Resume Play

[foundationmods]

After the collapse of the Winchester house, everyone will have some time to regroup. The dead can be given bodies, everyone can have the remnants of the miasma washed away, and the 2000's group can be brought up to date on what's been happening for the last twenty years. It's been a long day, and taking time to process it all is probably in everyone's best interests.

But they won't get to rest for long. About an hour after the house's collapse, several all-black vehicles will roll up on the site of the former Winchester house. Most people present should recognize the uniforms and logos plastered all over everything: this is a cleanup team, the kind sent in after a successful containment to make sure the locals don't talk about what happened. It must be nice to have a somewhat-positive reception for once, huh?

But along with the group, a certain misty-eyes O5 will make their grand entrance. And as they step out and look over the group, they have something important to say.

"You did it. I...thank you. Thank you for saving them."

There's still details to handle and paperwork and interviews to do, but that is easy compared to what's already been done. With everyone's efforts, a potential XK-class SCP has been neutralized, saving the world itself, all without any permanent Agent casualties.

You all have exceeded Foundation expectations.

Congratulations.

Comments

Pre-Frisk bc who knows what's happening post-Solomon

[sageking]

[ Well, he's here at the bar. ]

I suppose now is the time as any to truly start indulging in a drink.

[ Though he looked at his options, hardly appearing interested. ]

beef, of course, beef is happening

[noneforall]

[Ah, it's really funny, he isn't used to drinking alone but at the same time it doesn't feel entirely familiar drinking in company either. Maybe it's still the stasis messing with his head? There's just a low sound something like a laugh, not entirely amused but also just. Not entirely anything else either.]

You know, at this point... I'm starting to forget how old I am.

[He taps on his cup -- sake, warm, because they actually had a wider variety of literally anything here compared to the place they last saw each other alive.]

I could be twenty, thirty, forty, I could really be anything at this point. But you certainly haven't changed too much, have you?

biggest beef since tiamat

[sageking]

You may as well be the same age as you always were given the effect of the barrier.

[ Subete didn't have like a beard or grow any more height. ]

Hmph, it's been twenty years. But in the form I am now, you won't see any changes on my end even when you eventually begin to truly age.

Still, there's been some change. Such as the simple fact that my tolerance for foolishness has decreased exponentially, as you'll see soon enough.

[ Or he won't since Subete would basically draw himself away from the room but maybe the gossip of Gilgamesh and Solomon going toe to toe will reach him no matter where he went in San Jose. ]

are u calling Tiamat a cow

[noneforall]

I think I forgot how old I was before I even got here. But that's probably the simplest way of handling the barrier, yes.

[He really didn't change physically at all, or even mentally, unless you count suddenly hitting the clear air outside miasma for the first time in two weeks and 20 years' change; and really maybe that's a part of the disorientation too, the strange buzz of silence inside his skull and the even stranger buzz of noise outside of it.

The inability to tell the difference sometimes. He huffs.]

Hmm. I would be surprised if your tolerance hadn't decreased by this point, if you were still dealing with the Foundation. You came from outside the house, didn't you?

[It really is too bad he'll be missing such a well-themed and well-appointed fight, but it's probably also for the best in its own way.]

you made me walk into that ADMIT IT

[sageking]

It is.

[ Keep your eyes on the prize, Subete. If there's any prizes to be won from playing shitty games, that is. ]

Naturally. I never had any intention of letting myself succumb to the curse in any manner whatsoever. It was an almost last-minute plan to even make it happen in the first place, and what's done can't be undone.

Though, at this point, I've no interest in taking back my actions. Not in the slightest.

no you definitely walked yourself into that one

[noneforall]

[Ah, but he doesn't need his eyes for the prize; never really has, because in a world like his voice and sound and everything they create and maintain have always been king. Even when the game itself is shitty that's always held true.

At least there's that. Even if all there is to be grateful for is the lack of 20 years of jumbled hivemind voices.]

I'd be surprised if you were, you know. Even though I'm sure that insipid little creature in the house would have rejoiced in adding you to its ranks. [a small shrug; maybe that's his way of acknowledging that having Gilgamesh as an opponent multiple times has definitely been a hell of an endeavor] But I agree. I've no intention of taking back my actions either.

Regardless of the miasma or anything else, I stand by the decisions I made in that house.

wow!!!!

[sageking]

[ Honestly, that's a hell Gilgamesh was glad he never experienced. Though there's probably a chance to write alternate fanfic on how his massive ego would effect the hivemind

But a light huff of sorts escaped him nevertheless. ]

I don't think I want to hear the word 'rejoice' in any form for awhile.

