15843/The Golden Light of the Arc

The Golden Light of the Arc
Date of Scene:	28 November 2023
Location:	The Arc - Sinister's repository - Somewhere...
Synopsis:	Sin introduces the devil to the Arc. It's only been forever.
Cast of Characters:	Sinister, Lucifer

---

Sinister has posed:
What DO you do when mad science has had unforseen consequences?

Well, when you're prone to flights of fancy, whimsy and the need to challenge the skies, you tear a new streak across the heavens irregardless of the cold and inhospitable weather patterns of Winter. To borrow from the Ice Queen '...the cold never bothered me anyway.'

But then, what do you do? A hotel room? A crash in a private holding? A mad fling of spending? Or do you return, slinking like a shadow, slipping into familiar habits, to what you were doing before you made things more complicated? Maybe you invite a guest. Maybe you finally show the Devil the sum total of your great works and take him to the Arc.

It's not like it was being hidden, it just never really came up in rationale and reasoning to go to.

But there, buried beneath a mountain, far from techtonic shifts and fracking and potential disruptions to its most precious contents... is the Arc. Maybe it was mockery that Sinister chose a name from biblical reference, maybe it was just coincidence or he liked the ironic symmetry. The truth that it was just short for Archive but it fit the bill to make it short, punchy and dogmatically blasphemous is the kind of black humour that tickles Nathaniel Essex. The vast collection of samples, arrayed catalogued in rows as far as the eye can see, the size of multiple air craft hangars, it is the culmination of a life's work. And it is lit now, by the golden glow of the very thing that they've been fighting with, struggling with, puzzling over and working on this last while. The Improbability Drive.

Lucifer has posed:
It's not like Lucifer would have had any qualms for any of the options listed. It's one of the few spaces of mirrored acts that they both share. Flights of fancy. Spending money like crazy. How else does one argue that they now own land on at least three of the seven continents? None the less, Lucifer follows where Nathaniel leads. The cold -does- bother him, but he's hot enough that it doesn't take long to warm up after flying through any sort of wintery weather.

When they get to the Arc, Lucifer has the same reaction as his brethren did. A whistle of admiration, a glance around to see what secrets this place holds. Dinglehoppers? Thing-a-ma-bobs? Who knows! "Quite the impressive collection, my dear. But then, you've had a lifetime to fill it...and a lifetime more to continue doing so... but this is the culmination of all your life's work? Kept in one place?"

Sinister has posed:
"I have more than one Arc. But this is... this is the one /I/ work with. It's..." Sinister struggles for the words, looking up at the pod-light festooned ceiling high above, then turning his head to look over his shoulder at the Devil. "...the most hidden I suppose. And lately, it's also been the more diverse. I started bringing over the samples from other species too, in the basement layers." There's more than this??? Oh you betcha bum there is. He looks somewhere around Lucifer's collarbone as he speaks "...My just in case, I suppose. The cache for a rainy day, post apocalypse." Looking back, he stares at the glowing light of the Improbability drive.

There is a sigh.

"I know what I have to do to fix it. I can -see- it. I can't rightly wrap my thoughts around how to express it though, which confounds and vexes me into perplexity to admit."

Lucifer has posed:
"Is it because the words don't exist or it's harder to explain to someone the science behind it when they don't really understand the basics of science to begin with?" Lucifer asks this and then looks around again. It doesn't really surprise him anymore that Nathaniel has more than one place to store things. He has labs all over the world, spaces all over the world where he conducts experiments in various fashions. He is the epitome of not putting all of ones eggs in a single basket. A trait which is both admirable and - in some ways - terrifying. Not many would have the forethought of such endeavors.

He looks to the device as well then, since their focus has changed to that one piece of equipment. A look at it sideways, topways and bottomways as if he'll suddenly have some sort of eureka moment and understand everything. That's not how it works, of course, but Lucifer can certainly try. "Do you need me to help you in any way in order to fix it?"

Sinister has posed:
"Perhaps. In that, I'm not altogether sure," -- oh yes, Sinister has played the long game for more than one lifetime now, it does make him underestimated at times -- But he turns from the device to stand part profile to his love, twisting his lips to the side in a moue of consideration, then he steps a couple of steps nearer, to loom that three extra inches over the archangel. A hand is reached, hair stroked back behind an ear, then he gently places a hand to the devil's cheek.

"See what I see," he murmurs, looking back at the device and letting his mind open to what he's perceiving.

