( video ) Curti Center Employee AMA

[piume]

[ The feed starts with the image of a dark-haired young woman, brows furrowed in concentration as she seems to be fiddling with the slate. Following several seconds she pulls back, seemingly satisfied. ]

Steady… There, it’s started.

Hello everyone, I hope many of you are doing well. We are the employees of Curti Center charged with assisting outworlders and newcomers to Vaikuntha.

First, I want to extend our apologies in our failing to answer all questions from the start. We found ourselves overwhelmed by the number of people and severely understaffed for the endeavour. Though not an excuse, we are always ready and available to assist you to the best of our abilities.

That said, I do feel it is our responsibility to inform those who were guided by Sarah Cornelia that she has departed from the Center, and we wish the best for her. The rest of us will do our utmost to carry on in her stead, which brings us to…

[ Stare. Staring off-screen. Yo, new guy, that’s your cue unless someone else wants to take over this part. ]

You’ve made it sound like she died-- what, is it my turn already?

Yes, in fact it is!

[The new guy turns out to be a blond man, but he doesn’t appear onscreen until he’s done talking, everyone else moving to allow him to be the center of attention.]

Hey, I’m Gi. I’ve met some of you and talked to some of you. I just got hired at the Curti Center, so I don’t know a lot of what goes on there, but I can tell you anything you want to know about the rest of Vaikuntha!

[ This last sentence earns him a small nudge from the third companion - a stern-looking, brown-haired young man, who decides it’s time to switch before his newest coworker gets too carried away with his enthusiasm. ]

As long as they’re questions we’re capable of answering. Anything from school or employment applications to Asterisks and housing - we would be happy to fill you in on the knowledge required should you wish to blend in with the local community.

[ Well, simply speaking it’s kind of their responsibility. He takes a moment to adjust his glasses before resuming. ]

I’m aware that many of you have taken interest in discovering the secrets of Vaikuntha and what lies beyond it. While I could point you in the direction of books that cover the subject in more detail, the Dream Width in particular is subject to an on-going research, so that the accidents such as the one we’ve witnessed recently can be avoided. And, of course - perhaps this shouldn’t be left for last - we’re continuously searching for a way to get you all home safely.

It’ll--ah, hmm, nevermind.

Nevermind…? [ Sylvarie takes a moment to look politely confused, but shrugs afterward and continues with addressing their audience. Ah, why did the screen have to be this small? ]

I suppose if… you want to ask questions about ourselves, we can discuss that as well. We do reserve the right to not answer, but the truth of the matter is—we don’t want to be strangers.

[ Well, some of them didn’t, anyway. At least, not completely. However, in that instance it occurs to her that there is one important detail they have yet to bring up. ]

Wait, I haven’t introduced myself. Everyone, we may need to start over—

[ A small groan can be heard off-screen. ]

Just drop our contact details below, this is already taking longer than it should.

We can’t be that crude about it!

Say your name, then. Nothing crude about that.

S… Sylvarie Aila Jue, of the Royal City of Myste Aura…

[ Was there anything else she was meaning to say? Nobody will ever know, because upon hearing that, the man with glasses accepts defeat and leans in for a brief moment, awkwardly bumping against Sylvarie’s shoulder in the process. ]

Lean. From Min’To...-


Kweh!

[ Hold on, that didn’t sound like a person… ]

Machi? How did you enter—? Saku—? Machi, no!

[ Alas, the perpetrator seems to have a mind of its own as a ball of fluffy black feathers charges right toward the screen, chirping merrily as it begins pecking at the glass. Feel free to sit down and enjoy these precious seconds of rare Chocobo footage before the feed abruptly shuts off. ]



[ ooc note: this is a joint video post of the following Curti Center employees: Sylvarie (purple), Gi (orange) and Lean (green) - guest starring Machi the Chocobo. As such, the replies might come from any of them - this is a completely open post where all sorts of threadjacking are allowed. If you have any questions, feel free to PM any of the players or poke us on Discord!

IC-ly, this takes place after the event. ]

Comments

[voice]

[garyoutensei]

-The sound of a match, the lighting of a pipe...-

You say you're looking for our way home. -Her words are slightly slurred, still holding the pipe between her lips. There's a pause as a few puffs are taken, and then a long, exhaled sigh.-

But do you even have the first clue as to how you're going to do that, or am I wasting my time relying on any of you? -Her words were much clearer that time... both literally and figuratively. Like the edge of a sword.-

[voice]

[likewishes]

Seconding these questions and adding one of my own:

Are you going to allow "off-worlders" to assist by giving us access to research information or not?

voice

[suigojin]

[That...sure is a question. That Gi is going to answer semi-truthfully.]

To clarify, we're looking for a way to get all of you safely home. [This may or may not be true.] There are several possible ways to send you back, but none of them have been fully tested. So until then, we're looking.

As for research, we'll share anything we deem valid or useful. How's that?

voice

[chefbayardee]

Cid didn't have anything valid or useful enough to share.

[ A grumble, and then a scoff. ]

Do you all not, like, talk to each other? Unless, y'know, you've had a research breakthrough and you're hiding it from the people you wanna help.

voice

[alborada]

If you have asked Sir Chandius directly, that may well be the truth. He is the most experienced and senior of all of us.

