Fractured Time

Big Clues and Reference Bits

Tesla's Guide to Anti-time Vortexes

A BBQ That Was Not to Be

On a warm spring day when BBQ and spring flowers should be the draw, Joule was apparently kindnapped
Two new Kaelid androids appear: Bell and Tesla
- Tesla shows all the hallmarks of having been born from Pira's forge
- Bell was built at Priestly's and has a very strong affinity for Maynard
Tesla and Bell explain that Joule was kidnapped and something terrible done to him that involved extracting Joule's portal ability into and out of St. Marin
Joule appeared obsessed with producing his offspring before taking on his former captors
- The captors had made some kind of missile using Joule's systems to get into St. Marin.
- Joule used a new flight suit, the Mark VIIc, capable of 7 miles/sec, to intercept the weapon
- Where Joule and the weapon intersect, a massive tear in time formed that propagated backwards instead of forward and began disrupting history and therefore the future as well
- Only one android could go with the part. The other has to stay a time anchor at the dome or any changes they make might come undone
  - The group selected Tesla as their companion for his ability to read objects and meddle with time.

A Town Too Quiet

The group began by visiting Pira and Kachi's home for supplies followed by a visit to Pira's forge proper
The town is very quiet compared to what it should be. Not many if any people outside, and most keep to themselves.
- Reading the past on the forge was like reading rings on a tree. Three different pasts but all of them somehow at the same time and not. Some might think of it as a probability of them all together.
  - One time is now. Another time is a devastated St. Marin. A final is a sort of mini-fortification as a site of resistance
While at the forge, the walls changed to be better fortified as if they were reinforced in the past by a mix of Pira and other folk if the wards are at all telling.

The group then decided to investigate a site at common time to look for clues
- Traveling to the old Gardens, the group managed to see the clouds parting for a time and got their first look at the massive vortex in the sky. Made partially from some strange kind of interaction with St. Marin's wards, it is the main magical element that should not be. On top of that, it is spewing out ash that Tesla somberly said was likely made of people.

- Maynard managed to sight something less obvious to the others: Displaced Spirits of the Garden

Replicas

Maynard and the Spirits of the Grove: Maynard was able to get from the spirits that some of them had been knocked backwards in time and have waited from then until this moment to have a go at them again only to again be knock back and come forward resulting in, at the moment, three spirits when one should be! At least some spirits seem to be prepping for all out war, and if each time quake makes more of them, its going to get big.

Time Map: Pira was able to link to Tesla because he uses a very similar magic as her forge for most of his operations. By looping into Tesla's ability to sense time and Pira's ability to sense magic, it was possible to make a sort of 'hot spot' map indicating places that had unusually high time strain. According to the list:

The St. Marin Library where Kachi works
The Forge where Pira works
Something outside of St. Marin
The Vortex, no surprise there
A place deep under St. Marin.

Oddly, the Dome, home to Faraday and Joule, is not on the major list.

Late Fees: Deciding to check the library before going elsewhere or when, the group entered the library. Leave it to Kachi to noticed something wrong with the book return almost immediately. Like the spirits, books here were replicated such that they had the same call number but different dates and yet were not new revisions. However, only one genre of books was replicated: histories. Histories of anything seemed to have variations, but the most prominently mangled were the histories of St. Marin itself.

One book held the true story of St, Marin as we know it
One book described a sort of conflict and a resistance
A final copy detailed the fall of rebel state of St. Marin and its rightful capture by what must be the invaders as they write their own history.

A small but very important item was found in the books. It had two sets of numbers on it. One was [0.0.0.0] and the other has a very negative value in the 3rd place and different 4th number as well. When Maynard held it, he was able to see that this was written by a shrewd little which named Whiffle, a mouse that sometimes comes to classes and lives out in the vineyards.

The group decided that they would head to the coordinates and use the date of the book they found the note as their zero for the 4th digit. That means they need to travel down under St. Marin, though the path is not unknown to most on the group.