[ And that's him blatantly acknowledging how much of a pain in the side Subete was when he was a number on the curse's side. ]

Oh? Even the one where you decided to kill Ango?

<3

[noneforall]

[Not all that unlike a grail hell, but given how crowded it was it might have been quite a bit more intrusive and noisy than one; what's a little shuffling from one despair of all the world to the next? That being said, an alternate timeline in which the miasma also literally spat Gilgamesh back out might be an entertaining one?

Subete has raised his cup but then he puts it down again without drinking, possibly because there's a small smirk curling across his lips and it's not a good idea to have a drink while you're in danger of laughing.]

Ah. I'm afraid those aren't my words, though I'm glad they've made an impression.

[It's a bit of a mysterious response, in his own way, but he seems pretty pleased with himself regardless.]

And yes, of course. [there's no hesitation there, though that doesn't mean the answer is without thought] It was the best choice possible with the information and resources available to me at the time. Not the ideal one, but I doubt any choice made in that house was ever ideal.

[sageking]

That's a little hard to believe.

[ A little scoff from him since Subete was the one who voiced said word. Countless times, in fact. Unless the young man wanted to tell him it was the word spoken by his ancestors in order to help summon his magic...but no, that would be ridiculous, wouldn't it?

Either way here he was, talking to Subete as if it were a casual thing, hardly bothered. He'll finally have a drink in front of himself soon enough. ]

Likely not. Though I remember being beyond irritated you forced us to go through another trial in the first place, and what nonsense resulted from your mess.

[ A smirk on his lips as he took a sip of his drink. ]

That said, do you plan to put up with this farce of an organization once more? Even if things have apparently changed in such a favorable manner?

[noneforall]

Is it? I didn't do too bad at all.

[There's a certain note to that, elusive but a little dark, before he smoothly tucks it away. But really, it's never all that unusual to have an incantation at hand for any type of magic; it's just that the concept of Verbalism itself makes the art of incantation a little redundant, perhaps. Doesn't stop some people, apparently.

His sake has probably cooled considerably by now, but he knocks it back like a shot. Really probably not the best way to drink, but he only makes the slightest face before placing the cup back down. Not the time to refill it yet.]

I don't think there was a solution that was easy there. Or one that wasn't irritating, hmm?

[Or maybe there never was a real solution, at least one that the majority would have agreed upon. Who knows. It's probably a pointless thing to litigate, in present company.]

... I haven't seen anything to indicate that things have improved, especially given what we know of what happened to the 6350s in our absence. They're not even starting at our starting line, you realize. [a huff] And so much of it is pretty words. I'll believe it when I see it, and I don't have any interest in having a front row seat to that.

[sageking]

[ Another derisive scoff merely left him at those words. There were so many things he could say to that. Chief of which he thought that 'I didn't do too bad at all' was a phrase wholly inadequate for the far-reaching consequences of Subete's actions at the time. ]

Unfortunately, such was our lot—that too, which was the fault of this organization, as tiresome it is to reiterate the obvious, and words which have been repeated a myriad times by now.

[ He's actually almost kind of a little tired to do so, but he's just the right amount of petty in order to do it anyway. Made easier that they're no longer afflicted by the miasma itself. ]

Hmph. I've only had insight to how much the situation has 'improved' due to being able to witness it from afar. But, at this time, the change may as well be cosmetic, and there are doubtlessly many insects in this organization that need to die before anything can truly come of it.

Still, you would be wise to not hold your breath and decide to wait around to witness whatever change will or will not be brought to this wretched organization. Unless you believe your patience could weather anymore incoming incompetence or nonsensical internal politics.

[noneforall]

[If there's one thing you can't quite call Subete in this form, it's humble -- he knows his own reach and his own value, as far as having an idea of exactly what he can do and exactly how to spin it, but just at the moment perhaps his words are a little scattershot, too.

Either way, he's pretty much unrepentant about any of it.]

I'd say I'm surprised they were better-prepared this time, but they have had twenty years' time to prepare. Even an ant can build something vaguely useful in twenty years.

[That's probably an insult to ants?? And there's an airy quality to it, there's so much more to preparedness when it comes to their particular situation and these particular twenty years, but all of it is still vague and slapdash. They've barely begun to touch on the time in between.

He shakes his head, just briefly, but his voice has that same airy quality when he speaks again. The Foundation doesn't exactly deserve a lot of weight, no matter what's to come.]

