Loyal. This takes place after some time in the
hospital. You're not fully recovered, but unfortunately
you do not have much time before the interrogators
decide to use more aggressive techniques to get
information from Maze, the girl you captured
in the first mission and who you are trying to
save from a very unpleasant and potentially deadly
situation. I assume you are visiting in your
exopod, but what sort of damage is visible on
you right now from your injuries? Yeah, it's
funny because nothing happened to the exopod.
So that looks totally pristine. But on Sunlith's
melon, there is, I'm assuming, just a mass of
scar tissue right now that is partially healed.
The way it looks on dolphins' skin with how thick
their blubber is, it just looks like some white,
craggy mass of scar tissue where he got. grabbed
by the claws of Retribution. And it is mostly
healed. But yeah, does not look great. You enter
the brig. The guards know to expect you and they
escort you to Maze's cell. They let you into
it, close the door behind you. And as we saw
last time, she's no longer in that terrible concrete
cell, but instead in one of the nicer cells.
It is a padded bed, a private bathroom, a desk,
and a locked down computer terminal. offering
both recreation and educational programs maze
is currently on that terminal playing some sort
of game um she looks much better than when you
last saw her her leg is in an actual leg brace
and she's been given like fresh uh clothes and
linens and all that good stuff that's nice could
i use my exopod to do like a quick scan of her
with my sonar just to check on her. I feel like
Sunlight would do this kind of automatically.
He does this to most people just on instinct,
but I'm curious to do it with her right now.
Sure, roll me a survey. Hmm, okay. And this is
just going to be a fortune roll. There's no real
consequences here. I got a failure. A failure.
Yeah, you can't really tell anything besides
what is already obvious to you. You don't get
any secret. I'm using the sonar that's built
into the exopod. It's supposed to be used with
my biosonar, but since my melon's fucked up,
I'm kind of without it. Does that make a noise?
Yeah, I imagine that as Sunlith kind of hovers
into the room, he starts making a clicking sound,
so that'd be the first thing that she hears.
Yeah, I think she's still ignoring you. Well.
At least I noticed that she's ignoring me right
now. Um, I say to her with my Biosoner translator
in kind of slow text. It's translating slowly
because it's painful for me right now to use
my melon to project sound. And I say, Hello,
Mace. I am glad to see you in better conditions.
I'm sorry I have been away. I have suffered an
injury as... I'm sure you can see. Yeah, I see
that. She doesn't look at you. She just says
that. I think at this point, Sunliff doesn't
want to be talking anymore with his translator.
He wants to start talking to her psychically,
but he feels awkward. He also doesn't want to
say out loud, hey, I want to talk to you psychically,
because in case they're recording in here. But
he's like... He's kind of just floats there for
a minute, looking as awkward as a dolphin can
look in a floating pod and reaches tentatively
into her mind and says, Hello, I'm sorry if this
is startling, but I think you would be faster
for us to communicate in this way. He does that
psychically. He pauses her game and kind of just
like looks at the wall for a little bit and then
swivels her little office chair towards you,
just looks at you. With this, she looks tired.
There's something going on under the surface
that she's not letting slip even psychically.
She doesn't respond, but she kind of tilts her
head at you slightly as if saying, okay. Sunlit
takes this as an opportunity to keep going. Takes
it as a green light and says, I'm sure you know
why I'm here. I'm here to attempt to get information
with you about the location. of your companions?
Have you given any thought to that? And do you
understand the consequences that will happen
to you if you continue to withhold this information?
I think she responds with another question. She
says, have you thought about the consequences
for my friends if I tell you where they are?
Sunlith doesn't really answer that because he
knows that she has been raised into this. And
well, maybe he says something along the lines,
of and he's trying to think of a nice way to
put this which is difficult since he doesn't
have a good opinion of the cholesterolists and
the fact that they put a child into a mech to
fight against the soul union army but if he's
able to just like send his emotional state he's
basically just an open book with her in this
like a connection right now so if she's just
listening to his emotions she gets all of this
and maybe some like flashes of him imagining
what it must have been like to be indoctrinated
as a child soldier so she's like getting a lot
of things very quickly because that's how he
thinks and then he says i understand you must
be very loyal to them she responds to you and
you get her she slips up a little bit like you
feel her anger come through with her response.
You people think that children should be slaves.
No chance to think for ourselves. But the Clusterists
don't see us that way. We're all individuals.
