Scene #9695: Foundation Rebellion Intervention

Owner	Pose
Foundation Scions	Just over three weeks ago, Vertin, after returning from the chaos of the Storm, was promptly whisked-away into Artificial Somnambulism treatment, for reasons mostly not explained to (the highly astute, even highlier accomplished) Matilda Bouanich, even in her role as FDMO representative. With that, her co-worker, Mesmer Jr., has summarily vanished, up and into a medical ward to which she's scarcely accepting visitors, especially not (the highly astute, etc.) Matilda. With her, she's taken the FDMO's radio equipment, further leaving the diviner high and dry over this sea of uncertainty. It's lonely and scary after the Storm, even more so with whatever this all is. Just over two weeks ago, various multiversal elites, and various unregistered arcanists rescued-along by Vertin, staked out a held encampment on the Foundation's grounds, and waged forceful protest, to much annoyance, disruption, and bad-mouthing rumor, amongst the residents of the Foundation. Arcanists are temperamental and unbalancing, aren't there rules in place to stop this from happening? Matilda Bouanich certainly doesn't like hearing that, nor does she like the knowledge that such a scuffle is occurring, nor, frankly, does she enjoy having to sit-through planning meetings with the Disciplinary Monitor of the SPDM, for how, inevitably, these newcomers will need arrangements made for onboarding protocols and behavior tutelage. Just over a week ago, the day after the summer solstice, on her very-own birthday, Matilda Bouanich received a present-of-sorts, sealed and marked in the Foundation's grey and white checkerprint: a notice of assignment, that the FDMO is to assist against the encamping rebellion, and that her application towards a Field Investigator position is now pending her performance. Immediately following that, the protester's hacked the audio-visual electronics of the Foundation's campus, to broadcast a disruptive and unsanctioned concert; along with a list of even less-sanctioned demands. Suffice to say, Matilda Bouanich is in a complicated spot. Surely, she's being noticed, finally, for her talents and achievements, as a particularly-useful individual for this strange encampment-breaking- is what she'd want to think, if it wasn't simply obvious that she's, once-more, being picked for something purely for her proximal relations to the involved parties. She knows these elites! Some of them, at least! It's weird for her, it's surely weird for them, and it's all so disappointing. However- Matilda will be a Field Investigator. No 'ifs', 'buts', or 'wells' about it- she's decided. She'll show her stuff, regardless, even if it's upsetting and disappointing. The question burning in her mind, on, mostly, Mesmer's silence and unresponsiveness, and similarly, the actions of the rebels, still is, "En quoi tout cela aide-t-il Vertin?" _/\/\/\/\/\/\/\_ \/\/\/\/\/\/\/
Foundation Scions	Matilda Bouanich is, firstly, someone who comes prepared. Before tonight, by way of crystal ball, unnoticed, unknown, and distant, she's spied-upon the encampment, to note, for herself and the Foundation's security-forces, such things as 'where in the building-forest the rebels most-often spend time', 'where is, and isn't, patrolled', 'when are elites often present', 'where food is kept', 'where rebels sleep', and 'where remnant transmission equipment is', and 'where, if anywhere, are obvious arcanum arrays that look to be traps'. Over a long amount of time, that's certain to make continued scuffles with the Foundation's guards unexplainably more annoying and more effective; acutely, (alongside having looked at the planning-layout of the captured Rescorla-Wagner building,) this affords Matilda a very well-informed amount of awareness of the encampment's labyrinth of flora. Matilda Bouanich is, secondly, someone who is sneaky. Her efforts aren't only to be done through the lensing of a crystal-ball, and, with a muttered incantation to simply not leave footprints, "Vestigium vanish," another to dampen the sounds of her movement "Resonare reduce," and a well-timed moonlit divination as to when during this night, and where, she might cross the cordoned-off no-man's-land without drawing eyes and attention, she, on her lonesome, has crossed into the encampment's territory. However, Matilda is not, at all, here to be quiet! In fact, the SPDM, even before specialty field-tactics programs, instils the importance of various strategic concepts like 'it's bad to not get sleep'. Having marched just enough in to Rescorla-Wagner's courtyard to be 'within', Matilda takes up a Stance, hands-on-hips, to shout out a "Hey! Faites attention!" out to the encampment. Presuming, as (hopefully, but not certainly-accurate) divinations implied, she won't be immediately struck down, she adds a quick-follow-up, still shouted, of "Mr. Riku Asakura, Chevalier! Please, you, specifically, come out to talk, and very calmly!" Obvious, once Matilda is in other's site-lines, is that she is holding a stack of paper, and wearing, rather than her Monitor Assistant uniform, her Trídéag Association's- a longer coat, darker color, and not one that screams to her allegiance. At her hip, not held nor drawn, is an actual sword, out of place perhaps for what those here may have seen of Matilda. More conspicuously, glinting lightly in the moonlight, is a cord of a dozen-ish polished gemstones, wrapped-clutched around her forearm. Impatient-loud, an "Ah-hem!" echoes, again, through the courtyard-forest.
