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>> Confer.

( Previously...)

Tavros paces back and forth, in the meadow they're meeting in, brow furrowed. He's been over and over this, in his head, but the only real path forward he can see, for Alcyon and his whole revolutionary Alternia, is to remove the Condesce's trump card from the equation. Letting her continue to hold a ticking time bomb she could set off out of pure pique is just asking for trouble.

As for the time bomb in question... everything he ever understood from Feferi and from his own long-ago communing with Gl'bgolyb has led him to believe that the only reason she was ever on Alternia in the first place was to prepare their species for and bring about the conditions of the game. In a world where the preconditions have already been violated, she can never achieve her purpose, and is simply trapped and isolated.

"I... do really think that Gl'bgolyb needs to be... removed. Otherwise, you're always just, uh... waiting for her to get too hungry, or bored, or hurt, or the Condesce to get in range and mad enough, or something unexpected to happen, and half or all of your... population just dies right there, before you can do anything to stop it." He looks up, meeting Alcyon's gaze and rubbing the back of his neck. There's a part of him that worries this Summoner will think him bloodthirsty or cruel for the mere suggestion.

"I don't... even think she would really fight it, necessarily... Gl'bgolyb, I mean. She's... very old, and tired, and lonely, and she can't... do what she was meant to do, and she, um, misses her daughters a lot, from what I can sense..."

1nsurmountabull:

It was a rough topic for him. Just in general, because the overbearing thought that Gl'bgolyb was just... There, in the bottom of the ocean, and capable of wiping out entire castes in one fell swoop and they were functionally only alive by the grace of the Handmaid...

"I know. But removing her is something that even Handmaid hasn't suggested to me, and even if she didn't fight it, she's still massive and almost totally incomprehensible. And even if you don't... Fight "release"... It still hurts. And when anyone, person or animal or lusus or... Or whatever Gl'bgolyb is, gets hurt, they make noise. And with Gl'bgolyb's psychic influence, that's a risk that could get a lot of people killed."

He took a heavy breath, trying to remain steady. "I've thought about killing her a lot, but if I do anything wrong, or I can't keep her psychic influence contained... That's a lot of people who are going to die for my fuckup. And, frankly, that'd be on a scale way beyond even the worst of the battles from the rebellion, and I... Can't do that in good conscience."

See, though, Alcyon's feeling cruel but for other reasons. "... I know she feels lonely. But I've heard... Things, about Gl'bgolyb, and about other things like her, and trying to reach out and connect with her on any level greater than trying to soothe her to sleep scares me. I've never communed with anything... Anyone?... So psychically massive."

At it's core, Alcyon just felt out of his depth. And he couldn't stomach the potential consequences for failure.

ad1ostoreador:

"I... can talk to her. Creatures... like her." Tavros doesn't like to use the word 'talk' about the way he communes with beasts, but it might be a little bit closer to accurate in a case like Gl'bgolyb. "She's maybe... kind of easier in a way. More... conscious, or thinking clearer still. She can, um, communicate instead of just... reacting." He rakes a hand through his hair, back to pacing as he talks.

"It's, um... if I can commune with her enough that she understands... if she's willing, then there's ways to make it... painless. If she's reluctant... there's ways to make it fast."

1nsurmountabull:

Alcyon was quiet. Nervous. "... Aren't you scared? I mean, I know the way the two of us commune with animals is different, but... Any time I've brushed against her mind with mine, it's like... I've seen recordings of looking into the deep ocean. It feels like that to me, as well as empty, and suffocating at the same time. I feel like any time I might try to commune with her, she'd... Her mind would consume mine."

It was a harrowing sensation when he'd first experienced it, and he was afraid to even consider trying it again. Or to have anyone else try in his stead.

