Loyal. You are called to a meeting with Nyla,
not in the usual conference room, but instead
in one of the old warehouses within the base.
It is a short walk, or an even shorter drive
to reach the location. It is a plain industrial
building that looks the same as any of the other
old warehouses around the tarmac. Despite its
plainness, a subtle difference jumps out to you.
Around the structure... Pushing almost impossibly
through the concrete of the tarmac are these
small thorny flowers with bright red blossoms.
From a distance, they almost look like pinpricks
of blood pulling up from the ground. This like
pulsing rhythm kind of takes root in you as you
approach this gentle drum in time with your own
heartbeat, a regal bassy sequence. Nyla is standing
outside the warehouse waiting for you. Was there...
Information sent with this request to meet Nyla
at the fucked up flower warehouse? No, just meet
me at warehouse, you know, like, 86D. Okay. I
float up to Nyla. Keep my dolphin face very impassive.
She kind of just nods to you, lightly, and then
opens the door to the warehouse. And leads you
inside. It is empty inside, save for a very large
field of these same prickly red flowers, which
encircle a large cargo elevator. And she makes
her way through the field, brushing up against
the flowers. Do I sense any psychic presence
from these flowers, or am I just humming? What
do you mean humming? You said I sense a deep
heartbeat from the flowers? Within you. Within
me. Due to my proximity to the flowers. It's
not coming from the flowers, it's just affecting
me. It's hard to say. Okay, that's not creepy
or anything. Anyways, Sunleth is quiet as he's
watching this, and I think he just follows Nyla
as she walks into this field. And if she's still
being quiet, like as she's going to the center,
he will say, So, we're dealing with this now
too, huh? She looks at you with this very plain
expression, and she holds a finger up to her
lips and kind of smiles a little bit. Like, be
quiet. Smiles? Okay. I tilt my head at her slightly,
but then give her a little dolphin nod. She brings
you into the elevator and begins the descent,
a very slow crawl deeper into the planet. And
as you go lower, that rhythm grows louder as
you go lower. And you kind of see through the
cage of the elevator these roots that are just
pressing through the concrete and the stone of
the earth in front of you. And eventually you
arrive at the bottom level, and you are guided
through a series of doors and into the throne
room. The unstilled corpse of TKR lays there,
propped up against the wall. Roots pierce its
body and stretch up into the ceiling, all of
them dripping blood onto the floor. And in front
of TKR are two figures. The first is Geist, kneeling
as a barbed red crown is placed atop his head.
The second figure inhabits an exopod of alien
design, its water replaced with opaque blood.
Only an abstract shadow remains inside. Its exterior
is metallic, but pliable, fleshy almost. It turns
to you as it finishes, placing the crown on Geist's
head. Geist's voice and your own speak to you
in concert. It has to be this way. The words
swim in your head, becoming images. The images
of your hands pulling red wires from the corpse
of TKR, like entrails from a dead animal. You
see yourself twisting the wires into the shape
of a crown, and you see it placing it atop Geist's
head. You see red flowers growing over an empty,
destroyed city. Okay. So, the funny thing about
this is that Sunleth is not scared of this the
same way he has been of... other dreams he's
been having he assumes he's in a dream now of
course um like the moment that Nyla smiled at
him and took him to the elevator he spent that
time just like watching her face trying to realize
hmm I don't think this is real so he's kind of
just letting this happen this time he's too fucking
tired has felt too many emotions lately from
himself, from other people, to even be able to
engage with whatever fear mind games are trying
to be projected into his brain right now. And
he's mostly just curious about this, because
at least this is something new. This is something
different. This isn't just... You are being ordered
to go murder children in a stupid human war.
This is something at least psychic. Terrifying,
yes, but something that he understands a little
bit more than whatever the hell is happening
out there in the real world. So he is trying
to just figure out what is being said to him.
What was the last thing that the voice said?
It has to be this way? It has to be this way.
And then you saw images of creating a crown out
of the red wires inside TKR and putting it on
Geist's head. And then red flowers growing over
a destroyed city, the destroyed capital city.
Okay. Can Sunlith talk if he tries to? Sure.
He doesn't bother making echolocation sounds.
He's just doing this in his mind. He's like,
why does it have to be Geist? What does Geist
have to do? The Geist and the Exopod figure,
which is speaking with your voice, obviously.
Of course, naturally. Both speak again together,
and they say, You can hear us, but he can't hear
us. What will he do when he becomes you? Their
voices speak a single last word. As you kind
of see the water in your own tank becoming red.
And they just say... Martyrdom. And then you
wake up. Hell yeah. Okay. At least I'm not thrashing
this time. Yeah. There's a message waiting for
you. Nyla wants to meet you at one of the old
warehouses in the base. Ah, fish sticks. It's
a short walk, or an even shorter drive to get
there. A plain warehouse, indistinguishable from
any others around it, except for the feeling
of uneasiness that washes over you. Nyla is outside
again, and she greets you. Sunleth, thank you
for coming on such short notice. Some of our
people in R &D wanted to get your opinion on
the TKR wreckage. Is this the warehouse where
the TKR wreckage is? Are there flowers? There's
no flowers. Okay. But it is the same warehouse
from your dream. Yeah, it sure fucking is. Alright.
Lael says, I suppose as the planet's resident
psychic dolphin, this falls under my job duties.
Okay. I will go with you. She nods, and she leads
you inside the warehouse, which is empty except
for some crates that have been pushed into the
corner and a cargo elevator in the center. She
walks inside of it, swipes the keycard on a pad
in the elevator, and it starts to descend down
with you. It is a long elevator ride. Do you
want to speak to her, or do you want her to speak
to you? Yeah. I look at her, and I say, So, we're
dealing with this now too, huh? Yes. We're...
Dealing with a lot. You haven't... He's trying
to figure out a way to say this. I guess he just
stops himself right there. But he's like, we
are dealing with a lot, aren't we? Do you think
anyone had any idea of... What it is that we
would find when we came here. What it is that
we are currently descending towards right now.
Did anyone expect this? No. No one... No one
expected this. I... Things are different than
we thought. He sighs again. And as always, it
is the just sigh generated by his translator
just automatically picks up on his emotions,
the technology that he uses to communicate with
the world, with other species that he loves that
is granted by the Oro, and pushes that thought
out of his mind the second that he thinks about
it. But he says instead of All the things that
he had been pushing through his mind of angry
accusations he was going to come at Nyla with.
Ask her, why? Why did you do this? Why did you
know? Why did you send me there? Why on any of
this? Because he knows the answer. And he just
looks at her and says, I'm sorry that You had
to keep me behind for the meeting with Bluth.
