Red Flux: A New Weird Quest for Justice, Freedom and the Self

Estro said:

This is certainly a change.

I actually don't know how to vote. None of the options seem to do anything v the watcher.

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It is something of a "pick your poison" vote. Which is my favorite kind of vote, really.

That said, in terms of stopping the Watcher, the most effective tactic is probably putting some distance between its target (sexy witch lady) and its avatar (whatshername).

A little bit of extra analysis:

There isn't an option here that doesnt involve serious bodily harm to our protagonist.

Ripping her own throat is probably fatal (on account of either bleeding or choking to death), and definitely leaves her voiceless and with a limited ability to breathe even if she survives.

Gouging out her own eyes is self explanatory.

Jumping out of the window is liable to result in broken bones. A limb or two. Maybe even ribs. And possibly death (though human bodies are surprisingly tough on that front).

Finally, I think we have to consider the medical costs of surviving.

Bear in mind that we have no idea where the money for our protagonist's medical operations and her TK augmentation came from. Did she pay with her own money? Did the Library pay? Is she in debt to anyone on account of the throat implant? Is she at all in a position to pay for a replacement neck or a new pair of eyes?

With this in mind, I'm guessing the broken bones will be the cheapest to heal in terms of money. Time is more problematic...could take months for the bones to knit. But - she has that TK augmentation. So, hopefully, the broken bones won't cost her her job - she can sit around in plaster casts rearranging the shelves or whatever with her TK!

...hooray.

So, yeah, jumping out the window seems like the best of several bad options in monetary terms.

It may well be that Leigna's current monetary situation is related to the surgery for her throat. Though the implication is that she's always had a hard life, currently she's some kind of mid-level functionary in a reputable public office, but her situation is a lot less than that would suggest. While it's possible that she's just catastrophically underpaid (which I guess is possible but would be weird), I think it's more likely she's on acceptable money, most of which gets sucked up paying off medical debts.

While that's just my read of the situation, I'm not inclined to make that situation worse when there's an alternative that, while not risk-free, is probably less drastic overall.

Personally I figured our heroine here would regenerate her throat if we had her remove the cybernetic parts and figured it'd be prudent to do so now lest she get stuck with something she has to maintain while in exile from society.

[X] Run faster than you've ever run, straight through that window. They'll never find Atyche.

I'm really, really regretting choosing to go after Atyche (as opposed to staying outside). Maybe the other choice was even worse, but this is pretty terrible.

That was both crazy and sorta like, disconcertingly fast?

We may have avoided this if we'd stayed outside, but under the information we had available, I think it was the right choice. There's also no guarantee that something spooky wouldn't have happened anyway - the world went all crazy before we went inside, while we were on the street. In retrospect, the 'give in' in the winning vote wasn't giving into Rayburn's suggestions, it was giving in to 'the Watcher.' It was putting pressure on Leigna the whole time.

(I am loving you guys are engaged enough with the quest to analyse what Liegna is doing in terms of medical expenses)

So, let me go through this a little, now that I've had thoughts and such.

Once, there was chaos. He brought certainty.
Once, the throne of heaven stood empty. He filled it.

Sorta KSBD-y, yes, but also somewhat judeo-Christian, though that's far from the only possible explanation. But some sort of figure, a figure that as we will see has Capital Letters He[1], so that's interesting. Heaven doesn't have to be the Judeo-Christian one, it could represent some higher law or power in general. What really matters is that the Watcher is not Him, as we'll see.

You live now in the will of the One Who is Risen
You have lived in a fortunate age.
Rejoice in the memory!

Live *in* the will of the One Who Is Risen. So, some sort of Messianic or otherwise divine figure. This might be Him, and that's my guess, but it might not be? Though the question remains... what memory? Is He somehow dead and now newly 'Risen'?

Ungrateful, this world has devoured his attention
A new, more perfect kingdom will rise.
Rejoice!

He was in the past, the world has somehow rejected him in some way, perhaps by running off masturbation-powered technology? That's a joke, who actually knows. A "Kingdom" could obviously be a Kingdom of Heaven or it could be a literal Kingdom, who knows?

