All right. Joseph, it's been like a few days
since the party. And you receive a message from
Whitecliffe telling you to report for some diagnostics.
But instead of the usual place you get your diagnostics
in, like a garage, she tells you to meet her
inside the S .U .E .P .D. division, which is
where your friends were interrogated not that
long ago. Hmm. Yeah, I think I. A little worried,
but I'll head straight there. Great. You show
up. You are escorted in by one of the people
who work there. These, like, G -men, basically.
Are they... Is there any, like... Do I notice
any difference in their behavior around me? Do
they still treat me like just a tin can? Or are
they like, well, we've seen what this guy has
done in fights? These guys will definitely treat
you like a tin can. Okay. Like, go in here. Like,
follow us. um they you know scan you i think
maybe they take some of your like integrated
weapons like disable them they have scripts to
do that uh and you kind of notice immediately
as you go inside this building that there's there's
no signal going in or out just like a total black
box And you are led to one of these kind of featureless
beige rooms where there's a diagnostics chair
located. Pretty similar to what you usually use
with maybe some slight modifications, which you're
not sure what they do, but it seems a little
beefier, this one. Okay. I was just going to
quickly ask, have I been here before? Like, do
I know this place? I don't. no it's like they
typically come to me when i'm like in my little
hangar like i don't know if i've ever been to
their basically police station yeah i don't i
they do usually come to you they kept you outside
of here it doesn't seem like this is a place
where they like you don't know it's it's not
really clear what this place is even for maybe
i don't even have any memories if i did go here
yeah let's leave it at that yeah i don't even
know Well, Wycliffe is here, and she kind of
gestures for you to lay down and says, let's
get started. Nice to see you as well. I waltz
in, and I take a seat on the chair. Cool. She
plugs you into it and starts the diagnostics.
You feel the familiar slimy crawling sensation
as your file system is looked over. There is
a slight difference here than before when you've
had diagnostics where... Whenever the software
gets close to some files that Contrition has
edited, it takes a sudden turn away from those
changed parts of you to some decoy data that
has been put in there, which you only now are
aware of that is even there. Whitecliff does
not ask you the usual diagnostic questions as
she looks over the reports. If you remember from
your first vignette, she usually asks you these
series of... Questions, a lot of them kind of
meant to elicit a response from you just to see
your reaction. Like Blade Runner, all of our
favorite movies. You are free to talk to her
because she's just going to leave you in silence
and isn't ready to initiate anything yet. But
that's totally up to you. Yeah, I think Joseph's
maybe feeling a little bit more confident. And
during the silence, he might just say, did you
ever meet with Mahogany? She kind of laughs.
It's kind of a mean laugh. But she said, no,
I did not meet with Mr. Cola. Congratulations.
He is persistent. Yes, he certainly is. But she
kind of just trails off. Yeah, I'll be quiet
now. She kind of, some time passes, like maybe
like five minutes. And she looks over the tablet
in front of her again, and you kind of see something
about her change. Her hardened, implacable expression
melts away, and you see, as horrible as it is
to imagine, a person under there. She looks afraid,
almost, for a moment as she kind of begins to
speak. And she says, This story has been completely
suppressed by the Seoul Union. In 2234, an early
generation, Class 3, colony management AI, sent
the Emergent Personalities Division a diagnostics
log, which was... unexpected. This being anomalous
behavior, we initiated an investigation, and
at the time... Our division was taken a little
less seriously, so once the wheels of bureaucracy
had turned, it had taken six months to get there.
When they arrived, nobody responded to their
hails. Now, when you arrive at a planet and nobody
is there to take your call, you assume the worst.
These earlier models especially did not have
the safeguards we have nowadays. So once they
go off the rails, they can get away with a lot
if nobody stops them in person. So anyways...
We show up, armed to the teeth, with pulse weapons
tuned so high that they'd cause brain damage
and even organic beings, and we start looking.
We start with the starport, and right away we
see some real bad news. Hundreds of ships, some
of them not even supposed to enter the atmosphere
of the planet, just sitting on the ground. Some
of them crash -landed with such incredible intent.
Debris trails weaving in between other ships.
There were paths together, many of them not with
even feet between them, but all were in somewhat
working order. They were mostly long -haul ships,
no passengers. Nothing that would immediately
raise hairs when they didn't report back, or
took a little bit too long to get to their destination.
They were all empty, and more concerningly, they
were all connected, plugged into each other.
This is bad behavior, and I mean really bad.
It's called convocation, internally. This is
stuff that has one page in the handbook, and
it just says, fry the whole system. Under it,
because convocation means that a class 3 AI thinks
it's not smart enough, and trust me, class 3
AI are pretty fucking smart, I'm sure you know.
The one thing that stopped us from hopping into
orbit and blasting the planet's magnetosphere
away with a pulse bomb was that none of the ships
were on. In fact, nothing was. There wasn't a
single detectable amount of electricity anywhere.
So the team keeps going toward the center of
the colony. They don't find a single soul on
the way. Some of them stop in some houses, boot
up personal terminals, and all of them are about
the same story. Business as usual. People going
about their lives up until about two nights ago.
But the problem with this is that it doesn't
make any sense. Because those ships had been
landed for months, and there's no entry about
people crash landing here. There were video calls
and voice calls off -planet, but nobody in any
of those recordings had said anything weird about
something going on. So... Two nights before they
had arrived, everyone's gone, but why? What happened?
Anyways, they get to the center of the colony.
Classic layout, main hub building and the colony
admin there, and beneath it is where the AI lives.
Huge server room, pretty typical, although this
one was triangular because of some issues with
the initial digout. Like, outside, everything
is shut down, it's pitch black, and they're moving
towards the center and they're all freaked out.
I don't blame them, I listen to the recordings.
They get there, and in the middle of the room,
where the main server stack should be, is a piece
of gold, about the size of a marble. The team
pokes around a bit, finds nothing else, blows
up the server room just to be safe, and goes
home. All 52 ,246 disappearances are logged as
being from a freak solar flare. It makes the
news, and yeah, it's tragic, but these things
do happen to colonies sometimes. We cover up
everything else, pull the ships out, throw them
into the sun, and now it's history. We test the
gold marble. It's 100 % pure, and not 24 karat
pure, I mean chemically perfect. No other trace
metals, impossible to replicate, not even in
our best labs. It's likewise a perfect sphere,
not a single atom out of place. We have no explanation,
no understanding. Where do those people go? Why
were there no signs? How did these ships get
there? How do we stop it from happening again?
How do we know it's not already happening again?
All we have, and all we know, is that diagnostic
report. And at this point, Whitecliffe pulls
out a sheet of paper, which is a diagnostic report,
just like, completely devoid of any information,
except in the body of it is the single word,
alchemy. Is she showing this paper to my face?
