Conversation Space III.

[powersthatbe]

A poured concrete floor and cinder block walls are lit by a single bare light bulb hanging overhead. Shackles dangle from brackets on every side, and the chair in the center of the room is clearly an electric chair. A tall glass sits on top of a stool made of what looks like pure gold - but the liquid inside it is almost definitely blood.

Comments

[adastraea]

"Jessica said: 'You've played this game before, then? I know that time is a little abstract in this context, but how long ago was Fortuna's win? We make a change, and how long does it last before it's someone else's turn?'"

Astræa's voice suddenly echoes Jess' cadences exactly, although it's back to its normal measured tones in a moment.

"To which I replied: 'You would have to ask SAGE. Or Mortimer. Perhaps in concert. Their conception of linear time and cyclical events respectively far exceeds my own.'"

[teamsad]

Jess glances over at Astraea as her tone changes, visibly unsettled, but she turns her attention back toward Mortimer in a moment.

"Yes. That."

[callmemeibe]

He sighs. "A summary would have been fine, thank you, Astraea." But he does not seem too overly upset about it.

Mortimer turns back to Jessica. "I can tell you from my perspective that Fortuna's win was at the beginning of this cycle. You would need to speak to SAGE about the particulars, although... in his current state, that might be difficult. The winning Arcanum's changes are made at the beginning of the cycle, and last until the end of the cycle, usually, unless the next winning Arcanum enjoys said changes. Some of us have rather similar idioms, or at least, idioms that fit together well."

There is a pause, and then Mortimer asks, to no one in particular, "Where is SAGE, anyway?"

[teamsad]

Jess has other questions, but for a moment she just stops, giving him a slightly bemused look because he even had to ask.

"You don't just... know that about each other?" She can't say why that surprises her, but it does, somehow.

[adastraea]

"There are ways of determining each other's relative location, but also ways to hide oneself regardless," Justice explains. "Hiding is very much in SAGE's idiom."

[teamsad]

"Got it," she says with a nod, and turns her attention back to the larger questions at hand here.

"So... that's how the cycle works here, from the perspective of those of us directly involved in this game. But what does that actually mean to... the rest of reality, where the changes are actually made? Does anything you change actually last for any length of time out there, or are you all just unwriting and rewriting everything over and over for the hell of it?"

[callmemeibe]

"It is not for the hell of it unless ROSE is involved," he scoffs, "Or Cairbre, perhaps. We all have a different set of virtues we must follow. But there have been many changes over time. The very first time Liminal Space was perceived as a space did not occur until the third cycle. You'll have to ask SAGE for a yearly estimate."