Regulus	"Oh shit." Regulus tells Riku. "You're in trouble. You're going to get detention." She's hoping terribly that Riku is going to realize she's being facetious and that he probably isn't actually going to be given detention but she does mentally hiccup a little bit on that thought because she can kind of see Matilda somehow send Riku to detention, but--no. It's a quip. It's a jape. Before all this, though, having your friend be 'in a coma' for three weeks is pretty difficult for Regulus to endure. As is the fact that she can't see whom she considers to be her closest friends and has to be standing opposed to them for doing, strangely enough, what she was told to do. It isn't that it isn't something that she believes in but it's still exhausting all the same. Nobody takes it seriously except when suddenly they do and any attempts to be kind have been viewed with suspicion. She has already screamed into a plush doll twice today and she's hoping she doesn't make it three times. But if protest was easy, it wouldn't be necessary. She just wishes she could feel the movements of its effects on the Foundation rather than having to largely hear about it distantly through Mesmer. Do they still broadly just find it annoying? Did they even listen to the message? Their demands? So in a way, Matilda busting in is both relief and frustration. Relief, that someone actually REACTED but frustration that it was, like, Matilda instead of someone with any actual level of authority within the Foundation to make a decision--hell, Regulus isn't sure that she can even pass anything on. It's also a little worrying because Matilda just snuck past the picket line in a sneaky way rather than going to join the rebellion sort of way. She quirks her head at Matilda, looking after her, moving closer to the Suitcase since she knows just how clever and tricksy Matilda has been in the past, such as when America got destroyed. "Is that a sword?" Regulus tends to zone out when Sword Talk happens but she squints at the gemstones, wondering at their purpose. She shouldn't presume that Matilda is here to cuase trouble since she only sees Matilda right now. She doesn't use her ace in the hole, instead clambering up Tree to make her way to the Suitcase. "Have you come to join the fun, Matilda? Not gonna lie, it'd be a real blast having you around." Regulus says. "You must've foreseen that we'd be victorious and came to join the winning team right?"
Riku Asakura	Riku had been bringing more supplies through the warpgate in the Suitcase for the protesters, nothing big but enough to keep them going so as not to starve or die of thirst. He doesn't very much like that this has become more of a siege than anything else. If the rock concert moved anyone in the Foundation, nobody SEEMED to be moved by it. It's more waiting, which to Riku was getting pretty stressful. Especially with the occasional 'status report' made by Mesmer on broadband. Despite his own hiccups about not moving aside, he was here today to do his part. Stepping out of the suitcase, he waves to anyone around. "Any word on the Foundation fo-" It's about this time when Matilda's voice cuts through the silence, shouted by her on their side of the standoff. For some reason, this left a bad taste in his mouth, because if anyone should be here, it shouldn't be Matilda, in his mind. It didn't feel right to him, somehow, and he looked around to see if others were around. "I'm here. What do you want to talk about? Though if you just wanted to chat, the radio would have been better, I think," Riku says with a smile, trying to keep things light even though they were probably at their heaviest.
Veronica	Having slept through Matilda's "Hey!", Veronica wakes at the beginnings of commotion and the movement of people past her room. Rolling out of her bed in one of the Suitcase's guest rooms, she tries rearranging her hair in the mirror once or twice before shrugging, giving up, and hustling up the stairs. "Oh, hey," she says on spying the infiltrator, "Have we--" she pauses to squint. "I think we've met on the radio," she concludes, still shaking off the grogginess. When Riku steps up to meet the Foundation's agent, Veronica's there beside him. She gives him a look that, though perhaps middlingly-hard-to-read in the dim light of the rebellion's still-awakening hub area, says with raised eyebrow Are you really giving her the time of day?. When he accepts Matilda's offer to parley, Veronica finds a tree to lean against and look tough. "You're in your Trídéag colors. Even brought a sword. Not representing the Foundation tonight?"
Odette Raskins	"Maybe she's got a mission from Commander Rook or something." Odette comments to Riku as she looks up from a pile of assorted supplies, having been in the middle of sorting out which ones sshould be used for what kinds of injuries as she heard Matilda's call for Riku. Seeing her in the familiar Trideag uniform gives Odette some potentially mixed signals. If she had shown up in Foundation colors, or with a sword raised, or anything indicating an intent to do anything, Odette might be a little more on edge. She doesn't, so she isn't. Odette herself, for what it's worth, is still wearing her Company-issued EMT uniform rather than Trideag's. She doesn't want to implicate her non-evil employer in anything she's doing here, after all, but she still wants pockets! "The sword.. Oh, yes. That's from work. Er. Trideag stuff. Must be some kind of mission going on." She asides to Regulus, holding up a finger to her lips in the universal shush-motion. "Must be something that needs to be handled saoon, if it couldn't wait until the next time." Hearing Matilda shouting in French for Riku specifically, too, helps to put the EMT at ease. She's only really met with Matilda in connection with their combined Trideag duties, after all, so it's easy for her to assume it's not Foundation-related even if the timing and the method is a little strange. All things considered, Odette's greeting is largely casual and unbothered. She waves lightly at Matilda, not suspecting a thing and even snickering a little at Regulus' comment without much obvious worry. "Shhh, Reggie. Come on, that's..." She whispers besides her, taking a second to settle down from another bout of giggling before looking back over at Matilda. "Hello, Miss Matilda! Oh, yeah, there he is. Did you want some snacks? I got into a new shipment of noodles back at work if you want something crunchy and salty."
