[audio] @msolis; [open]

[candlemom]

[The voice in the audio clip is quiet, weary, and a little bit nervous. She gets right to the point, though—small talk isn't really Dr. Solis' thing.]

Hello, everyone. My name is Dr. Maridel Solis. I... apologize, as I am never sure how to best introduce myself. I am the last surviving native of this world, and I am the scientist responsible for the portal. I created the lighthouse, the lanterns, and I repair the lanterns of the dead. I think it's about time we began working together.

I'm sure you all have many questions for me. I will do my best to answer as best I can, but first, allow me to explain a few things.

I imagine some among you will be cross with me for lurking behind the scenes for so long. During the first few resets, I made my presence known right from the start. Problems arose rather immediately—it's quite a shock, as I'm sure you all will understand, to find yourself in a place such as this. Too much, too soon... This is an impossible situation we've found ourselves in, and the full scope of it is too likely to turn fear into panic. I do my best not to shout fire! in a crowded theater these days, for everyone's safety.

In any case, please know that I am truly sorry that you have found yourselves in this place, and I'm grateful for your help.

The second reason for my seclusion is that, frankly, I've been quite busy. Busy with research, with lantern crafting and repair... It's easier for me to continue my work while separated from the rest of the town until I am ready to present my findings to the townspeople for help.

During the attack on the town this past November, Robin was given a lantern by the green-eyed spirits. The thing was in pieces, barely recognizable as a lantern, and as such, it's taken me until recently to identify its owner, but—this lantern belonged to a lighthouse keeper from many years ago. One of the best we've had, in fact. What's more is, I believe I may be able to revive him.

The revival will take time, as I still have many preparations to make before we can begin the process. In the meantime, I would very much like to hear from anyone with a background in the sciences, magical or otherwise. Your skills and knowledge sets may be of use, as I will have need for materials I believe can be found in Beacon, although I'm at an impasse as to what, precisely, those materials might be. For now, I would simply like to get a scope of what other capable minds we have among us so that I may best understand how to utilize our strengths.

Regarding the incident on the ferry: frightening as though the forest spirit prank was, I assure you, it's nothing to be alarmed by. The portal is unstable, and occasionally its schedule fluctuates. I believe that is all that happened in this case; the forest spirit, ahem, corpses are... unrelated. Pranksters getting carried away with themselves.

When the next batch of new arrivals will show, I can't be certain. We'll simply have to wait and see what the next ferry brings, though I doubt the portal will keep us waiting for too long. It never does.

As I've said, I imagine you have questions for me, and I am happy to answer as best I can. I will... set up an inbox for myself, I suppose. I'll be sure to make that information available on the network directory.

Stay safe.

[The audio feed clicks off. Attached to the message is a written transcript of the whole broadcast.

ooc: More information about the lantern revival plot will be available in the future! Right now, she's just collecting data... Dr. Solis will need assistance from many different skillsets, so there's room for everyone to get involved at some stage! No worries if your character isn't a huge nerd.

Also, the game history page has been updated!]

Comments

PRIVATE AUDIO ( @ledzeppelin )

[cained]

( to say dean's suspicious ... well, it's less of an understatement and more that it's just his natural state of being. he doesn't exactly buy the whole good samaritan act. as far as he's concerned, there's always an ulterior motive with these type of people. that, and he's seen inside her head. )

Dr. Solis. I have something of yours.

( but he's not about to give it up until he's convinced she's not going to fuck them all over. )

[candlemom]

Oh?

[There's some genuine confusion. It's not like she leaves her stuff lying around town.]

And what might that be?

@silent | text

[callada]

This is Rosinante. For now I just want to thank you for all the work you've been doing. We owe you a great deal.

[candlemom]

Ah, Rosinante. Hello.

The thanks are appreciated. How is your friend?

Audio @Lucky

[mindofathief]

[There's so much he wants to know. The Nowhere Islands were desecrated because a grown child saw it as his toybox. Life was tampered, and everyone suffered for it. Here is the person responsible for their situation. Dr. Solis isn't outwardly malicious, but everyone he heard she has done leaves a bad taste in his mouth, like meat having left it's period of freshness.

He wonders is he has anything worth saying. Smart questions and decisions were never his strong suite.]

Why?

Why did you create those portals?

[candlemom]

[Ah, yes, the burning question.]

Curiosity, to put it simply. The pursuit of knowledge. We had an opportunity to rewrite our understanding of the universe.

[private audio] @thursday

[freetobe]

Dr. Solis. I've seen your lab, in a manner of speaking. While the nature of my... presence there has not left me able to retain many details, I recall finding your work impressive enough, despite the end results.

[ He remembers it dimly, if not in detail. Unable to recreate the formulas and calculations, though he's aware of their nature. Quantum physics, and impressive results... with disastrous consequences. The printers...

