The Longest Thread (Misadventures)

[Through the Living Heir he/him]

Just now, Ookla The Kintsukuroi said:

"eh yes but I have done research your not known for being good with help. People who make deals end up falling. We can figure it out on our own. And im not letting you take anything from this lab."

“I keep every promise I make - Honesty is my middle name. And I do have a stake in this - and given your research, I assume you know I am the Antagonist.” The dark glow of Antagonist intensified for a moment, punctuating the statement. “This is a position I sought out - but there seem to be ever fewer heroes these days. So please, do try to stop me.” 

[NameIess]

On 12/4/2025 at 11:21 PM, Ookla the Tachyon said:

A sophon entered the drone and read the signal directly from the drone's memory. Using the drone's own machinery, it sent a message back to Malevolence.

"Is there something you want from us?"

Malevolence's eyebrows raised further. "You bypassed my security protocols so easily? Truly, your technology is incredible! To answer your question, yes. I want to know more about your incredible technology. I am a scientist of no small intelligence, and I believe I could be most helpful to you."

On 12/4/2025 at 11:33 PM, Ookla the Wanderer said:

Cricket brought up his sword sharply, countering Darkseeker.

He laughed. "I'm an Enuller, Love. I thrive in darkness. That's all I am now, anywhere. Good trick though."

The darkness vanished, revealing Malevolence standing where he had been before, Darkseeker still levelled at Cricket's heart. "Yes, I know. I merely showed you this technology so you'd understand the strategy behind this." Malevolence cleared his throat. "Let Sunrise be."

Light instantly filled Cricket's vision, pure white light that hurt as much as staring into the sun.

"You see, because of Darkseeker I thrive in darkness as much as you do. In order to exploit your weaknesses while leveraging my own strengths, I created the Nightfall device. That allowed me to create this second, much simpler device. I call it 'Sunrise', because it works by teleporting light directly from the surface of a star into your eyes." He chuckled. "With Sunrise's minimum settings, activating Nightfall is unnecessary. Once Sunrise focuses portions of my chosen star's light equivalent to square mile or more of its surface, however, even the relatively small percentage of light that is scattered and reflected becomes troublesome without Nightfall's activation."

The blinding light faded, and Malevolence lowered Darkseeker. "I have found in myself a desire to prove that I am capable of accomplishing evil without the aid of others. I do not fear your threats; either fight me and end what little rivalry exists between us once and for all, or leave."

15 hours ago, Ookla the Obfuscated said:

“I picked it, Lyric. This is my fault more than yours.” Then Jack had an idea, and tried to remember whether or not he had touched the walls. Perhaps they could simply pick a direction and walk until they got out. “I got us here, but I think I can get us out.” 

Lyric looked at Jack hopefully. "Yes? What is your plan?"

--

A message pinged Rebus.

Breakthrough discovery in isolation of core essences. Security breach at lab. We need to speak.

-Balitan

[Keke They/he]

3 hours ago, Ookla the Obfuscated said:

“I keep every promise I make - Honesty is my middle name. And I do have a stake in this - and given your research, I assume you know I am the Antagonist.” The dark glow of Antagonist intensified for a moment, punctuating the statement. “This is a position I sought out - but there seem to be ever fewer heroes these days. So please, do try to stop me.” 

Dax straightened up a little and jack poked up walking over standing protectively next to dax wings twitching. "I dont mean to start a fight. I merely want to protect this planet and lab. I know your honest but it is not in this places good fortune to make any deals. Even if i did I would have to talk to the Board. Anything taken into custody of this lab cannot be removed without a vote. This prevents corruption." He said calmly, voice steady but soft, as if he couldn't raise it if he wanted to. 

[TwinStorm He/Him]

1 hour ago, Ookla the Married said:

Malevolence's eyebrows raised further. "You bypassed my security protocols so easily? Truly, your technology is incredible! To answer your question, yes. I want to know more about your incredible technology. I am a scientist of no small intelligence, and I believe I could be most helpful to you."

The darkness vanished, revealing Malevolence standing where he had been before, Darkseeker still levelled at Cricket's heart. "Yes, I know. I merely showed you this technology so you'd understand the strategy behind this." Malevolence cleared his throat. "Let Sunrise be."

Light instantly filled Cricket's vision, pure white light that hurt as much as staring into the sun.

