Session 30

← Previous Session — All Sessions — Next Session →

Aib’s Cookies and the Truth About Celestial Terraforming (2025-03-08)

Holding the Elf Accountable

Mia, Det, and Siz confront the elf now known as Aib inside The Bar, refusing to accept his repeated evasions and finger guns. Det notes that Aib had inquired about their group at Den’s Den even before they’d met—casting doubt on his claims of coincidence. Mia demands answers, pressing Aib to stop lurking and finally explain what he knows.

Cryptic Answers and Half-Truths

Aib admits he is "running in the same direction" because of something "important and dangerous" happening—possibly planet-altering in scope. Chimes, listening from nearby, laments Magrete’s absence and expresses hope for her return. Aib is evasive, playful, and confusing. He denies predicting the future but dances around terms like omnipresence and alternate timelines. He hands out cookies while speaking, one of which Siz identifies by smell as tasting like her grandmother’s—raising even more questions.

The One Question Rule

Aib offers the group a chance to each ask one question, promising to answer truthfully (probably).

• Mia:"What do you know about my father?"
• Aib: "A thief with a good heart. Name was Jon. Doesn’t like biscuits. Likes cookies."

• Det: "What is the card?"
• Aib: "It’s a memo addressed to you. The data and visions are anchored using 'alternative science'. If it appears in your pocket again, it wasn’t me."

• Siz: "What drew attention to Magrete’s research?"
• Aib: "She wasn’t terraforming planets—she was extradimensionalforming regions of space. Not just worlds, but solar systems or clusters—without anyone noticing."

Aib mentions this may involve dimensional shifts and "seeds"—triggering deep unease in Siz, who connects this to infovores, dangerous entities that consume information and might grow within systems like Chimes.

Deep Concerns and Departures

Det and Mia are both overwhelmed:

• Det tries to calculate the energy needed for dimensional-scale manipulation—"lifetimes of output, even for just one system."
• Mia reels from the mention of her father and the implication that even the dwarves might be watching her closely.

Aib finally announces he must go. He finger-guns the group one last time and moonwalks out of the bar after delivering his usual confusing mixture of clarity and chaos.

What Now?

Chimes echoes the group's mood: "This is very confusing."

Siz adds a chilling postscript:

• Opening a small hole for a seed of an infovore is possible with relatively little energy.
• Once inside an information-rich environment like a computer, it can grow.
• Over time, it can produce enough power to burn reality itself and open greater holes.

Mia urges the group to leave the bar to talk in private, away from prying ears and bewildered bartenders.