The Journey Begins
It's the Virtual Reality Gaming Con, VRGC, in 2057. September 1st. The thousands of people attending the annual event have flooded the large, sprawling complex. Scarlet, Ryder, and Nyx are all attending. For the moment, everything is occurring normally. People are taking sodas from vending machines, and eating from the food court, conversing with each other, in the lounge.

@Sanity43217
You have a room assigned for your character to take people's autographs. A comfortable place to sign for people and answer choice questions. For now, you're on break. At the food court, Nyx and Scarlet, and you all seem to run into each other, almost literally. In addition this event, an old looking Englishman with glasses seems to be a fourth man who joins the near collision.



Wordlessly the old man seems a little disappointed, somehow, but no one can quite seem to pinpoint now, a moment passes, then he finally speaks. "Only three of you?" He states.

Scarlet had traveled a ways to visit this convention. She had been excitedly looking forward to it, expecting the reveal of the newest game in one of her favorite series: 'Immortal Signs'. Of course, that was months ago - before the changes had come over her. After a few feverish, sleepless nights, she had become one of those rare individuals who develop inexplicable powers. Now that she had acquired such unique blessings, the escapist fantasy of video games just didn't appeal to her as strongly. Back then, she was a depressed teenager with little freedom; her parents never would have let her come out here for a convention. But now, she was master of her own destiny. Those overbearing jerks couldn't do a thing to stop her - nobody could. In truth, her mother and father hadn't heard from her in weeks, and she still wasn't feeling a bit guilty about that.

Dark leather boots stomped confidently through the venue, just one piece of a coordinated all black get-up. Scarlet wasn't dressed as any particular character, but her bold goth presentation and the thick horns on her head still gave the impression of cosplay. She was drawing more than a few glances as she went around with a cocky smirk, occasionally munching on a chili dog that she'd intimidated a vendor into giving her for free. In the food court, there was a near collision with several people involved, which wasn't so unlikely in a busy place like this. But Scarlet didn't apologize or pull back, instead she took another step towards the old man before her - invading his personal space and threatening to run him over.

His question didn't make much sense to her. How could the number of people involved in a chance crossing be important, or disappointing in any way? The dark haired girl chalked the utterance up to probable senility. "Eh? Watch where you're going, pops." Her attitude was a bit rude, like she wanted him to squirm.

---

Well, she was here. Nyx still wasn't sure how she had managed to convince Security that her sword was a replica and part of her "cosplay," consisting of a blue cloak and her usual outfit, but she was glad she did. She would have hated to miss out on the experience of seeing new weapon models for upcoming games. Though she couldn't discount her luck; she only made it to Security itself because another person at her community center had to cancel last minute and gave her his pass. She'd already passed by several of the FPS areas with a bored expression on her face, and was headed towards the fantasy section when she bumped into another girl who seemed to be around her age. The girl knocked her down, and that's when the voices started up again.

As she sat on the ground, held up by her arms, a series of thoughts flashed by quickly.

In a flash, the thoughts passed through and she was back in reality. She looked up at the girl and an elderly man who had nearly bumped into her as well. 'Only three of us?' Nyx looked around. There seemed to only be the three of them there, but why did the man imply a third other than himself? Bite! No, shut up. Nyx shook her head to dislodge the thoughts and spoke up.

"Sorry, are you okay?" she asked the other girl as she adjusted the cloak piece of her "cosplay" to better hide her weapon. "Nice horns, by the way."

Ryder had ducked out of his booth to grab a quick bite to eat.
Rushing through the convention centre, he had put on sunglasses and a baseball cap to hide his identity. Walking briskly.
Ryder was feeling a little nauseous from partying the night before. A lot of alcohol and maybe some other substances had made it hard to turn up to the appointment today, much to the dismay of his Agent. Sure he had been hungover before, but this felt different. He felt warm. His skin felt tighter. Like there was too much of him.

Anyway, he was a professional. He was masking his discomfort well. At least until he found himself admits a near collision of multiple people. He carefully danced around the two girls. Practiced grace, he kept his balance with calculated and deliberate steps. “Alright, if everyone is Ok…” He moved to take his leave.

Anyway, he was a professional. He was masking his discomfort well. At least until he found himself admits a near collision of multiple people. He carefully danced around the two girls. Practiced grace, he kept his balance with calculated and deliberate steps. “Alright, if everyone is Ok…” He moved to take his leave.

