Rumors of the Lost

Drakador_Chaos

Steps… Mumbling, Chattering… Laughing and yelling… The opening and closing of doors…
The sounds of public transports...
As the business and daily routine slowly returned to normal on the Embassy after the failed terror attacks and the first official senate meeting, things seemed to calm down for the time being, after all despite all occurances and terror, business had to continue.
As per usual, the security chef spent most of the time in chambers, the Ambassador was rarely seen and the Herald walking the streets aimlessly seeking some form of entertainment became a rather common sight.
However behind the facade of public business, small talk and politics something seemed to stir, rumors about the terror attack, the supposed return of the infamous ‘Bloodcult’, factions seeking a reason to go to war…
...but amongst all the normal rumors, there was also a different one, more elusive and hard to grasp. Stories of a ‘Lost World’ some said, yet nobody seemed to know anything specific and despite that everyone who heard it left an impression of being particularly convinced there was more behind it, without really being able to pinpoint why…
Though whatever it was with just rumors it would likely be impossible to find.

The Herald wandered, aimless and with hollow eyes, yet a somewhat mindless looking faint grin, the preparations had been made, the course set.
It was time to see who would bite, why and how…
...and whether they had the determination go down the path he had set.

This event is technically made for a specific person but can be entered by anyone given sufficient reply times. The later parts of the event will be set in this thread, whilst the early ones will be on the Embassy, keep in mind that you will likely be unable to participate if you do not have some ties to the embassy or haven't been there in a while.
(@Dumb @Fort_Master_Gustav )

Dumb

Drakador_Chaos
Having nothing to do aside from the usual training, Gillian decides to spend his time strolling in the Embassy to pass some time. Of course, due to precautions, aside from the standard equipment of the nanitic suit and a simulation core, one of the newest RCDS Mk2 is incorporated onto Gil's sim core....or to be exact, the other way around, while Gevurah and Chesed are sent to accompany him as well.

Fort_Master_Gustav

Drakador_Chaos
The Embassy is a large organ with many operating parts, betwixt the norther hemisphere, largely populated by the forces of the galaxy, the southern hemisphere which dedicates itself to the upkeep of the trade/political colossus, and the several thousand kilometers of overground and underground structure, there are slight cracks that can be shown, people that look as though they pertain to normal life, and as such have been doing, however, they express ties that can relay information back towards other operating groups.
Through this natural percolation of information, some individuals were sent to explore such rumors. The powers that be of The Embassy mostly are too busy, The Ambassador dedicates himself mostly to matters so esoteric that the powers that be would seldom have the imagination to wonder where he delves, the Musavian Engineers spend day and night crawling along the thousands of underground chambers and reading screens that flow with million bullets of data keeping the place alive, the VWP guards watch attently outwards, keeping track of everything that comes and goes from the system that even a fly from outer space would feel its personal space violated, and the IMG yes, and so a few individuals of too little note to cause a ruckus but note enough to carry out certain businesses come.
A team of 6 replicants are sent to explore, smuggled in through the infrastructure grid, too small of a power imprint to be detected by the supercomputers of the galactic center, but clever enough to carry out information gathering for larger powers that be.

Drakador_Chaos

Dumb
As Gillian wandered the Embassy, somewhat directionless given there weren´t really any tasks at hand, he walked through the streets and plazas, without anything in particular in mind, however at some point, as if out of a sudden hunch he just... stopped.
Looking around around, having not really observed his surroundings on the way, he found himself on a place with a statue, of... something.
He wasn´t entirely sure, but it could be a musavian, the style of modern art had made the guessing process a bit... far fetched.
Looking at the weird statue, he heard something in the background mumbling which actually piqued is interest unlike the usual babbling one would hear on these sort of plazas...
There were two women, both human as it seemed although one had pointy ears which likely nullified that assumption, which seemed to be talking about the latest rumors on the embassy, aside from the rather obvious topics, the terror attack, the ominous Cult appearances and latest senate meeting, there one which stood in particular in that there was less information on it than on the others, yet both women apparently couldn´t get it out of their head...
It seemed to be something about a 'lost world', nothing... particularly out of the ordinary by itself, however, the nature of the rumor itself made him rethink, something about this... was off.
Both women concluded with the point that they had apparently picked it up on a plaza with a fountain, somewhere to the southwest and the walked off into the distance following up the rumors with trivial talk in the process...

