Scene #2548: Let the Truth Set You Flee

Owner	Pose
Entrapta	Entrapta's room sits quietly. The roomba rolls through the air ducts, occasionally emerging to tidy up dust. A sign on her door suggests that she's 'away'. It is in comic sans though, so it's possible that there's a joke there? Her email blinks. Messages from friends. Messages from the school, entitled 'homework due'. Messages from an Arabian prince, who she's been corresponding with about money transfers. Seven offers of higher educatin, drawn in by her clear and obvious intelligence. All are ignored; the room sits empty. Where is Entrapta? She is not here, the school's teachers are aware of her 'problems' and are giving her some slack. No family come to visit. There are none. But people have begun to worry. And then, as if from the void into which she may have vanishes, a blip occurs. On Rashmi's phone, which is of course linked directly to Nicomachea. A question, with no context. from 'Kouhai!!!' It says: What comes after exponential growth?
Rashmi Terios	It's been more than a few days, and Rashmi is seriously beginning to worry. She stopped sending up food when it was sitting out untouched, and twice a day sent inquisitive texts and emails... And none of it came back with a response. Considering that she now has three friends missing and corrupted and now her enemy, the Case of the Missing Kouhai has not helped her nerves. So when she's taking the advice of a friend, and spending some more time with her dragon Tamagotchi in Nicomachea's virtual-world interface, and 'Kouhai!!!' asks a question... Well it doesn't matter if she's upside-down, five hundred meters in the air, the question is getting answered. << Um... Infinity, I think? That's why it's exponential, it just goes farther up, faster, until numbers stop having meaning. Why? Also, where are you, are you okay, and have you eaten? >>
Entrapta	The first message blinks 'read' for a moment. Then when Rashmi starts asking further questions, they don't. Kouhai, for all her abilities, is not the most attentive person. It's possible that she's been kidnapped, but the initial question was not a cry for help, it was fairly standard Entrapta fare. So, possibly not that? Well, honestly, how could you tell? Entrapta could be kidnapped and unaware of it. Which her response, a minute later, might help to clarify. << The math doesn't work out. I have to figure this out before I can do anything else. >> Then silence again. There's something to be said for text messages, but sometimes you really need to be able to reach out and shake someone til they're giving you their full attention. This is one of those times. ... The dots that mean 'typing' And then....a slough of numbers and signs! She's trying to send a....oh lord, it looks like she's trying to hand-type a white board FILLED with math, over a simple text interface. It's gobbledegook.
Rashmi Terios	<< ...Entrapta-chan the phone has a camera. >> The sigh is almost audible over text, and it's some time before Nicomachea can decrypt the bits to spit out the math, analyze the math, then give Rashmi a quick summary. << ...What are you working on that you need to... manipulate... probabi-- okay I think I smell copper, Entrapta-chan what's going on? >> Luckily, now she has time to guide Anaxylotyh of the Silver Wing down to the ground, give her neck the mightiest of hugs, leave her with a basket of sparkling gemstones to snack on... and 'awaken' from the telepathically-imposed daydream.
Entrapta	<< Hang on, I'm calling >> the text says. Then there's a request to videochat. On the other end, Entrapta is too close to the camera There's a look at her chin for a bit, then it moves up to her left cheek. "I don't know what smelling copper is referring to, unless you're doing an experiment. Are you doing an experiment?" She sounds normal, if normal is harried and slightly exhausted. Then the camera swings away, and you get...glimpses...of that same math, but more of it. On a board, on the wall. Sigh. She's never been taught how to frame a picture. "Can you do anything with this? I'm not sure where the errors are, but the math doesn't work. The product worked just fine, so the math has to work! So it clearly DOES work, so I'm absolutely stumped."
