[Video]

[cloakand_danger]

[Today on the network, there is a man with long blue hair. Ordinarily a grouchy fellow, today he looks calm and thoughtful.]

...So. We're all told when we get here that we're needed in order to provide power for a world in crisis, a world that can't survive any other way. We're drawn here from many worlds, across time and space, for that purpose: in order to keep this world alive until such time as it can sustain itself.

My question to you is this: what does your world use as power? My world has a great tree which produces energy known as mana, upon which all things rely to live. And indeed, we've only recently managed to end a prolonged crisis regarding the death of that tree and the need to sprout a new one. The actions that we took in the interim, to keep our world alive, could only have been regarded as desperate.

Have any of you faced similar crises in your own homes? What happened, and if it has been resolved, how?

And one other thing.

[Here, he narrows his eyes, and his tone grows colder.]

Why haven't the maintainers of Saeng Seong asked you about it, to gain from any potential knowledge you might have, rather than merely using you as a battery?

Comments

[video]

[sunshine_maiden]

We use whatever's near to hand. Electricity, mostly, though there are a few things that use magic, and some other arcane energies few understand, and fewer can wield.

As for crises... yes. My world is at war, after a meteorite struck it seventeen years ago and damaged or destroyed large parts of the planet. The few resources that remain are being fought over by the remaining factions, while everyone looks to space, and space looks back with heavy weapons to encourage us not to leave. So no, things haven't been resolved.

Oh, and I've spoken to a scientist working for the city already - they're making a few last-minute preparations before they're willing to bring us in to work on the energy issues, or so I was told.

[video]

[cloakand_danger]

Is there a way for machines to harness the energies used in magic? That's something that exists in my world, and helps those who aren't able to use magic on their own.

As far as what you've been told...if it's correct, I certainly don't mind waiting. [He shakes his head.] I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt for now, but they're certainly aware that the situation they've put us in isn't one that engenders much trust. If they're intending to ask us for our help in other ways, it might be diplomatic to let us know, and perhaps even provide a timeline, rather than vague promises.

video;

[cruxified]

Are you suggesting they could want to take something-- perhaps a seed of mana-- from one of our worlds in order to solve their crisis? There is no guarantee that what we have struggled to achieve would be helpful to these people in any way. In fact, I'm surprised that whatever energy this city runs on doesn't react violently to the differing energies of the people living here.

[I feel like there should be some desk slapping here. Alas, wrong canon. We are not lawyers.]

Isn't it possible that there are cities besides this one? The city doesn't have the feel of being the last bastion of humanity, so there must be another reason why there is no communication from other parts of the world.

[dontthesunlookgoodtoday]

Electricity, mostly. [nooooot going into how that's produced, since given they're disconnected from all the original sources who the hell knows.]

You think that'd turn out well?

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[feetarestrange]

My people live in the ocean, and we use a moonstone and its light to keep away anything that might attack us from deeper waters.

[sunshine_maiden]

That's... a hard question. My world is trying to make them, and we do have a few machines that run on magic - I flew a giant robot that ran on magic. But by and large, no, not really.

And yes, they know that the current situation isn't really good for foreign relations. The young man that spoke to us about everything that happened - just after the temperature issue, in fact - mentioned the city is trying to accelerate the gain from the energy we produce, though there was no mention of seeking assistance from the visitors in actually producing energy in other ways. I guess we'd have to ask.

[video]

[redcladidealist]

[Well, Yuan already knows what Lloyd's world uses for mana, and more than what Lloyd knows about how their crisis worked out (will work out?), so Lloyd focuses on an entirely different aspect in Yuan's question.]

What's a battery?

[Video]

[guiding_starlight]

Perhaps they should have sent emissaries to our worlds, to make their pleas known or bargain for the information needed to fix their problems. [ She lets that comment sink in as if in answer to his question. Her expression was kind at first but shifted to something more skeptical in nature as the pause came to an end. ]

I fear then, that if such an opportunity was available and they did not take it, that the problems of this world run deeper than that.

[little_girl_lost]

Mostly, the sun.

Lots of other stuff if we have to travel through space and stuff.

But on Earth, everything comes from the sun in some way or other.

[cloakand_danger]

At least you have the beginnings. It's similar in my world, at the moment, due to magitech being suppressed for some time, but progress is being made toward restoration now that those restrictions have been removed...for better or worse.

I suppose we will.

video;

[cloakand_danger]

I don't know if that would be a solution or not. But surely they can't have reviewed all the possibilities so thoroughly that learning about other worlds straight from the source would be of absolutely no benefit. At this point in time, no one knows our world and the way it operates better than we do, and I doubt they've contacted you for an interview either.

Maybe there is communication from other parts of the world, outside the limited network provided to us. We are entirely dependent on our captors for information right now. [One look at his face could tell anyone in the world how much that chafes at Yuan, let alone someone who knows him as well as Kratos.]

[cloakand_danger]

I don't know, and I don't see how they can, either, until it's been tried.

video;

[cloakand_danger]

Interesting. Does it provide you power in other ways as well, or only light?

[video]

[cloakand_danger]

It's a magitech device. They're...storage units for energy, used to power devices that are cut off from a steadier source, usually either as a backup or for portable magitech that would be inconvenient to keep tethered to a wall.

[Video]

[cloakand_danger]

If they have the ability to travel between worlds, I don't see why they couldn't have tried. Surely they would have found enough willing volunteers sympathetic to their plight.

There may well be a reasonable explanation for their methods, but I would certainly like to hear it.

[cloakand_danger]

Your world has space travel? That's something we lost most knowledge of long ago.

