Complete Pormont Emergency Broadcast

[Askera Question]

Entry 3: First Overview of Pormont

This is a log as described in Entry 0 of the Enemy Log Project (ELP) to determine the variety of dangerous life inside of the various regions that Landers and Starcalled alike have access to. This overview is written and logged by Askera Question.​

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Current entries are as follows.​

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• Timberwolf

Log 1: I have found a pack-bound species of canine predators that hide in the borders of Pormont just along the edge of the Scarwoods. They have been named Timberwolves by local hunters due to their recorded activity of attacking lumbermen on duty. It is because of this reason that lumbermills build fences and hire guards. I will take a time to observe a pack in its' natural environment.​

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Log 2: I have found the Timberwolves to be a familial and social species. They are mutually cooperative similar to displays that could be found in small rodents such as rats, freeing eachother when in danger or distress and feeding each-other when one goes hungry. They are also fiercely territorial as assumed.​

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Damage Type: Physical​

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Qualities: Empowered by magical force when nearby each-other​

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Recommended Tactics: Quickly single out one wolf and attack to injure. This may cause distraction towards the other wolves and prevent them from surrounding you.​

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• Golden Bear

Log 1: I have found mention of an ursine omnivore that takes solace in the wheat fields of Pormont. According to farmers, it can be very hard to spot due to its' color and texture of fur imitating that of many stalks of wheat that are farmed en masse. Especially troublesome due to how the creatures view getting close as a trespassing on their territories, becoming aggressive in what the farmers call 'an accidental ambush'. It was due to Golden Bears that more regulated and enclosed farms of wheat have been set up rather than the old method of allowing wheat to grow wildly in plains. I am currently searching for one in their natural environment.​

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• Fool's Wheat

Log 1: After taking heed of the rumor of disappearances of farmers on duty, I've discovered a new species of burrowing predator that the UI takes to calling 'Fool's Wheat'. The Landers are convinced that I had come up with the name. Fool's Wheat is a genus of dormant insectoid hunters that have long antennae that look like stalks of wheat. These feelers sense vibrations and disturbances in the air when prey come near, causing the insect to un-burrow and attack.​

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Log 2: I am currently observing an instance in their natural environment. Without input theys___​

​

Askera Question's latest entry into his observational work was put to a screeching halt due to circumstance. He dropped the pen as he saw a change in the environment, a long and unfortunate mark being made upon his paper due to the act. He had dropped his pen to use his hand to wave into the air frantically, his intent to garner the attention of a passing player who was walking through the wheat field.

"Ma'am, can you hear me?! Sumimasen..! STOP! You need to stop-there's an ambush predator in front of you!"

He called out desperately on reflex to the woman before she reached the feelers of the Fool's Wheat. Hopefully he could avert a dangerous situation about to happen. The researcher's footsteps already began to take him closer on reflex as if she were already about to enter the worst case of an attack.

@Aroda

 

[Aroda]

Quite the pleasant day it was to go out for another bit of traveling. Or so it seems Aroda had concluded, considering she was out wandering the middle of nowhere, checking out what sorts of key areas lay in the backwaters of Falderen. At this point, she was just checking them out now so she wouldn't have to later - she suspected once she started going to bigger, more important, more populated, and most importantly, more advanced places, it would be more of a chore than an adventure to come check off this box.

And of course, so far she'd yet to see anything all that amazing. The landscapes were nice, as always, but these landscapes in particular...weren't all that different from what you might find in the real world, anyhow. At best, this was an opportunity to see vast fields and pastures without them being broken up by highway traffic...which, she supposed, she could appreciate.

Plus, hey, here she could cut through fields - being mindful to walk between the rows so she wasn't trampling on any crops with her robotic legs - and likely not have to worry about getting shot! And those robotic legs, were a surprising boon for just that purpose. She hardly even felt the wheat's leaves and beards brushing against her legs as she passed, so it was perfectly comfortable to walk through in her preferred sundress!

Those legs, too, being so robotic and all, are also able to stop moving much more readily than her real legs - which they do as soon as some lunatic starts yelling at her and approaching, one leg still hovering before touching the ground.

"Suma-what...?"

