cancry | Superbia Underside Log

Superbia Underside Log

SUPERBIA DUNGEON LOG
Third time's the charm for the Executors, it seems. Their confrontation with Miss President ended peacefully and with the Superbia loop ended, the school was finally able to enjoy its hard earned festival. But it's not quite a straightforward happy ending – the way back up to the previous layers is still sealed and regardless, if the Executors want to progress, they'll have to make their way through the Underside. Finding the entrance isn't too hard. After all, it's where all of this began. At the spot in the gymnasium the previous Student Council President was corrupted, a familiar stairway stretches down, down, down into the darkness. It's been a long time coming, but it's finally time for you to graduate Superbia.
THE UNDERSIDE
♪♫ Maze Fortress – Sakuzyo ... or so you expect, anyway. Entering the Superbia Underside is just as disorienting as always, but for totally opposite reasons to the other Undersides. While the other Undersides have been vaguely recognizable distortions of their Layers, this one is so similar to Superbia that for a second it's almost unclear whether or not you really are in the Underside or not. It almost feels like a repeat of heading down to Superbia for the first time as you descend the stairs but as you get closer, your intimate familiarity with the Layer allows you to pick out the subtle changes. It's more run down than the school itself and you can see Revenants flitting around to and fro in all directions. A few locations seem to have been switched around and warped but for the most part, Superbia stands as you've always known it, frozen in perfect stasis, just the way a certain someone would have wanted it. AREAS OF INTEREST ⚝ SUPERBIA LOCATIONS: As mentioned above, many of the locations from the Pride Layer are in place as you know them here, carved into place by the repeating loops. They're run down and overrun by Revenants but assume that any locations not mentioned below seem to be the same below as they are above. ⚝ STUDENT COUNCIL ROOM: Given how things started, it seems like the logical place to go. The Student Council Room isn't a big place, so it shouldn't take long to examine, right? Or so you might think. The instant the door opens, dazzling light pours out, blinding you for a second. It takes your eyes a moment to adjust but when you do, you'll see the reason for that is that the walls of the room have been replaced with thick, almost perfectly transparent glass with the summer sun pouring in aggressively from the outside. As you follow the curve of the glass up, you realize this isn't just a room – it's a giant glass birdcage. And... I don't have to tell you it's occupied by a bird, do I? ⚝ CLUB BUILDING: Once a monument to the delightful inanity of high school life, the club building has been completely taken over by Revenants. To call it an infestation would be an understatement – the instant you open the door, you find yourself utterly swarmed by them and in the confusion, you'll be chased away from the exit! All you can do is keep climbing and fighting your way up to the third floor, and from there the roof, which is made a litttle hard by the fact that the Revenants seem happy to weaponize the equipment of the club rooms against you. Watch out for that falling piano!! Make your way to the top roof and you'll find a particularly grouchy Revenant on top who doesn't seem eager to let you go! ⚝ GYMNASIUM: See for yourself. HAZARDS ⚝ Structural Damage: Similarly to the Avaritia layer, many of the buildings around the city have fallen into disrepair due to the presence of the Revenants here. While some of the bigger structures are fine, Revenants may burst through walls to get to you and letting them go on a rampage in an enclosed space could bring the whole building down on top of you! ⚝ Revenant Types Present: Charles, Metrodorus

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[She looks like an Executor, speaks like an Authority. Hm. It's...unusual, unless they've found someone like Rei. Regardless, scythe is stayin' put.]

Or displeasure. You seem to be in a hurry, my dear.

We appear to have been running late to the fight, don’t we?

[said with a tiny, apologetic smile.]

And yes, we’re Executors. I’m Etoile, and the gentlemen with me are Chiron and Phoenix. May we ask your name?

If we were truly fortunate, we would never have met to begin with. [ Her voice is hard to get a bead on. She sounds... disappointed, is probably the closest word for it. ] She's created more of you, then.

[ With the Revenant taken care of, her sword vanishes as well and she begins to make her way towards them at a steady, unhurried pace. ]

What do you hope to accomplish by travelling this far into Purgatory? Surely you must know by now there is no way to leave.

We’re here as Executors by our own choice and will.

[Phoenix stepped forward when he heard her start to approach, sword returned to its sheath for the moment. A cane was less threatening, but he of all people could change that in an instant if this went poorly.]

…We seek to descend as far as possible, and repair what may be in need of repairing.

