Loophole

[Legolover-361]

IC: EnaEarly afternoonMining Shaft Alpha, OlfordTornados. I hate tornados.Sometimes, when the sun beats down too hard, we get what we call a dust devil or, more commonly, a duster. Olford's proximity to what desert remains of Bara Magna, behind the rain shadow of the mountain range, makes us a prime target for dusters. Dusters, however, while an annoyance and a cause of some delays in surface work, possess not the power to tear apart buildings and shatter bones as tornados do.I dive to the side as the rock I had used for cover flies like a missile into the mountainside. There are a couple cries as the four guards remaining in my entourage duck and run, hoping to divide the Toa of Air's attention. It won't work, I decide as I drop to one knee and draw an arrow: Our attacker is too focused on wanton destruction to care for picking out individual targets.I hear the sharp whistle of a tornado bearing down on me from my two o'clock and give myself two seconds. I concentrate briefly on our attacker, magnetizing his armor so it sticks uncomfortably together. One. I stick my tongue out, estimate the effects of the wind on my arrow's flight, shift my position accordingly...Two.Twang. Off it goes. I watch its flight path bend with the wind just as I had predicted--And off I go as the tornado I had noticed slams into me and flings me first into the air, then into the ground.* * *GM IC: Turaga TahuEarly afternoonPanel HQ, Central City"Thank you for being prompt, fellow Turaga," Tahu greeted them. Gali, Pohatu, Onua, Kopaka, Lewa -- their faces were so familiar now that Tahu's memory of their names was merged with that of their respective Kanohi. With the exception of Lewa, who had arrived before the others, Tahu nodded to each Turaga in turn."I called you here because I believe it's time to take drastic measures. We know thanks to active security and our Census that members of our society are missing. We know, too, that the Kanohi Vahi has disappeared. The citizens of Mata Magna aren't safe, and that, brothers and sisters, is a serious problem. Kopaka" -- for the Turaga of Ice had perked up as if to say something -- "I know it's obvious, but please, brother, let me finish my little spiel without interruption."Kopaka acquiesced, though his gaze still rested intently upon Tahu's eyes. Maybe he was using his Akaku to examine Tahu's head as he waited for Tahu to finish speaking. The Turaga of Ice could be patient when he wanted to be, but now seemed to not be one of those times."Then speak!" said Gali.Tahu inclined his head. "Very well, sister. Now... I ask that none of you call me crazy, because I already know I am, and I want to deprive Kopaka and Lewa of any possible jokes they hold at my expense." Kopaka flashed a brief smile as cold as the element he commanded; Lewa stifled a chuckle. "In light of recent events, and thanks to Professor Kora's insistences that time travel is a very real and very likely possibility... I think the time has come to use the Kanohi Olmak."Silence.Tahu had expected disbelief, but the other Turaga's reactions were not of disbelief. No, they were of ambivalence, of scales weighing pros against cons and finding a wavering balance."It's dangerous, brother," said Gali. "What if we assign a team of scientists to the Olmak and find ourselves short another great Kanohi?""We'll watch them," said Tahu."Who will watch them? Us? How closely? How long?""I know this is a dangerous idea, but what other choice do we have?"Another silence, this time more thoughtful. The ability to travel from dimension to dimension was far too dangerous an ability to exploit, so the Kanohi Olmak, the Turaga had decided long ago when they were still Toa, was to be locked in a place secret to all except them. To reveal undeniable proof of its existence, even to only a few people, was a concept alien to the Panel -- yet Tahu still repeated to himself, What other choice do we have?

Edited January 30, 2013 by Legolover-361

[thelonewander]

IC:

 

(Samarah)

Samarah looked up at Kaithas as he spoke. She saw truth in his eyes, and was glad. She may of not cared about many things, but she was lonely. Put it down to being a shadow toa in a world were they they're hated. "Thank you, Kaithas."

[Wyrd Bid Ful Araed]

IC: The sword was coming in from the left, sweeping right, so Kranos had picked a reasonable course of action. It put him out of the main swing and being bifurcated at least. Though it didn't protect him entirely. The sword blade cut across his hip, just above his left leg, a shallow but visible wound.

Once again Skrall pressed his attack. As his right arm finished its swing he put his left foot forward and brought that right arm forward in a powerful lunge, thrusting his sword at Kranos' chest

[Light]

IC: I didn't respond immediately. I laughed once, a smile spreading across my face.

[thelonewander]

IC:

 

(Samarah)

 

Samarah laughed too, something she hadn't done in a while. Waling forward, She pulled Kaithas along, going farther along the path in the park.

[Light]

IC: KaithasI followed. It'd been a while since I was relaxed. Even leaving my army position hadn't helped much, but being around Samarah for some reason did...

[thelonewander]

IC:

 

(Samarah)

 

Samarah kept on walking through the park, dragging Kaithas along with her. She hadn't felt this way, ever, about anyone. It was a nice feeling, it really was.

 

(Vilote)

 

It had been a week since Vilote made it to Ga-Koro-Nui. Once there, he started to ask around, see if anyone had seen his target. Finding a few leads, Vilote tracked his target down, and found him talking to a group of friends. Vilote didn't hear what they were talking about, but he didn't care, only that he got his job done. Seeing the Toa, Vilote made his move. The head of the Department of security was going to die. Vilote, came close, looking like he was just passing by, when he struck out at Houren, moving quickly, aiming at the man's heartlight, wanting to kill him in one swift move.