The Underground Puzzle

Following up on a clue that Whiffle appears to have left in a library book, the group ventured down below to a chamber filled with crystals near the ley line deep under St. Marin. According to Tesla, the time coordinates appear to be only slightly after the initial weapon impact though the nature of the area makes things a little less precise.

At the starting time

Bright crystals glow with absorbed thauma except where small boring animals have eaten into them and the thauma. This is as it was when a group came down here long ago for fun.
A fire pit with six stones but nothing else of note.

At the appointed time

The fire pit is missing three stones
The pit also has a leftover cracker jack box. The only prize was a bit of cardboard with some letters and numbers
- Kachi knew this was a call number and she looked up the book which happened to be on microwave communication

Pira was able to sense a very complex and well hidden illusion in place. She was able to recognize it was well beyond just smashing through without first finding out what was powering it.

The group stumbled across a radio set of a microwave frequency and aimed into the crystal patch. It was found next to one of the missing fire pit stones
- Activated the dead transmitters changed the magic field slightly 300 MHz
- Stone 2 had a cell phone likewise aimed 1200 MHz
- Stone 3 had a pilfered direct TV dish 18000 MHz
The common denominator being 300 MHz was a final clue to how to shut down the illusion.

What was hidden: When the illusion fell, they found parts of Joule's body scattered among a path of broken crystals. Most of his flight suit was also destroyed and mixed in with the parts. Missing limbs but still having one siphon left, he was found with his siphon around a crystal for power. His body was split open, reactor damaged, fuel scattered about, but his primary core was intact. Tesla confirmed that he shut himself down to prevent damage to his memories.

Hasty Retreat: Apparently finding Joule in the future also means a change in the past! Tesla rushed everyone out as fast as he could and in a near panic at what he could see coming. Everyone landed back in the safer past and none too soon. Tesla closed the time portal just as several of the enemy began to enter the cave.

Piecing Things Together Part 1

The group retreated to a safer time with Joule and many of the scattered parts of him and his suit.
The Star of Damascus became the safe harbor given its fortification and access to the forge
Mending Joule
- Pira was able to provide both thaumaturgical power and magic enough to process raw components for Joule
- Maynard, as perhaps the only one left who could do so, was able to use what Pira made to mend the delicate aether fusion unit that Joule uses for power.
- The net result of Pira and Maynard's work was not only a functional reactor but a slightly better hardened one that he started with.

With repairs sufficient enough to power Joule up, the reactor was initiated without blowing everyone into the next life. Upon seeing all of you, Joule's first words to you all were, "I'm so sorry. I am so very sorry."

Piecing Things Together Part 2

Joule is now operational again and was able to describe a number of things
- The enemy kindnapped him using sleeper agents that had been in our classes
- They took his teleport key and some parts to use as warhead delivery
- Their weapon knocks spirits out of bodies to leave harmless husks left that they work till they drop
- Joule tried to intercept the warhead and accidentally caused a massive resonance wave with St. Marin's defensive wards resulting in anti-time, time quakes, and maybe the reason all the spirits are piling up
Joule, Tesla, and Bell tried using time travel already to stop the effects without luck.

The enemy
- Resemble hyperadvanced and very large version of cambrian era creatures like Hallucigenia and Arthropleura with advanced tech and armor that St. Marin's magic and even Neopolis technology has struggle with.
- They are vulnerable to spirits, but it would take an army of them to take on the forces present
- The launch site and a possible vulnerable point is in their home territory.

Clues
- Whiffle and others, including Soren, have been trying to leave clues and tools in the timelines but hiding them.
- In the future, the enemy is ripping the library apart trying to find something
- The group opted to head to the library. Bell is on her way to join them.

A warning
- Coulomb appeared to Maynard warning him that timelines that lead to Faraday should be avoided because he WILL come and with backup including Xirit. They might not win, but the devastation would be unspeakable.

