/q/ - Quest

>>766350
>Herb seems to have have pushed into the fore-side of the page…

Kirk*

>>766350
"Well, ain't that a cute and clever hidden message. I feel like I should have paid more attention and showed more interest in our delivery of those hearts." Billy frowns at the thought.

>>766350
It takes Zamrud several attempts looking through Kirk's notes before he notices the blotches of ink bleeding through the back sides of the pages, realizing what at first seemed to be random nonsense was instead appearing to be very deliberate and planned out. As he pushes through the pages, watching the ink-blots build into forming more and more distinct shapes until the final drawing of the Tree of Evil on the final section of the notes, turning the final page to see nine, very distinct crystalline hearts drawn out, it takes Zamrud a few moments more before he realizes the hidden message behind Kirk's notes.

He drops the book then and there, shocked by the revelation. "The Tree of Evil… it makes Crystal Hearts?" Zamrud blinks, remembering Rudolph's manifesto and the warning of a waning power-supply for IronCastle. "Impossible… can that truly be what Kirk means by this message?"

>>766350
"Wait… the tree produces these hearts?" He looks confused, before glancing to the others. "Didn't the castle wish for us to destroy the tree? Why would they destroy a source of Hearts?"

>>766354
"Maybe there is… something else about them. But, I do not know."

>>766350
Good was…. he did not know what to say. This revelation was… disconcerting in ways he did not know. His entire world view was challenged by that

>>766351
>>766353
>>766354
>>766355
>>766356
The others are left in silence for a time… before Herb ventures to speak. "Well… assuming that's what this means… that would be a good thing… wouldn't it? We'd have a solution for the energy crisis, wouldn't we?"

You recall your delivery mission to the Aya Mutants: The year's supply of the miniature Crystal Hearts which you gave to them on behalf of the USB Delivery Company– despite that unauthorized delivery of the Light Undefiled contained inside the Hearts being one of the most severe crimes possible in Ironcastle.

You recall also Apuchin's words, about the Dragon of Ironcastle, who had given them Crystal Hearts in the past… it might not be a good idea to bring that up in front of the others. That business involved many high-level secrets. But, it raises a question… why bother delivering Crystal Hearts to the Mutants if a supply can be procured from the Tree of Evil? And why conspire to destroy the Tree of Evil at all?

Zamrud also recalls Truth Dares… and the 'Alter' that she made of this notebook. She never explained just what an 'Alter' is, and she forbade him from bringing up the term in front of others…

>Paused

>>766357
"So… do the hearts change how me might be able to escape or tell us how we might be able to find our missing friend?" Billy pulls at the hairs on his chin in his frustration. "I admit that I am lost."

>>766355
>>766357
>>766356
Zamrud looks to Herb, "Assuming there even IS an energy crisis… I'm not writing off the possibilities but the notion of the hearts being finite at all is not an idea many are ready to accept. The idea they can be made though… certainly seems to support that."

He turned to Quapaq next, "It may be they simply do not know that it can, we only just discovered ot and the Tree is undoubtedly dangerous… but knowing this, it may change their minds."

>>766357
"But is this a world we want to keep the way it is? Shouldn't we want to fix it?" good queried

>>766435
The others think it over…

"Hmm," Lone Star says. "As happy as I am to finally get more word from Kirk, however strange it might be… it really doesn't tell us that much."

Ride shakes his head. "He had to have gotten this knowledge from somewhere. And if we haven't seen him anywhere at all, that suggests he's somewhere that we can't get to just yet. Not a lot of places around the campus meet that criteria."

"Right," Assembly says. "Assuming it's somewhere we haven't heard about yet, we have the Bodhi Garden… and wherever you and Good ended up when exploring the theater."

>>766436
"Ah… right," Herb says. "The crisis was debunked, after all."

Obviously, Herb didn't put much stock in the Iron Family's official debunking of the energy crisis.

>>766437
>>766436
Origami shrugs. "We can hug trees after we find our missing pal and get our asses outta here."

"Can it," Herb barks. "You're right, Good. It's still the overarching mission of everyone who ventures outside Ironcastle to use the Outlands for Ironcastle's advancement."

"Man, that's what I just said!" Origami protests.

"So if nothing else," Herb continues. "We still have to survive long enough to take this information back. Oh– Zamrud, didn't you mention Truth had communication with Ironcastle? Why don't we have her run a report back home?"

>>766438
Billy frowns thinking it over. "I am not looking forward to any more ventures into that Maze, we only found our way back through the bell. We certainly won't find a way forward to the end as we are now, if there is even an end and not just a trap." Billy tilts his head looking up. "Unless that creature we had brought out knows better than us, we could try to communicate with it."