[Light]

IC: A superspeed hand shot out, coating itself in crystal and blocking the strike. Delan had barely seen the strike begin, but his Kakama was more than up to the task.

[Constructelf]

IC: Vikentios

Okay, it looked like Vikentios was about to get home ahead of schedule, when SCREEEEEEEECH!!!!! He barely avoided two Toa (Samarah and Kaithas), walking through the park. "That was close," he thought, his hand slowly releasing the brake lever. He started to pedal the bike again...

 

OOC: Open for interaction.

[thelonewander]

IC:

 

(Vilote)

 

Moving his hand quickly, Vilote when for another strike on Houren, while he used his other hand to throw a good left hook at Delan.

 

(Samarah)

 

"WHOA" Samarah yelled as she was almost ran over by some dude on a bike. "Watch were your riding!" She yelled at him as he pedaled away.

[Light]

IC: Delan activated his mask as a crystal wall sprang up in between Houren and his assailant, Delan catching Vilote's attack on himself in a crystal covered hand.IC: KaithasI sighed. "Some people..."

[Toa Levacius Zehvor]

IC: Kinksh / Ga-Koro-Nui

 

As the assassin sprung into sudden existence and began attacking Houren, a robotic cat stared from the shadows at the events. Its master saw every bit of the event that was transpiring, and was not pleased with the sheer number of guards. He had honestly hoped for a choice of killers with... less sense of getting caught in the open, would that be the proper term? Yeah, that worked.

 

Still, the amount that he had payed upfront was a small amount. Everything had been laid out perfectly. The payments provided did their job, and anyone with the right skills could track everything back....

 

.... to the operations base of a rival crime syndicate, of course. The whole process was all a fluke, after all. Needless to say, someone would wonder about where the Golden Hammer was in all that happened when they saw the message he sent, but that was all part of the plan too - it all was.

 

-Toa Levacius Zehvor

[Blessed Blade]

-==IC: Kranos==-Kranos barely had an opportunity to dodge out of the way; the sword only slicing a small part of the front armour of his chest; however, with the speed that the Skrall showed, and the limited area to move around in, Kranos wondered how a victory might be even possible, though he figured the embers must be cooling down soon...

[thelonewander]

IC:

 

(Vilote)

 

With his attack a complete failure, Vilote broke the hold Delan had on him, then ran into one of the alleys near by. Finding a path to the roof, Vilote climbed quickly, and the going from building, running till he reached the casinos, and then blended into the crowd. I need to get a note to the Hammer. He will not be pleased.

[Wyrd Bid Ful Araed]

IC: The overall scheme seemed to be working well. The Toa had been so concerned with dodging the strikes that he'd neglected to pay attention to his surroundings. He'd been backed right up against the ring of Skrall's brothers-in-arms, leaving him nowhere left to dodge to. Skrall brought his shield swinging in, sweeping diagonally downwards from left to right. If the jagged spikes didn't shred the Toa's chest, the heavy weight and incredible speed of the shield should pummel him into unconsciousness

[Light]

IC: Lewa

 

The Turaga of Air scratched the back of his head, thinking hard. "Okay. I agree with you."

[Friar Tuck]

OOC: sorry 'bout the delay folks, but things are snowballing in the Bzprpg

 

Now back to everyone's favorite Vo-Toa!

 

IC

 

[Aishta's Garage, Ga-Koro-Nui; morning]

 

Ever so slowly...

 

A gentle twist...

 

Half-turn back...

 

Done.

 

"Done." I breathed, gazing over my handiwork.

 

It was ugly.

 

The best way to describe it was a Visorak in the center of its web; an oblong, oval object with several leg-leg protrusions, several bio-long wires making a loop around my workshop and connecting back to the main device. Whatever it was, it was unlike ANYTHING I had ever seen before, though I guessed this wasn't the original design - between the protrusions and lengthy wires it appeared to have been modified to be installed directly into a vehicle. It was all speculation at this point, particularly what it did, but it was built, constructed with the leftovers I had laying around. And this ugly hunk of junk cost me a fortune in spare parts.

 

I hated to see what a brand-new model cost.

 

I hoped it was worth the effort. If the government was willing to dump this much cash into it, it HAD to be useful.

 

Alright Aishta, moment of truth. You have no idea what will happen when you power it up, how it works, or even the mechanics behind it. Sure you want to go through with this?

 

...

 

Karzahni yeah!

 

There was an arc of electricity between my fingertips and what I figured was the power core, sparks and bluish bands of electrical power swarming over the device. There was a brilliant blue glow, a whine, and the sensation of something charging up as it began a runaway power fluctuation. With milliseconds to spare I dove behind a desk as my workshop was bathed in light... then nothing.

 

Slowly my eyes crept over the lip, scanning the room, only to note that the freakish device sat without harm happily humming away fully activated.

 

That... was weird.

 

I crawled to the device, pulling myself upwards, inspecting it with a critical eye. Fully activated, but if the gauge was right at a very low setting, the display giving me a set of numbers I could make nothing out of. It was as if the blasted thing was speaking a foreign language. Now I may not be the most eloquent speaker of Matoran, but in machine-speak I was an expert. Just by hearing the engine I could tell you how long overdue your oil change was, or how many miles within three. I couldn't make heads or tails of this thing. My eyes narrowed.