She mutters to herself, a bit concerned, but as the stranger keeps on shouting, she reverses her step, pulling that hoverin' foot back a step as she examines her surroundings more closely - looking for a 'predator', while also trying to keep an eye on the other potential predator in her sights.

Her rifle, modified with a scant few magitech bits she'd managed to add on, appears in her hands as she scans for a threat.

"What are you talking about, guy? I don't see anything!"

She calls back at the strange, frantic, crazed individual, waiting for an answer.

@Askera Question

 

[Askera Question]

"It's-I know it's hard to see, but it's very close-by! About a yard in front of you! Look for wheat that acts strange!"

She could kind of see what he meant... sort of. A cluster of the wheat wasn't moving as strongly in the wind as others were, almost as if it were just less flexible than the others in the field. They looked just like wheat, though-surely there was nothing wrong with them? They sure didn't seem like a monster of any kind.

"It's--It has feelers that look like wheat. A disguise. It's right... well, there." The researcher had grown close enough to talk in a more normal volume, though he spoke in a tone just below that-he feared awakening the beast in the wheat. A finger of his pointed right at the semi-suspiciously inflexible gatherig of wheat fronds that she had just been looking at.

@Aroda

 

[Aroda]

She squints at the random and definitely crazy person, but they didn't seem exactly hostile, so she let herself focus more on the presence of the wheat in front of her. And also all around her. Wheat fields, y'know.

With a closer examination of the area in front of her, Aroda does indeed eventually start to suspect that maybe the wheat in front of her wasn't normal. Maybe. Is there really a...wheat monster, in this game? It's a strange step from her first encounter, which was just...a weirdly easy to kill bear. If a bear was so easy, was it really worth being afraid of...wheat?

Either way, she backs away from it a bit more, slowly, and starts to point her rifle at it.

"So...should I, shoot it, then? Or is it better to leave it alone?"

She asks him curiously, mimicking his less-than-shouting volume now, with her gun trained on...a few stalks of wheat. Or, faux-wheat, from the sound of things?

@Askera Question

 

[Askera Question]

"...To be frank with you... I'm not sure. I was just observing it in its' natural habitat, and then I was going to warn the farmers about it. There's a bounty on figuring out what happens, but if you're eager to this head I doubt they'd give a small reward for getting rid of the problem."

Not that he wanted anything to do with a man-eating field of wheat. His hands reached for his belt all the same, just to be ready for anything that could pop out of the ground at any time.

"I still wouldn't recommend it, though. I speculated this creature to be a burrowing insect based on the data I had available, but to be truthful I don't know what's under that ground. I just know that several farmers have gone missing due to it."

The hand on his belt thumbed a few disks that rest hanging off of them in holsters. Askera was ready to throw them at any moment.

@Aroda

 

[Aroda]

She backed a bit further away, as she started to look around - both to see if there was more wheat monsters, and to see which way to go that doesn't include a wheat monster. Since she'd, kind of like to continue forward. Hearing what the stranger said, she had the pretty obvious idea of where to go, too.

"Okay...well, I don't exactly wanna go out of my way to fight anything, sooo...if you say the farmers should know about it, then should we get moving to go, wherever the farmers are at? Town, probably?"

Aroda glances at the wheat monster once again, before actually looking at the one she's talking to.

"Oh. And, as long as it's just sitting there and nothing's going to attack us, do you mind me asking who you are? Or at least your name - I'm Aroda, and you?"

She asks him, her rifle lowering slightly but still trained in the general direction of 'wheat feelers'.

@Askera Question

 

[Askera Question]

"Of course, I have forgotten my manners. Please do forgive me for this, Aroda-san. I am Doctor Question of the MIT. That's a full name of Askera Question..."

There was a pause lasting a moment's time. What manner of terrible name came out of his mouth? As if to respond to this question that popped up in the mind at the thought, he carefully responded as if to defuse a situation that has yet to happen,

"...I'm aware that, by the confusion that you've shown ever since I've first called out to you, that my name sounds rather strange in your language. That's... a bit of a strange translation, I know."

Well, at least he acknowledged that there was a problem from the sounds of it...

"In my language, it's supposed to sound like a pun."

No, Askera was just that bad.