Our symbiosis is fortunate. Without it, I could not enter past her signs.

The power that the Watcher has is clearly very limited. And the enemy that the Watcher faces is actually able to drive him off. So despite being powerful enough to do what he just did, uh. He's also limited.


Do not despair.
While your life is wretched, it serves a purpose higher than that of kings.
You are a vessel for that which must be.

Upon the throne of heaven he laid his head.
Upon the halls of heaven he built his arts.
Upon the web of the world he laid fate.
Everything happens for a reason.
Everything happens because of Him.

So, God foretold and fated this? But what part? The "Higher Purpose" is why I think she's either a Saint or an Avatar. Which means that FBH might have accidentally stolen my idea (this too is a joke). A vessel implies Avatar more than Saint, but then, again. What even is a Saint, since we shouldn't lean too hard into the world being Judeo-Christian. But someone chosen or fated by God to do great things in His name.

The "Life is wretched" thing is honestly impossibly shitty, and so fuck the Watcher. I mean, which I know is the point of those lines. There's basically no way the author could make the Watcher more easily hated in a single line. But yeah, anyways. This is going to be a long term problem if there's a Fate. One wonders where being trans fit into all of this.

The Watcher clearly has a lot of strange and bizarre powers, as you can tell by the somewhat brief narration.

Okay, and so we can resist, but only for a very, very short time. But the fact that the Watcher somehow needs us means... something? But that he's going to reassert control after this is of course distressing.

Also, finally, the mention of repressed horrors and etc implies a lot about... prior experience with this Watcher? But we can't really be certain at this moment.

[1] And thus is no doubt a tool of the patriarchy. I'm joking, but I mean, a trans girl was just mentally violated by the agent (self-proclaimed or otherwise) of some He, some God, etc, etc.

[X] Run faster than you've ever run, straight through that window. They'll never find Atyche.

Being blind or crippled is probably not a good thing.

FBH said:

The skywalk out of Central Station leads into the White Plaza, the central square between most of the biggest government buildings, with the New Parliament on one side, the grand Cathedral on a second, and massive spire that holds the offices of Offices of Caltrai and Sons, the largest financial concern on a third. On the fourth is your place of work, the massive, elegant tower of the grand library

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There's a "grand Cathedral" standing as one of four great government buildings. Interesting.

I'm willing to bet that the Watcher is an agent of this Cathedral, which is in turn the representative of the official state religion.

By the way, here's an excerpt from an essay by one Leigna Sheridan:

Exhack said:

The Great Mistake waged by the Hagioplex League against the sky nomads of the southearn hemisphere, who call themselves the Elindove, driven by a ccombination of religious fervor against the "heethen" nomads and their monopolization of several unsettled deepsky orgone gyres...

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The Watcher doesn't worry me nearly as much as the organization he probably represents, which seems to have tentacles throughout the government and society (hence their surreptitious transformation of a civil servant into a sleeper agent, and their probable manipulation of the state into a war of cultural genocide against "Heathens").

And said organization does not worry me us much as the potential God they represent. If people become increasingly angelic the higher you go, someone has to be at the top, right?

And, judging by those weird nightmares multiple people have been having ("a rain of blood, and monsters in it's wake"), and by the Watcher's promise that "a new, more perfect Kingdom will rise"... said God of this world might be preparing to go Sodom and Gomorrah on things before rebuilding it from the ground up to be...something. Very ominous indeed.

Mechasaurian said:

There's a "grand Cathedral" standing as one of four great government buildings. Interesting.

I'm willing to bet that the Watcher is an agent of this Cathedral, which is in turn the representative of the official state religion.

By the way, here's an excerpt from an essay by one Leigna Sheridan:


The Watcher doesn't worry me nearly as much as the organization he probably represents, which seems to have tentacles throughout the government and society (hence their surreptitious transformation of a civil servant into a sleeper agent, and their probable manipulation of the state into a war of cultural genocide against "Heathens").

