[center][b][h1][color=#44F03E]𝔽[/color][color=#42E93C]𝕦[/color][color=#40E33A]π•₯[/color][color=#3EDD39]π•š[/color][color=#3DD737]𝕝[/color][color=#3BD136]π•š[/color][color=#39CB34]π•₯[/color][color=#38C532]π•ͺ[/color][color=#36BF31]:[/color] [color=#32B32E]𝕋[/color][color=#31AD2C]𝕙[/color][color=#2FA62A]𝕖[/color] [color=#2C9A27]𝔾[/color][color=#2A9426]𝕣[/color][color=#288E24]𝕖[/color][color=#268823]𝕒[/color][color=#258221]t[/color] [color=#21761E]𝔾[/color][color=#20701C]𝕒[/color][color=#1E6A1B]π•ž[/color][color=#1C6419]𝕖[/color][/h1][/b][/center] [center][hider=A War Room Of No Great Warlords][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-CVY6D88bY[/youtube][/hider][/center] [color=Mediumvioletred][b]No, no, no. Tuning in isn’t always good. People on the outside love to think so, though. β€˜Ride the wave, feel its power surging through you, direct current.’ That sort of shit. It’s different for me. I did tune in. I even turned the drone up, like a fool, thinking that within the static there might be something for me. You know what I found?[/b][/color] [color=008000]>>>π•ƒπ• π•’π••π•šπ•Ÿπ•˜... >>>... >>>...[/color] [color=Mediumvioletred][b]It got louder and louder.[/b][/color] [color=008000]>>>π•€π•Ÿπ•šπ•₯π•šπ•’π•₯π•šπ•Ÿπ•˜... >>>... >>>...[/color] [color=Mediumvioletred][b]I thought I’d expand my sensory world, find some revelation. Like I was some lost prophet, clairvoyant, [i]a God in the Machine[/i].[/b][/color] [color=008000]>>>𝔼𝕩𝕖𝕔𝕦π•₯π•šπ•Ÿπ•˜... >>>... >>>...[/color] [color=Mediumvioletred][b]The buzz of machineryβ€”overwhelming, deafening, makes you want [color=green][[[θ…Ήεˆ‡γ‚Š]]][/color] right there. But it’s over that mighty mountain of pain, frenzy, mind-wrack, that new things start being revealed to you.[/b][/color] [color=008000]>>>π”Όπ•Ÿπ•₯𝕖𝕣 π•₯𝕙𝕖 π”Ύπ•’π•žπ•–... >>>... >>>...[/color] [color=Mediumvioletred][b]You see not the individuals, the bleak landscapes, not even the Labyrinth. Tuning further and further into the noise, you’ll eventually reach the other side, I think, a void. It’s in that void where you hear, see, feel the moving pieces, [i]The[/i] Machine, the [color=green]π”Ύπ•’π•žπ•–[/color]. All the moves they make. I lost it.[/b][/color][hr][hr] [h3][color=gray]π•Šπ•¨π•’π•₯𝕙𝕖 π•Šπ•₯𝕣𝕖𝕖π•₯ β„‚π• π•žπ•žπ• π•Ÿπ•€[/color][/h3][color=008000][b]β„π•–π•”π•π•’π•šπ•ž β„€π• π•Ÿπ•–, π•Šπ• π•¦π•₯𝕙 β„‚π•šπ•₯π•ͺ π•Šπ•‘π•£π•’π•¨π•[/b] [b]π”Έπ•‘π•£π•šπ• πŸ™π•€π•₯, 𝟚𝟘𝟞𝟝 πŸ™πŸ :πŸ™πŸ˜[/b] [b] [β„‚π• π•žπ•–, π•Šπ•™π•’π••π• π•¨ β„‚π•’π•£π•’π•§π•’π•Ÿ] π•€π•Ÿπ•šπ•₯π•šπ•’π•₯π•šπ•Ÿπ•˜...[/b][/color] [right][sub][@Jarl Coolgruuf][@Atrophy][@Opposition][/sub][/right] Samsara curled his thumbs into his palms and crossed his middle and ring fingers to form a pair of β€˜W’ gang signs, which he flashed to Lott when she commented on his rad glasses. You couldn’t really get more egotistical than inventing your own gang sign, but Samsara seemed blissfully unaware, convinced entirely by his own coolness.[b][color=lightslategray] β€œThanks,”[/color][/b] he offered, obscured eyes lingering on Lott a second too long, as though running a sort of diagnostic appraisal with his cyberware. As Lott stepped in to deal with the antics of Gatch’s challengers, the weary mayor’s face showed something in between the rigor mortis of a long dead man and appreciation for his publicist. Petrukov, on the other hand, only regarded Lott’s presence after a short debate in her head regarding whether or not it was worth it to engage the non-candidate. [b][color=black] β€œTrust me,”[/color][/b] Petrukov paused, mentally scrolling through her list of slightly-demeaning monikers for the unimportant sort whose names she did not know. She couldn’t settle on one and ended up dragging out a[b][color=black] β€œyou…”[/color][/b] much longer than necessary.[b][color=black] β€œI’ve no need for APEX media goons. I don’t know if you’ve heard of me.”[/color][/b] Serena smirked, turning her head slightly to accentuate a hair-toss.[b][color=black] β€œBut I’m a bit of an influencerβ€”the media mogul sortβ€”and the Pirates have their own plans.”