Video - UN: Evening Spider

[araigneedusoir]

[She's been listening and watching more than actively participating as of late, so this is her first real time addressing the network as a whole since she joined up. She's away from the group -- but not far, as evidenced by the layout of Perdition's Rest visible behind her -- and high up, obviously keeping watch.

Someone has to.

It takes her a few seconds to gather her thoughts fully, having been mulling over all the information that's come to light...and various people's opinions on what they should do next. Of course that's not her topic of discussion, at least not yet.]

I know I wasn't the only one looking for answers after the Saloon burned down. I'm curious to know if anyone else found or heard anything interesting.

[She holds up a shard of glass she'd found in her search -- the bowl she'd discovered as well has been left with the Sheriff for safe keeping, all she wanted was a single piece -- balancing it between two of her fingers.]

This is a piece of a glass bowl that I found hidden under the beds in the employee quarters. [Though she spent the entire time in there worried something was going to fall apart on her.] According to the Good Sheriff she found one of these bowls outside the church around the time the late Reverend left to join the Deemers. The glass itself isn't something the Qorral use in their everyday life, which means it potentially has connections to the Taraxa.

[With that she carefully slips the shard of glass into the pouch she'd been keeping it in.]

Comments

[friendlykillingmachine]

[A nod of agreement.]

Exactly what I was thinking!

Which makes me wonder if the saloon was a recruitment center or a hideout for spies, or both. It's a little creepy to think about how much time most of us spent there.

[araigneedusoir]

I lean a little more in favor of it being a hideout. A recruitment center is a bit of a risk, even for them. Thought I can't really say either way...

[For a brief moment she looks unsettled at the last thought.]

It is quite disturbing.

[friendlykillingmachine]

They watched me dance... [He might be smiling but he's obviously disturbed by this.]

Do you think the Deemers burnt down the saloon to kill members of our team or do you think they did it to rile up the rest of the Qorral?

[araigneedusoir]

[Well that's definitely awkward. She can honestly say she feels a little bad for him]

Given what happened in Boneyard Junction I'd say they did it to try and kill us, however riling up the Qorral could be an easy plus.

[friendlykillingmachine]

It sure helped to raise more tension. If I was a mother slug looking to get more hosts for my baby slugs to inhabit, I'd probably start by disrupting the sense of community too.

[araigneedusoir]

[She hums in agreement.]

It just means we'll have to be mindful of how we tread and keep watch to make sure no more Qorral end up as Deemers.

[friendlykillingmachine]

That could get tricky! It means we'll have to have eyes on the Qorral at all times in case more of them decide to go missing. And if we see any wandering off alone, we'd have to be prepared to stop them or follow them.

[araigneedusoir]

It's true we do have enough on our plate. Finding the Mother, stopping the Deemers and the mining. Adding babysitting the Qorral to it may just be too much.

[friendlykillingmachine]

We've definitely got our hands full!

What are you planning to do?

[araigneedusoir]

I plan on getting to the bottom of the Saloon fire and connecting the dots to see where it leads.

After that, well. It depends on what I find.

[friendlykillingmachine]

There's something else the Sheriff told me. The Qorral have been designated a new planet named Q-66 by their homeworld and are set to travel there for future mining. But until then, they're staying here for another six months until all the argecite has been mined.

[araigneedusoir]

I wonder if they'll leave sooner if we successfully put a wrench in that particular cog...or try and see if they can resume operation regardless.

[friendlykillingmachine]

I have a feeling they'd rebuild and continue mining until they've got every last drop of argecite possible. They'd also probably be pretty mad at us but at least it would stop the mining temporarily and maybe buy us more time.

...Do you think they call this Q-65 because it'll be the 65th planet they've mined to the core? Because that's kinda what it sounds like.

[araigneedusoir]

You're probably right. Unless we convince them otherwise somehow.

[A thoughtful hum.] Perhaps.

[friendlykillingmachine]

Ideally, we'd hope they'd find a way to make their own argecite without having to mine for it! But even if they had that ability, who's to say they'd want to change their potentially 2,000 year old way of life? If they're anything like the humans in my world, they're not too fond of change.

[araigneedusoir]

Not many people I know like change either, it's rather complicated to move from old habits especially ways of life. However, there is always a chance they're willing to listen if they're approached about it in the correct manner.