 

Challenge accepted you pompous piece of polymorphed plastic.

 

Jacking in my diagnostic software I began a full-frontal assault.

 

* * *

Three hours later, I admitted defeat.

 

Humiliating, humbling, spirit-awful defeat.

 

To a machine no less, I thought glumly. Neither myself nor my own computer could make heads or tails of this *bleep*-child of a device, everything in it so alien to anything I had ever encountered before. So much so I might as well have came from outer space.

 

Somehow that wouldn't of surprised me.

 

Frustrated, frazzled, and hungry, I left it alone and went back upstairs to grab lunch. I had been down there all morning, the single clock I had down there saying half-past one. Sauntering into the kitchen, I began to ransack the fridge-

 

Wait, what?

 

I peered over the fridge door to the coffeepot, sitting in the coffeemaker, my eyes focusing on the time display.

 

10:30

 

Slowly I approached it, a tad confused. It was one of the few clocks in this place that was on time on the sole purpose that it NEEDED to be; if I didn't have my coffee in the morning, well, I just wasn't Toa. How could it have the wrong time?

 

Odd.

 

Shaking my head I adjusted the time setting, turning around to resume my scavenger hunt. I took a step... and froze.

 

Like in a B-rated horror film my head slowly turned to the living room, where I kept that old antique pendulum clock I got as payment for a job one time. It was notoriously known to be not on time due to the simple fact that I often forgot to keep it wound and the weights adjusted, but it was always at least within the half-hour. Not now.

 

10:07

 

My eye twitched, a slight knot forming in my stomach. This... this was weird. Both the coffeemaker AND pendulum clock wrong? Once was chance, twice was a coincidence. But three times...

 

I dashed to my bedroom, glancing into the bath as I did. As I read both times - which, by the way, I made sure to keep in sync at ALL times - my heartlight promptly stopped flashing.

 

10:35

 

I took a breath, shooing the butterflies away as I made a bee-line to the basement. Alright, calm down, the answer was obvious: the workshop clock was wrong, pure and simple. For one reason or another it had stopped working... by moving forward several hours... in line with my biological clock that said early afternoon.

 

Why then was I so hungry? I got up late as usual-

 

I choked on my own bile as I got a glance at the basement timepiece.

 

1:50

 

I stood there like an imbecile, trying to wrap my head around this new insight. In the one to two minutes I had been upstairs, this clock had jumped forward fifteen. The one that was three-hours ahead of the rest of the house. The same three hours that I had spent down here alone with my new contraption.

 

The answer was obvious, but the logical side of my mind, which happened to be most of it, refused to accept that conclusion.

 

No, no, there HAS to be another explanation!

 

Rummaging through a drawer I pulled out a pair of stopwatches. I synchronized them both, and after starting the timers I left one in the basement while I went back upstairs, looking at my clocks.

 

10:35

 

I took a long, slow breath. According to them the few minutes downstairs didn't happen. I was beginning to freak out.

 

Easy Aishta, no need to panic. Just wait a moment and go back downstairs, compare the times, everything will be fine.

 

I waited a full minute, long enough to gather my wits and calm myself down. Cool and confident once again I ventured downstairs, comparing the times between the two stopwatches. I had bought them both at the same time. Same brand, same model. Both counted time at exactly the same rate. According to conventional wisdom, they both should have the same time since I started both at the same moment.

 

The one in my workshop had three times the amount of time passage on it. Which only left of conclusion.

 

I stared at the device, it humming away without a care in the world, blasting away what I knew of the world and how it worked into a chard of swiss cheese. It was at this moment in time a single sentence, one I had heard long ago, popped into my head, more now appropriate than ever before:

 

“Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.”

 

The truth was staring me at hard in the face from the workbench.

[sunflower]

IC: Kopaka

 

The white-armored Turaga's expression seemed locked in a stalemate between a disapproving frown and just... The normal dissatisfied expression that he wore much more often in recent days. Kopaka was much more involved in the security of Mata Magna than the other Turaga, and so safety was his first priority. Having the Olmak reveiled and studed was not safe, after what happened to the Vahi. But Tahu was correct, what choice did they have? It was just as well that he had a reputation of being one of the more uncommunicative of the Turaga Nuva.

 

He wasn't as quick to agree as Lewa, but eventually he spoke. "Very well brother," he said, his staff tapping the ground once as he made his decision.

 

"But we must watch this closely, as Gali said, or we might loose another powerful Kanohi," he continued, glancing at Gali momenarily.

[Friar Tuck]

IC

 

[Aishta's Garage, Ga-Koro-Nui; ???Morning???]

 

Time.

 

Time is relative.

 

I've heard that all my life, everyone from science geeks to everyday grocery baggers, just... taken for granted. Laws of space and time, relativity... all assumed. Life, structure, the cosmos, the government... all taken at face value.

 

Now worth a can of beans.

 

My life, everything I knew, had been flipped upside down.

 

Upside down, inside out, scrambled and then reorganized into something incoherent. I didn't know how long I sat there. How long I simply stared at that device. How long in motionless denial I bit my lip, my hand covering my lower face in shock, denial, and even defilement. It didn't matter. I could sit there for a week while the world outside moved only for a few seconds. I could live out my whole lifespan in the course of a day. Or I could watch an entire forest rise up from a desert floor and then die out in the course of an afternoon. That wasn't all however. If this device, on such a low setting, could alter the flow of time, what's not to say it could bend it to the point of breaking? Like moving oneself into the future? The past even? The very events in history we take for granted, the idea that our decisions move the future... all thrown out the window. But that wasn't the worst part. No, it wasn't that I found this in some mad scientist's lab, or even some stolen, illegal black-market technology; even something from out space would have made more sense. It wasn't any of those.

