The War of Paradigm City

T"I know about the archives. I added a lot of information to it. It is filled with things we know must be older than 40 years. The problem is, nothing in there can actually be dated that far back. For instance, I personally investigated that floor plan. In spite of where it was found, & the fact that the building was obviously 40 years old, the floor plan only came out to 30 years. It was a reproduction of some kind. But what's even more disturbing than that is that every ruins I've ever tested comes out to be exactly 40 years old."

"So what, you're saying our world is 40 years old?" Zell asked.

Vega:<That's all I have for suggestions. And my involvement all got started because someone stole my matress.>

T"I don't know. It's a real scientific mystery."

L"I became involved principally because someone stole my arm. I got it back."

*She flashes a big, toothy grin.*

Zell shrugged, "I got involved because of a contract. Fun origin stories aside, do we have a plan of what to do?"

T"Hmm...Aamon's base would most likely be in the accessed through the tunnels, but outside of the city proper. We could either go looking for him, or wait for Barbatos to make a move & hope we get lucky."

"Well, I'm not the leader here, what do you think we should do?"

Vega:<Wait around or go running around a maze of tunnels? Tough choice. Why has no one considered pursuing Barbatos?>

T"Because she's in hiding. You do know what that means, right? It means we don't have any idea where she is."

Vega:<And we really have no idea where this Aamon is. All you can do is guess that his base is underground when for all you know it could be in some above ground warehouse.>

T"No, it couldn't be. He wouldn't risk being in plain view of the Paradigm Corporation, let alone trying to transport materials through the city streets. And even if he would, he wouldn't have the kinds of resources he needs. He needs heavy shielding to block out any efforts to detect him through radio waves, & he needs enough space to store all of his projects. I admit that it's not much to go on, but a few thousand tunnels is better than searching the entire known world."

"We could argue about this until we're blue in the face, but the point remains, we have to do something. So pick a plan of attack, and lets do it. Beats sitting around here."

T"Alright. I vote we each pick an exit we think is likely to lead to Barbatos, & start searching. I believe her plan is to assassinate Ronstadt, so I'll start at the tunnel under Paradigm HQ."

L"Perhaps I can search from the location of Aamon's previous facility? I can survive in the desert much longer."

"I'm not really familiar with the tunnel system..." Zell admitted, "Should I just choose one to go down and hope for the best?"

T"Fortunately, I have the tunnels pretty extensively mapped out. As long as we keep communication with each other, we should be fine. Still, I don't believe we should just go down random tunnels. There must be other areas of interest."

L"They might go after Gordon Rosewater's old farm, the other Paradigm Executives, or...any of us."

"I'll go to Rosewater Farm, if you think it will yield any results."

Vega:<I am not familiar with any of the Paradigm executives. I've only met two and one I didn't even speak to while the other is well, you all know about her by now.>

*Thiera sighs & massages her temples.*

T"Barbatos is not now, nor has she ever been, a Paradigm Executive. Besides, even if she was, why would she be assassinating herself? Look, just...go search Schwarzwald's old apartment, or something."

Vega:<Somebody enlisted me and was in control of the second city. That somebody just happened to be her unless some lunatic decided to slap me around in front of some little girl.>

[Not that that hasn't happened before at other points in time.]

*Topaz takes a step forward and stares across the group.*

Topaz: <And me?>

L"We still need people to shadow Roatha Arelaz & Valefor Pruslas."

*She narrows her eyes at the blank stares she undoubtedly gets.*

L"The other Paradigm Executives besides President Ronstadt."

"Obviously," Zell replied to Lilith's clarification, "So, I guess that means we're all off to our respective tunnels."

*Thiera is sitting next to the coiled-up Basilisk, monitering sonar feeds coming in from either end of the tunnel.*

"Nothing so far...."
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*Lilith jumps onto the desert sands from her Megadeus, near the old clock tower. The sink hole is filled with shards of metal & computer parts.*

"Would he really have destroyed it all? Or would he have left a hidden entrance, in the event that something were to happen? He certainly had to escape to SOMEWHERE safe from the self-destruct sequence, with only precious seconds to spare."
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*Zell is allowed into Rosewater's dome, no questions asked. As she strolls through the fields, she notices that all of the tomatos are dried & withered, the plants having lost most of their green. Only one or two people are still staffing the area, his cabin is unguarded, its door hanging wide open & banging noisily on the wall in the breeze. The windows have all been smashed in & his rocking chair is turned over.*
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*Topaz has no difficulty finding Pruslas's house. However, she does have difficulty keeping it in sight. He's one of the few citizens to have a Dome for himself, & security won't let her in.*
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*Hitomi, by contrast, finds that Roatha lives in a house about 1/3 the size of Thiera's. Fairly large, but not a mansion. It is, however, by a pond, & there are a large number of black & white ducks walking around.*
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*Vega just barely manages to squeeze into Michael Seebach's old apartment, the door is practically barricaded with unopened mail. Once inside, he notices that despite a fire-damaged kitchen & boarded-up window, the apartment is mostly in-tact, just covered with a large amount of dust.*

Zell makes her way to the cabin, righting the rocking chair when she gets there.

*She wanders around the Dome looking for any security breaches.*