>>766438
"I'm hesitant to let that info go over the air, it's better to go in person, even if the Lux probably already know." Good grumbled feeling off now and moving to lean on a wall a bit.

He didn't like it but on some level they were right, they had to survive this first before they did anything."

>>766438
>>766437
Zamrud says to Herb, "'Debunked' officially, yes, but I never wrote it off entirely as possible… and on the chance Rudolph's findings are accurate, something like this would prove of the utmost import. If at all possible, before we take any actions with the Tree, we should look into if Kirk's hints hold true."

As Herb mentions Truth's communications with the outside, Zamrud nods, "Yes, she does have a drone transit system set up to deliver news to the outside world. Given how long it takes to get response, we were waiting for something bigger to send a message out but this would certainly qualify in my opinion."

As Good suggests withholding the information, lest it be intercepted or manipulated by the Lux, Zamrud gives this some thought. "…a fair point, I would be concerned about that as well. But I am worried what may happen between now and then - what if something happens to us or the Tree when we escape, if we even successfully manage to escape at all? Knowledge that Crystal Hearts can be made and replaced, that the energy crisis could be resolved, might be lost entirely if we fail at the Academy and are stuck here forever."

>>766441
"But what if it's a trap? Or they're too good to be true and tainted?" he asked then cursed under his breath "NO… no you're right, it's best to let them know, if only so they can make that call themselves."

>>766436
>>766357
"Hrm… it feels strange, though. We cannot contact them from here though, yes?"

>>766438
"Are the communications… real? It could be Truth thinks they do."

>>766441
>>766442
>>766443
>>766439
Eyebrows raise among Herb's crew as you contemplate interference from the Lux Deorum. You sense that they have not had run-ins with the secretive intelligence organization themselves…

"It's a drone?" Lone Star asks. "Okay… I retract my vote. That thing could get intercepted by just about anybody… and if another Castle gets their hooves on it, they may come knocking to get their hooves on the crystal hearts themselves, and then we go riiiight back to the start of the semester. AGAIN."

Herb shudders at the thought. "Ugh… well, we should still run it by her and her crew all the same. They're stuck in here too. Oh, and Vestal Godspeed, too."

>>766442
>>766443
>>766444
"On that, I agree as well." Zamrud says to Herb, "I realize the concerns and the risks - not only with our own Castle potentially misusing this information, but being intercepted by other Castles as well looking for an advantage. Regardless, I concur that this decision should not just be made by those in this room. There are more of us trapped in the Academy and this information could affect every Castle in the Outlands."

"We should alert Truth and her team as well as Godspeed, and call a meeting. Tonight. All those in favor?"

>>766445
>>766444
"I am willing to move on, I certainly don't feel comfortable making a decision with only what I know." Billy says.

>>766444
>>766445
"Mmm. I think it would be the best option for now- that, and waiting to send any messages. The Castles seem… hrm. I am not natural-born to one, but they seem very unsettling."

>>766444
>>766445
"I am in favor." Good said just wanting to rest. He called Dexter and Trajan back to him.

>>766447
Peyote and the former Tiger-Masked student nod in solidarity.

>>766447
>>766446
>>766445
>>766448
The idea of doing anything else this Cycle elicits universal groans from all your exhausted allies… but their sense of Iron honor – and the old Abbean work ethic – compels them to assent.

>timeskip to meeting available

>>766447
"The depths of Iron Castle's… or rather, the Lux's… machinations are more evident to me now, but even before I would say 'unsettling' is a word to describe the inter-politics of it all."

>>766448
>>766446
>>766449
Zamrud nods, "Thank you. I know we're all exhausted from our exams, but there is no time like the present. We need not come to any conclusions tonight, but we should meet with Truth's team and see where they stand. Then, we can all take a well earned rest."

>Good to skip to meeting

>>766451
"Mmm- my own people have their bickerings and squabbles, but I do not like the clan…clandestine? Nature of the Castles."

>>766449
>Ready!

>>766452
>>766450
>>766451
You get into contact with Godspeed and Truth. Godspeed offers to secure one of the faculty conference rooms as a meeting place. Truth, finding this agreeable, confirms that she'll be there with Clamence. Rieux and Meursault are due to immerse themselves in the illusory dream-world of the school, and will be unable to attend.

All in all, the evening isn't such a bad time for the meeting. It gets you out of Dorm Boreal, at the very least. A party's happening nearby, and the bass is boosted enough to rattle all the nearby dorm rooms like a perpetual earthquake. Perhaps you're missing out– but chances are, it'll still be raging long after you return.

