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Through the Living Heir

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  1. Through the Living Heir
    “I haven’t tried them yet. If you’ll take the cores, I can investigate it now.” Rebus was still holding the cores - or, rather, hovering them above his hands, since touching either would cause them to do things. “Be careful with them - Chaotic Light is as volatile as you’d think, and both can sometimes activate if touched, which will use them up.”
  2. Through the Living Heir
    Muin’s powers were already back. “I told you - a few seconds. What I’m attempting to do is combine Chaotic Light with Ordered Darkness in order to make an emulsifier, which I can then use to combine them further. To break them on just that boundary requires very little time, really.”
  3. Through the Living Heir
    “Because I need them for the experiment - I posses that instant of magic, which I can use to mess with my own powers. Willing agreement - when combined with magic - can do wonders. You can still help people and use your powers, if you’re worried about that.” Rebus did not look particularly sorry, but he wasn’t smug either.
  4. Through the Living Heir
    “I, Rebus, also agree.” Something happened, and Muin’s powers briefly weakened. “I now possess your help - I shall use it to perform the experiment. Here are your cores.” Rebus put his hands out, and two fist-sized crystals appeared over them. One was shining in every color Muin could think of or perceive, loops of magic more meaningful that could merely be seen continuously moving around and through it. The other was very very black, an aura around it removing color and dimming light that passed near it.
  5. Through the Living Heir
    Rebus did not think that bitterness was particularly strange, considering the circumstances. “As soon as you can, but that can be done here and takes mere seconds. Likewise I shall give you the cores as soon as I can - which is as soon as I have your help.”
  6. Through the Living Heir
    Just saying, but I think Symbol lost her chance at medieval when she made floating violins. (Though I guess that’s inside the barrier, now) Rebus constructed crystals - of legitimate crystal glass - and sent them floating upwards to the chandelier. They caught the light, sending points of it scattered across the floor like a million stars. And they began to spin to the music, making the lights glide around like they themselves were dancing.
  7. Through the Living Heir
    Rebus looked upwards, admiring the decorations. “May I?” he asked. “We can place floating crystals around the chandelier, to refract the light around the room. If we dimmed those braziers first, the effect would be impressive.” In other words, Rebus’s first recommendation is a fantasy-y disco ball. I actually wrote out him doing it, then decided he would ask first (if it was anybody else, he certainly would not). If she were to ask me directly, I would have to tell her, or at least be evasive enough she would know. Otherwise, I would end up breaking my word. That has dangers of its own. It’s closer to causing and preventing, perhaps? I took life and death directly from Xino’s blog, but I guess they’re not quite the same. Did I get this right? If Chaotic Light had its way, everything would be bursting with color and creation, activity and fun, with little regard to who got hurt. Many would call it a paradise, but many would also call it dangerous and ridiculous. If Ordered Light got its way, people would be safe and happy doing what they were supposed to. They would be nurtured and guided by light, helping crops grow and people from different worlds interact. Many would call it peaceful, but some would call it stagnation. If Ordered Dark got its way, nobody could do anything they were not supposed to. Any threat to anything would simply cease to exist. It would be safe, but it would also be controlling. If Chaotic Dark got its way, nothing would exist. I think most people can agree that would be bad. To speak to your newest post, I think you said something like that - that he was something like the Witherlord, who can control Mordite. Rebus nodded. “You are perhaps the most skeptical person I have made a contract with. That is not a bad thing, honestly. Our original agreement was as follows:” “We then amended it thusly:” “Do you give your word that you agree?” Well, Rebus’s favor requires almost no effort from him, and since his life is a resource he cannot replenish, if he’s in true danger he can save himself and complete the favor later, or ever negotiate for a new one. The only thing here that isn’t in his favor or neutral is the fact that if Muin fails now, he doesn’t need to give back the cores, but Rebus has another favor for him. Of course, declaring failure, since the contract is magically enforced, means that Muin cannot then complete the Gem without severe consequences.
  8. Through the Living Heir
    I think I am. I simply agree with you. Good. I assume the memory manipulation extends to anything I might have to say on the topic, so I do not break my word?
  9. Through the Living Heir
    I think you’re planning this wonderfully. Rebus smiled, genuine and a little bit sad. I will keep this secret on your behalf, though not hers. But if you truly break her, there will be consequences.
