video; Sept 15 near dusk

[hot_mes]

[At least, it's dusk where the Corazon is presently sitting, anchored at a tiny island that barely qualifies for the name so they can make post-storm repairs. Thus, the only real light casting gold tones and wicked shadows on Law's face comes from a nearby (but not too nearby) lantern. He is all business, stern and blustery, holding the phone like he's speaking into a den-den mushi, so it's a little too close and makes the shadows leap across his face like he's some kind of ghoul.]

This is Trafalgar Law. Hopefully my signal reaches the city.

We are on our way back with no less than two fragments. I want to know how many others have been collected, in case there are any still unrecovered. We must get those fragments quickly. Thanks to our experiences abroad I have reason to believe that our time in this world is limited and we'll need to move again. [BIG FROWN] Our fleet encountered three Null sentries lying in wait to ambush our diver on the sea floor. We destroyed them all, but the fact remains that this planet isn't as inaccessible to them as we would have liked to think.

My intention is to deliver these fragments to the laboratory for Alphys-ya to study. I strongly recommend that all fragments are kept in the same place. They cause irrational bursts of unstable emotion in anyone who handles them, so if any are scattered, there is a good chance someone could haul off and turn homicidal before anyone can stop them. And if there's someone out there who thinks they're going to be sneaky and hide a fragment from the gods or from the researchers, they had better think twice. Our mutual survival hinges upon discovering how these fragments can restore the Door and what happens when they do. [is he smirking? he might be slightly smirking, because he's here to make a public call-out post so that no one can hold the fragments hostage. Malicious compliance, indeed.] Like I say, if any are missing, speak now and I'll personally see to it that they're all recovered.

We're probably only about three days out, but we just suffered through a week-long typhoon and the ships have taken damage. We've landed to make repairs, if all goes well we'll return in just a few days.

Interested in your reports. Law, out.

Comments

video; I'm..............sorry for him

[nonscriptum]

[The transmission does reach the city.

Nate and his group berthed on one of the many coarse inlets back at the isles not too long ago, fragment in tow, safely tucked away in its box. All it took was five minutes of controlled ascent from the bottom, holding the thing in his bare hands, to realize how absolutely terrifying it was. Discomfiting whispers echoing in his mind to nullify the comparative silence of the deep, an artifact that reminds him a little too much of ones he's encountered in his own world.

For the most part it appears as though the exploratory parties are returning, one by one, and there's a concerted (even responsible) effort to consolidate things for the science-inclined. For this reason Nate thinks it's pretty fucking ironic that Mister Steal-Your-Trees over here is a.) acting like he's spearheaded what is, without a doubt, a group effort, and b.) the sole authority on next steps.

There are other questions Nate could ask, namely about the Null and how problematic their presence in this place is, but he's a smartass through and through.]

Who died and made you captain of the shards?

haha gdit Nate

[hot_mes]

[well, he's not wrong. Law has a tendency to lord himself over everyone he considers inferior...which right now is pretty much everyone who isn't aboard his ship at the moment]

I'm merely suggesting a prudent course of action to keep casualties at a minimum. Do we really want to start a civil war over some demi-god fragments?

smartass is his middle name

[nonscriptum]

[Color Nate skeptical, but that whole spiel was a suggestion in the same way that "suggestions" from the nuns back at the orphanage had an implicit because I said so tacked to the end. It isn't an implication that has ever - nor will ever - resonate well with him.

While he doesn't consider himself an optimist, he does think it's pretty weird that Law's first logical jump is to assume that residents who were explicitly given a box to contain a dangerous shard would resort to homicide. It implies personal experience - maybe firsthand. Idly, Nate wonders whether Hope can resurrect someone who was buried at sea.]

I don't know, are you gonna keel-haul anyone who doesn't follow your orders?

[Actually...he wouldn't put it past the guy.]

Everyone back on the islands is working pretty well together as is. But I'm guessing you didn't know that, since you're still on your pleasure cruise.

video; (':

[dedikated]

The people researching them.

( No, she didn't. But she's not complaining. )

video; ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[nonscriptum]

[Nate thought it was pretty evident that most of the returning crews are making a point of being forthcoming with the material. He's assuming she's responding to the latter half of his statement, since no one died that he knows of.

He also wants to suggest they improve communication in the future if this is indeed the case, but something about her delivery makes him think it's-]

Bullshit.

[Video]

[lifetothefullest]

[Okay he's purposefully ignoring most of this, not about to discuss the shard issue publicly on the network, but there's something far more pressing about this anyway--]

Wait, there were Null waiting for you at the location of one of the fragments?

[Video]

[hot_mes]

Yeah.

If that was the only encounter with Null then we got off lucky this time. Still. There was that one Zelda-ya found on the desert planet.

[Video]

[lifetothefullest]

Running into a Null on accident while exploring is a little less worrying than finding several waiting for you at a very specific place in the ocean. Did they seem like they were expecting you?

[Because how did they find the shard? How did they know to wait? This is all very concerning.]

video

[knifecollecting]

[Jo rewatches the video a few times. What the hell...?]