"We'll go to the local group of farmers. I'll let you have any bounty involved-I'm not interested in such a thing related to such a... creature."

He led the two carefully around the vicinity of the man-eating wheat in effort to take Aroda out to a town between the fields named Aleford. There they informed the local people about the problem, who thanked them with several things-A mug full of Aleford Seal of Approval Ale, for one, which they were expected to drink, and a sack of gold (with gold inside of it). Askera was impressed that such fine gold threads have woven an intricate bag, however small it was, but let Aroda have it all as beforehand promised.

"I just wonder if the townsfolk will be able to handle it," Askera speaks with concern, "Or if they'll at least hire a passing Starcalled to take care of the problem. The only test I had out at the field was a seismograph of sorts-whatever that thing was under the dirt, it was... big. Quite very big.

He had let the townsfolk know of such already, of course. They seemed to waive off this supposed problem.

@Aroda

 

[Aroda]

Aroda...went along with the pace of this strange man as he showed them a path out of the danger wheat and back into a town. She did have to wonder about his strange name, and his strange explanation of it, and his overall being quite strange, but that could wait until they'd had a moment of rest.

She was a bit unsure about just accepting the entire reward despite...not having done anything, at all, but she wasn't exactly going to pass it up, either.

As they settled in, Aroda with a new sack of gold...full of gold...how does a small farming town afford to give something like this out...? And also her new mug of Ale, which she had strong feelings one way or the other about, as she knew she couldn't taste it, and didn't know if she could get drunk...she turns to the stranger now known as Askera.

"Seismograph...wait, you mean like, the wheat thing back there was like the things from Tremors? Huh. ...Well, maybe the people here are used to dealing with that stuff?"

She posits this overly simple explanation, before she remembers to get caught up on something.

"Wait, you said you're a doctor from MIT? So you are a pl-... Starcalled, right? What's a guy who went to MIT doing playing...around, in a...not-starcalled realm...like this?"

The magia manages to stumble through asking that, clearly struggling, and not even wholeheartedly so, to remember not to call this game a game and its people players and npcs.

@Askera Question

 

[Askera Question]

"There's not much place you won't find a Starcalled or two sticking their fingers into. You could take it from a normal MMO--People, even with simple coded boundaries, will want to jump out of bounds and sit there to look cool. It's a sentiment you'd see often enough."

Askera took swigs of his mug whenever a lapse in the silence emerged. He didn't do so to enjoy the ale-not that it wasn't bad-but rather did so out of habit. It was polite to drink when with others off work and offered, and though he was in management, he still had people further still above who invited him out for drinks on occasion still.

His job...

"As for me, you could say I'm here because of a job. It's going to naturally take me just about everywhere to log things. It's less surprising than you'd think-in Earth, my job would be taking me to Germany or Hong Kong on occasion. This isn't so different. Still, though..."

The researcher's gaze fell over onto the villagers. He couldn't hide the concern from his gaze.

"I don't think I can just leave this alone and call it a day. If they were used to this, they'd've known what had caused the disappearances beforehand... But they don't-and neither do we. I think... I'm going to have to take care of this. Before these people have to."

Askera resolved to as he said so.

@Aroda

 

[Aroda]

Aroda tilts her head as her new, and unusual, conversation partner started his talk about the boundaries, what 'starcalled' get up to...as well as his job. This guy traveled a lot, huh? Apparently had an important job, and even...had a job in the game. There really were all kinds, playing this game. It was a far cry from her first encounter here. Not that she was complaining either way.

"So...you work in the game, too? Seems like it kinda defeats the point, but, if it just sends you wandering around everywhere, then it's not too different than what I'm doing already, hah."

As she looks out over the village, following Askera's gaze, she checks back toward him to ask,

"You sure? I mean, in the movie, like four random people take out three of them. Unless the wheat monster are tougher than that...or the villagers don't have dynamite..."

That sure would be a conundrum. Well, this new guy had helped her out, and he seemed pretty caught up in all this, so...

"Well, if you're going to try and do something, want me to help? I mean, I'm pretty new...but I do have a gun. Even magiteched it up, a little bit. It's preeeetty strong."

@Askera Question

 

[Askera Question]

Askera Question took a moment's time to look over her gun with a trained eye, only now taking the time to try and understand how it possibly worked in full.