Rashmi Terios	Best part about having a Device paired to your phone; video chats can take place directly within the audiovisual processing centers of the brain. << No, Entrapta-chan, >> she says as she sits straighter at her dorm-room desk. << I'm not doing experiments, that was a colloquialism. Phantom smells sometimes get used as a shorthand for the brain overheating when you're trying to understand something way beyond your ability to. >> The camera-view shenanigans are met with fond chuckles, but then she turns the view to the calculations. And her brain begins to overheat again. << ...Seriously Entrapta-chan, what are you working on? I can't make heads or tails of that, and Nicomachea's giving me an ETA and wants you to pan over the entire wall. >>
Entrapta	The sigh on the other end is very human, suggesting that Entrapta has been picking up some habits since arriving here. But the camera backs off, and Nicomachea and therefore Rashmi are both given a much better view. Yikes. She's got equations for days, some of them actually going off the end onto the wall. And they're magical theoretical 'physics', delving into movement of things using theories delving into multiple levels of energy. But the numbers are all wrong. They move into the wrong areas, negatives where there should be positives. Hold on. This is... "It's an attempt to move dark energy, I've found that it's the most amenable type to manipulation of energy states from one location to another. In fact, it seems to be entirely a system built to allow movement of energy with the most ease possible. I'm working on a method to quantify and manipulate relative states, allowing math to drive function. There's not nearly enough opportunities to work with magic directly, but the prototype doesn't match the equations and I don't know why." She pauses to breath, giving Rashmi the chance to freak out.
Rashmi Terios	<< ...Entrapta, >> Rashmi says, her voice very slow and urgent. << Where are you, and did you go there by choice? >> Uh-oh. She's using the voice she only uses when personal safety requires that Entrapta pay attention. << And why are you trying to move Dark Energy? >>
Entrapta	The camera leaves the math, going to Entrapta's face. She looks confused. "Um...room 14, sublevel two? I think. The Obsidian tower, they gave me a lab of my own when I blew up the one I snuck into." No shame, but entirely sounds like her. She broke in and blew up a lab, because...she was Entrapta. "Is something wrong? You sound like you do when someething is wrong. And I'm doing it because it makes sense. Magical studies can conform to science if you understand the entire framework well enough, and I knew that I needed to get a more complete understanding than I was getting assembling game systems into portable hair dryers." She flops on her seat, a nice chair at least. "Nobody lets me work with the actual systems. Even these guys are being remarkably reluctant to let me experiment on live power. Seriously, why is that? Am I that dangerous to be around?"
Rashmi Terios	Okay, so they gave her a lab. In Obsidian Tower. Where all the Dark Energy-maddened groups that they've been fighting against share security, resources, monsters, and very very occasionally, plans. Sometimes, being mhoujin is suffering. Massaging the bridge of her nose, behind which a headache is threatening to bloom, Rashmi tries to keep her voice steady. << Okay... It's not that you are dangerous, Entrapta-chan. It's just that your methods aren't compatible with local culture; we ask people to learn the theory first, then prove their knowledge of theory with practice. You very, very much learn by doing, and the average person cannot take the voltage you routinely can, so it makes people nervous. But... That's not anything you're doing wrong. I'm just... very worried. Not because of your methods, but the medium. >> Letting out a quiet breath, she tries her best to smile in a reassuring way. << Like... have you gotten mad enough to throw anything yet? Or kick a robot? Because Dark Energy has a very strong, corrosive effect on a person's emotions. It makes them do things that seem like good ideas, but ignore the harm to themselves and others as acceptable collateral damage. And I've been given to understand that Obsidian's departments are very, very secretive about the things they learn and implement, because someone else might steal that knowledge, and use it to hurt them. >> Passing a hand down her face, she looks into her 'camera.' << That's why I worry, Entrapta-chan. Because the people around you are steeped in energies that make them irrational and toxically emotional, and I'm scared of how that might hurt you. >>
Entrapta	Entrapta puts the phone down, and you get a view of her left hand. Tapping on the table, thoughtfulness in even that motion. Not her face, but she's never been anything but completely honest. It's good, and dangerous in itself. "I haven't noticed any negative emotions that I don't have on a normal day anyway. Depression, loneliness, sadness. I don't really do angry though. That's something you do when you don't understand what's going on around you, and you're actually just scared or feeling guilty for something you've done." Foreshadowing much? Yes. "But, like I said, they won't let me work with live power. I'm mostly doing math; I was thinking of just leaving and doing it at home but I really needed a dedicated space to work in. My room isn't big enough for the calculations and the school has asked me not to ..." She lifts her hand out of view, and you can almost hear her doing air quotes when she says, "Don't make nuclear launch codes on the younger years boards, they're needed for history lessons, Enissa." You can hear her being tired of it. Being treated like a child. The phone is looking at the ceiling. "Rashmi, you're too smart for those classes. Come help me figure out some real math, I can get you enough room to really cut loose and change the world. Also, I miss you." That last bit sounds sad. Well, she did say.
