Well that sure happened

[notbymyside]

[Ango truthfully isn't much of a cook, relying mostly on takeout food to keep himself fed. But takeout isn't an option here, and after that...colorful trial, he doesn't have it in him to trust food that he isn't preparing himself.

It's not bad, really. Just rather plain. There is also a noticeable lack of meat among everything he's prepared too. And it all goes well with the liquid diet he's supplying, courtesy of the jazz bar. Plenty of booze bottles and glasses can be found for your drinking needs. He's sure he's not the only one who wants to forget that whole cursed trial.]

Food and drinks are in the opera house. Be sure to drink responsibly.

-Ango

[There are also no decorations, beyond the mess left behind from earlier.]

Comments

[pr159]

[ Well, karma also ostensibly killed Olivert in revenge for the shitty food he'd almost indirectly choked Rideaux with two weeks ago, so he has mixed feelings about it right now. ]

See? All of us are better off for it.

[ Except Shin, obviously, but who cares, that guy was a creep. ]

With any luck, things will go equally smoothly next week.

[ortion]

I will allow you this one.

[Begrudgingly of course, but...it did work out, so Rideaux can gloat about how it was worth it. Because it actually was.

Taking a sip of his drink...]

Yes, that would certainly be ideal... [Wait.] If we have to go through this again next week, of course. Don't speak like it is all but guaranteed.

[pr159]

That's what I wanted to hear.

[ He takes a sip from his own drink, with a self-satisfied smile on his face... though he has to resist the urge to laugh at that next part. ]

Do you really think it isn't? Let's not forget that those two who tried to kill each other this week are still here. If anything, it seems like we've been gradually trimming away some of the more good-natured among us.

[ Plus Shin. ]

[ortion]

[Dist doesn't have enough self-control to not visibly twitch at that first bit, but at least he doesn't offer a retort. Wow, you didn't have to go out and say that, Rideaux?!]

Ah...I suppose you have a point. [He personally stayed the hell away from all that Hollow nonsense.] As long as the Lady keeps offering incentives...

[He sighs into another sip.]

A lead is what we need. Something to forcefully put an end to this.

[pr159]

Without stranding us here, I might add. She's no divergence catalyst; stopping her doesn't necessarily mean getting back to our own worlds. In fact, if we're not careful how we go about it, we could all lose that opportunity entirely.

[ortion]

"Divergence catalyst"...?

[What on Auldrant are you talking about, Rideaux.]

[pr159]

It doesn't really matter here, but you do recall the whole "world-destroying" thing, right?

[ Taking a sip... ]

Where I'm from, each fractured dimension is caused by a specific divergence from the prime dimension's timeline. Destroying the single person or object that embodies that divergence -- the divergence catalyst -- makes the entire dimension collapse and disappear.

[ He sighs and gives a slight shrug. ]

It's straightforward in a way this isn't, is what I'm saying.

[ortion]

Of course I do. A bit of a difficult talent to forget.

[And one he's always been kind of "what the fuck, Rideaux" about, but hey, he knows the deets now. Or some of them, at the very least.]

And you got in the business of destroying these dimensions, why...?

[Would Rideaux even tell him? At least he can say he tried sate his curiosity if not.]

[pr159]

Destroying the fractured dimensions is necessary to ensure the safety of humanity in the prime dimension. The ability to do so is hereditary and very few people have it, so it's something of an obligation.

[ At least it was for him, since he was both uniquely indebted to Bisley and almost-uniquely useful to him.

...He takes a decidedly longer drink there. ]

It does pay very well.

[ Partly because almost all the agents are dead by forty so they don't have to worry about pensions, probably. ]

[ortion]

[Whoa. He wasn't actually expecting an answer, but it's...definitely not as bad as it sounded without context? There's a lot more to Rideaux than Dist thought.

Something occurs to him, though.]

And this is on top of your world's energy crisis. I do not envy your position at all, Rideaux.

[He doesn't even know the worst deets.]

That said, this doesn't sound like a case of a fractured dimension at play by your definition... What made you hypothesize that it might be one?

[pr159]

[ Well, he's free from NDAs here, so might as well take advantage of it. ]

It definitely comes with its fair share of pressure.

[ It is much more than a "fair share," actually. So, you know, possibly some insight into his reaction to that "stress" comment the week before.

Anyway, he kind of appreciates the acknowledgment. ]

Oh, I stopped assuming this was a fractured dimension about an hour after I got here, actually. I was just contrasting the situations -- destroying a divergence catalyst puts an end to everything and returns you to your own world almost instantly. If we were to take out the Lady, we'd probably still be stuck here, and possibly with less chance of returning home than we had before.