Private ✪ Finweald Knock Knock

[Tick Tock]

Finweald,
Clockworks Shop,
Late Evening.

As she slides down the ladder, Tick takes a moment to give a good look at their workshop. It was as if nothing had happened, no faulty wires, no bullet holes nor cartridges laying on the floor, or blast radius stains all over the floor, except only for the apron she wore right now to try and keep these out of her clothes. It took double the effort to get the interior done. Tick frowned, feeling the sting of Tock's absence even now after several days had gone past, her brows furrowing in silence and her fingers wrapping tightly around the paintbrush.

It made the days far more boring than they should now that her twin wasn't around to fill in the gaps of their two-part show. Specially now that enough weeks had passed, with only the MYTHRA's disaster delaying the inevitable approach of Eva for more than just paint buckets and cargo for Tick to use in The Clockworks.

Yet despite having a few touches left here and there to do, Tick opted to wait, knowing it would be three minute until launch hour. three minutes until Eva showed up from the inconspicious brown door connecting both buildings as one. She made sure to close down the ladder, seal the bucket lids and wash up her hands. Get herself presentable!

She had, knowing it's been a few weeks already since their last talk. Knowing she had a favor to pay, with her only fortune being: It's not her business, but the boss's.

@Eva

 

[Eva]

Passing through the door interconnecting the buildings, she looked around the refurbished place. The smell of fresh paint fume reminded her that time had passed since the Finweald chaos outbreak that left the shop almost completely destroyed.

"Greetings. It's been a while, Tick." Her monotone voice traveled as she called out to the porcelain magia. The woman was in her usual white-jacket getup, but without the protective gear or the tactical outerwear she wears outside.

"Our previous appointment got canceled by a particular..." Even if her tone and facial expression were unchanging, one could tell that she didn't appreciate variables that were outside of her control. "... unforeseen circumstances." Ever since MIT got their hands on Szofrit, Eva quickly lost any interest in it.

Her steps toward Tick were slow yet rythmic. Making herself comfortable, pulled out the nearest chair by herself before sitting down, turning toward Tick. "So let's resume the talk. I'd like to convene with your boss." The one singular gaze locked at the Magia's artificial eye.

Her lips let out the name of the twin of the girl who was currently lying on a bed in her mansion.

"Maria Banderbill."

 

[Tick Tock]

As Eva made her entrance, Tick let her hands rest behind her back as she craddled herself back and forth on place. The big spooky not-Magia woman greets, and Tick simply replies with one word and a customer service smile.

"Mama."

There was a certain chill running all over the non-existent marrow in her body. It tickles, but she can't tell if it's the good or bad kind given the way Eva addresses it. Clearly mama was not a fan of wrenches in her plans or the unexpected act of chaos and self-sacrifice that the MYTHRA events were.

Just as she's about to open her mouth, a name's dropped, making her claims at least valid enough to call for a meeting. The reflex to swallow followed, despite having no need for it.

"Tick will go find her. Give Tick a moment."

With a passive demeanour, Tick turned over to search for the shut leading to the basement, cranking it a few times to open the hatch, before descending into the dark below for more than a few minutes. Nothing could be heard, at least for what seemed like at best five minutes too long, before the echoes of someone climbing the ladders reached the workshop, and finally a set of pale hands climbed out, dressed in a much more mundane manner compared to the twins, fitting the description of a Starcalled moreso than a Lander.

She adjusted the sleeves of her hoodie, matching Eva's monotony with her own before lifting one finger up.

"One hour is all I can spare, after the damage one of my cores took."

It didn't matter if that meant weakness. For all she cares, she's staring right at the devil if any of her claims are correct. Maria tilted her head a little, eyeing up and down the supposed mother like it were the first time her own mind can register her.

"I presume you have more proof than a name worth an online search through a browser."

@Eva

 

[Eva]

Five minutes elapsed, and a figure climbed out of the trapdoor; the visage of someone who took her left eye.

"I am certain one hour wouldn't be necessary" The white-haired woman shrugged."The only proof I have is superficial, you decide whether it's enough."

"Erika Banderbill. Hospital de Barcelona, room number 714 with severe traumatic brain injury, Glasgow Coma Scale at a three." She began to recall the findings at a stable pace, eye not breaking contact. "Pupils were non-reactive. Neurological function remained severely compromised. No spontaneous movements noted beyond decerebrate posturing, especially in response to painful stimuli." Medical records were not something that anyone could access easily, unless they raided the actual hospital.