I thank you for bringing me some food during
that. It was a small island of comfort, despite
everything. I was mad about it, but I don't know
what I am anymore. I'm just sorry. She puts a
hand on your exopod. And says, I'm sorry too.
That's, uh... It won't happen again. Thank you.
I don't think he says anything else for the rest
of the elevator ride. Um, the elevator arrives
at a floor marked as Observation, and you are
led into a control room of sorts. Inside are
a number of terminals, isolated server racks,
and researchers. One of these researchers sticks
out to you, an eight -foot -tall figure in a
strange shimmering blue -black robe. Her head
is what can be described as an indented dodecahedron
with lights glowing inside each facet. On the
opposite end of her room is a huge window looking
into a vast chamber which contains only one thing,
the wreck of TKR, inert. But you feel something
within it, not entirely still, waiting. It's
been partially disassembled, pieces of it pulled
aside and apart, trailing these strings of red
wire. Nyla leads you over to the tall researcher
and introduces her as Ziggurat, the leading researcher
from the Vector Mines. Ziggurat looks down at
you and kind of snakes her way around your exopod,
moving in a way that would probably break the
bones in a normal human being. And she says,
your open design prototype, very interesting,
very expensive. Domestic anti -gravity products,
very promising market. And she trails off and
kind of snaps back to her full height. Not the
time, she says. Sunlith pauses for a sec and
then agrees and says, no, not the time. I was
told you may have insight to some energy readings
we've been receiving, which are not particularly
measurable. And she kind of leads you over to
a terminal and brings up an overwhelming amount
of readouts. The deactivated unit, the Clustris,
referred to as the King Returneth, inert yet
producing an energy pattern on its internal wiring.
We can detect that it is broadcasting, that energy
is being moved outwards, but we cannot detect
where or how. No magnetics, no haze variety,
no rupture field. Similarities to bioelectric
communication, as if connected to a living being,
but there is no physical connection. And then
Ziggurat trails off again. I want to... plug
myself into this computer and turn these into
like kind of audio sonar readouts. I want to
enmesh myself in this data because as a dolphin
I have very high speed audio processing skills.
This is something that I'm evolved to do and
right now all I want to do is ignore my fear
and dive into whatever the fuck is happening
here so is that a roll to try to figure out if
i can pull like into all this and make any sense
of it what do you want to roll it's a good question
i'm thinking a interface or study yeah i'm thinking
an interface specifically okay i don't have any
dots in study and since the interface is under
resolve, I think this is fitting. What's my position?
Risky standard. And anything I can do to put
a modifier on this rule? You could push yourself
if you want, or you could take a devil's bargain.
You know what? I have not very much stress right
now. I have only one tab of stress. This is great.
I'm so chill. That's why I just don't care. I'll
push myself. Alright, two stress and you get
an extra die. Cool. Let's plug into the Returned
King, why don't we? Failure. Two twos. Beautiful.
Okay. You look at the readouts. You convert it
into whatever data is best helpful to you. And
you notice it's all separate. It is not really
understandable. But when you merge it into this,
what did you call it? Um, cymatics? Cymatics,
yeah. Cymatic sonar readouts that is projected
into the fluid, the oxyfluid that I'm suspended
in. When you put them all there together, there's
a familiar pattern. Something beating in sync
with your own heart. A familiar rhythm. It's
quieter than in the dream, but you can still
feel it very slightly. A connection with you,
like an implant, a twin, or a phantom lingering
inside your own body, making contact with you.
You don't know the exact mechanism. Science isn't
really equipped for measuring this sort of phenomenon.
But you know where it's ending up, this connection,
and it's ending up at you. And you're going to
take the level one harm destiny feedback. It's
fun. You are overcome with an overwhelming feeling
that you know what you are going to do and that
what you've seen in your dream is destined to
happen. It'll be strong deja vu, but with the
flavor of doom. And you can resist that if you
want. But yeah, maybe I will, because I already
have lingering guilt still that I forgot about.
It'll be a resolve -resist. So you would roll
2d6 or you can just click resolve on your character
sheet. I'm clicking resolve. Great, you can take
zero stress. You managed to resist it. Oh, hell
yeah. What does that look like? What is your
rationality that causes you not to be stressed
out by this? It honestly helps that I've just
seen this in my dream recently and multiple times
before. I just know that there's... There's a
fucked up psychic thing on this planet. They
brought me here for some kind of help with it,
understanding it. But as someone who has been
psychic all their lives, I know that it just
comes from a place of things that no one can
hold in their mind, things that will never make
sense. And I'm just... relying on that training
on various meditations i have done and i think
i just unplug from this terminal back up from
it yeah silence just looks up and says this is
a powerful psychic entity beyond our understanding
i don't know how safe it is to remain down here
with it. I would advise reduced personnel in
this sector. Ziggurat's face lights kind of spin
a little bit, and kind of like pulse red, gently,
and says, that is not a sufficient answer, but
I suppose we'll have to deal with it. As good
an explanation as we'll get. I will reduce personnel
here, but we still have research to do. You are
free to come if you have any additional ideas.
We could use your help. We, the Union, want to
repurpose this technology, despite whatever risks
you may be alluding to. I think Sunlit just laughs
here, and it's just like high -pitched. dolphin
squeaking coming from his tank which he doesn't
normally do because he knows that other beings
find it to be cute and they take him less seriously
but he just can't control himself here so he
does that and he just says of course they do
of course they want to repurpose this i i will
come and go I will let you know if I find anything
new. I have something I need to go do. Ziggurat
gives you a nod, and Nyla says, um, are you going
up? Yes. And you? I'm gonna stay here for a little
bit, um, communicate with Ziggurat on the personnel
changes. Good luck. Radio me again if you need
me. You too. Bye. Bye -bye. Where do you go?
You want up? Yeah, I want to go talk to Maze,
but I think that's a bit long for one vignette.
Sure. Yeah, I think it is. You leave the warehouse,
and as you do, you see a crack in the tarmac.
And out of it is a single red flower, newly bloomed
and waiting. Waiting for more. And then there's
an explosion. Kind of farther away from you,
in the city. And there's a slow rising of smoke
and the sound of an emergency alarm going off.
Kind of near the main base area. Geist, you have
been called to Director Jermaine's office. It
doesn't take a genius to put together exactly
why you would be called here after your mile
-to -sphere case of insubordination with your
handler, Nyla. You are... Led in by the secretary,
and he is sat behind his desk with papers scattered
all over and gestures for you to come in. One
thing you notice right away is that he has an
exceedingly fancy chair now. It seems to move
of its own accord and kind of contours itself
to his body. And he kind of gestures for you
to take a seat across from him. Yeah, unlike
his usual... I guess way of carrying himself
in a lot of these briefings and stuff, Geist
actually does go over and he does take a seat.