At the appointed time, you gather in one of the conference rooms of the faculty office. Truth and Godspeed are already there. Joining them is a tall and lean mare. You almost mistake her for an earth pony, before recognizing her as one of the Yagi– a minority ethnic group considered closely related to, yet culturally distinct from the earth ponies. She has a long and curly grayscale mane, and an off-white coat. Most peculiarly, perhaps, she too is augmented by military-grade cybernetics. The entirety of her right-side foreleg, shoulder, half of her neck, and about half of her face are comprised by these cybernetics.

In other words– her cybernetics are a perfect mirror of Meursault's.

"안녕하세요!" Truth says. "Err… hello," she translates herself for want of subtitles.

"Bonjour," Godspeed answers. "You survived. Let's hope you passed as well."

Clamence, as you presume, remains silent, but offers a pleasant congratulatory smile all the same.

>>766449
>>766453
Good looked mildly perturbed by the newcomer, and seemed to be mostly watching instead of engaging.

>>766453
Zamrud looks to the newcomer, nodding his head. "You must be Clamence. A pleasure, I'm not sure if we've had the pleasure yet. Remind me, what position do you have at the academy?"

To Truth and Godspeed, Zamrud offers, "And thank you both for attending on such short notice. I am sure there is nothing more we would wish to be doing now than taking a break after today's Midterms but I felt it important to meet. We've had some new information arrive after the midterms - Kirk's journal has finally shown more information that we wish to share."

>>766453
Billy waves from behind his group, a furry talon in the air. "Did you get a new wardrobe last we met?"

>>766453
"Wait… I thought, ah. Was surviving not passing?" He asks, cocking his head to the side and frowning a little bit. He looks to the other assembled creatures, especially the weird, cybernetically-augmented… earth pony? He peers at the Yagi, never having seen one before. For the moment, his curiosity overpowers his shyness.

>>766611
Clamence, catching your stare, looks into your eyes as if they were a mirror, and fixes her hair. "Ah, thanks for that," she jokes.

>>766610
>>766454
Clamence's jaw moves like she's about to respond to Billy's question, but catches herself. After all, this is the first time you've met her.

Truth nods. "You wouldn't believe what you can find at the campus thrift store," she says and gestures at what she's wearing: a striped sweater, one with a collar– turtleneck.

>All
Clamence has a hoarse laugh. "Oh, what role don't I have. Plumber, janitor, amateur electrician. Had I been on security duty that Cycle I may have even managed to stop your crew from coming in."

As Zamrud informs the group that Kirk's notebook has expanded, Truth sits there for a moment, weighing her response before she says it. Truth and Godspeed exchange a look. It is a look sometimes shared between those who must undertake a task neither wants to do– and yet must.

Truth then produces from her bag an identical notebook to the one Zamrud carries. As Zamrud has seen before, and as the rest of you are seeing now for the first time, this notebook, ringed and college ruled, is the spitting image of Kirk's notebook, down to the little defects and smudges brought by time. "What a coincidence," Truth response to Zamrud. "Mine has as well. Shall we compare notes?"

Herb's crew start at the sight of this doppelganger notebook, and they fall into a stunned pause.

>>766612
"I have always been more comfortable in my robes, and occasionally I would dress in a cape. I find them appropriate for all occasions.?" Billy pulls at the neck of his school clothes.

"Are we speaking of past cycles? I am afraid I don't have anything to contribute like a past life unfortunately." Billy would often come to the conclusion that he was a frog in his past life. He found it to be the only creature to match his habits.

>>766612
As Truth reveals the secondary, cloned notebook of Kirk's, Zamrud looks at it in contemplation, noting the stunned reactions on the others' faces - he'd kept the secret of Truth's copy for now but now that it was out in the open, that was that.

"AH, so yours has as well. I wasn't sure if it would as well or if only the original would. But then in which case, that saves much time. From what we've seen, most of the new additions are as obscured and hard to read as the first parts, with just random notes from various subjects that don't seem to ring any pattern we recognize. However, we noticed that when you look at the very far back page, where all the ink pushes through to the end…"

He shows them the final page with the Tree of Evil's branches… and the Hearts they bear like fruit along them. "*THIS* is what we were interested in discussing, to see if you'd reached the same conclusion we had."

>>766612
Qhapaq blinks once or twice, cocking his head to the side. He shakes off the surprise and hums softly.

>>766614
>>766612
"Two notebooks? Is it a… copy, made by the dream?"

>>766612
Good looked at the duplicate book with narrowed eyes, not liking this at all, finding it odd and unusual this was hidden.