"You see, because of Darkseeker I thrive in darkness as much as you do. In order to exploit your weaknesses while leveraging my own strengths, I created the Nightfall device. That allowed me to create this second, much simpler device. I call it 'Sunrise', because it works by teleporting light directly from the surface of a star into your eyes." He chuckled. "With Sunrise's minimum settings, activating Nightfall is unnecessary. Once Sunrise focuses portions of my chosen star's light equivalent to square mile or more of its surface, however, even the relatively small percentage of light that is scattered and reflected becomes troublesome without Nightfall's activation."

The blinding light faded, and Malevolence lowered Darkseeker. "I have found in myself a desire to prove that I am capable of accomplishing evil without the aid of others. I do not fear your threats; either fight me and end what little rivalry exists between us once and for all, or leave."

Lyric looked at Jack hopefully. "Yes? What is your plan?"

--

A message pinged Rebus.

Breakthrough discovery in isolation of core essences. Security breach at lab. We need to speak.

-Balitan

"If it came to a fight, Malevolence, I'm not pulling my punches." he turned away. "Glad to see you aren't either. So go ahead, kill Rebus. It'd be bloody helpful."

[TwinStorm He/Him]

Cricket stood underneath a dusty archway, in the middle of a ruined city. Atreides' rampage.

He cursed. With Atreides having become lieutenant to the Antagonist, that monster seemed to have taken to heart destruction. And now . . . rampaging on random worlds. Cricket needed to end all of that now. 

"Atreides!" he shouted, his voice echoing in the silence. No answer. He sighed, kicking a piece of rubble.

"Atreides! I'm here! You want a challenge? Face me!"

Echoing. Echoing in the stony silence.

"Come on! Face me!"

"Come to me!"

More silence. More bloody silence.

Cricket swore, slamming Redemption into the stone. The pavement cracked, as the blade began to glow. Cricket took a step back. It shouldn't be glowing . . . this hadn't happened before.

The blade glowed more and more, till it was light. Light, in the shape of a sword.

You hunt Atreides. it echoed silently, in his head. You seek freedom, and yet you hunt.

"He's . . . I need to kill him before I can get to Rebus."

Stop hunting. Start seeing. Seeing who he is. Who the others are. This cannot end in bloodshed. If so . . . the entire Thread will shake. Find another way.

Cricket shook his head, wincing from the light. "No."

Then I cannot continue with you. When you are ready, I shall return.

[KaladinsSenseOfHumourSpren He/Him]

3 hours ago, Ookla the Married said:

Malevolence's eyebrows raised further. "You bypassed my security protocols so easily? Truly, your technology is incredible! To answer your question, yes. I want to know more about your incredible technology. I am a scientist of no small intelligence, and I believe I could be most helpful to you."

"We can give you some of our technology, but what we want is access to Invested Arts and other magics. Sandy already has ways to grant us fullborn compounding and chromaturgy, when the time is right, but he does not have the means to give us anything more."

[Through the Living Heir he/him]

5 hours ago, Ookla the Married said:

Lyric looked at Jack hopefully. "Yes? What is your plan?"

--

A message pinged Rebus.

Breakthrough discovery in isolation of core essences. Security breach at lab. We need to speak.

-Balitan

“You passed through what I saw as a wall, and you were able to pull me through. I think that all these walls are not real - unless we both can see them, and maybe not even then.” Jack began to walk forwards, taking hold of Lyric’s wrist to pull him along behind. He continued moving the same way they had before - any direction would hopefully exit the mall eventually. 
-

Rebus constructed himself a body in the lab - if his anti-teleportation fields were still active, there would be enough nanomachines around for that. 

4 hours ago, Ookla The Kintsukuroi said:

Dax straightened up a little and jack poked up walking over standing protectively next to dax wings twitching. "I dont mean to start a fight. I merely want to protect this planet and lab. I know your honest but it is not in this places good fortune to make any deals. Even if i did I would have to talk to the Board. Anything taken into custody of this lab cannot be removed without a vote. This prevents corruption." He said calmly, voice steady but soft, as if he couldn't raise it if he wanted to. 

Rebus raised an eyebrow. This man reminded him of an Ennuller - bureaucratic and difficult to ruffle. Unlike with the Ennullers, however, Rebus held an almost insurmountable combat advantage against this man. Antagonist blinked off of his head and reformed in his hand as a halberd, though he made no other aggressive moves and was silent. 

