CD-BTB03 (Nov 2, 2024)
Puzzle
“Nova’s Need.”
Knowledge | 1 Word
Clue
Hover over the clues if you require!
Clue 1: Who are the Novas, and what is their goal? I hope you've found the hidden Archive if you're trying to solve this puzzle. (The clues to finding said Archive have been removed, but the Wayback Machine's timestamp around June should have it.)
Clue 2: Gleam, Snow, Murmur, Patina, Shiver. Of these five, perhaps Snow and Patina are the most obvious. Think about the symbolism of their names as well as what the Obscure Obelus Order are trying to do.
Clue 3: The password uses alliteration, incidentally.
Clue 4: Another word for preservation of the past?
Clue 5: Or perhaps reminiscing about it?
Answer and Explanation
Answer: Nostalgia
Explanation: The main goal of the Nova Archons, as implied from the secret 'Dagger' receipts in Unearthly Horrors, is to relive the past - in other words, to remain 'in nostalgia'.
Summary of Receipt
Summary
Transcript
[Date | Nov-2-24]
[Barista | Hibiscus]
[Subject | The Nova]
[File Reference | CD-BTB03]
It’s always a little jarring when someone jumps from one Cycle to another. I just hope my friends—and my patrons—are mostly on the same page now. I thought about keeping the whole time-traveling bit and these new Archons a secret from everyone, but… reading through the Friendly Face of Fate, the idea of keeping secrets like that makes me sick. I’d rather not end up like him if I can help it.
Peppermint: Okay, Sunshine, spill it. What the hell happened with—what’d you say their name was?
Hibiscus: Gleam?
Peppermint: Gleam! Yes! Who the hell is Gleam?
Caramel: And the Orpheus Bureau?
Matcha: And Snow, Shiver, Murmur, and Patina?
Hibiscus: Well—wait, hang on, Liz, you don’t remember the Orpheus Bureau?
Caramel: …No? Should I?
Hibiscus: Whoa—okay. So… I’m guessing the Orpheus Bureau never existed in this Cycle.
Hazelnut: This… Cycle?
Hibiscus: Right. Let me start from the beginning. So, I finally got the CaDComs working. Considering how badly they were burnt, that was a pretty big success. I guess I should explain how they got burnt in the first place…
[It goes on like that for a while. The details aren’t so important and those that are, I’m sure you’ll get to read eventually!]
…And that’s when you all figured out I’m not exactly “human.” I’m… well, I’m an—
Peppermint: Archive. Yeah, we know. And we still love you all the same, Sunshine.
Hibiscus: I love you too, J. Oh! And everyone else too, of course! But, yeah, that’s where things get… weird. The Orpheus Bureau—they were the ones manipulating the Between, and they were trying to get to me. They’re the ones who took Liz’s wings, messed up Simon’s powers, and killed Jade’s Tanty—
Cherry: …My Tanty’s fine though?
Hazelnut: And my magic’s as popping as ever! Watch this!
[Hazelnut proceeded to show us some Fushigi ball tricks. It… doesn’t exactly convince me that his powers are fully intact, but, I’ll take his word for it.]
Caramel: And I… never had “wings.”
Hibiscus: I see… I think, because Julia placed me in a Cycle untouched by the Orpheus Bureau, you’re all… well, they never hurt any of you. Just… me.
Peppermint: What did they do to you, Sunshine?
Hibiscus: They used me.
Peppermint: They did what?!
Hibiscus: Oh—no, I mean, they accessed my Archives. They used the knowledge I hold inside to reach back into a past that technically no longer exists. Gleam, Patina, Shiver, Snow, and Murmur… they’re all obsessed with nostalgia. Snow is the static behind screens, the residue of every piece of media lost to time itself. Patina—she embodies the relentless decay of progress and innovation, the decline of everything that was once new and pristine. Murmur is the whispers of forgotten sounds and background noise, rumors you’d swear you heard ages ago. And Shiver… ugh… he’s the fear and dread of all the terrible things you know could—and have—happened before. And Gleam? Gleam feeds on sparks of fleeting inspiration and forgotten “brilliance.” That’s why he wanted to use me to go back—he wanted to see how he made me.
Lavender: He who?
Hibiscus: A nobody, honestly. Doesn’t matter now. He’s dead. That’s why they had to use me—to find whatever he hid within my memories.
Lavender: I see… So, are they all still in the past?
Hibiscus: I assume so. I… I don’t think I’d be able to tell once they’ve left though.
Vanilla: But they used you to access it, right? Through your Archives? So… technically, aren’t they within you now?
Hibiscus: I… don’t know. I suppose so. The past they’re in doesn’t actually exist anymore, except within me.
Vanilla: Do you think we could figure out a way to keep them there?
Hibiscus: Maybe? But… I don’t know how I was made. The only one who really knew is dead. Super dead, actually.
Peppermint: Who needs him? You’re you, and no one knows you better than yourself! Plus, that secret they’re searching for… it’s within you, right?
Hibiscus: Mm hm…
Peppermint: Then you just need to find it first! Any idea where to look?
Hibiscus: Not a clue. I’ve been restoring the Archives within me… but I haven’t come across it yet.
Caramel: Are they limited to the Archives you’ve already restored?
Hibiscus: I think so, yeah.
Caramel: Then keep restoring them. Give them more to sift through. It might buy us enough time to figure out how to stop them.
Hibiscus: That’s… that’s actually a really good idea, Liz.
Lavender: …Why were they called the Orpheus Bureau anyway?
Hibiscus: I don’t know—they used to go by the Order of the Obscure Obelus.
Matcha: You said they’re driven by the past, right? Obsessed with looking back?
Peppermint: That’s true… Unless, do you think the actual Olympians are in on their schemes too?
Lavender: The Olympians…?
Peppermint: Yeah. They’ve never been thrilled about being under Lord Satan’s and Lady Beelzebub’s thumbs. It wouldn’t be a stretch to think they’d be working against the Orchard Concord in secret.
Hibiscus: It’s… possible. Yeah.
Peppermint: I’ll add them to my list. All of them—the Olympians and Gleam and his crew—what’d you call them?
Hibiscus: Nova. They’re the Nova Elders.
Matcha: Nova? As in a star that shines briefly brighter? Or as in “new”?
Hibiscus: House Nova, I think. These guys… they’re ancient. Really ancient. Like… Eve, Abraxas, and Lilith old.