Chronicles of The Omniverse Archived Van Leugen: The Newtons

as written by Saarai and Krysis

It seemed Godfrey hadn't eaten in a long time judging by the way he began to devour his food once he made sure it was exactly what he wanted. "The man we're meeting, Chemo, he got promoted to our recruitment division. Or demoted, depending on how one feels about paperwork." Godfrey told Lalita.

"Once we meet with him, do not ask questions. Well, not about what you're going to see. Questions about us are fine, just not our operations." He warned Lalita, "I'm ready to go when you are."

____

Lalita sighed and shrugged, her own plate empty in short order, except for a few fries that had managed to get cold and were being used to scrape up what juices had dripped from her burger. "Sound familiar. I'll try to keep my curiosity in check. I suppose he'll tell me who I am supposed to follow around and take orders from?".

She crammed the last bits of soggy potato into her mouth as she slid out of the booth, waiting for Godfrey to answer before stealing his bill and heading up to the counter to pay for them both. Afterwards, she would smile brightly and follow him where ever he wanted to go.

____

"I wouldn't know. I usually handle my own recruits, my process might be different than our soldiery types' way." Godfrey said as Lalita left with the bill, "Gentlemen." He said to Charles and Herman, getting up to join Lalita at the counter.

"I would have paid." He told her, "But, I'm sure you knew that." He added, gesturing for her to follow him to the exit. "We're headed to a factory in a part of town known as The Nummens. You at least need to know that."

____

Lalita shrugged and smiled happily at her new friend. "I know. But I am not helpless or destitute. I just don't have a place to belong." Her wings were at a fluffy, jaunty angle as she followed Godfrey out of the cafe.

"So, Nummens. Can I ask what kind of factory, so I know when I am in the right place? Not asking what is to be done there, just don't want to end up lost." She was also hoping it was a bit of a drive, so she could snatch a nap.

____

"I know they have smokestacks. But, as far as I know it's a Fisher Industrial factory. They build cars." Godfrey told Lalita, he waved a hand at his car causing it's doors to open for himself and his passenger.

"None better than mine, but I think my car is a bit more... magical." He said, "Literally."

____

"I think your car is wickedly awesome." Lalita grinned at Godfrey, then blushed a bit at her old turn of phrase showing her age a bit. Sure she looked like a teenager, but Lali had gone to school in the Midlands more than twenty years ago. And before that, she was in a time and place where they didn't let girls go to school, if there even was one to go to.

"Of course, I drive an antique, so it probably wasn't built there either." She admitted as she slid into the passenger seat and checked the little black case that hung from her belt loop to make sure it was in no danger of popping open or falling off somehow. Next would some settling her fluffy little wings before she would cuddle up in the seat and give her new friend a hopeful smile.

"Would you mind if I caught a little sleep? I know, it probably isn't far, but every little bit helps."

____

"Take what you can get." Godfrey said as he started up his car, "Traffic is on your side these days." He said, pulling out into said traffic. If he was lucky he could take a back alley or two and cut through it. Or blend his hearse in with police cars.

People always let funeral processions through. Even in big cities like Van Leugen.

"I'll try to get us there in a somewhat reasonable time though."
 
as written by Saarai

"No. No. No. No. No." Said Milos as he sat on a crate thumbed through the large tome on his lap. Beside him on each side of the crate were piles of books. The ones he read and the ones he was going to read. It had been hours and no one had come up with anything specific.

Vague stories, legends, myths, and hearsay about obelisks of this nature. Nothing ever concrete. This was new, an anomaly in space and time. Far beyond what everyone present dealt with.

"How has no one written down anything that actually helps us?" Milos asked, "Does anyone have the Vanguard's number? They could have something." A sorceress said as she lugged a bag towards Virgil, "All manner of charms and magical medicine if we need it." She told Virgil.

Milos sighed, continuing his futile efforts to find anything helpful about the monolith.

"Oh! No."

"What happened to the days when we closed portals to Hellscapes, or banished demons?" He asked.
 
as written by glmstr

"Unless those medicines can treat ailments that can't be solved with conventional pharmaceuticals and practice, they're redundant at best," Virgil shrugged.
"I can't help much on information either, I don't know much about magical history," the statue had two tomes in its left hands, and it was quickly turning the pages with the right digits.

Occasionally a picture or a blurb of superstition about eldritch "monoliths" would appear, but they were rarely useful, or even relevant.
 
as written by Tiko

In some manner of cosmic coincidence it would seem that the inquiry into the Elysian Vanguard's number would be met with the arrival of none other than the Vanguard themselves. Or two of them anyways.

Tessa raised her eyes to take in the monolith with a half raised eyebrow before glancing to Aiedai at her side.

"At least it wasn't hard to find, eh?" she asked with a grin.

She raised the yellow tape that had the area cordoned off and ducked under it to start towards the cluster of vehicles and tents.

She had the vigor of youth to her step, and she scarcely looked old enough to be out of highschool, but the young woman was far from green. Perhaps not as experienced as some of her comrades, but she had earned her place in the field so to speak.
 
as written by Saarai

"We got guests." A Lamia member said, gesturing to the pair making their way over. "You shouldn't be here. It's dangerous." Another called out to the two, Milos standing to get a look at the newcomers.

