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 Post Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 10:43 pm 
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...

[Fanfare]

Welcome to the Arbiter Networks, providing you with instant universal access to The Arbiter Headquarters and College.

We understand if you are experiencing some discomfort with your out of body experience.

We are adjusting the Weave Synchronization Grid...

...Adjusting...

You are now synced.

Welcome to Weavework 101.

-----------------------------------------------------

There is a blinding flash of light, the sound of rushing water, and the sensation of floating. As your perceptions adjust, you find yourself hovering in a white classroom just above what seems to be a floating LCD panel. Upon inspecting the panel you find you are somehow able to interact with it, take notes in letters made of light... regardless of the fact you do not seem to have any limbs.

Taking a look around the room, you see multiple other floating desks with small glowing blue orbs of light floating above them. The only reason you can tell they, too, are looking around is because of the constant stream of smoke-like energy that seems to be twisting about them when they move. You realize you are one of these balls of light too.

The walls of the room are blank. There is no exit. There are no windows. The only other two things of note in the room are a projector and blank white screen, and the woman who seems to be in her late forties standing at the head of the class, looking patient but stern. She appears to be wearing a flowing green robe that wraps about her multiple times, tied at the waist with a golden braided rope. She moves in front of a podium that you swear wasn't there a moment ago. Her dark brown hair is tied up tightly in a bun; she has clean, plain skin and for lack of a better term seems to be every definition of 'Human'.

Only...

There's a presence about her. A pulse. A power.

You realize quickly that trying to figure out her real age is impossible.

This woman is a Goddess.

Literally.

"All right, enough looking around. Is everybody synced up? Is anyone's connection broken? No? Good." She stands straight and you observe a leather bound book clutched to her chest. "My name is Athena. I am the Goddess of Wisdom. I will be your teacher for the duration of your Arbiter Training. I realize there are all makes of creatures in this room, some of you freshly dead, some of you recently ascended, others already Gods looking to do more with their lives."

She slams her book down on the podium. If you had a body, you may have jumped.

"The first thing I want you to know is that everyone here is now set to ZERO. It doesn't matter if you were a God with a father who is ruler of land of rainbows and gold. It doesn't matter if you are a Mortal who just finished his first life ever and wished to become a God. It doesn't matter if you are an Elemental, or a Demi-God - the moment you connected to this classroom you all became the SAME. Am I understood?"

She is VERY understood.

"Now." She clears her throat, places her arms behind her back and begins to pace the front of the classroom. "You are here because you wish to become an Arbiter. Some of you may even be here to figure out just what an Arbiter is. Well I shall tell you! But first, I need to know how many of you there are." She peers around the classroom, "You will all be identified with code-names, none of you are to reveal who you really are or I shall sever your connection before you can sneeze. You may ask me anything you wish, and I shall answer you. If you ask a question that pertains to a lesson later in the day, I will answer you then. Before I get started..." she is now holding a clip board of the same type of LCD screen as your desks that you are SURE she wasn't holding before, "Please call out if you are connected and present. You may say your code name, or simply, 'I am here'."

Athena waits for her replies.

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 Post Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 10:47 pm 
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"I am here. If I were to choose a codename... yes, I think himizujineternia will do."

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 Post Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 10:59 pm 
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"Roo-anne...? No, Ruan. I am here." One of the balls of light flutter slightly in the air with a slight hum.

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 Post Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 11:00 pm 
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"Now, lets see. Yes, that sounds fun. Call me SSJ. SSJJared."

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 Post Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 11:01 pm 
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"Huh, that's something different, and that says something."

One of the light bulbs bobs around, taking in its surroundings, then bobs down to take in the LCD system.

"Codename... Salamander? That's a weird code-name." It then bobs up and down for a second, and says "Oh well, it's not a big deal."

It then bobs again, focusing on Athena, and says "Salamander, connected and present."

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 Post Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 11:30 pm 
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C:/Establish connection.
...........................................

Connected.

Data Rate: 56 TB/s

C:/Log on: balthazar.

Password: **************

Username: balthazar is online.

C:/_

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 Post Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 11:38 pm 
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"Now this is something of a novel experience..! I am present and you may call me.. Mischka."