Rashmi Terios	<< Entrapta-chan, >> Rashmi chuckles. << You know I'm terrible at math. The only reason I can even catch up enough to keep you in sight, is because I have a Device that's way smarter than me there. But I miss you too, Entrapta-chan. And I'm gonna worry about you, because when was the last time you ate? I've heard horror stories about Obsidian's cafeteria... >> And there's real sadness in her voice as she goes on. << But I definitely don't belong in Obsidian, Entrapta-chan. Everything I believe in about people, and how the world ought to be... It's only barely compatible with some people in Obsidian, and none of them make decisions about what lots of other people in the company do. And the decision-makers there? They're... terrifying, Entrapta-chan. Not 'don't put a fork in that outlet' kind of terrifying, more on the 'don't press the world-destroying button' kind. >> Shifting in her chair, she tilts her head. << I'm not going to tell you to get out of there, Entrapta-chan. I'm worried and scared, so I want to. I want you to be safe more than I want your experiments to succeed, but that's my want. But if you could do something to help me, I'd really, really appreciate it. Two things. One'll be harder than the other, but all I ask is that you try. >> Taking a long, slow breath, Rashmi looks at the camera. << The easy one is, you can still come back to visit for awhile. Sometimes getting away from your projects help you work on them better when you come back. It's like you're seeing them again for the first time, and I'd really, really like you to spend some time with me, and Amy-chan and others if you want, just being around people. Touching grass. That's the easy one. The hard one... if anyone offers you something that has Dark Energy readings, and suggests you use it to make yourself more powerful? Please don't. Because it'll work, but they'll make all those bad feelings so much worse, and then they'll probably tell you to do something that'd make me have to fight you about. >>
Entrapta	"I was planning on moving my research to Kirakira...that ...." A pause, as Entrapta rubs the bridge of her nose. "That place with the horses. They have a lovely library. At least for a while. But I can come see you first, I think I'd like that." Wait she was planning to leave already? Why...didn't she...say so? Then, a pause, and Entrapta picks up the phone and looks at it, straight on. The best shot of her so far that night. She looks serious. As she says: "Rashmi? Why do I listen to you, when I can do math better than you can?" A pause, and she mumbles under her breath, 'better than anyone so far actually...' but that's not the point of the question, because she refocuses and answers her own words. "Because you have a holistic intelligence. A whole picture sense of the world. And in a lot of ways, you're smarter than anyone I'll ever know." Then, after a second, she adds, "And besides, the one time I tried to use dark energy it blew up, then turned to ash. Do you think I'm CRAZY, girl???" Um. I mean. Fair.