We can all communicate with each other unambiguously
in our communions. I probably know more about
life than you do. I might only be 14 years old,
but I've spent so much time feeling and understanding.
what others feel. I contain the lifetimes of
thousands of my people throughout so much time.
I'm not a child. Immediately upon saying this,
and this would probably infuriate her, she just
would sense pity coming from Sunlith. And maybe
he would even say to her, I'm sorry, I don't
mean to disrespect you, but I pity this way.
that you think. And if she tries to start talking
again, he would interrupt her. He says, Child,
are you familiar with the pilot whale? Your kin
reminds me of them. They're known to my kind
as the bonded because they have shunned the concept
of the other to the point of no longer having
the concept of the self. They feel sickness and
health as one and lose themselves in each other
completely. Do you know the ultimate outcome
of this? When one whale is sick and loses their
way, stranding on the shore, the rest will fling
themselves upon the beach in order to keep sharing
that pain. This is the trade -off of pure connection.
A thousand slow and torturous deaths, just so
none have to be alone in their suffering. Perhaps
you agree with them. Perhaps you see their pain
as noble, righteous even. But you must also understand
that... The rest of the ocean looks upon them
with horror. I understand we all must shape our
own purpose in the world. But sometimes that
purpose takes the form of a prison. If this prison
is all you have ever known, you may not even
see the bars. And this is going to be his sway
roll. All right. Do you want to push yourself?
Please, God, yes. You are in a control position.
Standard effect. And can I do anything else to
give me any more dice here? Or is this just it?
I believe and or accept a collateral die. So
you can accept a collateral die if you would
like to. Give me a consequence. Let's do it,
baby. The consequence is she will never be your
friend. You will establish this relationship
as a transactional relationship. She will never
look at you as if you were helping her. for any
moral means. She'll never think of you as a good
person. She will never really think of you as
her friend at all. And if you succeed, it'll
be just she's looking out for her own skin. Yeah.
Hmm. How good are my chances and controlled standard
with two dots of sway and one extra dice? So,
controlled standard, if you get a full success,
like a six, which is a one in six chance, You
will have, you know, I think, convinced her enough
for her to give you something. If you do better
than that, or if you end up taking the, you know,
you might get more intel. If you fail the roll
and you want more, then you're going to have
to take a risky position instead. Okay, I think
I'll wait to do the collateral die for... The
collateral die, that offer is only for this roll.
Oh. The collateral will be different on the next
roll if it's even there. God, this is really
hard. Only you would think she won't be your
friend is a bad consequence, and I love that.
Okay, I'm not going to take it. I'm not going
to take the extra die. I'm going to go with my
plus one. I'm going to push myself and... Cross
all the fingers and toes. All right. Take two
stress and then plus one D. Okay. I'm doing it.
I'm doing it. Ooh. Partial success. That's a
four. Two, three, and a four. She kind of listens
to your words, to your story about the pilot
whales, and you feel disgust. Come back. Disgust
not. even just at you, but at herself. And she
says, I won't give you my people, but there's
no point killing myself for nothing. I'll give
you some other group, another group of Clusterists
in the city. I know where they are. They're in
East City, in the old manufacturing district.
I'll draw on a map or whatever you want, show
you where they are. building frames, transporting
them around. That's all I know. And that is the
truth. From Sunleth, she gets a sense of relief,
but not happiness. He's relieved that she doesn't
have to undergo the torture drill, but honestly
shares some of the disgust. He feels that at
himself as well, that He's having to interrogate
a child and make her choose which of her friends
are going to die. Anyways, she just gets this
unfiltered emotional state. I don't know how
she's reacting to experiencing this from Sunlith.
I imagine it might not be what she was expecting
from being interrogated by the enemy. Just to
have them have their heart on their fin, so to
speak. But, um, he doesn't say thank you. That
would be tactless. He realizes this, and he just
says, I, let me know if there's anything I can
do for you, anything I can get you for this space.
I cannot tell you that this will be the last
time that you see me. We will probably speak
again. I'm sorry. He shuts herself off. You feel
the inklings of hatred, and then just nothing.
She just turns back to her game, doesn't even
unpause it, just stares at it. Yeah. Sunlith
takes this as his cue to float away. Yeah. You
are let out of the cell, but the guards tell
you that, you know, they ask if you got anything.