Uriel is Quantum. One of the laws of Quantum and string theory is that matter, any matter, does not take shape or form until it is observed. Without the ability TO observe it, it will be in perpetual flux. This is how it is theoretically possible to have multi-verse in string theory, because of the observer effect. But the device specifically, exists here. And in several other near parallels, which manifests in the currently-quantum-uriel'd sight as the device mirror echoing itself just out of phase with the one that's right here. Like a horizon line, with connections stretching all the way to each parallel where they went ahead and made it.

And made it just a little bit differently in each one. But it's all the same device. Because it is Quantum. So it argues with itself, perpetually.

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer leans into that hair stroking and then that cheek cupping. It's when Nathaniel whispers the words to see what he sees that Lucifer looks over at the machine and spots the layers of quantum that it's in. "It makes sense. It has to exist in quantum, in planar fission, in order to accurately determine the probability of whatever question it's asked." He offers this much, spitting out words that he believes to be true but could be shot down or corrected by Nathaniel if he's off in any way. "But what does adding more of Uriel's DNA into your wings going to do to the machine itself? I think that's where I'm confused. I'm not understanding why he gave more of himself to you. Obviously it was for a reason." He thinks.

Sinister has posed:
"Well, before he did, I couldn't -see- that. I was stuck seeing only one version of it, not perceiving the entirety of the issue, because I do not see in terms of multi-dimensional fourth dimension permanence..." staying his hand on that cheek, Sinister leans down, rests crown against crown, then with a little shiver and an intake of breath, lets his wings out.

It seems to cause him some odd discomfort -- but with the shared sight and the added temporary gift, the golden threads of Uriel's essence can be perceived burrowing into his spinal column, fusing with the nerves and tissues already there and growing more of them out of the golden hue. Where the wings erupt is close to the basal ganglia at the nape of the spine and skull, all of which control autonomic and instinctual control. More connections are winnowing in, putting feelers into areas of Sinister's mind that were hithertofore unconnected.

Quantum is weird. And a bit of a bitch to try and express!

And of course LUCIFER can see that, but Sin's not got eyes in the back of his own head, or in his own personage exactly. But he can likely -feel- all of that going on.

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer watches for a moment longer and then looks when those wings come out. How the glow of Uriel flows from wings into Nathaniel's back, to the nerves and tissues there. "So, being able to see in the quantum will allow you to make sure...that each device is aligned with itself? Has that been the issue? Something has been a little out of sync which is what made things seem a bit more tits up than it should? But then does perfecting the machine like this mean we have to pay closer attention if we're in the middle of a scenario to ensure that there is a way out of it? Cause... one problem that stems from this... that we likely haven't touched upon.. is that we could get stuck in the probability. Right?"

He's not sure if he's still on track with how everything works, but he sure is trying to make sense of it all.

Sinister has posed:
And he's not doing a horrible job of it. "That's a quandary I'm facing... each version of the machine that I made in each parallel is just a little bit different, because despite everything I have tried to achieve in my existence, I am not a machine. And even machines create tiny differences in each item that they make, because of chaos theory." Sinister sighs and because it seems important to him at the moment, places his arms and his wings around the devil for a rather gentle, but all encompassing hug.

The silence is golden in that bubble of limbs and feathers.

"I am going to attempt to write protocols the same in each version. If it's possible with Uriel's gift, I might be capable of tuning them all at the same time, which -would- mean that each has the same inherent latency. But..."

He pulls back enough so that he can look in the Lucifer's eyes now. There's a dim dot of gold, like a grain of sand, in the depths of the red. "I don't know how to reach through quantum. What you did the other night, can you show me how to do it? Or... can I show you what to do?"

Lucifer has posed:
The fact that Lucifer is following along pretty well and getting things right in a certain way is both surprising and comforting to the Devil. He listens as Nathaniel explains, but then finds himself in that all encompassing hug, which he returns - sans his own wings. He holds it for as long as Nathaniel gives it and listens as the man further explains things before feeling him pull back and ask Lucifer something more specific.

"I could try to show you... but I've always had the ability to jump through planes, which is all quantum physics is right? Things existing in tandem on different planes? It may not be a teachable skill...but...I do believe that with your guidance I can do whatever it is you need done. Yes." He pauses. "Also this isn't me saying that you're in any way incapable of being taught for any personal reason it's more..." He pauses again. "Maybe because you have mine and Uriel's DNA you might be able to. We can absolutely try... but at any sign of things going wrong, we'll fall back to the idea of me doing it through your guidance."

Sinister has posed:
"There lies the conundrum doesn't it? How do you teach someone to Angel? I can no more teach you to human, or whatever it is I continue to be." Nathaniel chuckles softly, sighs in the kind of 'what can you do?' way, rather than with any kind of dejection. There is a nod that follows, a determination screwed to the sticking place, right alongside courage of convictions and he turns about, wing enfold parting and drawing them to neatly fold against his back as he regards the machine with his currently augmented sight.