And said organization does not worry me us much as the potential God they represent. If people become increasingly angelic the higher you go, someone has to be at the top, right?

And, judging by those weird nightmares multiple people have been having ("a rain of blood, and monsters in it's wake"), and by the Watcher's promise that "a new, more perfect Kingdom will rise"... said God of this world might be preparing to go Sodom and Gomorrah on things before rebuilding it from the ground up to be...something. Very ominous indeed.

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Here's a difficulty with this interpretation. At least, a potential problem. A lot of the first half of the speech by the Watcher is about how everyone has forgotten Him, etc, etc. Now, it's true that it could be one of those, "God doesn't feel appreciated enough" things, but it seems a little contrary to the framing of the words if actually he's a well-known and officially worshipped deity?

Not sure there.

I think that this is important information, but I'm not sure if it's that simple. Hrmmm.

The Laurent said:

Here's a difficulty with this interpretation. At least, a potential problem. A lot of the first half of the speech by the Watcher is about how everyone has forgotten Him, etc, etc. Now, it's true that it could be one of those, "God doesn't feel appreciated enough" things, but it seems a little contrary to the framing of the words if actually he's a well-known and officially worshipped deity?

Not sure there.

I think that this is important information, but I'm not sure if it's that simple. Hrmmm.

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Some of the least religious countries in our world have state religions, and it's thought that the presence of state support might be enervating those religions so that they don't have it in them to inspire dedication. Something like that might be happening here. Or maybe not, considering the religiously-motivated wars. This quest is weird and not sure if I like it or stockholm syndrome is keeping me here.

Small Nerd said:

Some of the least religious countries in our world have state religions, and it's thought that the presence of state support might be enervating those religions so that they don't have it in them to inspire dedication. Something like that might be happening here. Or maybe not, considering the religiously-motivated wars. This quest is weird and not sure if I like it or stockholm syndrome is keeping me here.

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It's a bit unclear. People certainly seem to be treating our protagonist differently because she's an Elindove, though that may be less religious fervor as it is a pre-existing bias that can exist secularly, or an indication that people are perhaps broadly religious, but not necessarily pioua enough for this being's tastes. The only religiously-motivated war we know of is the "Great Mistake" keep in mind, while this could be pure propaganda they're typically known as more wars over resources than due to religious fanaticism. And even that war had a secular component in the desire to take the orgone gyres from the Elindove.

I think overall to get much farther than we have we're going to need more information about the society and perhaps about whatever being this is and the exact source of their discontent, personally.

The Laurent said:

Here's a difficulty with this interpretation. At least, a potential problem. A lot of the first half of the speech by the Watcher is about how everyone has forgotten Him, etc, etc. Now, it's true that it could be one of those, "God doesn't feel appreciated enough" things, but it seems a little contrary to the framing of the words if actually he's a well-known and officially worshipped deity?

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Well, for one thing, at least one godless heathen - Leigna - is working as a government functionary in the state that's supposed to promote said God uber alles. Leigna also has a friend with "Nomad blood" in the police force.

My guess would be that the God of this setting is not very pleased with that.

Mechasaurian said:

Well, for one thing, at least one godless heathen - Leigna - is working as a government functionary in the state that's supposed to promote said God uber alles. Leigna also has a friend with "Nomad blood" in the police force.

My guess would be that the God of this setting is not very pleased with that.

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And yet said God chose her, or claimed to have chosen her, for some reason. It's a little more complicated, it seems, than "Nomad blood."

The Laurent said:

And yet said God chose her, or claimed to have chosen her, for some reason. It's a little more complicated, it seems, than "Nomad blood."

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I'm not claiming to have the full picture, so much as a corner puzzle piece or two. For example, we know that there were secular as well as religious motivations for the "Great Mistake."

But I am convinced that this Watcher is indeed an agent of the state religion.