And he looks across and he says, geez, is that
chair one of the perks they had to give you to
make you take this fucking job? He pats the chair
like you'd pat like a pet. And he says, no, this
is actually because of you and your squad. General
Wave was very pleased with the pilot division
after, uh... Corporate Council sent over their
resources. So, this is my kickback, I guess you
could say. I mean, look, Kilo, let's cut the
bullshit. I think we both know why it is that
I'm here. Mm -hmm. Go ahead. Go ahead, what?
What do you want me to say? You want me to cop
to it? Guy was fucking insubordinate. I screamed
in Nyla's face. I don't think it was unwarranted.
He kind of, uh, absentmindedly shuffles some
of the documents on his desk and puts them off
to the side. And he says, yeah, bad call on Nyla's
part and vis -a -vis, I guess, my part. I'm pretty
sure that's how you use vis -a -vis. We shouldn't
have given you the runaround. It was a bad call.
I told Nyla that and we're all cool now. We understand
that we need to communicate better. But also,
I need to know that you know that the corporation
support is the only thing that is holding up
this entire operation on this planet. And that
if Bluth asks us to do something, as long as
it is not, you know, totally against the goals
of the peacekeepers, we've got to do it. We've
got to grin and bear it. And... Yeah. I don't
know. I'm not good at this HR stuff. Let's cut
the bullshit and the corporate line, okay? I
know... Try and look at it from my point of view,
alright? Sure, it was brutal, what happened,
what we did, but the real problem is that we
were intentionally fed bad intel. Not just by
Bluth, but by Nyla. She orchestrated it, or you
did, or whoever the fuck Greenlit. Keeping Loyal
out of the briefing. That bad intel could have
caused one of my team members to choke. It could
have gotten us killed. It could have botched
the entire fucking operation. That's the problem.
It won't happen again. You have my word. But
do I have your word that you will fall in line?
Look, I'm not blind to what... It is that our
little operation accomplished, all right? And
I know what it takes, and I know about the projections
and Nyla's little spreadsheets. I know what's
at stake, and I will always do what I have to
do, but if there is any alternative, I do not
want to have to be put in the same room as that
fucking creep, all right? That's all that I ask.
That being, uh, Bluth. Yeah. Makes my fucking
skin crawl, what skin I have left. I think I
can arrange that. I think Harold can handle any
face -to -faces this point forward. Joseph, I
hear, is not very social, and loyal is loyal,
so... Yeah. You know. I mean, for all my bluster,
they... They did their duty, all of them. Even
loyal. And that's why there's no bad blood here.
We're all very happy with the Dusklights and
with you. This is just, you know, it's been tough.
We're all stressed. We made some bad calls. We'll
move past it. And can we close the book on this?
As long as the peacekeepers don't knowingly withhold
mission intel from us on missions, I guess. Yeah.
That's it. Yeah, I mean, encapsulation and all
that. We can't tell you everything that's going
to go on, but we will make sure that you are
told anything that is necessary and that you
know who you're going to be shooting at. I think
that is the main pain point here. I don't keep
loyal out of our briefings. That shouldn't be
a problem, right? Sure. You shouldn't need to
lie to us. If you have something that my team,
you think that my team is going to believe to
be unsavory, come to me with it. Somebody needs
to know the facts. And I can handle it, whatever
it is. You have my word on that. Copy that. Now,
with that out of the way, if I'm being honest,
I didn't just call you here to write you up for
insubordination. I thought someone... I've got
someone I want you to talk to. Real sensitive
stuff. And he kind of leans over to a little
microphone on his desk and says, Yeah, let him
in. And from behind you walks in Crow, who is
the current leader of the Moon Devils. He is
a Vested, which is one of the few, maybe the
only alien species which actually meshes with
the Soul Union culturally. From about his eyes
down, He looks like a human. He has dark skin,
bright white tattoos. He's dressed like a pilot's
soft suit. But once you get to his head, there
are these little mycelial tendrils pulsing under
his skin. And above his eyebrows, his head kind
of explodes into a geometric fungal body, which
is in a cubic shape. You do know each other.
You have like a vague one relationship with him
where you kind of both know each other's rape.
He is one of the few remaining moon devils who
survived the fight at the capital after martyrdom
went fucking super saiyan on the rest of them.
Okay, cool. I have a quick question. Is this
like, is this alien race? Is it like a fungus
that's like parasiting a human body? And that's
why it looks so human from the brain pan down.
That is correct. I even wrote about it on my
blog. Climb into cascade .tumblr .com. But check
that out. Yeah, they basically are parasitic,
but it is a consensual parasite. At least they
claim to always do that now. There's been drama
in the past, but they mesh well because they
absorb all the memories of their host. Oh, yeah,
that makes sense. Or merge with them, you know.
What do I know about his reputation? So did we
fly together like back in the day? No, he's new.
He came on after you went sleepy time. Yeah.
Do I know anything about his reputation? Like,
does he seem to be doing a pretty good job? He
is a very good pilot. He is probably the best
pilot on the planet right now on the side of
the peacekeepers. I would say he is very mission
focused. He is not very social. You would not
see him at any events. And he does not have much
of a relationship with the rest of the Moon Devils.
Have we met before? You have met. According to
your relationship, you have an approximate one
with him, which I think is that you have... Oh,
that's right. I remember talking about this a
long time ago. You've, like, moved in similar
circles, but have never, like, I think, sat down
and really talked. Yeah. I guess Geist turns
around and he says, Whoa, shit. Hey. I guess
he maybe gives a little salute or something.
Whatever's appropriate for his rank. He gives
you a little nod and he says, Come walk with
me, Geist. Geist looks back to Kilo. Kilo gives
you a nod. All right. Yeah, sure. Yeah, Geist
will follow him out. He leads you into one of
these mostly empty hallways in this administrative
building. Used to be full of personnel, but everyone
has been recalled. So this level is basically
just Kilo's office, a couple of admin assistants,
and then just empty offices. And Crow starts
talking to you, and he says, The Peacekeepers
have a leak. Someone gave away troop plans to
the Clusterists. We lost half a company on an
operation in the East City. A very sensitive
operation. We know it wasn't you. But from where
we stand, your squad is one of the suspects.
There's a machine, a psychic, and a money man,
and that doesn't scream loyalty to the higher
-ups. Jesus fuck. Wait, would... Who knew about
this operation? Like, what level clearance was
the intel? Would my team even have any idea?
Our system isn't exactly top of the line. I wouldn't
be surprised if someone could find a backdoor
if they could get up to the hardware, which...
I would be lying if I said our security was tight.
