#119

What is transpiring presently on the Ocean of Dreams, now slowly going back to simply being the Gulf of Mexico, cannot be described, because the actual events taking place are being presently shielded from the narrative. Try as we might, we cannot breach the “trope-dome” spun over it by a certain Incomputare. Within are Incomputare matters, and the Incomputare are the Uncountable; so their tale cannot yet be told.

However, the dome is retracting at this point in time due to a spell cast that will make sure that you (not You), the reader, will not have to wait as I, the author, deliberate pointlessly until the dome retracts. Time magic is very nice, but very confusing, and Entry 117 was already weird enough, so I'll say only this: a long meeting has taken place in only the time necessary to jot up a couple of paragraphs.

When the dome retracts, it's only another hour until the airboat reaches the island. Of course, the island hasn't been mentioned yet, but indeed, a small island that is almost exactly two hours from the Louisianan shore is the location of the Blue Tower. The Blue Tower is spotted almost immediately by those within the airboat, but the now oft-mentioned presence of Inspector Fox prevents them from seeing clearly. This Tower, unlike its Red brother, is defended from the outside, however, and mounted machine guns begin to open fire on the boat.

However, You detects the presence of fuel tanks powered these guns; so before they even get three seconds worth of shots off, he drains it at once, and they power down swiftly. Thus, what would have been a dramatic struggle to survive is prevented from ever taking place.

Of course, the trio—or at least, the two from the trio who maintain sentience—want to avoid any sort of “dramatic struggle”. At least, until they can fight on land. Giant turrets aren't playing fair for now.

There's no way to dock the airboat aside from landing it on shore, but it's what they'll have to do. As they approach, the systems have already stirred up alarms. Guards will be on their way soon, likely supplemented with mutants and medics. The Empire can be very uncreative, and if they don't start specializing their forces they're going to lose.

They immediately step out onto the shore and start running. Now is the time to talk.

“Where do you suppose they are?” Susie says. “I think I can see better now that we're on this island...”

“I can't take my eyes off that Tower,” Mina replies. “Probably not a good thing given our analysis of it. But it looks like there's some secondary stations that supplement the Tower in some way. Maybe we can hack a computer in one of those and find a prison block?”

“Maybe one of them is a prison block. Let's try to be lucky.”

“Having faith, right?”

“Right.”

There is a large rectangular building ahead of them, which they head for. It has a hand-scanner, which Mina presses. She's amazed that they kept her and the others in the system after all this; but maybe they just haven't had time to react. It's literally been less than a day since they tore down the Red Tower. Now it looks like they're on a roll.

The door opens, and inside is a simple rectangular room. However, there are two Crimson Guards inside, which cause the two to stop for a second. The Guards point their pikes at them, and there's a single second where time slows down. But it's only a second. Susie grins.

“You,” she says simply, before dodging aside.

You walks in and his hands glow with crackling electricity. Within moments, it's all over. He chose the right weapon—if he'd used his fuel-beam the whole room would be covered in blazing fuel.

There is a computer terminal as desired, and Susie approaches it. Before she can do anything, however, such as hack past the password screen, You waves his hand—and they're suddenly logged in. The virus of Lord Kletus can be transmitted wirelessly now.

That's when Susie does touch the keyboard, and at once it detects her hand-print. Once more, before she can act, a message begins playing.

“So. Berkley's cousin, and the mutant's friend. You've reached the Blue Tower to rescue your Scotsman and the man himself.”

“That's Fox, right?” Mina asks. Susie shrugs, but knows it can't be the Emperor. “He doesn't seem to know what we...did. We did something...”

“At least, so S. said. We might have done something.”

“Sh. Keep listening.”

“I will give you a trial that you must pass to open their cage. Go through the door, and you will see it.”

But then, as Fox stopped speaking, the recording continued, and there was the sound of someone else interrupting. Susie knew it at once to be the voice of the Emperor. All he said was, “Wha...”

“Hm.”

A theory.

Mina has one too, but a different one. She turns to see the door that Fox referred to; and goes to open it.

Via the time dilation, Mark and Jacob are just now walking towards the exit from where they were sealed.

“Okay, She was right! We're not crazy!” Mina says at once. “How's it hanging, scumdog millionaire?”

Mark and Jacob decide actively to be very much like the reader (in a presumed hypothetical state) at this point and become very confused.

“What the fuck?” Jacob shouts. And we know he's not a shouter.

“I asked how you were doin'. We were in the neighborhood, figured we'd drop by...”

“Mina, don't be mean.”

“I can't honor my name's first syllable? C'mon. Not like you're bad company, luv, but I'm just happy to see this guy...”

“And I'm happy to see him too. And Mark, of course.”

“Thanks.”

“No problem. Now look. I think we're allowed to tell you that we freed you after...fighting something. That doesn't violate the clauses set up by our faith. Also, you're on an island. We chased you with You's airboat, and now you're near another Tower. Blue one this time. A likely base for the Emperor and Inspector Fox, given that we just heard a message from Fox indicating we originally had to solve some sort of puzzle or something to free you. But, because we've already freed you, we've broken his method, which I'm guessing is really important.”

