[h2][center]Geralt of Rivia & [color=BFBFBF]Zenkichi Hasegawa[/color][/center][/h2]
[center]The City of Glass- Regatta Bay [/center]
[center]Lvl 9 (222/90) +30 Collab XP -> (254/90) [/center]
[center]Lvl 3 (21/30) +30 Collab XP -> Lvl 3 (53/30) [/center]
[center]Word Count: 1,136 words[/center]

As the Seekers reconvened, Zenkichi was still going over things in his head. That Goldlewis and C knew each other from their world was yet another piece of the puzzle that they could connect- namely, Goldlewis would have insights into C’s psychology and capabilities, though how much those capabilities had changed was up in the air. 

Geralt, meanwhile, was still in the dark about what had happened after the broadcast was cut. Missing vital context, he was much less patient than the former Turk, and as soon as they could go, he was through the portal, even if he grumbled about it the whole time. Shuffling to grab himself food to settle his stomach (which was rather upset at going through a [i]second[/i] portal in one evening), he dropped into a chair heavily, a bag of jerky quickly disappearing into his mouth. 

They gave the newcomer, Roland, a wary greeting, shooting Giovanna a look questioning their new tagalong.

While Geralt didn’t know what a G4 summit was (Zenkichi’s eyebrows rose, though he wondered if their worlds were similar enough that they meant the same thing, given that Goldlewis was from the US), what came after was much more interesting: He was a Source. The first Source of Goldlewis’ world, at that, and with powers that made Ciri look like a Witcher when compared to a proper sorcerer, if what Goldlewis had been told was correct. “Huh. My daughter, Ciri…is similar. Not quite as fantastically powerful, but she’s what we call a Source. A person with a deep, innate connection to magic, and incredibly powerful.” Taking a moment to practically inhale some jerky, he continued.

“She’s also a worldhopper.” Leaving that tidbit to sink in for the others, he frowned. “Which means she could be anywhere, or Galeem…fuck.” Sighing, he rubbed his forehead with his hands, frown deepening. “Fuck, I hadn’t thought of that until now. She’s in more danger than I thought…” 

Zenkichi grimaced awkwardly at Geralt’s revelation, but tried to give the man a bit of hope. [color=BFBFBF]”It could also mean she’s fine, and hiding out somewhere. Though, that adds the problem of finding her if she’s not willing to end up here.”[/color]
“Not that simple. Her ability to travel worlds isn’t quite so finely controlled. But it’s also not the point. Sources are prone to severe mental instability. It’s possible that this Happy Chaos is similarly afflicted, and as you say, might be a great boon or a great liability to the other Consuls and Galeem. If we can manipulate his insanity properly…”

[color=BFBFBF]”We can take him off the board.”[/color] Zenkichi finished. 

“Or anger him into slaughtering us all.” Geralt hedged, throwing a bucket of cold water onto the whole idea. “It’s an idea, but one we’ll have to think long and carefully on if we decide to try it.” 

[color=BFBFBF]”Yeah, I prefer not being slaughtered…”[/color] Zenkichi half-joked. [color=BFBFBF] “As for Shinra not knowing about the Consuls, I actually don’t find that terribly surprising. Chaos went to Konoe first, probably knowing how he’d react when given secret knowledge that he could use to amass power. It’s [i]exactly[/i] how it happened in our world. Konoe was a tech genius, whose company maintained a personal assistant smartphone app called EMMA. In reality, it was an AI developed by a genius woman who basically had no emotions, and was using it to try and understand humanity.” [/color]

[color=BFBFBF]”Things get weird from here. Where I come from, there’s this sort of…collective unconsciousness that lies just beneath the surface of the world, that we call the Metaverse. It very rarely interacts with the real world. The app was taught a way to manipulate people in such a way that it warped the Metaverse by altering their desires, typically by manipulating past trauma they’d experienced. In turn, this allowed [i]those people[/i] to manipulate others through the Metaverse, though they were mostly doing it unconsciously.” 

[/color]Pausing, Zenkichi sighed and shook his head. [color=BFBFBF]”I’m almost done, I promise. Konoe comes in at this point.”[/color]
Drumming his fingers on the table, thinking of the best way to phrase it, Zenkichi continued. [color=BFBFBF]”Konoe became one of these people, targeted by his own app, though it only amplified what was already there: an immense sense of guilt that came from killing his own father as a child.”[/color] He paused again, letting that simmer. [color=BFBFBF]”Konoe’s father abused him horribly, and one day, when his father revealed that he’d kill Konoe’s mother as well, and was just going to ‘get rid of him’…he killed his father.”[/color]

[color=BFBFBF]”The guilt’s controlled him ever since. He was convinced that there were no heroes in the world, that nobody would save him…so he became his own hero. EMMA preyed on that, and distorted that guilt, and that conclusion, to make him believe that he had to become all of humanity’s hero. Of course, he did that by using it to control people. His plan was ultimately to rid all of humanity of free will. And according to Consul C, Happy Chaos, he’s back to doing the same damn thing by taking over Midgar from the inside out. Whatever other plans he has under the hood, that we don’t know about…I’d be willing to bet they’ll use a similar method. Reduce people into mindless husks, obeying the whims of trusted leaders, or some grand system that tells everybody how to act on a daily basis.”[/color]

[color=BFBFBF]”Raz, you…said you might have a way to help? You’re a psychic, right?” [/color] Geralt nodded to that, humming in thought. 

“Hate to burst your bubble, but how confident are you that he was telling the truth about any of that?” Geralt questioned.

[color=BFBFBF]”Pretty confident. Though he could absolutely be manipulating us, it’s perfect. It fits Konoe’s psychology to a T. No free will means no crime. No evil, no injustice. Just a perfect, peaceful world.” [/color] 

“Then we’ll assume it’s true, I guess. I don’t have much to work off, though, given that we weren’t there.”

[color=BFBFBF]”Well, speaking of that: C mentioned some things about the abilities of the Consuls. They can all warp around as they like, though he said it wasn’t very useable in a fight. I guess it takes them a couple seconds to do it or something? It wasn’t clear. Uh…he said they can drain life, and mentioned that they could do so especially well from something called a Flame Clock, which sounds to me like it might involve that weird Machine he brought up during the debate. And they all apparently have one special ability unique to them, which was the least useful piece of useful information we got.” [/color] 

“Always great to have that.” Geralt sarcastically confirmed. “I don’t have much to add. It’s late. We should probably leave the more involved plan making for the morning.” 

[color=BFBFBF]”Yeah, probably for the best..”[/color] Zenkichi nodded, standing up and stretching a bit, before heading towards the bedrooms. [color=BFBFBF]”I’ll go check on Akane and make sure she’s settling in, too. Night, everyone.”[/color]