"It strikes me that you've never had the opportunity to see as I do, on the depth of levels that I can manage at times. This might be quite fascinating for you. I am infinitely glad that you and I dared to link ourselves, right now." Holding his hand out, palm up he looks across his shoulder to his partner, smiles a goofily small smile and looks back to the machine with a clearing of his throat.

It is being perceived in quantum, but then, with a kind of shifting of focus, it's as if everything became ten times magnified and the colours, shapes, edges and light spectrum itself shift. THIS is what it's like to view the world in infra red and ultraviolet, in fifty times magnification! Everything is incredible clear, but at the same time, it's terrifically dazzling if you've never experienced it before.

A murmur comes "....I learned how certain species of the animal kingdom are capable of the feats that they're capable of. Several species of insect see in a spectrum of colour several degrees more intense than humankind. Birds see in ultra violet. Birds of prey see in incredible focus for incredible distance. But I digress... ignore the gold of Uriel's sight if you can and compare the images. A few of the housings are slightly variant from the one in this physical plane. Inside of it, you can see I've placed some of the diodes in very slightly different places and there's at least one variation on this where I have the spin being a fraction of a second off from the others. ALl of those things... add to the asynchronity."

Lucifer has posed:
"Well that's the thing. You don't teach someone to Angel, which is quite to your point I guess. Much like you can't teach someone to human. You can guide them along, but in the end... even as you can see with the differences between myself and my brethren, we're all different even tho we're the same lot." Lucifer says this much as he continues to look at the device through the levels of planar quantum.

Then Nathaniel is making a note about how Lucifer has likely never truly seen as Nathaniel can. "I mean I can see the way a serpent does... when I change into one.. but no. You have never shared your vision with me in such a way. It's quite fascinating..." A smirk. "I am also glad that we decided to link ourselves even with the off chance that one of our brains might have exploded..." He grins and then motions.

"So...do we need to sync the diodes, the spins, and change up the housing? Or can the housing stay but we just alter the placement of...diodes...and set the spinning to be more in sync..." He tilts his head. "Who ever knew so many wonderful colours exist in this world..."

Sinister has posed:
"All the colours of the rainbow and beyond," Sinister replies, nodding faintly. Then he squints at the question, a frown furrowing his brow. "I think it might require repositioning of the diodes -- but it would have to be done without stopping the machine, because I'm not sure that it would be a good thing to..."

And then, there's a golden eyed figure behind one of the machines, waving at them through the quantum. It looks like Sinister, but there's a complete lack of the red eyes, pale skin and ruby diamond. "...wait..." hand touches its partner, fingers curling a little in arrest. "Is that...?" finish the damn thought you!

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer frowns a little as Nathaniel explains that he needs the machine to keep going while they worked on repositioning the diodes and resyncing the machine. He's just about to say something when Nathaniel moves in closer. He spies the golden-eyed person through the quantum realms and gives a raised eyebrow. "Is that you from another dimension?" He tries to complete the thought, though he has no idea what the thought was so he's shooting in the dark. "Or is that... I have no idea. I can't read your mind right now..."

Sinister has posed:
Sinister looks thin lipped in that direction, then down sidelong at Lucifer and back to the being in the quantum flux. "...I was going to say me, yes. I am fifty shades of wary about now," because there's a lot of him that's up to no good, including himself some of the time. He frowns again, deeper, fingertips tapping a morse code of nonsense against the angel's.

Meanwhile, the figure in the golden glow points at the various iterations, then double-points 'that-a-way' at one on the far side of the parallels.

Cue: the inevitable slide of gaze that way. There is another figure, briefly there, until he's not and is right there, in a one-two step in front of them both. It's Lucifer. Only with a red diamond in his forehead. "What in the actual... hell...?"

Lucifer has posed:
"...A different plane...so a different existence. The machine is the same, but it's been built by the others of us. In one existence it could be that I am the doctor and you are the angel... in other worlds we could both be doctors. Both be angels. Or both just be really, really smart humans..." Lucifer offers this. "Because this isn't time travel, it's planar travel. Dimensional worlds. Hasn't the theory always been that you could be you but slightly different...different lifestyles. Thoughts. Ideas. And yet..." He shifts back just a bit.

"It seems like we don't need to reach ourselves in the quantum... we need to reach our quantum selves and explain what needs to be done. All of us in alignment...so that this machine works properly." Which... can make things easier...or harder. Depending on the mindset behind it.

