nexus_crossings | [text only]

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[If you're traveling through the Nexus today, chances are you'll see a message popping up on different computers linked to a global Nexus forum. Some people don't have the luxury of being able to reach the Nexus proper, but that doesn't mean their voices go unheard. The message seems to be translated from Japanese to a universal Nexus language, and smart hackers might be able to trace the message back to an internet cafe in Japan no less.]

Username: Red-Phoenix-Ranger: Posting...

...is this thing working?

...what is a nexus forum? is this website some sort of joke? it says to ask a question, but i doubt anyone will ever see it...the internet isn't even supposed to be on anymore.

...can anyone even read this?

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Oh god, not another hacker. Katsuya is getting tired of this nonsense. He notices it on the screens of the net cafe he'd been drinking coffee at. It's a place he frequents, mostly to keep an eye out for Baofu.

What really catches his eye, however, are the Japanese characters that are being translated before his eyes as each line is posted. He sets down his mug of coffee next to an unused terminal. Moves the keyboard toward himself.

Anonymous is typing...

The internet isn't supposed to be on? What does that even mean? How did you gain access to all of these computers. Hacking is a crime you know...

[Anonymous? Katsuya can't see it, but the boy on the other end of the Multiverse interwebs is just staring blankly at his own computer screen. The response back is purely impulsive and without much thought.]

...the power comes and goes. not stable anymore since the end of the world happened.

...i didn't hack this thing. the computer somehow turned on and linked to this 'nexus' place. then it asked for a question.

He hadn't bothered to sign into his own account to reply. It's only there for communicating with Baofu anyway, and he hates the username the rumor monger selected for him. He's not typing to a stranger as 'Officer Boyscout'.

Not a chance.

Since the...since what?

Katsuya feels his chest tighten. He reads over the post again, trying to interpret it any other way. Something Very Bad has happened to this person's world. The officer can sympathize. He's lived through much the same nearly happening to his own world.

Are you okay? Your world was destroyed, but you're still alive? Am I speaking to a human? An AI? You're using Japanese. Where are you from?

Why does he have this sick feeling in his stomach? Katsuya spams the refresh button.

...the end of the world. that's what I said.

i'm a real person, but you dont sound like one. everyone who's alive knows about the end. well, whoever's left. not many people survived the whole ordeal. and even those people weren't lucky.

[Tatsuya pauses for a moment, feeling hesitant about this conversation. Is it a trap set by the Crawling Chaos? He's not about to walk into it.]

i'm not telling you where i'm at. people are starting to go crazy and lose their minds. you could easily be an enemy and i dont know it.

You have my condolences. It may be safer for you here, than it is where you are. The Nexus is not just a forum. It's a different place entirely. A rift between worlds.

Like the Velvet Room, but he doesn't say so. This person wouldn't have any idea what that even is, after all.

That's a wise choice, given you don't know who I am. I can hardly blame you. I'm a person in the Nexus. A native Japanese frequenting between here and my own world. I would like to help you if I can. Is there any way I can prove myself?

Ironically, the police officer doesn't think for a minute that this could be a trap for him. Not when there's talk of the end of the world. He just knows he has to help whoever he can.

...if you told me that a year ago, i almost wouldn't have believed you, but now...

how do i reach the nexus? you can start by answering that question. as for trust...i guess theres not really a way for you to prove your innocence over text just yet.

[On the other end, the boy just stares at the screen calmly, ready to leave the computer behind at any moment.]

...just keep answering my questions.

It's difficult to explain. You have to find a doorway between worlds. A break in reality. For myself, it was a door out of the station where I work. but it could be a nondescript door no one seems to notice at the shopping district. Or in a school.

Katsuya frowns, trying his best to think about how to describe such a pathway between dimensions to a stranger.

I apologize. It's difficult to explain unless you've experienced it. It would be easier if...Ah! I can show you. Give me a few minutes.

Katsuya logs off and leaves the net cafe right for a electronics store nearby in the downtown area. He bids a fond farewell to his beat up and slightly charred old phone for a shiny new smartphone and asks the saleswoman to show him how to work the video function. Then it's a brisk jog over to where the door to his world is.

He's not sure if this will work, but...he turns on the video and pans across the wilds to show the door standing in the middle of nowhere. A glass door surrounded by runes in an otherwise innocuous clearing. He holds the phone out with one hand and opens the door with the other. Instantly urban noises can be heard as well as chatter in Japanese. It's a small alley next to a tall building but the view from the street is instantly recognizable for Tatsuya. It's just outside Sumaru PD in the Konan district where he and his brother had their apartment.

And nothing is blown up. The video leaves the streets of Sumaru and heads back into the innocuous glass door--the side door to the station, really. And just as soon as they were in Sumaru, they're back in the Nexus. The video is less than thirty seconds long.

Katsuya hurries back and uploads the video. He has to sign in to post it, which is a shame, but well--there are more important things than his dignity right this second.

