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[purrtagonist]

Soooo how's everyone feeling?

[THIS MESSAGE HAS A PURPOSE HE SWEARS]

Serious question, by the way. I talked to Astoria as soon as we got back, and she was pretty worried about the way I. . . felt to her?

[GOD PUTTING IT THAT WAY SOUND WEIRD]

She said that I brought something back with me from Struxta. Something dark, evil, heavy. . . wrong? I don't know about you guys but absolutely none of that is confidence inspiring. Wonder why.

[AHA]

She also told me that the wilting plants around the temple aren't normal. "Everything here seems to be just here. Present, alive, blooming," is what she said, word for word. She's never seen anything here die before.

[. . .]

I don't really know what she's talking about, especially because I feel just fine. I don't think she does yet either, though I imagine she's going to investigate. Just be careful, all right? And if you notice anything off about yourself, let me or someone else know.






Because if we all came back possessed by space demons or infected by robot tuberculosis I'm gonna be pretty pissed.

Comments

[purrtagonist]

[--!]

She said something about you, too?

[so it isn't just him. . .?]

And no, she didn't make any suggestions on how to track it down.

[spaceforged]

She did. She said I felt different just like you.

It's possible we all feel different. I guess we'd have to ask her to be sure.

[purrtagonist]

[not sure if comforting or worrying]

I said it to someone else, but the fact that the flora around the Temple is dying made me believe it couldn't just be me.

[he doesn't want to be patient zero, that's like, a lot of responsibility]

[spaceforged]

I agree with you. Something happened either in the city or between here and there.

Whatever it is we need to contain it as much as possible until we can get rid of it. There's no telling what kind of damage we could do to the forest beyond the temple. We need to be careful.

[purrtagonist]

How are we supposed to contain it when we don't know what it is?

[don't say quarantine don't say quarantine don't say quarantine--]

[spaceforged]

Our first step is to figure that out. Second is to determine if we're spreading this or its moving to our surroundings.

We can determine our next move from there.

[purrtagonist]

[thank god he didn't say quarantine]

We'll have to work pretty closely with Astoria, then. She's the one who can sense it.

[spaceforged]

Yes, and no matter how we feel about that she is our best shot at understanding this. Or at least pointing us in a direction we can fix it.

...Dark, heavy, and evil. Did we pick up some source of magic?

[purrtagonist]

I doubt it's magic. There were parts of Struxta that actively blocked Astoria's magic. If anything, I think that place was almost ANTI-magic.

I have a theory about what it might be, but it's not a great one.

[spaceforged]

I remember that. But I've run into magic that devours or distorts other magic. I wouldn't rule that out yet.

...

And if you're willing, I'd like to hear that theory.

[purrtagonist]

[HAHA WELL. . .]

Remember the illness Connor-san told us about, after he accessed Struxta's library's database? The one that wiped out all of Struxta's biological inhabitants.

[spaceforged]

[...]

Yes. ...I was thinking of that too. We might have brought it back with us.

[purrtagonist]

Yeah.

[for now, that's still a hypothesis, but. . .]

I think that's a very real possibility.

[spaceforged]

..

I think it is too. We should stock up on supplies in case we start falling ill. We'll need as much prepared as we can if we're to seek out a cure while we're battling with sickness.

[purrtagonist]

What supplies? We don't even know what kind of medicine we need to fight it.

[spaceforged]

Water, meals in prepared ingredients so when our energy is low we can just toss things together, and spare bedding.

with those handled, everyone can focus on pouring energy into anything else.

[purrtagonist]

I can take care of the spare bedding.

[as everyone in the temple will see when he fills the hallways with blankets and pillows]

[spaceforged]

I can take care of water. ...my shift might give me some immunity.

[purrtagonist]

I know there are plenty of cooks here who can take care of the food, too.

Fingers crossed that the virus can't affect the robot lion.

[spaceforged]

Let's hope it doesn't affect anyone robotic. It shouldn't, evidence speaks otherwise.

We'll see. ...hm, I think we've covered most of what needs pre-prepared for. Can you think of anything else?

[purrtagonist]

No, but I've also never prepared for a plague before. And I'm no doctor.

[spaceforged]

Well, there's a first time for everything. Even plagues, I guess.

[Bad joke, but it's terrible on purpose.]

[purrtagonist]

Yaaaaaaay.

[Shiro can hear the dryness in Akira's voice]

[spaceforged]

Yeah I know. Anyway, I'll keep track.

[...]

And we weren't captured. Nothing was removed or placed into us. So it's very likely NOT space demons or malicious alien space druids.

[He would know...]

Talk to you later.

[purrtagonist]

[that. gets a huffed laugh from Akira]

Thanks for the optimism.

But yeah. We'll talk later. Stay safe.