The Center would fall apart if we did not communicate with one another as this is a team effort, but for now research has come to a slow due to resources needing to be directed elsewhere.

voice

[chefbayardee]

Right. You're talking about us. And those houses that were just here waiting for us.

You're saying that a facility supported by all the nations in the world has nothing to tell us except to go find PuPus, who have nothing to do with the Center. This is a facility that's been around for at least, what a decade? And you have nothing to show for it?!

Cid said when we got here that this was supposed to be a sharing of information. So why don't you have anything to share?

voice

[alborada]

Curti Center is first and foremost a facility dedicated to research involving the nature of the Interdimensional Cloud. In the past, Sir Chandius would allow permits for people to travel into it. The houses were meant to be for them throughout their stay, some even bringing their families, and for the researchers who stayed here for extended time but were not necessarily employed. It was quite rare to actually be at full capacity, for now we have been fortunate that no one was already staying there when everyone appeared.

International efforts weren’t always present, but have become so in more recent times, particularly after Biggs and Wedge showed up. Myste Aura happens to be at the forefront, and that is how we were able to come together to tour everyone throughout most of the world with international cooperation.

As for the PuPus, they have much to do with the Center as they were the ones to bestow us the technology to travel it to begin with, and made us aware of its existence at all.

voice

[likewishes]

Not to mention when I asked for records, I was more or less chased out.

voice

[chefbayardee]

So... do we just need an escort?
Y'know, someone authorized to access the Curti Center.

voice

[likewishes]

With as evasive as they've been about giving us information? I wonder if that would be enough.

voice

[sullenstallion]

Whatever you deem valid or useful?

I'm damn sure some of our group are smarter than you three if this vapid film took all your brainpower to produce.

voice

[chefbayardee]

Thank you! I'm a mechanic and engineer who's worked on alien spaceships with and without ancient magic involved. I've seen mech fighters made out of trees.

We could probably teach the Center a few things.

voice

[alborada]

There is nothing forbidding you from pursuing advancements in technology aside from laws of physics and any lack of funds. Previous outworlders have made contributions with their knowledge.

voice -> text

[chefbayardee]

I- wh- You- [ The voice feed cuts out. A few moments later, a text message arrives in her inbox. ]

Give me a list of their contributions, then.
And while you're at it, how about all the Center's findings on the Dream Width?
We want to figure this out and hopefully go home, and there's no point in us reinventing the wheel and wasting everyone's time and energy.

You can't say you're here to help people and then just refuse to take us seriously.
It makes it sound like you want the ego boost without doing the work.
And you wouldn't have signed up for the job if you didn't want to help people, right?

[sullenstallion]

I....uh.

[He definitely wasn't talking about Hunk, but now Hunk sounds smarter than he is?]

You're welcome?

Video

[spaceforged]

Hunk. [It's that tone in his voice. The one that says he's in slightly displeased.]

This is our ally, not a competition.

text; private

[chefbayardee]

Eating.
I want them to realize we're not just a bunch of helpless refugees.
I appreciate that they gave us housing, I do, but they're not acting like our allies.

I asked Cid the day we got here for research on the Dream Width, because that's their job.
He was kind of a jerk and all he and his assistant would offer was the name PuPu.
It's their JOB to research the Dream Width.
Ryner and the Olkari shared their knowledge with us from the start.
Evil alternate universe Alteans tried to KILL us (long story) and they were a lot more willing to talk to us about their work.
Even the Blade opened up and helped out!

But the Curti Center hasn't.
They're trying to make us feel bad using the housing that they offered to us.
We've fought monsters and even went back into the Dream Width to help them out.
But we're a burden, in the way of research that doesn't seem to actually exist.

Remember what happened when Rolo and Nyma said they were our allies?
They almost stole the Blue Lion.
If they're here to help us, why are they being so mean about it?
Why are they hiding everything?
It just doesn't add up. (´;︵;`)

Re: Video

[garyoutensei]

They're only our allies by their own insistence, and aside from a roof and a few meals, they haven't provided anything we actually need to get out of here

He has every right to be frustrated and if this batch of children who want to make pretend at running this show can't handle it, it's their problem, not his.

-That was a rather pointed response, she knew, especially to someone Hunk considered a leader, but...-

voice

[suigojin]

Would you rather have facts or rumors? I know plenty of rumors.

And it wasn't designed to be a dissertation. We never said we were smarter than anyone, but that we're here for any questions we're actually capable of answering.

Re: voice

[garyoutensei]

-There's the sound of something striking something else. Likely her pipe.-

If you don't have the answers to the questions that actually matter, then you never should have opened your mouth in the first place.

Re: [voice]

[garyoutensei]

-Another long exhale.-

So in conclusion... I'm wasting my time. And so are the rest of us. Good to know.

[voice]

[euphemia]

They're trying. We just need a little more patience. Maybe they're just as lost as we are.

Re: [voice]

[garyoutensei]

If they're just as lost as I am, then they're useless. It is what it is.

[euphemia]

That's not entirely fair to say. They're trying. Even trying is still better than nothing...

[garyoutensei]

To survive in the real world, you either do or you don't. You don't try.

All trying gets you is empty hands.