[/color] [/b] Her own boasts seemed to remind Petrukov of the carefully crafted schedule in her head and she started looking around. The Pirate Warlord set her finger-gun sights upon Kaitlyn Davenport.[b][color=black] β€œKay, I’m going to get the goons to set up our command post upstairs. We’ll livestream in an hour or twoβ€”depending on how long it takes me to find something to eatβ€”to make the pre-announcement about our β€˜big announcement’ to take place during the debate.”[/color][/b] She gave a sneaky pose, shooting her gaze around the room to ensure that her competitors knew she had something to hide. [b][color=lightgreen] β€œThe way we like to say itβ€”we, the people of the Reclaim Zone,”[/color][/b] Faren clarified as he stepped towards Lott. He walked like he was slipping on slime the whole way there, not breaking eye contact unless he was sending sweet eyes back to his pack of followers.[b][color=lightgreen] β€œIs that the people of the Reclaim are stuck working for the Mayor… That’s the problem, and his ties to APEX, their own category of issues really. Not one that will last much longer.”[/color][/b] He really liked his ominous tones and foreshadowing. If put before a federal court, the combatting lawyers would have to commit to going fist to fist.[b][color=lightgreen] β€œBut my people will certainly take you up on your offer. We’d love to get a word in with APEX. Discuss the future, see what they know, that sort of thing.”[/color][/b] The sound of an alarm tripped just barely audible from the nearby security office had Gatch jump a few inches out of his skin. The officer posted up in the camera room just shrugged and got up to investigate. The incumbent took a deep breath. [b][color=mediumaquamarine] β€œWhere did Dao go?”[/color][/b] Gatch thought out loud, but everyone ignored him. No one really knew the answer either way. It was strange the way a pile of monks could just so quietly vanish from the scene. They’d either left or headed up to find their rooms. Gatch stopped caring after only a moment. Maybe it was the cord-wrapped, 3D-ready zombie that distracted him from the much more pertinent matter. Alas, Gatch’s lethargy was next level, and soon he resigned to punishing his body as best as he could at the prepared snack table. Serena soon followed. Samsara had disregarded Lott’s offer. Delilah had become the subject of his silent appraisal. Beneath the super-specs, his eyes traced up and down the jacket she wore. He decided it was a problem best addressed not in front of a crowd of competitors. Nonetheless, once eyes stopped falling on him, he set a determined course to Delilah to have a conversation at a volume that wouldn’t be picked up by every recording device in the room. [i]She obviously wanted something.[/i] Delilah rarely found him in person otherwise. Gatch withdrew a tablet that vibrated ravenously on his belt.[b][color=mediumaquamarine] β€œLott, just, uh…”[/color][/b] He missed the video-call. Another one replaced it almost immediately.[b][color=mediumaquamarine] β€œDeal with any newcomers, would you? I gotta deal with this before—”[/color][/b] He cut himself off, shaking his head. It wasn’t the time or place to finish that statement. Gatch hurried into the building’s wing, not waiting for a response from his trusted media lieutenant swiss-army-knife.[hr][hr] [b][color=mediumvioletred]Someone else had to be catching the signals, right? I couldn’t have been the only one. It was a game of perception, right? Who were the other champions of sight, of sound, of vibration? [i]The ANVL strikes.[/i] I got stuck with vibration. He was a champion of perception too. He saw the other side through signals… I found him easy, like following a beacon of the Great Game. Even the overwhelming noise of the Everything seemed to dull in comparison to the screaming noise that surrounded his work.[/color][/b] [b][color=mediumvioletred]I pounded on the door a third time. Run down, Reclaim, it certainly wasn’t the place the spectator of a Great Game hid out. There was no answer, but after a while the cameras wired to either side of the door swiveled and stared me down.[/color][/b]