 

I had found it built into a police airship.

 

The government had time travel.

 

Enough said.

 

I forced my eyes to blink, red and dry from crying. This... this was too much to take. I had pulled myself out of the muck and mire of gang life, out of the hopelessness and bleakness that should have been my life on the promise of stability. On the guarantees that if you lived your life as a law-abiding citizen, you would be safe. Protected. Upheld.

 

Those promises were now shattered, shattered into a million tiny pieces never to be reunited again. This wasn't some top-agency project. This wasn't even military. The freaking law enforcement had it. If this boiled down to them...

 

As angry and sad as I was, I was also afraid. Terribly, deathly afraid. If they had this much power-

 

No. I would not let them control me.

 

First, however, I needed to understand what the Karzahni I was dealing with. I was a mechanic... not a physicist.

 

Good thing I still kept my library card current.

 

* * *

Half-hour later I locked my front door, the world around me sometime a little after noon even though I physically felt almost a day had passed. I had made sure to turn off the device, seal it up and stash it away in the dark corner, a place few would find it if they came on by to check up on me again; even if they did, the only copy of the blueprints were on a thumb drive safely disguised and attached to my necklace.

 

Yes, necklace.

 

I was showered, properly dressed, and presentable; a rarity for anyone that knew me. As sad as it was I needed to do that if I was going to go back to Central City - the nicer parts of town had dress codes, and that is where I was going. I was still upset, cranky, prettier than I cared to be, and I was heading right into the den of these people.

 

I prayed to the Great Beings that someone didn't cross me the wrong way.

 

I gave a fake smile and nod to the boy behind the counter, taking my chute ticket.

 

Central City Library was the first place on my list.

[Hanako Herupa]

IC, Whira: Whira smiled back. "Well, it's good that you stopped, or I would never have met you. It's always good to stop and... smell the roses." She looked over and pointed at a nearby rosebush. "See? Roses!" The pair kept walking through the park, and finally Whira said, "I really like walking with you... it makes me feel like I'm wanted somewhere...

 

IC: (Atahu)

 

"You're wanted right here." My lips curved into a smile and I decided to be a little more bold. My arm wrapped around her lean waist. I knew it would surprise her, but I was rather good at gauging things like this. She had this beautiful black and grey armor. The kind of smile that bore its way into your mind. Her eyes were that shade of bright violet, warm and inviting. "You know Whira as much as I traveled, as much as I moved around I never met a woman quite as beautiful or as charming." I smiled as we moved over towards the park's bridge over the small pond, it's dark reflection looking back at us. "I like night. There's always this alluring, it mysterious, but it's also warm and comforting. It has this arresting quality the day lacks."

 

OOC: It's not problem but I apologize for the late response on my side as well, I've been rather busy this last week.

[Legolover-361]

GM IC: Turaga TahuEarly afternoonPanel HQ, Central City"That again raises the question, as Gali asked earlier, of who will do the watching."

[~Xemnas~]

IC, Whira: Whira had to admit, she was a little surprised when Nakahi put his arm around her waist. Usually, the guys she knew were to concerned with her appearance and wouldn't do that. But this guy... he was bold. Whira liked that. Another sign that this would be an interesting night. "Personally, I like the night better than the day," she replied. "It's so... interesting, and much more stuff happens at night than happens during the day." Obviously, this had to do with her secretly being a Toa of Shadow, but still, this was a small shred of truth.

[Friar Tuck]

IC

 

[Central City Library; early afternoon]

 

*click*

 

"Time travel, unlike a lot of people seem to believe, is not impossible. It is very much possible; only, it isn't easy to, to attain. I mean, think about it -- its, uh, its complexity could be construed as a safety mechanism. If time travel were simple to achieve, half the imbeciles who surely exist elsewhere in the universe would have discovered it and -- well, would probably have wrecked the space-time continuum by now."

 

My eyes darted about the terminal, my finger hovering over the replay button as I listened to that short speech for the fifth time. The matoran on my screen was Doctor Kora, Ph.D., a De-Matoran theoretical physicist at the Mata Magna Institute of Science and Research. He also happened to be the technological advisor to Mata Magna's Council, and this short speech was given during a televised interview before he was hauled off to speak before the Mata Magna's security forces. Obviously I couldn't find what was said there, it happening behind closed door-

 

"Toa Aishta?"

 

I gasped slightly as a feminine voice spoke behind me, slightly spooked. The Agori librarian looked at me concerned.

 

"I'm sorry; are you alright?!"

 

"Yes, yes... I'm fine. Just a little absorbed, that's all." I gave a pleasant smile, brushing my fingers against my mask. The librarian gave a sympathetic nod.

 

"Oh, I understand," she leaned in close, as if divulging a secret. "You would not believe how often this happens. By the way, I managed to retrieve the books you requested... though I must say, our electronic database is by far easier and more comprehensive-"

 

"Oh! Thank you." I said quickly, snatching the books. "Yeah, I know, but my professor is a bit of a hard-butt, if you know what I mean. Rather old-school... "

 

"Ahhhh... one of those. I think I know who you're talking about too." She winked at me. "Well, good luck on your project. If you need anything, please don't hesitate to call."