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 Post Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 11:44 pm 
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"Ka... Ka... Jin?" The blue light in the second seat from the left of the second row from the front bobs up and down, tilting to one side as it does. It looks sort of confused, as if it isn't used to communicating verbally.

"Kajin... Yes, that will do just splendid. You can refer to me as Kajin," the light bobs up and down once more before settling back into place. You get the impression that it was a gesture of self assurance.

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 Post Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2012 12:56 am 
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"Welcome, all of you." Athena gives a brief, but real, smile. "For any who connect late, you will be witnessing a recorded version of what has transpired here already. When you catch up to the current time, please state your code name and that you are indeed connected and feel free to participate." Athena runs her fingertip along the spine of her book and the projector kicks on, humming and powering up but showing nothing on screen as of yet.

"You may ask me anything about any topic we discuss here today, even if that topic has passed. I will answer it to the best of my ability, which is to say, quite profound. Remember: the only stupid question is the one that is not asked."

"Now... let us delay no further. Once again, I welcome you to The Arbiter Headquaters and College. And to my introductory class of Weavework 101. Here you will learn about the world of the Arbiters, what you will be fighting for, if you have what it takes to survive here... and ultimately I will pick 7 of you to enroll in my full class and work together as a new team of Arbiter Graduates."

"I am sure your first question will be, 'What is an Arbiter?' ...well to answer that, you need to first know some very basic things..."

"This." Athena raises and slowly lowers her arms, the lights of the room dimming down to near total darkness except for the gaseous white ball of light that forms between her palms as her hands comes together. "Is a Mortal Soul." The ball seems to flow upwards, like a thick and tangible smoke. The smoke has holes in it, but it never seems to fully break off of the main body... it keeps flowing upwards, getting thinner as it forms a flickering spike of sorts where the smoke ends. It seems to exist in a form of constant motion. "This is what is inside of all people, all things, that live and exist. It is what fuels us, what guides us, what collects our experiences and knowledge and what leaves our body when we die."

"As an Arbiter, you will be set to protect, shepard, and maintain the balance of not only a single soul... but the souls of all Mortals that exist on any given world, at any given time. And seeing as how there are hundreds of millions of worlds that are registered under our protection, and even more that have yet to been created or discovered... it is not a duty to take lightly."

"An Arbiter acts as a bringer of balance, for the Universe cannot exist without balance. At any given time, on any given world, there can be billions of souls that are in a living Mortal body, and 20 times that amount waiting for another chance at life in the heavens. Mind you that is on an average single solitary planet. Consider the numbers I just gave you... and you will understand why we will never have enough Arbiters to maintain balance."

"Balance, for the most part, is something that can sustain itself. However sometimes something will happen on a world, or a certain individual will change the tides, or even a natural disaster will tip the balance in a world too far and we will send in an Arbiter, or a team of Arbiters, to repair the balance. If a world falls out of balance... it will die." A wave of her hands and the soul seems to transform into a very familiar symbol... no matter what world you may be from, it appears everywhere there is life.

Image

"To understand balance, one may simply look at this symbol... it is the symbol of the Arbiters, the Yin-Yang. There are three forces of balance that exist in the Universe... the forces of light, the forces of darkness, and those gray bits within them both that mixes the two. If any one of these three forces becomes too large, or too small, the other parts of the forces will spill over and naught but death and corruption can follow in its wake."

"But Athena!" She speaks in an extra falsetto voice, "There can't be such as thing as too much light can there? No such thing as too much good in a world!" In her normal voice she answers, "Oh ho! But you would be wrong. Too much of anything, even something good, can be harmful. Let me give you some examples of what happens when each force goes wilds..."

She clicks her fingers, the projector blasts an image onto the screen behind her. It is of a lush, green world where every creature seems to be bound in huge white armor, wielding amazingly large hammers and swords. "This world... was flooded by light. These beings, who called themselves Paladin Lighthammers, decided that they would dispense their sense of right and wrong to the entire world. There zealous nature forced them to destroy anything they felt was evil, or wrong... they were left to run free. By the time the Arbiters arrived? They had killed off everything on the planet that wasnt a Male Paladin Lighthammer for sinning... the species died out because they lost the ability to reproduce."

