Beachside Burn

"Beachside Burn" is the second episode of Reflection.

*In the aftermath of the attack on the Reflection hall, OPIA is placed on the backfoot. In response to the chaos, they hold a press conference while quietly putting in place an operation to take back what was lost.*

## Summary

### Hallucination

Ace Galatine wakes up in a dreamlike reconstruction of his old dojo, where he is greeted by a partially self aware projection of Ruth Galatine. They leave the bedroom and enter a courtyard where a Demon of the Court of Instrumentality appears and offers Ace fame. Ace denies, and the Demon leaves. They proceed to a dining area where a projection of Ridill manifests and attempts to explain Ace's current situation. A variety of Demons populate the area. Before Ridill can finish, the hallucination falls apart and Ace comes face to face with a massive, shadowy entity before waking up.

### Reflection Heist

Ace awakes in a virtual reality simulation of a fight against a Demon. He has been incapacitated. The simulation ends after Basilisk uses Collapse of the Living to destroy the physical infrastructure keeping the simulation working. She is stopped by Cam and Sophie before she can go any further. The group questions Ace on why he's been holding back in simulations. Cam attempts to explain to Basil why eating people is considered morally incorrect. Serve interrupts the conversation to tell the group about an upcoming interview with Number Five, one of GEIST's CEOs.

At the same time, Ridill, Dr. Verona, and the Director are in a meeting with a holographic projection of a mysterious GEIST official who reprimands them for the attack on OPIA HQ and the subsequent loss of GEIST life and the theft of all of OPIA's Reflections. Ridill enters a catatonic state after the meeting, sitting on a chair and swearing until Willow Wisp picked her up and took her to the interview. Upon arriving at the entrance to OPIA HQ, the party was greeted by a massive crowd. Ace was approached by Number Five, who attempted to flatter him with references to Agent Danger, one of Ace's movies. He dragged him to a podium alongside Lugh and Satyr and began the interview. The nature of the questions grew more and more accusative until Number Five was more or less openly accusing OPIA of being unable to run their operations efficiently. With Ridill's help, Ace rebuked these statements by pointing out that complications only arose after GEIST became involved. Ace closed the interview with a snide remark about how if Number Five wasn't so busy, he would surely be assisting FLOW on the front lines.

As soon as the interview petered out, Ace began to feel the effects of using Reality Break on Ridill's ESP. He managed to stay stable enough to move off camera and take a seat. The group then went to the cafeteria where they found Lyst Solais speaking to Hector, OPIA's personal trainer. They also found the Director hiding from Verona. Ignoring him, Willow began cooking a variety of classic Beleth meals. After a food fight between Aura Pridwyn and Ace, Satyr arrived with "horrible news".

### Undercity Investigation

Satyr drove Ace, Arg0s, Basil, and Willow to the entrance of the Undercity, a region of Fuse City where satellite signals have trouble reaching and therefore GEIST influence is low. OPIA believed that some of the stolen Reflections were here as a result of Demons possessing people in the Undercity due to their proximity to the Coda. Ridill was unable to join as she was stuck in a meeting with GEIST officials who threatened to fire her if she went to help the group. Ace explains the mechanics of Burn to the group before heading out.

Before they can enter the Undercity proper, Basil almost walks into a bus. Ridill comes out of the bus and joins the group, explaining that she decided to let herself be fired to make sure she could retrieve the group from the Coda if they were dragged down again, believing that GEIST wanted them dead for some reason. They also met with Circuit, who explained that she was going to start riots alongside some Turbo Witch employees as a result of Ridill's firing. Arg0s also began a livestream.

The group made their way into the alleys of the Undercity. They were approached by Colt, who allowed them to scan his Burn levels, which were at a high but still safe mid-thirties. He revealed that Lugh was his younger brother and thanked them for "taking care of him". They then went to the right and found a VR Cafe run by Melli Luxity. Before they could scan her Burn, she pulled Ace aside into her office and revealed that she had met with Ruth a few weeks before her disappearance because she needed to "be around people", and that she was feeling intense distress after losing a best friend. She asked if Ace wanted her belongings, to which Ace responded that Ruth would need it when she returned.

While Ace was with Melli, Ridill talked to Basil, who revealed that she hated the version of her she sees on GEIST billboards. Arg0s then scanned Melli's Burn, finding it to be a shocking ninety-eight. They moved her into one of the VR rooms and attempted to explain her situation, but the space around her began to warp and pull them into the Coda. Thinking quickly, Willow grabbed Melli and jumped through a wall, separating her from the rest of the group. Imitating her, Basilisk jumped through a different wall. Despite this, everyone was pulled into the Coda nonetheless.

### Beachside Burn

Ace, Arg0s, and Ridill manifested on a beach. They began traveling the beach to search for the rest of the group. Meanwhile, Basil manifested on a warped version of the same beach, which, instead of being bright and sunny, was on fire and surrounded by an ocean of ash. Willow and Melli manifested further east in the same area. After attempting to calm Melli down, Willow used a mysterious power to teleport herself and Melli into the safe version of the beach, where they met up with Ace's group. Basilisk, in the meantime, followed a trail of embers to a mass of entities made of raw Humanity. A massive entity appeared on the far side of the beach and began consuming them.

Arg0s used his Reflection to track Basil's presence on the other version of the beach, after which Willow used her powers to call out to her. Basilisk, feeling emotionally unstable after her conversation with Ridill about lying and her other self, attempted to pull Willow through to her side, but Willow overpowered her. With everyone on the safe side of the beach, the group decided to recuperate. Ridill used her ESP to excise the demonic possession from Melli, and then went out to scout the rest of the area. While Ridill was gone, Melli revealed to the group the Reflections she stole while possessed, and demanded to bond one in order to get revenge on the demon that possessed her. While the group was originally against it, they acquiesced after Ridill pointed out that they could use it to garner media sympathy.

The group then concocted a plan to kill the giant entity on the other side, assuming it to be the Demon keeping them trapped in this layer of the Coda. After starting stream again, Melli "accidentally" fell into her chosen Reflection, "Infinity Collider: Big Bang Breaker", and the group prepared to fight their next opponent.

## Characters

### Party

* Ace Galatine
* Basilisk Id
* Arg0s
* Willow Wisp
* Ridill Arondite

### FLOW

* Aura Pridwyn
* Lyst Solais
* Lugh
* Ruth Galatine

### OPIA

* Dr. Verona
* Director
* Circuit
* Serve
* Cam
* Symphonia
* Hector

### GEIST

* Satyr
* Number Five

### Other

* Colt
* Melli Luxity