"...Hai. Please do so. I'll have you as insurance in case the plan doesn't go as smoothly as intended."

Given his response, it seemed like the man had an inkling as to how it did. He regarded the weapon with a notion of respect that people only usually would after she had fired it. Assuring her that she would be useful, the two took off on a quick journey back out into the fields.

They nigh-immediately encountered danger. Almost to Askera's surprise, the suspicious patch of wheat had moved to the edge of the field. They had almost been caught by that...

"Tch. Well, this saves us some trouble. We'll be doing less damage to the field this way..." The researcher mutters to himself before requesting aloud, "Aroda-san, please wait here. I'll need some time to set up our weed-killer."

From his side unlatched one of the many discs that were slotted into a side-bound holster. The disc glowed in an ominous purple light as he latched it into the ground... and then another one next to it. And another one. What were these?

Given how they latched into the ground when he left them be, there was a harrowing answer that could be drawn--he was placing landmines. Many of them in advance, one by one, a great stack of explosive power that the poor underground sod was just going to unearth onto as the last thing it did...

Time was passing. Aroda had a lot of it to spend.

@Aroda

 

[Aroda]

Aroda perked a brow when Askera randomly said hi to her, but just dismissed it as another quirk of this strange man, with his strange mannerisms and strange name.

"Insurance...right. Well, lead the way, guy."

Accompanying the man out to the danger wheat, she's probably more surprised than he is to see that the danger wheat has moved so much closer. Jumping back to ensure Askera is between her and the danger wheat, she relaxes a bit at how calmly he proceeds on with the next steps.

"...Yeah, sure. It's just Aroda, by the way-...are those uh, bombs? Like, mines?"

She stared at the stuff the guy was setting up with keen curiosity - and the curiosity was only a little bit morbid. After all, war crimes didn't exist in video games. Or in fantasy worlds - they probably haven't even invented war crimes yet. She started to wonder if a flamethrower would be effective here, but...she quickly realized she didn't want to light up the entire field full of non danger wheat.

"Sooo...how long is this gonna take?"

@Askera Question

 

[Askera Question]

110 / 140

"Just a minute or two. It takes a little while for the curses to settle into the frame. I thought I might as well use the stronger ones if we have all the time in the world."

The armaments were primed, the curses inlaid properly. Everything seemed to be set up, and he made sure to double-check his work. Perhaps he should have triple-checked them, yet the girl Aroda seemed to be rather ready to have a show unfold. Who was he to say no to a girl who asked him? It would be most impolite.

The shell of a half-made mine was in his hands, tossed into the air and fell down to his hand again as if he were flipping a coin. He did so a few times, just gauging the weight of the disk he held in his palm to that he wouldn't go and toss it on a primed charge or anything... not that he'd set the weight to something so low, yet he was not one to toy with explosives as a game. Not even in a game.

The disc was tossed into the field of false wheat. It looked disconcerting, the way that each frond stood up rigidly in alertness. Askera was expecting a great pill-bug, or perhaps a mole with fronds. It dug out of the earth like a mole, and it did unwind like a pillbug, but this was not something so simple as that.

"Fool's Wheat." He could understand where all of the fools had gone by now.

<<Bane of Fools>>

The looming monster was reaching a hand out-it could grab the two simply by reaching out to pluck them from the field. However, it had also decided to adjust itself with a few other uncanny hands-One of which fell right onto the middle of ground zero.

-click-​

You have dealt...
You have dealt....
You have...
You...​

Off went the bombs. A number of popups regaling the various instances of damage that Askera's bombs dealt showed up on his screen, enough that he swiped them off of his face in agitation to see what results lie behind. There was naught but black smoke that rose to the sky...

He had a feeling that it hadn't been enough. Why had he thought such a dangerous premonition? A hand came flying out of the dark, swatting the researcher aside into the ground with a THWACK. Better him than Aroda, yet he couldn't deny that he wasn't having a good time.

He tried to say "Ready yourself!" but the wind had been taken from his lungs. He instead pulled a meager pistol from his pocket and fired into the smoke-he doubted it would do much damage, but the important bit was how loud the little firearm was-hopefully loud enough to shake her into action.