"I... I mean, I guess you're right about that. We could probably find ways to make it painless, or perhaps fast enough that Handmaid could psychically shield us long enough to do what has to be done. It... It could work."

ad1ostoreador:

Tavros is quiet for a moment. "...Have you ever, uh... been somewhere that's so quiet and so dark that there's just... nothing? No sound at all. No light, no gravity. Nothing to feel, or sense... no ordinary beasts at all, not even tiny scuttlers..." He gives his head a little shake, shoulders shrugging restlessly, as if physically ridding himself of the memory.

"Parts of the... Ring were like that. Big... parts. I guess if you're... out there long enough, and the only thing to... sense is very big, very old things... you start to, uh, hear and understand them better. Plus, you don't want to accidentally... fly into one." He grimaces.

1nsurmountabull:

Alcyon... froze. No, frankly, he hadn't been in any sort of environment, exactly. He had experienced something quite, quite close, and the mere thought of it was actually making him start to sweat. His breathing became audible, and it was actually noticeable that he was trying to control the speed at which he was breathing. Whether it was to ensure he kept breathing, or that he didn't start breathing too quickly, was anyone's guess.

"I-I... N-n-no. I ha... haven't..." Alcyon had to try very, very hard to put up a facade that No Really He Was Totally Fine Actually, and he gulped like something was stuck in his throat. "I-I bet that... if you were able to, you'd want... you'd want to connect with... with anything you can, yeah... so, the Ring was... pretty rough, for you, I bet, huh...?"

He folded his arms, and his muscles tensed. Just don't think about anything like that. It's fine. There's a goal to achieve, and a plan to make, so focus, and you can deal with whatever's going on in your pan later.

"So you can... talk to her. Right. And it doesn't scare you. So you can... handle trying to arrange with... her... to potentially help her pass on. I...here..."

He had brought a bag for this little strategy meeting, and within was multiple maps and a model of Alternia. He placed it out where Tav could see it, and pointed to a portion of the ocean. "Glb'golyb is here. She's... uh... really deep underwater. You can reach her with communing pretty easily above water here..." He pointed to a small landmass nearby.

"But I could probably get us a subaquatic machine to get us closer, if you need it... and, uh, I bet Bull wouldn't mind lending me a waterproof machine, if we could... I don't know, develop a sedative for her, or something?"

ad1ostoreador:

Sensory deprivation. Fun times, clearly. When one's choices were communing with eldritch creatures of dubious sanity, or losing one's own from the isolation... well, Tavros had risked the horrorterrors. His ears lower, as he watches the reactions play across Alcyon's face, and he grimaces a little apologetically at what is clearly an unpleasant train of thought. "Um... more or less, I can commune with her, anyway..."

He leans over the map to look down on it, head tilting as he orients it to his mental sense of her location, though something like a flicker of surprise crosses his own features, gaze lifting to Alcyon's face, then dropping again quickly. Okay, maybe the isolation of the Ring's done freakish things with his range, too. He doesn't bring it up, though. No point in making a big deal about being able to sense her and 'reach' her where he stands... though the thought of climbing into a subaquatic vehicle and being trapped in a tiny cramped enclosed space under a lot of water results in his own Facial Journey, which clearly ends in the vicinity of 'no thank you'. "...I, uh, definitely... don't think we need to go that close. There are a few... different ideas that, um, might work... but some of them depend on her being... reasonably cooperative, and others might depend on having a very... powerful weapon."

1nsurmountabull:

Technically, Alcyon can reach her from here too, but it's not... Easy. And also, it's not the same as trying to have a full conversation. It's more that he can brush against her, mentally, but it's less a horizontal distance problem and more a vertical distance problem. The lady is real deep.

He immediately understood that the submarine idea was bad. "Alright... Yeah, either Psii, or Darkleer, or maybe Bull if we're in a pinch, could figure out a weapon... Handmaid would probably need to focus on making sure nothing leaked through... Hm... And then I have to make sure that we don't have any loyalists to worry about, too."

He nodded, and took a breath. Okay, he was... Calm enough, now. "Do you... Want me to be around when you talk to her? Or..."

ad1ostoreador:

Tavros isn't ruling out a weapon, but he's not entirely sure they need one. There are things he can do, even if he doesn't like to think about how he learned them, or why. And he trusts his own abilities more than he trusts an unfamiliar specibus not to go haywire in his hands. "If... you can make sure any of the, uhh... loyalists don't get close enough to interrupt me? Wherever we, um, do this..."