OfficerBoyscout is typing...

I'm back, sorry. I took a video to show you what I mean. Here's the link to where I uploaded it. I hope it works.

so it can be anywhere. well, that isn't very helpful. is there anyway to sense these so-called doorways?

[Being told one thing and shown another can definitely be helpful. Tatsuya has nowhere to go either way, and seems content with sitting down in a worn-out chair. His location, hiding out in a corner booth at W Slash, hovering over the old Mac computer like it's a lost treasure. It really is something special when the entire city of Sumaru is losing power and resources daily.]

[The video comes in a few minutes later, followed by a message from...Officer Boyscout? Tatsuya can't help but laugh at the name, but his interest is piqued in the video attachment. He takes the faded blue mouse with one hand and double-clicks on the file. At first, the loud noise of the camera video causes him to jump back and immediately turn the sound down. No need to catch the attention of others while trying to stay hidden.

[At first, the area doesn't look familiar, until the camera pans out to show the apartment building. The sight alone causes Tatsuya to pause the video, making sure he's not dreaming this up. The police station also seems to be intact, from what little he can see. Sumaru looks peaceful. Sumaru is safe. But is this really someone he can trust or is Nyarlathotep playing with his mind?]

..prove to me that you arent being controlled by him.

Katsuya reads the message several times. He can't make heads or tails of it. Him who? Did this person receive the same video Katsuya took? Did the video this person get have some man in it that he isn't aware of?

He rewatches the video but nothing seems out of the ordinary to him, aside from the obvious doorway to the Nexus.

Him? By that I assume you mean the person who was ultimately responsible for the destruction of your world? I wish I could, but I don't know where you are. You could be from an entirely alien planet that through the infinite laws of probability happens to use what I consider to be my native tongue from Earth. Japan, to be exact.

He taps his finger against the desk for a whole minute, trying to decide what to say.

But if I were being controlled by said entity, what sense would it make to try to help you escape your fate rather than leaving you to it? If your world is ending, then getting here may be your only chance. I have to do what I can to help. It's the right thing to do.

And boy if that last sentence isn't one of Katsuya's favorite arguments for doing anything.

[It's going to take Tatsuya a few minutes to think of the next response, mainly in order to process what all's being shown and said to him. The last few words shake away his doubts about Nyarlathotep. Exactly why would the god want to taunt him when Maya was already dead?]

...yes. he destroyed everything but a small portion of japan. and now, even that is going to disappear soon.

how do you plan on helping? this place is cut off from the world. except for this computer. [A moment of hesitation.] that video looks like somewhere i've been before.

You're talking about Sumaru.

Snippets of memories are flooding Katsuya's mind. Conversations he'd had with the party and his brother once they'd all finally met up. Confrontations with Nyralathotep, taunting his brother openly.

He's not sure how he's so sure, but he is. His fingers are shaking as he continues typing.

You're talking about the Other Side.

Katsuya's never seen that version of Sumaru, but he's heard stories. He's heard enough. What could have happened to his own world, even. If people are still alive over there....Katsuya has to help. He has to.

We need to find the doorway to the Nexus. I'd imagine it's close to where you are now, if you've been able to cross messages over. Where are you exactly? I can try to give you directions to the couple of doorways that lead to the Nexus on This Side.

Edited 2016-04-15 17:19 (UTC)

...guessed it in one. are you a survivor too? did you somehow escape the floating city?

[Knowing that there's a way out fills the boy with a sense of optimism, somethign long lost to him with the fall of human society. This world doesn't have much time left, not with disease slowly creeping up and useable resources dwindling.]

2Xslash. Aoba. where should i look?

I'm a survivor, but not of your Sumaru. I don't know all of the details but I survived an elder god spreading via a new religion called Wang Long, manipulating a Chinese mafia, and rumors creating The New World Order.

Rumors become reality in Sumaru.

Wait. Wait a minute.

That's it! You're on Aoba Drive if you're in the 2xSlash. Is the Kuzunoha Detective Agency still open? Are there enough survivors to still spread rumors? Spread a rumor that there's a door that leads to the multiverse at the back of the 2xSlash. Then you could escape, and it has the added benefit for allowing other survivors escape too!

[Tatsuya frowns at what's being typed out in front of him, especially the last past about Aoba Drive.]

you must be joking. Kuzunoha is all the way in hirasaka. it's difficult to get there, let alone i'm not sure if spreading rumors will work anymore. i tried to spread one once...to fix the world, but nothing happened

Wait, what?

Little do the Suous know they're making the exact same frown at their respective computer screens. Tatsuya would be devastated to know how alike his brother he looks right now.

Really? Damn. I had hoped this would be simpler. Maybe I need to spread a rumor first. This would be easier if you could sense Resonance...no matter. I can start pulling open random doors on this side. Something....there has to be something I can do to help you.

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Long post is long sorry ^^;

no wories :D

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