Yukari Quest IV - A Z-Machine Adventure

[Hello Purvis]

> "Well, we could try the direct approach I just mentioned. I can't promise it won't feel uncomfortable, however."

>"Could you just make a tiny gap in the air?" says Maribel.

>_

[O4rfish]

>With the tools we have, this should be doable, right?
>Extend hand towards Maribel, then create tiny gap to water source, pointing up.

[Hello Purvis]

>With the tools we have, this should be doable, right?
>Extend hand towards Maribel, then create tiny gap to water source, pointing up.

>This is quite doable.
>You open a tiny gap, only a fraction of an inch across.  A stream of water fires up into the air like a tiny geyser, sending droplets raining to the ground. Maribel does not hesitate to pounce on it, putting her mouth over the stream and drinking down as much as possible.  This continues for some tens of seconds, before she steps away from it for a moment to catch her breath, sigh, wipe her face, and then resume again. The cycle repeats itself several times, and you can hardly blame her for it. You've gone without water for some time, yourself, and quite frankly can sympathize with her actions from how parched you are.  Maribel gulps down what you imagine is probably an appreciable fraction of a gallon of water before she finally backs away, walks over to the edge of the tower and lays down while breathing heavily.

>_

[O4rfish]

>Partake.

[Hello Purvis]

>Partake.

>You do so, trying to keep significantly more dignity than Maribel did. The water is cool and reasonably clean. It tastes a bit strongly of minerals, which makes it less pleasant than you hoped, but you are not in the position or the mood to complain about it much.  Soon enough, you feel sated.

>_

[Yaersulf]

>Close this gap.
>Open another one, say, 20 feet above the same line.
>Is the result any different?

[Hello Purvis]

>Close this gap.
>Open another one, say, 20 feet above the same line.
>Is the result any different?

>You close the gap, and open another twenty feet above the lines in question. More water comes gushing out.

>_

[Serela]

>"Well, we certainly aren't seeing stars up there, it seems. Just above those... lines... is an awful lot of water."
>Try opening gaps further up (one by one, closing as we go, in similarly small sizes) until we manage to open one into something that isn't water. Since it might be an awfully long way up to do that, try opening the gaps... well, miles or so apart. Can deal with not vastly overshooting it after it's not underwater.
>...just in case, though, try only a hundred-ish feet for the first new gap. Don't need to overdo things if not necessary.

In other news, that strange face thing still warrants investigation. But, one thing at a time, of course~

[Hello Purvis]

>"Well, we certainly aren't seeing stars up there, it seems. Just above those... lines... is an awful lot of water."
>Try opening gaps further up (one by one, closing as we go, in similarly small sizes) until we manage to open one into something that isn't water. Since it might be an awfully long way up to do that, try opening the gaps... well, miles or so apart. Can deal with not vastly overshooting it after it's not underwater.
>...just in case, though, try only a hundred-ish feet for the first new gap. Don't need to overdo things if not necessary.

>"So that's where it's from?" says Maribel. "Well, either way, I'm happy you found it. Just...let me rest for a little while, okay?"
>You try to open another gap some distance above where the your prior one was, and do not encounter anything that could support a gap. That must mean you've gone beyond the edge of this world.

>_

[O4rfish]

>Ponder on the purpose of this constellation thing. If a parallel universe Yukari had created it, what would it be for?

[Hello Purvis]

>Ponder on the purpose of this constellation thing. If a parallel universe Yukari had created it, what would it be for?

>You try to determine what the point of this place is. You don't know what it was made to hold, or if it really serves any purpose at all. It's certainly not made to be habitable by anything you understand as life, and it doesn't seem that there is anything approaching life here. There are stars, and there is the entwined moon and planet; perhaps it is a place to observe them? But if so, why make it so bleak, or so large?
>In the end, you don't feel this place was designed with a particular purpose, or that it was designed at all. Rather, it strikes you as something that just sort of happened. This doesn't feel entirely correct though, either.  Too many things have interacted with other things to be wholly random...
>"Are you okay?" says Maribel from her spot on the glowing misty floor. Her voice sounds much better now, at least.

>_

[Hello Purvis]

>"Yukari?" Maribel says after some moments.

>_

[O4rfish]

>"Just wondering about things here, annd their purpose."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Just wondering about things here, annd their purpose."

>"You mean this tower?" She says, as she turns over on her side to face you.

>_

[O4rfish]

>"Yes, and the constellations, and the water. I would say it doesn't make much sense, but none of these worlds makes much sense."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Yes, and the constellations, and the water. I would say it doesn't make much sense, but none of these worlds makes much sense."