Fort_Master_Gustav
After asking around across a number of public places about rumors, usually only ening up with the more obvious ones, they eventually reached a place with a fountain in the middle, a patch of greenery around it. As everything on the Embassy, it was well maintained, even though people rarely ever entered the patch of green itself, being either too busy or simply too stuck up to do so, nonetheless the water flowed and a couple of short hedges with benches nearby and a couple of exotic looking white flowers decorated the scenery, regardless of the disinterest of the onlookers.
On one of the benches they found a middle aged... most likely man, it was always hard to tell with aliens that had no dimorphism, his somewhat scaly skin was of a light blue with a couple of bonecrests atop his head and he was wearing a uniform indicating he was part of some ships crew.
Upon asking about the rumors, he looked at them for a couple of moments, frowing, then he tilted his head...
"There´s been some... weird rumor, something about, uh..."
He scratched his head apparently trying to remember.
"A lost world, a rogue planet not sure about the details, can´t get the thing out of my head but can´t remember it clearly either..."
He shook his head.
"Picked it up somewhere to the northeast, some plaza around there with a statue of... I don´t even who."

Dumb

Drakador_Chaos
"Weird"
"Weird indeed"
"huh?"
Chesed and Gevurah suddenly spurt out the words while looking at the bizarre statue, while Gillian, debating whether or not he should follow such blatant clue from the most random individual in the Embassy, gets interrupted and just look at the duo bewilderedly.
"What's so weird about it? Issues regarding your compatibility with the body?"
"Negative"
"Its... as if we are destined to arrive at this place, listen to the talk, and act accordingly..."
"Like a puppet show"
"Yes! like a puppet show"
Hearing such an astray and extraordinary conclusion, Gillian simply chuckles, before giving a pat on the pair's shoulder.
"Ahh don't worry about it, it's just the sign that we are moving towards something great!"
"The "Fate's string theory" that you've been coming up recently?"
"Sounds unprovable and unreliable, like some settings from anime."
"Oh shut up you two"
Pulling the duo closer by the shoulder after a series of pats, Gil whispers right by their ears.
"Stay on high alert, report anything omnious, and latch on if necessary. I'll do the explanation."
"Roger"
"Copy"
"Well then..."
Gil pulls back, and straighten up his suit, while Gevurah and Chesed does the same as well, but with little success due to the texture's difference.
"Time to follow the bait."
Gillian begins walking to the southwest direction after checking the compass on his pda, while the duo silently follows him, occasionally looking around like two bodyguards.

Fort_Master_Gustav

Drakador_Chaos
Not every instance of the replicants was the same in this particular scenario, though one of them was indeed the average model, there were some extra variations. One of them seemed to be a relatively large and strong desert lizard with deep facial expressions, the other a businesswoman clad in a fashionable human suit, fit to her aesthetically pleasing human body. The next one was an old lady and an old man that always walked together, made to appear as kind old humans simply enjoying the facilities of the planet. The last one, likely the most treacherous one in appearance, was that of a young human child, no older than 12 years old.
The old couple moved into the position of the plaza, whilst the others performed pre-assigned routes through places that'd make them seem the least conspicuous. There was no need for direct communications between them, as the quantum comms between each other linked them into what was essentially the semi-hivemind of a momentary IPD instance.