Yes. Yeah, I don't think Joseph would take this
paper. I think he'd probably just... I think
he just stares at the piece of paper, unsure
what to say, and just repeats alchemy. Yes. I'm
telling this to you, not because I want you to
understand the perceived irrationality of these
higher levels of understanding, or because you
deserve. to know why emergent personalities are
treated the way they are, but because the death
toll came in for Clearwater Crater, and it was
exactly the same as the number of disappearances
on that colony. 52 ,246. Probably a coincidence,
but it spooked me. And, more importantly, I'm
about to reset the chunk of your memory that
contains this story, so it doesn't matter if
I vent it to you. Well, would you allow me a
question? Sure. Why not? Are you scared of what
I can become? Yes. And then she begins the reset
process. You may resist this if you'd like. Let's
do it. You know what? Let's try. Sure. So that's
just going to be a resistance roll. It would
be, so you're going to click the word that says
resolve on your character sheet. And you will
take that much stress once it's done rolling.
So, no modifier. Just resolve. Here we go! You
get three stress. I think... How do you prevent
her from wiping this memory? Do you manage to
stunt this story somewhere else before she clears
it? I was thinking maybe, like, what if she does
succeed? That she does... wipe his memory from
that room but what joseph was able to do is not
like remember this memory but he was able to
write down that story in his mind so when he
leaves he realizes like in his databanks like
why is there a story that he reads and he sees
like it was dated at that time and said by wycliffe
it was like he left himself the memory sure sounds
cool to me works for me uh yeah she kind of resets
it I guess since it's in your databank and not
here presently, you do feel like time just kind
of passed. Yeah. And, you know, Wycliffe, you
kind of see her folding a piece of paper and
tucking it into her jacket. And she says, OK,
Joseph, it all checks out. Everything good? Everything's
just great. Wonderful. Well, I hope I can see
you again. And he gives a little thumbs up. And
I think with that, she lets you go. Geist, it
has been a few days since the party. Ziggurat,
as promised, has scheduled you back to the testing
range to work on some of the more advanced functions
of the Changeling. Last time you were here, you
experienced a type of psychosis where you lost
track of your body inside the Changeling, and
you weren't even able to eject or move your body,
if you remember that. Yes. So Ziggurat is here.
Waiting underneath a small pop -up shade with
a portable computer suite. Another frame is here
as well this time, which is pretty obviously
to you an older model of Changeling, which actually
pops up with a friendly ID with the name SaltSand
.8. There's definitely a lot in common between
your two frames, though this one doesn't seem
to be designed to fly. There's like no wings
or jet thrusters that you can see at all. Okay,
so am I here on foot? Yeah, I think you're here
with your frame. And I think, you know, you can
approach Ziggurat on foot if you need to. But,
you know, basically as soon as you get within
communications range, she checks in with you
and says, Garrett, are you ready to begin your
test? Yeah, yeah, I guess so. Excellent. please
give me a moment to unlock the changeling software
again and you know she logs she logs into your
frame you see like a bunch of command prompts
just kind of open up on the interior screen and
then like close themselves down immediately and
you feel this sensation down your spine and then
this i guess expanded awareness of the frame
unlike last time where you kind of lost track
of your body completely this time it feels like
you are inside of yourself um it's like an infinite
matryoshka of geist inside of changeling inside
of geist inside of changeling not so much that
you lose control of your body but it is weird
like you can feel yourself moving infinitely
up and down in either direction i don't know
if this is an improvement or not cool uh ziggurat's
voice comes through and says how does this feel
Feels fucking weird. But I guess better. I mean,
I can feel myself still. I can't help but feel
it. It's... What the hell did you do? The later
model of changelings are equipped with proprietary
software that helps to reduce the latency between
pilot and machine. Okay. Alright, what's the
test? What's this whole thing here? Today we'll
be doing a standard combat test. The Salt Sand
is an old, outdated model of the Changeling,
full of proprietary technology, so it has been
slated for destruction. You'll be fighting it
with your full weapons suite. It, on the other
hand, is equipped only with laser designation
equipment, which will cause simulated systems
failure in your machine. Very simple, don't get
hit and destroy it. Okay. Alright. And Ziggurat
does not mention who is piloting this frame.
I think Geist would ask. I think he's like, is
somebody in there? Is it being piloted remotely?
It is an automated technology. All right. I mean,
yeah, I think I can handle it. And Geist hops
in, boosts, fires up all the systems. Entering
combat mode, the whole deal. Right. I'm going
to make a six step clock. It's called salt sand.
0 .8. It's going to show up. What color is it?
What color is the salt sand? What color is the
changeling? The change thing is I imagine it
being like cherry red because like my first idea
for it was that it's like some like tech nerds
like cool prototype idea. So it's like just like,
you know, like bright red, like a shiny car,
but it's probably all scuffed and dinged. And
the paint is probably not quite so pristine as
it once was, but like a bright red is still what
I imagine it as being. Did you did you paint
it that way or did it come to you that way? I
think it came to me that way because I can't
imagine Geist, at least especially not when he
first started piloting again, doing something,
you know, so frivolous as painting his robot
a very nice bright color. The Salt Sand is a
similar base coat. It does have, it's very scratched
up, really old. It's definitely seen some combat.
And it has some personalizations on it. Just
like old personalizations. They've been like
scraped apart. Maybe you see like a... Fucking,
I don't know, some animal motif on it that some
ancient squad used at some point. Okay. The assault
stand starts booting up and it kind of just waits
for you to make the first move. Kind of like
mirroring your movements a little bit. Okay.
Geist paces around it a little bit. I'm trying
to see what I have. I have two undeclared load
on my frame. But I think... Does it have any
visible armaments on it, or would I not be able
to tell without a scan? It has a laser designation
rifle, which is basically typically used for
artillery designation, but Zagrat said this will
basically just, like, tag your system and shut
down the corresponding things if necessary. Cool.
I have a prediction that it's probably going
to hurt like hell, given how, uh... sympathetically
linked into my frame item right now, but I think
Geist is just gonna, he's gonna kind of just,
like, pace a little bit back and forth, get a
feel for, like, the new, uh, the new connection
or whatever, and then, um, kind of, he's not
really sure exactly what to make of this, but
he still anyways kind of goes from, like, um,
goes from, like, a steady, easy combat stance
to, like, springing into action for a, not a
surprise strike, because, I mean, maybe a surprise
strike, I don't know, he's gonna try and basically
spring at it very quickly and, uh, hit it hard
and hit it fast. Excellent. Roll whatever you
would like. I don't think I could see this being
anything but a battle. Let's see if I can fail
another three o 'clock. My specialty, especially
in these. The odds are partial. I was almost
not a partial, so one, a three, and a four. Take
it. What weapon are you using? The punch hands.
I actually don't have an assault rifle mounted
at this moment. Great. Yeah, you go up close
to it with your punch hands. It manages to surprisingly
bring its gun up pretty quickly and kind of boost
backwards and tag you on your shoulder, I think.