 

She walked off, and I breathed out a huge sigh of relief. Dodged a disk there. Good thing I was still young enough to pass as a student. I looked over my spoils; Space and Time, A Beginner's Guide to Time Travel, The Theoretical Application of Advanced Mathematics to Loopholing, Time Travel for Dummies... it was a rather large, if not daunting stack, not including the avalanche of material available in electronic version. I sighed, pulling out a bottle, shaking it as I did. I had a LOT of research to absorb.

 

Good thing I brought a lunch. Slurping my shake loudly I began to read my third book of the afternoon...

Edited February 5, 2013 by Friar Tuck

[Krayzikk]

IC:two hours after his departure, Firen's bike rolled to a stop outside his home. In his case, home was an apartment building near the center of Central City, a few blocks from his office. He pushed down the kicskstand, pulling is hands away from the contact points. No one would steal it. Even if they tried, they couldn't. It had easily the best anti-theft system in the city. Namely, that only Firen and the people who built it knew how to activate it.

 

He took the steps to the door two at a time, one hand applying pressure to the base of his skull. He nodded to the receptionist, and hurried to his apartment. "Karzahni." He swore, once the door closed behind him, wincing. He crossed the room to the desk, rummaging in the drawer for the bottle he knew to be there. Popping the cap, he dumped a dose of pills into his hand, and swallowed them. His jaw clenched, as he waited for the medication to kick in.He hated returning to the city. It always gave him a migraine. Out on the roads, there aren't many signals. Easy to keep track of. But Central is full of them, a veritable horde. A swarm of voices, each screaming for attention. It was literally painful, especially the early days when he hadn't had practice. Over time, he'd learned to tune most of them out, but every now and then the headaches came back. He turned and walked back out of his apartment, headed toward the street.He had work to do. His patrol shift was coming up.

[Legolover-361]

GM IC: GeologistEarly afternoonMining Shaft Beta, Olford"Huh. Odd."The words were almost inaudible. Troma turned from his collection of sediment off the walls of the cavity and to fellow Agori Panaka. "What's odd?" he asked."I just dated the wall of the cavity." Panaka wasn't looking at Troma; he had stopped digging past the initial level of minerals to what lay behind. "I figured I ought to test the dirt around it so we can tell how old this cavity is compared to the minerals around it. And, uh... apparently this cavity is, well, older than the surrounding material."A second passed before Troma comprehended the statement. "Wait. Older?""Yeah." Panaka finally turned to face Troma, though his absentminded expression suggested his mind was elsewhere. "I don't think a geological event could have caused this. Maybe a Toa of Stone could have, but then, how could that Toa have escaped afterward? And, uh" -- here a prick of discomfort disrupted Troma's emotionlessness -- "if this was self-imposed starvation... we ought to have found a body. Besides which, how could a Toa of Stone have accelerated this portion of stone's aging?""Yeah. So...""...so, we need to tell our superiors."A pause. Panaka didn't move. Troma abruptly realized why. "Oh.""Yeah, Troma, could you do that while I double-check my info?""Most certainly, High Lord Panaka," Troma replied with a mocking bow. "In fact, I'll grab you a sandwich on the way.""I'm not hungry.""It was a joke."Troma clambered out the hole connecting the cavity to the mining shaft beside it before Panaka had a chance to say anything else. Edited February 7, 2013 by Legolover-361

[Friar Tuck]

IC

 

[Matoran Universe Museum; late afternoon]

 

"Now if you follow me we are entering the Hall of Legendary Masks... "

 

Now, granted, I didn't take guided tours much, but I could tell her voice was a bit rushed verses the normal monotone; must be the fact that this was the last tour of the day, and our illustrious guide probably wanted to get home. So here I was, managing to sneak into this last tour, following the crowd through this building of Ancient and Useless Items; otherwise known as Boringville. The only reason I did this was because there was one thing in this whole place I wanted to see.

 

And a guided tour was the only way to observe it without harassment.

 

"... and here we are, the jewel of the exhibit's display: the Kanohi Vahi, the Mask of Time."

 

The "Ooohhs" and "Aaahhs" from the crowd were annoying, half of them pulling out some type of camera or recording device to capture this moment. In all honestly I couldn't blame them; this was the closest anyone ever got to a Mask of Legend. A mask used by Toa Vakama, then used by Toa Nuva Tah-no, Turaga Tahu... it had gotten around the old Matoran Universe, no one ever truly mastering the power held within. To harness the power of time was believed to be too difficult for one person... or just simply impossible.

 

I had proof in my basement that showed otherwise.

 

That said, due to the rarity and power of this artifact this section of museum had more security than most of the Panel Headquarters did; bulletproof glass and element-resistant coating on the stasis tube the mask was in, several layers of electronic security built in and around the tube, six armed guards at the entrances at last count, security cameras... and that's just what I could see. I had no doubt there was more hidden or otherwise invisible. It would be suicide to try to steal this mask.

 

Good thing I wasn't trying to steal the mask.

 

Just a few readings.