In a flash, the thoughts passed through and she was back in reality. She looked up at the girl and an elderly man who had nearly bumped into her as well. 'Only three of us?' Nyx looked around.

"Eh? Watch where you're going, pops." Her attitude was a bit rude, like she wanted him to squirm.

The old man smiled. Suddenly, he snapped his fingers, and the three protagonists found themselves in another place. A vast expanse of nothing but white, everywhere. "Welcome to the Expanse." The old man was there, but even though none of you could see anyone, you could feel the presence of many powerful beings. Something about them seemed spiritual, maybe even divine. Their presence seemed soothing and pleasant. "Indeed, mortals. Welcome." All of you could sense their god like power was quite greater than yours.

Before any of you could speak the voices, which spoke in unison, yet carried only the sound of one voice all at once.
"We would speak with you."

"Thanks girl!" she had responded to Nyx's compliment, flashing her a smile. But seconds later things had changed, and all four of them were gone.

Scarlet was breathing heavily now. Being transported to a foreign place like this all of the sudden caused a wave of panic to roll over her. Her chili dog had fallen to the floor of the expanse, and she was a split second away from bringing out her pets and taking a defensive stance. But something held her back from that. A thumping in her mind told her that it was unwise to bare fangs at those that far outclassed her. The soothing presence the beings were emanating felt alien to Scarlet. Her wide eyes scanned the rows of mysterious beings with fear. How was this possible?

Trying to maintain her dignity, she swallowed her feelings and responded in a milder tone than before. "Then let's hear it. But please don't keep me long. I have plans," she claimed, though really she didn't have much going on, apart from the convention reveals. She just wanted to be away from this sense of inferiority.

Scarlet Thorne

"Thanks girl!" she had responded to Nyx's compliment, flashing her a smile. But seconds later things had changed, and all four of them were gone.

Scarlet was breathing heavily now. Being transported to a foreign place like this all of the sudden caused a wave of panic to roll over her. Her chili dog had fallen to the floor of the expanse, and she was a split second away from bringing out her pets and taking a defensive stance. But something held her back from that. A thumping in her mind told her that it was unwise to bare fangs at those that far outclassed her. The soothing presence the beings were emanating felt alien to Scarlet. Her wide eyes scanned the rows of mysterious beings with fear. How was this possible?

Trying to maintain her dignity, she swallowed her feelings and responded in a milder tone than before. "Then let's hear it. But please don't keep me long. I have plans," she claimed, though really she didn't have much going on, apart from the convention reveals. She just wanted to be away from this sense of inferiority.

It seemed like the Light Entities were all smiling, only a little bit amusingly, mostly politely, though no one could actually seem them do so. The soft, female, British sounding voice began to represent the rest of the Entities as she spoke, "I'll be blunt, but hopefully courteous enough for your liking. We need you. We needed more of you, to be honest, but the three of you will do. Something is coming to the world, and, even just as importantly, something is coming from the Earth that threatens to eradicate the world as you know it."
"Your world has been a world of Eldritch Horror, a world of Primal Terrors, a world of Sword and Sorcery, but these were all times past. Now, the past is about to rear it's ugly head."

"We may be unable to stop it. Thus, we need warriors, representing us, to stop this Cataclysm before it begins."
"Long ago, The Great Old Ones were over thrown by younger gods, The Primal gods. These younger gods were thus supplanted by others over time. We have reason to believe that Cthulhu is going to awaken from Rh'ley, in the deep sea of this world. Should that happen, life as you know it is surely over."

---

As she found herself in the Expanse, the hair on the back of Nyx's neck stood up. The things that surrounded them seemed pleasant, but something about them threw her off. Suddenly there was a commotion in her mind again.

-Mentally-
Far from the usual "bite" command, the voice responsible for the idea growled. It felt something wrong here, and it was likely what was generating Nyx's own feelings of anxiety. It wasn't that it believed that these entities were evil, so much as personally counter to its happiness. Maybe it had experienced relations with a similar group?
Similarly, the calmest voice did not relax either, though did not take an actively hostile stance like the other. "Take care around these," it counseled Nyx. "Even if they have nothing but the best interests of yours at heart, they are powerful, and powerful beings are dangerous by their nature."
Nyx could only agree within her mind. She felt overwhelmed by these entities, but there was no active hostility from them.

-Outside-
The spokesman for the beings told the group of ancient versions of their world and of a threat to their current one. Cthulhu? Elder Gods? None of it made any sense, even for the girl who heard voices.

