[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[Iron]

The Deoxys light is indeed alluring. Each clone has a dull gem, which only lights up to communicate with the central Deoxys intelligence. That core Deoxys is rooted to the shining crater now (in Defense Forme), glittering with superconductor. The true Deoxys' gem is shooting thin beams of every color and blinking very rapidly. Terra feels he is close to understanding them somehow... he senses some sort of Protocol in those blinkings, like an introductory handshake identifying speaker and listener, and a Conduit transferring energy...like a sort of tube, to Terra's mind...he senses a Directive, a quest, a set of instructions which the Deoxys virus feels compelled to fulfill, curiosity and organization filling its psychic mind...a Heuristic, a living discipline providing answers to any behavioral question Deoxys might encounter...Terra's glimpse into the mind of Deoxys flickers between concepts his simple mind can understand and concepts that are as alien to him as, well, an actual alien! But he is so, so close to understanding.

He does get these basic points:

-Deoxys is in exploratory mission mode. Everything it's doing right now is designed to learn about its new environment and eventually adapt to it or control it. Any destruction it wreaks will NOT be random.
-Deoxys has no fear right now. You don't think anything currently on the planet would really harm Deoxys much. But clearly, someone/something eventually dealt with the problem.
-The Deoxys clones won't be treated as a Legendary - they can be harmed by ordinary means, though of course they'll have good stats.

And Deoxys...Deoxys plucks something from your mind as well. The laser pattern changes when you become hypnotized, matches the beat of your mind and heart momentarily. He gives you a Gift in return. You can feel it in the core of your mind, you can prod it with your thoughts...but doing so makes you very uncomfortable.

The central Deoxys lifts its head! The sinuous neck swivels, looking...looking for you! It shifts to lanky Speed Forme.

Everyone needs two successes on a Stealth roll as they hide in the cave. Terra needs three. Spira gets +1 dice for being farther away, but if spotted he'll be in much bigger trouble.

Terra: (5)(4)(6)(5)(2)(3) (4) He severs the Conduit he felt.
Spira: (1)(4)(3)(1)(2)(4) (4) Spira feels the gaze of Deoxys slide right over where he's crouching. It has definitely seen the Magcargo. The lead Magcargo looks puzzled, then ceases to go eastward. It looks like the snail Pokemon has been psychically leashed to this place.
Nathan: (4)(5)(6)(3)(2)(6) (3)(1)(1)(3)(3) Nathan has easily slipped into the cave before time runs out.
Heart: (6)(2)(5)(3)(1)(3) (1)(4)(5)(6) The self-proclaimed stealthy member of the group and the one who suggested hiding in the cave. Heart, you feel less drawn to Deoxys than the others because of your affinity with Ghost types.
Shiva: (4)(6)(2)(6)(6)(1) (2)(6)(4)(4) That settles it, you're all far enough away from Deoxys to escape his physical gaze. His clones begin looking for you though!

Spoiler

LURCH

The Lurch begins. Eevee has been registered, so he's coming along with Shiva. The only new thread you see right now is leading to Deoxys itself! The alien Pokemon seems unaware of the Lurch and the threads, but you're positive it remembers the psychic taste of your human presence in a wasteland occupied only by bestial Pokemon.

As Terra is drawn out of time by the silver threads, the weight of what he has witnessed settles on him. From now on, Terra is More Than Human. Sensitive souls in 2017 will be able to detect how OLD he is - he has the spirit of ten thousand years inside him, he is a soul who has personally witnessed some of the most important events of Creshire's long history in the flesh!

Terra may one day learn to surpass human limits of defense. (He's unlocked the potential for a sixth point of Vitality).