Ask to Join The wide Multiverse

[The Dark Fairy]

Discussion: https://pokecharms.com/threads/my-own-multiverse.21086/

Eli was on his ship, typing away on a computer, when a small beep came up on a radar, checking it out, he discovered he was to late, as his ship was already hit. The ship violently shook as the ship took the devastating his, machines going out, things being knocked over. a sinister face appeared on a monitor "Hello Eli, I wanted to give you a greeting package, for being the only one in the way of my plans" the man laughed as the screen shut off and Eli saw a ship blasting off into the distance. He quickly stumbled over to a drawer and pulled out a clear box, with glowing blue crystals, he pressed a button on top and a small explosion happened, sending half of the blue crystals into space, he quickly started to try to fix his ship, so the air would not escape.

In multiple universes a portion of the sky would shimmer, then a small blue glowing crystal would suddenly appear, fall to the earth and make a large crater

 

[ThePlayfulFox]

Lykos growled at the stone, his blue gaze burning into the crater that was made. It entered sacred grounds. A place that was protected by the unicorns. "Lyria!" he called, "Get Evalyn. We might need her." The silver unicorn nodded and signaled for Evalyn while Lykos paced around the perimeter of the crater.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Evalyn felt a headache. Most people would brush this off as human nature, but Evalyn knew better. She was needed in Silverhawk. She had no doubts. She just got done calling her mother, coming up with an excuse and went someplace hidden. She was lucky that her brother, Jack didn't have baseball practice that day or she would have needed to wait. She entered the overgrown side of the park and touched her amulet. A soft dark blue glow surrounded her as she was transported to Silverhawk. She remembered the first time she went there, hesitant to help, but forced to. At the end of her adventure, she was given the choice to give up the amulet or keep it and become the protector of Silverhawk. She chose the latter and never regretted it.
She made it to Silverhawk with no problems. "Hey! Evalyn! You're back!" A young colt yelled as she stepped forward out of the blue glow.
Evalyn smiled and replied, "Yes, I am Erith. Now go play with the other foals, ok?" The foal nodded and ran off to play with the others. Evalyn went over to Lykos and Lyria. "So, what is the problem?" she asked as she retrieved her weapons.
The silver wolf shook his head and answered, "This thing came crashing down. I don't know what it is, nor do I want to know."
Evalyn only nodded as she crept closer to the stone. She touched it and it attached to her hand and started to glow brighter. Lyria and Lykos were about to jump down and help her until she shouted, "Stay back!" Lykos growled but obeyed and Lyria gave her a worried look. Evalyn placed wards around her to help protect her from any explosions. One minute passed and she disappeared. The two watchers gave a large gasp.
"We need to find her!" Lykos shouted in panic. His friend had disappeared on the job he gave her. How could he live with himself if she was hurt?

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Eve and her nightcat, Myra, was scouting for humans that decided to enter elven terriotry. Sure, she was a human herself, but she belived everything the elves taught and fought for them. She saw something fall from the sky and went to look for it. She eventuly found a crater, simuar to the one Evalyn found. "Myra," she whispered, "We need to be careful." The black cat nodded as then crept closer to the crater. Inside was an elf of the Deerhorn tribe. Eve's eyes widened as he was about to pick up a stone. She quickly mounted her lage cat and ran twords him. He picked up the stone and she was about fifteen feet away. Now she was ten feet, and the stone was starting to glow. She was now next to him. She held out her hand and said, "Hand it over, it could be dangerous."
"I can't," he answered after trying to remove it, "The stone is stuck." his powerful stag was behind him as tears came to the peaceful elf's eyes. Eve shook her head as the minute ran up and all four of them disappeared.

 

[aurivee_]

The young ice pixie was simply traversing an unknown planet when she saw the flash.
Allison Glacies noticed a flash of blue energy in the sky, seeing what looked like a blue blob falling from it.
Curious, Allie flew towards the probable crash site of the object. It crashed to the ground, creating an explosion and knocking her back.
Slightly winded, Allie got up and approached the object. It appeared to be a blue crystal, radiating a sort of energy she couldn't place.
"What... is this?" she asked to no one.
She touched the crystal - only to find she could not remove her hand. A strange energy pulsed through her arm, radiating through her body.
Uh - what's happening -
Her body began to glow blue, and faded into blue dust. She let out a confused cry as she disappeared completely, teleporting to who-knew-where.