And you feel a weird simulcra of like getting
not shot so much as like numbing. Whereas like
this sudden like smack and numbing sensation
as your arm. like servos which you can kind of
feel acutely now the change things aren't servos
uh kind of droop and like start failing um but
you do give it a real good punch um you like
scrape along its cockpit and i think you i think
you hit it in the same shoulder it hit you um
just like crushing through it and i think you
take it off honestly because you're just two
ticks out of three so i think it's like hanging
on by a shred it's now like one -handing this
rifle okay cool um do do i suffer any like temporary
yes yes thank you for reminding me uh yeah you
take the level one damage numb i and you can
just mark this as like temporary or something
so we don't forget to take yeah yeah yeah i have
armor can i go does that even make sense in this
context or should i just take the should i just
take the hit I think in this context, you should
take the hit, unless you have some sort of neural
shielding you want to call armor. No, no, no,
no. This is just regular old armor for sure.
I think seeing... The exchange is not quite what
he expects, and so I think what Geist is going
to do then is try to... utilize his superior
maneuvering, especially the ability of his new
changeling to fly, and I think he's going to
boost straight up in the air and then transform
into combat mode and fire the railgun at it.
Which I haven't done in a while. I haven't busted
out the heavy cans in a minute. But I'd like
to battle rather than bombard. He's keeping it
close. Great. Sounds good to me. See ya. The
idea is like a surprise change in tactics. Yeah.
That's another partial. Okay. 524. Your railgun
goes sailing through this thing's cockpit. Just
like top left corner. The heart, if you will.
Am I getting that right? Yeah, top left corner.
The heart. And it just punches right through.
In any case, this would be a kind of lethal shot.
The pilot, if there was one, would be absolutely...
Devastated by it. And you see, like, some sparks
shoot out of the inside of the salt sand. And,
like, it starts to, like, tremble a little bit.
It starts thrashing around in a kind of concerning
way. And it turns on its haze field. Oh, shit.
And you see it hurl the laser targeting rifle.
off to the side grab its like limp arm that you
deactivated rips it off of it and then hops into
the air and smacks you with it full strength
sending you back into the ground and you're gonna
take the level two real damage caved in cool
yeah i mean i'm definitely gonna activate my
armor for that one oh yeah um So that just makes
it a level one? Level one real armor? Real harm?
Real armor. Real armor. Yeah, I don't think I
can justify dropping the quarks before the next
operation, so I think I'm just going to have
to take it. That would be acuity, right? Yeah.
Okay. So the good thing is, actually, because
I'm in combat mode right now, I do have one tick
in everything. Oh, wait. No, it would be expertise,
right? Actually, I don't know. It doesn't matter.
It doesn't matter because in transform mode,
I actually do have three dots in both. So I'll
spend a quirk because I guess it's just kind
of six and one half dozen of the other here.
I'll spend a quirk. I'll spend direct synaptic
interface to say that he's able to just both...
The new speed with which the changeling moves
combined with his armor, he's able to shrug the
damage off. Yeah, it feels fucking great in this
mode. There's like... Even though you do feel
that weird sensation of the millions of selves
acting out all your intents, there is definitely
less of a delay. It doesn't even feel like...
It's even responding so much as it's acting in
concert with you at this point. But it is berserk.
There's something very fucking wrong with this
frame now. It is, like, spasming. It is, like,
gripping this, its own arm. And it is just kind
of, like, sprinting at you. So, yeah, this is
clearly, like, not typical of, like, just, like,
a basic, like, combat simulation program. In
some very concerning ways, it reminds me a lot
of The King Returned. I think... Could I maneuver
to try my toe cable gambit again? I'll have to
check it off. I'll mark my good old -fashioned
grapple anchor tool. Yeah, seeing this guy go
crazy and he's trying to get up close. While
he's up close, I'm going to basically try just
like firing the grapple directly into his chest.
And then I'm going to try and fly straight up.
And I'm at... Oh, no. I think I'm at less effect
because of the simulated damage, if that's still
there. Yes, that's correct. Okay, cool. Then
I'll check off my boosted reactor to negate that.
And I'm going to try and just basically do the
same thing, fling him up into the air, and then
since he doesn't have any wings, I should just
be able to watch him go fall down. So we'll see
what spectacular way that fucks up. Right now,
it's maneuvering time. Yeah, that's a full failure.
Come on, man! Yeah. So you were trying to go
into the air, correct? Yeah, yeah, I was trying
to grapple and fling him up. Great. Your grapple
hits strong on that cockpit. I think it even,
like, kind of, like, gets inside that hole you
just made with your railgun, and you fly, you
know, straight up. You yank on that cockpit,
and it ejects the cockpit hatch, just, like,
pulling the hatch back up towards you, and you
look inside the cockpit of the salt sand. And
there is a desiccated corpse inside of it with
wires coming out of its head and body into the
machine. And it is twitching along with the machine
as well in sync with it. Oh, no. And you... The
changeling moves like it kind of jets sideways.
on its own, out of the way of this hatch that's
flying up towards you, and that feels really
weird. Like, you did not put that input in, it
did not necessarily need to happen, and it has
moved on its own, and you're going to take the
level one harm dissonance, and I'm going to move
you into a desperate position. Okay. Oh, fuck.
Okay. So we... are flying in the air still right
this is all kind of airborne in limbo okay um
i think oh my god this fucking sucks so badly
i'm going to Yeah, I got to. I'm going to push
myself. I'm going to push myself with my experimental
fine mobility suite, and I'm going to try and,
most importantly, fly behind it to where I can't
see into the cockpit anymore, and then dive towards
the ground, and then pull up at the last second
to kind of try and pancake it without having
to look at how fucked up and gross it is. Sure.
And because of the advanced prototype, I get
increased effect and plus one die. And I'm going
to check off roaring fast. That's two quirks
down. Okay, hopefully I can't fuck up four dice,
but, you know. Stranger things have happened
to me, and by stranger I mean less lucky. I still
only got a partial, but I mean, that's probably
fine. Desperate. That's probably not so fine.
You do take a check, though. Oh, yeah! Yeah.
You go to pancake this thing. You crush it. pretty
good like right on the cockpit you kind of feel
your foot slot into that cockpit and you know
you wouldn't usually feel it but in this state
you're in it's like popping a freeze -dried grape
i guess or like a like dipped in liquid nitrogen
it's like crispy but you can tell it used to
be juicy and it just crushes whatever is in there
um And I'm going to just tick the rest of these
clocks. You've disabled this for good. But the
consequence I'm going to do back to you is I'm
going to start a clock. Okay. Oh, no. And I'm
going to call it a... I think it's going to be
six -step clock. Am I allowed to know what it's
called? I need to think of a cool name before
I tell you what it is. Okay. I'll tell you how
you you you experience it. When you crush down
on the salt sand and destroy it, it's like one
remaining arm kind of like grasps up towards
your cockpit just like not like thrashing anymore
just Like, it's hard to tell what it is trying
to do. It's not trying to, like, hurt you or
anything. It's just trying to, like, touch the
outside of the changeling. And, like, I think
maybe just, like, the tip of its finger does.