Holly Asturias	Holly enjoys cooking, when she gets to! There's a standing order at the Sanatorium not to let her have freshly sharpened chef's knives, for unknowable reasons, but there's no such thing in the Suitcase, and having made a stop to see how everything was going, finding no one in need of medical attention, and having some rare hours of 'time off' with no emergencies, she'd elected to cook! It wasn't hard for her to bring supplies, after all. Something easy, something filling. Some manner of mushroom risotto, all-veggies, no meat. Perhaps a few too many mushrooms, but she really likes those! Like really really likes those, evidently. At least it's good? So when she pops out of the Suitcase, it's while she's still wearing an apron (who gave her an apron that says THE CHEF BITES ??), and she's wiping her hands from all the prepwork. "Is something the matter?" She's filled in quickly enough, it's fine! "Oh! If it isn't the wonderful Matilda! Instant noodles are fine," she asides of Odette offering her some, "But if you'd like some proper food I'm just about done with some? Such a meeting might work best over food, no?"
Foundation Scions	Where Matilda stands, in the moonlight, in the closest to a little clearing as she could find within the gnarled tree-filled courtyard, each new addition to the attention-drawn group comes with glances and slight wary startles. Regulus is familiar, her presence picked-up even before she's there in the light, or talking- her arcane flux is distinctive! 'Is that a sword?' With a little dignified sniff, "No, Regulus! It is my sword! Connaître les Papillons!" A little pause follows, with a shift in her posture, but nothing-yet like a hand dropped to its grip. "You two have not met." Matilda, visibly, lowers her center-of-gravity slightly when Riku gets closer, a little postural indicator of 'don't come closer', and preparing to move back and away, as he and Veronica approach. This isn't a friendly meeting, or just a chat, particularly much at all, but it is, for now, some guise of 'parley'. 'I think we've met on the radio,' Of course, Veronica isn't an unknown to Matilda. Not only has Matilda been watching, and the FDMO's role is and has-been to collate information, from various reports, interactions, radio-exchanges, and debrief interrogations. Veronica's presence for the Storm of 1929 (as well as '66) means at the very least, someone has reported on her involvement there, and through it, her capacities. 'Scary woman who turns to a large rock soldier' is kept in mind as she, thankfully, stays slightly-further away. ' Did you want some snacks? I got into a new shipment of noodles back at work if you want something crunchy and salty.' "Hein? What sort?" Brief curiosity- but the giggling at Regulus' little question of allegiance is, a bit difficult for Matilda to not very-slightly droop over. Holly, however, presses the food topic further, her presence (expected) but very worrying! She's seen her scary tail and scarier gun! "I do not, need any food prepared, merci beaucoup." Matilda is still prepared the stack of papers in-hand get held slightly tighter. Still, she sounds genuinely saddened to say, "Mr. Asakura? I have, here, printed-out and triplicated, a formal complaint to Paladins authorities, regarding your decision to, directly, and knowingly, work in opposition to an allied organization, the St. Pavlov Foundation." "There is evidence and explicit, verifiable account of you raising-up arms, to threaten and harm, employees of the Foundation, on behalf of outside allegiances. Such is very rash, unprofessional, and unacceptable, and is not a matter to ignore." No longer quite so proud a stance, but still firm, "I must implore you to stand down from your involvement with this encampment. If you do not, now, at this moment, and continue to remove yourself from its efforts, I will most-unfortunately have no choice but to send it through. The letter is set to be sent, already; so, please do not think trying to waylay me will avoid such! Yes, you may read the papers, but do not grow very-large to do so, or take them from me, Mr. Asakura." Worry is, a bit, present in her voice- surrounded by Riku and Veronica, and here in Druvis' woods, she's not so boastfully confident to ignore the difference in raw capacity for force and violence. She has, of course, been watching. Sad, but firm-expression, "Please consider what I have said very-seriously."
Foundation Scions	'Have you come to join the fun, Matilda?' "Ce n'est pas amusant, Regulus." Only now does she address that, and Odette, and Veronica- "No, I am here both as a Paladins Chevalier, and soon-to-be Investigator of the St. Pavlov Foundation- so, the very-same advice goes to all of you, to please, cease this demonstration. To hear again and again, how the arcanists and off-worlders have barged-in and caused so much damage, I wonder what good is to come at such-cost?" She isn't lying, of course, but what she's saying is geared more towards fostering guilt. The upset tone to her voice is genuine, the tremble to her arms is nerves. It's the cord of gemstones she clutches at for bravery, rather than an apparent weapon.
Riku Asakura	So here it is, the first thing the Foundation does is to send someone he's friendly with, on a threat to his support from the Paladins. To say it didn't make him stop for a second would be a lie. He considers the matter gravely because he has been a member of the Paladins for a while now, and he does get support from them for his homeworld. The matter makes him sweat quite a bit because it's putting his values against the threat of punishment for him and the people who believe in him. He doesn't respond right away, closing his eyes and deeply thinking about his path in a way that surely can't be healthy for the young man. His hand shakes, but he grips it with his opposite. The fact that she also manages to hit a critical spot by being afraid of him turning into a giant at her. It frankly hurts a lot to be seen as a threat by people, especially when he's fighting for a cause he believes in. He wants to scream at her, to protest the threat made against him. The smile turns into a deep frown. Finally, with enough will to speak, he looks at her firmly. "I've considered it," He says calmly. "I don't appreciate you assuming I would grow giant at you for trying to talk to me. You know I am not like that, and it's frankly hurtful." "I'm not going to stop my support for the protest. Vertin being sent off to Mesmer to have her brain messed with, the treatment of the people of the suitcase, the things I heard from Mesmer, and the treatment of children by the Foundation. If you file that, then I'll stand for what I'm doing the same way I am talking to you now." "But if you do that, you are putting people in my world in danger for the same reason I am here now, trying to stop people from being hurt and abused."