Drakador_Chaos

Dumb
After a while of walking through the streets and unknowningly passing by a group of replicants, they arrived at their next target, the plaza with the fountain.
Around fountain stood a number of benches and short hedges, neatly arranged in a circle around it, groups of white flowers they had not seen before in the grass between...
Finding thier unwilling informant didn´t take too long, after asking around on the plaza, they saw a purple skinned and purple eyed lizard humanoid, sitting in the grass and somewhat intently staring at the flowers... for reasons unknown likely unknown to either side.
As they asked him about the rumor he tilted his head in curiosity and nodded.
"Hhnnngh... Hmmm... Yes, I have heard that rumor, something about a lost world, weird thing it is. I think it was some sort of rogue planet according to the story, but... the details...?"
He shook his head, looking somewhat odd with his long snout...
"No, no I do not remember, may try... hm..."
He looked at the sky for a couple of moments.
"There some crossing with a obelisk in the middle, a couple of blocks..."
He tilted his head again.
"...east? No, west."
He stopped, to look back at the flowers, it seems they wouldn´t get much else out of him...

Fort_Master_Gustav
After walking through a couple of streets whilst trying to raise no suspicion, passing the group of Gillian and his companions unknowning that they were after the same target, they eventually reached their target, there was a...
They paused, the statue was somewhat hard to explain, it... seemed to be a Musavian, though on the other hand it was so abstract they had issues actually identifying it and there wasn´t much of an explanation to it either...
Regardless, they began searching and asking around the area, at first without results, but eventually...
A tall, muscular, four armed man, with two stubby horns on his forehead approached the child, looking at it for a few moments then shaking his head.
"Where are your parents young one? You should not be here alone."
...he looked at her a while longer, confused but without disrespect.
"I have heard the story you are looking for... well, part of it, it said something about a Lost world it is supposedly a rogue planet, that is one which doesn´t circle around a star, you know?"
He shrugged his massive shoulders.
"But there is not much else I know, I heard it on a plaza to the north, there was a large marble cube there, with names inscribed, names of founders or something like that. Do you need help to find your parents, little one?"
He waited on her question, patiently.

Dumb

Drakador_Chaos
"Thank you for the information...ahh...do you mind if we do some sampling on the flowers? I assure you that there won't be much damage done, just some pollen collection, that's all"
A burly man paying interest on some flowers? that sure is some ominous stuff. The duo thinks quietly while still doing watch-over, but they didn't try to stop Gillian or anything, as if trusting him on his action.

Fort_Master_Gustav

Drakador_Chaos
The child was careful not to show itself to any guardsmen of The Embassy that might be observing around. After all, the canned excuse of "I live here" or "My parents are over at that shop over there" wouldn't fly with some people, and the moment they tried to pick the boy up they'd realize something was awfully wrong.
Nevertheless, he thanks the man, referring to him as "Big mister", and skiddedles off somewhere else. For this next place, however, the one to come to intercept it would be the standard replicant model.

Drakador_Chaos

Dumb
The man looked at him with a somewhat weirded out look on his face...
"Hm... This is not my place. But... whilst people may give you odd looks, probably nobody will complain?"
He looked at the sky, then down at his arm, a sort of holodisplay activated and showed the time in an alien language.
The man then shook his head and stood up, walking away.
"Farewell."
As the slimes were likely still watching the man leave, Gillian pollected himself some pollen, only to find out after some investigation, that it was in fact only a flower. It seems that, at least in this one case, not everything had a deeper meaning...

Fort_Master_Gustav
The man looked after the kid as it left, but luckily for the replicants seemed to show no further interest in it nor did he follow.
As the re-arranged group of replicants reached their target destination a couple minutes later, they found themselves in front of a large marble cube with around 4 metres of sidelength.
There were indeed names inscribed on it, though not exactly those of the 'founders', it seemed to be a variety of sponsors and notable individuals from the Embassys construction, whilst that list was... not exactly particularly interesting for anyone who wasn´t on a sightseeing tour, the marble cube did look visually appealing nonetheless, it´s edges and smooth surfaces glistening in the sun...
There seemed to be plenty of people around the place, amongst the more 'normal' people there seemed to be a couple security officers resolving some argument at the rim of the plaza, as well as one person which stood out in it´s own way as it seemed to be sleeping on one of the benches...