"This thing here drove a man to kill, don't risk it by being here." Milos said, gesturing to the monolith. He turned to look at it, eyes lingering for a moment as if he was trying to rationalize something that was happening.

The monolith couldn't be anything but evil, things like this always were.
 
as written by Script

By contrast to Tessa's exuberance and the bounce to her step, Aiedai practically glided across the street on her approach. Pale beyond what was natural, a faint white glow radiated from her skin, and her white hair and clothing didn't all seem to fall entirely in accordance with gravity, flowing around her in the currents of some unseen force. Though she was physically even younger than her companion, she had none of the mage's youthful air. Her eyes, a deep silvery blue, held a wisdom beyond her years.

She was staring at the monolith with a frown. "We could have led you here from many miles away," she stated, her voice reverberating oddly - like a chorus. "Its presence is ... wrong. Painful. At once familiar, and alien. And ... impossibly immense."

Placing a hand to her forehead, she faltered slightly, stopping short and swaying on the spot. "We can go no closer."

Almost fearfully, she drew her psychic barriers inwards as far as she could, forming a wall against the incomprehensible presence she could sense. Even so, it was like a knife being driven into her skull, a rapidly forming migraine. As a powerful and sensitive psychic, Aiedai - and the powerful spirits within her - were all the more sensitive to the peril that this monolith presented.
 
as written by Calcos

From within the structure, it felt their presences; curious, and altogether different from the previous forms it had encountered. Their arrival, however, was by no means tumultuous, as the eldritch creature merely awaited, suspended in the timeless void of this monstrously queer universe, resting inside the monolith the humans without it now gawked at, studying what they could not possibly begin to fathom, its very existence a blasphemous stain upon their perception of reality.

It did not, as it had done with Nunez, reach out and attempt to goad any of the others to its dwellings. Instead, it would merely observe, as it observed all things, all worlds, -both material and ethereal- compiling all manner of knowledge, deciding what to make of all that it had learned, or would learn. In time, the world would know of its name.

For now, it would begin by leaving its mark.
 
as written by Calcos

In what would be his last stop as he made his rounds for the night, the Raven, piloting the Ravenclaw, crept onto the scene of the Newtons, now a hotbed of activity due to the as of yet unidentified structure that had not-so-gently nestled itself into the very foundations of the earth, its massive frame having roused the collective curiosity and terror of those within -and even some of those outside of- Van Leugen at large.

He was late to investigate the area to be sure, but no new activity regarding the megalith had reached his squawk box, and as such felt no compulsion to make haste to observe it. It might have, however, behooved him to do so at an earlier time, as the scene was now dominated by several vehicles and personnel, who had apparently set up some sort of makeshift base of operations around the structure. He crept forward, ever closer, headlights dark so as not to draw any unnecessary and/or unwanted attention to himself. He picked a parking spot amidst the decaying and decrepit landscape and decided to perform reconnaissance on the immediate area.

Utilizing the binocular lenses embedded into his mask, he was able to ascertain more details about the individuals patrolling the area; for one, many of them bore plain black uniforms, armed with an amalgamation of weapons. Normally, this wouldn't warrant any notable curiosity aside from wanting to know who these people were. But it was the knowing that struck him even harder, as the aforementioned uniforms all bore patches bearing the distinct and easily-recognizable insignia of the Invictus Private Military Company. James had a rather complicated opinion in regards to the Invictus; sometimes they were damn-near heroic, and other times their methods were morally questionable. However, right now was not the time to ponder on such things.

Right now, he needed to know what they wanted from the structure.
 
as written by Tiko

"Ah, uh, we're with the Elysian Vanguard," Tessa responded to the Lamia member. "We're looking for whoever is heading things here before we go blundering about blindly. My name's Tessa and this is, Aiedai," she added with a glance towards her companion.
 
as written by Saarai

Milos wandered towards the Vanguard members, dusty book still in hand. "Samson Godfrey, he's the lead on this, but we're a team. Equals. I'm Milos Kanakaris." Milos told the newcomers, "Actually really glad you're here.We've come up with nothing on this obelisk."

"There is nothing, beyond mortal planes this thing is." The other Lamia member added, "Drove a cop to attack his comrades. I heard he was committed."
 
as written by Script

"Just remaining near it is a danger..." Aiedai stated, still appearing immensely uncomfortable. One hand rested against her temple, her head throbbing. "We feel as though we know its like, and yet that it is unknowable... It is... difficult to explain. How can you stand to be so close..?"
 
as written by Tiko

"For now we're just here to get the scope of the situation," Tessa explained. "We're spread thin right now, and our resources leave much to be desired at the moment. We're here to assess the severity and level of risk with this particular anomaly, and offer what aid we can if necessary to your own people. We also bring an offer to join resources with your own, to better coordinate our efforts efficiently. These sort of anomalies and occurances are cropping up all over the planet, and none of us have the means to combat them on our own."
 
as written by Calcos

He continued to listen, absorbing as much information as he could, so as to learn what they possibly knew. Although, his interest was thoroughly piqued at one woman's mention of the organization she represented: 'The Vanguard?' he thought. 'Is it really that bad?' He sat, allowing them to speak among themselves, divulging their respective speculations in regards to the structure.