 

[Havoc_The_Gandalf]

Cordelia was the first to find out about the crystal - and strangely it seemed, the only one.

She had been sitting in one of the open-roofed observatories and letting her mind reach out carefully across the somewhat safe areas of her planet when she felt it. Immediately, most of her attention was focused upon the point in her atmosphere where some form of blue crystal rocketed towards the ground. She watched it with her mind, as it approached and then crashed into the earth, a seemingly close distance to her.

Cordelia's next reaction was predictable; she sent a mental message across the distance to some of the elders, however most of them were asleep, drunk, or spectating the roaring battles. She sighed as she observed this, before placing her attention towards the crystal. It could be some form of weapon, she thought as she continued to view it. She then decided to try and view the inside of it, however this proved unsuccessful, Well then, I must inspect it as I am the leading person nearby.

Once she had walked the distance to the crystal and its crater, she observed it with caution and curiosity. She took a few steps forward as to better examine the object, however it seemed to pulsate with a brilliant light. She gave off a noticeable mental cry to her race before vanishing.

 

[RhythmThief]

The sun, having done it's duty, began to set ever so slightly, inviting the quiet glow of the moon and the deep night sky. The sky turned a gentle tinge of orange. It was evening.

All of these changes and transitions were poetically observed by Gabriel, who was currently lying down on a soft, grassy hill, revelling in his favourite time of day. It was at this moment, he thought, that everything was at peace with the world. The gentle cacophony of the cicadas, accompanied by the soft rushing of water from the river beside him, made him feel at home, despite the fact that he was in the middle of nowhere.

Til' , of course, SOMETHING just had to happen.. Thought Gabriel, as he now gazed down into a massive crater that had been created in the middle of the field.

Lying in the middle was a glowing blue crystal. He slid down toward it, giving it a little tap, before it stuck to him like glue.

"...That's not good!" Gabriel exclaimed, now processing what had actually just happened.

The crystal began to pulse and glow faster and faster.

15 seconds.

"Get it off get it off get it off get it off!" He screamed, pacing back and forth, now in full panic mode.

30 seconds.

"Are we born just to suffer? To play our roles in this vile, rotten performance we call life...?"

45 seconds.

He sat cross - legged, a frog in his left hand. He spoke to it.

"...We're going to die, Mr. Frog."

55 seconds.

"~ The record shoooows! I took the bloooows! AND DIIIID IT.....~"

" ~ MYYYYYY WAAAAA-"

He vanished mid - song.

 

[The Dark Fairy]

Eli sat tired on his ship, it had been two months since he sent out those crystals, and he had barely gotten his ship able to fly and maintain air, he closed his eyes, all he could do was wait, his eyes shot open as multiple bright flashes appeared in front of him.

The newcomers would appear in a metal room with a large window that had clearly seen better days, sparks jumping out of various parts of the walls, lights flickering, some just broken, a figure stop up from the shadows and studied them for a second, he smiled "I was starting to lose hope"

 

[aurivee_]

She'd been teleported before, but this was a rather jarring experience.
She got up to her feet, tentatively observing her surroundings. It was a metal room, that looked quite damaged. The lights were dim and flickering, and the room was in severe disrepair. Multiple other creatures were in the room as well, although she couldn't quite make out their race.
Something's amiss here...
She heard a voice speak to them, and whipped around to see a shadowy figure observing them. She took a step back, an icy wind beginning to stir around her due to her nerves.
"Who are you?" she demanded coldly. She prepared to defend herself, if needed.

 

[ThePlayfulFox]

Evalyn was stunned. She had a rough teleportation before but after the initial experience it was always gentle and her own choice, not forced. She looked around her and saw the dim, almost broken ship. "What is this place?" she asked as she rested her hand on the hilt of her sword, ready to grab it at a moment's notice. She heard the voices and immediately got defensive. She would really enjoy Lykos's company right about now, he always found a way to make a bad situation funny.

Eve got off and stood next to her big cat, Myra. The black cat started to growl softly. She smelt humans. Eve knew that it was better to take the other humans out now, then to wait. She let Myra go, who then rushed towards Eli and pounced. The Deerhorn elf shook his head and muttered something about the cycle.