>"I don't really know what it's all for, either," says Maribel. "But I think at least some of it has to do something. I mean, it can't just make a tower for no reason at all, right?"

>_

[Yaersulf]

>Summary of things atop the tower of note please. Maybe I'm missing something.

[Hello Purvis]

>Summary of things atop the tower of note please. Maybe I'm missing something.

>There isn't very to be seen on top of the tower. A bit more than half of the top is simply empty space with no kind of floor at all. The floor that does exist clings along the side of the tower in a wide crescent shape, with the walkway that brought you up here connecting seamlessly to one side of it. At some points, the sides of the tower extend past the roof for a few inches, resembling irregular crenelations, or perhaps extensions for the rest of the wall. Aside from some leftover water droplets and Maribel, the only real feature of note is a roughly rectangular gathering of mist in the middle of the floor, about a yard wide and tall, and a yard and a half long. You have found that it is not solid like the rest of the mist by placing your hand into it.

>_

[Yaersulf]

>Inventory.

[Hello Purvis]

>Inventory.

>Your inventory contains:
>Bedsheet
>Your silken bedsheet.
>Socks and Undergarments.
>Some of your lost clothing.
>Yukari's Screwdriver.
>Seemingly a basic screwdriver. With this, you may prise open gaps with much more precision and delicately than you can alone.
>Piece of Materia Prima (Small)
>A hand-sized glob of the one element from which all flows.This could be shaped into a boggling array of things.
>Yukari's Hourglass
>This basic timekeeping device assists in maintaining gaps. With it, you can leave gaps open for longer, and without having to physically concentrate on them.
>Yukari's Pliers.
>A basic pair of pliers. These assist you in narrowing and closing gaps with far greater ease and speed than you can alone.
>Red Shoes
>You never thought you?d miss these.
>Piece of Material Prima (miniscule)
>A fingernail-sized glob of the one element from which all flows.This could be shaped into a boggling array of things.
>Yukari's Tape Measure.
>A length of material with precise markings of length. With it, you can use it bridge distance much more quickly and easily.
>Bundle of Flowers
>A collection of a dozen or so unidentified flowers taken from a garden on a floating island. Some resemble edible flowers.
>Sturdy Stick
>Suitable for aiding in walking.
>Glowing stone shard: 10 feet
>A weightless shard of glowing material that seems to vaguely resemble quartz.
>_

[日巫子]

> Take out the glowing shard.

[Hello Purvis]

> Take out the glowing shard.

>You take the Glowing Stone Shard in hand. It is as you remember it, cool and weightless. If you didn't feel it in your hands, you could imagine that you weren't holding anything at all.

>_

[日巫子]

> Take the shard over to the rectangular mist formation.

[Hello Purvis]

> Take the shard over to the rectangular mist formation.

>You approach the mist formation with shard in hand. Maribel observes you quietly, still laying on her side.

>_

[日巫子]

> Put the shard in the rectangular mist formation.

[Hello Purvis]

> Put the shard in the rectangular mist formation.

>You place the shard on top of the mist, and watch as it slowly falls through. You almost anticipate that it would drift and spin like a normal feather, but instead it sinks straight downward. Then its ends begin to contract inward without a sound, as those the shard were collapsing upon itself.
>"Ooo," says Maribel, sitting up a little to watch.
>Within moments, the shard vanishes completely into the mist. The rectangle begins to dissolve into the floor, and you hear a sound like a rush of wind. Spheres of soft white light wink into existence around the outer base of the tower, identical to the ones you saw when the tower formed. Like before, these spheres begin to dissolve into mist. Unlike last time, the spheres are close enough that the mist is is able to engulf you. You can just hear Maribel call your name distantly, then the world is drowned out in in gently closing mist. You cannot see more than a yard ahead of you.

>_

[日巫子]

> Call out: "Maribel?"

[Hello Purvis]

> Call out: "Maribel?"

>You call out Maribel's name. No sound escapes your lips. The mist softly ripples around your face as you try to speak, moving in time with the syllables. The rippling spreads around you and beyond yours sight, then begins to ripple back upon itself. You can feel the mist softly lap against your skin as it ripples, slightly warm and feeling somewhat like gelatin, only without the dampness.

>_

[日巫子]

> Take a few steps forward.

[Hello Purvis]

> Take a few steps forward.

>You take a few steps forward. The mist resists as you move, making feel as through you were walking through warm water. You can feel it flow and conform around you, almost as if it were embracing you like an old friend. It ripples around you, set into motion when you began to take these steps.

>_