What they had so far was a scarce amount of information, spouting off that they believed this monolith originated from outside of this dimension. Outside of this reality. 'That's insane...' he thought. He knew, however, that such a possibility wasn't too far-fetched.

His attention was snagged by the commotion on his scanner: an incident at the First National Bank on Horst Street, in the Nocturnes.

The bank right across the street from Allie's therapy sessions.

"Goddammit all," he swore under his breath. Cutting short his reconnaissance run, he cut the wheel sharp, peeling out of the area with the pedal fully depressed. The others would certainly hear the engine's roar, but he couldn't concern himself with that at the moment. He had to make sure those people--Allie especially--were alright.
 
as written by Saarai

"Charms, charms, and more charms." Milos told Aiedai, "And talismans." He added, "You two think this could be connected to the anomalies? I don't, personally, but you never know. This could be a harbinger of things to come."

"Let's hope not." A Lamia member chimed in.
 
as written by Script

"We shall need to acquire some of those..." Aiedai noted. "Though we fear that our mind will remain sensitive to these energies regardless."

She cast her gaze over the monolith, still not daring to let her mind brush against it, even if it might provide information. "It is difficult to assess whether individual anomalies are connected to others. Each occurrence has thus far been very distinct, and seemingly unrelated to the others in nature."
 
as written by Tiko

"Do you have somewhere we can setup temporarily here?" Tessa asked. "We can begin running some studies on the obelisk today, and have been instructed to share any of our findings with the Invictus."
 
as written by Saarai

"Just about anywhere works, but over by Virgil is the hub of activity." Milos said, pointing to the robotic being reading through different books with multiple arms and the vehicles around her.

"All hands on deck with that one." Milos joked, "Because she has several arms." He explained to the newcomers.

"Heh. Anyways, we've got people on the way with tents. Rain isn't good for our books."
 
as written by Tiko

"That should work just fine," Tessa replied. "We'll go get settled in and then see what can find out about this thing. If you could have some of those charms brought by, that would be great."
 
as written by Saarai

Milos gestured to the new allies in the extremely boring search for any sort of information that helped determine if the obelisk was dangerous or benign. A Lamia enchanter, jogging over to hand Tessa and Aiedai pendants to wear.

"These should protect your mind, I hope." He told them, "We might have to branch out, start interacting with our intergalactic friends on this. It could be extraterrestrial." Milos said.
 
as written by Calcos

The dimension turned, unending in eternal motion, a wheel that spun in tandem with the very yarns of space and time--both meaningless in these domains--as eons ushered onward and burned out across the realms. All about, from within and without the structure, universes across multiple planes of reality were given birth by the very chaos that granted them death, their stars burning cold and lifeless, their planets cracking and choking under the tyrannical heat of the universe that was actively working to smite them. Every corner of every reality was turning a new page, finding or losing purpose with each passage, the inevitability of demise becoming apparent with every grain that fell through the glass.

All of these things it saw, from behind its own eyes. It felt the life forces of all things; what was and is and would ever be. It knew of what lingered just outside of its own walls, knew of the dealings within the forest of steel and glass that rested on the border of its vessel. It knew of those who conspired to bring ruin to this locale, and of those who loomed above, waiting to retaliate in kind. It knew of those who lurked behind closed doors, dealing death in various forms, be it the primitive bullet or the narcotic. It knew of the one who clung to the shadows, toiling endlessly to make right these wrongs.

It was the irrelevancy of all of these things that perpetuated its inaction: the concept of morality as defined by mere mortals amounted to the same level of significance as a solitary atom, suspended and floating endlessly in the vastness of all of the universe, looking out upon all the surrounded it, were it capable of such, and thinking itself superior to all that encroached upon it, unaware of those things which were out of its control --out of its scope of understanding, or even its wildest imaginings. To interfere with such trivial human affairs was inconceivable; idiocy of the highest caliber. And so, for that reason, it had remained locked away from that which was dwelling in the mortal realm outside.

However, it felt an unrest seeping its way into the very marrow of its existence, as the outsiders excavated to their hearts' content, they were unwittingly interfering with its influence over the realm; indeed, of all the things it felt, it felt the growing madness of its subjects the least. It felt power waning, slipping just out of reach and into the thinness of the air before it.

It was time to start leaving its mark.

With a wave of its hand, it summoned forth a party of its acolytes; strange, bipedal creatures made of grotesquely-twisted tendons and plates of an unearthly metal substance that passed for flesh. Their heads were crude, geometrical designs constructed of the same armor-like material, eyeless but with an etching in the centers of their faces. Among the four acolytes, a priest stood, the black gem that was burrowed deep into its chest and the blue robes it donned distinguishing it from the rest. Collectively, they bowed, feeling the great power possessed by their creator and kin. Their task was simple: leave the mark, and spread the glory that was their master to all mortal kind. Through the dazzling light of the multiversal portal, they made their exit.

They had business to attend to in the district known as the Normans.
 
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