Dyss was practically as clueless as Milos when it came to technical things, but he was perhaps a bit more selective. If he understood a little bit of it, he was content to act with the little bit of information he had, rather than try to understand the rest. In that way, Milos was probably better off. He wasn't going to get killed over an impulse...

Dyss avoided the outside as much as possible, just like everyone else. It was very degrading, almost. They couldn't live in the "real" world. Everyone knew it wasn't the real world, just a transition world for the people who lived in the "real" world. They practically weren't "real" themselves, even, while they lived in bleak and featureless Purgatory.

As they entered the apartment and spotted the two others, Dyss wasn't entirely sure what to think. He wasn't offended as they spoke, certainly. Life was too short to get caught up on the personalities of the others... Especially if there was something so important at stake. Recheov's appearance and personality certainly weren't worth getting upset over. He was one of them. He was one of the people that life had truly treated unfairly...

"Playing chess again. If we knew you had some sort of prospect, we'd have been here even earlier!"

A smile on his mostly-obscured face, Dyss waited to hear what prospects there were for the five of them, and the rest of the residents of Purgatory...

Illorex didn't reply. He took Dyss's retort simply as a reply on both of their behalves, requiring Illorex to say little to nothing. While it wasn't always his goal, he certainly didn't mind when that just happened upon him by chance. Instead of paying mind to Recheov, Illorex glanced over to Milos, who had already taken a few steps forward, walking over to Attis and standing on the tips of his toes, trying to see over the man's shoulder. Attis just stared for a moment, not quite sure about what Milos was even trying to do. It took a second, but he soon realized that Milos was trying to see over him--to get a glance at the table. Attis promptly stepped to the side, allowing Milos to check out what was on the table.

That had gotten Illorex curious, too--but he didn't move ahead. Instead, he glanced over to Dyss, curious what he would do. Milos appeared confused by the large piece of paper upon the table; he glanced at it and examined it to the best of his ability, but all in all, there was too much technical jargon for him to understand. At this, Milos stepped back, glancing up to Attis with a slight pout of his lower lip.

"One 'ell of a prohspect, too~" cooed Recheov, "Check it out."

Recheov stepped aside, revealing the large piece of paper that covered almost the entire table. Black ink, drawn on by a quill pen, sketched out a rough image of a map--particularly a map of Cizok and Algeroth in the "real" world. It wasn't a map of the entire countries, just where they met--with other countries nearby, but not mapped out or given any significant markings. Detailed writing was placed beneath of cities, paragraphs of observation, barely legible if one didn't look closely--or concentrate to a great extent, in Dyss's case. Piles of parchment were stacked on top of one another, each with lengthy, elaborate writing, detailing spiritual distortions and the like. Similar was written below cities, regarding something called spiritual fluxes, which average changes in percentages, some cities with higher average changes--some positive changes, some negative changes, most equaling out. It was complex, though; difficult to understand even for the technical savvy.

Dyss stepped forward and looked at the table with all the concentration he could muster, but just couldn't make sense of it. Lots of figures and drawings, but with no real context to back it up... Recheov and Attis knew more about what was happening, but hadn't yet explained the meaning... Dyss did, however, recognize the countries in principle. Everyone tried to know the "real" world...

"These numbers... Do we want high or low?"

Dyss could only guess that they were the most important things. It didn't matter what exactly they were, so long as Attis or Recheov could explain what they needed to do and what they could expect. Knowing everything about it could be a waste of the precious time they had available to them. Besides, the best actions were motivated by emotion and instinct, not excessive study...

"The 'oigher, the beh'er," Recheov chimed in a quick response, "Leas' for us."

"Mm. Spirit fluxes," continued Attis, "The higher the percentage, the higher the average fluctuation. When the average density and power of spirit exceeds the norm of--"

But then, Attis came to a stop, catching Milos--who sat beside of Attis--out of the corner of his eyes. Milos just looked up to Attis, a confused expression already upon his face. Attis just stared at him for a moment, Illorex and Recheov following suit. Recheov just sighed and placed his palm upon his forehead.

"Um, h-heh . . . y-you already kinda lost me . . ." Milos remarked nervously.

Attis then glanced over to Dyss. Illorex, Recheov, and himself understood--or, Attis at least assumed that Illorex did; the half-masked man wasn't speaking up, so he was left to believe that--but Milos didn't, and there was a chance that Dyss didn't, either. While geography, history, and the like could be understood and studied, not many actually knew too many details about spiritual energy. Only a few did, and didn't teach that well. If Dyss didn't understand, it wasn't going to be held against him. If he didn't understand, then Attis could justify an explanation--of which hopefully Milos would understand this time. If he did know about the advanced functions of spiritual energy, then skipping the explanation would be reasonable. Attis was just trying to gage reactions; to check and see if he knew about this or not . . .

"Higher is better for us?"

Dyss wasn't sure exactly how Recheov meant his statement. Life wasn't always fair: Dyss's whole life had been a study of that fact, as well as the lives of his friends. Purgatory wasn't exactly a pleasant place to live, but it was the only place they could go... Until now? Dyss was almost afraid to hope for it. Could they get to Cizok or Algeroth? Their suffering would certainly be made easier to bear, even if it came at a cost to others, especially others who never even realized how much better their lives were...

"How do we... Well, what can we do?"

Dyss tried to appear as if he knew something about what was going on, but he truthfully didn't. Dyss knew a bit about the functions of spirit energy through his own powers, but very little beyond that. On the bright side, he had a great intuitive sense of spirit energy. He was constantly using spirit energy in his life, and a had a good idea how to manipulate it, if that's what was called for. However, the actual applications or potentials in this situation weren't known to him.

Recheov coughed out a reply, "Wot we can do is use ih't'our a'vantage."