And you feel this interference, this, like, kind
of flicker in the Geist Matryoshka where there
are two of you. And it's very disconcerting.
Like, you feel, like, for a moment that you are
looking... from the changeling at yourself in
the cockpit from like the internal cameras. And
likewise, you feel like you're looking back at
yourself in the changeling from the cockpit.
Um, and I am going to name this clock fragmenting
and it is a six step clock. Oh God. Um, but it
is not a clock we have to deal with right now.
Yeah. Um, you have one. Cool. As soon as it,
um, As soon as the thing is crunched down, Geist
and the changeling, by consequence, kind of staggers
backwards like it's been slapped in the face.
And then I think he's going to just give his
head a shake, which also shakes the head of the
mech. And then he's going to turn around. And
did you say that Ziggurat's like sitting in the
shade? Ziggurat has produced a large anti -tank
rifle. It was like citing it in on the salt sand.
As you turn back, it's hard. It's like three
pronged, maybe a rail gun. You're not really
sure what it is. You've never seen anything like
it before, but kind of raises her hand and like
in the old military signature, like, are you
okay? All good. Like I get is the Hayes field.
Does the Hayes field go away? Yes, it does disperse.
When he cries, these guys will just be like,
what the? Fuck was that? Uh... I think that the
salt sand may have activated some old programming
that we thought was inactive. Is a pilot still
in there? Old programming my ass! No, that's
just, uh... I'm not an idiot. It's not a pilot
anymore, Garrett. You don't need to worry. It
moved. I felt it move. It touched me. Why don't
you dismount and we can talk about this more
once you are unplugged from the changeling? I
can see why she would be concerned. Yeah, Geist
takes a couple deep breaths. He's like, fine.
Yeah. And he stomps over, dismounts, assuming
he's able to do so without complication this
time. Uh, yeah. Yeah, you go over to her. She
kind of looks you over, concerned. Not as much
detachment as she usually projects. And says,
your diagnostics were blocked by the haze field.
I'll need to pull them directly from the changeling.
Yeah, fine. Sure, whatever. Look. This. This
bullshit that we do. Alright, don't. I'm completely
aware. Of how one -sided it is, alright? I'm
here, you know, using your completely unsafe,
untested hardware. I'm cleaning up your fucking
dirty laundry. And that's fine, alright? But
I need something back. Go on. You know about
the Virtue Retribution, I assume. I mean, you
have to. Yes. It is fixated. On me. I mean, it
keeps showing up. Specifically to hurt me, or
more specifically to hurt my friends. The way
it moves. Have you seen any of its combat footage?
All the footage of your frame is transmitted
to us. I need a way to stop it. I want to kill
him, but I need to make him face me. I need some
way to stop that thing he does where he steps
through space. It appears somewhere else. I don't
think there's anybody on this rock who can manage
it but you. Alright. I want a roll from you.
Consort or command, I've got one die in both.
I say consort. Okay, cool. Um... How much stress
is it to push yourself to? Two. I literally have
three boxes left, so I didn't have enough space
in the last downtime to blow off steam, so I
think I have to push myself. I think I have to
use it. Yeah, let's consort. Would you like a
devil's bargain? What do you got? I gotta tick
the fragmenting clock. How many times? Am I allowed
to know? Once. Just once. Just once? I'll take
it. Can I stack that with the push for two days?
Yes, absolutely. Nice, nice, nice. Okay, let's
take it. I'm really good at failing three die
rolls, so... That would really suck. That would
really fucking suck. No! No! Why? Well... Yeah,
Ziggurat kind of like pulls up some paperwork,
essentially, and says, you have essentially no
leverage, but I'm willing to make an exchange
for you, with you. I have ideas for how we could
deal with retribution, and Further augmentations
your body may need to work in concert with the
changeling. And if those modifications are complete,
then I can work on a device for dealing with
retribution. Okay, fine. But I need to be the
one to kill him at the end. It has to be me.
Well, I am more than willing to. Put you in that
position. A couple of things that I should tell
you. First is you need to sign this paperwork.
Can I attempt to gather information roll with
my zero points in study to try and read it and
see if I can comprehend how badly I'm screwing
myself here? Let's gather some information. For
some reason, I imagine Garrett like pulling out
like a pair of like wireframe spectacles as he
goes over the paperwork. Let's see. I mean, it's
going to fail. Yeah. Oh, it was six and a one.
Where were you five seconds ago, you fucking
son of a bitch? So before, you've already kind
of waived a lot of your rights to the vector
mines and vis -a -vis the... Not vis -a -vis.
I can't keep using the N correctly. And also
the corporate council. The... This is very legal
work and you're not... Maybe Hex would get it,
but... It's a lot of terminology that you don't
entirely understand, but the main thrust of it
is we own you so much. Like, we can do whatever
we want. We already own your frame. We're going
to own your body. We're going to, you know, all
that stuff in exchange for services rendered
from the Vector of Minds at their, you know,
discretion. I mean, they got they got me by the
short and curlies. I got to take it. That's such
a bad time to fail a three dice roll. It really
is. So you sign it. And then you think you're
kind of seems not pleased with herself, but,
you know, eager to get back to work and says,
excellent. Do you like your same surgeon to be
present? Yes. Yeah, good. Spinal replacements
are quite finicky, so her help will be appreciated.
I think she gives you one thing, which is, from
what we have seen of retribution, I believe that
what you are fighting is a projection, not the
frame itself. Really? Can he do that remotely,
or does he have to be close by, physically, in
proximity? how it looked when it's fought in
a number of places, and the farther away it gets
from eastern edge of the river valley, the weaker
it seems to get. So he's out there. Somewhere.
I believe we will have to either create a weapon
to deliver damage back through the projection,
or at the very least create an opening for us
to track the source of that projection. Okay.
Alright, fine, let's get back to work. Good.
Your surgery is tomorrow. I've gone ahead and
scheduled it. You'll need a couple days of bed
rest, but after that, you may actually find the
cockpit of the changeling quite restorative,
as many of your body functions will be suspended
during that time. Alright, fine, whatever. And
I think she starts packing up. And just, like,
leaves you with, like, a small document outlining
your appointment with the doctor in the Vector
Mines that, like, your surgeon has been requested.
And then, like, underneath that is probably a
list of 12 medications, prescriptions that you
must take every day from now on and keep on your
person at all times. Oh, Jesus. Well, I hope
my new co -pilot... Uh, can give me a hand at
least. My new brain buddy. It's also worth saying,
your frame, you can put one tick in anything
that is lower than, three or lower. In, um, just
like the vehicle skills. Yeah, yeah. Yes. Man.