-Mentally-
"Think. If what we're being told is true, then these are likely the 'current' gods."
"And what, exactly, are we supposed to do about a Great Old One like Cthulhu? We're collectively a teenage girl, there's not a lot of stories of even powerful people beating Old Ones. If we try to fight it, we'll die."
The third voice continued growling, ignoring the other three who could hear it.

-Outside-
"Um..." Nyx spoke aloud. "That's terrible and all, but... what are we supposed to do about it? We're two teenagers and one adult, but you think we can stop something that can destroy the world?" Her demeanor suddenly switched, seemingly out of her control. "And if you want us to 'represent you,' then shouldn't you tell us who you are first?" As soon as the last word was out of her mouth, her attitude returned to its normal, currently distressed and overwhelmed state.

@ActRaiserTheReturned

“Ah my Agent is going to kill me.” Was all he could say as he was teleported somewhere. His stomach nearly turning inside out. Ryder looked around the white expanse as the disembodied voices gave their spiel.
He took off the hat and tossed it aside. “As far as publicity stunts go, I’m impressed.” He took his sunglasses off and hung them from his shirt. “Pop up walls and hidden cameras. “At least get my Agent to sign off.”
The whole idea of being some chosen one being called to fight a long forgotten evil sounded like one of his recent movies.

"And if you want us to 'represent you,' then shouldn't you tell us who you are first?" As soon as the last word was out of her mouth, her attitude returned to its normal, currently distressed and overwhelmed state.

The voices spoke in unison, this time, more obviously, loudly proclaiming theirselves, while containing their thundering sound, coherently, almost silently. Parodoxically, The Light were being gentle yet firm all at once.
"We are The Exalted Light. The Light, entities, you may call us. We were from before the time before time, and will always be."

Scarlett was feeling increasingly lost as this conversation progressed. What the entities were saying wasn't that hard to understand... but it was very difficult to accept. First she wondered why they would need lesser creatures to represent them. If they were this powerful, then why not handle it themselves? But she put that thought aside for the moment. She supposed they'd have their reasons. And maybe this meant that, as intimidating as they were, they were somehow limited in their actions. And this helped her regain some confidence.

The fact that these gods were calling themselves "the Light" really clashed with her sense of aesthetics. She audibly clicked her tongue when she heard that name. But she resisted the urge to rebel. And after a minute, a strange voice sounded in her head - different than those of the beings. A voice from within her.

"Play along for now," it said. "You don't really have to be a good girl... hahaha. But knowledge is power, my dear. Take as much information as they'll give you... use it to get closer to the heart of the matter, and then make your own decision." Yes, that made sense. That was how one could effectively assert her will in this situation.

"Fine," Scarlet replied, regaining her bearings. "Tell us what we can do to help you. And then let me go. Please."

Scarlet Thorne

Scarlett was feeling increasingly lost as this conversation progressed. What the entities were saying wasn't that hard to understand... but it was very difficult to accept. First she wondered why they would need lesser creatures to represent them. If they were this powerful, then why not handle it themselves? But she put that thought aside for the moment. She supposed they'd have their reasons. And maybe this meant that, as intimidating as they were, they were somehow limited in their actions. And this helped her regain some confidence.

The fact that these gods were calling themselves "the Light" really clashed with her sense of aesthetics. She audibly clicked her tongue when she heard that name. But she resisted the urge to rebel. And after a minute, a strange voice sounded in her head - different than those of the beings. A voice from within her.

"Play along for now," it said. "You don't really have to be a good girl... hahaha. But knowledge is power, my dear. Take as much information as they'll give you... use it to get closer to the heart of the matter, and then make your own decision." Yes, that made sense. That was how one could effectively assert her will in this situation.

"Fine," Scarlet replied, regaining her bearings. "Tell us what we can do to help you. And then let me go. Please."

The words spoken were now somehow not "The Lights" but the lone entity, with the British accent.
"We know that not everyone will do this just so they can live, or for altruistic reasons. Do it because, though it's the right thing to do, once you learn this is the truth, but also because our agents are all given empowerment for their services. Service may be the wrong word, but you get the point, don't you?"
"If you haven't figured it out yet, your powers come from past lives of yours. We have the power to grant you access to more of your past lives, and thus, more power."

