Chapter 57: Politics
*ok, damn was I late with today's chapter. Sorry, everyone, I was just stuck with work. Anyway, here I am with the content. Let me know what you think. Peace out and Deus Vult*
The whole group had gathered around, taking a seat on some nearby couches. March was staring at Robin the entire time, her eyes sparkling with awe.
"Wait a minute, I'm sorry, but are you... the?"
She held her hands close to her mouth, smiling giddily as the others watched her with tiny smiles of their own.
"The singer, Epsilon's Superstar... 'If I Can Stop One Heart From Breaking' that's your song, isn't it?"
The words struck a chord deep in Mark's heart, bringing out a slow yet intense feeling of melancholy. Lyrics came to him, rolling on his lips as he began singing softly, muttering it all to himself in a tiny, broken voice.
"'Let my heart bravely spread the wings... Soaring past the night..."
Stelle looked at him from the side, a touch surprised by his sudden action, yet the downcast emotions felt within were palpable. Robing glanced at Mark, hearing his tiny voice try to sing out the lyrics, looking beyond what's seen as pretty words, feeling each heartfelt moment poured into it.
"I never thought a cutie like yourself would be a fan of mine," beamed Robin, shooting March a smile so bright that the room itself seemed to cast larger shadows around in all directions away from her.
The rest of the conversation weaved around her and bits of her story, pieces of information that Mark knew. Still, his eyes searched around the place, as if hoping to meet someone.
"Alas, I arrived a little later than usual. I sincerely apologize for any unpleasantness during your stay," said Robin, bowing slightly.
"No worries about that, Miss Robin. We know how to handle worse than this," replied Mark, crossing his arms as he sighed. The entire ordeal was something he despised in general, but it did end up getting him a room as well.
From the side, the familiar voice from earlier came, trying to further alleviate any issues.
"Please be at ease. I have instructed Miss Alley to resolve the system error as soon as possible. I have also upgraded your rooms as token compensation. Please wait a moment for the hotel to arrange for suitable accommodation."
It was none other than Sunday, the overly polite representative of Penacony during this event.
"Mister Aventurine had an appointment with the Oak Family and has checked in prior. On his behalf, I extend his apologies to everyone on the Astral Expressrior and wish for an amicable partnership moving forward."
The character of these people was slowly chipping away at Mark's patience, not that he had a lot to begin with. It all felt shallow, like water in a puddle that seemed to reach more than the actual depth. It was forced, in a way, so the taste each word left was bitter—not the good type of bitter as Himeko's coffee.
"No need for the excessive amount of pleasantries," said Mark, having decided to speak his mind as politely as possible. "Let's be honest, this is a lot of work on all sides. We can get along without having to apologize formally all the time. We understand the sentiment, but with how much there is to be done, I'd suggest an upfront approach to everything between us," he added, smiling just a bit for effect.
Sunday nodded, but the approach Mark had chosen seemed a touch too blunt for his taste. Needless to say, he did go along with it, accepting the change from the usual matters.
"Thank you for stepping in to resolve this matter, but are you sure about the rooms? I wouldn't want any other gu-"
Mark nudged Welt in the side and chuckled.
"Hey, no need to be that humble, Mister Welt. Let the world think what it wants, we know how the truth goes."
He turned his attention back to Sunday, who was still processing Mark's caveman approach to things.
"Thank you once again for the help. If anything happens, we'll reach out, and also feel free to do the same should an extra helping hand be needed. I'm not the type to enjoy loud noises too much, so maybe I'd find more comfort in working diligently on a task."
Sunday crossed an arm over his chest, bowing slightly, and Robin soon followed suit.
"May your dreams be beautiful and pleasant," she hummed softly.
The two walked away, and Mark let out a sigh he didn't know he had in him.
"Damn, I hate all these stupid play pretend scenarios. It's all so fake that I can't take it anymore," he grumbled, falling on the couch with a thud. It was soft enough to mold against his frame.
"Someone sure seems to like standing out in a blunt manner," sighed Himeko, bringing a hand to her head. Mark was lounging around, relaxing as half his body was close to falling off.
"Are all The Family's names so strange?" asked Stelle, recalling the weird names used.
"This is just a stage name, I guess..." replied March, not too convinced either.
"I thought so too. It's most likely some rule of Penacony's or The Family's," added Himeko, smiling warmly.
Mark groaned as he stood up, fixing his coat.
"Welp, off we go to check in. Come on, let's just get going because I feel like my legs will start beating me up the more time I waste here," he gruffed, rubbing his lower back.
"I have to admit, seeing you manage to talk Aventurine into also adding a room for you was quite the sight. I didn't think you were that much of a bargainer," chuckled Himeko, lightly tapping his shoulder.