"Current condition: Ventilator-dependent, with stable vitals—heart rate at 62 beats per minute, blood pressure at 120 over 70, oxygen saturation holding steady at 98% on 40% FiO2." Continuing to elaborate with a straight face, Eva revealed that the girl hadn't seen any significant progress in recovery. "No observed improvement in motor or cognitive function over the past years; a life in name only."

"Current location," There was no intimidation, nor threat in her tone as she delivered the last line. "Alexandrova Mansion, North Moscow." Such things are beneath her; Eva just let the facts speak for themselves.

 

[Tick Tock]

She expected a bluff, far more willing to think Eva was just another player with something to prove and plenty to lose. These were plenty of talk ingame and none out of it, yet unfortunately it didn't take long to be proven wrong.

Russian on top of it all. Nowhere that close to Spain. The delivery was the part that made her chew on her own teeth. Clinical much like the doctors who looked after her sister, the only benefit being the lack of tact Eva had. No apologies, no condolences, nor attempts to ease the burden of knowledge that keeps refreshing itself in her mind.

Were she by herself, crying would be easier, but instead she swallowed the thought and took a deep breath, hands off her pockets left hanging down now.

"I believe it. You win nothing by lying to me," Maria stated, taking a step closer to breach the distance, meeting Eva's eye with her own, "You wanted a favor, and you could have asked these two for it, but instead you came straight to me." It couldn't be an eye. Eva could build a replacement on her own, but neither was it assistance, given Tick Tock were doing exactly as she wanted,

"I'm in no position to ask why though," And it frustrated her just a little; Losing is not her kind of game, but neither is to go back on her word, "A favor is a favor. Tell me what you are after and I'll get it down, so long as it's within my reach."

@Eva

 

[Eva]

As Eva explained Erika's current predicament, she saw something on the twin; a humane reaction that the woman herself never understood, but it reinforced her comprehension of Maria Banderbill's view toward her twin sister.

"Hm, requesting favors tends to be rather... boring, no?" The white-haired woman examined her fingers, before shaking her head slowly.

"I dislike that term. I am more interested in what you can offer. Perhaps a partnership of some sort." Of course, when she said partnership, obviously she didn't mean equal partnership. Anyone could tell that without her giving away any visual or auditory cues. "It doesn't have to be right now. Pool your resources, think of something engaging." Eva didn't wait for Maria's answer. After all, the offer was rhetorical.

"Now, something that interests us both." "I have tried several methods to try and bring Erika Banderbill here, to no avail." "There was just not enough brain activity. But we haven't given up on that possibility yet." "I am exploring the other alternative; the reverse." No matter how small it is. Even if it's one ten-millionth of a percent, the What If question is still there.

"The possibility of bringing something digital, back to the living world."

 

[Tick Tock]

"..."

It couldn't be as simple as a favor, of course. The word was a gambit, albeit a failed one given the disapproval Eva had for it. If anything, what she wanted was an independant employee of sorts. The word 'partnership' just doesn't ring the way most would define the word afterall.

"I'll see what I can do," Already a few ideas slipped into her mind, yet she kept her reply neutral, unwilling to show how many cards she's holding right now. Thankfully, elaboration wasn't what's been asked of her, as Eva moved onto a different topic. Secondary for the businesswoman, primary to herself.

Maria paused for a moment. The very slim possibilities that were out of her reach confirmed to be false by Eva; It could never be as easy as slipping a headset on her sister, yet her curiosity peaks at the unhinged idea this makeshift-mother had: To drag a different world into another, almost enough of a joke to make her smile, were she not involved with the same thought process as of late.

"You are thinking logically on something that far exceeds the realm of logic. We can't even begin to understand how this game can kill you. If it were attached to a gun pointed to your head It would be reasonable..." Yet it wasn't tampered headsets nor faulty code glitching out the brain. A lot of these problems were solved long before they could happen to a real person and risk your company's financial or social death. "The only solution seems to lie in the game itself," Maria begun to walk, circling around Eva like a shark does to a stranded sailor, "The so called 'Dissonance' is my only lead. Unfortunately, most players are mindlessly killing anything with it, and the ones who don't get in my way to properly experiment with our greatest sources of it." She stopped once she did a full lap around Eva, facing her once again.