Like, did you get anything? I just give it to
them, monotone, whatever she told me. Yeah, he
looks over what you've given him, all the information,
and like nods his head to everything there. And
he says, I see. In our original interrogation,
we determined that she knew the location of one
of the virtues as well as the location of her
cell in the art district. I presume you'll be
coming back to extract the rest of that information
at a later date. Either that or the location
of the virtues is at... The place she has specified,
it is yet to be seen, but regardless, I'll need
more time with her. Very well. Well, I'll tell
the doctor to put the drill away, that you have
this handled, but he's an impatient guy, so,
you know, don't take too long. I will make an
effort to not do so. He gives you a nod and lets
you go. continues to float away down my lonely,
lonely hallway. Okay. Hex, you've been ordered
by your handler, and by extension the peacekeepers,
to go to the corporate council and apologize
for your failure to protect the refinery in your
prior mission. And while you did defeat the enemies
there, The council was really interested in the
protection of their infrastructure and employees,
which despite your best efforts were harmed.
But before you slog across town to the council
tower, let's talk about what you're up to. This
is probably in the middle of the downtime session
we just did. So what do you think Hex is doing
right now prior to this chore? Prior to this
chore, Hex is likely in his study or his home
office. What have you. He might have a real office
if he has one, but if not, his home. And he's
doing lovely paperwork, still tying things off
in the wake of that last mission. So you head
out of your... wherever you are, and go head
towards the tower. But as you are heading there,
you are intercepted by a familiar face, your
friend Tesco Long, a journalist with Starlane
News. Last time you saw her... She was asking
you for a statement on your previous mission
and to your chagrin, she ended up using that
statement in a public news segment, though your
name wasn't used. And she says, Harold, how's
it going, buddy? What a coincidence running into
you here. Yeah, funny to see you here. Harold
doesn't so much as glance at her. Listen, she
walks after you and she says, listen, I couldn't
help but notice your frame and some footage on
that refinery shindig. What went on there? The
press office isn't saying anything. So you think
I'll say something? Well, you know, just a comment
would be nice. I'll make it worth your while.
I don't think you can. He starts moving to leave
annoyed at this situation. I think she lets you
go. She doesn't have anything for you. Yeah,
Harold's by the book. If the peacekeepers aren't
saying anything, why would he? I scold. You continue
on to the council tower. Just like last time
you were here, you go to the front desk, get
a guest badge. But this time, you're not sent
to September's office. You're instead instructed
to head to the roof, and that he'll meet you
up there. Harold lets out a loud sigh at this
news, somewhat expecting what's to come. You
get in the elevator and go up for a long time.
And there you are. You're at the roof, same place
you were picked up for the mission not too long
ago. And September is standing. There, not too
far from the edge, looking out across the city.
But as the elevator dings open, he turns to you
and says, Harold, how are you, my boy? Doing
fine. Yourself? Oh, I'm okay. So what is it you
wanted to discuss? Peacekeeper has reached out
to me and arranged this meeting. You must have
something to say. And he kind of stands there
with a grin on his face. I do. I do. But let's
start with you. Why are we meeting here? Uh,
just... Just puts everything into perspective,
wouldn't you say? Harold kind of looks off the
edge of where Bluth was looking. What does he
see? You see a city. A very, very big city stretching
out all around you. And eventually the city gives
way on one side to a giant wall of a blizzard.
And on the other side, a big river valley. You
can really see everything from the tallest building
in the city. Not a bad perspective to have. He
stands there and stares at you. Listen, I'll
tell you why I'm here. We'd like to apologize
for the damages that may have been accrued as
a result of our last operation. He continues
staring at you with a smile on his face. Harold
matches his silence. Is that all? That'll be
all. Give me a consort roll. Yes. Is this risky,
controlled, or desperate? This is actually risky.
All right, let's do it. versus success he says
well i can't say i was surprised you know for
someone of your skill level next time maybe i'll
give you a bit of a easier job maybe something
like uh daycare or something like that and he
laughs to himself harold laughs along i'm sure
you're very familiar with that Oh, yes. I'm very
used to taking care of babies and cleaning up
their messes. Harold doesn't let his internal
anger show, but it's there. His blood pressure
has risen. Oh, very well. Nice talking to you,
Harold. Have a good walk. Always a pleasure,
Harold says as he walks away. As you walk away,
you notice the elevator. is out of service harold
laughs out loud a little bit happen to have any
stairs oh yes just on the right side harold wordlessly
goes to them do i have to roll strength or something
nope that's it that's the vignette Joseph, let's
start off by talking about home. Most pilots
are given refurbished, clusterous apartments
in the city near the base, but you aren't like
most pilots. Do you have an apartment? Do you
have a place where you rest and recharge, literally
and physically, where you keep personal effects,
anything like that? Would it be too far to say
that the old place that they kept me when I was
an assassin unit could be my home, or is that
just off someplace different? Sure. What is that?