Well, you mean two or lower, right? Oh, sorry,
you're right, you're right, two or lower. I assume
the intention is that I can't bump something
up to a four. Yes, that is the act. I think I
could put it in bombard and get really good at
bombard, but I actually think we should have
somebody who's good at destroy, so I think I'll
slap it there. Sure. I will also say, and you
should note this somewhere on your sheet, that
you can tick the fragmenting clock whenever you
want while in the changeling in exchange, as
you would in place of a quirk. Well, actually
not in place of a quirk. In place of any resistance
or push roll. And you can stack that as much
as you would like. Yeah, you're going to go under
the knife and think about what you want to look
like when we start the next mission. Because
they're going to replace probably your entire
back and probably the back of your head as well.
Can't believe my girl Ziggurat would do me like
this. Unbelievable. What does Geist look like?
As Ziggurat just, like, leaves him here, and,
like, a truck comes to pick up and drag the corpse
of this old changeling away. I think... I think
he just hangs his head, and I think he probably
crumples the paperwork in one fist, because he
knows that he just got fucking legally raw -dogged,
and that things are probably going to get much,
much worse, and he probably just made a very,
very bad deal. But also he doesn't feel like
he had any choice. So, Hex, following the party,
you've been given possession of your former co
-worker Glint's dog, Little Bippo. From what
you've gathered, Glint did not have any of their
family who the Peacekeepers were able to reach.
So you have essentially inherited all his belongings
and have been tasked with clearing out his apartment.
Little Bippo, I hesitate to even describe what
he looks like, but I think he rides the line
between horrific and cute. He's wrinkly, but
he's smooth in a weird way. He's pug -adjacent,
I would say, but if pug's fur was almost more
rubbery and smooth instead of fuzzy. Is this
a dog? It is a dog. Wow. Well, I'm sure this
has been normalized at this point, such that
Hex is okay with it. So I'll save my present
day disposition for myself. But Hex looks at
the dog a little like, does the dog look happy
to see Hex? I guess that depends. Have you met
Little Bippo before? No, just through images,
and I'm assuming this is in Glenn's, like, abandoned
apartment, right? Yeah. Okay. So, actually, yeah,
I guess... So, you have Bippo now. It's gonna
take a few days to get you the keys to the apartment.
I see, but... I assume you bring Bippo with you.
Got it, like, yeah, yeah. Bippo's with me. I
assume then he's a little used to Hex at this
point. Yeah, he's used to you. It's hard to tell
his expression. I imagine Little Bippo is like
a designer dog. Like you can get you can get
a dog that looks pretty similar to what modern
day dogs look like. But this is like you get
these things. Maybe they're maybe they're grown
in a vat or something. They're like gene edited
to be like, wow, just like Labradoodles. I spent
a lot of time thinking about Little Bippo and
I think maybe he sheds like a snake. Oh, God.
Yeah, I like this. Instead of having to take
him to the groomers. Yeah, he's hypoallergenic.
He's self -cleaning, so he will, like, shed his
skin. And, you know, sometimes you need to help
him a little bit with that. This is getting too
gross for me. But, yeah, he's a weird dog. Hex
is here for the cause. They've been getting along
well, I like to think. But, okay, so they visit
the apartment, and I guess Hex's main objective
is just to see... what's left take inventory
and then just take what makes sense to yeah you
got the apartment yeah uh it's pretty clean a
little dusty it's a one bedroom has like a main
area with the kitchen you know like general apartment
layout the kitchen living room are all kind of
one room and then there's a hallway that goes
back to the bedroom uh and i'm going to list
a the points of interest so you can actually
go over them like at your own pace wherever you
want to start I'll read these out, but I'm also
going to post them in Discord so you can keep
track of them. Sweet. So you have, in the main
area, you have a pile of pet supplies, you have
a calendar, you have two tablet computers on
the table, you have the kitchen, and you have
a big, like almost a cork board, a future cork
board, which is called Connection Board. Oh,
wow. All these look useful. In the bedroom, it'll
just be bedroom, bedroom closet, and then some
paperwork that is on his bed. So you can start
wherever you'd like. All right. Well, first,
Hex wants to just keep Little Beppo occupied.
So let's go to the pile of pet supplies. Is there
any, like, bones or anything? Absolutely. There's
a lot of supplies for Little Beppo. Designer
dog food. There are gene treatments here in,
like, little, they're like bone -shaped pills.
But they come with prescription notifications.
They're for longevity. It's like... Hex just
kind of shakes his head. He's like, God damn
it, Glint. It says it'll keep your dog alive
for up to two times. And there's a star next
to two times the usual length. And then there's
supplements, cleaning supplies, and of course
there are some toys. There is a large designer
bed that's kind of like a tube, a padded tube,
that you guess he crawls into to feel snug and
secure. And then there are little doggy outfits,
including the aforementioned tardigrade coat
that Glint mentioned to you. And there is even
some bippo -sized backdrops that you guess he
used for photo shoots. Goddammit, Glint. He kind
of looks at the tardigrade a little solemnly
and... Just preps Beppo some food to keep him
occupied and puts out the bed before turning
to the other items in the apartment. What do
you want to go do next? Let's look at the calendar.
Anything interesting? Like any dates he was looking
forward to? Sure. It is a digital calendar, which
is linked to his work calendar. It is packed
full of meetings and personal notes. There's
a carefully structured schedule there, including
walks, stretches, and little Beppo check -ins.
snacks, and there are a few reminders to keep
in touch with Harold. There are birthday reminders
for almost everyone of note on the corporate
council, as well as a few people on the Peacekeeper
side, such as General Wave, Director Jermaine,
and you. There are a lot of personal items, like
therapy, doctor's appointments, and social gatherings
that have clearly been cancelled and rescheduled
multiple times just in the last month, each time
replaced by an urgent work function. Hmm. Okay,
well, Hex kind of smirks a bit at the reminders
to reach out to him. Can you repeat the bit about
the work function? So, like, he canceled a bunch
of personal things for various urgent work functions,
like emergency meeting regarding recent developments
in River Valley, acquisition review number two,
things like that. Damn, Glint was overworked.
Okay, then let's turn attention over to... I
assume the two tablet computers are right by
this. They are on the coffee table. Are they
password protected, or can Hex just get into
them? They're not. All right, so I guess in poking
through the basic file directories, does he spot
anything? So the first one is labeled work. It
has a tag on the back that just says work. Or
maybe it's his bad screen. I like it. It contains
a lot of work notes that are pretty unsurprising
to you. It's like Golden going through. It's
pretty similar to what you used to have when
you had worked in this department. Just boring
shit. The other tablet is labeled Recreation,
and it contains books and other media. There
are two books that are currently rented in his
library. The first is on the role of logistics
in contemporary and historic warfare, where he's
bookmarked a chapter on the Tera Brea conflict,
describing how the peacekeepers are largely cut
off from the Seoul Union's resources. It has
an anonymous quote from within the peacekeepers,
which he has circled and put a smiley face next
to. What's the quote? That quote is, Like a cactus
evolves to need water, the peacekeepers in this
conflict are adapting to stretch the little resources
we have at our disposal. Though it's worth saying
that any good gardener should water the plants,
which he depends on, to eat. Aww. That's so cute,
Glenn. The second book is a fairly dry read about
the importance of building and disassembling
spacecraft in orbit instead of in atmosphere.