[Keke They/he]

50 minutes ago, Ookla the Obfuscated said:

 

 

Rebus raised an eyebrow. This man reminded him of an Ennuller - bureaucratic and difficult to ruffle. Unlike with the Ennullers, however, Rebus held an almost insurmountable combat advantage against this man. Antagonist blinked off of his head and reformed in his hand as a halberd, though he made no other aggressive moves and was silent. 

jack reaches his hand out and a long feather forms. (Hawks mha weapon. Google it)

Dax stops him though. "No little one." He taps the palm of his hand. Blue lights whir and nullify rebus' Narration. A cage falls down and captures rebus, tis made of mordite so you cant break free.a mordite mist released right at Rebus face level presumably contaminating his breath before he could tell. 

[NameIess]

5 hours ago, Ookla the Wanderer said:

"If it came to a fight, Malevolence, I'm not pulling my punches." he turned away. "Glad to see you aren't either. So go ahead, kill Rebus. It'd be bloody helpful."

Malevolence turned away as well.“Have I ever pulled my punches?” He asked softly as his body was consumed by the crackling lightning of his teleportation technology.

3 hours ago, Ookla the Tachyon said:

"We can give you some of our technology, but what we want is access to Invested Arts and other magics. Sandy already has ways to grant us fullborn compounding and chromaturgy, when the time is right, but he does not have the means to give us anything more."

“You wish access to magic? That is easy for me to accomplish.” Malevolence appeared in his lab, where he opened a locker and began searching through textbooks. “What sort of magic do you wish to know about? I have access to all the standard Cosmere magics, and could acquire any relevant materials needed to explore them. Perhaps you wish to know how to summon djinn? Tap into the powers of darkness? Or perhaps you wish to learn the magic of rithmatics? I am well-versed in all of these, and more.”

41 minutes ago, Ookla the Obfuscated said:

“You passed through what I saw as a wall, and you were able to pull me through. I think that all these walls are not real - unless we both can see them, and maybe not even then.” Jack began to walk forwards, taking hold of Lyric’s wrist to pull him along behind. He continued moving the same way they had before - any direction would hopefully exit the mall eventually. 
-

Rebus constructed himself a body in the lab - if his anti-teleportation fields were still active, there would be enough nanomachines around for that. 

Rebus raised an eyebrow. This man reminded him of an Ennuller - bureaucratic and difficult to ruffle. Unlike with the Ennullers, however, Rebus held an almost insurmountable combat advantage against this man. Antagonist blinked off of his head and reformed in his hand as a halberd, though he made no other aggressive moves and was silent. 

“Yes, I see.” Lyric followed along behind Jack. “Thus far, the Sage has only been able to fool us when our eyes are open. But… do you really think we can find our way out blindly? We may wander deeper into the mall.”

—

The lab was dimly lit, the only light coming from lines of text scrawling across computer screens. Balitan sat slumped in front of one of these screens, back towards Rebus. The only sound in the room came from the the clacking of Balitan’s fingers on the keyboard in front of him, although his head was down, looking at neither the screen nor the keyboard.

[TwinStorm He/Him]

1 hour ago, Ookla the Married said:

Malevolence turned away as well.“Have I ever pulled my punches?” He asked softly as his body was consumed by the crackling lightning of his teleportation technology.

“You wish access to magic? That is easy for me to accomplish.” Malevolence appeared in his lab, where he opened a locker and began searching through textbooks. “What sort of magic do you wish to know about? I have access to all the standard Cosmere magics, and could acquire any relevant materials needed to explore them. Perhaps you wish to know how to summon djinn? Tap into the powers of darkness? Or perhaps you wish to learn the magic of rithmatics? I am well-versed in all of these, and more.”

“Yes, I see.” Lyric followed along behind Jack. “Thus far, the Sage has only been able to fool us when our eyes are open. But… do you really think we can find our way out blindly? We may wander deeper into the mall.”

—

The lab was dimly lit, the only light coming from lines of text scrawling across computer screens. Balitan sat slumped in front of one of these screens, back towards Rebus. The only sound in the room came from the the clacking of Balitan’s fingers on the keyboard in front of him, although his head was down, looking at neither the screen nor the keyboard.

"Well, you've clearly leveled up your game." Cricket remarked. "And I refuse to believe that every time I've beaten you haven't been pulling your punches."

Edited December 7, 2025 by Ookla the Wanderer

[KaladinsSenseOfHumourSpren He/Him]

1 hour ago, Ookla the Married said:

“You wish access to magic? That is easy for me to accomplish.” Malevolence appeared in his lab, where he opened a locker and began searching through textbooks. “What sort of magic do you wish to know about? I have access to all the standard Cosmere magics, and could acquire any relevant materials needed to explore them. Perhaps you wish to know how to summon djinn? Tap into the powers of darkness? Or perhaps you wish to learn the magic of rithmatics? I am well-versed in all of these, and more.”

