Audacious

Myriad Reality

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<Snipped quote by Legend>

If the situation calls for it, you may have one chance to get home. After there's a lack of callback from the intermediate layer, our home world will eventually attempt to access random relays directly to provide a situation update to allies. Unless something has gone horribly wrong, you'll get multiple shots at this, but you have to either find the relay that's being connected to directly, or you need to find a way to trace the signal across multiple hops. More than likely, you'll want a combination of the two. Just be very careful, and use your best judgement. This protocol is a last-resort for when someone other than me needs to step in to protect our world. Otherwise, I'd be happy to let it fade into obscurity.
*Smiles*
Last thing. I love you, please stay safe. You and your mom are my world. Dynamo out.
*The hologram fizzles away*

@Etcetera

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*Takes a deep breath*

@Legend

*Rubs my arm*
Man…

Myriad Reality

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My head is spinning. This is like a really long, holographic shrug.

@Legend

I have thoughts but they can wait until the end.

Myriad Reality

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Alright! Glad to see you're hanging in there. You know, it's really hard to pick a tone for this since I don't know what's happened in advance, but let's just hope it's not as bad as it seems.
*The middle ring layer fades out*
If you're getting this message in particular, the relay proxies had their dead man's switch activated. That means they've lost their signal to the middle layer and I haven't had the chance to override them. That or you've found a major bug. If they've lost connection, either our path universes can no longer communicate with the relays, someone has found an exploit in the system, or there are no path universes anymore. Each situation has chilling implications.
*The center of the diagram fades out, leaving just the outermost ring*
This is your current situation. Home isn't reachable. You can use this station to track down more proxies and see if there's a log somewhere that will tell you what's going on. Once you know what the situation is, I'm afraid you're going to need to use your best judgement on how to proceed. I wish I could do more to help you. One more slide is left, so press continue when you've digested all that.

@Etcetera

It really is a lot…

Myriad Reality

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So, uh, you get all that? I'm only running 50%.

@Legend

I’m definitely trying, at least. Pen and paper wasn’t in my travel bag.

Myriad Reality

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You could've told me to get something to write with in the last section.

@Legend

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Okay, get ready to write this down. PaMDA is based on a proxy system, and you're standing at one of its many relay stations. Well, it's also a nondeterministic Turing Machine based off of universal intermediate hypercalculations and—
*Waves my hand*
That's not the point. We guard our universe behind practically uncountable layers, made up of the paths surrounding our home. Then we project from there to one of just as many proxies, which send information to other proxies.
*Projects a sphere surrounded by a series of dots forming rings, themselves followed by a ring of smaller points interconnected in ever-shifting, random configurations*
This system injects so much noise, it's practically impossible to trace your way back to our home. And even if you manage to pull it off, our universe will have been shuffled with one of its paths, making it even harder to find the real one. Once you have that background down, hit continue.

@Etcetera

*Stays quiet with my gaze fixated on the projection*

Myriad Reality

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*Shakes my head*
No, I want someone else to be here. I'm going to miss something.

@Legend

*Nods and waits silently*

Myriad Reality

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*A handshake occurs between the devices and my image materializes as a hologram above the metal*
Hey, Isis. If you're watching this video, it means something has gone well and truly wrong. And for some reason, I'm not able to get in touch with you to tell you what it is. Sorry about that. But you need to know what's going to happen next. So make sure you're in an isolated place, make sure no one could be eavesdropping, and press continue.

@Etcetera

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*Grimaces*
Well, this seems good enough.

@Legend

Should I step away?

Myriad Reality

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Ohh, that makes sense—
*Once the equipment is exposed, my phone starts beeping intensely*

@Legend

*My eyebrows raise*
That do something??

Myriad Reality

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So you draw a place and then drill out the land to fit what you drew?

@Legend

For cartographic expeditions specifically? I don’t manipulate the landscape usually at all, unless I go somewhere where antiques might be resting underground. I mostly find it easy to draw out landscapes over a massive area just by feeling it.

Myriad Reality

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Oh, perfect! I didn't know you had drilling skills.

@Legend

*Smiles*
My ability makes me very good at working with landscapes and stuff. Big reason why I decided to pursue cartography. I practically have a cheat code for it, along with digging things up.