Dumb

Drakador_Chaos
Chesed waited until the man went beyond the normal auditory distance, at least, "normal" for human, before asking Gillian about his action.
"What do you collect the pollen for?"
"Well...investigation is one thing, i also want to bring some gifts to those two little ones over in Dasha's place..."
"...and, what can they even do with some dust?...you do know that sheer pollens alone cannot be used to grow flowers, right?"
"...huh"
After thinking for a bit, Gil swiftly snipped an entire leaf off the poor plant.
"Well then, thats settled, lets go."
"Did you just..."
"Yes."
"...alrighty then..."
The trio slowly walk in the west direction, while Gillian is chanting the word "obelisk" in various tunes and rhythm as if he is high on something

Fort_Master_Gustav

Drakador_Chaos
The team of replicants soon moved to intercept particular spots of interest within the vicinity. The average replicant male, looking like the kind of person that'd sleep on one of the benches, would go talk to whoever was there. Meanwhile, the elderly couple moved in with the child to loom over the discussion at the rim of the plaza, though at a safe distance.

"Ey man, having a wee nap eh?"

The replicant would suddenly spurt out, leaning on the bench.

"Quite a place, innit?"

Drakador_Chaos

Dumb
As they moved off with the leave of the plant, no security force ambushed them, nor did any security offciers suddenly jump their backs, it seems, picking flowers wasn´t a cardinal sin on the Embassy.
After a while of walking west, notably roughly around the same time it took them to the fountain, they found another mid sized plaza, this one with a large black obelisk in the middle, it was around...
...maybe 10 metres high?
...and it´s slender figure cast a shadow on one end of the plaza in the afternoon sun.
There... were no inscriptions, or anything that described what the thing was actually here for, so it was likely just an art monument, maybe some sort of gift from one of the factions represented on the embassy...
After searching for a while, given teh size fo the plaza, they could make out a number of possibly out of the ordinary people that could be who they were searching for, there was a group of slender humanoids, almost one and a half times the height of Gillian but only two thirds his width, standing in the shadow of the obelisk and talking to each other, the only other notable group were two humans arguing with each other on the opposite end of the plaza...

Fort_Master_Gustav
Initially the man did not seem to react, he was, at least seemingly, human, his clothes stuck to his body due to the sweat and he reeked of alcohol and sweat as he was snoring in the afternoon sun.
Although he made the impression of a drunkard sleeping under a bridge, his clothes, ornate flowing robes in gold and red which now admittedly didn´t look all that tidy or dignified anymore, suggested he was some sort of diplomat or representative, likely of one of the many human colonies or sub states in independent space...
However, he had apparently actually taken notice of them, despite all odds...
He made a long and deep groaning sound, scratched his backside rather nonchalantly, stretched some of his limbs, yawned and then stood up to talk to the replicant... well, at least partially.
Instead of lying on the bench in a fetal position completely he now had his legs stretched out and was lying on his side, with his head leaned on his fist, the elbow resting on the bench.
For a couple of moments he just looked into the afternoon sun and then at the replicant.
"Aye, watcha want? What time is it?"

Dumb

Drakador_Chaos Compared to inter-species interaction, communicating with other humans would certainly be easier with more common traits shared among each other...or at least, thats what Gillian thinks he approaches the two humans in a heated discussion.
"Heyo, what is it that you guys are talking about?"

Fort_Master_Gustav

Drakador_Chaos
"Ey mate whatchu doin' 'der, middle o' the day.
I'm 'ere to ask ya a question, heard a rumor about sum kind of rogue planet? If ya have leads ya could be in for a pretty penny eh?"

The replicant hunched over the bench from the back and talked to the man whilst he looked out all around him, Whilst he spoke, he fumbled inside his distinctive green jacket, and produced from within a pack of cigarettes, putting it in his mouth in the meanwhile.

