With an interest in exploring Solar District, not for any quest, but just to have something to do, Patrice materializes in an alley somewhere along Corona Boulevard with a small burst of electric blue. She is wearing a black hoodie, dark blue sweatpants and a light blue pair of shoes. She looks around the alley, hoping that nobody saw the pop of color. The side alley she spawns in on is right near Earthbound Roasters and the strong though thoroughly comfortable scent of coffee fills the air. Nobody seems to notice Patrice appearing. In fact, this alleyway seems rather deserted. With a breathe out a sigh of relief, she makes her way to Earthbound's door and slips inside, looking around while she does so.
When stepping inside, the older couple who own the shop wave hello to Patrice. It looks much the same as before with its pseudo-antiques shop vibes and kitschy yet awkward furniture design filling the space. "Oh hello Madam, welcome back to Earthbound Roasters," says Rhoda, the owner behind the coffee bar. The older gentleman, whose nametag calls him James, smiles while walking from behind the bar and into the kitchen in the back.
"Hello, hello. Hope you two are well?" she says while sitting down at a table.
Rhoda nods and wipes down the bartop, "Yes, business is doing well. It's nice seeing Janny again as well, even if he's a bit different now. What can I get you?"
"May I have a white, please? And you said he's different now, how so?"
With some quick reflexes, Rhoda gets to work making Patrice's white while explaining, "You didn't hear the announcement? It was played all over the radios. Basically, Janny is now leading Nova Heart alongside Sparky. It's a real shame of what happened to Tsutsu's kid though, a damn shame. I didn't think he'd go down so easily, but I guess that's what he gets for fighting back against him."
Rhoda shakes her head with a sigh and hands her drink over. It tastes like a flat white, nothing super special, but it doesn't taste bad either. The other owner, James, walks back in while overhearing their conversation. He adds on, "Tsutsu? You call her that like you were friends with her. Still though, I didn't think Alexander would've died to that. Then again, our leader's power is much too great for him. Gods, he's so kind."
"No, I haven't heard anything as of late. Did the kid meet his maker, what happened?" Patrice takes a small sip, then sets it down on the table.
Rhoda looks confused for a moment, then responds, "I guess not everyone pays attention to television. You're the first person not to know about it, it was all over social media out here. Gods, social media blew up with videos of the event too. Basically, Spark and Alexander had a fight televised to the city, and Alexander got absolutely wiped out. To the point where he was no longer there after Spark used his Lunar Blue Beam on him. He was pronounced dead on the spot. By the way, how is the coffee? Do you need sugar?"
"I see, I see. I don't tend to watch TV or go on social media. Just too much distraction from writing, you see. And no, I think it's good as is," she adds, after a moment of silence. "Trying to cut back on sugar." She takes another sip.
"Ah I see I see." Rhoda goes back to work as she asks, "So what do you write, out of curiosity?"
Patrice hesitates. "Um... I wrote a fair bit. Children's books and poems are mainly my two, but it kinda leaves you wanting a bit more, so I'm trying out writing a novel, and it feels so different."
"Ah I see. That's incredibly interesting." Rhoda smiles sweetly, though clearly the topic is out of her wheelhouse.
[You notice two more people, a pair of teenagers, enter the coffee shop and Rhoda greets them, then takes their order. They seem to be discussing something about Spark. Something about an Owl creature is brought up. Whatever it is, it sounds exciting.]
Patrice closes her eyes and tries to listen to the teenagers.
The conversation is as follows:
Teenager A - "Yooo did you see the owl during that fight with Spark? It was sick!"
Teenager B - "Yeah!! The way it flew around gracefully? It was so big too?"
Teenager A - "Almost as tall as Spark! What was it called again?"
Teenager B - "Um... I don't remember. Did he ever say?"
Teenager A - "I don't remember. Honestly, I don't remember much about the fight, but the parts I do, it was cooooool!!"
Teenager B - "Yeaahhh"
Rhoda - "Please quiet down. This is a coffee shop."
Teenagers at the same time - "Sorry!"
Patrice takes a big gulp of coffee, finishing it. She then looks around for the bathroom, finding it in the back of the shop. Upon entering, she finds a trio of stalls in the rather well-kept and well-stocked restroom. Entering one of the stalls, she messages The Hangout Spot abut what she’s learned. Afterwards, her phone gets slid into her pocket. A deep breath later and washed hands later, she walks out.
Upon walking out, Earthbound Roasters is getting a little more busy as time moves forward. It's getting closer to sunset and it seems this place is rather popular with the 9 to 5 work crowd (it's about 5:30pm)
She makes her way to Rhoda. "May I pay for the white, please, Rhoda?"
Rhoda smiles gently, "nah, that's fine. A friend of Janny's is a friend of mine, and I don't allow my friends to pay for coffee. It's on the house."