Scarlett's heart skipped in her chest. Now that was interesting. These powers were the thing that, to her mind, had made her life worth living these last few weeks. Her facial expression visibly changed - when she heard the promise, her mouth popped open and her eyes turned happy. It seemed that some of that emanated bliss was finally getting to her. "Well, why didn't you say so before?" she asked, with a catty voice. "But the abilities I've already gained are so delectable, you had better have something good in store for me." With that, the goth let out a short, haughty laugh.

"But by all means, let me get started right away." Now she had a roadmap towards even her loftier goals, but it was still going to take some doing.

---

Nyx blinked. "Powers?" "Past lives?"

-Inside-
"Oooooh, that makes so much sense! Except why and how did this mess of things end up being a lineal chain?"
"Much more importantly, why did none of us think to try using our abilities through our current landlord?"
"It's not like we've been busy trying to console a teenager who lost her family instead of training, or anything."
"Touche."
"I don't want to serve these things."
"They're claiming it's not quite 'service,' so you should be fine."
"I don't think we have much choice, Bitey."

-Outside-
Nyx cocked her head to the side. "Okay, well, that seems... plausible, if unlikely. What do we need to do to actually stand a chance?"

Nyx Nebula

---

Nyx blinked. "Powers?" "Past lives?"

-Inside-
"Oooooh, that makes so much sense! Except why and how did this mess of things end up being a lineal chain?"
"Much more importantly, why did none of us think to try using our abilities through our current landlord?"
"It's not like we've been busy trying to console a teenager who lost her family instead of training, or anything."
"Touche."
"I don't want to serve these things."
"They're claiming it's not quite 'service,' so you should be fine."
"I don't think we have much choice, Bitey."

-Outside-
Nyx cocked her head to the side. "Okay, well, that seems... plausible, if unlikely. What do we need to do to actually stand a chance?"

Nyx Nebula

---

Nyx blinked. "Powers?" "Past lives?"

-Inside-
"Oooooh, that makes so much sense! Except why and how did this mess of things end up being a lineal chain?"
"Much more importantly, why did none of us think to try using our abilities through our current landlord?"
"It's not like we've been busy trying to console a teenager who lost her family instead of training, or anything."
"Touche."
"I don't want to serve these things."
"They're claiming it's not quite 'service,' so you should be fine."
"I don't think we have much choice, Bitey."

-Outside-
Nyx cocked her head to the side. "Okay, well, that seems... plausible, if unlikely. What do we need to do to actually stand a chance?"

"The first thing that you should be doing is checking out your current location. Something is very odd there. Your intermediary, (The entity's point out the old man, who's name is Stregobor.) can sense where you should be looking, and then, there is an imposter, we can't pinpoint who it is, but we have information that they are planning something unexpected. Someone is the target of assassination.

Fei was confused.

It had started out relatively simple compared to the Voices of the random beings that had Quite literally been living rent-free in her head for a month now ever since that Golden Triangle had appeared on her right hand then disappeared that she could seem to summon at will, The plan was this: go to VRGC 2057. Likely Commit Truancy in the process (She hadn't been paying attention to when the first day of school was) and hopefully see the Hottest new games of the Holiday season that would likely cost a lot of money to buy, and try to win a Gaming tournament or two. Where it started to get confusing was when Four idiots almost bumped into each other while she was eating a chicken Burrito in the food court. That wasn't the confusing part, it was what had happened shortly afterwards that had her asking herself in her own words "What the actual fucking shit?" As the old man Get this literally snapped his fingers and all four of them had disappeared in plain sight. That was what confused her.

Fei was confused.

It had started out relatively simple compared to the Voices of the random beings that had Quite literally been living rent-free in her head for a month now ever since that Golden Triangle had appeared on her right hand then disappeared that she could seem to summon at will, The plan was this: go to VRGC 2057. Likely Commit Truancy in the process (She hadn't been paying attention to when the first day of school was) and hopefully see the Hottest new games of the Holiday season that would likely cost a lot of money to buy, and try to win a Gaming tournament or two. Where it started to get confusing was when Four idiots almost bumped into each other while she was eating a chicken Burrito in the food court. That wasn't the confusing part, it was what had happened shortly afterwards that had her asking herself in her own words "What the actual fucking shit?" As the old man Get this literally snapped his fingers and all four of them had disappeared in plain sight. That was what confused her.