And, well, being chosen as an avatar of His does not at all seem to be a sign of respect towards Leigna - rather, it's something she is supposed to appreciate as an honour. If she isn't happy about being mind-controlled into doing things then in the eyes of the Watcher she is clearly an Ungrateful Bastard who just needs to be forced to carry out His will anyway.

"It's supposed an honour for a heathen such as you! You're supposed to be grateful for being turned into a disposable fire-and-forget missile! You're being given a chance to convert and acknowledge His glory! You don't like it? Fuck you! Imma going to make you carry out His will anyway!"

Mechasaurian said:

"It's supposed an honour for a heathen such as you! You're supposed to be grateful for being turned into a disposable fire-and-forget missile! You're being given a chance to convert and acknowledge His glory! You don't like it? Fuck you! Imma going to make you carry out His will anyway!"

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I mean in essence that seems to be what that line from the Watcher is saying. "Your life is a disgrace. However, you should be grateful for the work you do by essentially becoming our puppet, for you are serving a higher purpose." At least that's how I read it.

Sorta, yes. It's just a... feeling I have?

That this might be something new coming up from the underground. It depends, of course.

Broken Base said:

I mean in essence that seems to be what that line from the Watcher is saying. "Your life is a disgrace. However, you should be grateful for the work you do by essentially becoming our puppet, for you are serving a higher purpose." At least that's how I read it.

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Huh. I didn't even realize that that particular line could be read that way. But yes, it both makes sense and makes the Watcher and its ideology even more dickish.

"My sentence is for open War; Of Wiles,
More unexpert, I boast not: them let those
Contrive who need, or when they need, not now.
For while they sit contriving, shall the rest,
Millions that stand in Arms, and longing wait
The Signal to ascend, sit ling'ring here,
Heav'n's fugitives, and for their dwelling place
Accept this dark opprobrious Den of shame,
The Prison of his Tyranny who Reigns
By our delay? no, let us rather choose,
Arm'd with Hell flames and fury all at once
O'er Heaven's high Tow'rs to force resistless way,
Turning our Tortures into horrid Arms
Against the Torturer."

[X] With the very last of your control, tear out your throatpiece. You live on your terms.

[X] Run faster than you've ever run, straight through that window. They'll never find Atyche.

If we tear out our throatpiece we are probably killing ourselves or at the very least severely crippling ourselves, and I don't really see any possible advantage to it. Even if it is controlling us then the best option would be to remove it surgically rather than tearing out our own throat. Even if it doesn't kill us we will certainly be rendered mute, in which state it is perfectly possible to continue the quest and in which state we will be immensely diminished. Plus the massively increased medical bills.

If we gouge out our eyes we're going to blind ourselves, probably permanently. Since it would be possible to continue the quest in this way, after all, I don't see any reason to think that this wouldn't gouge out our eyes.

I don't really see any advantage to tearing out our throatpiece or gouging out our eyes. Would anyone like to explain their vote for those options? I also have no reason to believe that we'll actually regenerate anything at all. I haven't seen anyone with vaguely similar regenerative abilities at any point in time in this quest, we didn't regenerate for multiple years after tearing out our own throat, and the simple fact that there's weird magic going on means nothing regarding whether or not we have regenerative abilities. Either we do regenerate, in which case we don't really gain much of an advantage at all, or we don't in which case we're massively crippled.

I don't see any reason to think that the throat thing is influencing us at all, rather than us just going crazy. We can figure out more about that later regardless. And since our throat was torn out in the past, this may simply be the same thing happening again, and we all know how that turned out last time (rendered ourselves mute).

Zaealix said:

[X] With the very last of your control, tear out your throatpiece. You live on your terms.
Because I want our protag to not have to sound like Darth Vader whenever she talks or otherwise uses her vocal cords.

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She's really not going to sound like anything when she talks if she rips it out because she'll be mute, she was mute before she had it implanted and tearing it out is likely to damage us even worse, with a good chance of actually killing us.

[X] Run faster than you've ever run, straight through that window. They'll never find Atyche.

[X] With the very last of your control, tear out your throatpiece. You live on your terms.

This got bit lovecraftian with this whole Watcher