Veronica	Veronica gets comfortable against the tree, and lets out a (mostly-forced) chuckle at Matilda's allegations. "Which outside allegiances, big M?" Do people call Matilda that? Veronica calls her that, apparently. Then, continuing with a thumb wagging backward over her shoulder at the other protesting Elites, "Holly's played both sides, but you're not servin' her papers. Riku's true blue! Eh, true white-and-black-checkerboard, same difference." Another chuckle, this one genuine at her own quip. "'Course, they probably didn't send you here to really argue it out with us. I'd be surprised if anybody who's been inside a hundred yards of the Center was allowed to make a decision herself, eh?" A cheeky half-smile in Matilda's direction accompanies the dig at the would-be investigator's bureaucratic agency.
Regulus	''Shhh, Reggie, Come on, that's...'' "Uh, you're kind of making it out to be way meaner than I intended." Regulus tells Odette. This is the second time this has happened she's pretty sure and she's starting to wonder if Odette has a bit of mean girl to her which is actually a little awesome if that's true but she is trying to be relatively concilliatory to the Foundation in the hopes that they listen to the demands sooner rather than later because she's seriously worried about Vertin getting kept in the Sleep Zone for longer and longer. She believes in Vertin, but she hasn't even heard anything about the Proposal even being looked at let alone whether or not it's being considered. ''Everybody offering to feed Matilda.'' Regulus is reminded of the flower power movement once again where to speak for peace, people offered law enforcement and others flowers and the like to express their commitment and to make the protests seem even more reasonable. Is that what they're doing, Regulus wonders, or did they forget that Matilda works for the Foundation? Like, yeah, she offered Matilda an opportunity to DEFECT TO THE COOL SIDE, but she doesn't think Matilda's going to take it. She sees Matilda like Sonetto: Very endearing and a believer in the Foundation, even if she feels Matilda's a bit more openly canny about it. ''No, Regulus! It is my sword!'' "That's still ''a'' sword!" Regulus protests. Sometimes, despite being labeled as every inch an arcanist (ie: craziest), she feels like the only sane woman in the asylum. This isn't quite there yet, but she is slightly bewildered. It hasn't quite hit her that this is a puffing up of the chest. Trying to be conciliatory she adds, "The name rocks, though, for real. It's fab you named it." She'd rather people name their weapons than treat their blades as purely sharp implements to poke people with. In her mind, a little bit of honor and passion shown to one's blade hopefully also means they are a little more careful with where they point it. ''Mr. Asakura? I have here, printed-out and triplicated--'' Oh shit, Regulus thinks. She WAS joking about detention but this is actually kind of that vibe. But serious! For Riku!! Regulus has to think about this actually. She doesn't want to discourage Riku from looking after himself and his well-being and, sure, she's been a bit sassy at him in the past, maybe even sarcastic, but he could actually get in trouble. She doesn't have Knowledge: Paladins Politics at ANY pip level and she's not sure how serious a complaint from a Paladins affiliate would be. Surely, though, it wouldn't be NOTHING otherwise nobody would become affiliates of the Paladins. They MIGHT consider what the Foundation is up to right now to be against their charter, but she doubts it otherwise Lilian would've surely made use of THAT tool, right? "Riku, I won't lie. Your presence here is pretty huge for us. But I know it's a risk for you to be here. If you don't want to take that risk, I understand and won't hold it against you." She curses herself a little bit for saying so but she wouldn't feel right insisting or demanding. Would she be hurt? Certainly, but he's got his own stuff going on surely. Stuff he's risking out by helping. He's already helped out, so who is she to demand more?
Regulus	''Ce n'est pas amusant, Regulus.'' "It wasn't a joke." Regulus admits. "I didn't think it likely, but you miss all the shots you don't take." She figures Matilda understands that at least. She is watching the gemstones more than the sword. She's confident that if Matilda tries something besides throwing papers around, it wouldn't be with the blade at least not primarily. She can read the future, she used it against Petra, what is she planning? "I'll tell you what I think the good this will do though. I think that by resisting conscription into the Foundation, we put pressure on the Foundation to listen to our demands. Before we did anything, Vertin was already put under for a week for seemingly no reason. She is emotionally healthy and from my vantage point, she's the only one taking the Storm seriously enough to actually try to stop it instead of being paralyzed by internal politics and personal ambition." Regulus lowers her head, distressed. "I know that in the short term it looks like we're just causing trouble for no reason. But we want the Team Timekeeper proposal to pass and the only way it'll be considered is if we resist banishment and adoption into the Foundation's fold. Whether it has a point or not depends on the Foundation more than it depends on us." She hesitates and adds, "Now it's been three weeks. This isn't right. And this protest doesn't make Vertin deserve to be kept under even longer. They're taking advantage of Mesmer's past with Vertin to make us submit. That means they want us." She manages to avoid adding 'at least Druvis' after that (in her mind, Druvis is too valuable and awesome to let go of) and even manages to avoid adding 'they're taking advantage of your past too'. "We'll help clean up if our demands are met." But she falters a little. Is SHE putting Riku's people at risk? She can't fight a kaiju here. There isn't much that she would be able to do to repay Riku. And Riku recomitting to the protest makes her stomach squirm with guilt. Has she always been nice to this guy? Not really.