 

Pulling out my own camera I glanced around and I opened the lens, allowing it to soak in the mask. It was a real camera... just half the inside gutted out and replaced with a series of detection equipment. Not just any detection either; specific detection. Time-dilation detection. I may not be an expert physicist, but after spending some time with that device I had a basic understanding of how time altered the world around it... and the kind of energy it produced doing it. Energy fingerprint. Simply put, if the eggheads in the government used the Vahi as their original source of time travel, logic demanded it would produce similar if not the same energy readings. If the geeks found some other way... well, then congrats to them.

 

We're all doomed.

 

"Now if you will all follow me this way, our next stop is the Rahi Exhibit... "

 

I audibly groaned. Another hour of this!?

[Light]

IC: Lewa sighed and rubbed a temple. "I'd suggest one of us, or someone we know we can trust from experience, rather than any kind of test."

[Void Emissary]

IC: Tenko - Ga-Koro-Nui

 

No, I didn't help Delan protect Houren. Forgive me if I sound a bit harsh, but right now, I honestly didn't care if that man died or not. Not after he revealed to me what he did.

 

Maybe I'm being hard on the guy, but I think, given the circumstances (i.e. I've apparently killed my best friend and messed with the space-time continuum), I have a certain right to be. He's just dropped the mother of of all revelations, then walked away like we were discussing the weather in Olford.

 

Mata Nui, I might just kill him if he doesn't die soon.

 

...

 

Yup, I went there. I'm officially contemplating the cold-blooded murder of another living being. And not even for any good, plausible reason, either - this is purely out of spite!

 

See if I care!

 

"Well," I finally said, my hand shifting away from my revolver, "Anyone know how much further 'til we get to wherever we're going?"

 

I really wanted to know; honest. The sooner this mission got on the road, the better - if we were on our way towards the point where I would... y'know, the sooner I could stop it.

 

I wasn't going to let Laniga die. She was priority number one here; her survival was my main objective.

 

Everything else was just bonus.

 

-Void

[Legolover-361]

GM IC: Turaga TahuEarly afternoonPanel HQ, Central City"I'd rather not one of us be absent from too many Panel meetings, Lewa," said Tahu. "One thing of which I'm certain is that video surveillance will be necessary. We need people stationed nearby to stop Professor Kora -- someone who has not betrayed our trust yet -- in the unlikely event that he does try to cut and run with the Olmak; I'm not sure a Turaga could do that properly, so I suppose we would need guards."

[25K Now!]

IC: Ophaim - Central City

 

Ophaim drank some more water.

[Friar Tuck]

IC

 

[Early evening; Central City University]

 

"... SO are you saying, Professor, that Dr. Kora is wrong?'

 

"I did not say that!" came the exasperated sigh, "I was simply commenting that my esteemed colleague may be incorrect in a few details of his thesis. Overall it IS a sound theory, please do not get me wrong, and I wholly support it, but from what I understand his projected hypothesis is, shall we say, limited at best and short-sighted at worst."

 

I nodded to the teacher's aid as I took a seat in the back of the class, signalling that I was comfortable. She nodded back, and left, coming to get me when this lecture was over. At the center of it was was the famed Dr. Kippler, a professor here at the university and knowledgeable matoran of theoretical physics... whose work, I had been told, was often overshadowed by his "nemisis", Dr. Kora. While not quite as brilliant as his counterpart, Dr. Kippler wasn't far behind, and indeed had a comfortable teaching and researching job... if not one to gripe and complain whenever he could. Not exactly what I was aiming for, but I needed more information about theoretical time travel, and outside Dr. Kora, this little man was it.

 

Not to mention he was easier to see.

 

Well, not personally, no. It would be impossible to schedule an appointment with either one. The advantage with Dr. Kippler however was that as a tax-paying citizen I could audit classes here at the university for free, seeing if I wanted to attend classes here. And as chance would have it he was in the middle of his Space and Time semester, and in fact direct lecture.

 

I loved this mask.

 

"Please, professor, you are going to have to be more descriptive than that."

 

The matoran adjusted his eyepeice, his piercing gaze scanning the student body. "Very well, I shall explain the best I can. Every set of rules has a loophole somewhere; you just have to look hard enough. Take, for instance, the set of rules governing the behavior of existence. You know them as the laws of physics. The commandments of the universe -- thou shalt not defy gravity, thou shalt not travel faster than light, thou shalt not travel back in time, et cetera -- are not, however, set in stone. Toa of Gravity and Toa who use a Mask of Levitation or Mask of Flight defy Spherus Magna's gravitational pull all the time; Toa who use a Mask of Speed aren't affected by the friction generated through their acceleration. How are time travel and inter-dimensional travel, then, so impossible to comprehend? This is the argument presented by the colleague, and up to this point I agree whole-heartedly."

 

It was at this point he began to draw. "See this line? This is how most physicists view time: an unrelenting march in a single direction, every forward, from past to present to future. According to this model time travel should not be possible. Yet it is. Watch."

 

Taking a piece of string the pulled it out into a taunt line, then with practiced deftness made a single loop in the center. "Thus the term loophole when dealing with time and the laws regarding it. As you can see, we are still traveling in a straight line in one direction, but that line had looped back to an older section of the string - despite moving forward, we now at the intersection find ourselves in the past, and as we move forward we have altered the timeline and string from that point. We could indefinitely keep making loops, finding ourselves back at earlier points, but as you notice, it's getting hard to distinguish between loops and lines; you might inadvertently return to an old loop and go back again to other old timeline and not realize it. Thus the problems and laws in place, the barrier that prevents the whole thing from unraveling. So, therefore, if we traveled back in time too much the whole space-time continuum would collapse on itself due to the converging and diverging timelines. We are still here, so clearly that hasn't happened, so logically it can't happen, otherwise we wouldn't have a universe to exist in... or a logical one at that. Which means we are back to square one - time travel is impossible."

