28 ❄ ( VIDEO; CONSOLE )

[wintershepherd]

[ Jack's taking some time out of his evening to address something that's drawing rather close. As fun as participating in the Mystery Games has been, he feels like someone should maybe point out the elephant on the turtle. He's seated at one of the consoles in the Welcome Center, the recognizable backdrop visible behind him. ]

Sooo... that super-formal Justicar lady sounded like she means business. Is there like-- I don't know, a plan or something? Has anyone even attempted to let the Chihuelans know that someone's coming? Wait, are we even picking sides in that?

[ He runs a hand through his white hair, causing it to spike and settle. At least he looks better in the face of the oppressive outside heat, and less like he's about to melt. ]

Like I'm not in any way favouring the "immediate execution" thing, but if we're not going to stop this group that's coming, then we should be trying to help the others. Doing nothing seems like we're... almost as bad as they are.

Comments

[insertdadjoke]

That was the impression I'd gotten. Maybe it was false, but if the other possibility isn't yielding any results...

[wintershepherd]

If they are, then it's likely that they saw the broadcast too. It was on all the public consoles around the city.

If they've managed to hide this long, then whatever substance they were using must have been fixed, to go undetected.

[insertdadjoke]

That was what I thought had happened; I didn't realize there might be some hanging around outside the city. [ It's obvious where Cain is coming from, considering he stopped by the Welcome Center shortly after his rearrival. ]

Fixed how? What was the issue?

[wintershepherd]

Well, they saved some of the kedan who were caught in a flood at one of the radio towers, so I guess we'd just assumed they were out there. Maybe that's just what they wanted us to think.

Oh, I think it was flawed somehow. Akito would be the one to talk to about that.

[insertdadjoke]

Or maybe there's two different groups, or more factions within them. Without having any access to communication, there's no way to say.

Akito? All right, I'll keep it in mind. Still, necessity breeds innovation. I wouldn't be surprised if they figured out their own solution.

[wintershepherd]

[ Jack hadn't considered that the remaining Chihuelans might have further splintered into additional groups. And yet... ]

That... could be it. The two who were captured, I heard they were scared of being found out.

[insertdadjoke]

Found out by whom? Their own people here?

[wintershepherd]

I think that was the gist of it, yeah.

[insertdadjoke]

If that's true and they've actually splintered, then this could get a whole lot more complicated than we anticipated. First thing's first would be finding any one group and figuring out their side of things.

[wintershepherd]

And this is why I think it's important not to wait until the Chihuelans are literally on our doorstep before doing anything.

[insertdadjoke]

Hey, I just got back here. What are the options right now?

[wintershepherd]

Toph and I are going to see if there's anything we can find out about the possibility of them being below the shell's surface. Other than that... if we knew what the Chihuelans wanted -- the hiding ones, I mean -- then maybe we can lure them out of hiding.

[insertdadjoke]

For that, we might have to speak with some of the locals who are willing to talk about the original attack since we were all asleep for it.