[ChicletPrime]

Voyage of the Outcast: 1

• excellent series title, i am settling in with popcorn.
  
• i am so sorry, i say this stuff all the time, but Xavier is so well put together. i love him in white and particularly in his hunter's outfit.  he looks like he should be in a boy band but instead he's just out there slaying monsters with his eyes (and yes, okay, the sword with the edge like diamond).
  
• so we have protocores, modified protocores and aether cores, all of which come in fragmented or whole versions.
  
• aww, Xavier won't talk about his actual secret mission, the one we suspect he's been on for a long time but won't tell us about. for a soft, sweet neighbour and work partner, he sure seems to have a lot going on under the hood.
  
• oh, now he's piqued that we're NOT asking after his secrets.  look, love, you can't have it both ways. either be more open or shut it all the way, this inbetween stuff is detrimental to my heart-health.
  
• "in your mind, am I more capable than all of the Association's hunters combined?" uh. YES. that is not even a question. you wiped out an entire field of Wanderers two minutes after I met you. admittedly with my unasked for help.
  
• finally, actual straight confirmation... many aether cores, each with their own capabilities.
  
• !
  
• "their power comes from the very core of the cosmos. if fully awakened they would spell disaster for the world."
  
• WELL NOW
  
• i was not expecting much in the way of revelation in this story, but that was delicious and its only the first chapter.
  
• "i know you're not satisifed with my answer. but there are some truths you have to see and decide for yourself."
  
• perfect. lead me, gentle lightbearing soul.
  
• okay, so betacurve protofields (and their Wanderers) are confirmed to be linked to aether cores, per Andrew on the wrist phone.
  
• oh, putting the screws as it were to Xavier. are you going to fight with me, golden boyfriend? and for how long?
  
• "i'll always be with you."  GREAT ANSWER. 
  

Voyage of the Outcast: 2

• students being kidnapped by a (singular) Wanderer, only to show up a few days later remembering nothing. Ever, what the hell are you up to now? what are you looking for?
  
• muahahah! Xavier in student clothes. this is... so wrong. he instantly looks 400% less able to deal with anything more complicated than a revision syllabus.
  
• Xavier suspects a trap. good thought. lets all remember that later when things go south in a hurry.
  
• "how about we use this opportunity to relive our student days for a bit?"  like, my most recent student days that I probably actually remember, or your student days on a different world as the guarded and cloistered noble son who excelled at everything and barely spoke until my fragile but bright soul burst into your life?
  
• aww, he gave me his glasses. they didn't suit him anyways.
  
• muahaha! he's being recruited to star as the lead role in the film club's latest project. he IS pretty, isn't he? i do not blame you in the slightest, miss budding film director.
  
• okay, the "student vice president" VA is pretty good! gold star, you are a head and shoulders above your other sidepiece brethren.
  

Voyage of the Outcast: 3

• so we are trying to interview the returned students about their experiences. the first one to start answering apparently has a blank look in his eyes as he starts to talk. coached? mind controlled? implanted suggestions?
  
• aaaaand we skip over aaaaaalll of that and now its the next day and we're attending a lecture to make it look like we're actual students
  
• okay, the background lecturer says (and this sounds important): "this is what we call a white hole. a theoretical region of spacetime. if we reverse all the symbols in the equation representing the geometry of spacetime then in this very space objects are no longer unable to escape from it, or rather, they can only escape from it."
  
• okay, we're attending this lecture in specific because one of the 'napped student was on his way to meet with this professor and we're looking for more clues. this is a very thin idea - so thin, its transparent.
  
• all the students were bagged at night and they're all new students to the university
  
• "so this Wanderer has access to the student enrollment system."  i am suddenly picturing a crystalline monster with bear paws for hands hunkered over an office terminal, straining its eyes in the blue light to tap out somebody's last name to find out when their next class is so they can intercept on the way.
  
• oops. busted for whispering too much.
  
• oh maaaan. now i have to go to the computer blackboard and demonstrate a thing. i am doomed.