Patrice smiles shyly, "You really don't have to do that... but thanks, Rhoda. Where can I find Mr. January, if you don't mind me asking?"
Rhoda squints at the ceiling trying to remember, but James chimes in with, "Oh TEMPORARY NOVA HEART LEADER Sol? I reckon he'd be at Nova Tower. He leads the city now. As far as I am aware, he handles a lot of the smaller tasks that Sparky cannot.”
"Noted. Thanks for the coffee, and may I see you again soon." And with that, she exits the coffee shop, and looks up at the sky.
The sky is getting closer to nightfall and you notice that the moon is indeed full despite the current moon phase being a Waxing Gibbous. It's also huge, taking up a large chunk of the dusky sky. It seems like the plants in the area, as Solar District is known to be very nature-forward, are also being affected by the moon. Some are beginning to overgrow and cracks in the sidewalks from the tree roots are forming. It's almost as though the plantlife here is beginning to return the District to its roots. Corona Boulevard is rather busy with cars going up and down the long, now bumpier, road. The shopping district seems to be packed with people going to the different shops and eating out. On some of the more vacant seeming buildings, she notices signs posted telling the citizens about something, but from current vantage, it's hard to tell exactly what.
Patrice gets closer and finds out they are wanted ads for various members of The Players. Luna, Hinata, and Spider are all wanted. Also a familiar woman clad in blue… oh.. It’s her… but with an old pseudonym she used months prior. One “Teresa P. Kells.” The reward for capturing alive and bringing the target to Nova Tower is a cool $10k and 10k CREDITS, though it seems payment could be varied dependent on how many are brought in, or the speed in which it takes.
Patrice cocks her eyebrows like, "Really?" She starts walking towards the Solar Guild. A bit briskly, but not a full run. She's able to. So far no one's caught on that a $10k cash windfall is casually walking to Solar Guild. She arrives with no issues.
The guild looks the same as before. The very strawberry themed receptionist is standing at the front desk waving people inside. His name is Barry Sweet.
Patrice approaches Barry, the hood pulled over her eyes in hopes Barry wouldn't recognize her. "I'm sorry, but where can I find a Miss Rebecca? She asked me to meet her here."
With his familiar lisp and a soft smile, Barry says, "Becca? Uhhh... she should be in the Solar Sanctuary if she's here. I thought she took tonight off. You're welcome to go check tho."
"Thanks." She makes her way to the now opened Sanctuary.
[Upon walking in, you find yourself in a massive multi-ecosystem terrarium filled to the brim with plants, flora, and in certain locations some helpful insects and even a few animals here or there. Scientists from Nova Heart walk between the different sectors to study the behaviors of plants in various experiments. It smells incredibly good in this very first section, a mixture of flowering plants in a somewhat warm though artificial environment.
Airlocks leading to different biomes can be found throughout the the Sanctuary. One seems to be a wintry paradise full of evergreens and firs, another seems to be rather tropical with flowing waters and sandy beaches with a section of desert in the middle, and the other seems to be almost autumn-like with many of the leaves on the trees looking rather orange and yellow.
In the very center of the Sanctuary and supported by glass structures and an elevator seems to be a circular glass encased office, probably where Rebecca's office lies. A signpost at the very entrance calls this place]:
Patrice taps on a scientist walking by, hoping to get their notice. "Terribly sorry, but is Miss Rebecca in tonight? She said to meet her here."
The scientist, a woman with her long brunette hair done up in a bun, looks at her clipboard then responds with, "Miss Pegasus should be at her office up th--"
BOOM!!!
[You hear what sounds like a tree fall over in a nearby biome.]
"Orrr..." the scientist gulps "..she might be dealing with another Floral Anomaly. Sounds like she's holding her own, but just to be certain." They run off towards the Airlock that says "Summer" and enter. Patrice follows the scientist. Upon reaching Rebecca's location, it does seem like whatever was happening was cleared successfully. On the ground is a 10ft long palm tree knocked to the ground. Its roots are sliced off with the pair of shears she's holding. Physically Rebecca looks the same, but she looks sweaty and exhausted. She looks over at the scientist and also Patrice. "Hey Nancy? Mind if you give us some time?" The scientist nods and leaves post-haste.
Rebecca then takes a sip from her canteen and says in a hushed whisper, "You really shouldn't be here Patrice. Didn't you see all of the Wanted posters out there??? They actually want The Gang arrested!"
Patrice grins, "I've seen it, yes, but I'm not overly worried just yet. Just yet being the key word here. And besides," she shrugs, "people see what they want to see, and someone in hoodies, trousers and shoes? More often than not, not worth of noticing."