He shrugged, unimpressed by what he had done. One of his oldest fatal flaws, it would never go away.
"It just happened. Aventurine seems to have money to spend, but there's one thing money can't always get you, and that is connections with specific people. I know the IPC, so better be prepared to get caught up in some power struggle," said Mark, his tone somber. He despised the IPC down to his core. To him, they were nothing but a rotten corporation that hoped to achieve universal dominance with their currency. Qlipoth of Preservation does everything except preserve.
The rest of the checking-in process went smoothly, and they found themselves walking along the longest hallway Mark had ever seen.
"This is a long hallway... Is it just me, or is this hotel too big for its own good?" asked Welt, sounding a bit tired. Mark simply nodded, sighing heavily.
"I get you, Mister Welt. It sure is hella long. Reminds me of that one paradox about an infinite hotel with infinite rooms and random numbers of infinite guests coming in to stay. Somehow, they just had to keep moving the guests within to keep all the infinities going. It was quite a fun thing, even if I don't recall the details in full."
Welt nodded, giving it some thought, while Himeko smiled as March struggled to understand all of it.
"Wait, so you have more infinities in a single infinity? How does it work?"
Mark chuckled, shaking his head slightly in amusement.
"You see, infinity is more of a concept than anything. We have no quantifiable version, not even the universe, since it is constantly expanding, not already infinite. From one to two, there's an infinite amount of numbers. Consider that you have infinite numbers, going all the way to very high values. You have the big infinity of those numbers, with smaller infinities in between."
She didn't seem too convinced, but somehow managed to make sense of what Mark said.
"I think I get it. You have infinite infinities."
Mark nodded, pointing his fingers at her and giving them a twirl like they were guns.
"Bingo. We got a winner."
The lighthearted moment went on even as they reached the public rest area, with a nice bar in the middle. Mark's eyes danced along the surface of the bottles.
"We're finally here. Let's all head to our rooms first and put down our bags."
Mark chuckled, still holding on to March and Stelle's luggage, the large suitcases resting on his shoulders. That wasn't for long, since he put them down.
"Ladies, you're on your own now. Hope you can carry these to your rooms without whining and complaining to me."
March stuck her tongue out at him, while Stelle lightly punched him in the shoulder. They both grabbed their luggage and left. Meanwhile, Himeko turned to Welt.
"Welt, how about a drink first? Penacony's SoulGlad is very famous."
Mark felt himself die inside, since the invitation wasn't coming his way. He prepared to walk away, thinking that he'd have time to go alone and drink something.
"Mark, you too. Don't think you get to walk away after the stunts you pulled today. You love shifting attention to you at times, despite wishing to keep a low profile."
Mark suddenly awoke to life, the smug tone that had underlayers of her being proud of him was all the medicine needed.
"I have to, you know? They don't know me, so it's better to 'subtly' say 'I know what you play at, so don't fuck with me or you'll get burned,' you know?"
Welt nodded, fixing his glasses.
"So we all might be thinking the same thing."
Mark shrugged, aware of the subject, but he chose to keep his lips sealed for now.
"Do you remember the invite that the Express received?" asked Himeko, looking at Welt. Mark hadn't seen it, thus saying he knew of its secret would only add more to the amount of information he wasn't supposed to have.
Welt crossed his arms, looking around as he spoke. Mark chose to ask for three glasses of SoulGlad in the meantime, sharing them as the discussion went on.
"'The Family's esteemed guests are cordially invited to Penacony to participate in our grand celebration.' That's why we're here in the first place."
Himeko nodded, the message being the right one. However, there was more.
"You recall correctly, but there was more to this invite."
Mark sipped on his drink nonchalantly as he listened. His mind was stinging slowly, the information discussed touched some parts of his sealed memory that didn't really like it.
"...'Witness the impossible in the realm of dreams, find the legacy of the Watchmaker, Father of Penacony, and thus the answer to the question: Why does life slumber?'"
Welt shook his head, not recalling that part of the invite. Himeko took a sip of the drink, enjoying the taste. Meanwhile, Mark chuckled, the question close to snapping his mind.
"Well, you see, life slumbers because that's how it's meant to be. I don't need no damn hidden game to keep this charade going. It's a meaningless question, for that's the natural order of things. Life slumbers because it needs rest. It only does so because it wishes to wake up anew, to keep on living."
Welt regarded his words with a critical eye, taking in the straight-forward nature of his answer.
"You're not wrong, Mark, and yet there might be more to this question here. Himeko, was it a hidden message? I don't remember this part."
Her eyes narrowed, looking over them both.