"We would like cytonics, for easy travel back to Trisolaris, as well as the Surges of Progression, Gravitation, Cohesion and Tension, unrestrained by oaths." The transmission paused. "We do not know of djinn or rithmatics, nor this power of darkness."

You're talking 'bout the djinn from Lightbringer? None of my characters know about those.

[NameIess]

3 hours ago, Ookla the Wanderer said:

"Well, you've clearly leveled up your game." Cricket remarked. "And I refuse to believe that every time I've beaten you haven't been pulling your punches."

Back in his lab, Malevolence frowned, hearing Cricket’s final remark through his spy drones. Perhaps. But always out of that insidious fear, the fear that if I were to punch with all my strength I would miss and fall flat on my face. Or worse, that it would be like punching a brick wall, and my hand would shatter upon impact.

2 hours ago, Ookla the Tachyon said:

"We would like cytonics, for easy travel back to Trisolaris, as well as the Surges of Progression, Gravitation, Cohesion and Tension, unrestrained by oaths." The transmission paused. "We do not know of djinn or rithmatics, nor this power of darkness."

You're talking 'bout the djinn from Lightbringer? None of my characters know about those.

“Cytonics?” Malevolence shook his head, flipping through the pages of his book. “Unreliable in my experience. Too easy to suppress or disrupt. Besides, do you want your travel to be entirely reliant on independent people, or slugs, which could be easily compromised?” Reaching into the locker again, Malevolence pulled out a sealed jar and a brush. Opening the jar carefully, he dipped the brush inside and began painting arcane symbols onto the floor with a dark red substance that sent faint trails of smoke into the air. “I could procure the slugs, if you wished, or even hire cytonics for you. But they would not be my first choice.” He set the brush down carefully, then stood and flipped a page on the book, careful not to smudge any of the symbols. “Unoathed access to the surges is difficult. I could get you a few Progression fabrials, possibly even some Gravitation fabrials, but the others are difficult. It will take time to acquire the relevant spikes, and you will have to learn the hemalurgic bindpoints for your species’ anatomy. That is, unless you expect me to steal Honorblades for you.” He frowned , looking up from his book. “Actually… I may have an idea in that regard. Recent developments… I will see what I can do.”

Turning back to his book, Malevolence spoke a phrase that sounded like total gibberish. The circle he’d drawn on the floor flared to life at his words, fires shooting up around him. They dimmed, leaving behind a glowing circle on the floor, and no Malevolence to be seen.

Malevolence appeared inside of one of the Trisolaran ships, in an area in which there was enough room for him to stand up straight without immediately being crushed. Behind him was a misty gateway opening into nowhere. “Since I developed technological teleportation, I stopped using magical methods. But this method will be better for your needs, I think. All it requires is some relatively simple geometrical patterns and dragon’s blood.” He straightened his lab coat, a confident grin on his face. “Djinn are magical creatures, one of a variety of kinds of demons that can be summoned, with care. Rithmatics is a magic based on geometry and art, and as for drawing upon the powers of darkness, well…” Malevolence chuckled. “That is a bit more complicated.”

haven’t read Lightbringer. I’m talking about djinn from the Bartimaeus series.

Edited December 7, 2025 by Ookla the Married

[KaladinsSenseOfHumourSpren He/Him]

2 hours ago, Ookla the Married said:

Back in his lab, Malevolence frowned, hearing Cricket’s final remark through his spy drones. Perhaps. But always out of that insidious fear, the fear that if I were to punch with all my strength I would miss and fall flat on my face. Or worse, that it would be like punching a brick wall, and my hand would shatter upon impact.

“Cytonics?” Malevolence shook his head, flipping through the pages of his book. “Unreliable in my experience. Too easy to suppress or disrupt. Besides, do you want your travel to be entirely reliant on independent people, or slugs, which could be easily compromised?” Reaching into the locker again, Malevolence pulled out a sealed jar and a brush. Opening the jar carefully, he dipped the brush inside and began painting arcane symbols onto the floor with a dark red substance that sent faint trails of smoke into the air. “I could procure the slugs, if you wished, or even hire cytonics for you. But they would not be my first choice.” He set the brush down carefully, then stood and flipped a page on the book, careful not to smudge any of the symbols. “Unoathed access to the surges is difficult. I could get you a few Progression fabrials, possibly even some Gravitation fabrials, but the others are difficult. It will take time to acquire the relevant spikes, and you will have to learn the hemalurgic bindpoints for your species’ anatomy. That is, unless you expect me to steal Honorblades for you.” He frowned , looking up from his book. “Actually… I may have an idea in that regard. Recent developments… I will see what I can do.”

