Side Story Twin Mirror

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Atomic Knight

Bear With Me
The Convergence Series GM
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The people of this world had not known strife or hardship in decades. They lived utopian lives, their planet having undergone unprecedented changes to fix the mistakes of their previous generations. The people of this world had made leaps and bounds throughout space, going so far as to make plans to settle themselves on planets thought to be uninhabited. The people of this world were generally happy, all things considered, and one of the best places to live was Carrefour, a city that surrounded the United Nations' main branch.

For the city of Carrefour, life had been pretty different from what folks were used to in the last couple of years. Though this world had made giant leaps in terms of technology and space exploration, the knowledge of a multiverse had caught even the world's brightest minds by surprise. In a parallel dimension, an entity known as the United Federation of Planets had stumbled across inter-dimensional travel and found themselves in the world where Carrefour existed. The United Nations of this world, using their advanced technology, was able to help the United Federation of Planets to get back to their home world. This event started a new era that none could have foreseen. It was not long before the United Nations sought to bring relief and unity across all dimensions, which in turn brought these dimensions to Carrefour's doorstep.

The United Nations began taking in refugees from other worlds, as well as allowing beings from across the multiverse join their ranks. They established rules and guidelines for inter-dimensional relations and made sure that beings from other universes did not go traipsing across the planet. Through this, Carrefour became a nexus for beings from all kinds of dimensions to settle in the city. This change brought with it fear, causing the United Nations to face both slander and dubious claims against it. It took some time, but eventually the organization made the truth clear and started a new era of hope.

As a next step in their plans, the United Nations wanted to make connections with the brightest minds across the multiverse and so established a relationship with one universes' organization, the Federal Bureau of Control. It was far from the alliances the UN had made in the past and was only to be an exchange of information with both groups being clear that no intermingling would occur. Multiversal matters were still a relatively new phenomenon and the FBC were uniquely knowledgeable in such matters. Of course both groups were known for their high levels of security so to make sure the right information was presented, it was to be the Director and Head of Research of the FBC to visit the UN headquarters for an informational presentation.

Representatives from the UN and their allied group, ODMA, were brought in to attend the meeting, though it was a rather small affair. The FBC's Director, Jesse Faden, started by very briefly giving a rundown of what the Bureau actually was, though no one really had any idea what the group did considering how vague she had been. Emily Pope followed after her, who started using a projector to illustrate her points.

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"Now have any of you actually tried to visualize the multiverse?" the woman asked. She had charged into her presentation by asking the group what the term 'multiverse' even meant to them. It seemed to be a trick question, for Pope had explained that it was rather impossible to understand the multiverse, for it was essentially infinite. "Like my earlier point, how can we visualize that which is infinite? We have to understand that, despite this nebulous concept of infinite vastness, there is a limit inherent to each universe. In this universe we are speaking, there are concepts of gravity, physics, matter, etcetera, but we have observed there exists universes where such concepts do not apply. There are different laws so to speak. This helps us understand the limits of any given dimension. Let's visualize it like so."

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The projector changed to show a rubber ball. Pope glanced down at her notes for a moment before continuing.

"So, let's say this is one universe. It is a distinct singular dimension."

The image changed to four balls next to each other. Three were a distinct shade while one was a different shade.

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"Here we have four different universes," Pope explained. "As you can see, three share the same color. This visualization represents three universes that share very similar laws or-- or limits. The fourth exists as well, though is different than the other three. So in this manner, we could see the multiverse as a... ball pit. A collection of universes where some are similar to others in the pile but all exist distinct of each other."

Standing at the back of the room, Jesse raised her hand.

"Yes, Director Faden?" Pope asked, now beaming.

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"Umm..." Jesse paused, trying to remember her line. "If universes are distinct and limited, how do you explain those of us in this room?"

"I'm glad you asked!" Pope replied with measured exuberance. "Say we have two distinct universes. As per our example, two rubber balls with mismatched colors. Even if the basic laws and physics of both universes are incompatible, evidence has shown that upon mixing matter from one universe into another, the matter will adjust to match the universe it is invading. We believe that universes that are more adaptable end up becoming nexus points, such as this city. It is likely why that all of our various institutions have observed few universes with matter that would be nigh-incomprehensible to ours."

Ready to deliver her next prompt, Jesse didn't even raise her hand. "But why do certain universes mix in the first place?"

Pope pointed her pen at Jesse. "That is part of a larger discussion. See, if the multiverse is infinite, then why, from our perspectives, have universes only started to mix relatively recently? Well, there's a few reasons. First, I need to explain what resonance is."