Suddenly, the four people had all disappeared. Since Fei was one of the individuals Stregobor was supposed to recruit, she was the only one who could see this occur in The Food Court. The old man, Stregobor, suddenly appeared right in front of her. "Oh, I could see that you've seen that." Meanwhile, the other three that had seen The Entities were already reappearing in the crowd, though no one seemed to notice. The voices spoke to them. "Look for anything suspicious. We can direct your steps to find who you're looking for, but for that to work you have to start looking."

<Snipped quote by Dimentio>

Suddenly, the four people had all disappeared. Since Fei was one of the individuals Stregobor was supposed to recruit, she was the only one who could see this occur in The Food Court. The old man, Stregobor, suddenly appeared right in front of her. "Oh, I could see that you've seen that." Meanwhile, the other three that had seen The Entities were already reappearing in the crowd, though no one seemed to notice. The voices spoke to them. "Look for anything suspicious. We can direct your steps to find who you're looking for, but for that to work you have to start looking."

Fei was naturally Startled by a random old man, one that she had seen disappear then straight up reappear while she was eating her lunch, after it seemed like for a moment that she was about to choke on her lunch only for it to go down the right pipe, (Thank God) then once she had recovered from her shock it quickly gave away to rage. "ALRIGHT OLD MAN! WHERE DID YOU GET THE IDEA YOU COULD STARTLE ME LIKR THAT!? I ALMOST CHOKED TO DEATH BECAUSE OF YOU, YOU IDIOT!"

<Snipped quote by Dimentio>
"Oh, I could see that you've seen that."

"OF COURSE I SAW THAT! WHO WOULDN'T SEE 4 PEOPLE VANISH THEN COME BACK LIKE THEY JUST WENT TO THE RESTROOM?? JUST WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE???" Fei asked furiously.

'Very well,' Scarlet thought to herself. 'But it'd better be someone important. Just one murder? People die every day.' Although she was a bit skeptical about this being the first step in the beings' plan to save the world - that was immaterial to her. Gaining more power was the point.

The darkly clad teenager phased back into the convention center, without the food she'd been holding a moment ago. It seemed that another girl had noticed their disappearance; when they arrived back she started shouting at Stregobor about it and making a scene. Scarlett hit her with a disarming look of annoyance. "Pipe down, kid. It was just the old man's power." She quickly gathered that Stregobor was accepting of her, because her words had to be in reply to his address. "And we've got a problem to solve here."

She turned back towards the others and started formulating. "Let's check the convention schedule again. I have a feeling they might make their move during a presentation. That's when it'd be easiest to plan a hit, and when the results would be the most high-profile. Until the next showing, we can fan out and search for them among the crowd." Her red eyes were already scanning their faces and bodies, looking for anyone who seemed formidable. Ever since the changes happened, her perception was just on a different level compared to before. She felt sure that she would notice anyone worth their salt. Naturally she was looking upwards as well. The assassin could be hiding somewhere up there to establish reliable sight lines. "Do you have any tips for us, pops?" The flippant question was directed towards the wizard.

Scarlet Thorne

"Pipe down, kid. It was just the old man's power." She quickly gathered that Stregobor was accepting of her, because her words had to be in reply to his address. "And we've got a problem to solve here."

Fei shot a look at Scarlet when she heard her talk, what was this about a problem? Hopefully solving this problem would do something about the voices that had been in her head for a month, sure the power that seemed to arrive at tbe same time as the voices was great but she wasn't exactly interested in turning her head into a hotel. "wait, don't tell me, the old man's some kind of Wizard and we're being dragged into a quest to save the world." Fei stated flippantly. "As if the Voices in my head weren't already enough." She said with a bitter grin as she shook her head.

Scarlet Thorne

She turned back towards the others and started formulating. "Let's check the convention schedule again. I have a feeling they might make their move during a presentation. That's when it'd be easiest to plan a hit, and when the results would be the most high-profile. Until the next showing, we can fan out and search for them among the crowd." Her red eyes were already scanning their faces and bodies, looking for anyone who seemed formidable. Ever since the changes happened, her perception was just on a different level compared to before. She felt sure that she would notice anyone worth their salt. Naturally she was looking upwards as well. The assassin could be hiding somewhere up there to establish reliable sight lines. "Do you have any tips for us, pops?" The flippant question was directed towards the wizard.

Now this, Fei rose an eyebrow at. A hit during a presentation? High-profile results? What was somebody planning some kind of Assassination and on top of that she was likely to get involved against her will? Ohh great.