wiedzminka | ❧ IC INBOX: Abraxas

It's magic, not mechanics.

[ He knows this, of course. Ciri shakes her head, torn -- it's a terrible idea, probably, but for a good reason. She agrees they would all be better off with control and understanding over the Summoning ritual, whether that's for a chance to reconnect with those lost or to keep dangers out.

The thought that anything can come through is nearly as unsettling as the knowledge anyone can vanish without warning. Still... ]

It's chaos, and clearly none of them can actually control it. Maybe that mage in Thorne had a plan ages ago, but even that went awry from the beginning. He called half his summonings failures and threw them in prison. Now, every major power just summons people to... what? Stockpile us?

And how did the Free Cities and Solvunn got their hands on the ritual? How was it supposed to work in the first place?

There are still...rules. Parameters. Even if they're not obvious.

[Even if they don't seem like rules, or anything that might make sense to a layman. If magic is inherent in nature, however, then nature has patterns. Viktor has found them before, and he can do it again. Perhaps it's chaos, but there must be some reason to it, underneath it all.

Or maybe that's just the physicist in him, looking for something that isn't there. What they can agree on is that the territories don't know what they're doing.]

They must have stolen it. The knowledge of it. [Which is what gives him hope, in the end--surely he can puzzle it out, if they managed to make it work.] I don't think the ritual as it exists lets them see exactly who they're bringing before they do it. They search for broad strokes. Desirable occupations, or personality traits, but not much more than that.

[Suffice to say, he thinks he could improve it.]

Edited 2024-03-04 00:54 (UTC)

No. It surely doesn't.

The strokes are too broad, if you ask me. Who's to say they won't open doors for things that would wreak havoc on their world? I suspect they've gotten lucky more than anything else, so far.

[ But they can go in circles with this conjecture forever, without answers. It's a discussion Ciri has had before, and probably even with Viktor on other occasions too. Most of the Summoned, she'd guess, have come to a similar conclusion if they've been paying attention.

It's just that most of the Summoned, like her, are probably just trying to get on with their day to day lives. People are very good at setting aside problems for the future in favor of tackling the matters of the moment.

Ciri sighs, turning her teacup around in her hands. ]

Those who would come after me for that prophecy--

They have their own ways of moving between worlds.

The ritual does have some constants, at least. Water as a vector, the presence of an arcana symbol. It seems to happen at a pre-determined time of the month.

[But even that is barely anything to go on, and he knows as much. He might be better off simply finding his own way, perhaps using the existing ritual as a guide to invent something entirely new.

Which is why he's interested in hearing about the ways others, from different places, might travel across other worlds. Ciri goes there before he has a chance to ask, and it's easy to see him perk with interest, even if the people in question are likely less-than-friendly.]

How do they do it?

[ Ciri shrugs, glancing away. ]

Oh... the usual. Magic.

Think of the portals that take us to Nocwich, say. Some of them have that kind of magic innately.

Obviously, magic.

[For all that the Free Cities has dabbled in the confluence of magic and technology, there are some things that can only be accomplished by the former. Having an innate ability to travel between worlds isn't even unheard of, at this point.]

And they either haven't thought to look here, or they can't get in. Perhaps the Singularity makes this world uniquely impenetrable, outside of the ritual.

Edited 2024-03-18 18:09 (UTC)

That had crossed my mind as well. I told you before about the monoliths in my world.

They had some similarities, but the Singularity is unique. I don't know that I believe Thorne that it's the source of all magic-- but it's certainly got a connection to worlds and magics beyond this place.

[ She fiddles with her cup again, then goes for a refill from the teapot. ]

But... If the Singularity is a door of sorts that's uniquely difficult to open, that doesn't make me any more inclined to think the city officials who keep trying to bring in more Summoned aren't consistently at risk of opening... too much. Not only letting in dangerous beings, but creating rifts between worlds.

Like those that let in the monsters. Except perhaps less temporary.

Yes, the fact that it can reach across the boundaries of different worlds is evidence enough of that.

[What to do about it is still the largest question. It could be that the continued use of the Summoning ritual is straining the Singularity beyond its own capabilities--that would account for its fluctuations, and the rifts that seemingly opened of its own accord.]

I think it's only a matter of time before we see a more significant breakdown.

I'm inclined to agree with you.

But do you really think there's anything you can do? It's not like there's clear access to the Singularity to conduct your studies, and even if there were, you wouldn't have the freedom to do whatever you liked -- not without eyes on you.

[ Ciri knows she's not saying anything Viktor's not already keenly aware of, but the situation feels so... hopeless. Even if she could do something, it would be more dangerous to everyone involved than actually useful. She doesn't know if she could open that door. She wouldn't try. Not unless she had to.

And it wouldn't actually give anyone control, except over her. ]

You've heard about the experiments Thorne did back when they held us prisoner. Trying to... replicate our connection on their own people.

Any of the territories' leaders would use us as fodder for their research, if the consequences were deemed worthwhile, or easy enough to sweep away. I worry about those whose connections with the Singularity would be exploited. About those whose interests are deemed too dangerous, or too useful to the wrong people.

Especially when I know the leading governments of Abraxas aren't the only forces in the many spheres who seek to open those doors for their own means.

I think that...lacking access to the Singularity and knowledge of the ritual, I will have to...create my own.

