futurology | !IMPORTANT! video; username: 82736775

[The video is from everyone's favorite camera-shy mad scientist, 82736775. This time, he's not even present in a carefully-framed way; he appears to just be using his jewellery as a Go-Pro.

The view is a large machine in the middle of the woods. It's crudely constructed, with loud, grinding gears and exhaust tubes belching smoke. There are three figures scurrying about -- Dipper, Shiki, and Hide, for those of you who would recognize them -- pulling levers and turning cranks and struggling to hear each other over the machine's groaning. Jars of fairy goop hang off the thing like lanterns in a coal mine.]

Listen uuuup, bitcheesss!

[The view jerks, then readjusts as the sky comes into focus.]

Thanks to my genius and everybody else's scrappy, can-do attitude, we're about to make scientific history. By which I mean w-we're about to blow this bullshit away.

[His hand enters the frame. He is flipping off the sky.]

Engage Operation: Fuck You, Magic!

[The frame stays centered on the sky, though the machine's groaning reaches almost deafening levels. Above the cacophony, there's a high-pitched whining: something is warming up. All over Chantes, the ground shakes.

Then bright green fills the screen and everything is so loud that it's almost silent. Those of you who are at a distance may see a gigantic green beam shooting into the sky just before everything turns bright white for a few long seconds.

And suddenly, there is light. Stars. Two moons. The sky is back.

82736775 is laughing maniacally. He swings the frame around to the giant machine, which has blasted wide open: smoking panels have fallen to the ground, exposing frayed wires. His assistants are also on the ground, looking dazed.]

Suck my dick, Narnia! Haha, yeah!

Now let's figure out what to do and get the hell off this rock! Team science, ouuuut!

[ ooc. IMPORTANT! the sun is now returned. from this point on, there are normal day-night cycles in chantes! be aware there are two moons, and the sun rises in the west. use this post to discuss what to do now! threadjacking encouraged. thank you to my fellow players and our modteam for making this plot so successful! i love you all.

UPDATE! check this thread for conversation on a peaceful option. ]

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[Shiki had been pulling back one of the levers to ease the beam down from full power to 'off' before the whole thing blew up. Pulling himself up, he gave Rick a scowl while patting out a bit of a fire that set itself on his left sleeve.]

...Hope you don't need to use that machine a second time.

[He only seemed a little miffed about nearly dying in an explosion. Only a little.]

Edited 2016-01-25 01:59 (UTC)

[Rick, already guzzling a bottle of wine (he brought a small cart with him), is barely concerned with how much they all almost died. Whatever! It worked, that's what mattered.]

Not unless that m-moron decides to pull this shit again. [He pauses to belch, loudly.] God! Look at that sky. I'm the best.

[Shiki, pulling on some thing gloves, started scooping up dirt to toss over the pieces that were still a little smoky and flaming. Better to stop the problem before it got any worse.]

Though... [As self-destructive as Rick was with his drinking, it was tough to ruin a good looking sky like that. Shiki pulled a few components free that weren't entirely blown up, offering them to Rick. Wasting parts didn't seem practical, to him.]

It looks better the sky when I've seen it up in the mountains, back home. It really is clean here, isn't it?

[It takes Rick a second to stop staring at the sky to notice that Shiki is shoving scraps of metal at him. He takes the pieces and tosses them into the cart, next to the other bottles. Waste not, want not.]

W-well, yeah. That's pre-industrial civilizations for you. I don't think they're even burning coal y-yet.

[It was amazing, watching Rick drink. One had to wonder how fire could cure someone's thirst, but it was like watching nature in action.]

Hopefully, they won't find a need for it. Whatever supernatural powers they have ought to be enough trouble for them all.

[He paused, still watching.]

Do you want water? Something to eat? [While Shiki wasn't normally a charity case, he knew a little a bit about drinking.]

[The answer is always chronic alcoholism.

