[NIGHTRUNNER CHANNEL] D14

[chronosynthesis]

Nightrunners? This is Syrlya. [He clears his throat, quickly working out that faint nervousness in his tone so he can talk strongly and clearly over the radio.]

I understand the assault CY-Ren went poorly. Lambert is currently incapacitated, but alive, and has requested that I take over while he assesses the damage. However, at least Lavellan and Childermass are missing--if not more. I need all of you to report in now so I know who is still present.

First, was there anyone else at the concert itself? I want to know in more detail what happened, what CY-Ren is capable of, and where it went wrong.

Second--[A pause.] There was a Summer Fae by the name of Nightshade spotted at the concert, although she reportedly stayed away from the stage. You already heard the warning when we first arrived, so you know how troubling it is that they're present when we've obtained the Blue Rose. She works for the Rose Queen, but we do not want any of them to get a hold of it. Everyone should keep their eyes open, but those that are particularly sensitive or knowledgeable in signs of Fae need to keep a close eye on the carnival's borders.

[The last thing they need is Fae sneaking in when their attention is on their missing carnival members outside. He just hopes most of them are here.]

Comments

[chronosynthesis]

Did you? Did you see what happened when he reached it?

[anti_nonsense]

No. I couldn't see anything after he got up the stairs.

But at the time... he was in a trance or something. I think it was the music. I tried to stop him, but he just trapped me with a shadow, turned into a bird, and flew off.

[dressedtothe]

Yeah, I think the music holds some kind of sway over people.

The whole thing was weird. Even with everything going on, the audience didn't react. You'd think they would, I dunno, freak out when the entire stage was destroyed in front of them. But they didn't do anything until CY-Ren was already gone and even that reaction was really mild. It was kind of creepy.

[chronosynthesis]

So she uses her music to manipulate people. I would not be surprised if it was her magic sedating the audience as well.

[There's a long pause as he considers things, here. For CY-Ren, who he really needs to talk to is Noa. She's his best option for filling in the holes to this story. He won't make the mistake of pursuing an enemy he doesn't know enough about again. There's a faint tapping sound from his finger against the table.]

I want both of you to keep an extremely close eye in and around the carnival for any signs of Nightshade or her ilk. If you see any, destroy it and report it, but do not touch it.

[Rita can see magic, and 9S has potent scanning abilities. He trusts that they have the best eyes for this sort of thing.] How confident are either of you on your ability to find more information on CY-Ren?

[anti_nonsense]

Got it. Guess I'll do a walk around the grounds now and then.

As for CY-Ren... I don't know. Maybe if I knew more about... [There's a pause, and a sudden revelation.] Come to think of it... Maybe Tamaki can help.

[dressedtothe]

[9S is about to respond, but he gets distracted.]

Huh? Tamaki? How can he help?

[chronosynthesis]

[He's not terribly familiar with Tamaki, so.]

You are free to ask. I'll trust your judgement on how you do it, so long as we can get more information on CY-Ren. History, pseudonyms, locations, anything under her name.

[anti_nonsense]

He told me before that he's an 'idol'... some kind of singer, performer, whatever. [There isn't an exact equivalent in Rita's world.]

It sounded kind of like what CY-Ren does. Maybe he'll know a few things about how the industry works. I'll try talking to him, see if he can give us some direction.

[dressedtothe]

Got it. I'll look for information about CY-Ren on the humans' network.

[He sounds more excited now.]

Have you heard about their Internet? You can find information about anything you want! I tried looking for information about fae on there earlier and it returned several databases of knowledge!

[A lot of it wrong, but he doesn't know that.]

[chronosynthesis]

I haven't, but I won't object to any tool at our disposal. As soon as either of you find something, let me know.

[anti_nonsense]

Wait... it has that much?

Hey, 9S, you better print some of that out so I can see!

[Sorry Syrlya, you're surrounded by nerds.]

[dressedtothe]

Yeah, yeah, I will.

[Some of it is going to have very questionable content.]

Hey, do you want what they have on cats? There's at least 2 million videos about cats, so I can't give you everything, but...

[anti_nonsense]

W, well... that's not really important, so...

[She trails off, and when she continues, her voice sounds quiet, as she's holding the radio away from herself and replying to 9S in person, since he's basically right there anyway.]

...yeah. Get them.

[dressedtothe]

[9S nods eagerly. He doesn't personally have much interest in cat videos, but Rita might.

They're getting off track here.]

Anyway, we'll report back if we find anything. 9S out.