Holly Asturias	"Connaître les Papillons!" "Oh how romantic!" Holly, who doesn't fully grasp the cues and tension yet, is all too happy to wander in close and look (respectfully) at the blade the arcanist has brought with her, hands clasped together and visibly excited to talk shop. "Might I ask how you came to name it that?" "I do not, need any food prepared, merci beaucoup." "No? Shame." Holly pouts just a little bit. "Please consider what I have said very-seriously." Oh, so it's very serious. Holly is not a Paladin, and so she can neither relate to nor especially understand the mechanisms at play here. She supposes this is a bit like if Valentin came knocking on her door saying he'd received reports she'd been sheltering a patient that had broken the law, or somesuch. "Holly's played both sides, but you're not servin' her papers." "Playing is such a strong word when all I did was accept a drink while we bid our time, but I can't argue the spirit of the statement." And now here she is trespassing on the Foundation! Yippie. "If they wanted to talk though... there really wasn't any need to so cautiously send only one person? My I'm certain that Regulus would jump on the first chance to talk to people about all this, as she is with you right now. Surely they're not that concerned we'd take prisoners?" She peeks at Regulus. "Or... should they be, for our sakes?" 'Being taken seriously' and all that.
Odette Raskins	Smelling proper food from the suitcase has certainly done wonders for Odette's mood, too, and part of her does wonder if she should've saved her appetite for Holly's cooking instead of instant crunchy gratification. "Oh, almost done? You're a lifesaver, Doctor Asturias..." She comments with an anticipating sigh of relief, hastily zipping and putting away a little sandwich baggie of crushed up instant noodles. They're not even cooked. "Hein? What sort?" "I've got roast pork, shrimp and veggie, and spicy cheese." Odette answers Matilda helpfully, pausing briefly before quickly adding: "Oh, the pork one's the best for snacking. The cheese one's flavoring is all in the powder, and I haven't tried the shrimp one dry yet." Clearly, she's done this way too many times before. "Connaître les Papillons!" "Oh how romantic!" "Based..." Odette murmurs to herself, stroking her chin lightly while glancing at her side. She didn't bring hers, of course, since even this rebellion is something she's not expecting to need her sword for. She looks back over at Matilda a moment later, looking on with visible excitement for her answer to Holly's inquiry. "I must implore you to stand down from your involvement with this encampment." Unfortunately, it quickly becomes clear that Matilda's not here on Trideag business, but Paladins and Foundation business. Although there's some small relief at that, the impact it could clearly have on Riku and his paycheck is clearly felt in Odette's gut. The upset-look on Matilda can't really be ignored, either, and it's enough to get a sympathetic frown out of the EMT. "Miss Matilda..." She starts, pausing for a moment before shaking her head. It's not as though Odette hasn't thought about why she's here, but glancing around once at everyone helps solidify things for her. "I'm sorry. There's people counting on me here, so I... I really can't leave. Not until everything's finished." She replies, knowing full well it's not a particularly strong position. "If the Foundation does come to the table, though, maybe... Er. Maybe this could end faster, then?"
Foundation Scions	'Oh how romantic!' Matilda, simply, doesn't let Holly get close enough to actually see much of anything about the sheathed blade, beyond that it has a series of unexplained triggers. "'Based'? Yes, it is based-upon a quote, from, Le Petit Prince! An excellent book, highly worth-reading, er, to translate," Unnecessary! "The line is, 'To become acquainted with butterflies, you have to tolerate a few caterpillars'." Quiet-mumbled, "La journée d'aujourd'hui ressemble à une chenille." 'Holly's played both sides, but you're not servin' her papers.' "She is not a Paladin, clearly?" Matilda hmphs a little bit- "Though, surely, if she were, I would-be! As it stands, you are all 'in trouble'!" "I am, in fact, here on my own planning. Please consider this to be my first assignment as a Foundation Investigator," She says, slightly lying. "I would like very-much for this to be civil and simple!" That's fully true, though. 'You know I am not like that,' "I would not have thought that you would assist in a dangerous and destructive revolt, so, I think I do not know you very-well, Mr. Asakura." Matilda knows what his answer is before he even says it, not by any sort of divination, but that tone of his. Nobody 'considers', so firmly, if the answer is anything but no. 'But if you do that, you are putting people in my world in danger for the same reason I am here now,' Riku can watch how his words upset and frustrate Matilda, how that double-standard of accountability upsets- she's here, trying to be earnestly responsible, pointing to rules that he's, explicitly, crossing, and to hear that received as a dangerous wrongness, goes against the ideals the two of them are supposed to share! "You, are being highly un-fair, Mr. Asakura. You are, and have-been, placing my world, into more-danger by your actions here. Do you not see how many guards must pay attention to this display? There are quite a few! Each cannot work against the likes of the Manus, while occupied!" In a huff, more upset, red at the ear-tips even in the silvery moonlight, "Please be honest with yourself, that you are choosing yourself to the safeties of both of our homes, to do this!" 'Whether it has a point or not depends on the Foundation more than it depends on us.' "Please do not say such things, Regulus," Matilda adds, upset-firm, "It is a voting proposition, no? Surely, it will be voted-upon, and found to be good, more-easily, than if it remains so associated with this display!" Matilda, actually, surely, hasn't been able to read that proposal. She isn't Foundation governance, and spends most of her time where even Foundation sanctioned broadcasting of internal votes doesn't air. "I am sure a show of good-faith would go very far, by so-publicly showing a change of heart, and allowing-again the proper functioning of the campus. That, and cleaning-up, will do a great deal." "They want this to stop," Matilda says, after, also one whose past with Vertin is, more indirectly, being taken advantage-of by the Foundation.