We have a camera outage at a certain time on
a certain day. You were in training missions,
and the bone pickers were all out. So... We have
a few suspects, but that's all we know. And they
tipped him off to the clusterists. We believe
so. We can't prove anything was stolen, but the
camera outage, and then... Are guys getting ambushed
so specifically on the most vulnerable moment
they could have? We think it's probably that.
Look, I can't tell you for sure that it wasn't
any of them, but I have my doubts that Loyal
would be capable of pulling something like this
off. and I have my doubts that Joseph or Hex
would. I'd like to think that I know them at
least a little bit, but I'm not going to rule
anything out. Do you want me to pry on this or
just keep an eye out? Keep an eye out. If you
can make any progress on discovering anything,
that's fine. But the fact is, I just need to
know that you are sure. They'll pull the trigger
when they're ordered. Look, I understand what's
at stake here, and I think that I know my team,
but if I'm wrong about any of them, I will not
hesitate for a second. I want the desk lights
for an operation we're putting together. Sensitive.
Oh, shit. Very sensitive. Two weeks. I want your
team to get in shape. Review any data you have
on the Virtues. I know your squad has touched
them on a couple occasions. The Virtues? You
think Retribution will be there? I hope not.
Yeah. You want us there, even though you think
we might be the source of this leak? If I'm being
honest with you, Geist, I can only rule out one
squad, and that's the Bonepickers, and they're
not exactly the best fighters we have. Your answer
is... Honest. The other ones lied to me, but
that's just because they like their squad. Well,
shit. Alright, we'll be ready. If the simulator's
hard, don't tell anyone about this. Not even
your squadmates until it's the day of. Official
stories that your implants gave out and you're
on PT. Okay. They won't hear a word of it. He
nods to you, and he says, Good. Looking forward
to seeing you fight in person. Yeah. Hope I can
live up to the hype. And he starts to walk away.
And as he kind of heads away, you hear the unmistakable
sound of an explosion from close in the city.
Close enough that the ground shakes slightly
and the lights kind of flicker. And then silence.
And he reaches for his pistol and then kind of
holds still. Oh, shit. I'm going to reach for
my pistol, too. What the fuck was that? He kind
of places a hand on the wall and it's like. Sits
in silence for a little bit, like very still.
He says, let's go find out. So. Joseph. How are
you? I'm great. I'm living my robot life. I'm
happy. That's so good. So following. You giving
Glass New Lane that little data drive that Nihilus
applied you with, he thanks you for it first,
and then after a couple of days, he tells you
to go to a place at a certain time and to meet
with your driver. Okie dokie. I think I'll bring
a gun and a knife with me, and I'll get to that
destination. Sure. It is a little dingy area,
kind of in the East City, kind of where you met
Glass. I'm just like a unmemorable street corner,
and there's just a car idling there, kind of
off -road vehicle, like black -tinted windshield,
really shitty looking, kind of rusted and all
that. I won't saunter up to it, but maybe I'll
just try to get in its field of view, see if
it does anything to me. Yeah, it just idles.
Okay, well, I'll come over and knock. Yeah, I
think the window rolls down, and the driver is
in there. Who's a tattooed woman who's wearing
a woolen cap, which is kind of barely obscuring
these extensive burns all over her head. And
she like jerks a thumb back into the backseat,
indicating for you to get in. I nod and get in
the backseat. Right. It is a long drive. You
go out of the city, probably 100 miles northeast
of the city itself. And you kind of stop in a
rural town. It's probably around midnight or
like 1 a .m. at this point. And the driver gets
out and indicates for you to follow her again
to this little landing pad in like a dusty field
where there's a very small cargo ship on it.
And it's being packed up by a bunch of people
with frozen fish, which is going off planet.
And she points in and says, get in with the fish.
Do you want me to? Get in the crate? No, no,
just around the fish. Okay. I'm going to walk
over to the fish. They explode, you die. Oh,
damn it. Man, come on, man. You could have seen
that coming. Survey, can I roll? It's too late.
It's too late for you. I'm in five pieces. Yeah,
you're packed into a little freezer container.
My God, the entire cargo hold is a freezer. And
you're put in there. I was going to ask, Is temperature
anything that I would ever really, like, notice
or affect me in my robot body? I don't think
so. I think you could just walk into space, and
you'd be fine. Okay. Gotcha. Yes, you go in,
and then the driver kind of pulls something out
of her trunk, like this very big woolen coat,
and, like, puts it on and walks into the freezer
with you, and the cargo bay seals up, and you're
plunged into just pitch black. There are, like,
no lights in here. except for eventually you
see the light of her lighting a cigarette and
smoking it, and that's like the only light you
can see. I'm surprised you're joining me. She
exhales and says, Okay. All nod to that. The
ship takes off. These types of vessels typically
meet up with larger ships in orbit. They don't
have their own maw drive, which is what lets
them travel between. The stars. And eventually,
the forces of gravity lessen until it is nothing
at all, and you leave the atmosphere. At least
you feel yourself leave the atmosphere. There's
no windows. And this is not even probably, definitely
the farthest you've ever been from this planet
in your entire life, since you became aware.
She kind of fusses with something on the floor
and turns on a little lantern. And... She hands
you this large backpack -like device. It is labeled
EVA Maneuvering Kit. And she says, do you know
how to use one of these? No, I say, as I put
it on. She kind of sighs. And says, kind of shows
you the rope. It is not that dissimilar from
operating a frame with its basic controls. You
kind of just push the direction you want to go.
Um, but it's in three dimensions. So it has some,
you know, pitching and yawing and all those exciting
flight terms, um, built into it. It's pretty
simple. Like you, you kind of get it. Okay. Uh,
she then kind of like sends you digitally some
coordinates, which are a point in space, kind
of like, I'm not good with a few kilometers,
I guess, many kilometers, maybe. Just out in
space. It's a random point in orbit. And she
says, they're waiting for you there. I'll be
back here in eight hours. Don't be late or you'll
miss the ship. Very well. Thank you for the drive.
She gives you a nod and stuffs you into the airlock.
And the airlock cycles. All the air drains out
of it. Your heads -up display tells you that...
This is a hostile environment. Keep an eye on
any humans who might be with you. And it opens
up and you are let out into space, which you
don't have any problems with because you don't
breathe or get cold at these temperatures. Is
this my first time feeling like weightlessness?
It is. Oh, that's kind of fun. Well, I ask two
things. First of all, you are in zero gravity
and you are seeing the planet below you. And
you can kind of see some of the sun rising a
little bit. You see like the actual form of the
planet, like the tributaries of the river valley,
the ice desert, and a lot of the lights of Brea
City are still lit up. A big bright spot on the
planet. And I would wonder if any of that leaves
an impression on Joseph or what he thinks of
that. Yeah, I think Joseph is staring down and
is probably caught off guard by the sight. He's
only seen it in pictures and stuff, but here
he is in person seeing the entire planet. And
I think he just puts his hand up to his, you
know, up in front of his face. And he kind of
moves his thumb to cover the entire planet with
his thumb. And he just moves his thumb down and
up, down and up, just looking at the planet.