  10. Through the Living Heir
    “Very well. You shall not need to give the cores back. Do we have a deal?” Rebus phrased his contract well, if I do say so myself. Rebus had expected as much - he began to prepare for that meeting. Doing and undoing, action and inaction, life and death, existence and emptiness, intensity and calm? That sounds a bit like the mantle, actually. Yeah - for everyone involved. That was fine with Rebus.
  11. Through the Living Heir
    “I give you two cores - one of an Ordered Darkness entity and one of a Chaotic Light entity. You use these to complete your task, and once you are finished they return to me in whatever state they end up in. If you deem your task to be impossible, the cores return to me and I shall offer you a different boon, which we will negotiate at that time. In exchange, you give me your help - which shall take you little effort and inconvenience, and invoke no subsequent responsibility - so I can complete the experiment I was using them in. This experiment will not endanger you, though it does involve metaphysics and will give me new capabilities. In addition, I will owe you a minor favor - I am willing to accompany you on a journey, perform a task for you, or make you an item, but I will not expend any resources I cannot replenish. This is the sole extent of our contract, and I give my word it shall be satisfied.” Rebus came up behind her, walking through the air, and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. He didn’t say anything, he simply listened to the music in silence. Meanwhile, the clone that had been talking to Lady Bug looked thoughtful. It seemed she hadn’t truly know what she was doing.
  12. Through the Living Heir
    Rebus maintained his dignity, though he gave a small smile. “I have an experiment to run myself. A couple, actually.” Rebus gave a belated wave with a raised eyebrow. “We will meet again, I suspect. I am not certain yet whether it will be as allies, rivals, or bitter enemies.” Alright… I’ll try some more later today. I think Order and Chaos can stand on their own, because a net neutral in terms of creation and destruction makes far more sense than somehow neither Order nor Chaos. If I have some, I shall. I think that was Nameless’s plan to defeat him, at some point. Not sure if it worked. No, the Skeins were some sort of sapient field of Ordered Light - they were the ones who sealed the Witherlord away, though I think they were destroyed in the process. Yeah, that’s a bad idea. (Rebus did consider doing so at one point, but realized how stupid trying to harvest Platypus’s organs is). Rebus had two things Platypus didn’t, though: the work of others, and metagaming.
  13. Through the Living Heir
    Just you wait… that party is just two dozen pages away. “Isn’t this the very objective of the experiment?”
  14. Through the Living Heir
    Rebus will be very interested in that… “Good. I quite honestly may agree with you, depending upon what you do wish.” “I’ve been trying to combine the metals myself, though I am aiming for a neutral balance between Order and Chaos.” “That could be a worthy goal. The issue with gaining vengeance for all is that people often wish vengeance for others’ acts of vengeance.” Alright, then - perhaps we’ll witness that at some point. Alright - the apostrophes are throwing me off. The tricky part is imagining something neither structured nor unstructured. Things have to have some arrangement, whether it be effectively random or very regular. Alright. I’d be willing to help with that brainstorming, though as we’ve found I seem to have a poorer grasp of the lore than I thought. To unbalance him by introducing more Ordered Darkness (or Chaotic Darkness, but that’s risky). Huh (to both). The Skeins were Witherlordish for Ordered Light, right? Or at least had more power than a Luxsprite. The balancium one - I think he did use it in the duel, though I’m not sure it worked. Rebus found and reactivated the one that turns you into Nameless, but he was… unhelpful (he stole and absorbed a bunch of Prismite, then ran away). That’s what I said, too. I think Platypus is the last. Rebus chuckled inwardly. He’d been in that situation before - honestly, he still was. “Muin, as I said, if I can have your help I can get you the first two cores. Is that satisfactory?” “Time cannot be wasted if your goal is to continue doing things. I may not be able to protect Symbol from whatever you plan to do, but I will help her become all the stronger because of it.”
  15. Through the Living Heir
    “I likely deserve that.” “That decision is good for your health - though if you truly break her, I can and will hunt you down.” Yeah - he has a plan for the core, but he thinks he can use normal Nullite and the corruption effect instead, so he’s willing to give it up if Muin helps him with that experiment (and actually all Muin has to do is promise him help - agreements with Rebus are magic).
  16. Through the Living Heir
    “Yes, if the instructions for time travel - which, mind you, is already possible here - are encrypted with the Fundamental Substances, we would only need one of each to decode it. I can provide both Chaotic Light and Ordered Darkness, though I am currently using the latter, and would need your help substituting it.” Rebus smiled at her in a deliberately frustrating way. Let the record also show that Rebus was making sure Lady Bug didn’t attack her during that time.