>>766614
Zamruds answer revealed he was aware of the existence of this other book, oh and Good did not care for that.

"You knew there was another notebook?"

>>766616
>>766615
Zamrud lets out a sigh and nods. "I was. I wasn't sure what to make of it at first and it was of a sensitive nature to Truth, so in the spirit of our cooperation I opted to hold on sharing it with you… that and, if I'm being honest, I was caught rather unbecomingly trying to steal into her office after I caught a peek of it, so I felt I owed her some privacy."

"It isn't a new notebook however - rather, it is an exact duplicate of Kirk's, down to the very smallest details like his handwriting and stains. I was unsure just how exact a copy it was until now."

>>766613
"Past lives, huh?" Truth echoes Billy. "Well, in a manner of speaking, that subject is relevant here in its own way."

>>766615
"The other way around," Truth says. "After all– Kirk did not come here with a notebook like this. Even without meeting him myself, I can say that confidently. This style of notebook isn't issued in Ironcastle for expeditionary deputations. 8 and-a-half by 11, ringed spine… it'd just be too cumbersome to fit in your bag. Nor did any of you expect to live here as if you were period-correct students. All that is to say that Kirk's notebook was given to Kirk by the Tree of Evil itself… a prop from the dreamland to help him act like a student. One of these two notebooks you see is an imitation that I made out of real terra firma, after Zamrud let me borrow the dreamland prop. Although, to be honest, at some point after making it… I got the two notebooks mixed up. At this point, I can't tell which one's the 'original.'"

>All
"As Zamrud said, you can credit me for the secrecy," Truth says. "I decided it would have been easier to explain after one of the two notebooks produced more of Kirk's ghost-writing, just as it did before. But unfortunately – or perhaps fortunately – I see now that something else altogether has happened."

Truth flips open the notebook she has. As you can see, the contents of the first section are much the same as in the notebook Zamrud has– the orderly, ordinary notes that Kirk took on calculus, programming, RNG, and such. So far, the notebooks are identical inside and out. But then, Truth turns to the next section– and instead of the multidisciplinary ramblings that appeared in your version of the notebook, there appear several pages of neat and focused notes. From this first glance, it looks like the subject remains the same: mathematics, programming, randomness. The penmanship is consistent throughout, all belonging to Kirk, so Herb confirms as he looks it over. There are also small marginalia drawings decorating this second section, but they aren't like the scrawlings in your copy of the notebook.

Soon enough the notes come to an end, an equal amount of pages in as your copy does.

Truth hangs her head with embarrassment. "So now I still can't tell which one's the original, and which one's the Alter."

>Deadweight and Lost Hope, roll knowledge

>>766618
[1d10]

Roll #1 1 = 1

>>766618
[1d10] Brains?

Roll #1 9 = 9

>>766618
"Huh, you are quite good at making copies I see. Is this what they call, suffering from success?" Billy leans forward trying to get a good look at the books himself.

>>766618
Zamrud looks at the two notebooks as their differences become apparent, looking on with concern. "So I see… well, that does complicate things. On one hand, there being even more information in this version that differs from hours might give us further clues to work with… but now it also introduces the possibility of one copy being more truthful than the other."

"Have you been able to gleam any clues from these new notes of Kirk's? We have our own working theory as to what the sketch that results from our copy…" he says as he points to the Hearts coming from the tree. "Kirk's drawing here seems to suggest that the Tree is capable of… MAKING the very Hearts that power our Castles."

>>766618
>>766617
Good was quiet as he listened before sighing "That… is understandable." he said as he could find no fault in their argument.

He looked at these new notes with interest, looking perhaps for some kind of hidden message or cypher.

[1d10] Perception

Roll #1 8 = 8

>>766618
"Does yours update as you explore? It seems to continue to add more to its pages as we explore… surely there is a way to figure out which is which, right?"

>>766619
You think back to your time with Huitlapan. You imagine him running on a wheel. He can keep at it for quite the long time, having built up a respectable cardio routine.

>>766621
Truth chuckles. "Yeah that's the trouble with being as skilled as I am."

>>766622
>>766624
"Check this out," Truth says. She flips to the front cover, where you see Kirk's class schedule penned out. The two schedules, in your copy and hers, could not be more different; yours is packed to the gills, and full of overlapping timeslots committed to multiple classes at the same time. The one in Truth's is rigorous, but sensible for a serious student of higher math and computer engineering. They do, however, have one commonality – an hour dedicated to Theater class, on all seven Cycles of the week, all at 9 pm.