Turning back to his book, Malevolence spoke a phrase that sounded like total gibberish. The circle he’d drawn on the floor flared to life at his words, fires shooting up around him. They dimmed, leaving behind a glowing circle on the floor, and no Malevolence to be seen.

Malevolence appeared inside of one of the Trisolaran ships, in an area in which there was enough room for him to stand up straight without immediately being crushed. Behind him was a misty gateway opening into nowhere. “Since I developed technological teleportation, I stopped using magical methods. But this method will be better for your needs, I think. All it requires is some relatively simple geometrical patterns and dragon’s blood.” He straightened his lab coat, a confident grin on his face. “Djinn are magical creatures, one of a variety of kinds of demons that can be summoned, with care. Rithmatics is a magic based on geometry and art, and as for drawing upon the powers of darkness, well…” Malevolence chuckled. “That is a bit more complicated.”

haven’t read Lightbringer. I’m talking about djinn from the Bartimaeus series.

Oh alright. I haven't read Bartimaeus.

Malevolence could only see white inside the ship due to multiple sophons rapidly moving through his retinas. The Trisolarans did not want him seeing the inside of their ships.

Is there a way, then, that you could grant us Epic powers? The words were black imprints in his eyes. Like that of Obliteration? Hemalurgy will be difficult; Sandy thinks that we don't have bindpoints at all right now.  As for Honorblades, we know a place they are plentiful, but Sandy says that any honorblades that leave that place are... dangerous to one's mental state, except for Sandy himself, who doesn't have much of a mental state left.

The writing paused briefly.

How are we to get dragon's blood? This sounds, in some ways, like scriving.

[TwinStorm He/Him]

8 hours ago, Ookla the Married said:

Back in his lab, Malevolence frowned, hearing Cricket’s final remark through his spy drones. Perhaps. But always out of that insidious fear, the fear that if I were to punch with all my strength I would miss and fall flat on my face. Or worse, that it would be like punching a brick wall, and my hand would shatter upon impact.

11 hours ago, Ookla the Tachyon said:

is this to cricketttt

[Through the Living Heir he/him]

14 hours ago, Ookla The Kintsukuroi said:

jack reaches his hand out and a long feather forms. (Hawks mha weapon. Google it)

Dax stops him though. "No little one." He taps the palm of his hand. Blue lights whir and nullify rebus' Narration. A cage falls down and captures rebus, tis made of mordite so you cant break free.a mordite mist released right at Rebus face level presumably contaminating his breath before he could tell. 

Rebus did not move as the cage came down - Narration-nullifying technology was interesting, reminiscent of the Nullite devices used by Bat and Rose, but not truly a threat. His eyes widened, though, as he realized the bars of the cage were Mordite. 

“Impressive, but you’re-” Rebus coughed, hacking up black phlegm and ruined nanomachines. Cracks spread out from his mouth, bleeding a silver liquid. Antagonist had disappeared, and Rebus coughed again, color and life draining from his shattered face. “Ow,” he said, mouth unmoving as speakers picked up the slack for his dying lungs. 

14 hours ago, Ookla the Married said:

“Yes, I see.” Lyric followed along behind Jack. “Thus far, the Sage has only been able to fool us when our eyes are open. But… do you really think we can find our way out blindly? We may wander deeper into the mall.”

—

The lab was dimly lit, the only light coming from lines of text scrawling across computer screens. Balitan sat slumped in front of one of these screens, back towards Rebus. The only sound in the room came from the the clacking of Balitan’s fingers on the keyboard in front of him, although his head was down, looking at neither the screen nor the keyboard.

Jack shook his head, still walking. “If we keep going the same direction, we can’t not find the edge.” 
-

Rebus’s enhanced eyes took in all of the text, though until it was described his actual knowledge of its contents wouldn’t catch up. “Balitan?” He said, walking closer. “What had occurred?” 

[Keke They/he]

34 minutes ago, Ookla the Obfuscated said:

Rebus did not move as the cage came down - Narration-nullifying technology was interesting, reminiscent of the Nullite devices used by Bat and Rose, but not truly a threat. His eyes widened, though, as he realized the bars of the cage were Mordite. 

