### -> [[Chromatic Aberration]] *Author's Note:* *SSdtIHNvIHNvcnJ5LCBJa2EuIEkgd2lzaCBJIGtuZXcgd2hlcmUgSSB3YXMsIHNvIEkgY291bGQgZmluZCB5b3UuIFlvdSd2ZSBncm93biBpbnRvIHN1Y2ggYSBiZWF1dGlmdWwgd29tYW4uLi4gSXQncyBhIHNoYW1lIEkgY2FuJ3QgYmUgdGhlcmUgdG8gc2VlIGl0IGhhcHBlbi4=* It's a dark and stormy night in The Residence. Where rain doesn't fall, wind billows, the leaves of the many trees dancing, being flung back, only being able to hold onto themselves. Thankfully, the Cyclone and Taikomochi residence was still battering it pretty well. Ika and Mako were both home, with the former looking wistfully out a window, while the latter was on the couch, watching some kind of show. *It's pouring down out there pretty hard... Strange, isn't it?* "Ika, sweetie!~", beckoned Mako from the other room. "You gotta see this, it's *so* funny!" "If it is the turtles again, I think I might scream." "Just come look!" Upon the television screen was some kind of comedy show, one Ika had seen before - titled *Warhammer the Dwarf*, it normally follows the title character as they go on a destructive rampage over seemingly insignificant details. For this particular episode, Warhammer appears to be accompanied by a Cybo. "Oy, Metalhead!", Warhammer yells, crashing into the scene. It's a well set up dinner table, with all the *mise en place* you would expect - a wooden bowl filled with some kind of salad, a plate covered with some kind of rolls, and in the center of the table, an intricately cut large bird, flayed and ready to be stabbed at with a serving fork. Next to the table sits a large metallic creature, the Metalhead in question. It appears to the audience as boxy in shape, being comprised out of rectangular prisms, save for the head, which looks more like a boombox. He replies in monotone, synthetic lines. "My name is Bobert, Warharmmer." "Yeah, yeah, whatever." The dwarf looks around, before pulling out and brandishing a comically large hammer. "Did you make this dinner fuh' me?" "Affirmative", Metalhead replies. "I have taken great care to represent your culture in consumable form, keeping the basics of your heritage, while also adding-" With a large swing of the hammer, and a horn added for effect, the entire arrangement is smashed into pieces, along with the table, which has splintered into fragments of wood, only visible after the dust settles. "Thanks!", the dwarf yells, before hurrying off into the off-screen zone. The Robot just stands there, before muttering, "Null Pointer Exception!" This causes Mako to burst into an uproar, laughing from her belly to her mouth, doubling over, barely able to breathe. Ika just stands by, a little confused. "I don't really get it." "Oh- oh, uhm, you know, it's- that's his catchphrase." "'Null Pointer Exception'?" "Hilarious, right?" Ika just shook her head. "I love you, Mako, I think we both know this. Edgie knows this. Toby knows this-" Mako wanted to skip the cutscene. "Get on with it." "I have *zero* clue what that means." "it's just, like, a thing he says, sweetie. It's not that deep." Ika put a finger on her chin. "You sure? I feel like it should be..." Just then, a bolt of lightning was heard just behind them, and the TV went out, along with all the other lights in the house. Ika immediately felt something grasp her arm in desperation, but thankfully, it was just the wails of her partner. "Hey, hey, Maks, relax, it's alright." "N-no, it's not alright!!" "You've seen me kill a person, but you're afraid of the dark...?" Mako didn't reply, but Ika guessed that she would say something along the lines of "God forbid women do anything!", if she wasn't struck by fear. "How about this. Let's both go outside and see if we can get the generator working, alright?" Mako sniffled a little. "Okay..." Leading her by a hand, Ika took the two of them outside onto the patio, first grabbing weaponry, just in case, before turning the corner to the side of the cabin, cracking a couple of branches along the way, before coming to the back of the cabin. The damage was clear - the voltage input was shot, causing it to short-circuit. Thankfully, behind the cabin was also where the generator was stored, just in case. "You okay?" Mako was still shivering a bit. "Y-yeah, I'm fine. Just hurry up and get it going, please?" "Say no more, my love." Ika retrieved a can of oil sitting on a lone stone brick, placing it beside her. She unscrewed a cap on the generator and poured some of it in, enough for the night, she hoped, before replacing the cap, and grabbing a hold of a corded handle. With a couple of yanks, the machine roared to life, billowing out a groan before getting the lights up and running. Before Mako could start being all lovey again, though, Ika noticed something out of the corner of her eye. A blue wisp, of sorts, hovering in the air, just between the trees. "Mako, you see that over there?" Mako put her hands