Drakador_Chaos

Dumb
The men didn´t seem to noticed them approaching until GIlian actually said something, suddenly, they both stopped and looked at him.
One pointed at another and began talking.
"That guy is actually trying to tell something some lost world that´s supposed to be somewhere near the core!"
The other one looked back at him and shrugged.
"Like, why would it be? with that massive black orb thing around?"
The other man shrugged again, although the one talking didn´t seemed to pay any attention to it this time.
"...and the Bloodcult who´s just showed up again recently? Don´t get me started on those! Why would they tolerate something liek that near their territory, when they´re out there openly attacking factions?!"
The man, shrugged once more and was about to raise his finger, but the other one interrupted him again.
"Who even told you that bullshit?"
The other lowered his finger again and seemed to be thinking, whatever he would have had to say before, it seemed to have been shoved into teh background.
"Well, there was some..."
He frowned, the first one answered.
"What is it?"
The man fell into silence...
"I... uh... it´s gone. I... Hm..."
He seemed to thinking.
"I think, whoever it was, it was... somewhere to the northwest, around some sort of greek looking pillar thing."
The first one sighed.
"Ugh... let´s just forget about it. We got an assignment due to tomorrow, no more time to hang around."
...and so they wandered off into the distance, telling them all they needed although they never really got to any opportunity to actually speak...

Fort_Master_Gustav
The man looked at him for some moments, apparently trying to process the question after whatever had led him to sleep on this parkbench...
"Rogue planet? Rogue Planet... Rogue... Planet..."
He fell into mumbling for a while, until he eventually seemed to actually remember something.
"Rogue Planet! Yes, ofcourse! Been drinking with the colleagues last evening after we struck that deal with Tetran!
Some guy came by, saying something about a lost world... uhh..."
He seemed to pause and think, or maybe having some sort of alcoholic relapse.
"Urgh... Near the core?"
He held his head for a couple of moments before he continued.
"Uhh... spiral thing? It was... northwest. Urgh... Just..."
His stomach seemed to make a quite unpleasent sound and he waved his arm at him...
"Jus`... go away, I´ll... I´ll see a damn doctor..."
He stood up... or, at least he attempted to, resulting in a quite considerable struggle of keeping his feet straight on the ground, it seems 'last night' wasn´t quite over for him yet. With an admirable determination, but the graze of a one-legged quadrupedal, he lurched off the plaza, notably, in the wrong direction to find a doctor, though not like that was the replicants concern now...

Dumb

Drakador_Chaos
"memetic influence......bloodcult......and then the core......huh"
Gillian just continuously mutters to himself while having his right hand on his chin, a typical posture during thinking.
"Problem?"
"Eh....sorta..."
"Should we contact Mainframe?"
"Nah, even though her extents was already known by the Herald, this isn't the time to go all out......but just in case, leave her a note or something."
"Details?"
"Tell her I stumbled into the main storyline....and I don't need any support, just so she wouldn't drive the entire Xaneroth towards the core."
"Note sent."
"Time for more walking and touring in the Embassy, this time, a greek pillar to the northwest direction."

Fort_Master_Gustav

Drakador_Chaos
"Near the Core, eh?"

The replicant lit up his cigarette with a small pocket lighter, the grin on his face was visible through the ominous hood of darkness that was cast down from his unusual hat.

"Well thanks mate, best of luck."

He patted the man on the back as the man went away, and took his place on the bench, which strained with his weight. He sat there, finishing his cigarette, before joining up with the rest of the team, who already made its way to the next location.

Drakador_Chaos

Dumb
As they reached their target the 'greek looking pillar was not to be overseen, standing in the middle of the plaza with around 4 metres diamater and around 10 high, it was quite the presence...
...what the men apparently frogot to note, was the giant statue of a muscular thinking humanoid standing atop the pillar, which almost half the size of the pillar itself.
How one could forget about something like that would likely remain a mystery, though searching for someone that stood out of the crowd proved considerably easier this time, there was some weird man, clad in red robes, standing amidst the crowd and... preaching?
At the border of the group of people a group of three security men stood, though it was uncertain what they did exactly, could be they were just waiting for orders, or they not entirely sure if they should listen to or apprehend the man...