“Impressive, but you’re-” Rebus coughed, hacking up black phlegm and ruined nanomachines. Cracks spread out from his mouth, bleeding a silver liquid. Antagonist had disappeared, and Rebus coughed again, color and life draining from his shattered face. “Ow,” he said, mouth unmoving as speakers picked up the slack for his dying lungs.

btw its only strong enough to weaken him not kill. So this pain is the max that will happen. 

Dax watched. "Oh. I was unaware that much would happen. The mist is a prototype but I had to use it. I hope you understand what im trying to protect." And then rebus presumably passes out?

[Through the Living Heir he/him]

39 minutes ago, Ookla The Kintsukuroi said:

btw its only strong enough to weaken him not kill. So this pain is the max that will happen. 

Dax watched. "Oh. I was unaware that much would happen. The mist is a prototype but I had to use it. I hope you understand what im trying to protect." And then rebus presumably passes out?

Rebus coughed a third time, liquid nanomachines running down his face. “Of course I understand. Your trap is clever - it spells a slow death for nearly anyone, and forces me to abandon my body here.” The nanomachines were starting to clot, locking together around specks of Mordite so it couldn’t do more damage. He doubled over coughing once more, and when he stood up his eyes rolled into the back of his head. He kept standing, but his movements were abrupt and inhumanly smooth, computing power spread too thin to bother with natural posture. “You have me in a cage, unconscious and slowly dying. Now, let us see whether or not you have thought this through.” 

[Keke They/he]

54 minutes ago, Ookla the Obfuscated said:

Rebus coughed a third time, liquid nanomachines running down his face. “Of course I understand. Your trap is clever - it spells a slow death for nearly anyone, and forces me to abandon my body here.” The nanomachines were starting to clot, locking together around specks of Mordite so it couldn’t do more damage. He doubled over coughing once more, and when he stood up his eyes rolled into the back of his head. He kept standing, but his movements were abrupt and inhumanly smooth, computing power spread too thin to bother with natural posture. “You have me in a cage, unconscious and slowly dying. Now, let us see whether or not you have thought this through.” 

two cables came down and attached to him. Prismite stalled him enough to help ease the pain. Jacks face twisted with unease and turned away. "Ive never liked this." He muttered flicking his wings. 

Dax looked a bit remorseful not wanting to cause pain but knowing rebus would do what was require to access his goal. "Most of the items are prototypes. But I know what you want. The author blade. And I know i cant let you have this. You already have all the notblades and Antagonist. Your growing to powerful."

Some more machines pulled rebus onto a table and straps formed around him. One on his stomach, ankles wrists and biceps. They were made so he couldn't narrate out if them even if he wasn't weakened. Think like this sorta. Dax strapped a mask To help rebus breath easier. 

Spoiler

 

[Through the Living Heir he/him]

51 minutes ago, Ookla The Kintsukuroi said:

two cables came down and attached to him. Prismite stalled him enough to help ease the pain. Jacks face twisted with unease and turned away. "Ive never liked this." He muttered flicking his wings. 

Dax looked a bit remorseful not wanting to cause pain but knowing rebus would do what was require to access his goal. "Most of the items are prototypes. But I know what you want. The author blade. And I know i cant let you have this. You already have all the notblades and Antagonist. Your growing to powerful."

Some more machines pulled rebus onto a table and straps formed around him. One on his stomach, ankles wrists and biceps. They were made so he couldn't narrate out if them even if he wasn't weakened. Think like this sorta. Dax strapped a mask To help rebus breath easier. 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Rebus doubled over coughing once more, which gave the machines time to catch him and strap him to the table. The mask didn’t register any breath - Rebus’s nanomachines were directly keeping his blood oxidized and cells alive. “Power doesn’t matter. I have been too powerful for a long time - but it is the story and the Authors that decide our fates. I do not want the Author-Killing-Blade because I need it for power - I want it because it makes me threatening, makes you want to fight me. It seems to have worked.” 

[Keke They/he]

1 minute ago, Ookla the Obfuscated said:

Rebus doubled over coughing once more, which gave the machines time to catch him and strap him to the table. The mask didn’t register any breath - Rebus’s nanomachines were directly keeping his blood oxidized and cells alive. “Power doesn’t matter. I have been too powerful for a long time - but it is the story and the Authors that decide our fates. I do not want the Author-Killing-Blade because I need it for power - I want it because it makes me threatening, makes you want to fight me. It seems to have worked.” 