The projector changed to show various note bars, different from each other.

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"Within the multiverse, every single individual dimension has its own... we'll say... signature. Your organizations have referred to these as 'quantum signatures.' These signatures can be further divided by resonance, a phenomenon that every tangible entity across reality gives off in some manner. The resonance frequencies of both people and places shift from time to time. It is our belief that the baseline for reality's frequencies have slowly altered to become more alike over time and have taken major leaps in this regard as of recent history."

"Some resonance frequencies are more inherently alike, such as those of universes we would consider parallel. Aside from those, some universes just have similar frequencies by happenstance."


The projector shifted once again to various bags of marbles sitting next to each other.

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"There are universes that knew of the 'multiverse' prior to any event we would consider 'multiversal.' However, these universes only had a limited understanding of the multiverse at large. They simply had the means to access the universes that shared a very similar frequency but not any that deviated too strongly. For example, while these bags of marbles could contain an infinite number of parallel or alike worlds, they would still be limited to the marbles in their bag. Recent history has simply... poked holes in these bags."

"This brings me to something some of you may not have heard of. While universes colliding have been brought about by intentional force in universes, such as this one, the FBC has observed a sort of naturally occurring collision. When resonance frequencies of other dimensions align, they have a chance of mixing. They... collide, or sometimes swap. This seems to mostly occur with physical locations but it can occur with biological matter as well. When the physical shape of a location is changed, we have called what was left behind Thresholds. It's certainly a more complicated matter than my allotted time today would allow but your United Nations believe these events could occur in your near future, considering events such as..."


Pope trailed off, her eyes watching some commotion at the back of the room. Jesse followed her gaze to see two UN members whispering in an urgent manner. One whispered to a man named Gaius, who stood up and asked for the meeting to be put on hold. Jesse and Emily Pop exchanged worried glances before sitting down with the others.

***

Gaius returned moments later with an urgent announcement.

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"Four minutes ago, our Security Office building disappeared and has been replaced by a different building in its place. As of right now, we're operating with very few UN members, as most are off-site currently. We're currently monitoring the situation."

"A Threshold?" Jesse asked with a confused look. "Why now? Isn't that rather convenient?"

"One could argue that such events are usually 'convenient' given our limited understanding," Pope replied.

Gaius shook his head. "In any case, we are preparing a team to investigate. I'm afraid all of you must stay here until further notice."

***

It was only twenty minutes later when waiting no longer became an option. Those in the meeting room were in for a surprise when the entire room started to shake as if within an earthquake. This was immediately followed by the entire room lurching to the right and becoming dislodged from the building. Jesse looked toward the exit, only to see that through the open door was the UN building with an entire room missing from its side. A UN member who had made a leap for the door missed the next room and plunged to the room below.

As the room was on the fifth floor of the building, it suddenly started to drop after having fully dislocated from the main building.



As if someone pressed a switch, all of the city was suddenly erupted into chaos. Buildings began to shift and change into different shapes. People phased into existence in the streets. People ran for their lives in fear, especially when huge numbers of the people appearing from thin air were seemingly violent. Nothing would be the same for the citizens of Carrefour.

@Space_Candy @Yun Lee @dark @Sark @Crow @Minerva @Lucky @Takumi @Chaos Sphere @Jeremi @Gummi Bunnies @Capri
 
LUCA BALSA
@Atomic Knight @Space_Candy @Yun Lee @dark @Sark @Crow @Minerva @Lucky @Takumi @Chaos Sphere @Jeremi @Gummi Bunnies

To think that the guy who’s wearing a prison uniform was paying the most attention.

Luca was eager to learn. After all, he was an inventive genius. Perhaps that’s why ODMA scouted him.

The man was peculiar, taking a wall seat and leaning his entire body on it.

This didn’t help much when the room began to fall.

Luca clung onto his desk for dear life as the room fell.​
 
Director Thomas Sinclair

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The VSA director was listening into the whole situation as a whole, taken a back by the fact that there were universes out there he'd never even heard of but had taken note of. He was still cautious about the situation however as any spy director would be.

His eyes moved onto the other in the room with the Prison uniform. He presumed the man in the room was also part of the group he was in.

It was only when the room began to fall, Thomas grabbed onto something and held onto it.

Should he trust the others here?

