With A Bang And A Whimper

To: Thorgood
From: Lucas

Don't have exact coordinates. All I can tell is that it came from Dreva. I don't know where.

-Lucas

***********************

Shein watches the broadcast, then sits down and leans back, maybe a tiny bit paler than normal. He's looking at Jenova when he finally speaks. "Get me Michael and Dylan." His guard merely nods and steps out of the room. Once he's alone with the two, he speaks up again. "You'll have to forgive me, but I'm a just a little skeptical about this. You're telling me there's a missing planet and no one here remembers it. That's not exactly a commonplace situation." Well, when has anything that's happened in this galaxy been commonplace. It's probably why he's actually listening to this.

"That's what happened." He starts pulling out several encyclopedia entries from the past few years on Reva. "Unless Rhean and Burninite scholars were imagining things or in conspiracy to make things up, it was there and now it's gone."

"Which is absurd," Jenova adds. "Hopefully Arren recalls -- you did say he was on Esoteric. In any case, as intriguing as this all is, there is a war to fight as well. Clearly some division of labor is required. Shein I know you're reluctant to accept help in fighting this war, but at least accept our help in figuring this out."

Dylan and Michael arrive about the same time that Arren and Lucas come wandering in. The two telepaths just sit down, not saying anything. Lucas does the same, though after he sits down, he slings a backpack on the floor next to him, opens it, and pulls out paper squares. He proceeds to start folding it.

Arren, however, doesn't sit. He just looks at Shein for a moment, not speaking.

Shein sighs and nods to Jenova. "This is absurd. Losing a planet is, indeed, very absurd." He shakes his head. "You know why I won't accept offensive military help in the war. Defensive is something completely different and I have accepted that. To drag others into this would compromise who I am. Figuring this out? I'm still not completely convinced this is real." He looks at Lucas with a raised brow. "I know at least one person who could have pulled off the most elaborate practical joke of all time."

Lucas looks up, though he doesn't stop folding the paper. "Don't blame me. I had nothing to do with this!"

Arren rolls his eyes. "Shein, he really didn't have anything to do with this. I remember Reva. I remember going there. Hell, I got shot with a plasma gun while there."

Shein jerks his attention to Arren. "What?" He blinks several times before shaking his head.

"If I recall things correctly, I disassembled a lot of guns when I was there."

"Arren, did the people from Reva ever leave you with any information about if they might leave, or anything that might explain their disappearance in any way?" Jenova asks.

Arren shakes his head to Jenova. "No, nothing." He looks at Dmitri. "Yeah. I remember that. It was probably one of the few things that saved our asses. I was shot because I was the enemy." He looks at Shein. "You have to trust us on this, Shein. Something happened. I don't know what, but something happened." As if to prove the point, he removes his shirt to show Shein his back. There's a burn scar from what could only be an energy weapon.

Shein turns several shades whiter than he already is at seeing this. He just looks around the room, completely stunned and speechless. He actually looks like he's going to say something several times, but nothing manages to make it's way out.

Lucas pulls a file folder from the backpack and tosses it on the table. He immediately goes back to folding the paper. He doesn't even look up. "That's the information on the pulse that went through Rutian space. Came from here. From Dreva. I don't know where on the planet. Damned thing moved too fast for me to pinpoint an exact location. Far as I can tell, it wiped all reference to Reva out wherever it touched." He sets aside an origami duck before taking another sheet of paper and starting to fold it.

"The question is," Jenova says, "whether they left on purpose the same way they came, or whether they were taken against their will by whoever they had been running from."

It's posited as a question, probably directed at Arren for input.

(OOC: Panzer? Anything to add? Theories? Stuff like that?)

(OOC: Not really. Making technobabble is not my thing.)

Arren shakes his head. "Not that I'm aware of, no."

Lucas snorts. "Excuse me, but the pulse came from Dreva. Duh-reva. Not. Reva. Ruh-eva. If Reva had anything to do with this, don't you think the pulse would have come from there instead of here?" He looks a little irritated, though shrugs afterward. "Not that I have any ideas of what caused this either or anything. I just thought I'd make that little detail clear. Searching for answers there are not only impossible, but highly unlikely that it caused the problem."

Shein just stays quiet and listens to all of this.

(OOC: Panzer, it's not mine either, nor do you have to use technobabble to set forward theories. )

Looking at Arren's wounds, he says, "I think blaster burns look a bit different, too, so it's definitely not from our weapons."