 

[The Dark Fairy]

Eli frowned at the cat dodging the attack "Listen, I'm not here to start a fight, I'm here to get help" he backed away from the cat and grabbed a small metal box

 

[aurivee_]

Allie backed away. "No, no, no - you guys can deal with this, I'm out." And with those words, she created an ice dome around herself, taking shelter inside.
She sat down against the icy wall, her knees to her chest. What's happening? Why am I here?

 

[RhythmThief]

" ~ ....WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY! ~ "

Gabriel arrived at the strange metal room, still mid - song.

"Wait, where the heck am I?" He exclaimed, surveying his surroundings with a very puzzled look. Around the room he could see multiple different beings. Some of them looked pretty odd, he thought.

"Um, does anyone know what's going on here? I found this weird blue crystal thingy, and then it started pulsing and then I thought I was dead, and then BAM! Here I am! Strange, isn't it?" He explained, before looking up toward the figure cloaked in shadow above, after another strange - looking girl had demanded that the figure reveal his identity.

"Yeah... just who ARE you, Mr. Shadow Cloak Man? O-Or Mrs. Shadow Cloak Man, I don't discriminate!" He chuckled awkwardly.

Then, the girl who demanded his identity had seemingly isolated herself in an icy dome-like structure.

He slowly walked over, gently knocking on the dome.

"Uh, hi! Is everything okay? You seem a bit distressed, but I'm sure if we just take our time and figure this all out, we'll be fine. I think. Well, as long as you're not killer alien species that are incapable of diplomacy, but I'm sure you're - "

Then the possibility of all these creatures actually being hostile finally sunk in.

"...Ah, fiddlesticks."

 

[aurivee_]

Not bothering to emerge from her shelter/cave/prison, Allie called out to the one speaking to her.
"No... I'm not hostile... but I'd rather not come out right now.." She thought for a moment. Can I trust them?
Deciding to give up her information, she spoke again. "My name is Allison Glacies, and I am an Ice Luxien. I mean no harm, except in self defense. And yes, I'm very much distressed... what do you expect.."

 

[Havoc_The_Gandalf]

Cordelia opened her eyes gently to see a dull metal wall, made interesting by the frantic dancing of sparks that seemed to dot it. She was very confused, and very alarmed; her mental walls having strengthened to near impermeable. She then let her eyelids slowly fall back down and took to her mind as a refuge.

Her mental senses crept across the room examining the instruments, materials and wild assortment of figures inside. All were having different reactions to this strange anomaly, she could tell this without trying as most of them in there were not experienced with blocking their mental tones. She could feel the chaotic madness of emotions and thoughts that lay on the outer layer of conscience of most of the individuals inside the room. Within a matter of seconds she had examined the entire room in which they had all been transported to, as well as all the individuals that were in the room. All of which, seemed to have no malicious intent.

She found that most of their attention was set upon a single figure, who appeared to have an oddly placed scar that caused his eye to take a shade different from the one beside it (or so she suspected). Oddly for her, Cordelia could not find stray thought or emotion emanating from the person. She was very close to further probing him lightly, however she suspected that that may appear slightly rude or even offensive to him, so she refrained from doing so.

Her next thoughts were to try and locate where she was, as she appeared in no imminent danger - she would focus on the other beings soon. Her mind slowly reached out of the confines of the room and out to the exterior of the large ship...

((I am assuming that Eli is at least slightly experienced with blocking out external minds.))

 

[The Dark Fairy]

Eli raised his hands "Everyone stop!" the ship shacked violently as the window started to crack, they all heard a voice "Ship integrity at ten percent" he visibly winced "We don't have much time, so everyone listen"

 

[ThePlayfulFox]

Evalyn, who had been silent the entire time, nodded. "If you have something to say quickly, then do it," she said sharply, her role as protector getting the better of her and dictating her tone. Her blue eyes narrowed as she prepared to understand what this person was saying. "I was kinda brought here against my will, so I would like to understand why that is."

Myra totted back to Eve and growled, the owner petting her. She didn't realize that there were three humans, four including her, on this ship. All of them seemed to dress differently. "We need to be careful, Deerhorn," she whispered to the elf. He nodded and looked around some more.