Rashmi Terios	Being complimented is... still a novel thing for Rashmi. Okay not being complimented, being seen would be closer to the mark. She spent fourteen years in the background of the world. Seven-eighths of her entire life were spent with only her parents properly perceiving her. Then came Molly, and Chrono, and all her other dear friends, so it's not like she hasn't gotten a bit used to being complimented. But part of it is probably, Entrapta is so often locked into whatever thought she's having, that her finding Rashmi important enough to perceive... Well, it's an accurate enough shot to bring tears to Rashmi's eyes, even as her smile threatens to conquer the lower half of her face. << ...Thank you, Entrapta-chan... That really... really means a lot to me to hear. And... Okay look if I was glued to your back I'd probably have known about that one time, but since I'm not this is the first I'm hearing about it! So okay, I don't have to worry so much about the second! And... Hm. Kirakirafantastica would be a good place too, temporarily... But I mean, you came through to here, so... Hm. I have a friend I need to talk to, but I might be able to find a way for you to have your own math space here, in Tokyo. It will also have access to cats, if you like animals. >>
Entrapta	Entrapta doesn't smile in response. She just smiles because life is good, and shares that love and self-love freely. It's a gift. "Oh you should still totally worry, I'd reach out and grab a live dark power socket if it had the chance to teach me something really good! But that's bad, and I'll do my best not to!" Sigh. Just shake your head, shake it good. "That one guy keeps coming and looking at my math, the one with the...glasses, I think? I don't know, he's kind of in charge or something. I'll be over soon, we can have a look at the work space!" Because of course she's being monitored, they probably think of her as a valuable resource. Free brainpower on a level they have to work hard to achieve, and with new and unique thoughts. The math is probably known and experimented on in other labs already. "Not fond of animals, but I do like robots! Animals tend to contaminate sterile work spaces." Well, that's not a flat no. Maybe she can be taught. But that is when Nicomachea perks up, offering a message. The math she's calculated is sound. It lacks only one aspect. Entrapta has never used actual dark magic, so she doesn't know how to add it into the work. Obsidian has a working prototype. Obsidian has mathematicians who use dark magic themselves, and could have finished the work. Entrapta does not know. And, whatever it is, they probably have it active. Now.
Rashmi Terios	<< Oh the cats are in their own space, they don't roam the whole building, >> Rashmi is quick to clarify. << But they're also very affectionate, and as long as you're not allergic you could definitely test a saying that's been running around lately; 'Self-care is putting your face on a soft cat.' >> Nicomachea pings out his message, and a complicated expression crawls over Rashmi's face. She takes a moment to consider the benefits and drawbacks of not saying anything, but... Entrapta's her kouhai. Not giving her the full truth would hurt on many, many levels, especially after the angst she'd just vocalized. << ...So... Nicomachea's analysed your math, >> she begins, a fresh pit of dread opening up in her stomach. << The problem isn't your math, it's your experience. If you don't know how Dark Energy moves... Like if you haven't learned Dark Magic... then actually implementing it is gonna be beyond you. But, Entrapta-chan... Obsidian is filled with researchers who use Dark Energy... Some of them can at least interpret your math... So they probably already have. Has... That guy who comes around said anything about a prototype? >>
Entrapta	Entrapta was about to talk about the cat. In fact, she gets out, "I could do some tests..." before she manages to detect something on Rashmi's face. She listens. She frowns. Then she says, "I used some work I found in the first lab. It was just sitting empty. And I built them one. I couldn't figure out why it worked..." A lab just happened to be sitting around, empty. With exactly what she'd need to make her ideas come to life. Does anyone else find that far, far too convenient? Is anyone else now very, very worried? "Hey Rashmi. I think I might take a less direct route getting out. Just a thought."
Rashmi Terios	<< ...Good idea, >> Rashmi agrees, brows furrowing. << Let me know if you want a shortcut at some point along that route. Possibly also backup. >> Yeah, the two of them seem to be thinking along similar lines. << I'll make sure to have those rice balls you like waiting for you, the little ones. >> With a deep, deep mental sigh, she starts giving orders for Nicomachea to process; messages sent to Chrono, Catra, and Setsuna that Entrapta might need some help getting herself out of trouble. One to Nephrite, asking about how Mamoru's doing -- and by extension himself and the rest of the boys -- and if they're up for her to visit. Others are pondered and discarded for now. << I'm glad you texted me, Entrapta. >>
Entrapta	Entrapta nods, then hangs up. Which is probably best, it's possible that someone might be watching and hear any of her plans. Actually, it's almost certain. Her lab is bugged, of course it is. There's no way they'd just leave her alone without anyone watching. So, now it's time to trust her. Give her a chance to see what she can do on her own. In the heart of Obsidian, surrounded by people who could, at any turn... Well, you know. Mahou stuff.