"no i don't want to fight. I never have." Dax sat down and sighed. "Rebus honesty Clarke." He mumbled sifting through some papers. "Your an enigma. While we know alot about you. It seems we know nothing. You spawned in the thread without a backstory. Or if you do then its never been revealed. "So why is it you want to be feared. Well nevermind I suppose I know the answer. You don't want to be forgotten. There aren't answers for everything as to why you fear this. My geuss is it stems from your author projecting?" He seemed to be reading stuff of a file of not only rebus but his author to. "Dragonheir.. tall... wears glassed." He mused to himself. 

[NameIess]

9 hours ago, Ookla the Tachyon said:

Oh alright. I haven't read Bartimaeus.

Malevolence could only see white inside the ship due to multiple sophons rapidly moving through his retinas. The Trisolarans did not want him seeing the inside of their ships.

Is there a way, then, that you could grant us Epic powers? The words were black imprints in his eyes. Like that of Obliteration? Hemalurgy will be difficult; Sandy thinks that we don't have bindpoints at all right now.  As for Honorblades, we know a place they are plentiful, but Sandy says that any honorblades that leave that place are... dangerous to one's mental state, except for Sandy himself, who doesn't have much of a mental state left.

The writing paused briefly.

How are we to get dragon's blood? This sounds, in some ways, like scriving.

“Epic powers rely on the consent of beings that are difficult to understand, let alone manipulate.” Malevolence said thoughtfully. “As for Honorblades… given recent developments, I believe I could create synthetic blades capable of granting surges, with access to one of the Honorblades as a template.” He pulled a jar from his pocket and placed it on the ground. “This should be enough to create a portal to Trisolaris, although running the portal will require more. Dragon’s blood is acquired from dragons. Dragons from certain worlds, at least. I have a rather large supply, and can connect you to my suppliers.”

4 hours ago, Ookla the Wanderer said:

is this to cricketttt

It is in response to him, but he wouldn’t have been able to know what Malevolence was thinking.

3 hours ago, Ookla the Obfuscated said:

Jack shook his head, still walking. “If we keep going the same direction, we can’t not find the edge.” 
-

Rebus’s enhanced eyes took in all of the text, though until it was described his actual knowledge of its contents wouldn’t catch up. “Balitan?” He said, walking closer. “What had occurred?” 

“Yes, but I would not want to walk into the Sage first.” Lyric frowned. “I may have an idea.”

—

The computers seemed to be rebuilding firewalls and analyzing system damage. Balitan’s head jerked, and he turned to look at Rebus. The scientist still shared an eerie resemblance with Malevolence, but his face looked drawn and weary, eyes unfocused.  “I discovered a new method to isolate Chaotic darkness from the Void. Efficiency… tripled, at least.” Balitan’s voice was distant, and his eyes remained unfocused as he spoke. “Then… Malevolence. I saw him, he… broke in somehow. Said… something. I don’t remember anything after that. Woke up… databases compromised. He got everything. Research. Information on Nameless. Stores of the isolated metals.” Balitan pressed a hand to his face. “Still… fuzzy.”

2 hours ago, Ookla The Kintsukuroi said:

btw its only strong enough to weaken him not kill. So this pain is the max that will happen. 

Dax watched. "Oh. I was unaware that much would happen. The mist is a prototype but I had to use it. I hope you understand what im trying to protect." And then rebus presumably passes out?

It’s Mordite! All that stuff does is kill, or create unhealing wounds.

[Keke They/he]

Just now, Ookla the Married said:

“Epic powers rely on the consent of beings that are difficult to understand, let alone manipulate.” Malevolence said thoughtfully. “As for Honorblades… given recent developments, I believe I could create synthetic blades capable of granting surges, with access to one of the Honorblades as a template.” He pulled a jar from his pocket and placed it on the ground. “This should be enough to create a portal to Trisolaris, although running the portal will require more. Dragon’s blood is acquired from dragons. Dragons from certain worlds, at least. I have a rather large supply, and can connect you to my suppliers.”

It is in response to him, but he wouldn’t have been able to know what Malevolence was thinking.

“Yes, but I would not want to walk into the Sage first.” Lyric frowned. “I may have an idea.”

—

The computers seemed to be rebuilding firewalls and analyzing system damage. Balitan’s head jerked, and he turned to look at Rebus. The scientist still shared an eerie resemblance with Malevolence, but his face looked drawn and weary, eyes unfocused.  “I discovered a new method to isolate Chaotic darkness from the Void. Efficiency… tripled, at least.” Balitan’s voice was distant, and his eyes remained unfocused as he spoke. “Then… Malevolence. I saw him, he… broke in somehow. Said… something. I don’t remember anything after that. Woke up… databases compromised. He got everything. Research. Information on Nameless. Stores of the isolated metals.” Balitan pressed a hand to his face. “Still… fuzzy.”