Clicking her fingers again, she changes the image to a world of black skies, rotten lands littered with corpses, no sign of life anywhere. "One man... just one man on this world made something he thought would cure all diseases, something with good intentions but benign in nature... nano-technology that would target injured flesh, sickness, and defects and repair them from the inside out. The gray nano-technology ran amok and decided somehow that life itself was a disease... the results you see here when the gray forces go haywire."

Another click, another screen, this one of a tyrannical and gigantic figure sitting on a throne of black obsidian, dressed in an armor made of metal and bone. "Darkness... this man fancied himself as powerful as the Gods and slew all those who opposed him because it was fun. He tore through the populace faster than they could run, faster than we could move, and when it was all said and done he died alone on his throne, nothing left in the world to slay."

"And that..." One last click and the projector goes off, leaving the floating glowing yin-yang as the only source of light, "was just when MORTAL souls disrupt the balance of worlds. Do not get me started on when a God goes Demon and starts things like this. This is why we exist, to stop life from becoming unbalanced and destroying itself. Because if a world if left unbalanced, that influence tends to spread... then it hits another world and that world goes unbalanced, then another and more... the next thing you know you've got an entire solar system dying off, and that's small scale. Without us, life could not exist. Without balance, life would not survive."

She observes the classroom coolly, "I will stop here and answer any questions. Please, speak up. Then we will move on."

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 Post Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2012 1:09 am 
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The light-ball designated as Salamander bobs towards Athena.

"That's a bit vague, isn't it? Light, darkness, and grey - the metaphorical concepts rather than the physical kind... what exactly are they? It can't just be good and evil... every culture has a different definition for those. Plus, I haven't seen many which think genocide and self-extinction are good things. It's also not just the desire to help things or make them grow versus a desire to destroy and hurt them, since that nanovirus was made to help people. Can you elaborate as to what you mean by light and darkness, and what you mean by grey?"

It bobs slowly, as if in thought, and says "Oh yeah - what's the difference between a world in balance and a world in grey?"

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 Post Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2012 1:21 am 
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Codename:himizujineternia seems content taking notes for now... it trembles slightly at the mention of gods and demons, though the featureless nature of the lightballs makes it difficult to tell exactly why. It finishes its notes just as Codename:Salamander asks its question. Feeling content that is a decent question, it slumps back slightly, as though to think and observe.

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 Post Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2012 1:47 am 
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"but who decides what is light? I'd say all that murder and intolerance, they thought it good so it was too good? How odd, how odd."

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 Post Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2012 1:50 am 
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The ball of blue light denoting Kajin spins rapidly in place for a short second before abruptly shifting an inch or two to the left. A different voice issues out then before. If the former voice could have been described as melodious, then this one might be described as shrill and girlish.

"Aren't those events rather extreme? Isn't it at all possible for the balance to shift only a little and stay that way without ever shifting so far as to become to what you've shown us?"

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 Post Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2012 1:55 am 
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The little ball designated as Ruan bobs again. "...What happens to souls when their bodies die? I've always wondered. You said earlier that possibly some of those here are the recently deceased..."

It leans to the side slightly, almost as if it's cocking its head at Salamander's last question. "... harmony? A world in true balance is a world in harmony. Too much good can lead to too much order, as laws prevent natural growth, or too much chaos, as individual freedom runs rampant. Too much evil as well, can lead to too much order, as tyrants take control, or too much chaos, as every being obeys its own selfish whim."

The orb bobs back, and says softly, "But also... too much balance... too much grey, and the world stagnates, because it takes both those striving for good and those for evil to make change."

There's a slight pause, then the orb of light seems to hunch down slightly in its chair. "That's what makes sense to me, at least." Then it pops back up.

"When... or how... do we justify intervening in a world? When an entire world is in danger? When a single worthwhile soul is in danger? Who decides? Who has the right to decide?"

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 Post Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2012 4:34 am 
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"Too much good... too much darkness..."

A ball bobs slightly in confusion.

"Pardon me... I am..." There's a pause. "Apparently my code name is CCC. How boring. I am... confused. If we are sent to a world, then how will we know which of these elements is out of balance? And how is it that too much Dark leads to so much death? I do not understand."

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