Etcetera

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Etcetera>

So do we log this as a cosmic anomaly? This asteroid is orbiting a distant black hole... things tend to... happen... around those stellar corpses...

<Snipped quote by Etcetera>

I think that was a rather audacious and amusing use of psionic power... he does feel like he's struggling with us...

@Gerald 1

We should file a formal report. Command center is going to want to actually read this one instead of archiving it away.

Myriad Reality

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*Blinks perplexed as i keep looking at the alien from our perspective @The Odeoron*

And that ancient relic of a station, what was it called? Skrydyelth Space Station? The high council is sure keeping weary eye on this place and probably because it is haunted by beings like that!?

*I chuckle nervously at the freaky situation before us*

@Gerald 1

Clearly they were wise to do so, given our uninvited guest.

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*Shoots out a wave of reverberating wave of psyonic intent that should roughly translate in your native tongue*

... Brain - splitting - psychichs - stop - please - give - guy -break ...

@The Odeoron

Oh? The foreigner speaks our tongue?

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Etcetera>

*speaks in our native tongue*

All my psychic senses tell me he's a living organic alien... but this is impossible is it not? I would have thought him a ghost by now if our biology wouldn't say otherwise...

*Looks at you with utter confusion*

@Gerald 1

*Responds in kind*
And yet he stands before us. A curiosity, to say the least.

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Gerald 1>

*I wave mildly disinterested yet just resting on the nearest support pillar while i keep thinking through my issues*

Finally locals to this mad universe... Sheesh, could whatever that is be less pressuring?... *I just speak that with no intent of adressing the alien necessarily*

@The Odeoron

*Frowns, unimpressed with your course of actions*

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Legend>

I have thoughts but they can wait until the end.

@Audacious

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Okay... so.
*Hits the continue button*

@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*

Myriad Reality

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Um, I guess let's just try to remember then.
*Hits the next button*

@Legend

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

@Audacious

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.

Myriad Reality

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

@Legend

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*Nods and waits silently*

@Audacious

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.

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Legend>

*My eyebrows raise*
That do something??

@Audacious

*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.

Myriad Reality

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*Waves bubblingly with a warm smile as you leave*

@The Monitor

*Disappears into a beam of light*

Myriad Reality

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*Nods and salutes you in military fashion* As tense as things went for now, we are glad you are better than some others we met early on...

@The Odeoron

I hope you meet many more who bring you peace.
*Smiles*
Best of luck.

<Snipped quote by Etcetera>

And we will be welcoming him with open arms when that time comes.

And the only gratitude to be found in here is, i think, in that we get to carry the moral legacy of our heavens and bring that light in these murky places.

@ArGavryiell

I'll leave you to it. I would recommend that you be careful, but it sounds as though you have an abundance of caution as it stands.