[guiding_starlight]

I can't speak for what technology they possess, but from the conversations I've had with them it appears that the method used to bring us here only works in one direction. It's less a matter that they won't travel to other worlds, but that they can't. [ Nanoha relaxes her expression somewhat. ] I don't mean to offer excuses for them. It's just my theory.

[little_girl_lost]

Well, Earth is just getting started on it, but yeah. Do you guys have nuclear power? They still use a lot of that, too.

[feetarestrange]

I don't think so, but without one, we're as good as...

[On second thought, Nami would rather not finish that sentence.]

It's pretty important that we have one at all times, but they only last for one hundred years.

[video]

[redcladidealist]

[Something that could store energy... Even with as little experience as Lloyd has with magitech devices, it only takes a moment of thought to zero in on something that that would be useful for.]

Could you use something like that for a Rheaird?

[Hey, it kind of leaves a lasting impression when you crash because there wasn't enough mana.]

[dontthesunlookgoodtoday]

Guess not. It'd be a gamble, though. And if they got no response they could run entirely out of energy before anything got done.

video;

[cruxified]

[thatswhatmakesyouhahaha.mp3]

If discovering alternate methods isn't their goal, then there must be a reason. It might hold no benefit to them to solve it any other way. But why?

[There are usually multiple ways to solve a problem. If they're forced to relieve the power situation using outside help, then perhaps--]

We need to know what caused this so-called energy shortage. If there is a clear solution, then there is a clear problem that we haven't been told about.

video;

[cloakand_danger]

...You're right. We have to find out more. I want to try to find a source outside the official channels, but... [Where would they even start looking, in this unfamiliar world?]

[cloakand_danger]

They've clearly already found some kind of solution, in kidnapping us here and using us to generate energy. All I'd like to know is, how can they be sure we can't improve upon their solution? Why are they using us as pawns, rather than regarding us as potential allies?

[cloakand_danger]

I see. When one does go out, how are they replaced?

[video]

[cloakand_danger]

If only. [Yuan sighs.] We don't have batteries that could store that much power - at least, not in any form small enough to be portable. It's theoretically possible for a Rheiard engine to be powered off one, but with our current levels of expertise, it would be too heavy to lift itself. I've had engineers working on that for a while, along with mounted weapon systems - or rather, I did - but they never managed anything that would be practical in the field.

[cloakand_danger]

That doesn't fit, though. They can send people home - they've done it. And they can bring people here. The transportation does go both directions, so why can't they send themselves first, and then bring others here?

[cloakand_danger]

Nu-cle-ar. No, I can't say that we have anything by that name. [They have magic wave motion guns when they want to destroy cities in one blow. Less fallout, except for the part where the things tend to kill mana trees, anyway.]

[guiding_starlight]

As nice as the thought is, there is nothing that proves that anyone leaves when they go missing for a time. In my past experience there was no such possibility. [ It's hard to talk about the subject and not be a total buzzkill. ]

[little_girl_lost]

You get it from splitting and fusing atoms, yeah.

I guess science from our worlds is all over the place.

[dontthesunlookgoodtoday]

So everyone gets home happy and no one has to be kidnapped?

Tricky. And I don't think they're going to give us any straight answers. Maybe they don't trust us with the details of how it all works behind the scene.

[feetarestrange]

It's the tidecaller's duty to find an abysal pearl in the Great Deep, then journey to the surface world and exchange it for a new moonstone with one of the landwalkers.

Probably is, I still haven't found anybody to make the trade with, and I'm running out of time.

[video]

[redcladidealist]

Oh. Damn, that's too bad. We could have really used something like that.

[Then, inevitably, his attention is drawn to something Yuan just said. Inevitably, because what healthy teenage could possibly miss something like that. Interest paints itself clearly onto his face.]

You were thinking about putting weapons on them? Like what kind? What about those beam gun things that your raybits had? Those would be really cool to have!

video;

[cruxified]

I'm not sure that's an option.

[He is to the point, as always.]

Perhaps we need to ask them the right questions. [He's not sure it'll work, but...] If there are many of us, we'll be difficult to ignore.

video;

[cloakand_danger]

It's a start, at least.

[He sighs.]

This is so frustrating.

[cloakand_danger]

Strange of them to ask us to trust them, but not extend us the same trust, don't you think?

[cloakand_danger]

...And now, you're trapped here with the rest of us.

[how many worlds are there that are in danger of total collapse?]

[video]

[cloakand_danger]

Something like that. [Yuan is pleased by Lloyd's enthusiasm, though he's trying not to let it show.] The weapons were actually pretty well through development - the biggest problem with the prototypes was that the Rheaird's power system wasn't set up to handle that much energy drain all at once. I'm sure you remember, magitech weaponry uses a huge amount of mana, even compared to other magitech. ...Essentially, it was forcing the pilot to choose between powering the weapons and powering the engine. Not exactly a stable design.

video;

[cruxified]

We must try all avenues before we escalate the situation. [It would feel wrong to draw their weapons. Their captors have never shown any real aggression.]

... I know. This is entirely different than what we're used to dealing with.

[dontthesunlookgoodtoday]

Comes of getting to transplant people places, I'd say. But yeah, if they really want to get us working with them properly, they could stand being a bit more open.

[his mouth pulls to one side, though. He doesn't think it'll happen that soon.]

[feetarestrange]

You catch on pretty quick.

Why did you want to know about power sources?

[video]

[redcladidealist]

[Nope, can't let Lloyd know you have a soft spot for him.]

Aw man. Why do all the coolest things require so much mana? Is it really that big a deal if I want to blow up some monsters?

[Ladies and gentlemen, Lloyd's priorities.]