 

[The Dark Fairy]

Eli nodded "Let me assure you, many of you know of humans, some even hate them, rightly so, but in the wide multiverse there are multiple manjinds that are nothing alike, a pose no threat to you" Eli looked out the window "About three months ago a man named Muel acquired the blueprints to a very dangerous machine, two months ago, he blew up my ship" he gestured around "You can see what that did" he sighed and leaned back on the wall "I can't stop him on my own, that's why I summoned you, to help stop that madman from building that machine" he walked to a pedestal in the middle of the room "You have two choices" he placed a clear box, half full of the blue crystals on the pedestal "Help me save countless lives, probably including your friends and your own" he pressed a button on the box and the walls laid flat on the pedestal "Or grab a crystal, and your home again" he looked at them "No tricks, no plans, no returning"

 

[aurivee_]

Allie’s eyes narrowed. This person needed help, and she didn’t care if she got hurt in the process.
Without a word, she removed her ice dome and walked to Eli’s side. Seeing that no one had followed, she decided to speak up.
“You guys might not trust this guy, but if what he says is true, we’re all in danger. I don’t know you, but I care anyway, so I’m helping.”

 

[RhythmThief]

After having listened to Eli's plea, Gabriel was conflicted. He knew the right thing to do was to help this 'Eli' person, but, at the same time, he was scared that he may never return to his original world. He watched as Allie walked over to Eli's side, with conviction and determination. The exact opposite of him.

"I..." Gabriel whispered to himself.

He was meant to be an adventurer. Someone who was fearless and courageous, and never faltered in the face of danger. But at the same time, he was only human. He was frightened. He had no clue where this whole thing take him, and just how it would unfold.

What can I even do? I'm just your run-of-the-mill human meatbag... Gabriel thought to himself.

Yet, despite all this, despite all the doubts and fears circling around in his brain, despite his legs nearly trembling at just the thought, he found his body moving on it's own walking toward Eli, passing up the opportunity to return to the safety and comfortability of familiar surroundings, instead opting for the danger, mystery, but ultimately the excitement of the Multiverse.

"R-Right, I g-guess I'll be helping too..." Said Gabriel, clearly choking on his own words and struggling to get them out.

 

[Havoc_The_Gandalf]

Cordelia absently returned to herself after surveying the exterior of the heavily wounded ship. She could see that it would most likely collapse upon itself in some sort of implosion soon. She then put her thoughts back into place for the question that had been posed. She could feel the conflict, fear and confusion of those around her, as well as the curiosity, empathy and hope.

Should I? *Doubt, Fear Curiosity* I should return. *Rejection, Confusion, Conflict* Though I never belonged in my last world.. *Peace, Resolve, Judgement* So be it, I see that there will be a better future for all...a more peaceful, safer...better. Her thoughts and emotions were heavily concealed as she made her final decision. *Relief, Happiness, Peace, Fear, Worry, Sadness, Wonder*

She walked solemnly towards the strange figure, her white and crimson robes trailing softly behind her. She stood a couple of meters before him, looking intently into his eyes. Her mind and voice said, "My decision is made. *Mental, Wordless Expression Of Decision* I will come, I see no malice or dark intent and I believe I will be better with you. *Fading Sad And Happy Undertones*"

Cordelia then moved herself into a corner nearby Eli and remained there, thoughts veiled. She would have more to say with the mysterious figure in due time, but for now she was content to allow the others to make their decision.

 

[ThePlayfulFox]

Evalyn knew that to keep her word, she would have to join this 'Eli' person. With a determined expression on her face, Evalyn stepped forward. "It is my duty to protect Silverhawk," she stated, "Thus if helping you protects Silverhawk, then I'll join." She placed her right hand, which was in a fist, over her heat and nodded. The look disappeared after she said that.

Eve looked at the Deerhorn. "I will protect the Mother Tree. She may not be my Mother, but hs is to the elves and they took me in after I came to hunt them. And called them savages... I was a terrible person... Anyway I am joining you so then I can protect my home, nothing else!"
The elf shook his head and said, "I too will be joining. Somebody needs to make sure any unnecessary violence is averted." His stag snorted and nuzzled the elf.