Foundation Scions	Genuinely sad-looking, for the moments after everyone's decisions come through, Matilda stands around, like she might peacefully walk right-back out. "I had hoped for better, and, still do, but, there is very-little now to talk about." she says, crestfallen, before taking a quick, deep breath- maybe like she's fighting her mood, maybe it's something else- -Regulus is right to eye the cord of gems, clear, cleanly-faceted quartz. Grabbing it, fast and sharp, and raising it up to the air, to better reflect-refract the silver moonlight, Matilda shouts out the incantation, "Montrez-leur leur destins funestes !" Suddenly, all around the clearing, emerging from nothing, are spectral visions for each of the encampment elites and Regulus- fears, personalized to them, simply scary and gruesome, or more poignantly upsetting; failed loved-ones, loss, earned-consequences, as haunting intrusions. Matilda takes that moment of the incantation's flash-into-existence as a chance to dash away, to the side, deeper into the encampment. Her footsteps disturb no leaf-litter or dirt, and make barely a sound. Deeper in is bad, if she gets out of sight and lost! What can one Matilda do, unknown, inside the walls of the encampment, or Rescorla-Wagner's interior? Has anyone really seen her do much of anything in a scuffle? Will more magical jumpscares await?
Riku Asakura	'I would not have thought that you would assist in a dangerous and destructive revolt, so, I think I do not know you very-well, Mr. Asakura.' "This has been a protest, not a revolt," Riku reaffirms. "I'd appreciate you not trying to cover up the real reason this whole thing started, why we are here, and what the Foundation has done to cause this protest," And he's come to wonder if they were even really friends. 'You are, and have-been, placing my world, into more-danger by your actions here.' "How? By demanding that people be treated fairly? For the release of someone who is being held for no reason? To stop /child abuse/? Stop trying to characterize this as an insurrection, and instead of the protest, it is." 'They want this to stop,' "Then they can come to the table and talk about things. Simple as," Riku states, but it seems that Regulus is also agreeing with him. Or he's agreeing with her? 'Montrez-leur leur destins funestes !' Wait magic? What was sh- Riku's legs buckle. What she doesn't see, and what Riku does, is the dark, shadowy form of Ultraman Belial, his dark red eyes peering down at him, as the black claws of the Ultraman surround him. He can barely keep himself together as the laugh of the dark Ultra can be heard and felt by him. 'I'm proud of you, 'son'.' His worst nightmare is coming to pass, as the claws of the Ultra start to collapse on him, threatening to swallow him and his world into darkness. He screams for it to stop, trying to cover his eyes and ears with his hands. The image fades, but it leaves him shaken for a bit. He starts to reach for the Fusion Riser, but before he can grip it, he questions himself. Would she be justified in being afraid of him if he just used the power like that? Would he be any different than Belial? Would he be doing what he wanted..? Biting his lip, he doesn't transform, and instead intends to try to rush Matilda down.
Holly Asturias	"They want this to stop," "I'm no negotiator," Holly admits, "But I believe that is the intended effect? If you had told us the Foundation was fine with this continuing, we'd know we failed, or at least that they don't care." The Revenant sighs, lifting her hands high with an exaggerated shrug. "You should want this to stop, as we want it to as well. If this continues on and on then we've failed, too. No one here, I think... wants this to keep on?" At least, she's pretty sure? Spooks! Despite Holly having seen Matilda pull this off before, it was a much different flavor, and a much different context. Heavy as her father has been on her mind, and empty as the hole left by her mother has felt after Schneider, it is neither that greets her today, but rather a rotting version of herself, skin covered in red marks, heart exposed through a hole between her breasts, clothing marble and cracking, face ripped by a mask of golden hands tearing from above and below. It's a sight familiar enough to her. Enough to know it isn't real; not enough to stop the grip on her heart, that stops for all of a second as she clicks her tongue and sweats. She turns away from the Horror-specter, but even with Riku rushing, she doesn't want to open fire on Matilda. With a twist of her hand she sends a gush of golden blood towards Riku, a barely partial assimilation that forms a coin in his hand. He needs only clench it to receive Holly's ice formae, allowing him to imbue his attacks with, and control, ice. Ideal to deny routes, or pin someone you want to stop in place. That done, she turns back to face herself. "You are crueler than you let on, Matilda."
Odette Raskins	"An excellent book, highly worth-reading" "Le Petit Prince..." Odette repeats after Matilda, actually managing to pronounce the words correctly without butchering the accent or sounding like she's putting on a shitty imitation. "Sounds like something to aspire to without forgetting your roots... Mm, I like it." She doesn't catch the mumbling, but she probably wouldn't understand it in the moment even if she did. "Please consider this to be my first assignment as a Foundation Investigator" "Y... Mm. Good l... Nn." That, meanwhile, has Odette hesitating again. It's not like she doesn't want Matilda to succeed, having seen and heard of her earnest efforts before, but a success on her part does probably mean hampering the goals of the rebellion. Eventually, she settles for an uneasy thumbs-up directed at Matilda. "It is a voting proposition, no?" That's news to Odette, and she blinks slowly in surprise while glancing between Matilda and Regulus. It's the first thing that's really had her pause to think about the rebellion, but something still nags at the back of her mind she can't quite put her finger on just yet. "Is it really that... Could it really be solved that easily?" She asks after a long delay, the notion of the Foundation fairly considering the Team Timekeeper proposal sounding rather good to her in the moment. It's not as though she's known the Foundation to be that bad, after all, but there's one major problem that springs up as she considers that: Matilda's gone. Instead of Matilda, Odette sees many of her frequent fears, and a few of her deeper ones! She's screamingly terrified and fleeingly harassed by the sight of open flames, flying axes, and doors suddenly opening into the void of space appearing all around her, spiking her heart rate up while she scrambles all over the place to get away from the nothing that's actually around her. The worst of the manifested fears, however, comes in conjunction with all of those things flying at her: A field full of dying people, all people she already knows personally. She recognizes every face on the floor there, but what truly makes it heart-wrenching for her is the knowledge that there's too many of them to treat even on a good day, and no way to treat any of them while she's under attack. Even though Odette knows it's probably not real because she hasn't seen half of these people in weeks, the sight still rattles her enough to her core that she drops to her knees for a several moments and fights the urge to vomit right then and there. She's still trembling when she gets back up, and she wipes her face off with her sleeve before glancing around with a bleary-eyed sniffle without any clue where she's actually went. "... M-Miss Matilda, you jerk!"