Sinister has posed:
"I couldn't have put it better myself," Says the figure of Not-Lucifer that stepped through the quantum. He looks up and about, at the machine in this world and rolls on his heels, swinging hips back and forth with a pleased as punch expression on his face for a moment. "So this is the prime reality, is it? Lovely jubbly..." turning about again, he gives a Sinisterly incline of his head and a little rolling bow. Even the eyes are red, like Nathaniel's. "Persuasion is an art form, as we well know. Did you have a plan that ahhh... we can help with?"

Sinister is still just staring. "I... really want to ask questions about now, but a good chunk of me is probably not going to like the answer."

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer blinks, looks between the Not-Lucifer and Nathaniel and back again. "Is this the Prime Reality? I thought you would consider your own world the Prime and us just echoes of what you experience..." He says this much and then looks between the device in quantum, the men before him and then shrugs his shoulders. "From what I have gathered, all of these machines need to be a bit more in sync. Ideally, perfectly in sync, but at the very least as close as possible..." He glances to...his?...Nathaniel for confirmation but if the man is now stuck in quantum that might be difficult to achieve.

"So...what do I call you?"

Sinister has posed:
"You had it right," Nathaniel murmurs, still just staring. He then moves, walking around the Lucifer with his own mark upon him, slowly. "I'm going to guess that the serum infusion didn't go so well in your version?"

The visitor from another quantum space smiles Luci's smile at the devil and glances sidelong to the inspecting Sin with it. "You would be correct, Nathaniel. But I, we, couldn't just let that be the end of it. So. We adapted."

Blinking, Sin looks at Lucifer and blows out a breath through his nose. "So it seems. That's in no small part completely terrifying, I'll readily admit."

"Oh, don't be melodramatic. You two are rubbing off on one another." The visitor claps hands together. "You can call me Seven if you like. It works as an iteration. Don't try and explain the dimensional travel, it's mindbending in a way that might make his ego go poof."

Lucifer has posed:
"Seven? That's not very... personable..." Lucifer says this but then lifts a single shoulder in a shrug. "Well you have saved me from discussing such travel with him, I suppose, but I highly doubt he would let his ego deflate over it.." A sparkle in the eye before he takes his own breath in and out.

"Alright. So have all of us reached a point where we know something needs to be tweaked on the machine and now it's up to the Prime one here to let you all know what to do with it?" He may not understand science, and that may make his knowledge on the quantum a little odd because quantum IS science...but it is also a bit magical...again. Not going to explain. It might make ones head explode.

"I beg your pardon. I happen to be the least melodramatic between the two of us... so who is rubbing off on whomst?"

Sinister has posed:
"It sounds like something I'd call myself," Sinister murmurs "...tribute to two concepts in one amalgum." Seven grins again. "Stop that, it's really disturbing in a curiosity inducing way." "Isn't it just?"

There's a clear of the throat from the visitor. "Fortunately, I am a being of humble status and I don't mind doing scientific gofering, not to mention I can understand what in the heck this numpty is talking about." Seven winks in Sin's direction and then sagely nods, all seriousness. "The prime would be the locus that's being effected by all the others being mildly out of harmony. I find it quite interesting in its own way, that of all the realities that could exist, we only pulled this one off in half a dozen odd."

"AHA!" Sin, declaring with a point.

"Don't point. It's rude. Didn't our mother tell us that? Oh wait, no, that would be the nanny."

"I'm going to end up having a complex after this."

"Like you don't already have one."

Oh dear.

Lucifer has posed:
"Wait. Wait wait..." Lucifer begins. Then he stops. Thinks.

He does mental math. Which for him, takes a lingering moment.

"If you already know that this was pulled off in half a dozen realities, then what purpose does it serve to help us here and now? Like this is some sort of way of telling us that we're at least one of the realities that fixes this thing? Does that mean that several other realities are heading towards their impending doom and there is nothing to be done to stop it?" That thought actually makes the Devil twitch.

"Also...why am I there? Did I come from hell or heaven? Wait. Maybe don't answer that. It's likely best I don't know..."

Seven meet a Coniptioned Lucifer.

Sinister has posed:
Seven beams that smile that makes chocolate melt as well as people's knees. He bounces his eyebrows up and down with it, smirking. "I'm pretty sure if you actually think around it, rather than looking directly at it, you'll work it out," he replies, jerking his thumb over his shoulder. "Hundreds upon hundreds go belly up like a carnival goldfish. It's tragic, really. We did actually toast marshmallows on the fields of Armageddon in one, but that's because it went squiffy rather sooner than anticipated. Nothing to be done on that front, time travel's a bitch and a half." He looks at Sinister, who's giving him a very penetrating, altogether silent look. Thoughts are happening there, no doubt about it.