He chews on his lip, ears lowering again. "...And maybe... help shake me out of it, after, especially..."

1nsurmountabull:

Yeah. Yeah, he can do that. "Mhm. I can make sure if that. Once we've got things figured out, I'll mobilize to make sure we're safe on as many fronts as possible. Don't want you to get hurt or anything, plans to deal with Gl'bgolyb aside..."

It'll be a backup option, the weapon, that is. But Alcyon had some solid faith in Tavros, given how he seemed to know a lot more about Gl'b, and what she was, than he did.

"Okay. Anything I have to know about what you're going to do, on my end?"

ad1ostoreador:

Tavros nods in agreement, then rubs the back of his neck, unsure. "I don't... think so, yet? I can talk to her, uh... any time, really, if you want me to go ahead now and... get a sense for how she might, uhh... take this. Or... if you want to, um, get a lot of stuff ready first, so we can... move pretty fast, once we do know, it's... whichever you think would be better."

1nsurmountabull:

Alcyon thought about it for a moment, and took out his phone. "I have an idea. Just give me a second." He began texting someone, and furrowed his brow while he waited for a response- which came quickly.

"...Handmaid says that... we should not prepare a contingency too early, because, and I quote, "everything will go to hell in a handbasket". So I guess she means that it's okay to check in ahead of time?"

ad1ostoreador:

Tavros grimaces slightly. "Oh... like, having a contingency is bad? Or doing things early is bad? Or...?" He supposes there are worse things than a Handmaid prepared to tell them if they're about to make a very big mistake.

1nsurmountabull:

"Hm. She's... Not clear, but usually if she tells me not to do something this way, it's... Well. She's not saying a contingency won't be needed, she's just implying that preparing for the worst too early is bad. Hm. Maybe waiting for long enough to try to prepare something allows Condy to get control of Gl'b, or maybe Gl'b puts out another uh..."

He frowned. "Another psychic scream. And they've... Been getting more frequent, when she does them. Handmaid doesn't tend to give me a lot of details when things go wrong. She also doesn't give me these sorts of warnings often."

ad1ostoreador:

Tavros's brow furrows, and he hesitates for a beat or two. "...So... I should, uh, make contact with her now, or... it's better not to, um, give her any warning?" The latter choice seems... risky, to him.

1nsurmountabull:

"It's..." He had his phone out still, and he was texting Handmaid a bit longer...

"...Yeah, she says to stop being so cautious and to "Just handle it." So... I think she's saying that we shouldn't take a lot of time. So... if you want to head out, we can get closer, if you want. I can reach her from here, but I can't really... well. I can't really commune properly from this distance. I don't know if it's any different for you."

ad1ostoreador:

"Closer is, um, okay." He doesn't deny it, but... it's still reflex to be somewhat cagey about the details, when he's still got a solid suspicion that his ancestor, in his own timeline, was killed for it. "Do you have the coords for the, uhh... place you said was good?"

1nsurmountabull:

Gotcha, cool, cool. "Yeah. Just let me handle..." He thanked Handmaid, put the globe and the maps into his knapsack, slung it over his shoulder, and showed Tavros a piece of paper with relevant coordinates on it.

"Doesn't hurt to come prepared, you know? The coordinates are for a clear space near the sea, but away from the waystation that was built on the island."

ad1ostoreador:

Tavros leans over to take a look, and keys them into his wrist unit. "You have a... transportalizer, right? I can meet you there... I won't, um, start anything without you," he adds, indicating his own. "Unless it's going to give you another bad pan-ache, being that close..."

1nsurmountabull:

"Yeah, just didn't want to like. Grab you or something, for it. And... Don't worry. As long as she doesn't raise her voice, I'm fine. Though... At this point, if she speaks up, it doesn't matter where I am. She's given me a migraine off-planet before."