---

Bane of Fools (Damaged)
LP 2/6 DC 35 25​

Wounded. The DC to attack and Retaliation damage have been lowered.

 

[Aroda]

110 / 160

Aroda sat patiently as she waited for the dude to be done planting mines, also hoping that none of them would fail to go off. It would really suck to just leave a landmine in a wheat field. Those kinds of stories are never nice to read about in the real world.

She got herself ready when it seemed like ol' Askera was done, and preparing to chuck something over at the deadly wheat. Backing up, keeping her rifle at the ready, she waits for the strange and probably fairly silly monster to reveal itself...only to have to slowly crane her head up at what emerges.

What...

"What the fu-?!"

The absurdly loud sound of a bunch of landmines going off interrupts Aroda's shocked exclamation, as she stumbles further away and uses a metal hand to shield her face from the shockwave, and whatever debris might make it over here. As she looks past her arm at the settling cloud of dust and smoke, she wonders if that was really enough. The thing was huge after all...

When the hand reaches out to thwack Askera, Aroda lets out a surprised yelp. It only takes a split second for fight or flight to kick in, as Aroda readies her gun again and just starts unloading. Flight was apparently not on the menu.

Aroda's rifle - as well as her arms - start to glow as magic is channeled through them, increasing the efficacy of her shots. Electricity ran across her entire body, mostly along her arms, but also trailing down through her legs into the ground. All in service of letting off an absolute volley of high-powered, magically and electrically charged, gunshots. She'd probably have planned to shout something at it while she lit it up, but in the heat of the moment, she unfortunately forgets, instead entirely focused on ending this things virtual life virtually as fast as possible.

...And once the volley was done, mainly because Aroda's gun let out a 'click' instead of a 'bang', her posture sags a bit and she finally exhales, letting out a breath of steam she hadn't realized she was holding. Wait, steam? Aroda herself is visibly surprised to see this, but tries to avoid reacting too much, as she instead continues to watch the huge monster for any signs of being alive-ness. That, and she seems to have drained herself quite a bit with that outburst - wouldn't wanna waste any excess energy freaking out over some steam.

@Askera Question

 

[Askera Question]

It took a while for the researcher to actually get up. He hadn't expected the pain to keep him flat on the ground so acutely, and yet here he was. He attributed this feeling to what it would be like to get hit by a truck. It seemed that he would have no desire to be hit by a truck in the future-not after this.

"Is--Is everything..?" His words were slurred and slow as the man slowly lost the 'stunned' status condition. Soon enough, however, he saw the body that lie in the field of wheat. He had to say something at that.
"...Great job, Aroda-san. It was wise to take you with me."

He didn't know if she could hear him through the steam ejection. She appeared to be shaky and unfocused, a common trait of overclocking and personal shock both. Askera couldn't tell which problem the woman was dealing with, but he intended to at least solve them.

Soon enough, a small metal emblem was placed into the palm of Aroda's hand. It was cool and unassuming, the presence of the little disc calming her frayed nerves and overheated power coils in one fell swoop. A glance at the thing in her palm said that she was holding a 'cursed disc' of some kind, but what kind of curse would keep her so calm?

Given how uncomfortable the researcher himself looked, it was probably a curse meant for him.

"It seems that... we're safe for now. What should we do?"

Askera, as now shaken as he was, had no idea what to do. He felt like a kid whose mother had fallen down the stairs. Maybe he should have thought of a plan of action before taking on Aroda's surprise and overheating for himself?!

@Aroda

 

[Aroda]

Aroda starts to ease up and stand straighter as she begins to fully recognize...yep, that thing definitely looks dead. She does continue to pant a bit - and from the appearance of her breath, you might think it was very cold outside, but indeed, it was not condensation, but trace amounts of steam.

"It's...just Aroda."

She manages to get out between breaths.

Thankfully (?), as Askera moves in to offer his services, she regains her composure and her health both in short order. With a final, long, calming breath, the weapon in her hand disappears as she looks to Askera.

"Yeah, we did it. Thanks for- er...are you doing alright, dude?"

The robot takes in the scene, looking at the disc, then back to Askera, as the pieces slowly shift into place.

