towerofanimus | Endgame: This is the Way the World Ends

[Diarmuid considers what Shion is saying for a long moment and then shakes his head.]

That might work if we had all the time we needed to figure things out, but I honestly don't think we have the time to do that. It sounds like a very complex process and one we might not have the tools to make work...

[There isn't anything near him to add to the barrier, so Diarmuid starts pacing in front of the area where he has been working instead, hoping the movement will help him think.]

Are we making this too complex just because we have so many possibilities before us? What if we just focus on what we have: Zo and the machine? I have to agree with Shion and Xion. We probably shouldn't include Ruana in our plans. Even if we find a way to subdue her without killing her, there is no guarantee she will stay that way for long.

Zo's specialty is barriers and he has been growing stronger at an almost unimaginable rate. Could it be so simple as to just have him shift our barriers from immortal to mortal again? Might that release the life we have taken from our planets back to them?

[Of course, there is one draw back to this idea that hits Diarmuid as soon as he stops speaking and actually causes him to pale some. Would doing that cause those who were dead when there were brought here to die again, since they had no life to begin with? Or were they actually pulled here just before all life had left them leaving a little for them?]

...

[Waver reached the same unsaid conclusion as Diarmuid as he listened, the idea causing him to frown in aggravation and cross his arms.]

I think the logic there is valid, for whatever measure of 'logic' this entire situation runs on. At the absolute least, it may be best to exclude the variable of Ruana from the larger equation.

[...He really couldn't leave it unspoken as a possibility, though.]

The question is what becomes of us after that.

We survive or we don't. But if we don't stop this now, it will happen to every world everywhere. Forever. Our well-being factors very little into this.

I know that; don't misunderstand that as hesitation, I'm willing to do whatever it takes to finish this properly.

But it would be cruel to not at least mention that factor as a possibility and let everyone brace for the worst case scenario.

So a reset within our own souls... [Shion nodded, it made sense in as much as anything made sense. All they would need was Zo and the machine hopefully.] It is best everyone goes into this with knowledge of what could happen even if we succeed. Those up fighting Ruana went knowing that they may die forever, and they did it so that we could figure something out to stop all this. If everyone in this room agrees that stopping this is worth whatever happens next then we need to do this and we need to convince Zo to agree.

[If it is as dangerous as he imagines it is the young boy might not wish to go through with it even though Shion hopes he will see the logic and that it was the only solution with the time they had.]

[Marty frowned, folding his arms and leaning against a wall.]

If Ruana tried to kill herself and didn't succeed...

[His voice is quiet, trailing off at the unspoken thought; the people fighting her really would die, and probably all of them as well without being able to stop it all. It's obvious he's not really talking to anybody in particular, just mumbling out his own thought process.]

Unless something really different happens.

[The boy wracks his brains, trying to think of something, anything, that might help the others if it was passed along.

That's when it pops into his head, and he straightens up, his voice growing sharp.]

Where's Ruana's body? Did anyone see her get back into it in the video?

[Taiki had been sat watching everything silently and listening. Everything he heard and saw frightened him but he knew everyone was doing their best to think about ways they could save everyone and their worlds, because if the others were right then their deaths would lead to their worlds dying forever with them.]

I didn't... I don't know if she did... [His voice is barely a whisper but he answers Marty from where he sits.]

Edited 2014-08-30 07:59 (UTC)

[Mac an Chuill stands from where he has been sitting against the wall so he stays out of the way and moves so that he can curl around Taiki, putting his head in the boy's lap. Diarmuid also moves over to Taiki, crouching down to gives the boy's shoulder a reassuring squeeze. Once that is done, he turns to Marty with a confused look on his face.]

I am afraid I don't follow. Surely, after all these years she has retrieved her body or had one of the others do so...

[Taiki petted Mac an Chuill as he curled up around him, feeling a little less scared when Diarmuid came and squeezed his shoulder. He blinked at Marty, waiting for him to answer Diarmuid]

[Xion frowns thoughtfully]

I think... if she hadn't, wouldn't it have been in here?

But how would it help anyway? If what the computer said is true... she's not a part of it anymore. It's like... an empty shell.

[The concept itself makes her a bit uncomfortable in and of itself. But then her eyes light up a little, and she thinks she can see where this is going]

Unless you want Zo to put her back into it? Make her... well, not immortal again?

It might be the only way to stop her... [He's a bit uncomfortable by it as well but he sees what Marty is saying, maybe.]

Right, we need a list of actions. We need to somehow change the barriers within ourselves and possibly find Ruana's body and place her back into it...

Aren't we getting a little off-topic here?

[Ever since watching that horrible video, Edgeworth had been quietly noting everything down before listening to Shion's conversation with the others.]

As curious as I am about the issue concerning Ruana and her body, we aren't here to discuss how to defeat her - the others are fulfiling that role.

Good point. [Shion frowns] So we focus on the barriers, see what the machine can do. Hope that once the barriers are changed our worlds somehow restore themselves...

[Far too many variables for him to be happy but it is what they have to go off]

[Diarmuid stands from where he was crouching by Taiki.]

It won't hurt to keep our eyes open, though. Who knows? While we are working things out with the barriers, we might find something to do with her body in the room. And...

[He looks toward Naoya.]

Can you pass the information about Ruana's body to Gilgamesh, so the others can at least keep an eye out for it? Zo must have had some idea how to beat her without it, but if they do find it hidden somewhere it might help!

I will.

[He pauses a moment to do that, looking a bit distracted. Hm. An interesting development...]

Thank you, Naoya.

[Diarmuid gives the man a nod and then turns back to the others.]

Something we haven't touched on much is how to make it so we can go to worlds besides our own to start with. We talked a little about teleporters and keeping permanent links between worlds open, but do you think that Zo could adjust the boundaries on what is considered home for those of us who want to go elsewhere?

[Of course, that idea is more of a one-way trip and doesn't cover traveling between worlds after everyone goes home.]

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

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