I assume it's just like a little holding bay
or a little storage where they just kept me plugged
in, you know, but now it's just like an empty
closet that they don't know what to do with.
And Joseph is probably like, I'll take that place
if you don't mind. And that's where he kind of
chills out. It's cramped and stuff, but let's
just say that there's like computers and terminals
around him and there's just shit littered all
over the place. Mainly, let's just say machines,
robotics. Probably some books. I bet he's pouring
through some literature, some Terra Brea literature.
Hell yeah. So this vignette is going to be about
you and the guy you met at the refinery, Glass
New Lane. He wanted to keep in touch with you
via an encrypted messaging application under
the assumption that you're both doing work against
the corporation, which in many ways was true.
You also gave him one of your knives as a symbol
of peace. Would you message him first or would
you wait for him to reach out to you, do you
think? I don't think Joseph would message first.
I think he's got other things going on. So he's
going to see if this little thread comes up again.
And it seems like it's going to. Sure. So you
get a message. What? This is like a thing we
keep not confronting. So it's time. Where do
you get messages? Do you have a phone or is it
in your brain? It's in his heart. He pulls out
a little computer. No, I could we say that he
gets it like on his body? Like he would see kind
of like a visual interface from his eyes, like
a little like, and then it would show the messages
there. Yeah, for sure. Absolutely. A little message
pops up from that little encrypted messaging
app. It's like a picture, just like a question
mark for the face. But the message is, hey, bro,
it's me, Glass. We met at the business function.
That party got pretty crazy. Listen, I'm always
looking for new friends on the planet. Want to
meet up? I have a place. In the river valley,
but I got a flat in the city, too, if that works
better for you. And there's a, like, guy with
sunglasses emoji. Joseph responds flat, and then
just the thumbs up emoji. Great. He responds
with an address, a little pin drop. It is in
the east city, which is, like, the damaged part
of the city from the siege, where most of the
fighting happened when the city was taken. That's
like where the insurrectionists are hanging out,
right? They're mostly... It's complicated. Most
of the clusterous insurrectionists or not live
in the West City. But most of the fighting happen
in the East City, and it's kind of a shithole
right now. But not a lot of nice folk live there.
Maybe Joseph is skulking around in the shadows
then, making sure not to be seen. You want to
roll a prowl for me? Well... I'm here, ain't
I? Martial success. Martial success. A one and
a five. Okay. You do some creeping. You know
that this part of the city isn't great. The peacekeepers
maintain control of the main roads, but his place
is not on the main roads. It is off the grid.
And you have to get through some, like, bombed
out sections, navigate some destroyed buildings,
and, like, the occasional, like, unexploded warhead
just, like, sitting in, like, a crater. But you
winch to avoid. Most everyone. You don't think
you got followed or anything like that. You see
some, like, sketchy characters. Some people who
have, like, guns out but aren't, like, engaged
in battle. And you get to his place. It's, like,
a small second -story apartment above this, like,
abandoned corner store that's been completely
looted. And there's this little creaky metal
staircase which you so effortlessly climb up
silently. And you get to his front door. I'll
give a little knock. The door opens. And inside
is glass. Tattooed human with a couple of subtle
augmentations to his arms, legs, and neck. And
he's wearing a plain gray jumpsuit. Nothing flashy,
nothing that would stick out. And he says, Joseph!
Looking fresh. Come on in. He waves you inside.
Hello, Mr. New Lane. How are you? Please. It's
just glass. The inside is pretty spartan. There's
an old raggedy couch with like a plywood coffee
table. a small old computer terminal, a fridge,
and like a mattress lying straight on the ground.
It doesn't look like someplace anyone spends
a lot of time. He opens up like a small chest
near the bed and pulls out a couple of items.
One is a bag of small green gel spheres. And
the other is this little rectangular prism. And
he takes a seat on the couch, pops a gel capsule
in his mouth, you know, pats the couch next to
him and extends the little gray prism to you.