"If anything," Truth answers Qhapaq. "It seems like it updates as Kirk explores. But, for some reason, he's now leaving behind two very different records of his time here. I wonder if, should I make another Alter, yet another different string of notes would be left behind."

>>766623
You see that Kirk's study of programming is quite in-depth, stepping beyond ordinary, simple applications of randomness and into serious cryptography and theories of security practices. Were he to study this in Ironcastle, he could almost certainly hope to receive job offer letters from firms dealing in private security, detective work… maybe even the Lux Deorum.

But something else catches your eye. Some of the marginalia drawings don't appear to have been done by Kirk's hoof or horn. These others differ in color choice, the depth of stroke and thickness of line… was someone else drawing in his notebook? Truth seems an unlikely suspect– in this matter at least…

The subjects of these other drawings are of placid, ordinary life at the school. Lunches, school gardens and greenhouses, trails for biking and walking, horizons… horizons which bear peculiar aerial phenomena you don't recognize…

>>766620
https://youtu.be/bePduDlbwnA
At the invocation of the word, 'Alter'… Images and scenes visit you in memory, juxtaposed and conjoined as they are in any dream, connected by a thin logic. You recently went home to Ponyville, and saw your parents and brother there. Now he's enrolled at your school– little surprise with grades as good as his. Some time later, you fought alongside a duplicitous, yet desperate lagomos named Mogao… who with a staff fashioned after a mythical icon called Moon, conjured apparitions from Agatecastle's tattered past. Apparitions that looked like your allies, all subtly different.. and a little time later, you saw many other such apparitions at the festival you attended with Mogao and Antlers… against whom you had been fighting not too long ago…?

These disparate, haphazard, slapdash storylines are all close at hand, conjured by that word, Alter.

Yet.

You never heard the word 'Alter' used to describe this phenomena at all.

Yet.

Here it all is.

And– this Truth lady's starting to look oddly familiar.

>>766625
Deadweight looks into the distance, nodding approvingly thinking about imaginary Huitlapan's respectable stamina.

>>766625
Zamrud considers the possibilities of making yet another Alter, to see if it could grant another angle into Kirk's life and see if it could provide yet more clues, but he shakes his head,

"I think we should simply stick with the two unless it becomes beneficial for a third book to exist so someone else may study it. We do not yet know the nature of this split in Kirk's updates, I worry that rather than increasing our information we could also be damaging it, splintering or diluting it with each copy and spreading his presence too thin. I would recommend we stick with two and see what can be gleamed from them."

"This common meeting at 9PM though… in the Theater class…" Zamrud checks his watch, hoping it's not too late.

>>766625
"Find anything good out of the books?" Billy calls out loud to any who would hear him. "Or is there anything that I can help with?"

>>766625
"Alter? What do you mean by Alter?" Lost suddenly asked, making her presence more known in a break for the normally reserved mare. There was a touch of desperation to her tone wanting to know more.

>>766625
>>766629
Good jumped at the sudden interjection of his sister, but turned back to the book for a moment, noting the art change, and began to look around the room for a moment one who might fit this profile of an artist in the room, outside of those with whom he arrived.

>>766625
"Hrm… could there be a second version of him somehow? Or, is he somehow in two different… 'semesters', at once?" He asks, cocking his head to the side.

>>766625
"What, ah… is an 'Alter'? I do not think I understand what exactly you mean."

>>766631
"Now that's a fate worse than death," Origami quips. "Having to take school twice over? I sure hope not for his sake."

>>766627
It's a quarter past seven now. You've got time– no rush.

>>766628
Ride turns to you. "You went into the theater but recently, didn't you? Kirk seems to visit there late into the dark hours, if his schedule is accurate. What did you see there, again?"

>>766630
You can't definitively rule out Herb's crew for artistic talent, or lack thereof, but considering that these drawings appeared in a notebook they had no notion of existing, it's unlikely that they would have had a chance to be able to make those drawings.

But… there's something to Lost's sudden words. Perhaps an answer lies there…

>All
Hearing the desperate tone in Lost's voice, Truth almost seems… pained for a moment. Not out of irritation, or exasperation… but perhaps sympathy? Her wince is soon gone.

Clamence snickers. "You may want to take notes. This could take awhile."

"Indeed," Truth says. "To begin to answer that question, we should define some preliminary materials. We've already touched on the subject of quantum mechanics, but I want to know if you're acquainted with one of the interpretations that spawned from it – that which is commonly called the 'Multiverse Theory.' Because if you are…"

Truth shuts the notebook that she holds – and the notebook that Zamrud holds closes as well, as if by a sympathetic connection.

"It would be better to throw that so-called 'theory' out the window, and begin anew."