  17. Through the Living Heir
    “So what is to stop you from destroying everything? You could do it right now - end the entire planet.” “Your experiments here do intrigue me.” “I suppose you are. What Vengeance do you truly wish?” Yeah, I guess Order probably locks everything into crystal structures or something, and is hence immovable, while Chaos probably acts like fire, corrupting everything to itself and then basically falling apart. Ah. Is the second stage some sort of anagram? You’re probably right. I am finding it hard to imagine something that is neither structured nor unstructured, since orderliness is kinda a necessary state for something that exists, while something that is neither Light nor Dark can maintain a balance and not create or destroy, simply rearrange and change. Alrighty. Are you planning to recon the properties a bit so they fit a little better? That makes sense, I suppose. The same can be done to Platypus himself, I expect. I’m not sure it matters at this point, but I simply wanted you to know that Rebus did have a plan. Well, some of the shard could teleport while the others didn’t, and they started moving around on their own once Platypus showed up. I think the only being that has been seen telekinetically moving their metal is the Witherlord. “I would like to note that your task is potentially both impossible and unnecessary. If everything you have told me is correct, to reassemble the Gem would be induce an identity crisis too great for many to bear. If magic truly is connected to it, to reassemble it would require every Narrator, every Ennuller, every withergeist, and the last Luxsprite - who happens to not be a Luxsprite at the moment, being corrupted by Darkness and on a rampage. If we needed his help, we would have to undo his corruption. Alternatively, you could find Nameless’s Medallion, which can change fundamental substances between each other, except that is also impossible, since you cannot get it without finding a man who is currently nonexistent.” Rebus’s voice was a little strange, to one who could sense magic. Actually, his entire being, and even the air around him, was suffused in some sort of life unlike life. “I will help you though, if I may have your help in return.”
  18. Through the Living Heir
    Yeah, I agree that both sides have valid places to come from. I shall endeavor to stay reasonable, and do hope we can come to a conclusion because under the frustration is genuine interest in Platypus's motivations and goals (keeping those hidden is understandable, because we know they're there). Agreed - there's a difference between "there's something going on, but you don't get to find out what until later" and "oh yeah, this has been happening the whole time there was just no sign of it". I'd like to sorta disagree with hitting the alloy as opting it - I was perfectly willing to have Rebus's Plotblade destroyed, but the objective was to learn its properties to exploit them. I feel it was untelegraphed that the crystal was able to have its properties altered (but only by Platypus, for some reason). The absorbance makes sense, in a way. Darkness is very corrupt-y, so I can see converting more materials into itself. The repulsion feels weirder, though - it feels like Pure Darkness should be a black hole, crunching everything it touches. But yes, the properties feel inconsistent from a metaphysics perspective.
  19. Through the Living Heir
    "How could one possibly enforce such a thing? Magic is not real to the Authors." Hmm. "The communication severing? Why would that possibly require ignorance of its effect?" "Hmmm. I'm surprised your blade still functions, and hasn't take its Vengeance on you." Alright... I guess Rebus can show he doesn't need a magic sword in order to think on his feet. What would make it stop? Rebus's plan for Platypus taking his sword would be to fake severing his connection to it (which he has done in the past), then summon it back to him or exploit Platypus's connection to it with what would be best described as soul malware. If the shard had only destroyed his Plotblade, since it also absorbs Mordite and Nullite he could use it to counter anything that could kill a Narrator. Understood. If I were in your place, I would have made them weaker and removed the teleportation. A metal that corroded anything it touched, stopped everything that touched it from moving, and absorbed light fits Darkness better than one that can teleport around to follow Narrators. (Also, I don't think your cipher was written correctly, at least not in any way I know of. I can't crack it, and neither can the first couple online programs I tried) That does kinda make sense, but wouldn't Darkness be prone to self-destructing? That makes sense, but the way this would interact feels kind of odd. An alloy doesn't allow this kind of "this part does this thing, then this part does this thing" behavior - the components are regularly distributed, and this makes new properties that aren't the sum of the composing metals. Rebus basically managed to cause a few explosions - he was planning to try some emulsifiers, but then NameIess went inactive.
  20. Through the Living Heir
    Rebus had though that some normal turtles were omnivorous, though kelp probably would have been better. "I would agree. Sheldon is rather silly, but it might work." Why thank you.