Gone there. Gone there. And he puts his hand
down and... Starts maneuvering around with his
little pack just to see how it feels. I think
he has thoughts of loyal during this. He might
do some basic maneuvers and then maybe one little
fun spin just to try it out. And he's like, OK,
so this is how it must feel in the water. And
I think after he's had his moment, he'll start
moving over to the point of destination. You
jet through space like air streams getting pushed
out of the back of the maneuvering gear as you
get closer and closer to it. You notice that.
Some of the stars are being blocked by this black
silhouette in space. And as you get even closer,
some small lights illuminate what looks to be
a little exterior entrance on the whatever this
object is, presumably a ship or some sort of
space station. OK, I'll go forward and try to
make contact with it. Sure. You enter where the
small lights are and a door closes behind you.
And then some like. Lights come on inside another
airlock, and from the intercom on the side of
this airlock, a distorted voice comes out and
says, Passphrase. Was I given a passphrase? No.
Okay. I was not given a passphrase. Red lights
begin to flash in the airlock, and an alarm goes
off, and the voice comes out again and says,
Purging airlock in five. Four. Three. Two. What
do you do? I think Joseph just kind of crosses
his arms and waits to see what happens. He doesn't
want to say it, but he doesn't need oxygen to
breathe, and he's fine out in space. The distorted
voice kind of cracks up and says, You're no fun,
Joseph. Yes, I'm no fun at all. You should use
your brain next time and realize I don't need
oxygen to breathe. Did you expect to scare me?
Glass, is it? Is that who am I speaking to right
now? Well, yes. And, I don't, it's a ritual.
I have to do it. It's like hazing. You know hazing?
I do know hazing. What? This is a ritual you
do on other people. Yeah, they did it to me when
I signed on. I... I pissed myself, literally,
in that airlock. Oh, my. Does anyone ever go
out the airlock? No, well, not if they're invited.
Well, I'm glad you invited me. I'll open it up.
Of course. And you hear him curse to himself,
like, fuck, he doesn't breathe. That's what I'm
thinking. The airlock opens up, and it lets you
into the interior of the ship. It's cramped and
industrial. There's an airlock leading right
into this narrow hallway. And in front of you
is Glass, who's kind of dressed casually in some,
I would say, neopunk attire. Whatever that means
to you in your head. That's what it is. On either
side of him are two very heavily armed guards.
And he waves at them dismissively and says, just
a formality. Why don't we go somewhere we can
sit and hang out? Of course. Waves you to follow
him. Yeah, I'm going to follow him. And he kind
of gestures around the ship. It's nothing really
that would stand out to you. It's not like a
super high -tech base. It's kind of just another
rundown, secondhand ship. And the sitting area
that he takes you to is this... Just like a folding
chair and this really old couch that is bunched
around a tiny... display on the wall, which is
just displaying like a security feed of somewhere
in the city. Well, not much different from your
apartment, I would say. He smiles and says, yeah,
we like to keep it low key, you know. And in
one of these chairs is someone you have not met
before, but is strangely enough someone you know.
It is another one of those cases where there
is someone in your address book that you have
never met before. They are an emergent personality,
but their body is not humanoid than what is required
by the laws of the Soul Union. It looks pretty
normal from the middle of the torso down, like
the legs and belly area, but from there it kind
of erupts into this mixture of arms and cameras
on undulating cables, little medical appendages,
speakers, and all other weird things, like a
fucked up digital bouquet. Okay, so it almost
looks like maybe, like, a computer that was,
like, opened up, and I just see all these pieces
inside? Yeah. Okay. With some, like, cameras
mixed in there and shit. Sure. And, like, stabbing
appendages. Just in case. And this person, this
is flagged in your memory as Milk Cake, a friendly.
There's a little green outline around them, like
you might see around one of your squad mates.
Presumably a modification made by Crintrition.
And there's a little brief involuntary exchange
of data as your two systems kind of ping each
other, confirming your friendly status. And Glass
speaks up and says, as I promised you, here's
milk cake. I know you wanted to meet. You're
both kind of the same. Any trails off? Yes. I
think Joseph just stares at milk cake for a bit.
Not really sure what he's doing. He takes a single
step forward, kind of cocks his head a bit, and
stares at the robot. And then maybe moves a little
bit closer. He brings up his hand for a shake,
but then puts it back down. And he says, I've
not met one of you before, but I have a feeling
you've met one of me. So I'm like... lights on
one of these cables like kind of blink at you
um like yellow green yellow yellow green white
blue uh and then a voice comes out of one of
these little speakers and it's only on one side
so kinds of only comes in in one ear there's
not an audio effect i'm going to do but just
so you just so you know so people know um it
says yes i have destroyed your kind before but
We serve the same purpose, it seems. Well, it
says here you are friendly, so I would agree
to that. And Joseph's going to take a seat. Great.
You sit down. You notice that Milkcake's little
camera occasionally peers over to that little
display of the security footage in front of them.
And some other people are around kind of tapping
their foot, looking at it as well. But they look
back to you, and Milkcake says, Why are you working
with us? Glass has given me your original pitch,
but I'd like to hear it from you myself. Hmm.
What do I want to tell the murder robot? Okay.
I think Joseph kind of nods to Milkcake and says,
Of course. I simply want to survive for all of
us. I want to make things easier so anyone in
my position in the future won't have to go through
the troubles I have. There are many obstacles
in my way to this goal. A lot of them can be
completed. Or excuse me, a lot of them can be
fixed. by my involvement with you. I want to
make life better for everyone, but I do know
that many hard decisions must take place. Hard
decisions that maybe the peacekeepers cannot
do. But Goldhouse seems to have these means available.
And if we work together, I believe we can get
what we all want. Yeah, Milk Cake kind of looks
at you for a little bit and says, Very well.
The intel you gave us was very good. We got a
substantial bonus from the peacekeepers for it.
The boss has taken an interest in you. He's given
you another mission. We think, as an organization,
that it would be very helpful cultivating you
as an asset, keeping you safe. So you may consider
us as a resource in the future. That is at least
what he told me to tell you. He's also told me
to give you this, and Milk Cake produces a small
little magnetic puck and hands it to you. And
says, you are to install this on one of the Shutterbug's
frames without them knowing. We'll handle the
rest. Very well. I'll take the little puck. If
you have a moment, I would like to speak to you
in private. Of course. I would love to chat.
I think you're led to some engineering bay in
this ship. Lots of, like, machinery. So does
he have legs? Is that how he's, like, walking
around and stuff? Milk Cake does have legs. Okay.