Yeah, sounds like things were deteriorating here. "See you there then, dude. I'll get rid of this stuff and meet you there."

And there was a blip, and he was gone. He'd be back soon, having gone to the destination he had indicated.

It was a pretty barren place, and the coordinates were for rather close to the edge of the island. The whole area seemed like it was harsh and unforgiving, thankfully it wasn't raining, at least. But the sound of the sea was audible, even if it wasn't visible.

There were beasts here, seafowl and some sort of goat, probably, and seals... But the variety was limited.

ad1ostoreador:

Tavros is close behind him, popping over to the coordinates he was given, and taking a deep breath of the sea air, though his brow knits at the underlying pall of oppressive psychic weight. It's enough to make him thankful, again, for the lack of horrorterror-adjacent beings on his own planet.

He looks toward the sound of waves, then offers Alcyon a small half-smile. "...Time to, uh... see how cranky she's feeling..." With that, he shuts his eyes, for minimal distractions, and slows his breathing, casting outward. The little blips and flares of consciousness that are seabirds and hoofbeasts and paddling seawolves are noted, but passed over with a light skim, as he quests further. Past teeming shallow-dwelling crustaceans and schooling fish, past sleek hunting beasts... past deeper many-armed creatures and scuttling bottomdwellers, and into the abyssal realms where the flickers of life thin out, rarer and rarer, slower and quieter, and finally none at all, except for the very deepest, darkest, coldest one of all, so immense it's hard to take in her psychic scale any more than her physical one.

He stays standing, though he sways a tiny bit on his feet, eyelids twitching like a restless dreamer, when the eddies of her inscrutable thoughts shift ever-so-slightly and he has some fraction of her attention.

1nsurmountabull:

Alcyon wasn't really enjoying it either, but he had some experience dealing with this specific psychic weight, so... As long as he wasn't reaching out to her himself, he had it covered. Mostly. He had a hand reached out to steady Tavros if necessary, and his own communing was reaching out to link with the wildlife to create a defensive surveillance web to make sure no one came near them.

He didn't want to distract Tavros, but... He wasn't privy to anything going on through his communing.

ad1ostoreador:

There's little fanfare, in the end. Just a long spell of silence from Tavros, where he's on his feet, but otherwise breathing so slowly he might almost seem comatose.

Gl'bgolyb doesn't lash out at him... he's not even entirely sure she believes him, exactly, but there's a distant sense of acquiescence, even if it's layered with the apathy of so long a life he can't begin to fathom it. She has nothing left to gain, here, and she knows it. And perhaps something approaching a conversation is rare enough for her that she tolerates the tiny imposition.

Finally, Tavros gives a shudder and comes back to himself like surfacing from icy water, dazed and blinking and taking several deep breaths.

1nsurmountabull:

Alcyon was quiet, and made sure Tavros was okay the whole time, and once he started to breathe heavily and deeply, Alcyon reached out to steady him. "You're alright Tavros! You're alright... come on, breathe slow and steady, okay?"

He wasn't going to ask, just yet, what had happened. What she had said. How she'd reacted.

It was something he couldn't even bring himself to do, so he could have the decency to let Tavros catch his breath at his own pace.

ad1ostoreador:

He's shaken, in the wake of it, for all that he's keeping his head down and catching his breath. After a few long moments, he rubs a hand roughly over his eyes and face, collecting himself (and perhaps making sure his nose isn't actually bleeding, first).

It's not, but there's definitely a panache starting to trickle in at the edges, where the contact with her strained, and he very badly wants to see his wrigs, for no reason except that he can, and hers are all gone, or gone away, over and over and over.

"....M'good," he manages, eventually. Tolerable, anyway.

1nsurmountabull:

Alcyon nodded, not entirely grasping what exactly happened, but he could tell it'd effected him. And, for the sake of all that's good, Tavros had some experience with stuff like Gl'bgolyb. Alcyon didn't want to imagine what'd happen if he'd tried this himself...