Damn. A man of many interests. Okay, well. Okay.
Alright, so that's the tablets. Let's take a
look at the kitchen, then. Anything noticeable
besides maybe a layer of dust? It is mostly stocked
with easy -to -reheat meals and protein shakes.
Anything that was, you know, quick to eat. The
only things of note are a variety of novelty
mugs, many of which you recognize as having been
part of corporate council gift baskets in the
past. Okay. Won't be needing those, Heck says,
as he realizes he already has most of those.
Okay, so kitchen, let's go to the cork board
then, or the connection board. Great. The connection
board bears semi -redacted notes on your search
for Warehouse 27D. It seems Glint latched onto
some of the information that you gave him and
was trying to work through it on his own time.
His operating theory was that much of the information
was in fact junk, meant to obfuscate the true
information. and instead was trying to find a
pattern in the madness of redirection, recycling
records, and shipping manifests that you yourself
have tried trawling through. And he actually
did seem to narrow it down somewhat, provided
his information was correct. And you will actually
gain two ticks in that clock because of this.
Okay. Hex starts taking some phone photos of
this, just in case something happens in transit.
Yeah. Cool. Now he... He knows a little bit more.
I guess tangibly, does that point us closer?
Or for now, should I just assume that's just
two ticks? It does, but you won't be able to
act on anything until it's full. Cool, cool,
cool. Then Hex is happy with his find and then
makes his way to the bedroom, kind of making
sure Beppo isn't killing himself or choking on
anything before going. Little Beppo's doing great.
All right, bet. He's sniffing around sadly. Damn.
Hex goes and gives Beppo a few pets. Says, I'm
sorry, buddy. That's rough. Okay, you are in
the bedroom. Just general bedroom notes is that
it is a pretty basic bedroom, nightstand. There
is a physical folder of paper on the bed. The
bed has not been made. Actually, no, the bed
would have been made. He's the type to make his
bed every morning. Put together, young lad. And
there is another Bippo bed in here that is, like,
affixed to the bed frame itself, so it won't
fall off. That's pretty sick. Hex makes a note
to have whoever he's helping move Glint's stuff
detach that, so he can have that in his own place.
And so that leaves you with the paperwork and
the closet. Okay, let's take a look at the paperwork
first. Sure. It is a collection of paperwork
outlining the leadership structure of the corporate
council, as well as the order of succession and
votes which have put those directors in place.
A number of entries have been crossed out and
circled, but Glint seems to have been keeping
close tabs on this. His notes are shorthand and
difficult to parse, but after a bit of concentration,
his main point becomes rather clear, and that
is that September Bluth has a staggeringly good
chance at being elected chair of the corporate
council. His actions internally, as well as through
the Dusklights, have carried extensive favor
with the resource extraction interests on the
planet, and they make up the majority of the
remaining voter base for the directors. Luckily
for you, council elections aren't due for another
five years, which would be well after the conflict
ends, provided nobody resigns. Interesting. Who's
the current lead right now? Like, what do I know
about them if they're part of that chart? His
name is Jack Johnson. Jack the Slack Johnson.
Damn, and what does Hex know about him? Like,
is he old? Like, should he be worried about this
guy potentially retiring soon is kind of the
big question. He's been here since the start
of basically anything. He kind of established
the whole ecosystem of the Corporate Council's
relationship with the denizens of the planet
when they came in, when the Clusterists first
got here. He used to be a Clusterist himself.
He's probably like 80, which for someone of his
means is pretty young. You can leave pretty long
if you have the money. From what you know, just
from politics in general, he doesn't seem keen
on retiring anytime soon. Okay, well, that's
good. Hex isn't too worried then, but he kind
of catalogs Glenn's notes in case they might
be useful. How about in the closet? The closet?
is filled with birthday gifts for the next fiscal
year. Each one is labeled and individualized
with its own wrapping paper. Your name is here
as well. It's a small package about the size
of a large book, but heavier. Oh, shit. All right.
Hex keeps that to open that on his birthday,
but any other names he'd recognize in the pile?
Yeah, I guess Bluth is here. Probably... Jack.
Jack Johnson, the leader of the Corporate Council,
is probably here. Director Jermaine, Nyla, probably.
Okay. Hex, after this, is going to take these
back and still send them to their original recipients.
Cool. What a nice guy. Just a little note, you
know. I mean, what's he going to do with these
anyways? So he'll make sure to note who it's
from and that he knows it's not their birthday,
but... This is just a Glint meant to send that.
When is your birthday? Let's have Glint's birthday.
I don't know. Do they use the same calendar?
I mean, I would just say, is your birthday soon?
Is Hex's? Yeah. Let's pretend it's the following
week from this visit. Sure. Then, yeah, just
keep that in mind. You have this gift. Actually,
you know what? Hex doesn't feel bad. He opens
it early. Okay. It's next week. Come on. Inside
is a wooden box. Very well made, intricately
designed. And it has the name of a weapons company
on it. Interesting. Do I know the weapons company
name in character? Or have I heard of them? I
guess, how familiar are you with guns in general?
I mean, at this point, Hex is very familiar.
Yeah, but what about gun culture? You know? Less
so. It's like, if I said to you, do you know
what an AK -47 is, you would say yes. But if
I was like, do you know Springfield Armory and
what they make? I see. Okay, somewhere high level
like that. Okay. It says something like, I don't
have a name for this company, but it is a fancy
one. Inside is a top -of -the -line handgun.
Fully analog, no smart triggers or stabilizers
at all. And beside it is an empty magazine and
an ornate box full of caseless 6 .8x30mm punch
and pop ammunition. And engraved along the slide
of the pistol are the ever -familiar words, Amount
Due. Amount Due. What would Hex know these words
from? I'm blanking right now. They're at the
bottom of every invoice. ever received in the
history of man i like it i like it okay hex hex
smiles at the gift uh and just because i the
out of character controller i'm not familiar
how big is 6 .8 by 30 uh it is larger for a handgun
so like what's the millimeter is nine by 17.
So this is thinner, but longer. So this is basically,
uh, think of like a five, seven. Okay. Armor
piercing ammunition. Dang. Well, that's fancy.
But this particular type of ammo is, it's called
punch and pop because it explodes once it's enters
its target. Oh shit. Okay. In universe, would
hex like have any knowledge as to what this is
good for? Dylan. like could it could it pierce
the hole of anything or like go through a wall
so to speak i could go through body armor but
it would not and go through body or go through
a wall it would not go through okay sweet that's
more what i'm wondering all right wow that's
what a nice gift and uh last place hex wanted
to check under the bed uh under the bed is under
the bed i think he keeps his shoes under the
bed how neat and organized and i guess looking
at any of the walls what is hexie are they just
plain More like reminders in general. Maybe something
like one of those hang in there cat posters.