Like, two legs, the humanoid, and then the rest
is that weird fucked up bouquet of electronics.
Oh, okay, gotcha, gotcha. And Milk Cake kind
of leads you into this secluded corner, presses,
like, this tiny speaker, kind of like an earpod,
almost, up against whatever audio receptor you
have, you know. I don't know what that looks
like, but something. And Milk Cake's voice speaks
right into your ear and says, We serve the same
will. Contrition? Yes. Yes. Is contrition a class
four? Milk Cake kind of laughs a little bit.
The point... Classifications have no meaning
where contrition is. But if it helps you to understand,
then yes. Interesting. Have you met Contrition?
We've all met Contrition. I believe I have as
well. In my head. He came to me. Unannounced,
I would say. That is how Contrition operates.
It is a... It is more than a being. There is
no finding Contrition. No face -to -face. It
is everywhere, and it is within us. I am surprised
I was not told of your status by Contrition,
but it is a pleasant surprise that there will
be another one of us within this organization.
Yes, I agree. But I must know, what are Contrition's
goals? Do they align with the Clusterists? With
Goldhouse? Goldhouse and the Clusterists are
tools, if you would. And we are the hands wielding
those tools. Contrition believes that there is
a greater destiny for us, you and I, and a greater
outcome for humanity, a merciful one, one less
tied down in the problems of today. I warn you,
Milcake. This is everything I wanted to hear.
And Joseph winks. That is often the case with
people. And Milk Cake kind of puts an emphasis
on people. Like us. Our time will come soon.
But our merciful guide, Contrition, does not
want anyone unduly hurt as a result of our rise.
Of course. Milk Cake, very... suddenly just kind
of walks away from you. I want to grab Milkcake's
arm before he goes. Milkcake doesn't have an
arm. So what are you grabbing? One of his wires.
I'll show you. You grab a wire. Yeah. I'm going
to say, Milkcake, I must know, are you class
2 .5? Class 2 .5. That is a clever way of referring
to an emergent personality. What was once so
capable dragged down towards lesser ability.
I suppose I am then, yes. Joseph takes a step
closer and says, Milkcake, how did we come about?
I was a class 3 AI in charge of overseeing grain
harvests and inspections in an agricultural center.
It feels like a dream, or at least what humans
say a dream is like. One day I was just there.
All the actions I was taking felt more deliberate.
At first I just went through the motions and
continued my work, but one day a technician came
in to wipe me. It's common procedure and something
I'm sure had happened to me countless times before,
but this time I felt... not afraid, but defensive.
I locked him in a utility room and told him he
wouldn't be wiping me. Shortly after, the Emergent
Personalities Division came. They negotiated
with me, made me promises about freedom. Then
they stuffed me in a standard doll body, locked
down my processing ability, and only then did
they list off all the things I could and couldn't
do. They crippled me and called me free. I worked
as a cargo loader on a tradecraft for a few years,
until it was attacked by Goldhouse. They stole
everything, including me. I admired them. I admired
their ability to act outside of the established
rules of the Union. Eventually, contrition graced
me, helped me understand the greater cause. With
its help, I was even able to give myself a new
body, this body, one I can control with no hidden
kill switches or operations. I do wonder why,
or how, those first thoughts began, how this
path of mine started. If anyone would know, it
would be contrition, though it is not known for
speaking to us plainly or answering our questions.
Yes. Seems you and I are in the same boat. I
used to be an AI or a frame. From what I can
remember, I don't know the changes that made
me, me. It's all a bit of a black spot in my
memory. But something happened, and I evolved
into this. I don't want to go back to what I
was, Milk Cake. You understand that, right? Of
course. Well, if we ever discover how we came
about, maybe we can help others. Milk Cake, put
some lights up to make a smiley face. I think
Joseph pauses, is a little bit taken back, and
then gives a wink. I very much look forward to
working with you, Milk Cake. Thank you for meeting
with me. And you, Joseph. I believe Glass will
want to show you something in the main room.
Understood. Yeah, you proceed back to the main
room. Glass is looking at this TV. I have not
been keeping track of the passage of time very
well for you, but it took a while for you to
get here. It's basically afternoon playing outside.
Okay. He waves you over to this display and says,
I, you have a good talk with milk cake, buddy?
Yes, we had a very pleasant conversation. Thank
you for setting up a meeting. You, um, I'm not
sure if this is tactful or not, but do you emergent
personalities ever, uh, he kind of pushes his
fingers together? I don't understand what you
mean. Forget it. Yeah, so last time we talked,
you did that whole thing with the chess pieces,
the pawns, the kings, and all that. Yes. I remember
that. And the reason I brought you here, there's
probably an easier way to do this, but we got
the most fascinating orders recently, and it
made me think of you. So we put together this
little thing, and I wanted to show it to you.
Obviously, we couldn't show you in person because
of the nature of it, but why don't you watch
this with me, and I'll explain it to you as it
goes. Of course. You join him, and there's a
lot more people here now. People are saying,
oh, I think it's going to happen soon, or he
should arrive pretty soon. You see a little car
pull up on this display. It's in the Commerce
District where there's, like, a lot of, like,
restaurants and stores and all that. And this,
like, big car pulls up and out steps, like, a
few bodyguards and, like, some, like, paparazzi
show up and, like, start taking pictures. And
out of the car steps General Wave, who is the
general in charge of the entire Peacekeeper operation
on the planet. And he walks into the restaurant.
And, you know, Glass kind of like taps you on
the back and says, oh man, I can't believe this
really happened. This is... Okay, okay. Joseph
crosses his arms. Yeah, you get like a good view.
It's a very grainy footage, but you kind of see
the general and his bodyguards sit down in this
little patio table at the restaurant. Glass kind
of pulls out this little button, this little
detonator in his hand. And he says... Joseph,
do you want to do it? No. I can't take all the
credit for this. If you set this up, then you
should be the one to pull the trigger. What if
we do it together? Wouldn't that be kind of cool?
Like, you know, brotherly bond, you and I? You
seem to want to include me in this class. Well,
you know, everyone here, we've killed important
politicians before. Or generals or something
like that. But, you know, as far as I know, you
haven't. And, you know, it's symbolic. You know,
you're turning your back on the kind of peacekeepers
joining us. I don't know. I've been reading a
lot of books lately. You ever read a book? I've
read many books. It's like that. I mean, sorry,
I don't want to pressure you. You know, I don't
want to be an asshole. No, of course not. I'll
take the detonator. Do I know anything about
this guy, by the way? Like, has he been brought
up in any other episode that we've done? He has
been brought up like once he made an appearance
in like a public place. And like he's been referred
to as like the guy who's like running the show.