"This is the part that intrigues me. The invite sent by The Family was nothing more than a music box that, when wound, would play an accompanying tune."
She took a more contemplative gaze, the situation strange for her as well.
"But the box that was sent to us was slightly unusual. The music it played had off-key notes in the background."
All the years spent by Mark watching GameTheory videos and listening to the same 'It's just a theory... A GAME THEORY' line over and over were about to blossom. What they had on their hands was a full-on mystery, and while he knew more about it, information that would come to him sooner or later, figuring out the secrets faster would be of great help.
"I recorded the dissonant notes, and they were a perfect match with the gravity wave frequency when the Express made its warp jump. Also, the Express engine's spatial curvature was its encryption key. "
Welt crossed his arms, looking worried.
"A distress call method regularly used by the Nameless."
Mark sighed, finishing his drink in a flash. It was time for business, so he was up to try and put his mind to work. He had one more indicator of how right or wrong he was, and that went in the form of a headache that increased the closer he was to some important detail.
"So, basically, that's a message from one of the Nameless. With the other members who had departed here all those years ago—who knows how long ago it was—it means that it's someone related to them. The chances of it being them are low, but never zero. Still, it would be better to think that an ally or something is at work here. Maybe a descendant, for example. Hard to figure it out."
Himeko thought it over, but she shook her head.
"I can't be certain. It may be a Masked Fool's trap. From the execution itself, the Riddlers or Inquisition Spirits could have done this themselves."
"When did you discover this?" asked Welt, the information slowly being processed into something feasible.
"When we were handling that Luofu Stellaron matter. I told Pom-Pom about it first thing."
Welt was quick to figure out more of it, and Mark found himself fascinated with how well the two of them were handling these clues and figuring out details. He found himself clinging to the scene despite it being part of his mind already.
"It's no wonder that IPC ambassador also mentioned this 'Watchmaker'. The invite he received must also have contained a secret code, and it seems like he decoded it."
Mark nodded, thinking about Aventurine and what he knew of him. Strangely enough, the information Mark had on him at the moment was nothing more than a few times he himself had joked about gambling like Aventurine with his insane luck, so that was the attribute to base his first conclusions from.
"A gambler who came here for the IPC. A lucky man, meaning that they have something crazy in mind. He's also got a lot of money to spend, so bribes should go easily if he wants specific access here and there."
Suddenly, his eyes widened, and the pain sharply increased, rendering him useless for a few moments.
"What's wrong, Mark?" asked Himeko, worried as soon as she noticed the weird look in his eyes.
"Aventurine... it's a stone, right? Like Topaz... This fucker is one of those IPC bigshots that have those dumb stones with special abilities."
He stumbled slightly from one leg to the other, fighting the internal urge to scream out in joy. Still, Welt was dead serious in his approach.
"There's more. That Family leader, Sunday, mentioned how they're one of the 'actual administrators' of Penacony and that it was their duty to 'relieve' us of any problems. Plus, he also had Miss Robin with him. I'm no singer, but didn't her voice sound strange? Would a singer really take to the stage if their voice wasn't in top shape?"
Himeko pondered the words, while Mark kept focusing on what other details his mind held and what bits he could find out.
"Are you saying... you suspect that The Family did not send the invite and is hiding something from us?"
Mark sighed heavily, staring off randomly towards the people who were relaxing there.
"You know... I'm sure at this point that trouble loves following us around. Heck, can't we catch a break? The IPC held this planet as a prison countless years ago. I wouldn't be surprised if they want it back, thus, Aventurine being here gets a reason. The other factions might be a distraction, if we think about it."
The other two were paying close attention to his tired words, clear sign that he was fed up.
"Perhaps they didn't wish to drag attention over one specific group, even if the Nameless are bound to be under supervision thanks to our relation to the past figures who came here. It's all stupid politics... and, oh boy, do I hate politics. Put my dumbass in such a scenario, and watch me make all sides lose," he chuckled, crossing his legs together as the seat became cozier.
Himeko shook her head slightly.
"We shouldn't interfere if this is an internal affair of Penacony or The Family."
"But you said so yourself: This could concern the Trailblaze."
Stelle and March came in from their rooms, both of them looking blissfully relaxed.
"Well, I did, which is why..." she stopped as the two girls got closer. "...before we set off, I told March 7th and Dan Heng about it."
Both Mark and Welt were stung, feeling betrayed. They spoke in unison.
"So, we were the only ones kept in the dark."
Stelle chuckled, rubbing the back of her head.
"I too just found out about the invite thingy..."
Mark sighed, stretching as he stood up.
"Well, I guess that means we're on. Brace yourselves, since it's us against all sides... for now. I'm sure we'll find some allies."
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone