The Order.

Order, report. How are the perpetrations for Friday coming?

[ Order looked up from her laptop screen, sitting at her desk where she'd been for the past five or six hours. ]

" Things are going about as well as they can, given... everything. "

[ She sighed, pausing for a brief moment. ]

*Foundation was NOT still hung up on the so-called Showdown. He was NOT. It was, however, truly demoralizing to have concrete proof that the people you had sworn to protect apparently disliked you so much that they'd rather support an insane tyrant with delusions of control.*

*Who was also working with the guy who wanted to destroy them.*

*But that wasn't why he was here. Foundation shook himself slightly, and looked at Order.*

I thank you for your trust in me. I have something that I need you to do, and it's very important that you do it.

[ For a moment, she didn't fully register what Foundation said. ]

" You want me to stay here? When we VERY clearly need everyone, and all the help we can get- "

Half-dead on his feet and collecting his third cup of coffee in the past ten hours, the Visitor joined you in the cafeteria, sighing as he took a seat.]

It's been good to see you again, Order, and a relief to see both you and your sister safe. A rare blessing in this place, it seems.

How do you fare today?

" Hey, Vis. "

[ She gave him a tired, half-smile and took a sip of her energy drink. ]

Fair enough. I know the feeling.

[He stared at his coffee, wanting to drink, but not wanting to take the helmet off in company.

Eh, the cafeteria machine always made it too hot. It could wait. The helmet stayed on.]

Did I hear correctly that you actually were married and had a little one? Please tell me I didn't dream that, I've been so happy for you...

[ She looked down at the table, trying to recall just how long had it been since she was home. ]

" I.. wish I could be home more often. My little girl is growing up so fast, and I'm missing so much- "

[ She felt a familiar sense of guilt as she spoke, like a heavy weight in her heart. Yet, she couldn't let it get to her. Not now, not when there was an island to save. ]

"Hey, Hope. I know you haven't exactly been.. included in our missions, but I've seen what you have done, and Jones has told me about everything I missed."

"We're going to find The Foundation, and I want you to come with us."

@theorderfn

Hope answered the phone, feeling the slightest hint of anxiety - the Order had never called her directly before, they only talked when Jones was there.

"Um- hi! Hi, Order-"

She blinked slowly after hearing that Order wanted her to join them on this mission.

" And, please, call me Odette. I promise, you're allowed to. "

INCOMING TRANSMISSION from @the-foundation-7

"S... O... S..."

BEGIN TRACE?

" Is that even a question? Yes, begin the trace-! "

*After all this time... he could finally make the minute hand motions to activate his distress beacon. It irked him that he had to use it...*

*But that was what the team was for.*

The signal crackled, the line filled with static before eventually evening out.

" Jones? This is Ima,, The Imagined, I mean. It's been a while, hasn't it?

We've received your message about the island,, well... Odette has, I've only heard bits and pieces, I was just dropped into everything, figuratively and literally. But we could really use your help, everything feels... bad, very, very bad; we have a feeling something bigger is going on here than meets the eye. We'll be moving to Classified Canyon within the next few days, meet us there if you can. We have a lot of catching up to do. "

- @theimaginedfn

*Between the reappearance of a Cube Cradle, the New Year, and spending a quiet Winterfest with Evie, Jones hadn't had the chance to look over his messages. When he did, though, he almost dropped his tablet.*

*The Imagined!? Alive!? But how? He had seen her DIE. And not just die, but be literally ripped apart as the fabric of her existence uncoiled around her.*

*As he looked at the coordinates for Classified Canyon, he paused for a moment. This... could be a trap. A ploy by the Restored Order or one of the other enemy factions that would love to get him out of the picture. But the message had mentioned Odette, who had recently appeared in the RW ID system again...*

*A test, then. Before he got his hopes up. The ID cards were tagged to the specific personal energy-- some might say soul-- of the people they were given to. Only Odette could access her card. Thus, Jones pulled up his card, and sent out a simple ping to Odette's:*

--- -.- ..--..

*And then he waited. And after a moment, he received the same message, minus the punctuation, right back.*

But now wasn't the time to reminisce, they needed to investigate and form a plan immediately, the more time they wasted the more dire their situation would become.

Ima glanced over at Odette and folded her arms across her chest.

" We got places to be, Odette. Are you in? Or are you out? I'll return to come pick you up if you're too busy to meet Jones right now.. but I'd appreciate it if you tagged along to scope out the machinery at Classified Canyon. We gotta find a car, I don't think walking would be the best idea for me right now. "

" This old tech really isn't worth fixing - I'll go with you. "

[ She picked up her helmet, ready to head out, when she realized something. ]

" Walking wouldn't be the best idea? What do you mean - "

" Don't you worry about me, sis. It's just a little flesh wound, nothing that won't heal overtime, hopefully. Plus,, walking would take the entire night. And we're kind of in a rush, I'm sure stealing a car would be.. understandable in a time like this, right? "

She joked.

Imagined patiently waited for Odette to follow her as she started to walk down the stairs leading outside, snow crunching under her boots.

[ Odette smiled, walking outside to catch up to her sister - it still hadn't fully sank in, that Ima was really here. ]

" Okay, let's find a car, then... I wouldn't want to miss the sunset. "

The sunset gleamed through the windshield and passenger seat window, equally lighting both of their faces with a series of soft pink and orange hues. The drive wasn't too interesting except for the sunset and Imagined occasionally pointing out any fireflies she noticed while driving.

.

The car came to a halt in the sandy terrain outside of Classified Canyon, Ima climbed out of the driver's seat and did a dramatic 'Ta-daaaaa!' motion with her arms, a big smile plastered across her face.

" Ta-Da! We're here! See, the drive wasn't too bad! "

She smirked.

*And then Ima jumped out with a corny cheer and a big grin on her face.*

*Jones didn't hesitate, he ran over immediately.*

Ima..? It... it really is you, isn't it?

*He pulled her into a massive hug, before noticing her favoring her leg.*

Oop, sorry, didn't realize you were hurt, lemme just--

*He pulled out a slurp juice from a pouch and handed it to her.*

" It's good to see you too, Jones. "

She replied as she went back to holding her stomach with an arm.

" Ah, it's nothin' too bad, just a limp and sore stomach from falling, ooh,, yeah I never mentioned falling to Odette earlier, we've been in a rush. I don't exactly have time to 'sit back and heal' in a time like this, no? "

Imagined smiled, tilting her head as she placed her free hand on her hip.

" But thank you, truly.. We should head inside and look at the machinery, there's a vault in the basement, haven't opened it yet, feel free to go messing around with that, see if you can crack it open. "

Ima rambled as she accepted the slurp juice, already walking towards one of the entrances to the underground facility.

" Or,, y'know.. feel free to talk with Odette before that, take your time.. but not too much time. "

" Hey, Jones. Nice to see you again. "

[ She looked over at her sister, then at the building in front of them. ]

*He pulled out a file and passed it to the sisters for them to look over.*

He was the snapshot of an IO storm scout from back on the original island. However, after escaping the loop, he came into contact with the Zero Point while running a mission with Batman... and got shattered across all reality.

*He gave Ima a meaningful look.*

We thought he had died, obviously. But some loopers have been coming to me recently, asking questions about the Zero Shard. And every single one of them had been in communication with... this.

*He pulled up an image off his card's holo display.*

They call him "Dark Voyager." At first, I thought he might be a snapshot. Then I saw him doing this.

*The image shifted to show Dark Voyager spinning a glowing yellow cube... Which split into multiple other cubes, all pulsing with power.*

" Figured it was that guy.. I originally came into contact with him when I landed,, well landed is an understatement, more like hit the ground with a boom, but that's beside the point. We didn't talk,, I just saw em' from a distance, figured he was bad news and didn't bother approaching him.. guess that was a good choice. "

" And seeing someone die isn't much of a confirmation they're dead,, as you can tell. The dark voyager, huh? Interesting.. "

She muttered before tossing the file aside, onto the table, she bit at the nail on her thumb.

" Ehh,, Jones, can I ask you a question? "

She mumbled.

" Have you ever just,, been rifted somewhere with no recollection of where you were beforehand? I mean,, this has no correlation to the current discussion. But I just thought I'd ask,, because I've heard from a little birdie of mine you're a pro at messing up rifts,, somehow. "

[ She listened carefully, her expression turning serious at the mention of the Last Reality. ]

Ima laughed quietly, she leaned against Odette, her shoulder touching the other's as she peered down at the file again.

" Yeah,, they always were good at covering their tracks,, but we'll get them, Odette. That I know. "

She smiled.

" Any other important facts you got for us, Jonesy-Boy? "

No, not at the moment. That's why we're doing recon, right? It'll be just like old times.

*As they began moving into the base, Jones realized just how true that statement was, and gave a little chuckle.*

Man, this brings me back. Remember how Gunnar held down Command Cavern for a few months, and we had to take him out from halfway across the map so his SMG skills wouldn't get us?

*He smiled softly as they reached the first interior checkpoint past the false "dead end."*

[ She gave a slight smile--Jones never failed to lighten the mood. ]

" I mean, I do, but that's not what it's called. "

[ She replied before stepping forward. There wasn't time to reminisce, despite how much she wanted to. ]

[ Odette tapped on the armor located on her right forearm, glancing at a brief hologram before clicking 'confirm'. Her wrist hovered over the command panel, effortlessly hacking the device. ]

" Atta girl, that's the sis I know. Just let us know if you find anything at all. "

She replied before cracking her fingers and leaning over to glance at what Odette was doing.

" Hah,, what kind of idiot leaves all of this stuff just.. there, so easily accessible,, not even with a triggered alarm, seriously? "

*A faint buzzing sound began to permeate the facility, acoompanied by the unmistakable noise of boots tromping in sync towards their location. Jones groaned and pulled out his pistol.*

[ She needed to get this panel hacked, any files, information--anything that could help. She was fine doing everything normally, but on a risky time crunch? Now she was definitely doubting herself. ]

*As the first few troopers came in, Jones shot them to pixels, then went to the hall and broke a few of the ceiling beams, slowing more down.*

Imagined slammed a guard into the wall and shot them before leaning against the wall, holding her injured stomach.

She tripped over herself as she tried to make her way back to Odette.

" Jones! They got through! "

" It's a trap! "