Sun.exe. Not a good memory, that. ]

My name is Castiel. I have... some questions regarding the apparently unique nature with which your lantern has encased my... essence for lack of a better word. If you'd be amenable to a conversation on the topic, I can offer my assistance to you in return.

[ Does she know his lantern has entrapped his grace, his source of power? Did she design it so that using his powers can not just leave him tapped, but actually kill him as the light goes out? Is this a malfunction, a punishment?

Questions. Many of them. ]

[candlemom]

Thank you, Castiel. Do you mean that you saw my lab in a dream last November?

[She heard that was a thing.]

Of course, I'll do my best to answer your questions. What would you like to know?

( audio; @daylit. )

[sunborne]

Thank you for doing this, Dr. Solis.

If you ever need a hand in the, um, revival project(?), let me or the others know? My arc energy can interact with most machinery well enough. So if there's ever a power outage or something, I'm a potential battery.

[candlemom]

It's my pleasure, Daylight, and that is quite good to know! Does your arc energy act only as a generator, or are there other functions to it?

[A small pause.]

I hope you're well.

@darkness | audio

[evulsed]

[ Vanitas grips is tablet like he could be holding her voice in his hands, like he could keep it safe, even though all he's every done is destroy everything he's ever touched. Finally, eventually, he finds the voice to speak. What she says makes sense, but all the important information pales against what Vanitas himself thinks is the most critical. ]

You're safer away from all these losers.

(same UN, audio in background)

[equinoctials]

[ There's the long, low purr of ripping gauze. Riku reaches over to flick a finger at the back of Vanitas's ear. Hold still, he's trying to change a bandage here. ]

You can just say you're worried about her.

[audio] @kingofwei

[pure_havoc]

Doctor. I hope the general population has not been annoying you through the post.

[originallutece]

Don't ask for the impossible.

voice; @lonk

[sublimebeast]

Solis?

[Link knows that there are clever questions he could ask, but the one that gnaws at him most is why? Why the portals? Why is he here?

His conversation with Rastus is still fresh in his mind.]

...Is it true that the portals are some kinda experiment you lost control over? Is that really why we're here?

It's all just...a terrible mistake?

[candlemom]

Mm... The facts are that, yes, I created the portals as part of my research. The portal remaining in the lake is the result of a failure to properly shut down the connection between worlds.

However, whether or not you choose to consider your continued existence a "terrible mistake" is up to you to decide. Life, even after death, is what you make of it, I suppose.

@scientia; text | Private

[reigniter]

Did you try to recreate the Sun?

private

[candlemom]

What do you mean?

private;

[originallutece]

Teach me how to repair lanterns.

private

[candlemom]

Oh, why, hello to you, too. What are your qualifications?

private audio; @hux

[therewillbeorder]

I'm an engineer. If you would share what you know, I'll volunteer my services.

private

[candlemom]

Ah, excellent. What sort of experience do you have?

@dr; text

[donttalktome]

[SCIENCE, YOU SAY?]

If you've always had access to the network, then I'll assume you already know who I am.
That's not meant to be arrogance, I'm aware that I post often enough, and unnecessary introductions are a waste of time.
If you want our assistance with your broken lantern project, we'll need to know quite a bit about it.
Should I take this to mean that you're willing to share that information?

[So what Ros said but public and way longer.]

[candlemom]

I know who everyone is, doctor.

I plan to share this information, yes, but only as-needed for now. I'd like to keep us all from getting ahead of ourselves, and I'm still collecting data.

—audio, @parker

[webshoots]

Hey, Doc. You're who Robin mentioned, right? She said there was someone else here, someone who'd make themselves known. [ but that's not important, not really, and speaking of— ] So why now? And what makes one keeper any better than another?

[ a pause, then: ] Biochem. That's my speciality, but uh, I've got a working knowledge across other scientific fields.

[candlemom]

Yes, that'd be me.

[There's a smile in her voice.]

The timing was right for a number of reasons. Some among you found clever ways to reach out to me, and their actions and words convinced me to trust the rest of you. Aside from that, between the events of this last ferry arrival and my breakthrough with the lantern, now seemed as good a time as any.

Longevity and leadership are the two criteria by which I measure the Keepers. Not literally, of course, but the person at the helm does have expectations to live up to. Keepers that have the fortitude to survive under these conditions and the leadership qualities to inspire progress, those are the most valuable.

[Her voice lights up at the mention of biochem.]

Ah, a good specialty. What were you doing with it?

text @ Ultra_Magnus

[legalcy]

[From what Minimus has learned of the setting, there was a great war with the World Eaters in the past, and in times of distress, science is encouraged towards questionable methods. Dr. Solis is simply a lucky survivor of the team that attempted to save Beacon in the past, not the sole source of their suffering.]

