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PT 5
Elizabeth: Is there something I can do for you?

Buai: Barry sent me to you. My name is Buai. I understand you know a bunch about rings and something called a 'Null Chamber'.

Elizabeth: I should have known. It seems like I'm answering those questions all the time now, just because I was the first person to stumble into it around here. What do you want to know?

Buai: Well, I've heard that the rings somehow bond with us, allowing us to draw energy from our bodies through the rings somehow. Strange stuff like that.

Elizabeth: Yeah, well, that's not even the weird stuff yet.

Buai: Really? There's more?

Elizabeth: Yup. When you transport to that...chamber, it seems that your...err...essence seems to get recorded or bonded there somehow.

Buai: Uhhh, that doesn't sound so good.

Elizabeth: We're not really sure. But so far it seems to be working *for* us, not against us. Going to that chamber seems to make us...well...kind of immortal. Or at least something *like* immortal anyway. If you get knocked out in the field, it's like your awareness can somehow *release* itself and fly back to reform at the Null Chamber.

Buai: You're kidding! That's like stuff out of a fantasy story!

Elizabeth: Yeah, I agree. It's nuts. But you've got those rings on your fingers now, so they're bound to you and you'll never get them off, unless you get inside the Null Chamber. And besides...there are a LOT of Animated out there...way more of them than there are of us...and our regular weapons don't do anything to them. How else are we supposed to defend ourselves?

Buai: ...okay, I see your point. But still...

Elizabeth: I know, I know, but it's the only choice we have at the moment. If you find something better, I'd *love* to hear about it. I really hate using these things, since we know so little about them really, but what else can we do?

Buai: It seems so...wrong. Like someone is forcing us to make these choices and setting us up for something really bad.

Elizabeth: Let's hope not.

Elizabeth: So are you ready to know more about your rings?

* You bet!
* Not right now. I'll come back later.
[Elizabeth: Okay. Suit yourself. Good luck out there.]


Elizabeth: So are you ready to know more about your rings?

Buai: You bet!

Elizabeth: Okay. The rings themselves get created within the strongest of the Animated out there, but even the little ones often create pockets of energy that free-float away from them after they're destroyed. If you're wearing a ring near one of those orbs, the orb gets sucked toward you, ultimately absorbing into you.

Buai: Does absorbing the orbs make me more powerful?

Elizabeth: Nope. Not directly, anyway. But when you go to the Null Chamber, you can manipulate the energy within you by forcing it into one or more of your rings, strengthening them and making them able to control more energy.

Buai: That's confusing. You mean that you become a kind of walking battery and you can spew that battery's energy into your rings, but only when inside the Null Chamber?

Elizabeth: Exactly.

Buai: EXACTLY?!? I don't even know what I'm talking about!!

Elizabeth: If it helps, you're just like the rest of us in that regard. We just know that this stuff *works*. Not why, not how, nor whether it will KEEP working or not. But it works for now, and that's good enough.

Buai: Okay, so you trash the Animateds to get orbs, and then use the orbs to charge up your rings so they're more powerful. Right. So what do you want me to do?

Elizabeth: I want to give you a few of the charge orbs right now. Then you can head to the Null Chamber and move those orbs into at least one of your rings. After you've done that, come back and we'll talk about a real mission.

Buai: Great, but where's the Null Chamber?

Elizabeth: If you head to the town's South Gate and out into the Village Greens, it's only a short way directly south from the gate, just off the road to the east and I'll update your PDA so you can see the location easily once you get to the Village Greens.

Buai: Cool, Elizabeth. Thanks!

Elizabeth: Okay. Good luck then. See you soon.


Elizabeth: Hello again, Buai! Have you found the Null Chamber yet?

Buai: Errr, no. I'm still in-progress on that, Elizabeth. I'll have to get back to you.

Elizabeth: Fine, fine. I dare say I'll be here for a while. Good luck!

PT 6
A powerful force moves you through space...

Trixie: Hi there and welcome to the Null Chamber! I'm Trixie. I've been posted here to make sure people don't get too overwhelmed the first time they come here.

Buai: Ummm...thanks. My name is Buai. Elizabeth sent me here to learn about upgrading my rings.

Trixie: Oh! That's easy, actually! Do you have any charge orbs yet?

Buai: You bet. A bunch, actually.

Trixie: Good, good. Well, it's pretty basic. The charge orbs are an extension of you now that you possess them, so you just have to *think* about moving them into a specific ring to make it happen. Kind of the same way that you tell your legs to move when you want to walk. It's almost unconscious.

Buai: Hmmm...it doesn't *seem* unconscious.