Are these, is he offering me drugs? Is that what's
happening right now? I don't know. Is he offering
you drugs? Would Joseph know what this is? You
could try to investigate it, study it or survey
it or something. Sure. Joseph's not going to
sit down, but he's going to take the thing out
of Glass's hand and hold it up to his face and
inspect it better. Interface would work here
because this is like an electronic device. Yeah.
You want to hold that? Yeah. Uh -oh. Can I do
that again? We can re -record, right? Well, I
mean, it's a controlled situation. Of course.
But this is, like, this is basically just to
tell if you figure out what it is. You try to,
like, probe it, but it doesn't have an import.
There's no way to figure out what is in it. It's,
like, it only outputs data, and the data it's
outputting does not make sense to you. And he's,
like, oh, do you not? You never, uh... Sorry.
I disassumed. I got this friend. His name's Milkcake.
He's an EP like you. Whenever we're drinking
or whatever, he makes these things. He puts them
near his processor. I think it makes him drunk.
I think this one's just booze. We haven't figured
out... Well, he doesn't share with us the more
advanced stuff. He's got, like, psychedelics
working. It's crazy. I think Joseph, he nods
to this. He says, I would like to meet this milk
cake. And then he pockets it. He doesn't use
it. He just kind of like puts it on this person.
He gives you a little thumbs up. He's like, yeah,
you know, I got plenty. And I'm sure milk cake
would like to meet you too. So he kind of, he
says so. That was him saying so. Yeah, Joseph's
going to cut him off right here. Glass, I'd like
to know. Why didn't you kill me when you met
me? Kill you? Why would I kill you? Not many
people are accustomed to emergent personalities.
Oh. Oh, my God. You think I'm a clusterist, don't
you? Joseph. I think Joseph nods and he says,
it is what I assumed. It is why I was curious.
I wanted to come and confirm it. He like slaps
his face and like, I am such an idiot. I'm sorry.
It's a wonder you didn't kill me. You have no
idea, Glass. No, no. Yeah, I mean, I was doing
work with them. I'm not. It was kind of a quid
pro quo situation. I'm not a clusterist. I think
a lot of their views are. Pretty backwards. Some
of my best friends are emergent personalities.
Milkcake, for instance. Well, that's my only
one, but it's kind of hard to find them. That
it is. But yeah, my organization, we sometimes
do work with them because some of our goals are
aligned, but we don't share their goals or anything.
I don't think that the human soul is a unique,
perfect mechanism, and I don't go to weird, clustrous
churches or anything like that. Not my vibe.
No. Not mine either. What organization do you
belong to, Glass? He kind of turns his head left
and right and is like, Joseph's going to cut
him off again. And he cocks his head and says,
yourself? Organization of yourself? Is what he's
asking. No, I, we, I'm just not, I got a big
mouth. That's my problem. But I mean, you're
like, you're cool. How about this? What? What's
your deal? My deal? You're asking what organization
I belong to? Yeah, if any. I think Joseph's going
to say, currently, I am in service of the Peacekeepers.
They haven't let me go. Glass kind of stares
at you with his mouth agape. Is that a joke?
What do you think, Glass? He like... Shakes his
head. He's like, why would you, why would you
be stealing from the factory you were defending?
Your, your faction was defending. And why would
you have not killed me if, what? Glass, I work
under the organization. of myself. I don't follow
the rules or the regulations of the peacekeepers.
I am in service for my own goals. When I met
you, I felt like I found another opportunist
who might be able to assist me. And maybe I could
assist him. This is like a half lie, I would
say. It's sort of true, but he's trying to make
it sound like, you know, like... Hey, missing
man, they plugged me into a fucking wall and
I got to do all this stuff. But you know, emergent
personalities, we want to do our own things,
you know? Yeah. Sounds like he's kind of stuck
working for them right now. I'm going to need
a roll. I'm going to need. Oh, God. See, this
is why I want to put points in my way. Yeah,
it could sort or sway. You can push yourself.
It's going to be controlled standard right now.
He likes you. Okay. You're cool. Yeah, I'll push
myself. So I'm marking stress. Two stress. I'll
consort my good friend. So it's plus one modifier.
Position risky or controlled? Controlled. Controlled.