Rebecca shrugs, "Sure I guess. Then again, I feel like Spider, Luna, and Hinata would be much easier targets to go after. I say that knowing full well they can protect themselves. So what's up? Barry said we had an appointment, but I don't remember setting something up like that."
"Yeah, no, that was a fib, terribly sorry." Patrice lets out a slightly shaky breath. "I'm just here for intel stuff. The moon, the plants, just... everything. I just have to see for myself." She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. "The only thing I haven't seen for myself yet is Jan. Also how the CoLs fall under the big cheese's control, but that might be too much for one trip."
Rebecca makes sure the coast is fully clear and then slumps to the ground out of sheer fear and exhaustion. In that same hushed tone, she vents to Patrice, "It's all a fucking mess. All of this insanity for the sake of control over everything. His control no longer just extends to our citizens and the Creatures of Legend. It's now affecting our environment as a whole, plants becoming overgrown, our weather patterns turning erratic. The tides in other regions are basically destroying coastal cities. Hell, the Asiatics are becoming overrun with a different kind of creature all together, but I don't remember the term for them. Point is, Spark is slowly killing our World, and gods know if this continues, this World is only the beginning."
"Gonna be a hard uphill, that's for sure. But gotta keep hope. Only thing we have in times of strife, in times of uncertainty, in times of madness. Keep hope, and there's still a chance. Lose hope, and it's all gone." Patrice sits down with her. "Sure, he seems insurmountable now, but everything falls. Maybe not now, maybe not a week, a month, or a year, but things will fall. The question is not if they fall, but when they fall."
Rebecca breathes a deep sigh, "Gods I hope this doesn't take a year. With the amount of overgrowth - and at such an expansive rate as it is - I don't foresee Solar District lasting more than a month. The Outskirts are slowly taking back what it had. And the moon, it keeps growing larger every day. I'm scared that we're gonna surpass the Roche limit soon."
With a clearing of her throat, Rebecca swaps topics, "Right, you asked about the creatures of legend. The vast majority of them are being held in Nova Tower's massive basement, specifically Basement floor 6. It is basically a military complex sized concrete room designed to hold all of them. A few escaped, but everything that didn't lies down there. I wanted to go down there and release them, but I know for a fact that i would be killed."
Patrice sits silently, taking all of this in. After a long silence, she speaks, "Erm... you might need to walk me through some of that. The Roche limit?"
Rebecca explains while reading from notes on her tablet, "Okay, so a leading theory about what's happening to the moon is that its orbit got screwed up somehow. People are believing that the moon is literally falling to the earth. Now, a Roche limit is the theoretical distance to where a natural satellite can be before it starts getting directly affected, even crumbling, disintegrating. In a way, the sky is literally falling on us and there's nothing we can do unless we stop Spark. He's completely lost his goddamn mind just for the sake of power."
"Right, OK. And Basement 6 is just where everyone is kept, or is it specifically the CoLs?"
"Just the CoLs. Just uh," she clears her throat, "don't tell anyone I told you this. You didn't hear this information from me."
Patrice mimes zipping her mouth, locking it, and throwing away the key. "Secret's safe with me. I won't tell anyone where I get my sources."
Rebecca nods. "Right, I'd better get back to work. Do you need me for anything else?"
She shrugs, "Probably not, unless you've got an invisible cloak lying around somewhere, in which case, yes please."
"If I had one, I'd give it to you. Not even sure those exist honestly."
"Oh well. I will trouble you no longer, then." She stands up and puts a hand out.
Rebecca takes it and gets up. "Thank you. I'll see you later?"
"That you will. Hopefully then I will be in my office, and the big cheese will be none the wiser."
She nods and walks off. "Good luck out there!" The sanctuary is very calm and relaxing, especially in the Summer biome. It's a bit warm and the sound of waves from the nearby ocean simulator is soothing to the ears. The glass panes blocking the outside from in show that it is currently night time and the moon is indeed very full and very big.
Patrice stares at the moon and smiles grimly. Then she walks out of the Sanctuary.
Barry notices Patrice leave the Sanctuary and waves her down, "Everything go alright?"
She stops and nods at him, "Could have been worse, really, but I don't want to jinx anything."
With his usual bright smile, he nods, "Right, well have good night ma'am."
Back in the city, the automobile traffic is a bit busier than before. It was said once a long time ago that Capital City is The City that Never Sleeps, and considering just how many people are out and about even at 9pm, it's kind of incredible. The walk to Nova District is rather calm, all things considered, and aside from roots and plants pushing up against the sidewalk and making it bumpy in places, it's an easy walk. Eventually, Patrice reaches the crossroads in Nova District. Upon arriving, she heads towards Nova Tower, hoping to speak to January.
The courtyard outside has Nova Heart Incorporated signage and concrete tiles leading up to a staircase which leads inside. Patrice walks up the staircase and goes inside the Tower. Stepping inside, Patrice immediately notices the single man at a reception desk on his laptop. Upon seeing Patrice walk inside, he waves her down. "Welcome to Nova Heart, how can I help you?"
