tushanshu | text; anonymous; English

When I arrived here, I assumed the barrier had been meant to keep us in and that the Emperor controlled it. By now, I think it's obvious that that's not the case. The barrier is meant to keep things out. When Tu Vishan dove underwater, the barrier stayed up and held back the jingashi. But they broke through and, judging by the kedans' reactions, that had never happened before. In fact, I asked around. It hasn't ever happened before, not until lately.

Point two: a satellite falls out of the sky, breaks through the barrier, and lands on Tu Vishan. First of all, this suggest that there is-- or was-- some kind of long-distance communication technology. It also suggests that the barrier is weakening even more. Before, it took the stress of thousands of jingashi to weaken the barrier. Now all it takes is debris. Big debris, sure, but decidedly less stress than the jingashi.

As for the Emperor, it's possible she's contributing power to maintain the barrier, but it doesn't originate from her. Tu Vishan is the one maintaining it.

I know everyone's concerned about what's coming, but we can't let that distract us completely from the big picture. My point is that we need to slow down and rethink what we think we know. Since the barrier is our first line of defense against any outside invasion, let's start there. What do we know, what do we think we know, and how can that help us?

[The text has been helpfully translated into French, Chinese, Spanish, Italian, German, and Japanese.]

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[Appended is the message repeated in a variety of other languages, feel free to pretend yours is here if it hasn't already been mentioned as long as it's Earth or DC-based and Batman has a reasonable purpose for knowing it.

He's not being helpful, he's just being efficient.]

Edited 2013-06-14 18:36 (UTC)

I am new here but I can help testing out how high and low the barrier gets, and to try to find any holes on the barrier or something like that. Would that help?

[Mamasupes is so proud of you sonny, so proud.]

You raise a valid point but investigating the barrier isn't going to be an easy thing. We aren't even sure of its power source, only have vague idea of it. Maybe we should focus on trying to find out more about that?

Definitely. I don't think anyone has done intensive testing on the entire barrier. How are you going to do it?

Great idea. So far the explanation as been "magic from the turtle."

Any ideas of where to start?

[He has a few, but Clark's input is always more than welcome.]

[Texting. Ain't nobody got time for that.] If the turtle's increasingly getting sick - possibly even dying - it's not really surprising that the barrier is getting worse alongside it.

It probably won't get better unless Tu Vishan does, too.

Possibly. But the barrier failed before Tu Vishan was outwardly ill.

Do you think it's connected to Tu Vishan's illness? Or something else?

I assumed it was connected to Tu Vishan's illness. But I also assumed the Emperor created the barrier to trap us. I think there's something else. I'd say it's an external force, but I don't want to rule anything out just yet.

I think the barrier may be a defence against a particular entity. And I'm pretty sure that we're not the first to have faced it.

If the barrier is weakening because of Tu Vishan's illness, it's worth figuring out if the illness is caused by something else—or by this entity.

If the latter, we should be very worried indeed.

That's what I was thinking. The Emperor gathering fighters might've attracted its attention. I know if I were it, I'd want to take out the threat before they can organize into a real threat. Maybe it's been pushing against the barrier this whole time and we never knew it. Of course, that's all theory, and not very comforting.

What makes you think there were others?

I have proof, from the Palace library. I can show you if you want. A few other people know about it, but I haven't been eager to cause a panic.

This is a very pertinent and concern point you raise. May I ask what other supporting evidence you are using for this conclusion?

[There is no challenge in his tone, he is merely trying to come up to speed as quickly as possible in a short amount of time.]

[Percy has been squinting at this, but it's just too many words for him to bother with]

Dude, what's it say?

Communication with who, exactly?

Observation, primarily. I also spoke to Tu Vishan-- Asti. He confirmed that the barrier was to protect us.

Are we so sure it's one or the other and not both? It would be reasonable to assume that whatever would want to keep us in the barrier would also want to keep other things out for a few reasons. And even if the Emperor isn't maintaining the barrier, she could be altering it.

Good question. We've stopped off at a few places. It could be a defunct satellite for turtle-mainland communication.

But I wonder who or what wanted to protect it so badly. It could also have been some kind of military satellite.

I'm just thinking aloud, to be honest.

[An anonymous form of communication that is not his telepathy? He'll utilize it.]

Spoke to Tu Vishan? Can you elaborate?

Thinking aloud is good. Helpful.

I wasn't here for the first stop, but I've heard about it. And the second stop didn't exactly scream, "Hey, look at all of our technology!"

So the question is: who used it, and where did they go?

Outwardly ill, yes, but there's no way to tell just how early the sickness started. Maybe the barrier blips were a sign we didn't realize.

It's possible. If we tie Tu Vishan's health to the strength of the barrier, it means it will eventually be too weak to keep anything out-- or any of us in.

But that still leaves the question: why did he suddenly get so sick?

I understand.

Where do you want to meet?

A few weeks back, some of us had a strange dream. We all met someone who called himself Asti and claimed to be Tu Vishan. Normally, that wouldn't prove anything but my dream changed when he appeared. Became more peaceful, like the feeling you get when you go to the turtle's head.

Edited 2013-06-14 20:43 (UTC)

There's a café in the Wood sector near the 2A suites. The sign out in front is a scarlet kirin carved out of wood; it's missing its tail since the satellite crash.

Look for a brunette woman at one of the tables farthest from the front door, wearing a beret.

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