So, do we do this as A3, or as A1?
A1 means we guarantee showing him the 4th wall, but also definitely get FftEotS, while A3 probably means we have a (slight, but extant) chance of not showing it to him, but also means we might avoid FftEotS.
Too late.
A1
“Sure,” Fansworth says. Silently, he thinks about what he’s learned just a few hours ago, while preparing for the Secondborn’s attack in the telegram station. Brings it to the forefront of his mind, so that David cannot miss it.
David powers up the Key, reaches out to Fansworth’s mind, and-
Roll d6, where:
1 = David doesn’t notice it, he’s only watching for signs of deception.
2 to 6 = He does notice.
Result: 5 → Whee.
-stumbles back, shocked at what he sees. Around himself, Fansworth feels hammerspace recoil as he does, invisibly tensing up, accelerating, spinning around and blooming open into a fractal as it reaches a new equilibrium.
“This…” David says, voice ragged. “This… is all not real. Is that right?"
“What?” asks the Brainy Goon, now utterly lost.
YESIt snaps open, like an eye in the sky. Waves of power converge on David's mind, slicing open a link that spirals up into infinity, beyond the Fourth Wall. Something angrier wakes more slowly, like a storm on the horizon, surrounding all of them, pressing its way in. It screams wordlessly.
UNAUTHORIZED FOURTH WALL BREACH DETECTED.SUBJECTS: EDWARD FANSWORTH AND DAVID EBORRENIAL.INITIATING PUNITIVE ACTIONS.David looks up. Useless. It’s nowhere, and everywhere. “It’s coming,” he says. It’s not a question.
“We know what happens if we show the Fourth Wall to someone it hasn’t authorized.” Fansworth states. “It’s been threatening a specific punishment for some time.”
“And that is?” David asks. He could find out himself, but he’s still reeling from everything -
everything - he’s seen, and the familiar methods of communication are more reliable.
“Meteorite,” Fansworth says. “Orbital bombardment. Fire from the edge of the sun.”
High in the atmosphere, two thousand kilometers above, a light winks into existence.
And hurls towards the planet, trailing a bright blaze of fire behind it.
Celling comes running. “David, we need you to teleport! There’s a-”
“It’ll take me several seconds to do that,” David says. “We could quite easily get hit by the time I evacuated everyone on that other ship.”
What do you do?A: David teleports Celling and Fansworth to safety first, then returns for the
Etna if there’s time.
B: David teleports the group to the
Etna and extracts from there.
Do you bring the Goons with you?A: Bring the Brainy Goon. We may have to further question him.
B: Bring the Serious Goon. He’s bleeding out and we’ll have to extract him anyway.
C: Bring both!
D: Leave them to die in meteoric fire.
Who do we extract from the Etna?A: Just Erin Quill. Leave everyone else!
B: Erin Quill and Enir Nest.
C: Extract as many people as feasible.
And finally, what's your destination?A: Falkland Islands! They're closest.
B: Antarctica!
C: South America!