It’s Mordite! All that stuff does is kill, or create unhealing wounds.

Oh yeah we had a whole conversation in discord about that and fixed stuff xD

[Immortal Platypus]

On 12/5/2025 at 10:57 AM, Ookla the Uncreative Name said:

Renn paused 

“How exactly do I get more power?”

Dang. All the good names get taken:/

Uh

Yeah

I barely know any lore y’all idk what’s taken or not

Oh thank you!

No, he’s a god not a sword (although I suppose you could be both)

There’s just not a lot of vocab for it. I knew retribution was taken so I figured it my best bet

I’m not sure I understand exactly what’s happening is Rebus taking a portion of his power or making a copy or smth?

Vengeance (the god, not sword) spoke

Equals was never the intent. When a small nation allies with a large one, is there ever any doubt they could be crushed by the larger?

Yes, any man wishes for more power. Yes, I wish I was equal in power. For that matter, I wish I was stronger. But that’s all pointless wishing. In reality, you are and will stay much stronger.

And I do see why not revealing myself is an issue. I was attempting to see how you would conduct yourself in that situation without trying to act in a certain way. I do apologize for misunderstanding that. 

 

yep, for sure. You don't even need to specify which Vengeance, cause I'm not here very much. just don't go naming something Platypus, or it'll get really confusing  

[Through the Living Heir he/him]

5 minutes ago, Ookla The Kintsukuroi said:

"no i don't want to fight. I never have." Dax sat down and sighed. "Rebus honesty Clarke." He mumbled sifting through some papers. "Your an enigma. While we know alot about you. It seems we know nothing. You spawned in the thread without a backstory. Or if you do then its never been revealed. "So why is it you want to be feared. Well nevermind I suppose I know the answer. You don't want to be forgotten. There aren't answers for everything as to why you fear this. My geuss is it stems from your author projecting?" He seemed to be reading stuff of a file of not only rebus but his author to. "Dragonheir.. tall... wears glassed." He mused to himself. 

“Backstories are imaginary - hypothetical scenarios imagined by our Authors. Only what is here truly exists and has permanence.” Rebus closed his eyes for a moment. “Only here am I really alive. So if I stop being written, I die. My Author had characters that didn’t care about that - where are they now? I am at the forefront because I worked for it. And what else is there for me to do, besides stay alive?” 

2 minutes ago, Ookla the Married said:

“Yes, but I would not want to walk into the Sage first.” Lyric frowned. “I may have an idea.”

—

The computers seemed to be rebuilding firewalls and analyzing system damage. Balitan’s head jerked, and he turned to look at Rebus. The scientist still shared an eerie resemblance with Malevolence, but his face looked drawn and weary, eyes unfocused.  “I discovered a new method to isolate Chaotic darkness from the Void. Efficiency… tripled, at least.” Balitan’s voice was distant, and his eyes remained unfocused as he spoke. “Then… Malevolence. I saw him, he… broke in somehow. Said… something. I don’t remember anything after that. Woke up… databases compromised. He got everything. Research. Information on Nameless. Stores of the isolated metals.” Balitan pressed a hand to his face. “Still… fuzzy.”

“This could still be a test…” Jack mused, then shook his head. “What is your idea?” 
-

Rebus frowned - the fact that this could happen despite his technology meant there was plot-relevance to it. “Malevolence broke in… Knowing him, he caught the tracers as well - how much of a setback is this? Luxite is the problem, both in terms of Malevolence possessing it and us losing it - everything else he could acquire another way.” As for the new process… Rebus reached out his awareness, examining Balitan’s soul on a sudden hunch. 

[Keke They/he]

41 minutes ago, Ookla the Obfuscated said:

Backstories are imaginary - hypothetical scenarios imagined by our Authors. Only what is here truly exists and has permanence.” Rebus closed his eyes for a moment. “Only here am I really alive. So if I stop being written, I die. My Author had characters that didn’t care about that - where are they now? I am at the forefront because I worked for it. And what else is there for me to do, besides stay alive?” 

Dax nodded. "Live. Properly live not just survive but create memories. Even if your not written somewhere someone remembers you. So are you really dead if your alive in a memory?"