text; un: alenko

[majorbiotic]

If anyone is investigating the mines, be careful around the ore they take out of there. My co-workers at the Trading Post have warned me that it's very dangerous. I tried to confirm this by scanning some with my omni-tool but it doesn't even register that there's something physically there when I try. And my tool does work-- I tested it on a chair just to make sure and the readings were normal.

But back on the subject. They tell me that the ore is made into something they call "pulsefire". All three of my co-workers agree it's nothing good. One of them said that if you use it as flint, it'll create a pulsefire storm "as big as a whole town" and then said it killed her grandmother. Another told me that it's "pure evil" and "only kills living things in its path".

Has anyone else come across this "pulsefire" in their investigation? I would suggest trying to sprinkle it into your conversations with the locals and gauge their reaction. The comment on a storm "as big as a whole town" really set off alarm bells, considering everything else we've discovered so far.

There's also something else that's been troubling me. Whatever is happening is affecting our technology and even our perception. Words blur and start to look like gibberish if we focus on it for too long. My omni-tool didn't register the ore as a physical object and when I tried later, it just turned off. And of course we have the locals who repeat themselves or just look blank if we ask them certain questions. It feels... too familiar to things I've seen back home. I don't like it. I really, really don't like it.

Comments

text, un: silent

[callada]

Alarm bells might be putting it mildly. Didn't we just have someone talking about how those mines also have snakes that eat ash?

text. un: 10-54.

[construing]

Yeah, that was me.

[ wow, she really hates this. ]

[callada]

And there's no ash to be found, even where you were looking in the mines.

Sounds like there might have been an awful lot of it recently, though. Maybe a whole town's worth.

[construing]

[ she confirms it. ] No ash I could see in the mines, and definitely no ash in town, but the embera are eating something, and their trails led from the mines to town.

[callada]

Not everything here adds up, we all know that. Those bandits just disappeared after the attack like some kind of an illusion. What if there's a whole ruined town right under our noses and we just can't see it?

text; un: stargirl

[bossily]

The mention of pulsefire as big as a whole town that only kills living things in its path is a bit concerning. Especially since I was considering the possibility one of the children at the school may be exempt from the blank staring and looping we see everyone else here doing.

[majorbiotic]

Only one of the children? Does anything else stand out about this kid?

[bossily]

His family name. Branson.

[majorbiotic]

I see. I don't want to involve a kid if we don't have to.

[bossily]

Thank you. I've grown fond of him since we've been here. I'd prefer to not involve him or any of the other children unless it's absolutely necessary.

text; un: Sabriel.Abhorsen

[bindsthedead]

A 'pulsefire' storm as large as a town, trails from ash-eating creatures that lead into town from the mines.

And when I tried to sense if there had been any recent death in this town, I was blocked by the orb- to the point that it started draining me when I tried to push through the block.

[majorbiotic]

I think it's safe to say that whoever is using the orb doesn't want us to know what really happened in this town.

I'm not feeding this thing again. We have to come up with another solution.

[bindsthedead]

Which raises the question- why? Is it simply wanting to pretend whatever it is never happened, or is it something more sinister?

[majorbiotic]

It feels sinister to me, but then again we don't even know if these people are real or if they're simulations.

[bindsthedead]

They feel alive, but I'm not sure if I trust that feeling.

And if they are... what if the orb is the only thing keeping them that way?

Text | un: Sundance_kid

[spacedisaster]

With Gwen we talked about the idea that there might have been a fire in town and that's why there are so many snakes that feed on ashes around the land. And that perhaps the owner of the orb used it to replicate the town.

If that ore really does what you say... [ Well, he's sure Kaidan can draw his own conclusion about what might have happened to the original citizens. ]

If we try to read all documents, the words also blurr together, it's impossible to understand them. And trying to get one of the locals to read them also doesn't work.

What do you mean with too familiar? What happened back in your home?

[majorbiotic]

We can't really know for sure. We've discovered that the townspeople are a little unreliable when it comes to information. Still, since all three of my co-workers had a negative reaction to discussing pulsefire, I think it's worth continuing to investigate.

Back home, there are ancient creatures who can control the minds and bodies of other organics. We call it being indoctrinated. Our crew was tracking down one such creature and we came upon a mining colony under its influence. The people there started repeating themselves if we asked them certain questions. We managed to free them from the influence and we discovered they'd been like that for ten years with no knowledge that any time had passed.

[spacedisaster]

Not yet no, but it's a clue. If pulsefire is so dangerous, maybe they should stop mining ore altogether. I doubt that would be an option, though, or that they would listen to us if we suggested it.

Ah, shit. Brain parasites of a sort? Ten years is a long time, those poor people must have felt so lost afterward.

Sounds a bit like the movie Alien, ever watched it? It's great but a bit gory, the aliens always end up killing their host when they start growing inside the bodies and 'hatch'.

[majorbiotic]

I brought up that concern, but they kept telling me that the ore itself was fine. They actually use it in the structure of this town.

Ah, no, it wasn't a parasite. It was more like mind-control. We tried to help them as best we could, took them to the Citadel so they could try reconnecting with any surviving family.

[He absorbs that in silence] It's probably for the best that movie stopped being popular before first contact.

[spacedisaster]

I see. Do you know if they only mine the ore here of it it's used all over the planet? Because that would mean that pulsefire could be available anywhere if one knew how to make it.

The end result sounds just as bad, I feel sorry for these people. I know what's like to be trapped in your own mind like that.

[ Ego did something similar to him. It wasn't pleasant. peter can't help but smile a little at that last bit. ]

Heh...yeah, it is.

text | un: goodvibes

[aurable]

I've been in the mines on several occasions and in places that humans can't access due to lack of oxygen or other hazards but haven't come across "pulsefire"

I can lean into my rapport with the other miners and ask around.

[majorbiotic]

It's made from the ore they dig up and take back into town. I didn't ask what makes it become pulsefire, but I think just mentioning the word might cause a reaction.

[aurable]

This opens the possibility one of us is going to suggest interrogation now that we're being starved out and going nowhere fast.

[majorbiotic]

I don't think it's a question of if we'll interrogate, but whom. The mayor? The sheriff? I really don't want to involve that kid Clara says is unaffected by what's happening.

[aurable]

Process of elimination? See who is least affected by the memory loop. Not too long ago, we watched a resident disappear outside the town's boundaries, thinking we were mugging him only to show up right back where we met him the next day.

Granted, the man was three sheets to the wind but had no recollection of the events.

Maybe whoever retains the most memories of an event like that would have the most answers.