[Words chosen very carefully; clear enough without giving the entire thing away from the start. She must have known Rei, from the sound of things, but that alone didn’t necessarily make her either enemy or ally.]

Now perhaps you would be so kind as to answer Etoile’s question, since I’ve answered one of your own.

[Filing some things away For Later.]

Besides. [With what seems like a casual lean on his scythe.] There's always a way to leave.

I may be new to the team, but I made my choice without being forced to.

[she says, with a firm nod.]

Now, then, let's talk this out.

[ There's another long moment of pause and consideration. For all that she seems calm, it's also clear that this has wrong footed her a bit – she's having to take a moment to think over her words before she responds. ]

I'm afraid I can't answer your question. I've had no need for a name in a very long time.

[ Which of course, it not quite the same as not having one at all. But close enough. ]

You intend to repair the Cogs of Renewal, then. Do you even understand the task that's been put to you?

…If you insist, though if you think of one you might wish us to call you it would be easier on all fronts.

[c’mon, kid.]

[But at the question, Phoenix carefully thought over his next words in turn. The situation was a delicate one even if he couldn’t put a name to why, and he felt carefully measured honesty was the safest course.]

…It is true we all have less knowledge than some would like, and surely less than would benefit us. As the situation stands right now, we seek to fight against the threat of Purgatory’s stagnation.

If I might be so bold as to assume, it sounds as if you know something we perhaps do not.

[ ... The girl makes a low noise in her throat that sounds almost like a laugh. ]

... The Cogs of Renewal exist to give souls new life at the end of their journey through Purgatory. They break down everything they come into contact with, down to their smallest parts and beyond. Nothing is safe and nothing is exempt – not even a God could stand up to that.

[ She tilts her head with a curiosity that one might call... bird-like. ]

Do you think that a mechanism like that would just... cease functioning? Or do you suppose that someone might have broken it?

…

[Perhaps surprisingly, Phoenix was very calm at the suggestion; outwardly, at least. Internally his mind was already racing, putting a hundred things under a different light for consideration from another angle.]

[True enough that they didn’t know what had happened to cause the problem in the first place, did they? The fact remained that a problem existed and steps needed to be taken, but pursuing the truth of the origin had never crossed his mind in any lasting fashion.]

I do find such a thing to be plausible. After all, the fact of the matter as we know it is that they are indeed nonfunctional, one way or another… But to follow this line of logic, if they are truly so powerful as you say, then I do not think I understand what it is you mean to suggest had the strength to break them.

[Etoile is quiet, listening carefully to all of this. It's a lot to take in. After a moment's thought, she asks:]

You aren't implying that we broke it, are you? Or are you...

[she's quiet again, thinking her words over carefully]

...this layer looped, over and over again. Would an Authority with enough power be able to break those Cogs, if not permanently, for a time?

Edited (a word) 2021-10-13 17:03 (UTC)

Naturally someone broke it. Something as presumably eternal and ever grinding away wouldn't simply wear itself out. Hm, are there mechanics in Purgatory, do you think? [Phoenix can't see it, but he can likely feel Chiron looking at him. Very innocent.]

And just as someone broke it, someone can thus fix it.

But it is as suggested. We do lack specific information. But alas, since you've suggested there's no way to leave, I can't imagine you'd have gotten close enough to the Cogs to have any more information!

[ Another beat of silence follows – it's incredulous, somehow, as is the way she looks at each of them in turn. She holds for another moment as if waiting for some elaboration or explanation and then gives a disbelieving little scoff. ]

You truly haven't been told anything, have you? You've simply been told to take responsibility for another's burdens. Perhaps that's all Executors are good for in the end...

[ She trails off as if into a thought and then shakes her head. ]

... No matter. None of you should be aware of yourselves, regardless. Letting you stay sleeping and unaware would have been a kindness. None of you belong here.

We were given a choice, to exist in a realm where we were aware of our deceased status while no one else around us had a clue, bobbing along as though their hearts yet beat in chests of flesh and bone instead of plasma and pneuma. Or to gain ever-evolving powers, to join with people with similar powers, and move forward instead of stagnate.

Boredom or the chance to do something, even if that something was poorly defined.

[He shrugs, still leaning on his scythe, but his smile is a sharp thing in spite of his casual tone. Something about her words puts him on edge, so he will remain ever the skeptic about her.]