"Are you a woman of faith?" A bit of a trick question given her false, incredulous tone; It's clear they are not. 'Playing god' seemed to fit Eva's description moreso than 'follower' does, "Trusting on the delusions of the Landers and their deities is another lead, but I'm yet to see any of them act, unlike dissonance. Any player in this world, with sufficient luck, might have reached godlike status and play pretend after that. Shapeshifters specially."

 

[Eva]

"Considering the illogical is part of logical thinking." The whole premise of this game and technology was already beyond what's logical. If she limit herself to what is possible through human logic, she will not get anywhere. "I already kept several tabs on potential leads regarding Dissonance." She had a document prepared regarding her investigation of this phenomenon. Pulling a folder out of her inventory, she placed it on the nearest table on her side.

Among those, there would be articles about players like Ash Vargold, Hanno Futaba, Magi Heart, and the Immortal Heroine. There were other non-player related, like Szofrit, the Tertorian continent, and more assumptions and theories about Dissonance.

As Maria stopped in front of her, she took time to think before answering the answer. "... If higher power exists," Eva would have shown a sign of excitement if only she could emote, but her stare could already show that she indeed was serious. "The world would become less mundane. So yes,"

Perhaps it was not the snake who told the woman to sway the man into eating the forbidden fruit. Perhaps it was the woman, wanting to see more beyond the garden.

"I do hope they exist."

And if not, it means there's an empty spot up there to claim.

"Do you have qualms against shapeshifters?"

 

[Tick Tock]

"Hm." Maria stopped on her tracks, eyes over the folder as she pushed it open, leaning over the table as she skimmed over each subject present. If there's any interest in these faces, her own isn't portraying any.

"This one," Index tapped over the male beastfolk's file, "Cautious. Last I've seen of him, he was crossing the borders into Falderen. The twins are interested in him. You are not getting a more sane subject out of this list." An assumption she was willing to run with, given what little she knew of the Faerin.

"Her." She ran a finger over Magi's name just then, "She's beyond salvation, possibly due to the exposure to dissonance, which is greater than anyone else I've seen barring Szofrit and her minions. I will crack her open, figure her out, but until then try not to get in her wrong side. Too much of a risk." Maria closed the documents just then, turning to face Eva once again.

"I'm going to keep an eye on the Dragonship aswell. We do not know Dissonance's true origin. It might be Tertoria, or someplace else, yet figuring out where the Magia came from would be a good start. Unfortunately, I must wait until Tock is fully operational before sending them to MIT." If anyone knew anything, it would be the scraps they got left for members.

Her mind backtracked just then, picking up the mention of Shapeshifters and piecing together her own statement out of it before shaking her head, "No. Yet if anyone could impersonate a god, it would be a Shapeshifter. There are statues, depictions, representations of what these divines are like. Be them vague or not matters little, and a shapeshifter could just as easily take over the visage of a god and mobilize a religion just like that. All it takes is a charismatic psychopath to do so." Something that seems to be in ample stock within Terrasphere.

"One more thing,"

Present company included.

"I had a vision when we fought the Mother of Machines, prior to her capture. She forcefully overrode every other magia on board to purposefully crash into Vintergard years ago." Maria begun, with hands behind her back and a voice befit of a narrator, "Dissonance begun to take over the ship, but she intended to deliver a 'database' to us, and she was willing to kill the crew and everyone within that city for it, herself included."

Her gaze sharpened into a squint just then,

"The database may be the golden egg's newborn, or perhaps lies within the dragonship itself. She said it would be put on reach to us 'Saviors'. The twins shared fragments of this with that man, Ash Vargold; That's all I can offer to you right now, I will leave the detective work to you, just make sure to get the twins on the right track."

---

@Eva

 

[Eva]

Sane. She didn't expect that kind of word to be attributed to anyone playing this game. "Hm," If he's cautious, collecting any new meaningful insight will be difficult. "We'll see," Eva added it to her own to-do list, but nowhere near the top to be urgent enough.

The woman turned her head towards Maria as she talked about Magi, knowing how dangerous it would be to just hang around the girl, most notably because she's quote-unquote, unstable.

She just shrugged.