Rick has grown quickly bored with the topic of Chantes environmentalism, so he sort of lets that comment slide by. He is in the process of gulping down more wine, and stops to wipe his mouth off on his sleeve, brow knit.]

Uh, I don't mingle with my employees. [This is a lie. He hangs with Dipper all the time. Not that he is paying Dipper.]

It's a good thing I wasn't offering to mingle. I was asking you if you wanted a few things to help keep you from getting too hung-over, later.

[There was a difference, he guessed. Trying to keep his genius boss alive awhile longer seemed like a good idea.

Though, even Shiki knew it was likely not the first time Rick had hit a bottle that hard.]

I don't pretend that my company's all that enjoyable, anyway.

[This... concern(??) that Shiki is exhibiting is making Rick uncomfortable. What's your ulterior motive, kid.

Rick squints at him, suspicious, and points.] D-d-don--don't think I'll give you a higher wage if you try to help me. Fuck off.

Oh, you won't? [Shiki feigned a smile at that. It was easier when Rick was hostile, somehow. It felt as if Shiki knew how to navigate that sort of disposition more than his indifference.]

Well, fortunately, I've already gotten my big reward. The sky looks pretty clear to me--and, that's pretty much what I wanted from the start.

[He added--]

Are you going to run off or can I bring you something to eat over here?

[Is Shiki's ulterior motive to unnerve Rick to the point where he will just run off? If so, it's working.]

Yeah... I'm fine, th-thanks. [Staring daggers, meanwhile. I'm on to you.]

[ This kid, on the other hand, doesn't seem remotely fazed by nearly dying in explosion. Must be a Tuesday, and all. Like Rick, Dipper appears pretty excited. ]

Pssh, no need! It did what it was supposed to!

[Pleased to just have his extremities intact--and that he managed to put the fire out relatively quickly, Shiki started kicking sand and dirt over the burning parts of the machine.]

Yeah, but what if they use that weird magic again and black out the sky right away, again? We don't know if they can do it again, so we'd really be in a rut if they found out it was us and decided to make sure Rick couldn't rebuild this thing.

[While everyone was celebrating--Shiki was desperately clinging to his pessimism. Dipper had plenty enthusiasm for the both of them, anyway--so, it worked out.]

—What?

[ Yeah, that sure is some pessimism there, buddy. While Shiki takes the time to actually do something about the flaming heap of now scrap metal, Dipper only manages to narrow his eyes skeptically his way. ]

C'mon, man, is that seriously what you're thinking? There's no way that level of magic could've been that easy to pull off!

[ He... assumes, anyway. ]

The problem is--we don't know how difficult it was or how it was really done, so there's no way to tell if we're in the clear or not.

[There was some word of 'gods' being thrown in on that front, but Shiki had no idea just how strong a god could be.

Having seen ridiculous magic in the past, Shiki had plenty of worries.]

I'm not trying to ruin it, Dipper, but we don't know if they can do it again or not. I just don't want to be caught off guard.

Pssh.

[ Is he blowing off those concerns... Why yes. Yes he is. ]

If it happens a second time, we can fix it all over again. Rebuilding isn't impossible, so don't worry about it!

[Dipper's laissez faire disposition did everything it could to force Shiki into a frown.]

I'm not sure we'll be able to say it'll be easy if we're trying to reassemble it surrounded by armed soldiers.

Not everyone's going to understand the giant beam we fired into the atmosphere.

... Dude, you're really worried about this, aren't you.

[ You're a weird guy, Shiki. ]

[His jaw hung slack. Shiki, reaching up to massage his temples, looked away from Dipper.]

Why aren't you?

[He forgot he was talking to an excited young boy who saw something amazing--something that likely reaffirmed his belief in the awesomeness of the people around him.

Shiki knew too much about how things could go wrong to avoid being cynical.]

!IMPORTANT! video; username: 82736775

video; un: shiki - action for team science

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