Restricted Access

Getting inside the library this time revealed there had been a lot of damage done inside this time. Entire stacks knocked over, carts overturned, and all in what seemed like a search for something. One place, though blocked by a bookshelf, remained locked: the rare book collection. Thankfully Kachi had access to this section, and after some cleaning, the group was able to get inside where they found:

The long desiccated body of a feral mouse thought to be Whiffle. The body was found among numerous parchments and scrolls of which she left behind numbers, call numbers once again, and a diagram with six points.
After looking up the call numbers, it turned out to be books on how to forcefully create stable, extreme distance portals. The security implications of such rituals and spells is not hard to grasp.
On the table, there was a very unusual diagram
- The diagrams had a strange 3-point diagram where each point was dotted by two spots instead of the usual positions to place reagents.
- The pattern also had a recursive pattern that could well be infinite representing what could be echoes.
- Based on Whiffles final drawing and the books, six points can be used to determine a relative position in space by the intersection of three lines made from pairs of dots. However, an implied seventh position was not obviously on the diagram
- A very nervous Bell grudgingly admitted she knew the coordinates of the last point and where it went: the land of their enemy.
Each person was paired at the dots with an android: Kachi and Joule, Pira and Tesla, and Mayard and Bell.
Invoking the spell transmitted half the group, the organic half, elsewhere while the androids remained in the origin place and time.

Origin

Upon activating the ritual, the crew was split into two: androids and organics. Only Kachi, Pira, and Maynard spanned the distance while Joule, Tesla, and Bell remained as anchors. However, something else came with this ritual...

Kachi's Experience: You have direct mental communication to Joule as well as access to his modes. You also know he is weakened and has very little reserve power to call on. Because your ties to him and Faraday go back the furthest, you alone can see the invading ribbon of energy in the sky. It is energy you can use at will but it should not be here. Your connections tells you that his ribbon is a ley line shot through space. It is the best energy for you, but every pull is jingle in a web that will lead Faraday closer to this world as it signals Joule's wounded status. You can feel his conflict between wanting to mend and wanting to crush this place. You also feel his love for his children and his friends. There is a warmth regarding you that casts off any cold you might feel.

Pira's Experience: Because he was born on your forge, Tesla remains a link through time to your forge. You can also bend time if you focus on it. You have access to his energy pool. Joule’s reactor has only 6 ounces of aether in it and you know what it can do. Tesla has liters of it in his body, and that energy is at your disposal. You have direct mental communication with him. You also have the weight of his worry and protective nature regarding Bell.

Maynard's Experience: When you arrive you realize you have not arrived alone. You have Bell's power at your call. Spirits and souls can cross back into the living world and interact with the world again at your discretion. Your ability to sense spirits is enhanced and even seems to increase your technology tricks. However, that is not all Bell can offer. Her voice carries magic, and you can weave spells in the way a bard might or even just lace your voice with special trickery. (You might also think you landed the best autotune you could find) However, her power reserves are limited and can be overdrawn if you use them too much meaning you would need a recharge. You have open mental communication with her. You also sense from her the weight of a dreadful secret.

Each person was bound to shared some of the abilities of their android partner. Each connection was deeply personal, and perhaps it could not be any other way.

Time Zero: The first thing you perceive as you materialize across time and space is not the place but the time. Pira feels it most, but all of you know the unique property of this place: none of you have been here and now before. This is obvious for you but it is also true of all the androids. The second thing is the realization that there is still some guiding principle that reaches into the past to the androids. It varies in strength by android but each was reached for in time and in turn each of you You stand in a garden that belongs to some form of memorial. Nothing of the form or language tells you what it is. You are in a massive bio dome with light scintillating off the windows above as they neutralize powerful radiation outside and make it into more tolerable and useful light. This place is large enough to be a city that seems to be sleeping at the moment. Low lying buildings of ebon bear passages far larger than you. They build in height and look much more office buildings as the near the center which is dominated by a massive device that could be an observatory. You find yourselves in the presence of a single entity. Not one of centipedes but rather the peculiar hallucigenia species. This one is in the center of the ritual circle and while a spirit, you can all see it. Rather than donning the heavy armor of the one's Tesla so fears, this spirit is wrapped in delicate cloth and has a myriad of devices that might be medical or engineering based.