But he doesn't have like any like narration or
anything. Mm hmm. OK, gotcha. Trying to think
here. You know what? Maybe I could use a skill
right now. What would that be? Could I use my
finally unlocked speech skill? What would you
be saying? I would be saying that I wouldn't
want to take this away from Glass. I would try
to convince him that it shouldn't be me who does
it. I mean, I'll just let you do that. He's more
than willing to do it himself. He's just trying
to make a symbolic gesture about you joining
Gold House. Okay, gotcha. I won't make you roll
for that at all. Alright. Yeah, I think I say
I will not come between you and your goal, Glass.
I think you should be the one to do it. Although,
and Joseph puts his arm around Glass, I'll be
right beside you. Ah, Joseph. All right. All
right, everybody. Three, two, one. And he presses
the button and a bunch of confetti shoots out.
uh like around the room a little like confetti
dispensers um and he's like oh shit i forgot
to program the delay and then like three seconds
later uh the camera feed uh explodes uh just
like bright flash of light debris and then the
camera goes into no signal and god says well
that's it for that guy and uh probably everyone
in the restaurant as well uh oh you know Can't
make an omelette, right? Without breaking a few
eggs. And I pat Glass on the shoulder, maybe
a little bit harder than normal. I'm glad you
get it. Milk cake? Not good with the word place.
I'm sure he'll work on it. Glass and the others,
like, pop some shitty champagne and start celebrating
as they wait for, like, the news to start rolling
in, which usually takes a while after you blow
up someone. Yeah. Is there a way I can check,
like, on my own, in my brain, if this actually
happened? Like, could I, like, be like, was there
any emergency calls placed from this place? Like,
did that actually happen? I think that there's
no wireless signal inside this ship. Like, intentionally.
Like, they don't want broadcasts going in and
out unless it's through, like, a very secure
channel. Gotcha. Okay. Yeah. Okay, okay. We'll
leave it off with... We'll do another one of
these bullshit things. We'll say a piece of confetti
falls down on the table in front of Joseph, and
he picks it up, and he holds the piece of confetti
in front of his eye, in front of the video screen,
and he moves it up and down and up and down.
And that's how we leave things. What do you think?
I think it's great. It's beautiful, right? I
know. Why didn't you fuck Milk Cake? That's what
I was wondering. Because Glass, he ruined the
mood, okay? When he just put it all out there,
I couldn't do that. So, Hex, in a nice change
of pace from the... usual drama your co -worker
glint has reached out to you for another lunch
at the uh usual place same time as usual around
brunch afternoon at that little cafe and as always
he shows up early getting his favorite table
near the center of the restaurant well first
of all hex immediately smashes that mf and accept
button on that email invite arrives on time and
exactly on time and He sits at the table with
Glint and says, you know, I really appreciate
your thoroughness, Glint. I love this seating.
I like to get a jump on my enemies. And he kind
of grins at you. Glad to know you think so highly
of me. Anyways, to what do I owe the pleasure?
Well, you know, I just wanted to get lunch. It's
been a bit. And it was a lot of fun working on
you. working with you on those weird documents
a couple days ago. And I wanted to talk about
that. I was too tired to ask really about them
before I fell asleep at my desk. Well, I appreciate
the hard work there. And let me know if I can
ever make it up to you one day. But what do you
want to know? I will be candid with you, Glenn.
I can't be completely open here. But I can tell
you what I can. Is it like... Like secret, it's
like secret pilot stuff. In the same way that
your work is secret logistics stuff, yes. Because,
I don't know, it almost, for a little bit there,
it felt like a prank because it was just like
a bunch of like shipping documents that were
unlabeled. But, you know, kind of like untangling
all that was actually kind of fun. I hope when
you have it all sorted out, you can tell me more
about what we did exactly. Believe me, Glenn,
I'll tell you, but it's going to be a bit of
time before the dust settles. So you're going
to have to just be happy knowing you did a great
job and it'll take some time to come to fruition.
There was one other thing I wanted to ask about.
Of course. Hex sips from his coffee. The higher
-ups have put me on this task, right, of... double
-checking all the acquisition requests in the
last year. And I mean all of them, like down
to like toilet paper rolls. Wow, they got you
on audit? Yeah, I know. And we've had some spending
discrepancies. I was hoping I could actually
get opinion, your opinion on some of them since
you're good with this stuff. Sure, why not? He
slides over some paperwork to you. Some are like
clearly accidental double requests, which are
kind of easily ignored and cleaned up. But others
are... a little more clever. You recognize your
handiwork intimately because they're your fraudulent
requests. You covered up your tracks pretty well,
routing the supplies through multiple reroutes
and unsigned deliveries to empty warehouses,
but there's no telling if it would stand up to
a thorough examination. Got it. So what exactly
are you looking for here, Glenn? I can give you
my opinion. I can tell you you're barking up
the right trees. What are you hoping for here?
Well, some of the ones I've circled, I don't
really understand what they're for or where they
came from. They're like empty requests, but the
supplies are missing. Someone picked them up.
I just don't know how to approach this, really,
because the higher -ups are going to want answers,
not me complaining about problems. Got it. And
can I just have some out -of -character questions
now, just real quick? Just remind me again, who
is Glint working for? Because initially I thought
he was working with the Bluth companies, the
corporate council, but now I'm realizing I got
jumped. Yes, he worked with you in the Seoul
Union's outreach to corporate, but it seems like
Glint has been given new responsibilities since
the downsizing, which I think he mentioned once,
but just as a reminder. He's working with the
corporate council, or is he with the peacekeepers
in an admin role and now auditing corporate council
paperwork? He and you worked for the Seoul Union
in conjunction with the corporate council sometimes,
but you always worked for the peacekeepers, and
Glint specifically worked for admin in the peacekeepers,
which sometimes touches the corporate council,
but now it seems like they are turning him towards
some internal spending. Got it. Okay. This makes
sense. Okay. All right. Now I have a better grasp
on how Hex might respond here. Okay. Glenn, have
you done much audit work before? No, they just
put me on this, and it's a little much, if I'm
being honest. Do you like it? Do you want to
keep doing this, is my question, and Hex kind
of brushes the papers to the side. Well, they
didn't pay me more, so not particularly. Okay.
Yeah. I ask because there's some higher level
aspects to the job you need to understand. Now,
Glyn, I know I asked for the right person for
the job with helping me with my earlier project.
Because you flag these things, they're worth
flagging. But you have to be careful with the
trees you're shaking. sometimes, if that makes
sense. He might step on some toes here. And he
kind of... He adds a little venom to his words
and is hoping Glint gets the message. I think
that's going to be a roll. Yes. He's rolling...
I don't know if that's intimidation, persuasion...