"It really is a shame that nobody can pin Strange down and get a decent explanation of things out of him. I take it he's run off again to do some highly important magery? It would figure. But I can also tell you, that this is the only reality where a Strange died to make the thing function. He was rather too selfish in all the others, but I have absolutely no doubt he knew this was the prime timeline."

Lucifer has posed:
"And the Prime Timeline has to continue existing or it's tits up for all other dimensional existences..." Lucifer chimes in that last bit before taking a breath and letting it out. "Well. Things need to be aligned to match this machine. Diodes moved just so one way or another to line up. Spin cycles made to all run in sync. Our asteroid is actually in another plane, but going to emerge into ours in...so many years. Years? Months? I've forgotten..." He offers this much more.

There isn't much more than that he's really willing to explain. No need to delve out all their secrets and such right? Just make sure things get into alignment so they can actually do the thing they've set out to do and ultimately get rid of that asteroid of damnation. "How is it you know so much about the Prime? Keeping tabs on us somehow? Even when we cannot keep tabs on the others?" No. That's a Loki job now it seems.

Sinister has posed:
"Process of elimination actually. We thought that a different one was the prime, but then it went kablooey and we didn't, so that was a good indicator. So we started looking at what was done a certain way, what was unique to the various iterations and bing badda boom, elementary, my dear Watson. As opposed to Ailimentary, which is a whole different gut reaction."

"Oh, hah hah." From Sin.

"What, they can't /all/ be zingers now can they? So... shall we make this quick and easy, or are we going to be complicated and defensive about it all. Knowing you two and us, it's probably going to be a lot of crabwise sidestepping."

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer raises a brow. Process of elimination. If not that one, then the next. Well that's certainly one way to do it.

Perhaps not the most efficient way, however.

"In all truth, I think we want this done as quickly and easily as possible. We have the means, and now we have the way. There's no point in making it complicated, and even if one desires to do so, they should likely refrain themselves." Yes, Nathaniel, he is looking your way when he says that.

"Do you need us to do anything? Or should we just watch you somehow work your magic?"

Sinister has posed:
"Oh, we'll need you to do a few things. Namely, make punctuality a watchword and gather the team. There's not going to be an easy run around of this, because there's elements that really, really don't want this to work." Seven informs, with a sigh and a long look at Sinister. "You wear it better than we do, you know. Oh, we're going to have so much to talk about later..."

And Seven then looks at his wrist, where it's a hair past a freckle. "You can blame Strange for this. Dead men in the gears."

And suddenly the golden light, Seven and all the other iterations of the Improbability drive, vanish.

"What... the..." Sinister blinks, stares about and squints at the normality of it all. "Oh for the love of... it's out of /phase/ as well as in quantum? Wait... wait... it phased out... Lucifer..."

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer is just about to say something more when everything is suddenly back to normal. He blinks, looking around a moment and then to Nathaniel when the man says his name. "You said it... I don't know if there is anything I can do..." He huffs a little and then takes a few steps back to pace a moment. "Does this mean we get to go dimension hopping to beg the other usses to actually do something at the same exact space and time?"

Sinister has posed:
"Oh by Darwin's prodigous beard, I certainly hope not. We might have to consult regarding this one, though it pains me to say so," Sinister wrinkles his nose. "I mean, I could try and calibrate..." he pauses "...I might be able to..." another pause and he looks at Lucifer with a lowered lash look.

*sigh* "...you don't need to work out spacial proximity in parallel universes, do you? You can just go."

Lucifer has posed:
"It's something like that. I mean, I can tear thru the fabric of space and time and be wherever I need to be. I've got Seven's signature marked now, so I could easily go to where he is. But more in fleshy frame and less quantum existence. From there it's likely just picking up the other signals... which I sort of already did when you had them all here in quantum sight." Lucifer offers. And then he flushes. "...I think that's the explanation part I wasn't supposed to tell you....the long way of saying yes."

Sinister has posed:
Sinister laughs a kind of drily amused, but wry laugh. "Have I mentioned how much I love you, today? I ought to, you know..." he winks at the devil then with a clearing of his throat, glances about the laboratory with all its shiny glory and hard won and even harder harvested 'seed' material of a new world.

There's a cluck of the tongue.

"Well, we can do very little more here, for now. We should contact our allies and see who can be reliably tapped here, because I really didn't like what Seven said at the end there. Opposition forces make me want to /plan/." He turns back to Lucifer afterwards with a warmer look, openly affectionate, though there's none but them there.

"Shall we go check our rolodexes and get as drunk as we can, for now?"