He wasn't bleeding, or visibly hurt, but he seemed, evidently, distressed. "Hey. Tavros, why don't we... head back? Back to the meadow. You can catch your breath there, okay? We can talk about it when you're ready." He didn't want to force Tavros to be here any longer than he had to, and he reached out with his influence to try to subtly lull Gl'bgolyb to sleep.

Perhaps he had never gotten her attention himself... it would explain why he'd managed to get her to sleep without having something like this happen to him.

He was beyond thankful for that.

ad1ostoreador:

Tavros takes another deep breath, after a few more beats of silence, and his wings rustle together, before he nods. "...Yeah. Meadow," he echoes. "I'll... meet you there."

It's hard, having an actual exchange of thoughts and ideas with a creature of her age and psychic depth. His head feels like it ought to be ringing like a struck bell, still. Scooped out and left with nothing but static and ghostly afterimages and a lingering impression of loss.

He'll get to the meadow, even if it takes him a couple of tries to manage the fine motor control necessary to revert to the previous set of coordinates, then totter over to the nearest available boulder or log and sit down. At least his color's looking slightly less washed out, by then.

1nsurmountabull:

Hm. He didn't like that. Alcyon did go ahead before him, and made sure there was a place for him to sit. Thankfully, Tavros got there just fine, so Alcyon didn't need to port himself back to make sure Tavros wasn't... wandering himself into the sea or some shit.

Alcyon sat beside him, in silence, and brought a few animals from nearby closer to try to give Tavros some kind of grounding... while attempting to repel as much of Gl'bgolyb's psychic presence as he could. There was only so much he could do, but if he could alleviate the pressure in any way, he would.

ad1ostoreador:

Tavros is rubbing one temple, just in front of his horn, and grimaces apologetically when he meets Alcyon's eyes again. "...So, yeah.... she's a lot..." He hesitates a beat longer, then clears his throat. "...she is.... okay with it. As okay as can be.... expected, I guess."

1nsurmountabull:

Alcyon nodded. "Yeah, uh. It was pretty bad when I first tried... And I didn't even try to talk with her. Thanks, Tavros. You've helped more than you know..."

After the small beat, Alcyon looked... Surprised. "... Really? Huh. That's... Okay. That's good. So now we just need to figure out how to kill her, and to do it as painlessly as possible. It's... It's the least we can do."

He reached out, about to touch Tavros' shoulder, and then second guessed it. "But are you alright? If... If you need to go back hive, and distance yourself for a bit to recover, I can take it from here. I've got a few ideas I can pursue, and update you on it later, if you need."

ad1ostoreador:

"There's.... a thing I think I could, um, do. Which.... I learned from... someone awful, because she... took control of me to do it, once, but it would... be peaceful. For Gl'bgolyb. And less risky than, uh, trying to mess with a specibus and find the right... strifekind and still make it fast and painless..." He swallows, looking away.

1nsurmountabull:

"...Are... you sure you want to do that, Tavros?" Alcyon said, frowning and concerned. "I... mean, if it's peaceful for her, that's for the best. Can you give me an idea of what it is? Or if there's anything I can do to help you with it?"

ad1ostoreador:

Tavros struggles for a moment, to put something he understands by doing into words, one hand gesturing absently midair. "...It's just... going really deep. Deeper than thinking, or reacting, or seeing... and then..." He shrugs slightly. He doesn't have the medical vocabulary to talk about brainstems and autonomic functions, even if the brainmatter of a psychic monstrosity as old as the planet, if not older, happened to be organized anything like the brainmatter of a troll. "...Slowing everything down too far... in the parts that usually just, um, happen by themselves..."

1nsurmountabull:

He may not have the vocabulary, but the general idea is clear enough to Alcyon. He took a deep breath, drumming his fingers on his knee. "Sorry you had to go through that. Being... controlled, and made to do that. I don't know if you really should, in that case... but the idea is a good one. I could... I could try to do it? I think I know how I'd... do something like that."