back behind her in awe. "Woah! Is that one of those ghosts you talk to when I'm not here?" Ika chuckled. "I thought you would know by now they're called *spirits*. I think that one is literally called a 'Water Ghost', though. Era probably knows more about them than I do." "Era 2?" "Whatever. He's not here, that's the point." Ika searched her memories, a thing she had been doing for a while. "He's in and out of my head sometimes. If he was here, he'd be on my wrist, and yet..." Ika pulled back her sleeve, only revealing some scars. "He is not there." Mako searched her own registry, too, trying to think of what to say. "Do you think we should follow it?" "A water ghost?", Ika asked. "They're usually not something you *follow*, but, we can check it out."\ Holding hands together, the duo wandered down to where the spirit was holding itself. When approached, it seemed to bounce up and down, before trailing off into the woods, a small set of sparkles lighting some sort of path. "Stay close, Mako. Spirits are always finnicky and strange." With caution, Ika led the way, with Mako being close behind. It was a little bit exhilarating, for Mako at least, being able to explore together. Reminded her of... well, it wasn't really *simpler* times, but being able to travel with Ika was really fun, in her eyes. Eventually, the trail stopped, revealing a clearing in the woods. Though the rain was still coming down hard, the water ghost was still there, accompanies by several others, all encircling some metal hatch in the ground. "That's... odd. Mako, did you know about this?" Mako shook her head. "No, honest!" "But you've lived here for aeons, no?" Mako gripped a little tighter on Ika's hand. "I didn't really, like, see the forest n' all. I was mostly caught up with... other people." Ika didn't want to prod. She didn't like Toby either. "Say, do you want to see what's behind the trapdoor, there?" "Sure!" "Alright, but have caution, okay?" With a little bit of strength and brute force, Ika managed to pry the trapdoor open. Inside was a rung ladder made of several metal bars, lowering into an unseen chamber. Taking a breath, Ika started her descent. "Come on, what are you waiting for?" They started climbing down... ...and down... ...and further still down... ...oh! There's an ice cream shop here! No, kidding, they're still descending... "Okay! Made it!" Ika and Mako both landed on their feet onto a metal floor. It, along with the walls and ceiling, were lined with metallic panels of varying shapes and sizes. The walls were curved outward, with somewhat Synth-ish inspired cabinets along the top. In front of them was a large tube of some sorts - though it was filled with a carbonated blue-green liquid, nothing was inside it. Beyond that were smaller tubes, again with a liquid, but with not much inside, save for the bubbles. "Maks, you getting anything down here?" Maks turned on her antenna, trying to get a good signal. The electricity between them sparked and sparked, but nothing. "Can't say that I am, sweetie." Cautiously, the two stepped to the right of the large tube, revealing something much more grandiose behind it - a large conspiracy board of sorts, with several pieces of paper, all with one word on them, connected by tacks and red thread. Below that was a desk, filled with all sorts of documents, manned by... some kind of paper-ish person? They seem to spoke thrice - like three separate speech tracks, all saying something different. With some hesitation, they eventually approached, Ika on the right, Mako on the left. Ika started. "Uh, Hello. Who are you, exactly?" The voices, all in unison, stopped. The figure revealed itself to be a creation of pure origami - though a facsimile of a person, they still resembled one, with hair colored alternating strips of purple and black, wearing a shirt without much of a design, save for a couple of buttons and a white liner on the outside, and a flayed skirt, pointing and jutting outwards in spikes. For a moment, the world stood still. The only thing heard was the whirr of fans and ventilation through the cavern. Eventually, though, the origami spoke. "Ika Cyclone. Age unknown, as they do not measure Age in The Plane." The origami creature, whatever it was, spoke with all the cadence of a tired old man. Ika took a step back. "How- what- what the hell are you on about?" "Your character description?" Ika looked at Mako, who shrugged. There was probably a need to be worried, but before weapons could be drawn, words would come first. "Look, we just want to know who you are." The origami creature laughed. "I forgot that you don't see the world like I do. You may call me... Mystery." Mako looked to the side. "Mystery... What kind of a name is that?" "Never mind that!", they said, beckoning towards them. "Come, have a seat. We have a lot to discuss." ### -> [[Discuss]] something with Mystery