@Space_Candy @Yun Lee @dark @Sark @Crow @Minerva @Lucky @Takumi @Chaos Sphere @Jeremi @Gummi Bunnies @Capri @Atomic Knight
 
Jesse reached out and took hold of Emily Pope's arm then reached out toward someone else in the room. Jesse had the unique ability to slow her descent in the air, so she hoped to at least spare two people pain. "Grab my arm!" she yelled, though by this point, everyone in the room was starting to lift off the ground and feel weightless from the plunge. It would only be a couple of seconds before impact.

"Jesse!" Emily yelled as she closed her eyes and braced for impact.

Then, there was a sudden stop, too early for the room to have hit the ground and the windows shattered from the impact. Everyone who was not holding on slammed to the ground, though not as hard they would have if it had completed its fall. It was clear looking out the windows they were still suspended in the air. The room shuddered and there was the sound of metal grinding on metal.

Jesse landed softly on the ground and made a run for the window to see what was happening. "What the hell is going on?!"

@Space_Candy @Yun Lee @dark @Sark @Crow @Minerva @Lucky @Takumi @Chaos Sphere @Jeremi @Gummi Bunnies @Capri
 
Childe felt like he was going to be bored out of his mind from this presentation. So naturally, the sudden interruption in the form of... well, the room being dislodged from the building and colliding to a halt on some object. Pulling out the Hydro-infused blade from the wall which he used to reduce the impact for himself, the Fatui envoy joined Jesse and Luca at the window.

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❝ Well, considering we were just talking about that minutes ago, I would be more surprised if it was a freak accident without any multiverse stuff. ❞ Childe commented on Luca's thoughts on the situation, cautiously keeping his guard up. ❝ Plus... doesn't it feel like this entire room isn't fully balanced? Like a real bad tightrope act, perhaps? ❞

@Atomic Knight @Space_Candy @Yun Lee @dark @Sark @Crow @Minerva @Lucky @Takumi @Chaos Sphere @Jeremi @Gummi Bunnies @Capri
 
LUCA BALSA
@Atomic Knight @Gummi Bunnies @Anyone

“What explanation do you have for a room suddenly detaching itself from a building?” Luca said to Childe, “Heh... and that guy with the horrible hair saying that there’s been disturbances? All signs point to a Threshold, пријатељу, no other explanation,”
 
"W-We don't know yet the cause of the disturbance," Pope said, half crouching as she tried to find her balance in the stable room.

"Apparently a building disappeared," Jesse said, looking through the window to see below them, "but this is..."

Below, what appeared to be a giant tree had sprouted from below, holding the building up in its giant branches. It was still growing, branches beginning to curl up and through the window of the building. Leaves were starting obscure any visibility they had.

"... This is a lot," Jesse said flatly.

"Are those branches?!" Pope exclaimed in a breathy voice, sounding more excited than scared.

"We're about to get consumed," Jesse replied, seeing that the open doorway was also filling with the growing tree. "Anyone have a quick way of getting us all down?!"

@Space_Candy @Yun Lee @dark @Sark @Crow @Minerva @Lucky @Takumi @Chaos Sphere @Jeremi @Gummi Bunnies @Capri @York
 
❝ Alright alright, I get it. So that's... something to work off of, I guess. ❞ The Harbinger groaned in response to Luca. When it came to the branches from the rapidly growing tree, Childe took hold of two blades made out of water using his Hydro Vision, reinforcing them and rearing himself back.

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❝ Quick escape it is, coming right up! ❞ He declared without a second thought, wildly hacking and slashing away at one of the walls and at any branches that happened to be in the way.

@Space_Candy @Yun Lee @dark @Sark @Crow @Minerva @Lucky @Takumi @Chaos Sphere @Jeremi @Atomic Knight @Capri @York
 
What a bunch of ridiculous hogwash. A man in full body armor stood leaning towards the wall as the bland woman was having a lecture about multiple universes or something like that. If he had known that his employers were a bunch of kooks he wouldn't have signed up with them despite the generous pay he was getting.

But it seemed like he was about to meet his skepticism head-on as some massive spatial interference was taking place. Perhaps there was something in regards to those Thresholds or whatever they were called after all. The Mandalorian readied himself to not be taken by surprise.

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"I could probably get one, maybe two of you back on solid ground," The mercenary remarked to Pope. "But we're running out of time." He figured using his flamethrower on the branches wasn't going to do them much good.​


@Space_Candy @Yun Lee @dark @Sark @Crow @Minerva @Lucky @Takumi @Chaos Sphere @Jeremi @Gummi Bunnies @Capri
 
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As all this was going on, one member of the meeting was currently in hell. Initially, First Officer Jose Baden had done what he could to pay attention to the meeting, but it was a bit difficult to keep up. He'd only joined ODMA on recommendation from the queen, who had suggested that he could possibly clear his family's name by representing them abroad. It could also give him a chance to find his father...if he and his crew were still alive, of course. It defied all logic, but then again so does the concept of multiple versions of their world all existing at once. If something that absurd is reality, then who can say for sure that his father isn't still out there?