 

He looked about his class once again. "I say, yes, if you look at it in that fashion. No, if you are willing to expand your horizons."

 

By now he had a silent classroom, the student body enthralled. "Something is missing from this equation, something to make continued time travel possible. As if we are missing a key, another dimension to this problem. And that is the solutions: extra dimensions."

 

He began scribbling. "We know other dimensions exist; the Kanohi Olmak proves it. the only question is how many, but that is beyond the scope of this discussion. What IS important is that there are a countless amount of full and pocket dimensions within our universe, and that is the key to time travel. Observe. We live a three-dimensional world." He drew a cube on the board. "With the fourth being time. In other words, a cube that can move about in space, a concept we call time. According to the world of our senses, that's all that exists. I tell you, your senses deceive you."

 

He pulled out that string. "Look at this. According to mathematicians, this string represents a line. You know what a line is? A single dimension. Something that has length but no discernible or measurable width, as compared to say, a square, something with both length AND width... two dimensions. For all practicable purposes from the distance you are sitting at this is a one-dimensional object. But what if you were the size of say... a protodite?"

 

He let that sink in. "And say that you, the protodite, were on this piece of string. Suddenly, this is no longer a long line... it's a cylinder. A three-dimensional object that you can move on and around. You could therefore argue that this string is another three-dimensional object within OUR three-dimensional world... a pocket dimension. Now instead of three, we're dealing with six, plus one for time... but are we? We all know that time is relative, and that depending on the speed at which you move, particularly close tot he speed of light, the clock will tick differently for you. Considering the view of the protodite on this string, would it be that far of a stretch of the imagination to say he at such a microscopic level sees time differently than us? So now not only do we have a dimension within a dimension, but time within time... eight dimensions, all because of this little string. Thus as is with time."

 

He placed a cube on the desk before him. "This cube represents our world, our dimension, and the space around it is the medium in which is moves; time. But each edge is but a line, a single dimension, that could actually be a whole new dimension, timeline... universe. One that every line is connected over the face of the cube, yet distinctly different. So it's time... within time, dimension within dimension."

 

He placed that smaller cube within a larger, clear one. "This is how time should be viewed. As the space between and the lines that connect the varying worlds. Everything is connected, to which not only can you touch other dimensions but past and present as well, but nothing gets tangled or destroyed in the process. There are limits, things are defined, yet every side is connected to the next. It is therefore possible to a time travel to not only travel between time frames, but locations as well. If everything touches one another, then one could hop and skip between the lines to get to not only a different time, but a different place altogether. Time travel is not a loop; it's a cube with a cube."

 

After a pause there was a series of question by the students, all too technical for my brain. But in a half-hour he had managed to explain this rather daunting concept into something even I could understand. The revelation was, to say the least...

 

Inspiring.

[Canis Lycaon]

IC: Toruk (Ga-Koro Nui)

Toruk entered Graner's Antique Shop with the artifacts he had found. He started to put them on the shelves when Graner said, "Very nice. They seem rare." Toruk knew Graner had just been using his Arthron to tell what he had found in the ruins. He said, "Yes, they are. I found them around Tesara." He grabbed a pen and wrote the prices on of the artifacts in front of the shelf and walked over to the cash register. Graner had been sitting in a chair next to it. The two waited for some customers to enter. Winners in the casinos often came to the shop and spent money on the various artifacts in the shop.

Edited February 13, 2013 by Canis

[thelonewander]

IC:

 

(Samarah)

 

Turning around, Samarah grabbed Kaitah's hand, gently pulling him along the path once more. "So, besides almost being ran over, this has been a great day."

[Legolover-361]

GM ICNighttimeCave, north of Olford, in the middle of a barren mountain rangeEchoes: shouts, dancing, laughter. They were faint, but to the practiced ear of the guard situated in the cave mouth, Lori, they were too distinguishable.The others, he supposed, were drinking again. Partying. Probably verbally abusing the few kidnapping victims who hadn't joined the gang. He wondered offhand if the gang's prisoners were glad to be protected by the bars of their cages."Lor?"Lori released his concentration on his Volitak. "Here, Ekko. Switch time?""Yeah." The Skakdi, noticeably less limber than his Toa of Shadow companion, took a seat by Lori's position under the shadow beside the cave opening. "Honestly, I'm glad to be outta there. Dunno what they're thinking to accomplish. There's nothing to celebrate.""Let them have their fun," Lori responded. "It'll bite them in the back sooner or later, and then they'll realize.""Yeah. Right. What'll happen to us?"Lori paused, considering. "There are a lot of possibilities," he said diplomatically.Ekko scoffed. "That's not a proper answer.""Do you want one?""Not really. It'd probably make me wanna drink."Lori nodded and disappeared back into the cave. Ekko remained, looking at the stars with an expression oddly thoughtful for a Skakdi's.* * *The cave's entrance tunnel was long and winding, its walls artificially smooth. Lori proceeded till he reached a fork, directed his path down the right-hand tunnel (the louder of the two) and rounded a sharp bend to the right, emerging into the glow of his gang's current cavern home.The walls were spread apart a comfortable distance, yet the beings between those walls filled the empty space. A chorus of off-tune voices rose in a drinking song; the answering choir was, if possible, even more grating on Lori's audio receptors.He grimaced and slunk along the edge of the cavern to one of the sleeping rooms in the rear. His was shared with three other guards -- Ekko, a Glatorian who only called himself "Hunter", and a Bone Hunter -- but currently the room was empty.Lori lay on the bed in the farthest corner from the doorway and, for the umpteenth time, wished he wore a Kanohi Shelek.