  21. Through the Living Heir
    Rebus smiled at it, assembling some lettuce for it. Rebus would have probably blushed himself, if not for his cybernetics. "You are welcome." "What is a rule, if not an agreement by the people in charge?" I'm not sure what they you're referring to. An explanation would be helpful to reduce frustration, I suspect. Both for what the metal is, and for what Platypus expects to gain by acquiring another three swords to go with his dozens. I may or may not have stolen the TVTropes criteria for it... "What could you possible be messing around with that would require unexpectedly killing someone?" "Admittedly Nameless is probably a biased source, but I was told you gained Vengeance in order to get vengeance for Plot." And the Blades, shard, or even planet being destroyed were all options I and Rebus were fine with. But to then turn around and say Rebus can't use it to destroy other Plotblades is the frustrating part. Platypus shows up - fake severing the connection, let it be taken, get the blade back at a crucial moment. Blade is destroyed - put a hilt on the shard, then fight with impunity, since it can destroy Nullite (and presumably Ennullers), Mordite, and Endings and other Plotblades. From what I've read, Thaid's villains would be shown doing something, but not with enough information to know what they were planning. Similarly, if Platypus had been seen doing mysterious experiments on unspecified things, it would foreshadow his later discovery of whatever the shard is. If Platypus had tangentially controlled a shard - perhaps during the "what weapon would you have me use instead" exchange, it could have set it up a bit.
  22. Through the Living Heir
    "It's what you were talking about earlier - character moments. Both with the turtle, and with whatever it is I'm feeling because of it." Rebus assembled the turtle a little hat. Yeah - if we'd been getting some Thaid-style glimpses of what Platypus was doing (though I suppose Platypus the Author was too busy), or even if it had been foreshadowed better during Rebus's interaction with him, it would feel much more natural. "Righteous frustration is nothing to be sorry over - I would feel the same if our positions were reversed."
  23. Through the Living Heir
    "The rules are what let you kill my clone. The rules are what stop me from ignoring you, or declaring you dead. The rules are what makes this spoken words and not mere abnormally thick text on a page. The rules are what can let you beat me - your Author is right that you have more experience and resources than I, and if you throw out any consistency you throw out any path to victory but stubbornness, which I assure you I am your match in." I don't actually care that the Plotblade is broken, or even that Rebus couldn't get the pieces, though it ruins a couple ideas I had for the future. My main frustration is that Platypus's shards don't follow the same rules as everything else. He doesn't have an established way to have them, and they seem to be able to do anything, without any counter - including using their properties against him. To make a weapon that can break Plotblades is fine, but to make it impossible for anyone else to use feels unfair. If there is an actual reason he can make and control such a thing, I will accept it - though Rebus will of course attempt to duplicate the feat (or if it really is Umbrite, he may try for another axis). Magnificent Bastard was alive, and "loyal" to Rebus (it was perfectly willing to betray him, of course, but he is more likely to use it than Platypus), so perhaps I can be responsible for one of the daggers - Charm, with the other two being Adaptation and Love to Hate. Edit: Love to hate is probably under Charm, or perhaps vice versa. The third should be something about the morality - pragmatic but gracious, villainous but not despicable. "You created it? No wonder you've ended up like this, if it truly is what I suspect." Rebus shook his head. "I am indeed a man of science. Such a man of science, in fact, that I would have volunteered a clone had you asked me. Such a man of science that I was willing to break my own Plotblade in order to find the means to break others. But to destroy me without even asking if I would be willing to sacrifice a clone speaks to a failure to consider any measure but the most drastic. Weren't you the one who fought against the killing of Plot?" Rebus smiled at her, grateful. I think you could be right here, but that doesn't mean interrupting the natural process isn't unexpected and in some ways rude. Rebus didn't expect that exact situation, but he was prepared for both "Platypus shows up" and "Plotblade is destroyed" - simply not the two at once. In my mind he was not caught nearly as unaware as you seem to have gathered from what I said.
  24. Through the Living Heir
    Rebus actually considered dropping the shard into the Eternal Mountains' Nullite vein, but decided that was too mean and uncontrolled, since he could simply use grey goo if he really wanted to. Rebus smiled in genuine amusement and fondness, bringing another copy of him to her so he could be there and still keep arguing with Platypus.
  25. Through the Living Heir
    I'd agree on all counts. Platypus's? The one that absorbs any Nullite it touches, growing larger as it does so?
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