Jenova arches an eyebrow at Lucas's tone, given the average level of importance of the people in the room.

"I find myself in agreement with the Vampire," Jenova says. "I find it unlikely that the Revans left of their own accord in this manner, and even if they did, we should at least try to figure out where they went and why. The disappearance of an entire planet is definitely an important event. Your call though Shein -- the planet was under your dominion, and they your people, even if you have been made to forget."

Lucas nods to Jenova. "Well, of course we should attempt to figure that out. We should also consider that the time loop wasn't..." He's interrupted by a guard that enters.

"Sire, your wife is asking for you." The guard doesn't seem to be at all concerned about the guests.

Lucas looks a little irritated, but a sharp look from Arren keeps him quiet.

Shein nods to the guard. "Excuse me. I'll be back in a moment." He gets up and disappears rather quickly.

Arren stays behind, dismissing the guard to go with Shein. Once they're all alone, Arren turns to the others. "Considering we're probably the only people on Dreva that know what the hell is going on, we should probably use this chance to decide where to go from here. Shein isn't believing any of this. Sure, he's looked at the evidence, but he's just not believing it. We might be on our own to figure out what's going on." He looks directly at Jenova. "And ignore the other vampire. He might sound sane, but he's not lucid at the moment."

Lucas wrinkles his nose. "Actually, I am." He sets an origami cat on the table next to the duck. "I just don't like my secret to be known. I'm the only sane one of my kind, you know."

Arren just looks skyward and sighs. He doesn't respond to Lucas.

"Can we locate the source of the pulse without his help?" Jenova asks. "That would be a start. We needn't convince Shein so long as he agrees not to hinder us for the time being. Perhaps he'll come around when circumstances are better."

Arren shrugs and looks at Lucas.

Lucas shrugs as well. "It happened so fast, I couldn't even extrapolate any possible origin. It's like the planet itself gave out the pulse. I've sent the information to Thorgood in hopes that maybe he could figure out the exact source." Hey, that actually speaks volumes of the respect that Lucas has for Thorgood right there. Lucas obviously feels that if he can't figure it out, then he'll go to the only other person he thinks can. If that fails, then he'll probably decide it's unsolvable. Either way, he just pulls another piece of paper from the stack and starts folding it.

Arren nods slightly, then looks at Jenova. "We can try, but I'm not sure we'll get anywhere." He looks at Dmitri. "When Reva appeared, I remember there was someone that attempted to interfere. Something about the time stream. Is it possible he's involved in this?"

"It's a possibility." He goes off to read his history books.

(OOC: Should Thorgood solve, leave a possible area, or be unable to solve, Rut?)

(OOC: Not definitively solve, no. But he can mark it down to at least the southern hemisphere, which is the hemisphere where the Citadel is. Hey, it puts the group in a good place to start looking.)

Jenova does something with her comlink, and it buzzes again two minutes later.

"Thorgood can't figure out the exact point of origin from what you sent him," Jenova says, "but he says that he's 100% certain that it was in the southern hemisphere, and, in his words, 'would bet his life' it came from the Eastern as well. This does make sense; if I'm not mistaken, that's where the main government installations are."

Arren nods. "Yeah. Well, that narrows it down some."

Lucas smirks a little. He doesn't look that surprised either.

Jenova suppresses a smirk.

"It's a start."

Arren's datapad chimes and he looks at it. He frowns a little. "Well, that was unexpected." He turns it to show the others. It's a message from Shein.

Arren, Kennah's gone into labor again. They can't stop it. I have to stay with her. You say they're telling the truth. Okay, fine. I trust you. Find out what happened. You're better suited for it than I am. I'm always going to doubt this.

Lucas just raises a brow. "I didn't know she was pregnant again."

Arren shrugs. "Not many did." He looks at Jenova and Dmitri. "Sorry. He didn't think it was safe to send you any messages. They might have been intercepted. This information was just too sensitive."

Lucas is silent for a moment before speaking. "Indulge me. How old is Corrine?"

Arren frowns, just a little confused. "Six. Why?"

Lucas stops the origami and leans back in his seat. "Hmmm."

He nods in acknowledgement and then mumbles something about a "timey wimey ball."

Jenova hides another smirk. "I just find it amusing that YOU'RE to figure it all out," she replies to Arren. "No offense, but I think of the people in this room, the Vampires are the most likely to do it themselves."