 

[The Dark Fairy]

Eli smiled "Thank you all" he turned to a panel as the box closed "Computer, how much longer until we reach A7-J9?" a voice was heard "One hour sir" he turned back around "Make yourselfs comfy, I need to fix my ship before we start"

 

[aurivee_]

"One hour, huh?" Allie asked rhetorically.
Deciding to make some sort of social conversation, she walked over to a person who seemed rather scared. Her eyes glowed faintly as a quick mental analysis told her that his name was Gabriel.
"Hello... are you okay? Do you need anything?" she asked gently.

 

[RhythmThief]

Gabriel, who was now looking down at the floor deep in thought, was snapped out of it by a gentle voice. It was Allie.

"Right, I-I'm fine. Just... a bit lost in my thoughts, I guess. This is all a bit, um...strange, to say the least." He chuckled.

"H-How are you, though? You seemed a bit distressed earlier on." He replied, concerned.

 

[aurivee_]

Allie looked down. "This.. isn't new to me. I've been in bad situations more times than I can count.. ever since my day of Banishment..." Her voice trailed off, remembering.
"I'm stressed, sure, but I've learned to just grin and bear it. It's better than simply hiding away.. is it not?" She was thinking out loud, lost in her own memories and thoughts.

 

[RhythmThief]

Gabriel gazed at Allie, with a concerned facial expression. He could tell she was in pain. While he didn't necessarily want to pry, he felt that, if they were all going to be working together, they should get to know each other. In other words, he felt a slight responsibility to cheer her up. He just didn't really know how.

"I know this might sound a tad weird, but..." Gabriel said, taking a slight pause before continuing.

"Please, if, at any time, you need somebody to talk to, or confide in, I'm here. I know we just met, but , we're probably all going to be seeing a lot of each other soon, right? " He continued, now gesturing to everyone else currently gathered in the room.

"So, I think it's just best if we're all open and honest with each other. Distrust and deception are a recipe for disaster, y'know?" He concluded, smiling.

 

[aurivee_]

Allie smiled faintly, beginning to feel more comfortable.
"Thanks. You're right." Deciding to entertain herself, she formed a small ball of ice and began tossing it up and down. However, due to her using her power, the temperature in the room dropped a few degrees.

 

[ThePlayfulFox]

Evylin stood silently, watching the others. Everyone here was strange. She didn't know what to think of them, but they were all on the same side here, so she better befriend some of them, so she wouldn't be alone. Unsure of who to talk to, she stayed away from the Luxian and the man that she was talking to. She didn't like to be interrupted, so she gave the same courtesy she wanted others to give her. The antlered man and woman that stood next to him didn't seem like a good choice either. She inwardly sighed and decided to have people come to her instead.

Eve looked around her, taking in everyone around her. She immediately disliked the girl with a sword. She felt her blue eyes fall upon her for a moment then they went to someone else. Eve decided that she wouldn't be socializing with the other humans.

 

[Havoc_The_Gandalf]

Cordelia was absent at that time, she was in a mix of unsteady emotions and she was worried they would all tumble past her self-made barriers. She was significantly worried about the journey ahead of her; she had never experienced anything on a large-scale and she certainly did not feel like she wanted to go and harm anyone significantly for any unnecessary reason. However, she would be most likely helpful to their ensemble, or so she thought.

The ship that she was in appeared reasonably large; it had semi-large interior corridors and several big rooms including the one that currently sheltered her. There were countless, confusing instruments and other forms of technology of which she had no knowledge. From her view, she had no idea where in the large universe they were, or where they were going. She then came back from her small, hasty observation and returned to what others called a normal state.

Now, to make connections... Cordelia sighed to herself after she had made an attempt to re-asses her mental position. As she viewed the room with her eyes, noticing the conversations that people had already started, she felt isolated once again. I do not know who to speak to *annoyance* or how they will react to me *fear, worry, shyness*. Well, I must pick someone.. She glanced towards a girl, who appeared to be in the same situation as her.

Cordelia walked towards Evylin and looked up at her. She quickly shut herself off mentally and made sure that she did not instinctively light-probe the girl or even receive any mental information that was not meant for her. She then said softly, "I am Cordelia Lonee, and you are?" I Hope I am not being rude to her customs, Was her only thought, as she waited for the girl's reply.

 

[ThePlayfulFox]

Evalyn looked at Cordelia and smiled. "Hello, I am Evalyn Smith, Protector of Silverhawk and student of Hallwater High. Don't ask," she replied. Seems her strategy worked, just as she thought. Her mind drifted to Eli and his problem. What exactly did they sign up for? The only reason she did was because her amulet pressed her to.