Hallucigenia's Clues

Origin of the Species: The two species, resembling the giant centipede arthropleara, and a very unique species resembling hallucigenia, had their origin on the same world. At some point, the two species co-evolved rapidly and discovered advanced technologies that took them off their world with virtually no trace left behind. Casting themselves into space, the arthropleura became the military organization that kept others safe and conquered planets for colonization while the hallucigenia served as the brains instead of the brawn in creating more advanced technology.

The End of the Colonization of Space: Initial colonization meant taking over uninhabited planets, battling aggressive flora fauna on other worlds, and eventually settling in a place that felt stable. With the colonization phase done, exploration and local stability became priorities. While this was fine for the hallucigenia who were content with a safe home and new technology to develop, the arthropleura grew steadily more restless.

The Observatory: The crowning achievement of the hallucigenia was an observatory that allow a displaces soul to travel immense distances and observe distance locations. It meant they could also observe objects and events that would otherwise be utterly lethal. In some cases, technology that could piggy back along with the soul where it could collect data was also included. In this way, they were able to observe other species without disturbing them, for the better part, and put a fairly solid end to their need to travel the stars. Not everyone was enthused by this.

The Weapon: The hallucingenia proved to be a sort of scientist or at least technician, and they were able to explain the origin of the weapon used on St. Marin. By using the transmit function without a vector to and from a destination, the weapon could displace the souls of the living and leave their mindless bodies easier to handle. Although some things like machines and rare soul-less species exist, they can be more readily cleaned up. Such a weapon was deployed many times, but this was the first attack at St, Marin, which was too large gate nexus to pass on, but it was well defended.

Discovering St. Marin: It was the science crew that found St. Marin first. On one of their observatory runs, they found a strange and alluring voice in the void that brought them back to a point of time in St. Marin where Bell and Tesla were performing a show. Because of Bell's abilities, the sou manifested in St. Marin for a time. The logs of that journey would later be used to do a second trace back that led to Joule and his abilities. More scouts eventually became parts of St. Marin's classes where they studied the city and the students. When the hallucigenia lost control of the observatory, that knowledge became military intel.

Sacrifice: A large group of hallucigenia attempted to stop the new war effort, and they went so far as to use the observatory to try and erase their own species in an effort to prevent development of the observatory. While this resulted in the anthropleura fading out of the fossil record while their hallucingenia species justy seems to suddenly stop without evidence of why, it was not enough to undo the future. They were not anchored, and so their efforts only caused shifts in events and causality but not enough to stop the attack.

In addition, when the efforts were discovered, the anthropleura rounded up suspected hallucigenia and then took two or three more for each one of them as good measure and burned them all alive. Memorials were left not in their honor but as warnings not to follow their example.

The City: The city is home to both species. It consists of low lying outer regions, a middle ring of homes, a taller inner ring of offices and working areas, and the massive machine at the center is the observatory along with its associated support systems. This city is one of many, but only this city has the observatory.

The city is also protected under a dome that appears to convert high energy radiation into power and less dangerous forms of light that give the twilight city its light.

Bell's Dark Secret

"I'm so sorry. I was afraid to tell anyone, even Tesla. I was terrified you would ask mne to go with you when you chose Tesla. I don't think I could have stayed silent had you taken me."

She verified small clues with Tesla, but she never told him or anyone else what she knew and, perhaps worse, what she did, until today. Seeing two paths, one of death ad vengeance and the other of slim hopes and terrible risks, Bell intervened much earlier than most might thing. She had to raise the stakes to destabilize a terrible future, and doing that meant not only sabotage but endangering those she loves.

The explosion and resonating time vortex was not the doing to the enemy nor Joule's doing but instead a side effect of the sabotage Bell made to the weapon. Turning St. Marin into a giant resonating chamber where souls might build up in numbers large enough to become an army is her fault. She's been saddled with the guilt the whole time, but now circumstance has warranted that she tell the truth. There may be no telling how different things may have been if she had been chosen, but its too late to dwell on the past.

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