Event: The Time Compression Mage

[wrnpcs]

[This video is uploaded to the BBS under ID#GUEST -- which is likely the first time anyone has seen this new feature in the system. The person it features is a man, handsome in a vaguely bland sort of way, who could be anywhere from eighteen to forty. He wears simple brown robes, his hands folded into the opposite sleeves, and thought he smile, there is no mistaking the seriousness of his tone.]

Good morning, residents of Balamb Garden. I have heard of you, and I expect in turn that many of you have heard of me. I am the Time Compression Mage.

I am certain you will doubt this claim, but it is true. On my own world, I am a scholar of chronomancy and spatial alterations; here, my studies and my natural talent have given me an ability to manipulate the distortion of time and space we know as Time Compression.

[He lifts his hands, sliding them out of the sleeves to reveal long, fine fingers unadorned by jewelry. He speaks a few words that have no meaning in any language, makes a few passes with his hands, and then holds them half a foot apart in a cupping gesture. A ball of wrongness grows between them; those who observed the source of the jam flood might recognize this strange distortion.]

I have come to Balamb Garden to offer all of you who, like me, are displaced from their worlds... a way home.

Over Tears Point, which is the nexus of interactions for the forces that bind the world and the moon, sits a great distortion of compressed time. In slightly over one week, the forces will reach a temporal peak due to the combination of the moon's location and the approaching solstice. At that time, I will be able to manipulate the distortion. Those who are present at Tears Point will have the process that brought them here reversed.

You will go home.

[He lowers his hands, and the ball of distortion disappears as if it never was.]

I have directly requested the formal and official aid of Garden, but I hope those of you who are at liberty will aid me no matter what. I cannot promise any other person will be able to do what I can do. This may be our only hope to go home.

I have been graciously offered lodging here for the time being, so I make myself available to you. I know you must doubt my claims, or me; I invite you to put me to the test.

[The so-called Time Compression Mage inclines his head solemnly, and here the video ends.]

[Beneath the video, a transcript of his speech follows, along with a note that the video was posted on behalf of the Time Compression Mage, who does not have further access to the Garden intranet. Students and staff may discuss amongst themselves in response to this post, but the Mage will not see or reply.]

[As for the Time Compression Mage himself: true to his word, he has set himself up in an unused office for the time being, and is spending that time in study and research. Books sit on his desk and drawings and charts take up much of the walls. Nevertheless, he has made himself available to anyone who wishes to approach him.]

Comments

[bbs]

[espio]

[Well. That's... interesting.]

All right. Guess I was wrong - he's not a talentless hack.

But I get a really uneasy feeling when someone assumes they know what I want.

[bbs]

[jointheclub]

Is it so surprising? Magic's far more versatile than you give it credit for!

Re: [bbs]

[espio]

Oh, I've never doubted that magic exists, or that it's versatile. It's more that I'm just used to people dramatically overstating their abilities, or taking credit where it isn't due.

I definitely don't think what he's proposing is as easy as he's implying though.

[jointheclub]

Braggarts and fools like that do reveal themselves in the end. That sort of behavior only works if you have a little talent to back it up.

[bbs]

[tiamat_shot]

'Chronomancy and spatial relations', huh? So he's a time mage acting fancy because of something a Sorceress did ages ago. Makes sense, at least.

I hope people realize that if he screws this up, it could be a lot worse than being stuck in this world, especially if he's prancing around solo like this. Even Clan Tiamat's experiments had enough safeguards in place to stop a small apocalypse if things went wrong... that's kind of what the price of failure is if you mess with things like this.

[espio]

Pretty much.

Hate to say it, but I kind of agree with you on that. I suppose it'd depend on the scale of manipulation he's talking about, though - the more complicated the "fix", the more likely a small mistake'd lead to a big disaster.

I do wonder why he's asking for our help, though. I don't think even those of us who've got involved in time stuff know the ins and outs of time enough to help him. It makes him look uncertain.

[bbs]

[marearcana]

I'll admit, the fact that he's actually a time and space magic specialist is a pleasant surprise.

But yes, assuming you know what others want is generally a bad idea.

[Much to the chagrin of marketing specialists everywhere.]

[bbs]

[espio]

Knowing something is better than nothing, I guess. But a tiny little ball of whatever that was doesn't mean he can really do anything about Time Compression.

action

[rewritethis]

[Natural talent. Sure.

Not too long after the video is posted, Ed roughly pushes open the door to the office without so much as a knock, and... quite calmly walks inside, although the fact that he's clearly a little out of breath and the thunderous noise of his footsteps from a second ago suggest that this might not have been the original plan.

He doesn't otherwise announce his presence at first. Let's see how this guy reacts...]

[wrnpcs]

[On the entrance, the mage looks up from his book, then slides it aside and rises for a more proper greeting. He also offers a smile... despite his quiet hunch that it might be lost cause.]

[rewritethis]

[Ed doesn't appear to see it; he's glancing at some of the charts on the nearest wall.]

Well, someone looks pretty settled in. Wonder how much of that is just for show.

[He pauses before stepping any closer.]

Sorry for the intrusion. Figured someone who calls himself a scholar would know to care a little more about substance than appearances. Actually, that's why I'm here.

[bbs]

[gotgreedy]

...So all this power, and he just wants to go home, huh?

[bbs]

[tiamat_shot]

I hear he's got a beach house in West Galbadia to sell us, too.

[For those studying geography at home, that's the rough approximate location of D-District.]

Re: [bbs]

[selphie_t]

Oh no.

Nobody wants to go to that house. Trust me.

[gotgreedy]

Hey now. Maybe he does want to go home. Everybody wants something, and has their own reasons for wanting it.

It just seems like a waste.

[BBS]

[count_to_peace]

I've learned not to take things at face value, but this mage is making it too easy.

[BBS]

[curiouseyes]

It does seem rather suspicious how simple it all is supposed to be.

[count_to_peace]

Nothing could ever be that simple. Unfortunately, in order for us to get any concrete answers, we'd have to go right to the source, and I doubt we'd be able to request for that to happen.

Which is why it should really be assigned as a mission. Proper planning could be done.

[bbs]

[selphie_t]

Well, I'm not convinced.

- Selphie

[bbs]

[tiamat_shot]

I didn't know you could get anonymous IDs at Garden.

[bbs]

[selphie_t]

Maybe it's something new for the bbs?

[bbs]

[commanderzabala]

This is the first usage of the GUEST ID#. Ever since the laptop upgrade, the BBS is seeing much more traffic than before. It appears to be the best place to disseminate information to our residents these days, so this allows for outside users to post videos or messages, with faculty approval.

~Commander Zabala

[espio]

Any particular reason, or is that just out of being stubborn?

[Says Espio, Lord High Lord of the Stubborn People.]

[selphie_t]

Part of it is stubbornness but another part is just a bad feeling that I can't shake.

But why did he wait so long to tell us about this natural talent of his?

[marearcana]

Well, I can't say I didn't see this coming.