 

[The Dark Fairy]

Eli sat down at the center console, typing somethings into it before standing up "Since we have a bit of time on our hands, I suppose I should tell about whats happening, then we can move on to introductions"

 

[ThePlayfulFox]

Evalyn looked at Eli then nodded. However, her mind drifted once more, to Lykros and Lyria. Those two must be so worried right now, but there was nothing that she could do. Guilt flooded through her as she thought about the pain she must be causing to her two friends, but she couldn't think about that now. She must remain vigilant.

Eve and the Deerhorn nodded. They needed to know what was happening so then they could help, however, the two were not too happy about introducing themselves. For different reasons of course.

 

[Havoc_The_Gandalf]

Cordelia turned her attention to Eli, she was curious as to what he planned to say. She would continue her discussion with Evalyn/Evylin (am I getting confused or did you use two different spellings?) later. She looked at him intently whilst also viewing the ships exterior with her mind.

 

[ThePlayfulFox]

Evalyn shook herself back to reality. She needed to give Eli full attention to what he was about to say, so then she could ask, her many questions that are sure to pop up. She always found some. She straightened her woolen jacket and observed the owner of the ship. The problem was the ship was so dim, she could only see so much of him. But she did see a sword. "So he knows some swordplay. Guess I'm not the only one," she thought. If she squinted then she swore that she could see a scar and that his eyes were different colors. "So he has Heterochromia iridis, complete verity. Glad I studied eye colors due to the whole entire eye thing. Due to his eyes, he would be in either Bronzefalcon, Copperowl, or maybe Silverhawk? The last one is a bit iffy," she thought as she observed him.

 

[aurivee_]

Allie turned to Eli. "Yes, please explain. I'd be happy to introduce myself when you're done."
Her eyes glowed a soft blue, due to her curiosity. She could not control this.
Although she was completely unaware, her power was beginning to surface and the room temperature had dropped about seven degrees. A chill swept through, but still went unnoticed by Allie.

 

[The Dark Fairy]

Eli waved his hand at Allie "Please, no unnecessary temperature changing powers in here, it gets out of hand quickly" Eli then looked around at everyone "A few months back, a man named muel stole a blueprint from Safe place" he taped a few things before a 3D blueprint showed up, a complex one very few could read "This is that blueprint, it makes a what's known as a hyper ring"

 

[aurivee_]

If her species were capable, Allie would be redder than a blushing tomato. The room temperature went back to normal, but snowflakes began to fall around her.
"Allie, you did it again! This is why you can't settle down anywhere without them kicking you out... and you did it again!" she muttered to herself. She froze, realizing that she had just revealed that to everyone.
"Forget everything I just said..." she stated, flustered.

 

[ThePlayfulFox]

Evalyn looked at Eli. "How safe is this Safe Place?" she asked as she stared her endless questions, "Who is this Muel and what does he want? What does this Hyper Ring do? Is it dangerous? Can we stop it if we are too late? And if we can't and it is dangerous, can we protect ourselves from it? If so, what do we need? What do we need to do to stop it? How long should it take? Sorry for my questions, but I like to know what I am dealing with. I kinda learned that from Lykros." She then looked away and around everywhere again, trying to find something that could help her if they were boarded by some sort of enemy.

 

[The Dark Fairy]

Eli waved his hand "I'll answer all those to the best of my ability" he turned to the display "The hyper ring is a machine meant to traverse universes before the more efficient ships were made, it worked by a ship entering, then being blasted to another universe, there was one flaw with the design however" he pressed a button as a model of the hyper ring next to a planet appears, a ship went through it, after it disappeared in a bright flash, a shockwave behind it happened, destroying the planet

 

[ThePlayfulFox]

"Ok, that answers a few of my questions. What about the rest?" She said in response. She really needed these questions answered so then she could properly asses the situation. It was already bad, but how bad? She looked expectantly at Eli once more.

 

[The Dark Fairy]

Eli sighed "This was the first time safe place has been broken into, Muel is a cruel man obsessed with power, he thinks building this on a scale large enough to blast him out of the multiverse will get him that, not caring it will kill countless innocents" he shook his head "We could in theory protect ourselves, but it would be ridiculously hard"