Trixie: Okay...it can be tricky the first time. The funny thing is, you can only move the orbs here in the Null Chamber. But just keep at it! You'll get the hang of it!


Upgrade a ring by opening your inventory, selecting a ring, and hitting the UPGRADE button.

Trixie: Hello, Buai!

Trixie: Can I help you with anything?

Buai: What is the Null Chamber?

Trixie: Well...to be honest, we don't know. We do know that if you touch one of those crystal outcroppings, you get transported to this chamber, but we can't tell if you get moved here through some sort of space ripple, or if you get broken down into energy and reassembled here somehow.

Buai: Ummm...okay...anything else?

Trixie: Not much. We don't know what's on the outside of the chamber either. Heck, we don't even know if there IS an outside to the chamber. We could be *anywhere* right now.

Buai: You're filling me with confidence...

Trixie: Sorry about that. The one good thing the chamber seems to do is nullify the bonding energy that keeps your rings glued to your fingers. You should be able to move them around easily here.

Buai: Okay...thanks!

Trixie: Can I help you with anything?

Buai: Moving rings around

Trixie: Within this Chamber, the energies of your rings are completely nullified and they're just normal rings of metal now. You can move them easily back and forth between your fingers and pockets, equipping them or unequipping them, as you wish.

Buai: When I leave the Chamber, will my rings be glued to my fingers again?

Trixie: Yup. But the good thing is...at least you won't lose them!

Buai: Har de har.

Trixie: Do you want to suppress your maximum ring CL?

* Yes
* No


Trixie: Can I help you with anything?

Buai: Upgrading my rings

Trixie: You can upgrade your rings by infusing the energy orbs that you've found in the world (either by defeating monsters or fulfilling quests) directly into your rings. Each time you force an orb into a ring, you make that ring a tiny bit more powerful. The more orbs you add, the stronger the ring becomes.

Buai: How do I merge an orb into a ring?


Trixie: Can I help you with anything?

Buai: Leaving the Null Chamber

Trixie: You leave by simply touching one of the crystals around the edge of the room...BUT...you can only leave through those crystals to which you've been attuned.

Buai: Attuned? What does that mean?

Trixie: Y'know when you're outside the Null Chamber, and you see one of those crystal outcroppings that brings you here when you touch it? Well...touching those outcroppings 'attunes' you to that crystal, making it remember that you were there. That seems to be important somehow, because these Null Chamber crystals absolutely *will not* transport you unless you've touched the corresponding outcropping in the outside world.

Buai: But if I touch the outcropping outside the Chamber, then I can transport there from within this Chamber?

Trixie: That's right. Touch it out there, and you can go back and forth freely. Until then, the crystals in here will be dead until you touch one. Although it *does* seem that the crystal to the Village Greens is always active. We haven't figured out just *why* yet...but it's true.

Buai: Hmmm...that's odd. But thanks for telling me.

Trixie: Can I help you with anything?

Buai: Not right now. Thanks anyway.

Trixie: Okay...good luck then.


Congratulations! You upgraded your ring!

PT 7

Elizabeth: You look pleased with yourself. Something tells me you've got good news for me, Buai!

Buai: Indeed, I do! Mission accomplished!

Elizabeth: That's great!

Elizabeth: Since you've got rings and you know how to use them, you should be able to make your own path now. Unless you'd like me to give you more advice, of course.

* Sure. What can you tell me about?
* No thanks, Elizabeth. I can take it from here.
[Elizabeth: Okay then! Good luck to you, Buai!]

Elizabeth: What are you interested in?

Buai:
1 * A test on the stuff that Dani and Barry taught me.
* Exploring and helping folks.
* Defending the town and struggling against the Animated.

1 Elizabeth: Good choice. It's always better to be safe than sorry. Head on over to the West Gate and look for a guy named Nelson. He's kind of unofficial associate of the Regulars and he helps us debrief our trainees after they get the basics down.

Buai: 'Associate, eh?' Okay, that sounds pretty simple. Thanks! See you later!

Elizabeth: See you later, Buai. Be safe!

2 Elizabeth: So you're the social type, eh? Okay. In that case, you should go say 'hi' to Olivia over at the Guild House or maybe Cindy Donovinh down at Channel 9 News. Lots of folks have things to say, some of them more important than others.

Buai: Thanks, Elizabeth. I'll drop by Cindy or Olivia sometime soon!

3 Elizabeth: Well, if you're interested in defending the town, then you should head through the South Gate down to the Village Greens. Head south down the road and you'll eventually find Commander Leon standing near the road. Leon knows a lot about the area and he'll definitely have things you can do.

Buai: Sounds perfect, Elizabeth. I'll head down south and look for Commander Leon.

PT 8