Boom. Four. Partial success. I see success in
that. I do see success in that. So here's the
partial one. He says, okay. Yeah. I like that.
I, you know, it was a little shocking at first.
To be honest with you, you got balls. This could
have been an ambush. I guess for both of us.
I promise you, Glass, it is not. I give you my
word. Why don't I tell you a little bit about
my organization? Joseph's finally going to sit
down. And he says, please do. I work for a...
We're called Gold House. The Seoul Union doesn't
like us very much. As you might guess. I think,
we think, the Soul Union could really be a force
for good if we weren't bowing down to corporate
forces or alien interests. Humanity is at a pretty
decent place, but we're kind of in a rush to
get on the galactic stage, or the Soul Union
is. So we think we need to develop ourselves
ethically, build our own technologies, embrace
our own future instead of buying it from aliens.
Nothing against aliens. I like aliens. I think
that we're all really cool. I like how they're
all spherical. But humanity needs to develop
itself. So that's what we... work on. We sabotage
corporations, we, you know, interrupt shipments.
We're hated. They're called terrorists. Who doesn't
get called terrorists nowadays, though, you know?
That's true. And we could use a man on the inside.
I mean, we'd make it worth your while. I don't
know if you believe in that sort of thing. What
would the worth be, Glass? Well, I don't really
represent the organization, but Usually they
want some sort of small thing. Usually something
really small to really prove you're with it.
That's just stealing some information, deployment
plans, leaking some information. I don't know
what sort of access you have. What do you do
for them? Previously, they kept me as an assassin.
Currently, they have me operating frames. It
is not my favorite place to be. Wait, were you
one of the frames that was fighting at the refinery?
Joseph just cocks his head to the left. Does
Goldhouse, do they align with the Clusterous
at all? We... We're not their supporters, but
sometimes our interests align. You know, anti
-corporation stuff, interrupting shipments from
the aliens. We're not, like... combined forces
but we help each other's out like in this last
operation we help them out with it they put it
in contact with some people i can't say more
than that but you know it's it's an exchange
sure sure would um would it be an advantage for
gold house to have this war between the soul
union and the cluster rebellion end as quick
as it can So we can pursue the goals that we
would like. Sure, but I don't see the war hunting
anytime soon, buddy. Maybe it starts with us.
Like me and you? Chess is going to scooch in
a little closer and say, you know, everyone always
goes for the kings. They overlook the ponds where
we creep, where we move in the shadows. I think
if we can exchange our information together,
we might be able to end this quickly. So no pawns
have to die, and the only people eliminated are
the kings. Would you agree, Glass? I like the
way you think. He reaches out to shake your hand.
He's going to shake it as well. He's going to
go out and give him a good... And he's not even
going to do it in a hard robot way. He's just
going to do it in a gentle way. I think Joseph
stands up. And he says, what would Goldhouse
like me to do to prove my worth? If you can get
us information just about any mission you're
doing, or if you can better yet steal any data
off of the Peacekeeper servers for us, anything
useful, you know, like I said, deployments, who's
paying your bills, anything like that. We could
use that. If you give us that, I think my employer
and my squad mates would be happy to meet you.
The person I would love to meet is Milk Cake.
Could he be in that room as well? Oh, he'd be
there. Joseph winks, wonderful. So this vignette
is going to take place in the middle of your
recovery, maybe one and a half weeks in. Even
with the advanced medical technologies available,
it still takes a long time to recover from these
sorts of wounds. I mean, you have full body third
degree burns, you have multiple concussions,
probably some broken ribs, and not to mention
you were fighting with these wounds for hours
after sustaining them. Dr. Grace has been attending
to you as much as she can, and you've received
visits from both your squad mates and others
such as Director Jermaine. However, today you
have a new visitor, though she is not let in
immediately because Dr. Grace tells you that
there's someone here from the company. They probably
want to experiment on you again. Send them in.
Garrett, I really recommend against any of this.
Grace. Let me ask you this. What is it that you
really want for me, and why? Did you ever think
about that for a second? Say I do what you say.