But already things have gone wrong. Jose gripped his chest, feeling panic set in after the sudden earthquake. He needed to calm himself down quickly, especially after things continued to become more and more dire, but this was all too familiar to being out on a stormy sea. These types of things weren't supposed to happen on land, damn it. They should've been safe here!

"Perhaps..." He paused, gathering himself enough for a proper response. "Perhaps we can climb down the tree...some of us, if we're able." He probably could, himself, but his mind turned to the UN member who had fallen below. Was there any way to see if they were alright?

@Atomic Knight @Space_Candy @Yun Lee @dark @Sark @Crow @Minerva @Lucky @Takumi @Chaos Sphere @Jeremi @Gummi Bunnies @Capri
 
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To assist Childe, Jesse reached her hand toward the projector and it lifted toward her as if by an invisible force. She turned and shot it at the windows, slamming through the rapidly growing branches. "If anyone's going to try climbing... this is your last chance!"

The door of the room was completely covered in branches now and the room had stopped shifting as much, indicating it was deeply embedded into the growing tree at this point.

"Can you take Pope and another?" Jesse asked the helmeted mercenary. She held her hands out for two others. "I can float two of you to the ground! Hurry!"

@Yun Lee @dark @Sark @Minerva @Lucky @Takumi @Jeremi @Gummi Bunnies @Capri @York
 
Nodding, Jesse grabbed hold of both Thomas and Luca. "Three, two... one!" Jesse yelled, directing them to jump in tandem with her out the open window. "Don't let go!" she cried as they began to plunge down to the street below. After a moment, the trio came to a sudden slow in the air and began to fall much more gently to the ground. Jesse grunted from the strain of holding up the others, especially Thomas.

"This is... wild," she muttered, watching the chaos unfolding with her very eyes. People were running down the street, chased by men and women who appeared feral. As the trio landed, Jesse looked behind her to see that the giant tree was still growing. The room they had escaped could only barely be seen from within the trunk of the tree.

"Unless you guys have a plan to get the rest of them down, I suggest you find a place to hide!"

@dark @Capri
 
LUCA BALSA
@Atomic Knight @dark

The amnesiac inventor quickly ran for cover, pulling out a box of spare parts and rummaging through them.

Fishing out a couple of items he quickly went to work, crafting his latest invention, a small makeshift bomb.

It worked like this: a gasoline-soaked match would strike itself on the striking side of a matchbox which he tore apart.

There are three other major components to this bomb. The miniature mechanical arms that would move the match to strike itself, two clamp arms that would attach itself to the tree, and an electrical transmitter that would activate the bomb using the retrofitted detonator he made.

A few minutes later, he came rushing back out, clamping the minibomb to the tree.

“Stand back,”

Pressing a button, he would try and detonate the bomb.​
 
"W-We don't know yet the cause of the disturbance," Pope said, half crouching as she tried to find her balance in the stable room.

"Apparently a building disappeared," Jesse said, looking through the window to see below them, "but this is..."

Below, what appeared to be a giant tree had sprouted from below, holding the building up in its giant branches. It was still growing, branches beginning to curl up and through the window of the building. Leaves were starting obscure any visibility they had.

"... This is a lot," Jesse said flatly.

"Are those branches?!" Pope exclaimed in a breathy voice, sounding more excited than scared.

"We're about to get consumed," Jesse replied, seeing that the open doorway was also filling with the growing tree. "Anyone have a quick way of getting us all down?!"

@Space_Candy @Yun Lee @dark @Sark @Crow @Minerva @Lucky @Takumi @Chaos Sphere @Jeremi @Gummi Bunnies @Capri @York

Clare had done her best to remain calm throughout the shaking of the room. Standing from where she had fell, she glanced around for any potential injured. Unsheathing her sword and yapping into her Yoma abilities, her arm bulged as the muscles became more pronounced. She sent quick blinding slashes to the tree branches before something took most of her attention.

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To assist Childe, Jesse reached her hand toward the projector and it lifted toward her as if by an invisible force. She turned and shot it at the windows, slamming through the rapidly growing branches. "If anyone's going to try climbing... this is your last chance!"

The door of the room was completely covered in branches now and the room had stopped shifting as much, indicating it was deeply embedded into the growing tree at this point.