Though, given his reaction to the idea of contacting her in the first place, he might not be able to manage it.

ad1ostoreador:

"I can do it," Tavros says, simply. "It's.... it's not, um, anyone who's still around to try and make me do things... and I wouldn't, uh... tell Gl'bgolyb I'd do something myself, and then... not do it. You could... probably help keep her feeling sleepy and calm, though, while I do... but I don't think she really wants to be... here, anymore."

1nsurmountabull:

Alcyon was kind of quiet in response to that, but nodded. "...Yeah. Okay. If you're sure you want to do it, and you're sure you can handle it, I believe you. And I believe in you. So I'll do that for you, alright? Keep her sleepy and calm, and make sure it's not... that she doesn't have to stress during it. Okay?"

He reached out to try to pat Tavros' shoulder, but before he actually touched him - "Hey. Is it alright if I rub your shoulder? Or would you rather not be touched? I don't know if you want to do it now, or... if you want to try to get some rest. It hit you pretty hard, that communing..."

ad1ostoreador:

It's one of those questions Tavros doesn't know how to answer. It's been a long time since he knew how to react to touch from people outside a very, very small circle, and sudden shoulder-pressure still tends to make him flinch more often than not. "...Maybe, uh... not, sorry, I mean, it's not you, but..." He clears his throat, and opts for a subject change.

"...I think, unless Handmaid says it needs to... um, happen now now... we should both be all rested up and stuff, first. A couple of nights or so? And if there's anything else you need to, uhh... get ready, or prepare for. Probably that island would be a good place to meet, when it's time, though..."

1nsurmountabull:

"Nah, it's fine." And that would be the end of it. It's why he asked, you know? Probably best for Tavros to get the physical support and reassurance he could probably use elsewhere. He put his hand down, giving him a fairly winning smile. Hey, he knows just as well as anyone how important boundaries are.

"Hey, how 'bout you head hive, rest up, and I'll do what I can to make sure I get myself properly rested. Handmaid would have told me by now if we need to rush, so... either you hit me up when you're ready, or I'll text you when we're down to the wire, alright?"

ad1ostoreador:

Tavros nods, relieved. He's... not entirely looking forward to telling Gamzee what he intends to do, here, but he's not dumb enough to think keeping it a secret would be a good idea for anyone involved, at least. "Okay... yeah, let me know if anything, um, changes in a big or alarming way... and I'll get ready."

1nsurmountabull:

Affirmative. Alcyon heaved a big sigh, and he smiled a second time at Tavros. "Alright then. Thanks. I really can't say enough how much I appreciate your help. Hope with this all taken care of, things will be... well. Will be better."

He gave Tavros a thumbs up. "You wanna get hive to your mate? Probably a better place to be than here, eh?"

ad1ostoreador:

Another nod, and a bit of a sheepish smile. Mostly, he wants to head this panache off before it veers into migraine territory entirely. It's still skirting the edge enough that he thinks he can rest it off easily, especially if he's not lingering in Gl'bgolyb's psychic shadow to do so. "...Things will definitely, um, get better for you, here. You'll... see, once she's not around anymore."

1nsurmountabull:

"Heh. I bet." He got himself up on his feet, and gave him a little, sorta saluting kinda motion. "You take care of yourself, you hear? I'm gonna get to my work. Going to make certain that we've got Alternia safe until we've put our plan into action. And again, thanks."

ad1ostoreador:

He gives his head a tiny shake in response to that almost-salute. "You've... done so much with it all, already. More than I would have ever imagined seeing an Alternia able to, um, change. You should be proud of everything you've done, here... but I'll see you later. When everything's ready..."

With that, he stands up from his seat and adjusts his transportalizer coords, once again, with a nod to Alcyon before vanishing with a pop.

1nsurmountabull:

And Alcyon nodded in thanks, and then went off to work. He had a bit more to do to make sure Alternia was secure... and put plans in motion for when Gl'b was finally, finally killed. He could only imagine what it'd be like.

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