hadriel | eight ☠ text

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eight ☠ text

Sorrow is dead.

[No use in trying to sugarcoat it. Most of the perceptive ones could have probably figured that out already. And with Sorrow dead and Hope in peril, it falls to- well, this asshole to figure something out.

Fear isn't exactly strategist or leader material, but he's helped to get this far. That has to count for something.]

I've temporarily secured the network against the Null. They'll probably access it again so I am erasing this post after 24 hours.

I can't transport the city to a safe place until the Null are out of it or they'll just upload the coordinates to their friends. So I'm going to move it once at the end of this message. You have seven days to get every last one of them out of the city. Put them in the caves or kill them, I don't care. After that, the city is moving again. Somewhere new.

If they're not all cleared out by then, they'll find us and I won't have the energy left to move the city again.

So don't screw this up.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

people are dying to give you a chance
you dont screw this up

Hate to sound like a broken record but we're in this together. If we die then your deaths mean nothing and you don't come back.

So yeah, I won't screw it up.

i know
make them count

[Nick could say a hundred things here: that he's legitimately sorry for their loss, that they ought to think of a less risky solution, that Sorrow dug his own grave when the gods ignored the advice they were given regarding a potential mole within their own ranks. He could be angry, frustrated, or just plain pissed off at their circumstances.

None of those things would help, though. He'd be wasting time, and they have none to spare. It can wait, and so he replies simply:]

Will do.

Got it.

( What else is there to say? She's got some robots to kill. )

wh
no
no no no no

what happened
did they
how did they find him

He was defending Hope.

... oh
oh he

he put himself in danger then i

you all got revived once
could we
is there any way he might come back

We have to survive this first.

i
okay
i promise i

im sorry

[And she signs off.]

[ wow this is some shit. may the odds be ever in their favor, or whatever. ]

On it.

[Her usually conscientious text is sloppy and tired.]

are you protected? how many are still in your area??

Some. A few of you have taken to protecting my temple, which I appreciate. As much as I'd love to extend my abilities to help Hope, if I die then we're not making it out of this alive.

I'm aware of the risk [It's not as snotty as it sounds; she's just seen it.]

ill come. I should be able to disable 'some' or take them with me, anyway. if the area is stable, i can set up a boundary

A boundary?

I'd appreciate it.

can't keep them out

but it can alert us if they come, give us more power and them less. If it works. I'll need to come inside.

My doors are open to you.

[ She wasn't naive enough to think maybe she was wrong, maybe he'd just exerted a lot of power-

But it still feels like jagged shards of glass through her chest all over again reading the confirmation. He's dead. There are a lot of questions she still has but now isn't the time. And honestly? She's not sure she could take it if they had answers she didn't like. ]

You got it, dude.
Thanks for moving us. I'll do my best to make it count.

I won't let him have died for nothing.

Thank you.

I'll remember this.

Yes, I know.

[ Curufin was in the temple fight, with others, trying to stand off that massive wave of mechanical force. The only reason he's still alive is because he was literally kicked to the curb as that wave broke into the temple. When he regained consciousness and staggered to his feet, he was struck by the wave of sorrow that swept the city. It knocked him down again. And it is hard to knock a Fëanorian on his ass once, let alone twice. He guessed the reason. ]

We'll just keep killing till they're all killed. [ You can't hear the wry, raw-throated chuckle but it's sort of implied. ]

Consider it done.

[and then, with grim humor] At least the past couple of weeks should have fed you well enough to make the move.

Small miracles.

[Fear is a master of dry humor.]

The last time I had to move the city in succession, I was incapacitated for weeks.

I don't relish the feeling but as much as I know the wisdom of giving you as much energy as you need, it's hard to simply walk up and be afraid of something. Particularly a something that currently has me pissed as hell.

If nothing else then, you'll make Rage happy.

I'm fine with that, but it doesn't help transport the city.

Oh, don't worry about me.

[He laughs softly, though it's humorless.]

I've done this before. I won't fail you little humans.

Thank you. (She should be well-acquainted with Fear, metaphorically speaking.) I will do all I can for my fellows.

I will protect Hope and cut down any who come for him.

[There's a small pause before she adds,]

Stay safe.

Thank you.

Do you have adequate protection?

[The majority of the Null forces seem to be focused on killing Hope, judging by what she's seen in the times where she's left the temple to retrieve food and water. But that's not the same as it being safe. In fact, the only place she's noticed they're not touching at all is Delight's temple. Which makes sense, considering. She can only hope they're similarly restrained about Delight's housing area, so long as the people they're hunting aren't in it. She rather likes her house there.]

Some of the others are staying at my temple. I think I'm alright for now.

I'm- good at surviving.

Evidently. Send me a message if you need more people directed your way.

[While she's not going to presume leadership over people for the most part, she's proven herself in combat and to have relatively good judgement. She has no problem with giving a few people a simple order to go and protect Fear if needed.]

I will.

And- thank you. I wasn't at the temple, but I saw what happened.

I made my choice to protect Hope months ago. I just decided that it would be best achieved by playing double agent rather than mouthing off to the Null.

[ Not Sorrow. Fuck. He was the one who knew the most about the Door. That's something to worry about at a later point, though. They have more important things to worry about for the moment. ] When we move, we should scrap the network. I think we need to start from scratch. New phones, new ways to contact one another. We'll need to create some sort of security, something that will crash the whole network if the Null try anything with it.

Or maybe just something that scrubs the network every 24 hours. I don't know. [ She's confident they'll handle the rest of the Null in less than a week. They won't get caught again. ]

That would take a significant amount of power that none of us are capable of right now, but I'll put it on the list. Seeing as to how we now know the reason that the Null were able to access the network in the first place... we might be able to safeguard it in the future.

[There's a pause, and then he flicks the feed over to private.]

You have a week with them, Sharon. Make sure that they're out of the city when I move it again, but until then... it should be enough time to begin affecting them.

Sure, but there are others. Delight isn't the only one.

Please, I'll get it taken care of ASAP. I'm not about to let you, or anyone, down.

You think another of us could defect?

Thank you.

youve got a real way with words

we'll do our best
sorry. about sorrow. about all of this.

[She's exhausted and miserable, but now more than ever she feels for the gods, too. They're losing their own as well.]

So I've been told.

Thanks.

[And then there's a pause, before the message continues.]

This is the second time he's died for us.

I know that none of you asked to be here, but we didn't ask for this either. We don't want to die. We don't want to be erased from the universe.

I know you could have sold us out to the Null. Thank you for not doing that.

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