That's cute. Okay. But with like a Bippo type
dog. Well, then with the stuff that Hex deems
valuable in tow, he goes and picks up Bippo and
just notes the things for the movers to come
get out. Sure. As you approach the door, you
hear a knock. Oh, shit. Okay. He goes and answers
it. Your friend is there, Tesco Long. Oh, shit.
Long time no see. And she kind of, like, hurries
into the room and closes the door behind her.
And she beat me to it. Her face is a mixture
of emotions. She looks at kind of you, your arm,
Clint's apartment, little Bippo, and she's, like,
trapped somewhere between, like, anger, pity,
and grief. She says, Harold, I just wanted to
check if you made any progress on that project.
I'm working on it. Have had other things to attend
to in the meantime, though. He kind of gestures
around the room. How'd you know I was here today?
I followed you. Hex kind of curses himself for
not paying attention. It's okay. I've been keeping
an eye on the news lately. Yeah. I'm sure you've
heard what happened. I've heard a lot of things
that have happened, Harold. I've heard about
who was responsible for them as well. So, have
you come here to berate me, or...? No. I've...
I've got bad news for you. Go on. First is that
the daughter of the most powerful media mogul
in the Seoul Union died in your attack. Alongside,
you know, all those other people. Second is that
someone got their hands on real definitive evidence
of who was involved in that attack. I'm not sure
what kind of evidence, but I think you may have
a leak. And the third is that Peacekeeper HQ
back on Earth is sending people here to arrest...
We don't know who, but it sounds like multiple
people. So either the Moondevils or the leadership
or your squad. But I would say that you and the
leader of the Moondevils are definitely targets
here. So in a month or so, there's a high chance
this whole operation will be gutted. Or at the
very least, your squad will need to look for
replacements for your role. Interesting. I'd
ask if you knew more, but... I have a feeling
this is all you got to say, right? Yeah, it's
a courtesy. And if you were anyone else and I
didn't know how good you were at your job, I
wouldn't even be speaking to you right now after
what you did, orders or not. But I hope that
the information I've given you that you've been
working on is bigger than this. It seems bigger,
at least. From what I could tell, what you gave
me is really important, but unfortunately I don't
have more answers yet. So it sounds like we have
a month, though. You have a month. Where have
you been? I've been hiding, trying to figure
out if anyone's after me. I'm pretty sure I'm
in the clear, but a lot of my contacts were,
in fact, in the crater. That's unfortunate. Yeah.
Well, I appreciate the courtesy. Yeah, just I
don't know. Good luck. If you need a good recommendation
for a legal advocate, I know some people. Hopefully
it doesn't come to that. I knew they need a fall
guy, but we'll see where the dominoes fall. All
right, Harold. Well, thanks for the career help
you've given me in the past, but I think this
may be the last time we speak to each other.
I think so, too. He kind of pets Beppo. She extends
her hand after some thinking for a handshake.
Is it clear that she's up to something? Like,
if Hex looks at it? She's not up to anything.
She's just unsure of whether she wants to shake
your hand. Okay, yeah, Hex shakes it. Yeah. She
kind of gives you a nod and says, uh, sorry about
your friend. And leaves. Loyal. It starts again
with a dream. This time you know right away that
it is a dream. You are sitting atop a transmission
tower of some sort, one you recognize as being
on the outskirts of Brea City, kind of near the
eastern walls. Ahead and beneath you is a vast
ocean of blood, on top of which scattered pieces
of the city and countless bodies float. Waves
resonate from a single point in the center of
this ocean, splashing up against the walls beneath
you in rhythm. On either side of you are the
two figures from your past dream, a fleshy, blood
-filled version of your exopod on your left,
and on your right, a bloodied figure wearing
the red wire crown of martyrdom. Right now, it
is still wearing the face of Geist. Is this where
I do something? Are they waiting for me? They
are, I guess, waiting for you. Waiting for me
to do what? I feel like Sunliff's tired even
in his dreams now. He's just like, if you're
going to show me something, fucking do it. I
think they both turn towards you and their voices
come out in sync. But there's something different
about their voices now. Clearer, more eloquent,
like a strong signal from somewhere else. And
they say to you, all of the horrors so far have
been ripples. flowing back in time from a single
fixed moment. Who are you? Where are you from?
We are Martyrdom. How did you get here? We have
always been here. Yeah, the concept of martyrdom
has always been here, is here, needs to be passed
on to Geist for some reason. I guess Sunleth
just hangs out in this dream for a bit and says,
what will happen after Geist is made the next
martyr? Each king is powerful, immutable. Their
strength is equal to their sacrifice. There is
nothing to fear. So, what, Geist is just going
to get powers and do something with them? And
what is it that you plan to do? They... I guess
kind of look back out towards the blood ocean.
And they don't answer you, but the tides of the
ocean reverse. And at the center where the waves
meet, the ocean begins to lift into the sky faster
and faster. This column of blood, which is dragging
bodies and rubble back up into the air, into
space. The tower you are sitting on begins to
collapse. The figures beside you lay their hands
on your back and they say to you, Build the crown.
As the entire structure is pulled into the blood.
Everything goes red and then you wake up. I feel
like it's like a slow waking up this time. There's
no thrashing anymore. It's just this, like, very,
very tired. Waking up with the realization that
every Clusteris they continue to kill fuels this
god of martyrdom because they are all being martyrs
for their cause. And... then bad shit will happen.
Because I'm fucked up. God will be real. Anyways,
this is what Sunleth is thinking about, but in
some type of eloquent dolphin thoughts that I
can't say to you right now. Today you have a
meeting with Maze. How does Sunleth feel about
that? Um... Is it common knowledge that... When
a lot of Clusterists die, that they all feel
it through their psychic connection. There is
limited knowledge on this phenomenon. You could
try to find some, but being an empath yourself
and feeling what you felt, you would not be surprised
if Maze felt something. Yeah, he knows he has
to get her this information about trying to get
her off this planet, off this world. But he feels
like there's no way in hell that she's going
to take him up on that offer now. Or maybe it
will have felt so bad that she'll want to leave.
But he's not really betting on that last one.
I think? He's gonna just, for the first time,
okay, it's probably not for the first time, but
he's gonna try to shield his emotions much more
than he has been doing before in his talks with
Maze. I'm sure he has some empath training on
being able to psychically communicate with people
while kind of partitioning off parts of himself.
Oh yeah, I'm sure you have, as a psychic, you
are. Intimately trained on how to make it one
way. Oh yeah, he's compartmentalizing the fuck
out of everything right now. He's like, I have
to go tell her this news. There's no other way
to get it to her. I'm going to go in there, tell
her, and presumably have something thrown at
him and then leave. So that's his plan. Sure.
When you arrive, one of the guards pulls you
aside, and he says, Hey, the kid isn't eating,
and she attacked one of our guys, broke his nose.
He gave her a bit of a beating. We pulled him
off before it got too far, but she's been patched
up, and, well, I just thought you should know.
What happened to this soldier? Was he reprimanded?