"Can you take Pope and another?" Jesse asked the helmeted mercenary. She held her hands out for two others. "I can float two of you to the ground! Hurry!"

@Yun Lee @dark @Sark @Minerva @Lucky @Takumi @Jeremi @Gummi Bunnies @Capri @York

Nodding, Jesse grabbed hold of both Thomas and Luca. "Three, two... one!" Jesse yelled, directing them to jump in tandem with her out the open window. "Don't let go!" she cried as they began to plunge down to the street below. After a moment, the trio came to a sudden slow in the air and began to fall much more gently to the ground. Jesse grunted from the strain of holding up the others, especially Thomas.

"This is... wild," she muttered, watching the chaos unfolding with her very eyes. People were running down the street, chased by men and women who appeared feral. As the trio landed, Jesse looked behind her to see that the giant tree was still growing. The room they had escaped could only barely be seen from within the trunk of the tree.

"Unless you guys have a plan to get the rest of them down, I suggest you find a place to hide!"

@dark @Capri


"I can carry some down as well." She called out, hoping to help as many possible in this situation.

@Atomic Knight @Jeremi @Ver @Capri @Gummi Bunnies @dark @Yun Lee @Everyone
 
Gundham Tanaka

"My peace is disturbed," that's how the mind of a certain lad spoke from within when alarmed by the sudden appearance of disaster. After being liberated from the clutches of despair, Gundham moved into Carrefour city for reasons that he has yet to reveal, though it is likely that he only needed inner peace. He was spending his time within the park attending to the needs of the Four Dark Devas of Destruction (also known as 'Gundham's hamsters') and peacefully interacting with both man and beast alike, hoping that this day would end like all other days and the days before them. The chaos that occurred have perfectly ruined the moment for him, and he sees this as a call for action.

Gundham raised his bandaged left arm in a sweeping gesture to summon several nearby pigeons into his side, gently tucking his hamsters into his purple scarf with his right arm as he brisk-walked to a safe spot, observing his surroundings to see anything out of the blue... A massive tree out of nowhere sprouting in a location not very far from him as several buildings began to distort in manners that seem to be impossible to execute even through the works of the brightest masterminds. He senses that this is not the works of a simulated reality, having been put into one and still remembering every moment of the life-changing experience spent within it. With his hamsters safe within his scarf and black coat and the pigeons perched on his left arm and shoulder, he began to venture towards the tree, looking left and right to watch out for any incoming hazards and to check if there is anyone in need.

@Atomic Knight @Space_Candy @Crow @EveryoneElse
 
The mercenary nodded grabbing Pope and whoever else was close by, using his jet-pack to let them land safely on the ground. Letting them go he looked over to Jesse. "How many more are still up there?" Would be bad form to not rescue the rest of the team after all

@Atomic Knight @Capri @dark
 
Jesse watched as the mercenary flew Pope and Childe to the ground. By her estimate, there were still six people in the room. "Six..." she began to say, though trailed off when she noticed Luca setting up a bomb. She didn't know if that was a good idea, but it was something. "Get down!" she yelled as the bomb went off.

Jesse moved to cover Pope and the pair of them crouched down low on the ground. The bomb caused the tree to shudder but the structure seemed resilient to the force. Unfortunately for them, all the bomb did was draw attention to the feral people nearby. They started to run toward the group at a quick pace.

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"I need someone to take Pope and..." Jesse looked around, spotting an office building nearby. It was adjacent to the UN building but seemingly unaffected by the chaos. "Barricade in there!" Jesse then turned and tossed a postbox at one of the incoming enemies.

"They look infected... we need to hold them off until we can get the others to safety."

Unbeknownst to Jesse, she missed as a figure flew through the air over the chaos and landed inside the room.

@dark @Capri @Jeremi @Gummi Bunnies



Moments after the mercenary left with Pope, a young girl flew into the room. Her dark, skeletal wings retracted and she held a hand out toward to the group.

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"I'm getting you out of here."

@Yun Lee @Sark @Minerva @Lucky @Takumi @York



The streets were in chaos, people running every which way, no one really sure who to avoid. Monsters who looked like people chased after everyone with violent frenzy while some appeared to be rotted and moving much more slowly. It was one of these slow creatures that burst out of an alley, trying to catch Gundham by surprise.

A ringing shot rang out and the creature's guts splattered across the pavement. It crumpled to the ground and an older man approached Gundham. In his hands was a shot gun.

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"You know what the hell is going on, son?"

@Chaos Sphere
 
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