Children and Fools

## Basic Information

**Children and Fools** is the fifth Quest in Act 8 Chapter 3: Illumination, and was released on October 18, 2023. It contains 3 paths and has 7 Opponents per path, with Bishop , Quicksilver  or Havok  as the final boss.

It is preceded by 8.3.4: High Fidelity and succeeded by 8.3.6: Stranger Than Fiction.

## Dialogue

 Caption: Following Venom, who is playing the role of trained bloodhound through the ruins of this realm, the group discuss dire matters.

 Ægon: We have a second to catch our breath. I think we better know what it is we’re fighting the whole Battlerealm to protect, Carina.
 Carina: It’s ... the Battlerealm itself that is the problem.
 Carina: This place, it’s not just a multiversal dead-end. It’s a weapon or... no that’s not quite right. It’s a bomb. A creation bomb.
 Civil Warrior: Bombs, in my experience, only create destruction and upsetting holes in places holes didn’t used to be.
 Carina: Well this is a lot like that. The Battlerealm collects energy, stores it, and transforms it. It’s a process called the Churn.
 Carina: This Churn is what makes Isotope-8, and the speed of it is affected by the power and ferocity of the combat within the Battlerealm.
 Carina: The worst part is, the more you fight the stronger it makes you. The stronger it makes you, the more ISO-8 you make when you fight.
 Civil Warrior: A perpetual motion machine... but for war.

- Transmission #1 - Upon starting the Quest

 Guillotine: I can see your concern. There is so much power here, but it can be used for good. What if we harvest it for our own goals?
 Carina: That circles back to the “bomb” part I mentioned. Enough ISO-8 gets made here and it’ll become a chain reaction of destruction.
 Carina: Once the ISO-8 levels hit a tipping point it will consume everyone here, and spark off a whole new multiverse.
 Carina: Try to imagine all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light.
 Civil Warrior: So we call a cease-fire. We lay it all out, tell everyone the truth. We stop the fighting and save this place from going “Big Bang” on us.
 Carina: Not that easy, there is a balance. This place only keeps existing thanks to the same ISO-8 that could destroy it. If it dips below a certain level...
 Carina: Atoms themselves would stop moving. Maximum entropy. The heat death of this universe.
 Carina: That has been my burden, I can’t stop the fights here. The struggles... the pain. It is an evil that is necessary for all of us to survive.
 Ægon: This is a curse too heavy for any one soul to bear it, Carina. I do not know how we stop this horrible duty you hold...
 Ægon: ... but I know we do it together.

- Transmission #2

 Caption: The group falls into a somber silence as they continue to follow Venom. Eventually finding a repurposed S.W.O.R.D. orbital station.

 Venom: What we ssseek isss here. We can hear othersss... They are ssscreaming from their mindsss. We mussst wait out here. It isss to much.
 Civil Warrior: Not hearing that but the cosmic radiation here is off my charts. Also detecting some interference from a microrealm? Curious.
 Guillotine: A few crossed over realms and psychic signals could be what was hiding this place. Too much noise to pinpoint the source.
 Carina: I sense it clearly, there isn’t just cosmic power here. It’s Celestial power. Ancient, angry, and waiting for us.
 Venom: It has the ssstink of Adaptoidsss... We know it well. A mossst divine flavour when prepared correctly.
 Civil Warrior: ... so much other stuff to deal with right now but I have to ask. Have you been eating the Adaptoids?
 Venom: Would you rather we find other prey to sssatify our endlesss hunger?
 Civil Warrior: I... would not.

- Transmission #3

* Bishop
* Quicksilver
* Havok

 Caption: An Adaptoid stumbles out of the main entrance. As they walk the lights around them seem to dim, as though the power was draining.

 Bishop: Nothing changes... Nothing ... Nothing changes. Nothing.
 Caption: The lights pulse then burst. Raw power streams from them into this twisted mix of Adaptoid and Bishop.

 Bishop: I can absorb ... I can channel ... I can ... I can change.
 Carina: Creature, you have been done an injustice. You were given power, but not control. I am so sorry, but please get out of our way.
 Bishop: An Elder? Such power within... Such raw... beautiful power.
 Bishop: Give it to me!
 Civil Warrior: Well we did a rare “try and talk it out” moment but I think we should fall back on hitting this guy so hard he wakes up in a new future.
 Bishop: Your future ends now!

- Transmission #4 - Before fighting Bishop

 Caption: An Adaptoid stumbles through one of the walls of the station. They are a vibrating blur of agony and power.

 Quicksilver: C-c-c-can’t s-s-s-s-low d-d-d-d-down.
 Guillotine: Nom de dieu! Everyone be careful, this one seems to have the speed of Quicksilver but nowhere to run.
 Quicksilver: R-red c-cloak? M-magic? A-a-are... you... W-W-Wanda?
 Guillotine: I am not your sister, my friend. You have no sister, no family. You should not be. I am so sorry.
 Quicksilver: Y-y-ou t-t-took her? You s-stole her? You d-d-destroyed my family?
 Civil Warrior: I think the poor guy may have rattled a few screws loose and that look in his eyes spells trouble.
 Guillotine: The anger is good, it keeps him focused. Now, Summoner, shut the poor creature down while he is distracted with his rage.

- Transmission #4 - Before fighting Quicksilver

 Caption: A door is blasted off its hinges as an Adaptoid stumbles out of the smoking crater left behind. They crackle with power.

 Havok: Graaaaaahhh
 Carina: Oh god, the real Havok had to train to get his powers even reasonably in check. This thing however...
 Caption: Beams of energy burst wildly from the Havok imitating Adaptoid. No targets seem to be in mind, just raw destruction.

 Carina: Well this thing is a lot worse. We have to shut it down if we can even get close enough to it.
 Civil Warrior: Seems like a good time to have a shield on hand. Summoner, I think you’ll come in handy here. Tuck in behind me.
 Havok: Gah! Raaaaghhh! Grawwwhhh!
 Civil Warrior: ... try to keep anything you don’t want burnt off behind the shield. When you see an opening, let Havok have it.

- Transmission #5 - Before fighting Havok