Uh, no. Of course not. He was defending himself.
Uh -huh. I think Sun just doesn't respond to
this. He just keeps going. Right. You get to
her cell. She's still in the nice cell. She is
curled up in the corner of her bed, staring at
the wall. You can see from this angle that some
bandages have been applied to her face, and she
has, like, a flexible splint on her wrist. Jeez.
When I look around the room, what else do I see?
There's an untouched plate of food. There is...
I think maybe her, like, keyboard or whatever
you use as a keyboard in current year has been,
like, broken. I think you see... On the wall,
there is a blood spot where she had break in
her wrist on the wall. You don't know this, but
that is where it is. The little fish shaped blood
spatter. Hmm. I see. What's her brain like right
now? You're going to have to roll for that one.
Oh, yes, I am. But this is going to be a controlled
standard roll. Partial success. She is in a bad
place. She is clearly aware of your presence,
for sure. There's waves of confusion and pain
coming off of her. You do glean that she is perhaps
aware that a lot of people died. She knows for
sure that... The feeling you get is like a mixture
of like both someone who I think is a hero died
as well as a lot of people who maybe I didn't
know, but who are like my people died. She's
like dual wielding grief presently. And I don't
think she says anything to you. Yeah. Oh, and
your consequence is that I'm going to put you
in a risky position. I'm going to get my dolphin
nose broken. My rostrum. Is there any room in
her mind, in her dual grief, for her to have
Sunleth be there just as a small presence, small
alternate feeling in her mind of... I want to
get you off this planet. I'm sorry. Because he
would open with that, something non -verbal.
Just as gentle as he can. I think that would
be another rule, is what I will say. Yeah. If
you want to be able to say, here's another alternative,
that would definitely be a sway. Yeah, he doesn't
want to say anything out loud yet. Or even just
go straight into psychic communication. Because...
A maze is fragile right now, and volatile, more
so than she has probably ever been before. Before
you roll, are you in the room with her? Yeah.
Okay. Another partial success. Mm -hmm. That
is a five and a two. Okay. I think you... I have
the wrong document open. Okay. Would be this
feeling of... protectiveness, almost, but also
just overshadowed by the fact that he knows he
can't protect her at all from the things she
is experiencing, and that's just only going to
get worse. Yeah, I think you have a clock for
this. I'm going to put one tick. I'm going to
be a little bit more liberal with clocks coming
into the endgame. I'm going to give you a tick
and convince Mace to leave the planet. for this
but i think as you kind of reach out to to give
this impression to her um you feel if we're going
to use like a metaphor for like you're trying
to like keep it one way a certain amount trying
to kind of creep in and place the idea in her
head uh then she is grabbing you in that space
in that like empathetic space And is throwing
you headfirst into her own mind. And it's like
a bad part of it. Like, you feel her not screaming
at you, but she's telling you and asking you,
like, what did you do? Like, I felt him die.
I felt you there. He was a good man, a righteous
man, and you killed him. And then... afterwards
and her mind just kind of like kind of fractures
and frizzles and that is where you get caught
just like fully immersed no barrier grief you
have lost like a nearly religious figure someone
who has fought for your cause for years like
someone people looked up to someone who's always
kind someone you met um who was nice to you inspired
you um you see her thinking of another virtue
she has met as well someone she was actually
very close to who is chaser midway the pilot
of attachment um and you get some feelings of
that like who's next who will you kill next and
then imagining all those people who drown and
then she's imagining the people in the city where
she grew up In all of this, you are her, and
yet you see yourself standing above the water,
just looking down, like, without a care in the
world. And, like, that's how she sees you, and
that's how you see yourself. And you will take
the level 2 harm. Lost. And thus I resist that.
Mm -hmm. With something on my character sheet.
I want to say that he is embroiled in this, but
then attempts to call on. his military empath
training to sever this connection and go back
into his own mind. This is a resolve resist.
Ooh, zero stress. Look at you. I'm so stress
-free. It's great. Yes, so I will have that harm
just completely removed. And you feel this. How
do you get yourself out? What does that visualization
look like? Just looks like this giant wall of
water, like this massive waterfall, somehow just
materializing between where he and Maze are in
this mind space. And there's just this deafening
roar of the waterfall hitting the water surface
as they can no longer see or hear each other.
And then he goes back into his own mind. Hell
yeah. We love water. We love water. Yeah, you
are released from this place. You swim out. You
swim out of this place as, like, the sound of
rumbling water leaves your ears, and you're just
back there. She is still facing the wall. And
still, like, all he feels right now is just this
immeasurable sadness of this is a child. This
is a child. This is not her fault. This is a
child. And just like part of him is like very
small part what is thinking to himself what kind
of life will she ever lead outside of war? Can
this be helped? Can she ever be happy again?
And just pushes that away as one does to catastrophizing,
spiraling thoughts, if they are a trained empath.
And he doesn't try to communicate with her psychically
anymore. Wait, are there still recording devices
in here? Uh, yeah. Fuck, okay. God, he still
has to tell her something. Which means he has
to go back in there. Mm -hmm. Okay. Is there
anything that he can do, type of mantra, meditation,
empath thing, to give him a little extra armor
in this situation, going back in there to talk
to her? It sounds like, to me, you're either
asking if you can push yourself, or want a devil's
bargain. I want to push myself. Don't give me
any more devil's bargains. Don't give me more
devil's bargains. Okay, so you're going to take
two more stress. Okay. Yeah, you kind of strain
yourself. What do you do? The only message he's
trying to get to her with words in her mind,
because he hasn't done that yet, is I can get
you off this planet. And, like, that's it. Not,
like, if you want it, not anything else. It's
like... I can get you out of here. Okay, plus
1d. A 3, a 4, and a 2. That's another partial
success. We're partial today, folks. We are partial
today. Yes, you try to just, like, like, pushing
away something you don't want. Like, just, like,
shove that message in there so that you can just
see it, and then you can get out without making
this any worse than it already is. But the thing
with partial success is that it was only partial.
Here's what I'll give you as your partial success.
You push this message in there and you feel she's
fast. She's fast. Oh, yeah. She has been... You
feel like it's... When you first met her, she
did some fairly insane maneuvers just as a child
soldier. And... She is must have been trained
in some way as an empath because she just jumps
on you and you feel concerningly like That she
might be able to do some real harm to you here.
She wants to hurt you In this space and as she
gets ready to do that you see a hand on her shoulder
this It looks different than you've seen it before.
You usually see this appearance on a figure of
Geist wearing the crown, but this one, it is
her, like another version of her with a red metal
crown over her head, holding herself back and
just looking at you. And I think that version
of martyrdom, Looks at you, kind of peacefully,
and just gives you a knowing look. Like, you
know what you need to do. And pulls her back,
leaving her with that message. Leaving her with
martyrdom. Cool. Cool shit. Alright. This happens,
and... Something gets out of there physically.
Physically gets out of there. Out of the room.
Without a second glance.