Dr. Solis,

It is a great relief to speak with you. I have arrived only last month, so my recollection of this planet's history may not be entirely accurate. I thank you for your survival and your reaching out to us. While my engineering skills are middling, I have over 4 million years of experience in combat and a professional background in law.

There are a few questions I have for those who had lived through the initial arrival of the World Eaters. I have been speaking with Robin recently, and she mentions that this region is the only inhabited place on this place. Was Beacon an Earth colony, or have other cities ceased to exist long ago?

Signed,
Minimus Ambus

[candlemom]

Four million years is quite the resume, Mr. Ambus. Thank you.

Many new residents come from Earth, I've found, but I'd never heard of the place before all this. It sounds quite similar to this world, though; as far as I can tell, each planet holds roughly the same ecology and geography, and each line of humanity follows roughly the same path. Odd, isn't it? That's the multiverse for you, I suppose.

To answer your question more directly: this world was home to just over 4 billion people in its prime. We had many cities, and this town is only what's left.

@hamada, audio

[tadaishi]

[Hello I heard you wanted nerds.]

Hello Dr. Solis!

I can't help with magical science, but mundane science is definitely up my alley. Robotics mostly, but I've got a passing knowledge of chemistry and a bit of medical...but mostly I'm an engineer, if you need one.

[candlemom]

[She chuckles.]

I would hardly call robotics "mundane". What sort of robots have you engineered?

Text @ SuprNerd

[moderatelymaladjusted]

No. Are you kidding?

[candlemom]

And what if I am?

@lingering-will; text

[really_sketchy]

Thank you for reaching out to us.

I am still new and I don't fully understand what it is the person at the light house does. I do think we should revive anyone we can but can we visit the light house? It seems so lonely to be there by themselves. I realize that I am probably asking for too much and we can't go there but I feel bad for the light house keeper, for all of them.

No one should be alone.

I don't know a lot about science but my magic lets me manipulate and chain together memories or sometimes shatter them. Perhaps that can help, if it can, then I'd like to help. If not, I can try and help find materials or something else.

I just want to help if I can. In any way that I can.

[candlemom]

We cannot visit the lighthouse, I'm afraid. The forest spirits keep it closely guarded; they won't even let me through, and believe me, I have tried.

But you're right in that the position of Lighthouse Keeper is a lonely one. All the more reason to solve this mess.

Memory manipulation... It is not a specialty I would've thought to ask for, yet I believe your skills may be useful. Could you tell me more about how your memory-related abilities work?

@eleven | text

[savingthrows]

if you can fix broken ones why do some people still not come back

can you bring them back

please

[candlemom]

The issue of revival is a tricky one, I'm afraid. In many cases, I simply cannot find the lantern after it is extinguished. These forests are dark and dangerous, and most of the dead's lanterns are never recovered. Others are far too damaged to fix, I'm afraid.

This lantern is incredibly damaged, that is true, and if I'm able to fix it... The process will be quite difficult and costly. I'm yet unsure as to whether or not I'll be able to revive him. If the revival is successful and if the process is such that it can be applied on a large scale, I will do what I can to bring back others that we have lost here.

However... Have you been to the church? Have you seen the candles there?

@HK

[catholicisms]

It's good to meet you, Doctor. I think I've been inadvertently introduced to quite a bit of your work.

Can I ask -- are you also the one who set the town up to be able to reset, if it's occupants were to not show enough progress?

[candlemom]

Inadvertently?

[She lets out a small, tired sigh at the question. It's a good one, and she'll answer it, but she doesn't expect anyone to be happy about it.]

Yes, I designed the lighthouse and its "reset" capabilities. Do you have questions about the design or the process?

@cuttingedge; text

[knifecollecting]

[Jo still hasn't decided if she trusts Solis. There's a lot they don't know.]

What good will resurrecting a past Keeper do?

[candlemom]

If resurrection is even possible at this point, if I am able to revive this Keeper despite so much damage to his lantern and so much time having passed, it will be a breakthrough that may allow me to do a whole host of things with the lanterns. I may be able to fix small imperfections that lead to "hiccups" post-revival, or I may be able to repair the malfunctions that began to plague us a few weeks back. I may be able to revive others that have long since died here.

Most importantly, though, this lantern was gifted to Robin by the green-eyed spirits, and she believes the gift was a gesture of good will. Truthfully, we do not know why they gave the lantern to her, but I think it would be foolish to ignore it. We have few other leads to go on these days.

@ELVIRA

[vampirella]

This is an impossible situation you put us in, more accurately.

It's rich that you're asking for help after you destroyed this world and trapped us in it. Why, exactly, should we want to help you at all? I think you should maybe be disqualified from decision making, considering your track record.

[candlemom]

I am asking for help so that all of us may survive. My mistakes resulted in this situation, yes, but like it or not, we are all here now, and we must find a way out of this predicament.

Would you make a different call, if I were to be disqualified from decision-making?