restore them from memory or an empty body...]

It's just how long is this going to take and will Zo have the time and energy to do it...

Right...honestly, if we solve the issue of 'time', I would think he'd be able to rest after all of this. The issue of 'energy' would then sort itself out, would it not?

[You're getting a suspicious look, Waver.]

I suppose, though I can't imagine that energy will come from nowhere.

[We are not breaking the laws of thermodynamics if we can help it, magic or no magic.]

So we have to make sure this place is stable... That we will have that time...

[He frowns, trying to think. This was going to be a lot harder than they expected and he for one had not been expecting it to be easy.]

Maybe there's some way we can make it easier on Zo? For the shadow children at least... if we could figure out what was wrong with them in the first place, like if they were split into pieces, we could find those pieces, or at least point Zo in the right direction.

[That way it would take less energy (and therefore time), maybe. She's sort of throwing ideas out there right now, though.]

The shadow children, huh....[Those creatures that claimed to be loved ones of the residents from their dead worlds. Edgeworth initially dismissed them as just more monsters allowed in by Ruana to bring misery on the residents, but...]

You think they might actually be whom they claim they are? [He's.....unsure what to think about this for now, even though Reno's notes said that whether or not this is true is not known.]

[Diarmuid reaches up to rub at the bridge of his nose. This is getting so complicated. Something that might take months if not years to finish.]

There has to be a simpler way. What if we can't find the time to do all of those things? What if Ruana does something that starts making this place fall apart the moment she is no longer has control?

[He's not ignoring Edgeworth's question. It's just that he doesn't have an answer. In his opinion, the shadow children are just what they claim to be, but that is only his opinion and he knows Edgeworth wants proof. It's how his roommate works.]

I'm not saying we shouldn't keep working on the long term plan, but I think we have to be realistic and work on a shorter term emergency plan too.

[He has to agree with Naoya on this one. The energy is going to be a very large stumbling block.]

You guys are forgetting some things, you know.

[Marty shifts where he's sitting, frowning slightly.]

We don't even know what we need other than "Zo" and "the machine" to fix anything. I mean how can we fix anything or figure it out? I feel like we're missing something. "How" is going to really gonna be linked to that.

[He glances around briefly.]

Uh, maybe someone could ask Aria to sum up what she and the other units know, maybe it'd help? Just get the information out there and start with that.

And how did Zo link to us in the first place? What kinda barriers does he need to alter?

[He hesitates a second.]

You know... most things, like science and crime forensics go for the simplest solution or explanation... instead of a lot of barriers, just one?

[Another pause, and anyone close enough could tell he's worrying his lip with one hand and fidgeting.]

It's going to sound way out there, but what if he alters the barrier of the multiverse itself, to make it kinda like Ruana never happened to it?

[He shakes his head suddenly.]

I don't know, I mean I really wish the Doc was here.

...touche. It's true that in novels, the simplest explanation is often the easiest.

I'll be back in a few minutes. I'd like to talk to Aria, just to make sure we do have all the information.

[and exit, for a bit - feel free to skip me till the NPC discussion's done.]

What so... erase her from existence? [Was that even possible? Shion tried to ignore that question. Nothing seemed possible at the moment, not restoring the worlds, not bringing back the dead. But once monsters and towers full of horror and dying twenty times and still being here to tell of it had seemed impossibilities.

More information seemed and he nodded when Patchouli went to talk to Aria.]

But if we did that... wouldn't we all forget? Everybody would go home... it'd be like this never happened.

[Xion frowns. She isn't entirely fond of this idea. Or at all, really.]

The Tower hasn't been a bad thing for everyone. If we just were to take that all away, without any choice, wouldn't that be just as bad?

[She folds her hands in her lap. Her voice is quieter as she continues.]

I don't want to lose what I've learned here. What I got here.

Edited 2014-07-23 05:39 (UTC)

I agree with Xion. [He hadn't thought of that, but he should have. If they erased Ruana than this, all of it, never happened.] Leaving people no choice and just erasing years of memories, that is no better than what has been done.

[He doesn't want to forget, he might sleep easier for it but he doesn't want to lose what he gained, what he learned, the memories of his family. It is too big a sacrifice]

No! I mean, that's not what I'm--

[Marty sounds as distressed as the others when the subject of forgetting]

Look, I've done the time travel thing before... every time I went back to the future, I still had my old memories. It was getting kinda bad at one point. I mean. More like make it so she doesn't happen to the universes. We're still outside of those space-times, so we'll remember.

[Flustered, he shakes his head.]

It's kinda hard to explain. Doc's theories don't always make a lot of sense... time travel doesn't make a lot of sense. This... this is way beyond that, way beyond our comprehension. This world was experimenting in stuff that we won't get to for thousands of years! If we even do! If what I read about Zo's abilities are right, you take this place as the context... and what Dax said about him manipulating more abstract concepts... what the hell is abstract to a Tower native? Ruana's been killing off entire universes all by herself, and Dax said Zo's stronger than her. These kind of powers go back to like, like creation myths or something.

[Marty glances over at Diarmuid and Waver, probably looking for encouragement because he sure doesn't look all that confident in his answers.]

A-anyway... we could probably ask Zo to help us keep or forget as we want.

I think Marty might have the right idea, but the wrong barrier.

[As they have been talking, Diarmuid has been weighing back and forth their ideas and trying to find a way to work them all together. The last thing he wants to do is forget too.]

By the time we can talk to Zo again, Ruana will be dealt with. Spending more time on her will be using time we really need to be using on other things. I think what we need to do is find a different barrier. One that more directly affects what we need affected--the state of the worlds. However, I'm not completely sure myself what barrier would be best to adjust.

[His expression grows contemplative again.]

Death to life? Destroyed to thriving? Future to past? Though, I don't much like that one. It involves some of the same risks that erasing Ruana would...

Not how we remember to how we remember? That is pretty abstract when you get down to it...

Endgame: This is the Way the World Ends - MACHINE ROOM

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