You know, I stop. I leave. Maybe they shuttle
me off to some, you know, long -term care facility
for war veterans. I get all this chrome stripped
out. I get wheeled around. by some nurse who
has to fucking change my colostomy bag every
day and wheel me out to the garden to stare at
a wall, and then maybe in five years, maybe in
20 years, the implants finally give out and I
die. Is that what's best for me, or is that what's
easiest for you? I don't think you've considered
that you could have a life beyond this. I've
considered it. I had nothing else to consider
while I was laying in that fucking coma. There
is nothing left for me but this. She grimaces
and stands up and says, Okay, Garrett, you can
keep at it, but I just want you to know that
I know you've lost everything, but we haven't
lost you yet, and we don't want to. And she walks
out. She doesn't wait for your response. And
as she leaves, someone new comes in, your new
visitor. who is about eight feet tall with the
stilts on. Her height is very variable. The stilts
telescope down to be more at your level. She's
clad in a black -blue robe, which breaks up the
silhouette of her figure using some weird sparkling
pattern, causing her body to look like a monolith
that is kind of marching towards you very smoothly.
Her head is helmeted by what you can only describe
as an indented dodecahedron, making it difficult
to tell which way is forward and which way is
backwards for her. You've seen her once before.
Very hard to forget. She originally briefed you
on your experimental prosthesis and the operations
of the changeling, your frame, which is being
lent to you and the peacekeepers as long as you
send regular updates and logs on its performance.
And her name is Ziggurat. Wasn't sure I'd be
seeing you again. She kind of stalks forward
smoothly. She bends a little bit, looking down
on you, kind of like a snake, almost. I just
have a quick question. Do I know, like, is she
like a full -body prosthetic, like Ghost in the
Shell style? You don't know. Oh, I have no idea.
I don't know what's under that robe. No. You
gotta get your social link up a little bit for
that one. She says, Garrett, I have just come
from examining your frame and I must say I am
disappointed with its condition. What? I used
it for what it's good for. Did you see the footage?
Did you see what I did? Yes, your performance
was adequate considering. What the hell did he
have? She kind of undulates a little bit, continues
to like walk around your bed in a very strange
way. Nothing we could make, so don't worry about
that right now. What do you want? The doctor
wants to give you lab -grown skin to replace
your dermis, but we have a much better proposition
for you. Well, get on with it then. What is it?
She produces... This see -through bag containing
a spool of white -blue tissue, which kind of
looks similar to the augmented arm that your
handler, Nyla, has. You get a glimpse of Ziggurat's
manipulators. Instead of hands, she has these
clusters of razor -sharp coils, which kind of
somehow don't penetrate the bag and just handle
it at the tip of like a million little needles.
And she deposits it on your lap. This is an experimental
silicon mesh with integrated chemical circuits.
It will allow the changeling to draw data directly
from your nervous system more effectively, and
due to its lack of electric circuitry, it will
avoid any lockups in anti -heuristic fields.
It would be a fine addition to your capabilities.
So, what? You want to just put this all over?
where the skin sloughed off from the heat. Yes,
but it is not part of our contract. It's not
yet approved for use on sapient beings, but I
have brought an addendum for you to sign. And
she produces a piece of paperwork, which she
lays on your bedside table. It's fairly boilerplate.
You accept all the consequences of the implantation.
Know that it is against the Peacekeeper's medical
advice and standards, and it will require you
to continue making appointments with the Vector
Mines for reporting and tweaks. Geist thinks
about it for a moment, and he stares at the sheet
in front of him, and then he just says, Fuck
it. And he reaches out one shaking prosthetic
hand and signs it. Give it to me. Ziggurat's
helmet or head. it's not very clear, poses a
gentle green color as she picks up the paperwork
and the bag of flesh. Very wise, Garrett. I will
communicate your decision with the doctor. There's
a catch. Yes? She needs to remain my attending
physician. I'm not accepting one of your fucking
corp creeps. I know you'll have to bring him
in to do the installation, but she still handles
my day -to -day. Ziggurat's helmet. Has a little,
like, white circle that goes around it. Kind
of like a loading sign. We find this to be acceptable.
And she walks out of the room, if you could call
it walking. Not long, Dr. Grace does walk back
in, pulls up a stool next to your bed, lights
up a cigarette, which is very rare for her. So,
new skin? New skin. Look, Grace, I'm sorry. For
snapping. You know, we're the only people I can
still trust. This is very important to me. It's
not just revenge. Not really. I know revenge
doesn't change anything. It won't bring her back,
but I need to do this for me. Well, then we best
do it the best way we can. And with the best
doctor you can. And she takes a puff of her cigarette.
We'll get to work. Just don't ask me for extra
painkillers, okay? Fair enough.