Three? Underwater?

[The reason she had voted for this planet was that the Null would have trouble with it. Were they lied to? Or did the gods just not know?]

video

[hot_mes]

[that's what he said. Naw but he expected this level of shock.]

Yeah. I'm sure you can imagine what that means to us as a whole.

video

[knifecollecting]

Trouble. [Her mind is running a thousand directions. If they got a message out...]

How long did it take to kill them? Were they able to warn others?

audio;

[aroundthecoroner]

[The news about the Null sentries makes Michael nervous. When he'd tried to convince Tranquility to help them recover the fragments, he'd said that if the fragments were traps, the gods could just relocate the city. Which would mean abandoning the crews who went after them.

Hopefully the gods don't take this as their cue.]

Hey, glad you guys survived. We felt that storm here, too. I'm all for handing the stuff over to someone who can study them, but I'm not so sure it's a great idea to hand them over to the gods. If we give them control over the fragments, they might just use them to keep us here. Or like, hide stuff from us.

[And he's alright saying this stuff on the open network, because the gods are well aware of the distrust for them in the city. And also, you know, he doesn't think too much before he speaks.]

audio;

[hot_mes]

[Michael, Michael...he's going to have to teach you stealth and secrecy]

That part is out of my hands. I understand your points fully, but after seeing these things for myself, I wouldn't be upset with Alphys-ya if she decides they're out of her area of expertise.

I just want everyone in the city to know where they are. [and not hide them from each other. Public scrutiny is as good as any other method to keep anyone from abusing this chance.]

[audio]

[onlyanautomaton]

Did you and your crew members escape injury?

[audio]

[hot_mes]

Not entirely, but I was there so every injury was properly treated.

video;

[dedikated]

( That's a lot to, and Kate scribbles down notes before replying in any fashion, sitting comfortably at a table in the lab.

Great. So they've got aquatic murderous robots. And highly unstable fragments. )

Any way of minimising the effects of 'em?

video;

[hot_mes]

Aside from keeping them in Tranquility's box? None that I can see. It's possible that handling them with gloves or tools may lengthen the time it takes to succumb but it may still be inevitable.

My experimentation was brief but enough to conclude that they are not biological in nature. Meaning, my medical skills are useless, here. It'll be up to you guys.

[Video]

[missiondeterminant]

[Okay, there's all sorts of weirdness to unpack from this broadcast, but some of it is being covered already and so Connor decides to focus on something that hasn't been brought up yet. As usual, he's wearing a hat that covers his LED, so as to look as human as possible.]

Wouldn't concentrating all the pieces together amplify the risk?

[Of someone suffering the effects of them, of the gods just taking them before anyone can study them, of someone else stealing them, of the Null finding them if they attack after potentially hearing back from scouts, and who knows what else.]

[Video]

[hot_mes]

[good eye, Connor]

Potentially. We don't know that for sure. But separating them likewise raises a risk that multiple people could be affected simultaneously. Or, in the other direction, increases the likelihood that any single one of those fragments could go missing, be destroyed, be hoarded by someone with ill intentions, or open up anyone guarding or researching said fragment to the vulnerability of being attacked, coerced, or otherwise compromised by those with the wrong idea.

[he really has gone over all the contingencies and chosen his plan based on the least amount of risk, not zero. But this is all he'll say about it, openly.]

video

[sciencelizard]

Wait, there were Null out there??

[Oh shit oh shit-- someone has to tell the Gods, but she knows from previous correspondence Law probably won't be the one to. She'll have to file it away for later. That said, she was namedropped here and should probably respond to that part too.]

But uh-- right! The pieces, uh-- I've b-been working on it. Barry and Lup brought one back at the beginning of the month.

[She swings the camera around to show a familiar containment box on her desk. She's still chattering, even when she's out of frame.]

I'd still like to see yours, though! If that's okay. I w-want to see if all the samples are identical or not.

video

[hot_mes]

[whew good yes hi Alphys]

I don't feel comfortable opening the box right at this moment. I don't really want anyone taking up a hammer and trying to bash my skull in thanks to the fragment's aura.

I'll bring it to you the moment we land. It's imperative to get that cargo to you safely.

video

[pocketspa]

[Sorry, Law, there's more than one person who went out with Nate with his same sensibilities. Taako doesn't look mad, but he sure does look unimpressed with this whole ordeal.]

So who made you the fuckin' captain around here? Other people went out to do shit y'know and like, we're already back and we didn't die. What makes you the authority?

video

[hot_mes]

[look he's just Done now]

So many people seem to take issue with strong recommendations. What's the matter? Have you done something stupid already and feel guilty about it?

[audio]

[synthedick]

[He's following all the public messages on this post, but there's one subject in particular he wants to hear more about.]

Even if you took care of those sentries quickly, I'm betting the gods won't take chances, and that we'll be moving again as soon as they can. I wonder how strong a signal they get at the bottom of the ocean.

[audio]

[hot_mes]

Yeah, I'm sure we will. I knew it the instant the first one popped up out of the water. So long as we have all the Door fragments before they do it, that's what matters most to me.