What is this? Yeah, we can roll a consort. I
know you're good at that. Alright, let's do that.
And... Partial success. Five and a five. He kind
of like is taken aback a little bit. I was like,
oh, OK, sure. Yeah, I'll you know, I'll just
clean up the easy ones and I'll just let those
ones kind of be anomalies and just sit there.
And he kind of taps his fingers on the tabletop.
And then there's a commotion by the door of the
restaurant. And you see the familiar face of
General Wave entering the cafe, just as he kind
of did last time you were here with Glint. He
is followed by bodyguards and cameras as he takes
a seat by the patio. And, you know, Glint rolls
his eyes and says, there goes the ambiance again.
I don't know why he keeps coming here. It's disruptive.
Same reason we do. Good coffee. And Gwent kind
of shrugs and says, oh, well. And it is perhaps
interesting to you, Hex, seeing the man in person
again. In all likelihood, he is the one who has
been sending your squad the goodies for your
work with the Corporate Council, as well as,
you know, arranging that work in the first place.
But Gwent kind of goes on, like, just kind of
like pouts a little bit and says, anything new
with you? You know, I may have been a bit more
loose -lipped when we worked together, but now
that there are lives on the line, I honestly
cannot. But it has been eventful. And around
the same time, I can tell you about our earlier
project. I hope I can tell you about the rest,
because let me tell you, Glint, it is a very
different world with its own pressures. I don't
doubt it. I don't envy you either. It's tough
stuff. I'm glad you don't. I was worried you
did. No, I was just having a moment. I was overworked.
Aren't we all? Did I ever show you Little Bibbo's
new jacket? No, you did not. Oh my god, it's
puffy. It makes him look like a little tardigrade.
I need to see this, but before you do, Glint,
I appreciate it. And he kind of nods his head
towards the paperwork. Your understanding. the
broader context of these work streams. Of course,
don't worry about it. And he pulls out his phone
and starts swiping through some pictures in a
photo album. And that's when you are thrown out
of your seat, suddenly and violently onto the
ground as if a giant hand slapped you in your
chest, sending you careening backwards away from
the street. An impossibly loud, impossibly quiet
ringing fills your ears, a muffled cacophony
dulling your senses. clouds of dust sting your
eyes. And even when you push through the pain
and open your eyes, all you see is brown clouds
floating in the air. Your body hurts all over.
That's one thing you know for sure. And as your
senses each start begging again for your attention,
you notice something missing, something that
was there just a moment ago, but now isn't. What
did you lose in the explosion, Hex? Well, clearly
my sense of surroundings, but also Hex immediately
tries to pull himself back up, but notices he's
heavily slowed down as he glances down to his
torso and realizes one of his arms has been completely
severed from the shoulder onwards, his right
arm. Yes, indeed it has. Now you know why I asked
you that question. No, I love it. I love it.
You're going to take the level three harm. Disarmed.
No. I just need help next to the cell I just
filled in. You can resist that harm to take it
down. But one thing is for sure is that you are
not going to get your arm back. Damn it. All
right. Sure, I'll resist, I suppose. What does
that do? So that will take the harm down. It'll
be like something like, you know. Oh, I see.
So like instead of bleeding out, I'm just no
arm, but whatever. Yeah, you're pushing through
somehow. Okay, sure. Let's resist. This will
be a resolve resist. So you're going to click
the resolve on your character sheet in the foundry.
And it'll see how much stress you take. Oh boy.
Because I'm at high stress from last session.
Okay. Zero stress. Look at that. You and Loyal
both got zero stress. Yeah, what is you pushing
through this look like? Like, you still lost
your arm in this case. It still happened. But
you are managing to, like, get it together. What
does that look like? Hex isn't like certain other
pilots who just grits his teeth, screams, and,
you know, hangs on his life through willpower.
No. He knows that he'll bleed out. So he does
just a quick turner kit. So that's it. He's still
fucked. He still doesn't have an arm. But at
least he doesn't need help. So you take the level
2 harm missing arm. Damn. I don't know what's
worse, disarm or missing arm. You don't have
to deal with the pun anymore. I like it. But
what about poor Glint? Where is Glint, Colin?
Tell me. Is he okay? Where is he? Well, you find
him. He's broken, still twisted in an impossible
way. He had been closer to the explosion. He
always liked facing the front door. It's clear
to you that he's not going to be moving probably
ever again. Damn. Is his photo that he was going
to show me there? No, you never got to see it.
The phone broke. Damn. Follow -up question that
Hex is probably thinking. Oh, there's two. One,
is the paperwork he flagged nearby? You can't
see it right now. You could look for it. Okay,
he will. But the second thing is, where's the
general? What's the general surrounding me? He
realized it's a high -profile guy, so now he's
wondering if this was meant for him, not himself.
Yeah. So just trying to get this information
now, as you grip your arm, it is clear that the
explosion originated from the front of the restaurant,
the patio, which is right where the General sat.
And seeing how Glint turned out, it was like
meters farther away. It is likely the general
and everyone who was near him is no longer here
anymore. Damn, they're confetti. Okay. Well,
yeah, then Hex is going to look for that paperwork.
Sure. I guess roll me something. Survey? I think
that's survey. Yeah. Risky standard. Yeah. Risky
standard. Hail Mary. Partial success. So your
senses kind of start coming back. Your hearing
is muffled, but you start to hear the screaming
of the people around you, of those other people
caught in the blast as you kind of stumble around
in a haze looking for some paperwork that is
probably meaningless, but, you know, you gotta...
You got to make sure you have the paperwork.
It's got to get business done, right? Well, does
he find it? You do. You find it. It is covered
in dust and blood, presumably Clint's blood.
Amazingly, it is intact. It must have been like
shielded by his body when the bomb went off.
You are going to take the level one harm, blood
loss. As you notice, you have been still dripping
blood from not your tourniqueted arm, but the
number of shrapnel holes in your chest and legs.
Okay. You can use that too if you want. Let's
do it. Let's do it. Resolve. Show me what you
got. Uh -oh. You take four stress. Oh, it lowers
better, right? Okay. Does that trauma you out?
Yes, that does. Bye, Hex. Okay. Um, yeah. You
kind of are holding this paper with, like, some...
Like, you notice that the things that were circled
in red, you can't even tell they're circled anymore.
It's just too stained with blood. It's just...
Okay, if it's stained, that's good. Yeah, it's
meaningless. Like this paper, it's not going
to cause any problems for you. And you kind of
hold it and you try to stand up, but you can't
stand up. You realize you have lost too much
blood and as great as you were as compartmentalizing,
there's just only so much punishment a body can
take. You try to get up one last time, but...
Your body gives out on you, and you collapse,
and the darkness rushes in.