“Um. Okay.”

“Wait,” Mark says. “This doesn't make a lot of sense. I feel like...something's missing. Time is messed up, and there are continuity flaws, maybe. Some popping in and out.”

“Hm. I thought about that. Guessing from some of the experience we've had when he's nearby, Fox influences time. Maybe someone's told us that already, because you're right. There's all sorts of things messing up, and I think it's because of him. Could he be a living continuity flaw? That's what I'm thinking, at least. Probably much more complicated. Involving eldritch abominations.”

“I think I was told something about eldritch abominations?” Jacob interjects. “Kul'ul? Does that name sound familiar? By the way, where's Doctor Kai?”

“We had to have faith...” Susie starts, but Mina interrupts her. 

“We had to do something that probably is linked to that weird continuity mess-up aura thing that doesn't make a lot of sense, except to Susie. Which means Doctor Kai, Klaus, and Madame Levingt are not with us. Well, except for...”

“Shush.”

“Okay. But yeah. We ran away from them, basically. Leap of faith. Apparently something is being withheld.”

“We had confirmation that the others aren't supposed to be at the final...”

“Now you shush.”

“Okay.”

“Um...” Jacob begins, but he doesn't know where to go with it. There's an awkward pause.

“Overall, here's what we know,” Susie says. “We had to leave Kai and Klaus behind. I think maybe this will set something up for the future, somehow, possibly because this has already happened to certain people involved. It's like a story to these parties, but the story is breaking because Inspector Fox exists. So we'll get intuitions that don't make any sense and things will happen not only because they have to happen the way that these parties remember it as, but because perhaps, as has been indicated a few times in ways that are hard to notice, our future or past selves are lending us hints. This ties in with the broken continuity aspect, which is making events hard for us to navigate through. I think maybe we are the parties remembering the story, perhaps shifting it around somehow from the future using abilities or devices we don't have yet.”

“Do you think the Cosmic D8 ties in?” Jacob asks. He doesn't quite comprehend but that's okay.

“No...I don't know how that links in with all this. Maybe it was rolled in a way where one of the effects made it latch onto our story? Who knows. Well, I know who knows, but...”

“Shush,” says Mina.

“Okay. Anyway. The fact that I know all this is indicative of the influence of vaster energies than we can know working on us right now. I think, overall, though,” and she pauses, looking up at the heavens. Then she sighs. “Okay, fine, screw the 'spoilers', I'm just going to say it. I think that because he has had multiple lives and is a seasoned time traveler, and because I think that She's the most important Being of all, Doctor Kai and Madame Levingt are the parties observing and manipulating the story. They have to make sure everything goes as it was told to them, or as they remember it, barring only the continuity troubles induced by Inspector Fox, who is vastly exceeding either of them. I'm thinking I and perhaps Mina only know this because Madame Levingt told us, but because She, um. Motions in ways most occult, we'll say, and because of the influence of Fox and possibly a pair of eldritch abominations, I don't know for certain what this all means, aside from an assumption that this will all be explained when it's all over.”

Mark blinks. “So. To summarize.” He clears his throat. “Time is broken, we're living in a fictional continuum, and that continuum is also broken because of a tug of war between possibly up to four Gods.”

“And the Emperor meant to capture people besides you and Jacob, because in the recording we just heard he was confused when Fox said to us that he caught you two. Did you hear the 'wha...' at the end? The Emperor is being lied to by something much stronger than him; but he'll get angry at it nonetheless. Meaning that he's probably going to die.”

There's a pause, but it's broken almost instantly by Jacob laughing. “And...we're deducing all this right now because of the influence of one of those Gods? That's...that's possible, right?”

“Most likely. Assuming what, uh...well, what Madame Levingt's other self possibly said.” Then she looks up again. “I'm really sorry. Please don't smite us.”

They are not smote.

“Pretty great explanation, given that originally I only wanted to know where I was,” Jacob then says. “I mean, by 'great', I mean 'confusing as fuck', but strangely the whole thing seems...saved in my head. I can look back at it anytime if I get confused.”

“And don't be afraid to ask questions. I think we've got some answers,” Mina adds, looking back at the metallic face of You.

Mark sighs. “Very well then. So you think the recording means that Fox is in that Blue Tower you mentioned?”

“Yes. And the Emperor will...no longer be an issue, soon. Possibly by the time we arrive, if things pan out the way I expect. Though I am going off of a limited psychological profile on Fox.”

“And...we're going to have to fight him?” Jacob asks.

“Yes.”

He sighs. “Because that went so well last time? Taking into consideration that he's probably stronger now?”

“I think we seriously broke something when we didn't let him kill you guys with his trap. I said that before. I don't know what, why, how, any of that stuff, but I just have a gut feeling.”

“Which I should say is better than blind guessing, which is something we could totally be doing right now,” Mina says.

They all think, all save You. You is elsewhere right now, separated by a wall of sorts; but You'll be back in the story soon enough. You's not entirely absent.

In the end, they only have the one thing they've just barely had all this time. It's all for one and one for all, and even in the face of total destruction a vow for such a thing will not be broken.

The ultimate battle on the penultimate island is at hand. It's time.