Page 26 !!FRIENDSHIP!!
You materialize back outside the pyramid and exit the structure.
Mathias sees you.
You defiantly say, "I thought you said there was no way off this plane."
He replies, "I said that if there was a way off this plane I would know it..."
"But why haven't you left this place after all these years? Haven't you achieved your goal and killed everyone?" you ask.
"What greater hubris is there than to play god. To hop between planes defies the laws of the universe. It is blasphemy and I will play no active part in it."
point out that he clearly achieved the task that Armok set him to do long ago. Describe the circumstances that led you, by a coincidence that defies probability, to touch the amulet and end up here. Postulate that Armok sent a single mortal to him, and by a similar sheer coincidence you touched the ship. Perhaps Armok wanted Mathias and Craig to meet, and for Mathias to learn about other things than blood.
Perhaps it's time for Mathias to seek out a new purpose, on his own terms.
You clear your throat and approach Mathias. "When I started my journey, I thought I knew how it would turn out. Now I'm on the plane of blood talking to an angel. Sometimes you think you have your destiny figured out and life just turns upside down. You aren't meant to be here alone forever like you say. Our meeting was no coincidence. We were meant to be friends."
"and friends don't let friends be alone forever." You lean in and hug Mathias.
"Okay..." Mathias says. "I will travel back to your plane, but I will take no part in getting there. You will interact with the ship while I think in silence."
You find John and his tiger and enter the structure. When you get close to the ship you say, "Clara, bring us inside." You rematerialize inside the ship.
You climb the stairs into the cockpit.
“Clara, please bring us to the material plane”
"There are many distinct material planes." Clara III says and the holographic display begins to zoom out from its view of the ship.
"There are 1037 regions, each with a sun, a moon, and a rectangular plane made mostly of stone. Each region accelerates upwards at a rate of 6 z-levels per second per second. Which region would you like to travel to?"
You say, "The one with Cityshanks."
She replies, "There are 15 regions with locations titled... Cityshanks."
You say, "Uhh. How about the Cityshanks that has a Tributescar in it."
"That would be region 901, also known as Unsuspslozgo." The hologram centers on one of the regions.
"Unsuspslozgo is currently in the year 250. Cityshanks is located in The Barb of Banks mountains near the middle of the region."
"In order to travel to Unsuspslozgo we must first travel to a class A gate. The class A gate will then create a tunnel through space-time to near Unsuspslozgo and will match our velocity to that of the plane."
"You will have to utilize the class B gate to transport you and your family to the surface. The firmament is an invisible barrier that encloses the boundaries of the ground and sky. I am not equipped with the equipment necessary to pierce the firmament. It will take us approximately... 1 month... to arrive at the nearest class A gate. Shall I initiate drive preparation sequences?"
Calculate energy/fuel costs for this voyage, tell Clara III to locate nearby deposits of antiplatinum for refueling. Best to have that wrinkle at least thought of.
"It will cost 350 trillion Urists, or 17.5% of our fuel, to escape The Plane of Blood's gravity well. We will coast for the following billion miles. If you are concerned about fuel, you will be able to gather more once you get to region 901. Ordinary platinum can be converted into anti-platinum by the drive. Other materials can be substituted as well, but platinum is the most efficient material that my drive can process."
It time for our flight, hopefully there will be snacks and an inflight movie otherwise this'll be a boring flight.
"It is recommended that you stay in stasis for most of the trip. There is a limited supply of foodstuffs available in storage."