On his nametag is:
Adam Estelle
He/Him
She hobbles over to him. "Hello Adam. Is there any way I can squeeze in for a meeting with, erm..." She takes out a piece of paper from her hoodie pocket and looks at it intently, like trying to read something on it. "the new co-LEADER? I think his name is January or something of the like."
Adam types something into his computer and shakes his head, "I cannot. Sol is currently not accepting meetings. You would need to make an appointment and his appointments are currently... six months out."
"I see. Is he in the building right now, by any chance?"
"He is, but he is currently in a staff meeting with other ADMINS. Not to mention, he's told me to not allow access to him unless it was either important or they had an especially good reason.'
"A shame, really. May I leave a message for him?"
"Sure. Go ahead, but make it quick. I need to get up to the meeting room."
"Please tell him that a P. K., that's Papa Kangaroo, is looking for him. That's all." She looks around the reception for a chair.
"P.K. ...Papa Kangaroo..... is looking for him. Got it." He types that in and then announces, "right, if that's all, I best be off." He gets up and disappears. There are lots of comfortable seats in the rather white and sterile reception office. Over by the wall, she notices what looks like an elevator as well. Past that, there's nothing else in the reception office. For being such a tall building, having this one floor be very plain is strange.
Patrice walks over to the elevator and presses the up button.
The elevator comes down without a hitch. Oddly though, despite the lack of security cameras, Patrice has this strange feeling she's being watched somehow. With a ding! the elevator opens.
She looks into the elevator, and more specifically at the ceiling.
The ceiling hatch seems to be able to open. That feeling of being watched only persists.
Adjusting her hood, she steps into the elevator and looks at the floor choice.
According to signage on the elevator door, she is currently on floor G (Ground floor). Instead of buttons, a small blue terminal has the following:
NOVA TOWER ELEVATOR
>SELECT YOUR FLOOR
>CONTEXT SENSITIVE CUSTOM INPUT
>ABOUT
She presses Select Your Floor.
She only notices numbers going up in the positives. No mention of a basement or even anything underground. The numbers stretch up into the hundreds. No labels for what each floor is is included. She presses the second floor.
The elevator quickly jolts up and with a ding she finds herself at an area with 30 people working on their computers. A sign near one of the desks calls this "NOVA HEART ADVERTISING - LEAD ADMIN: PERSEUS."
She walks out of the elevator and looks for the nearest window.
There are two at the very back of this room but they are both closed and shuttered with blinds. One of the grunts notices the woman enter the room and says, "Can I help you?"
She covers her eyes, massages her temples, and sighs, annoyed, "Yeah. Sorry, today's been a mess and a half, and, like, I'm just all turned around and I cannot find where the bathroom is, and the guy said to go up the elevator, and now I'm here, and, like, I don't know about you, but I don't see no bathroom up here."
The nameless grunt doesn't fall for it, knowing full well the bathrooms are on the ground floor for visitors. He stares at both Patrice before saying out loud, "You... you're Teresa P. Kells, aren't you?"
She looks at him confused, "W-who?"
He pulls out a piece of paper from his pocket folded up rather roughly, and points to Patrice's photo. Underneath it is the name "Teresa P. Kells". "It's you! On the wanted ad! Man oh man, I get this 10k and I can take a weekend off for once!"
"I can assure you I have no idea what you mean." Patrice starts moving for the windows at the back, keeping an eye on the grunts.
There are thirty of them just itching to jump at the chance to bag themselves $10k. "Would you like to come with me? Or would you rather do this the hard way?" The nameless grunt asks.
She moves quicker to the windows. "Depends, darling. How far down is prison?"
"Basement level 10." the grunt chuckles.
"Only elevators or aee there stairs?"
"Portals." The grunt isn't moving. They're just watching Patrice do her thing with a smile on his face.
"A shame, really. Portal breaks, you're just stuck down there." She looks behind her, hoping she is close to the back. Realizing she’s getting closer to the window, Patrice moves over to the left, and tries to open the blinds. "And if it's down for long enough, I mean... who knows what's gonna happen?"
"I guess we'll die. Or Spark will pull us out." He continues to watch the window with a smile. The blinds are open.
She glances back at the window, hoping there are no bars on it. "Probably not. He reminds me of an aristocrat, if that makes sense to you."
No bars.
He just shrugs. "Look, I work for him because he makes me happy. I love working for Nova."
Patrice hears the others also repeat that same mantra, "I love working for Nova." over and over again. It's creepy. She opens the window. "Somehow, that doesn't quite convince me, darling. Say it louder, and I might be convinced."
[The moment Patrice touches the window, she disappears.]