Regulus	"No, we aren't taking prisoners! I only took prisoners that one time because I didn't know about The Storm but uh considering I only got saved from The Storm because of my horrible crimes it's hard for me to be TOO apologetic about it. I like being alive!" Regulus's tone is frustrated as she explains for the second time today she isn't here to take advantage of parley to be tricksy. Honestly even if she's doubtful it's helping, she's kind of appreciative of Veronica's bite and more rough approach. It's more in line with what Regulus is used to. While the protests she was a part of were peaceful, they were decidedly not POLITE. Odette makes her think the Foundation sending Matilda may have been cleverer than she thought--and she didn't even think it was a bad plan. She's got charm that's totally far out! But ... what is she up to? Regulus knows she's planning something with that cord, maybe as a backup plan, maybe as an escape plan, but she can't tell what. She's into Rock but she's less experienced on the matter of rocks. She understands Matilda's perspective at least with Riku. She's not entirely sure how their actions are affecting preparedness for the Storm but it's certainly, if nothing else, a DISTRACTION and a distraction could be deadly, especially without Vertin's ability to predict it. She's not sure what Laplace might have on hand right now. Of course, Regulus's own perspective is that a lot of people will suffer and die if they give in now, to say nothing of other liberties at play. ''...than if it remains so associated with this display.'' "They wouldn't even consider it if it wasn't for this display, love. I know protest is annoying to everyone but that's how it's always worked." But she does consider. "How about a Divination. You tell me that the future I want will come to pass if I surrender, swear on your name--" But it's too late, there's an incantation and Regulus braces for ---something.
Regulus	It doesn't work. The sad truth about Regulus is that there's a lot of things that she fears and attacking Regulus with her fears is exceptionally effective. Not all of these are super effective in discouraging Regulus from rebelling but they're all pretty effective in making Regulus turn her attention off of Matilda. It's also exceptionally easy for Matilda to slip away because Regulus is distracted by the sudden presence of rain being sounded from outside and because the Matilda Regulus is seeing right now is peeling away and melting into the sky and so is everybody else in the rebellion. Regulus scrambles into the Suitcase, though not all the way, to turn her head as the primal instinct takes over. "Get in!! Hurry!" She shouts before her conscious mind can really remind her that it's unlikely that the Storm would've happened already. She tries to force herself to look but twists her head away. She can't. She can't look again. She tumbles backward down the stairs. "Regulus? Mesmer just finished up with me and..." Vertin approaches from behind, impossibly. "Oh..." She stares out past to the Storm. "Regulus... You abandoned all those people to save yourself...? I didn't want you to go this far... Couldn't you tell?" She can FEEL the look in disappointed look in Vertin's eyes. A hesitant tone, as if suggesting saving her was a mistake. "...I understand, you can stay here, don't worry about helping. You don't have to do anything." The unstated 'And maybe it's better you don't.' Sonetto, nearby, awkward and almost shy, "...Maybe we should keep our distance. We're too different to be friends and besides ... Nevermind." She's a coward. She's just some cowardly lion pretending to roar. She just is scared of losing friends, scared of failing Vertin, scared of being swept away in the Storm. Maybe she really wasn't thinking of Lilian at all, maybe she really just wanted to get to Vertin so she, herself, wouldn't die. Young men and women with guts exploded out of her body accuse her. Why did you let Flamel do anything? Why didn't you stop him? If you were smarter and wiser and knew better you could have stopped him. Your one hour is a joke. Regulus closes her eyes shut. "It's not real, it's not real, it's an incantation, it's not real, please it's not real. It's not real, I'm sorry, I'm sorry I'm just a silly pirate." She weeps as she curls up into a ball then and there. "You should've saved someone else, yuh--you should've..." A stick figure hand rests gently on Regulus's shoulder. A cat meows. Regulus isn't willing to open her eyes. "Captain... It's alright. I'm here... breathe... Breathe..." Regulus shakes her head. She refuses to open her eyes and see what APPLe's condition might be. She's struggling to breathe between choking sobs. After all those struggles where she has been hanging on and putting on a brave face and masking for the sake of the rebellion and the future of Team Timekeeper, this is where she just breaks. "Floyd..." APPLe asks the cat resting on his head. "Could you please look for Miss Matilda? A confirmation of her whereabouts may put her at ease." The cat meows and perhaps acting on some instinctual hope of Regulus's or perhaps it's just APPLe's figured out how to make requests, turns into a shadow puddle and oozes up the Suitcase staircase and starts looking for the diviner as Regulus struggles to get her breathing down and her head on straight.