[The situation is discouraging, yes. The lack of progress makes it feel increasingly impossible. But Viktor has never let similar roadblocks stop him before. Yes, it's more difficult to do this without a framework, though maybe it's for the best that he can't draw on what the Free Cities has already accomplished. Maybe he'll fly under the radar better.

Because, of course, everything Ciri says is true. This is all dangerous, and could be used against them. He does not yet find that reason enough not to try, however. He'll be careful. He'll do it right.]

There is no innovation without risk. But your fears are mine as well. I'll do everything in my power to prevent this.

Viktor. [ Her voice takes on a sharper tone, more one of alarm than outright chastising. ]

That's precisely why I brought up the Wild Hunt chasing me, and what they can do. You risk drawing the attention of forces far beyond this sphere.

What would have me do?

[He sounds defeated. Viktor doesn't want to outright say that his own breaching of the fabric between worlds would be worth whatever damage it might cause, but he knows that it's dangerous. He knows that he might hurt people, to get what he wants.]

I can't stay here.

I-- [ She starts out strong, and quickly deflates, shoulders slumping. ]

I don't know.

Just... be aware. Be careful. I know that's not helpful. I don't know how to help.

But I think people should have a choice to be here. And I'm sorry you feel so trapped.

[It's not as though Viktor expects her to have an answer, or even an explanation of her own powers. But it's difficult not to feel defeated, nonetheless. The prospect of all this is still daunting, even for someone who has defied what the universe prescribed for him.]

This may all be moot. It feels...impossible. But I have to try.

[ Disorienting though the experience may have been, Geralt has not forgotten Ciri's birthday—despite having missed the date due to the Singularity trapping them. The gift is small, and not quite the one he's been contemplating giving her, but it isn't about gifts in the first place.

On her pillow, Ciri will find a handmade wooden cabin, not unlike the one they had in their visions (or memories, or however they decide to call it.) Maybe it's a promise, maybe it's just a reminder that he has not forgotten (again). He isn't sure. But his ambivalence towards the incident aside, there are pieces of that strange future that he does not regret, and chief amongst them is the time he spent with his daughter.

Practical as ever, the miniature cabin is more than a decoration: the roof comes off and the inside is hollow for storing her things. ]

Hey...can we talk? If you're up for it. It's okay if you want some more time. I'm still...processing all that.

[ She's been expecting this. Thought about reaching out herself, but... chickened out. Aloy makes the first move.

It's as much a relief as it is unnerving. ]

I am too.

But we can talk. If that's what you want.

I do. In person. I don't want to go anywhere near that rock right now.

[She's never been fond of the Horizon anyway.]

I heard Nocwich is opening again.

[ Oh, thank fuck. ]

I feel the same way.

Nocwich sounds good. Get that strong werewolf ale. Bracing stuff.

Yeah. I could go for some of that, too.

Guess I'm meeting you at the tavern, then?

Yeah. I would

like that.

[That's good enough for Aloy. She leaves it there in anticipation of their in person meeting, which has her anxious in a way she isn't sure is good or bad. Maybe it's good. They're going to have to talk about this one way or another--she just kind of wishes it was in the familiar venue of the hunting grounds, instead of the tavern's intimacy.

The point is that she can't avoid it forever. When Nocwich opens again, Aloy is there, making her way to the tavern just a few minutes later than she said she'd be there. It feels more right, for her to interrupt Ciri's first drink, rather than the other way around. When she approaches, she looks a little sheepish.]

It's good to see you. [In person, that is. Aloy has been avoiding the Horizon, for various reasons.] How are you feeling?

[ Ciri knows how she feels -- instinctively, in a way that feels more intimate than it should, and yet somehow familiar. It doesn't feel wrong, even if it is... weird. The Horizon is uncomfortable for her as well; there are those she must see within it, like Yennefer, but besides the very special exception, she's stayed away. As much as possible, Ciri's tried to ground herself in things that feel real and solid in her hands and under her boots. Hunting is where she goes to escape. But it doesn't feel right here.

They need to talk. It'll be too easy to lapse into comfortable silence in the dark outside.

The wait doesn't bother her. It gives her a few minutes to pull together a semblance of preparedness, even if it's a façade more than anything else, bolstered by the drink she tosses back at the very first opportunity. She's actually on her second when Aloy arrives, not because Aloy is very late but because Ciri is very anxious.

At her approach, Ciri pushes the opposite chair out for her with the toe of a boot beneath the table. ]

...hi.

Oh. I'm fine. [ An automatic, meaningless response. ]

How... are you?

Adjusting, I guess.

[She shrugs her shoulders, a little defeated. There's really no good way to talk about what happened, and she isn't really sure where to start. The good news is that Ciri's fine betrays her own anxieties about it all, and Aloy decides she might as well launch into it.]

Feeling a little relieved, I guess. That it wasn't real.

[Aloy is used to outsized responsibility--of having the singular ability to save the world, but she's never want to be a god.]

[ Ciri nods. Adjusting is as good a way to put it as anything she's feeling now, all wrapped up in confusion and anxiety, frustration and anger, the lingering shame over some of the things she did (didn't do; none of them did, not really).

And yet, when the first thing Aloy says is that she's relieved it wasn't real, there's an unexpected pang in the pit of her stomach. Her fingers tighten around the handle of her tankard. ]

...that none of it was real?

❧ IC INBOX: Abraxas

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post event; may.

some time after event 18 but slightly before june nocwich

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