[Relapse]

IC-HourenI narrowed my eyes. "I haven't been the target of assassination in awhile. Things change all the time, I guess."With a hand wave, I began moving towards the museum."This is our next stop. C'mon, guys."

[Void Emissary]

IC: Tenko - Outside the Museum

 

Good, we're headed on our way again. I was starting to get frustrated - well, more frustrated than before.

 

"Alright then, let's get going," I said to no one in particular, as I headed for the museum.

 

-Void

[- JL -]

IC: JL"Meh." I followed as well. For once, a museum was actually interesting.

[sunflower]

OOC: Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay~ SIC: [Cave, Mountain Range North of Oilford; Nighttime] A being stood apart from the rest of those gathered within the large cavern, his white, maroon, and black armor shining even in the dim lighting of the area. The air around him was filled with the shouts and calls of those celebrating. He was not. The being's arms were folded across his chest, while his tail scraped against the carvern floor from annoyance. The less experienced ones saw fit to indulge themselves after accomplishing their goal, he just saw it as wasteful. A frown plastered to his Kanohi Felnas displayed his mood well enough. The being's eyes followed one of the guards as the black-armored Toa of Shadow made his way towards the rooms where they slept. He seemed to be in the same general state that he was himself. Not surprisingly. Edited February 14, 2013 by Gravity

[Light]

IC:: Delan nodded, following the others. A museum was not a place he'd expect to be going, though if time was involved...OOC:: I got some other posts I'll edit in later

[Toa Levacius Zehvor]

OOC: I can smell plot.

 

I'm going to need some staff attention regarding the end of the first 'IC'. I'll cut it out if it seems to intrusive, but it seems fine enough to me. But what do I know. :|

 

IC: Levacius / Levacius' Books

 

Levacius, after throwing out the irritating math nerd who kept manhandling his mathematics texts, went about closing down the shop completely. He let out a sigh, and retreated to the back room of the store, where he sat down at his desk and looked around at his own private collection he kept nearest. He surveyed his assorted piles that littered the desk, before reaching his hand deep into the books and pulling out a tarnished bronze key, before standing and heading over to his wardrobe, which he quickly yanked open.

 

He wasn't much one for the fanciful cloth attires that had been taken on ever since Matoran integration with the Agori, but he still had a few special 'dress' outfits - robes and the like that he used when attending special events and the like. Only two he had ever worn, though - no reason to. No, they served one purpose, which he revealed by pulling them away and showing a keyhole. Using the key from before, he unlocked the lock and pulled away a false panel, which in turn revealed a combo lock. A few quick strikes of the 9-digit code, and the entire wall peeled away to reavel his personal back chamber.

 

Here was where everything important was. He could arm a small legion with the assorted weaponry here; all antique equipment pieces from the old Matoran Universe used in the earlier wars of history, before the increased use of flashier equipment like Rhotuka launchers. The most important things were, of course, were his swords - sitting gracefully on soft padding in a display case that only he ever saw.

 

Putting on his old equipment harness, he put the two blades in their sheathes over his back before leaving the chamber and closing it up. He then turned to the wardrobe and pulled out his nicest outfit, something that was somewhat of a hybrid between a nice set of robes and a cloak with no hood.

Everything taken care of, he closed it all up and went to the phone. After the call went through, he began speaking -

 

"Transfer me to line 28, thank you. Levacius, store owner. Uh-huh. Yes, thank you. Hello? Yes, I would like to know if the meeting I had scheduled with Turaga Vakama in an hour is still available. Regarding his autobiography. Yes, I can wait a moment."

 

OOC: He's had that scheduled for two years now.

 

IC: Griulth / I Really Don't Know, I Think Central City But We Might Still Be In Ga-Koro-Nui

 

So things went down kind of like this.

 

He woke up. Hungover.

 

He found a detective trying to get into a persons house.

 

The detective got ditched by other detectives, and another detective went inside to talk to the person. The person also took in a car from the detectives and was going to fix it up.

 

Other stuff happened, and Griulth had been following the other detectives - or whoever they were - towards the museum, still somewhat hungover but reasonably clear of mind (or, at least, comparatively so - he was still a derranged Le-Matoran, which is to say, a Le-Matoran). He had been following them for quite a while now, but had gotten lost initally after finding up a deep fried lard stand that sold assorted spirits on the side. Or the other way around.

 

The difference now, though, was that by numerous tricks of fate he wasn't following them now, but was in fact coming towards Houren with an empty bottle and a staggering gait. The rest of his outfit was, of course, far stranger than that. If one were to ask Griulth how he knew Houren was head of the Department of Security, he probably would have no idea; the truth was he probably saw a picture at some point and the name in the news, or some other strange connection. He honestly didn't even know the whole 'head' party, just the security.

With that in mind, Griulth shouted out at him, "Hey! Long-tall Toa-hero! I quick-need yer' aid-help!"

 

-Toa Levacius Zehvor