So we are a bumbling band of ill-informed idiots who absolutely do not belong here. Quite so. And yet, here we are.

What are we to do about that?

Chiron.

[Lightly admonishing. He didn't want this to turn hostile, but...well, Chiron.]

While I do agree with the point made by my friend, oft-lacking in tact and subtlety as he may be, there is something I don't understand. Should you not be relieved to have more Executors around? And for that matter, how did you come to be in this layer's underside? Your voice isn't one I think I recognize from the time we spent in Superbia.

[...dammit, Chiron.]

I would have thought the same thing, honestly. Many hands making light work, and all that.

[She takes a deep breath.]

That's the question I had, too. Were you down here all alone? I would hate it if that were the case.

You certainly have a lot of questions. [ She sounds more amused than anything else, like a teacher humoring a particularly inquisitive child. ] But I think you may be misunderstanding. I can come and go as I please. There is no place in Purgatory I cannot reach. Am I to assume the same is not true for you?

...Ah.

[He does not like that answer, even if the other two would like him to be a little more tactful. He won't tip any hands about needing the power of an Authority; either she already knows or she doesn't.]

Then I suppose the real question is: how do we know that you did not break the Cogs?

Is such a power normal for an Executor? I fear we may have been rather flying blind, so to speak.

[chiron please,]

You'll have to forgive us a mild amount of suspicion, of course. We've no idea who you are or how you got here, much less the wider picture of things here.

[Etoile sighs, the tone of her voice a lot more frustrated than it has been. She’s not going to escalate things, but she’s also tired of all the cryptic comments.]

I get that there’s a lot that we may not know, but there’s not a lot of sense in beating around the bush about things.

From what I understand, and I will ask all of you to correct me if I am wrong, we would normally be able to go back to the layers above Superbia. As it stands now, something happened and it blocked our access to the upper layers. I was under the impression that the time loops in this layer were part of that, but that was just a theory.

I’m doing my best to be upfront and honest with all of you. I would like to ask for the same, please.

Believe what you will. The fact of the matter is that regardless of who caused the damage, so long as Executors like you exist in Purgatory, the Cogs will not turn.

[ She says it almost matter-of-factly, but there's an uncomfortable gravity to her words. Not helped by the fact that she takes one final step towards the three and resummons her sword to her hand. ]

I imagine that you may have come here chasing some manner of Authority or other? In an attempt to secure your passage to the lower levels. But regardless of how deep you go, you will not repair the Cogs. You will be trapped here like the rest of us and you will be aware of every moment that the years pull apart your minds and your hearts.

[ She lifts her sword and points it directly at them. ]

Please. Don't be afraid. This is a kindness – I will strip you of your duties and break you down to return to Limbo where you can sleep peacefully for the rest of time.

The Authority of Superbia is not your concern. And I don't recall saying we were afraid.

[He didn't hesitate to draw his sword again at the sound of her movement, stepping in front of Etoile. She wasn't yet as experienced as the rest of them, and this was shaping up to be a problem.]

Neither do I recall asking for your help in deciding what we do and where we go. If our actions should be a mistake, then it is ours to discover and rectify, not yours. This is the only chance I will give you; walk away.

[It is not perhaps an unnatural stillness that seizes Chiron, given that they're dead and he has moderately accepted that such things as breathing and eating and sleeping are unnecessary, but given that he tends to do many of these things anyway, the way he freezes on his spot, eyes watching their would-be opponent like a wary cat, might be of note.

The smile is gone.

Perhaps the good part is that he doesn't add in his two cents, no snarky commentary, no mildly inflaming remark. He merely takes in her words and processes them.]

[Etoile may not need to breathe, but she does so anyway. She takes another deep breath, her hand tightening around the grip of her sword.]

No.

[There's a weight to the word that hasn't been there before, as she's unconsciously choosing to speak with a trace of the Authority.]

I didn't wake up just to be put to sleep again. I believe there's always a way to change things, naive as that may sound.

If I'm wrong for believing in that hope, so be it.

. . .

So be it, then.

[ The girl takes one step back and lifts her sword skyward. The air around it seems to fluctuate for a moment – you can't see exactly what's happening because suddenly, trying to look directly at the blade makes your eyes throb in protest. Plumes of energy in that same fathomless black as spent pneuma pour from her weapon and then with a deft swoop of her arms, she splits the blade in two and stands before them, more than ready to fight. ]

Show me how far your convictions go, Executors.

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