Fort_Master_Gustav
As the last Replicant reached it´s target it found the rest of the group already searching the place, the was indeed a large 'spiral thing', to him quite clearly a strand of dna, but should one expect from drunken diplomat?
Looking around the place he didn´t came around raeding the the golden sign at the foot of the monument, mentioning it was not any specific dna strand but rather a representation for all the biological life which had founds its way to the embassy... with a lot of weird history, praise and flavour text, as these things usually were.
Whilst the rest of the group seemed to have already asked a number of indivudals on teh place, judging by the fact he hadn´t received any new info, they did not find anyone so far, as was about to walk off he saw an individual not quite unlike himself, standing in the shadow of the foot of the monument, observing the place, he wore a trenchcoat and a big hat and had generally an appearance that made him look somewhat shady but then again also not out of place or sticking out particularly...
As their eyes met, he noticed this man was, like him, searching for... something.
Something uncertain and he frowned.
As he approached him, he proved be quite direct.
"Rumors, hm?"
He looked at him for a few moments, before the replicant could answer, he answered his own question.
"Information for information, you know how these things roll."

Dumb

Drakador_Chaos
"......"
"......"
Chesed intensely shifts her gazes between Gillian and the statue, giving judgemental looks at the poor human, meanwhile Gevurah' s body seems to slowly enlarges, showing those muscular curves through the now skin-tight suit.
"sigh If you two continue like that, ima send both of you back to Mainframe."
Perhaps due to some horrendous experience caused by Mainframe, or simply the primordial fear against elders, Chesed immediately stand straight and Gevurah shrunk back to normal size like a punctured balloon. Watching as the duo finally acting like what their appearance resembles them to be, Gillian seeps into the crowd and listen to what this preacher is trying to convey.

Fort_Master_Gustav

Drakador_Chaos

"A man after me own heart I see."

The replicant leaned over the monument, producing the cigarette to his hands after a long inhale, and looking at it.

"Them buggers are getting less common by the day."

He lets the cigarette fall betwixt his fingers, stomping it on the ground lightly, putting out its embers.

"I'll let them cleaners earn their paycheck, eh?"

He draws a loud guttural noise from his throat, before speaking about anything that's mildly useful.

"Rumor's got that their's a big prize on a rogue planet down near the core, but you know how those cold rocks are, even more dangerous near that bloody storm. I'm going after it, any scrap of info helps."

Drakador_Chaos

Dumb
They did not stand out too much in the crowd so observing and listening was rather easy.
There seemed to be all sort sof people around, workers, diplomats, ship crew at least all judging by their appearal...
The man itself seemed to be not... particularly out of the ordinary, at least considering what he was, sentences like:
"We are all doomed!"; "We can only be saved if we follow the true god!"
...and things alike were rather common in his speech, the only reason he hadn´t been apprehended so far was likely that he did not actually bother anyone directly, aside from the theme of the speech was apocalypse, divine retribution and everything else one would usually expect from a fanatic cultist, however, there was one oddly specific information which stood out amongst what he said, at least considering what they already knew.
"...and so the story tells, of world near the core, a safe heaven for all those who reach it, devout to the true gods!"
...a ...rather unlikely piece of info, given anything near the core was usually everything but safe, though it was all the clues he gave, a couple of minutes later his speech concluded with the words that he would come back to the bipyramid to the north and tell them more...
Though waiting for the man to go there would be rather impractical, there was likely a reason why he chose that place specifically...

Fort_Master_Gustav
The man seemed to process the info for a few moments and then nodded.
"Near the core, huh? That´s new, people won´t like that but I´ll get paid anyways for the info."
He scrateched his chin, info on that thing seems to be sowed thin so far, from I´ve heard that planet is supposedly some sort of 'safe haven'. From what or why? Who knows. I´ll throw you some extra in case we meet again."**
The man frowned and eyed his surroundings before continuing, last info I got was by the GL&M sign somewhere to west, was some girl just... staring at the stars in direction of the core."**
He sighed and shook his head.
"Creepy stuff and may have been just some drugs or meds, but the way she said it... was oddly convincing, like those people you exactly feel they know... something, if ya know what I mean."
He patted the Replicants shoulder and walked off the plaza, likely to another place he would gather info on, or just to report what he had found, though they had another clue now thanks to him.