"Uh...if you want this back, just let me know, I guess. I could fix myself, I've got the tools on me."

That much explained, she turns over to the big ol' dead thing that she shot to hell a minute ago.

"As for what to do...well, can we do anything with the body? I know things don't just drop items, but don't people use big monster parts for stuff?"

She asks the scientist man with all the video game logic she can muster.

@Askera Question

 

[Askera Question]

He wracks his head for a way to properly explain it. It took long enough that he had to lift a finger, as this wasn't a question he was usually asked.

"How to say this... Think of it as a procedural game. The monsters only spawn when logical, rather than respawning, and they only exist to pose danger. If there was a use for this, it would be to feed-and I don't know about you, but I don't exactly want to try out anything that has human hands on it." A shudder could be seen rippling through his skin. "I would consider myself a gourmet as a hobby, but I do have limits."

Askera thinks it to be a good idea to look over the creature anyway. Upon doing so, he found a few uncomfortable realizations. Most notably was that there wasn't a body underneath the tarping-the arms were simply attached to it. The whole thing could probably spread out and look like a manta ray if it wanted to.

"Uw~aaah. Creepy..."

The researcher quietly suggested that he take care of it. He knew how to contact the Adventurer's guild through a nearby station, and they would probably know what to do with this if no-one else did. A few screenshots and camera-shots later, as well as a fascinating documentary overview, and Askera was all but ready to leave this thing alone.

---

@Aroda

 

[Aroda]

Aroda listens to the Askera's explanation, coming to the conclusion that this game's monsters were...surprisingly boring. Sure they might look horrifying and do crazy things, but there was no reason to go out and fight them, if you didn't need to....apparently.

"No use at all though...? Nothing like, a monster's rubbery skin can be used as an insulator...or you can take an organ out of a fire-breathing monster to make a flame thrower? Whoever made this game went really hard, but I guess they couldn't make everything good..."

With a light sigh, Aroda finishes her rambling, which was mostly to herself, as she joins Askera, who was also finishing his procedure of documentarianing the weird wheat monster.

"Anwyays, guy, if we're done here, can I ask you...those mines, were they magitech? How'd you make them? And do you have any other cool stuff you've made? ...Also, seriously, do you want this back?"

The robot punctuates this final question via holding out the disc he'd given her in one of her metallic hands.

@Askera Question

 

[Askera Question]

He decided not to talk about how monsters could drop crafting materials other than a quiet denial of her statement. He'd found that, should he try hard enough, leather could be made into shirt well enough. Askera was sure that other things were possible, should one have determination and ingenuity enough.

The researcher allows her to ask many questions, waiting for many of them to calm before speaking in return.

"I'd appreciate to have it back, Aroda-san. Thank you." The researcher palms the disc and pockets it soon after confirming that it still held charge in it. "The mines... Entry three, result four. Yes, I created them. I happen to experiment in the confines of Finweald, a place far west of here. They were a result of testing the interactions of a kind of methane together with a... combusting magic that I had read about."

A frown was notably stricken over his face. He didn't want to talk about forbidden magics out in a place other than the laboratory where he worked. He decided to call it a magic and leave out the word 'curse'.

"If you make your way to Finweald, look for a place referred to as the Magical Institute. I work there, yes, but even if I weren't there you would likely find opportunity to be creative in such a place."

---

@Aroda

 

[Aroda]

Aroda ponders 'combustion' magic. Well, she hadn't taken pyromancy or anything like that, but electricity was perfectly capable of igniting things. If that even turned out to be necessary. Maybe she should look more into how bombs work. ...Maybe googling that would be a bad idea though...

She comes out of her thought maze as Askera mentions something familiar. The Magical Institute...

"Oh yeah...is that what you meant by MIT, earlier? I think I did hear that before...man, that's kinda confusing. Guess it is a funny name, though. ...But really, you work there?"

It was apparent just from a glance that Aroda still thought the idea that having a job in a video game was a little loopy. If only she knew of such horrors as Euro Truck Simulator.

"Well uh...in that case, is the institute place where you're going next? If so, I wouldn't mind starting to head that way. Maybe we could go together?"

She says, then pauses to think.

"...At least, for some of the way. How long a trip is it? I might have to get off soon."

@Askera Question