Veronica	"I am, in fact, here on my own planning." Veronica fails to contain her disbelief. "HAH! Am I supposed to believe that? You got that form in triplicate. Foundation doesn't let you have a bad day without their say-so, let alone something like this!" Her demeanor is borderline mirthful, with a lining of contempt. "It is a voting proposition, no? Surely, it will be voted-upon, and found to be good, more-easily, than if it remains so associated with this display!" "Listen, if it is gonna get voted on, it's only if we remain a thorn in the Foundation's side. If we just go away there's no reason to do anything different! That's how it always is. If they wanna stop us without giving anything up, they'll have to show us what they're really ready to do to some innocent arcanists and their friends." For a long moment, Matilda's arcane working appears to do nothing in Veronica's eyes - she assumes it was more narrowly targeted at the focus of Matilda's attention, Riku, who's already wobbling in horror as Veronica hurries up to steady him as best she can. In truth, Veronica simply has more available fears to sift through, on account of the link forged by EGO between her and Firefly Dam at large. When the spires of the Storm Simulation's 'new L Corp' tower from the depths of her subconscious she recognizes them as illusory. It's what crawls out of them that finally gives her pause - machines, dozens of them in all shapes, bearing the faces of her family and friends and folk over lidless, lightless cybernetic eyes. "H-hey, no tricks," Veronica stammers as she backs away from the apparitions. They aren't real, and she knows they aren't, but it's still more than she can stomach to watch these perversions of home and hearth shamble across the courtyard. Veronica turns to flee, only regaining her full faculties when she's clear of the light from Matilda's crystals. As she stumbles back to a steady pace, she decides to keep moving in that direction - heading for the Suitcase, in case Matilda slips past the other Elites and tries to steal the centerpiece of the rebellion!
Foundation Scions	'How? By demanding that people be treated fairly?' "Hein? No, by the very-same logic by which you just spoke!" Matilda, obviously, knows 'protest' to be a sometimes-good way to change policy, but isn't this level of damage and destruction egregious? An entire building enforested and overtaken, for so-long? Well! It's certainly keeping people busy, and she's certainly one to believe the Foundation's time and manpower would be better for the world spent elsewhere than here! 'To stop /child abuse/?' Matilda's eyes go wide at the out-of-nowhere insinuation- "Excusez-moi? What child mistreatment? Vertin surely isn't, and the listed-demands said nothing of the sort- I do not know what you are talking of, but, it is distressing! I hope very much that you are mistaken or lying!" 'Listen, if it is gonna get voted on, it's only if we remain a thorn in the Foundation's side!' Matilda, standing there, looks dismissive confused-concerned, face somewhat scrunched back, "That is not how it works, though?" A pause, and back to genuinely quite worried, "None of you are, legally-speaking, quite innocent, and, I would prefer the Foundation not do much of anything to you?" 'No one here, I think... wants this to keep on?' "I would certainly hope not!" Matilda says, with quite a difference in who she sees as having the onus to let up, give up, and go home. 'If you had told us the Foundation was fine with this continuing,' "If it continues on, and on, the Foundation will move on, and your pursuits will falter! I have foreseen such!" Matilda is a diviner, and a good one- whether this is a lie, or the truth, is, as-ever with divination, not provable from simply having heard it. Would she have made it up? Would she have simply messed it up? Is it, actually, a cautioning that this rebellion, as it's progressing, needs to change some approach? "You are surrounded, and the Foundation is not-at-all hampered! If enough time pass, surely, this all will have a stopper put to it! S'il vous plait, vous devirez entendre raison!" 'You tell me that the future I want will come to pass if I surrender, swear on your name--' That's really upsetting- Matilda looks saddened at the notion, that the only way Regulus would back down is a reading of fates, positive, in the exact way both of them do want. That isn't how divination works, but nor is it verifiable if she performed one! It feels like a dishonest sort of pressure! So, it's a relief, actually, that Matilda's choice of escaping-action obviates the need for her to respond.
Foundation Scions	Matilda, having dashed-off unbidden and yet largely unhindered, into the woods, isn't putting her small window of time to waste. It's inevitable she'll have to leave, by being chased out, or physically ejected, or simply finishing her efforts, and it's inevitable she won't by-herself retrieve the suitcase. Matilda's divination bought her a window when Druvis, perhaps most-capable to ensure she leaves the forest encampment, was not present to do just that; it's inevitable, at some point, that will change. It's also inevitable, as ever, that the Foundation will once-more begin their security forays back in to try and quell the rebellion, especially with Matilda's signal that the elites are quite distracted at-present. However, she still has bought time to put further plans in place- scampering around the woods, over gnarled roots and kudzu, past trees, without much to trace her by, and a quite-good awareness of where spots to hide and evade reside. The times Riku catches sight of her, she's tossing many small, clear, crystal-quartz gemstones into the undergrowth from the pockets of her uniform, difficult to see and find, and highly numerous. As he'll be the first to find out, and as others will find out later, each of these is incanted to act as a veritable landmine of a similar scary illusion to her getaway spell. It's a continuous effort to damage the peace-of-mind of the rebels, exceptionally hard to clear out, and scattered around to be a pressing issue. 'Miss Matilda, you jerk!' indeed- she doesn't feel particularly good about the effort, but it's her (upcoming) career on the line! To do anything less than 'a lot', would be a betrayal of herself, and her future! The marvelous Matilda Bouanich can do no such thing, even, unfortunately, if it means being quite mean to people she'd rather be friendly towards.