Oh, I'd call myself a pretty patient person. But my patience was at an end twenty years and two weeks ago. [a hum and he turns to his current companion] And yourself?

[sageking]

[ Humility didn't exist for either of these two, and sometimes that was just fine (?)

But at the other man's words, a flicker of amusement was visible, and he chuckled. Definitely there was something he found something funny about the idea of this organization being competent. He's just going to pretty much keep dragging the Foundation until either it crashed and burned or somehow exceeded his expectations—whether that be badly or somehow in a good way, miraculously enough.

The cessation occurring in the former of the two because it will no longer stand as even an organization in his eyes, and he'd seriously attempt to bring it down. But, let's not get ahead of ourselves here. ]

...Any preparations truly made were by the mongrels who proved themselves somewhat worthy enough to defy the Foundation's ill-conceived judgment that the 6350's were naught but fodder. The only thing that the 'Foundation' had a hand in doing anything of the sort were the fact those tapes existed. The few resources those agents obtained to help carry out the rescue mission in the first place were obtained from their own efforts as well. Including those 'extra' bodies.

[ Even if it's airy, dismissive, or something to that effect, Gilgamesh had to provide his own words, which were of the same token given that they were uttered in such an amused manner. Albeit laced with disdain, though more refined than his earlier admonishments, and altogether a calm that would be bound to fade in the next couple of hours.

That amusement still remained at Subete's inquiry, however. ]

I should hope you would not be foolish enough to even entertain in that head of yours for a second that I'd return to this organization as a loyal agent. Or at all.

I've other important matters to attend to and I'm not able to follow the orders of incompetent leaders—or anyone's, for that matter. The only reason why I'd even keep in contact would be to keep an eye on it once in awhile.

[ And because Solomon, but y'know. ]

[noneforall]

Ha. I wonder how defiant they really were, if they're still allowing themselves to crawl under the Foundation's thumb?

[It's his turn with the derisiveness hat, apparently, and his judgment doesn't really discriminate; maybe it's biased, given his proven status as a wild card and purveyor of personal chaos, maybe it's just that he's spent a little too much time viewing things through a miasma-tinted lens or from behind kanji barriers or somesuch.

As with voices and much of the company, sometimes it's hard to tell the difference.]

The Foundation might have monopolized a good amount of the resources in this world, including whatever force brought us here... but I'll wager that's their only advantage, and not a unique one by any means.

[It's not a figure of speech, that wager: especially not when you've literally been thrown like dice at the nearest cursed mansion and then spun like a top by spider-spun strings. Just how deep his grudge or spite runs remains to be seen, but the tip of the iceberg is peeking out by now and it is rather an ugly iceberg. Subete raises an eyebrow, the slant of his own amusement to Gilgamesh's, and his tone is only semi-rhetorical and somehow full of double meanings.]

And yet twenty years later finds you here, at least nominally working with this very organization. Was the unfinished business that much on your mind? Or is this you keeping an eye out?

[sageking]

Defiant enough. They faced their fate and fought it; some mongrels more than others. A certain group even exchanged blows with one of those fools from that corrupt leadership in order to defy them in that sad excuse for a trial they dared to have a hand in administrating to the 6350's. As if those mongrels were the ones who deserved punishment, when in fact it is its leaders who will need to be judged. Either way, they fought them, and obtained a small 'victory'.

Though I disapprove of their decision to stay with the organization, it is their choice, not borne of obeisance to the institution, but a foolish desire for some to alter the designs of it all from within. Truly, if that is not defiance, what is it? Even if it may be rooted in the misguided idea that an organization such as this would easily or truly see change.

[ It is true that Gilgamesh had no respect for its leadership, but even if he would not say it directly to Alcor's face at the time, he had come to see the worth of some of those who still dared to linger. Once the memories and matter of his own internal dialogue settled, which he finally had come to terms in the week before the final confrontation.

Still, there was still disdain mixing in with his own words, making some of it sound as if it were a mockery more than any 'praise'. Indeed, there was some condescension that had snuck in as well; there were many reasons for that as well. It's also not that difficult for Gilgamesh to agree with that wager.

And why he'll be pissed in regards to the organization's lousy attempt at recompense and compensation for those still remaining until its corrected. ]

I'll put it simple enough for you to understand:

That curse needed to be dealt with and finished by my hands...such was the insult it had visited upon my person. I more or less remembered those intentions once my memories returned to me. Also you would do well to keep in mind that it is not I who was working with this organization, but it is them who were working with me. I would've encountered them anyway given they intended to strike when the barrier fell.