"Mm, the higher the flux, the better off we are--Recheov is right," Attis nodded, "We can use high spirit fluxes to our advantage . . ."

Milos, while scratching his cheek confusedly, reiterated Dyss's implied thought, "W-well . . . why is that good for us . .? I don't understand . . . didn't you say that too much spiritual energy creates pressure . . .?"

"It does," Illorex spoke up.

Attis nodded again. "That's one of the logistics behind Purgatory's existence. The real world possesses spiritual energy just like this world, but isn't made of it like this world is. It's one of the advanced principles of Qi. Our world and the real world are interconnected--our world is like a thick invisible blanket around the real world, but if our world is too thick, it puts pressure on the real world, and if the real world is too large, our world can't be contained around it. These two worlds naturally balance one another out. Since Qi is constantly changing in density, if there's a spike in the real world--a positive average flux--then Purgatory will produce Qi to make up for it."

Milos blinked. This explanation was a bit easier to understand, but there were still a few things that he couldn't grasp--such as the purpose of Purgatory. If both worlds can cause devastation to the other, then why did one have to exist? Purgatory just seemed unnecessary, considering Attis's explanation. However, Milos hadn't taken into account the fundamental purpose of Purgatory: to house the souls of the dead.

Attis continued: "But if the average positive flux of any area in the real world is too high, Purgatory can't produce enough energy to compensate; it ends up taking a lengthy time to generate more Qi to compensate. That leaves a spot in the real world with much more energy than the corresponding Purgatory around it. The only reason we've had luck in avoiding our predators is because we've never taken considerable risks. If one of us can be found, all of us can . . ."

"See . . . the thin' is . . . they ain' able t'track a spot with too 'oigh a spiri' flux . . ." Recheov added, seeings how Attis was taking a bit of time in getting to that point.

They. Dyss knew exactly who Recheov was referring to. They had to live under the constant threat of those horrible beings that wanted to kill them, just for existing... If they were blind, though... They had to try. There was no way he'd ever be able to play another game of chess with Illorex after hearing this news... If nothing else, he could see quickly where the plan was going, and was completely happy with it...

"Do we have a way to get to the real world? For all of us? And if we get there, could we even... Well... Live there? Really live?"

Dyss wanted to have at least some experience in the "real" world. Compared to Purgatory, even the worst of the "real" world could be a paradise. If they could experience it for even a brief period of time, it would make their existences worthwhile...

"I'm not quite sure just yet . . ." Attis replied regretfully, "I'd like for all of us to find a way into the real world and live there, but I doubt it will increase our life spans any . . ."

Attis was hopeful for the possibility, though. He'd have given anything in the world to walk a field of green grass with his companions or build a house with Milos, a place for just them to exist in a normal life--invite their friends over, have large dinners, maybe host a party, and not just to alleviate the stress of knowing the reality of their situation. Sadly, he didn't have that solution--not yet. In time, perhaps. Attis had hope for that. They may be within the gray world of Purgatory for a little while longer, but a temporary solution was at least one step closer to a permanent one.

"Whot we go', though . . ." Recheov began, "Is a way t'ge' energy withou' riskin' anyone foindin' us."

At this, Attis nodded, "We could easily use the Qi of Purgatory to expand our life spans, but the unnatural fluctuation of Qi in Purgatory would alert them . . . which may as well be signing our own death certificates."

"So we have a way to live longer? That's great!"

It wasn't permanent, for sure, but it was a step closer. It was terrible that they had to live under the constant shadow of them, but with this... Maybe they could even figure out a way to get around that. It's not like it was their fault... They just wanted to live. Maybe exist in a meaningful sense of the word. They couldn't do that in Purgatory, especially under them.

"How can it last, though? Maybe... Well, I don't know... Could we stop them with this Qi? Then we wouldn't have to hide..."

He wasn't sure how feasible the option was. After all, he'd never actually met one. Still... They were trying to kill him and the rest of his friends just for existing. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if something happened...

Fending off their predators, possibly putting an end to them . . . sadly, it felt like a lost cause to Attis--which, in turn, transferred over to Milos. Naive as he was, Milos wasn't stupid. Though technicalities and scientific information was way over his head, he easily understood that which was blunt--as was their list of enemies. Attis, while as hopeful as possible, felt that defeating their opponents may have been a lost cause--but stranger things had happened. It wasn't entirely out of the question, and for that reason alone, he did not look downcast like Milos had.

"I . . . doubt it . . ." Milos sighed, "I don't think any amount of spirit we take is going to stand up against them . . ."

"Milos is right. If they wished it, they could turn all of Purgatory into a weapon," added Illorex; he may not have known if his assumptions were completely accurate, but he habitually spoke as if everything he was saying was complete fact--that, he couldn't help. It was just the way his tone of voice made people feel. "That's why we've had to be so careful in concealing our location . . ."

Attis didn't want them to lose hope, though. He quickly inserted a positive statement into the mix: "Actually, it's not completely out of the question. It may be a ways away, possibly even years from now if my research and planning works well, but we may be able to siphon enough power to strike a decisive blow at some point. Until we find out if we can extend our life-spans with this or not, we can't really start planning any attack."

But to be honest, I'd wish we didn't have to plan something like that . . . Attis left that thought out of his statement. It wasn't so much revenge that drove most of them, but the drive to live. If combating a force that wished to take that life away happened to be what gave some of them the drive to continue, then Attis didn't feel that he had the right to insult their drives with his opinions. There were many like that, actually--Attis and his friends were far less devious, excepting Recheov, but the others had every right to be alive, too, just like the five men in this room.

"So, ya 'ave an idea 'ow this works, roight guys?" Recheov changed the subject.