And then Maria told her of this 'vision' shown to her during the fight, which apparently differed from person to person. She had never heard of this piece where a 'database' was mentioned, though.

"We cannot confirm what is this 'database' anymore," Since Szofrit's dead, obviously. "Not unfortunate, since she had already lost almost all autonomy long ago." Just like how quickly Eva lost interest in looking into the mother of machines. "Thinking she would be any help is a fool's notion."

MIT, wannabe researchers, and drama queens. At least there's less of them now.

"I'll let the twins relax for now," The miscalculations of what happened in MITHRA still haunt her. Eva slightly shook her head, not hiding her distaste for stupidity in incompetence. "And that means I have to look for the newborn and ensure those..."

Tone still cold as ice, she turned to look at the window.

"... idiots..."

Before slowly returning her eye contact to Maria as she removed her left glove, and where there was flesh, now it was metal.

"... don't do anything unnecessary."

@Tick Tock

 

[Tick Tock]

Maria shook her head, "Or perhaps MIT knows and isn't disclosing it. Eitherway, the mother is redundant to all of this, but the package she wished to deliver. It would be unwise to disregard it's existence, specially now when we have very few leads towards our goal, and no facts to hold onto." Monotony broke as she winced, masking it as a glare.

The sum of her dysfunctional parts left her amalgam core itching, overclocking to keep Maria in one piece, while her mind fought against exhaustation and stood firm, as putting weakness in display felt far more dangerous than defective, corruptive gears could ever. These she could fix, as opposed to impressions.

"Consider becoming a magia," Unphased to the exposed metal, having grown accustomed to her own lack of marrow, "The process should be within our grasp. It wouldn't be cheap..."

She wouldn't miss a beat when it comes to tipping the scales back, but besides business, the procedure itself intrigued her the most. "But it would be of great benefit to us, logistically speaking. Unlike players, I have no way to instantaneously share information with another, unless they were a magia and we shared a database and frequency of our own." The benefits, specially in survivability, far outweighed the costs.

Eva couldn't die. Not yet. Not while her sister's life relies on this woman's ability to shift in and out of Terrasphere.

---

@Eva

 

[Eva]

"For now, I'll steer clear of volatile variables. The twins should too."

She concluded. Whatever role the child will play in the future, interfering closely with the process would cause more complications. Instead, she'll spend time expanding her network and plans for a while.

Responding to the idea that she should turn into one of these things, a dry rhetorical question escaped the woman's lips. "That seemed to be a solution without a problem, no?" Despite using Magitech for so long, it is still a piece of technology unknown to most of them and one that should not be trusted. "Magiafication is not foolproof, yet."

She looked at her metallic hand, making a slow grasping gesture as she admired her own mechanical handiwork. Simple, yet elegant.

"Do not fret, I do have contingency plans in place. Many."

Perhaps it was out of concern, or an attempt to make their standing equal. Whatever the reason was, unfortunately, Eva had no intention of interfacing alien technology with her body.

"Something big is happening outside soon, but it shouldn't matter much here." Nova Russia's new Queen. She wasn't sure yet how much this would impact her father's influence, as well as hers. "The next time we meet again, pray that there's good news to be shared."

@Tick Tock

 

[Tick Tock]

"Unlikely. The twins only follow their whims. After the dream incident, they have become far more restless. Curious, even." These words didn't quite match her thoughts, yet she wouldn't let that show, hidden behind a cold, mechanical fish-like stare, "You may have to explain that yourself." She concluded, with a tone that practically reads 'good luck'.

Maria extended a hand across her hairs, flickering a few locks aside with disappointment written behind her mannerisms, "Nothing is truly foolproof. Most would face complications attempting to do such," She added, irises shrinking into needles,

"My methods are above most. But you already know that. You have seen them in action." Her ego surfaced, but not without aid to back it up. "The offer remains open until you decide."

Maria knelt down just then, a hand yanking out the hatch's handle as she hurried herself into the ladder and turned back to face Eva, a concerned wrinkle and a set of furrowed brows giving away her stance.

"You wouldn't ask me to pray for your success if it didn't matter. I trust you keep my sister intact, Miss Eva. Our welfare and the twins's relies entirely in your performance outside of this game."

It wouldn't take more than a few seconds after Maria closed the hatch before a knock could be heard, and then another, and another, all coming right beneath that same trapdoor.

---

@Eva