[X] "I take it you're the 'original' Ayin?"
-[X] You want to know more about the Voice - or Carmen, as Abel called her. What happened to her? Why is she doing all of this?
-[X] Ask why you have a tail all the sudden. You're used to going with the flow, but it's a rather disconcerting remnant of the Dreaming Current - and you've just seen firsthand how dangerous dealing with Abnormalities can be.
-[X] See if he has anything to say about the fragment of the Plague Doctor you took along. There's probably nobody more familiar with how Abnormalities work you could possibly quiz - besides the Voice herself, possibly.
[X] "I take it you're the 'original' Ayin?"
-[X] You want to know more about the Voice - or Carmen, as Abel called her. What happened to her? Why is she doing all of this?
-[X] Ask why you have a tail all the sudden. You're used to going with the flow, but it's a rather disconcerting remnant of the Dreaming Current - and you've just seen firsthand how dangerous dealing with Abnormalities can be.
-[X] See if he has anything to say about the fragment of the Plague Doctor you took along. There's probably nobody more familiar with how Abnormalities work you could possibly quiz - besides the Voice herself, possi
[X] "I take it you're the 'original' Ayin?" - Extra Ayin
-[X] You want to know more about the Voice - or Carmen, as Abel called her. What happened to her? Why is she doing all of this?
-[X] You're also curious on the man himself. Does he dislike the unplanned results that came forth from his plan? Why does he not speak in the Light as Carmen does?
-[X] Ask why you have a tail all the sudden. You're used to going with the flow, but it's a rather disconcerting remnant of the Dreaming Current - and you've just seen firsthand how dangerous dealing with Abnormalities can be.
-[X] See if he has anything to say about the fragment of the Plague Doctor you took along. There's probably nobody more familiar with how Abnormalities work you could possibly quiz - besides the Voice herself, possibly.
[X] "I take it you're the 'original' Ayin?" - Extra Ayin
-[X] You want to know more about the Voice - or Carmen, as Abel called her. What happened to her? Why is she doing all of this?
-[X] You're also curious on the man himself. Does he dislike the unplanned results that came forth from his plan? Why does he not speak in the Light as Carmen does?
-[X] Ask why you have a tail all the sudden. You're used to going with the flow, but it's a rather disconcerting remnant of the Dreaming Current - and you've just seen firsthand how dangerous dealing with Abnormalities can be.
-[X] See if he has anything to say about the fragment of the Plague Doctor you took along. There's probably nobody more familiar with how Abnormalities work you could possibly quiz - besides the Voice herself, possibly.
[X] "I take it you're the 'original' Ayin?" - Extra Ayin
-[X] You want to know more about the Voice - or Carmen, as Abel called her. What happened to her? Why is she doing all of this?
-[X] You're also curious on the man himself. Does he dislike the unplanned results that came forth from his plan? Why does he not speak in the Light as Carmen does?
-[X] Ask why you have a tail all the sudden. You're used to going with the flow, but it's a rather disconcerting remnant of the Dreaming Current - and you've just seen firsthand how dangerous dealing with Abnormalities can be.
-[X] See if he has anything to say about the fragment of the Plague Doctor you took along. There's probably nobody more familiar with how Abnormalities work you could possibly quiz - besides the Voice herself, possibly.
[X] "I take it you're the 'original' Ayin?" - Extra Ayin
-[X] You want to know more about the Voice - or Carmen, as Abel called her. What happened to her? Why is she doing all of this?
-[X] You're also curious on the man himself. Does he dislike the unplanned results that came forth from his plan? Why does he not speak in the Light as Carmen does?
-[X] Ask why you have a tail all the sudden. You're used to going with the flow, but it's a rather disconcerting remnant of the Dreaming Current - and you've just seen firsthand how dangerous dealing with Abnormalities can be.
-[X] See if he has anything to say about the fragment of the Plague Doctor you took along. There's probably nobody more familiar with how Abnormalities work you could possibly quiz - besides the Voice herself, possibly.
Scheduled vote count started by thenew on Nov 6, 2023 at 7:11 AM, finished with 27 posts and 15 votes.
[X] "I take it you're the 'original' Ayin?" -[X] You want to know more about the Voice - or Carmen, as Abel called her. What happened to her? Why is she doing all of this? -[X] Ask why you have a tail all the sudden. You're used to going with the flow, but it's a rather disconcerting remnant of the Dreaming Current - and you've just seen firsthand how dangerous dealing with Abnormalities can be. -[X] See if he has anything to say about the fragment of the Plague Doctor you took along. There's probably nobody more familiar with how Abnormalities work you could possibly quiz - besides the Voice herself, possibly.
[X] "I take it you're the 'original' Ayin?" - Extra Ayin -[X] You want to know more about the Voice - or Carmen, as Abel called her. What happened to her? Why is she doing all of this? -[X] You're also curious on the man himself. Does he dislike the unplanned results that came forth from his plan? Why does he not speak in the Light as Carmen does? -[X] Ask why you have a tail all the sudden. You're used to going with the flow, but it's a rather disconcerting remnant of the Dreaming Current - and you've just seen firsthand how dangerous dealing with Abnormalities can be. -[X] See if he has anything to say about the fragment of the Plague Doctor you took along. There's probably nobody more familiar with how Abnormalities work you could possibly quiz - besides the Voice herself, possibly.
[X] Walk forward, introduce yourself, and sit in front of him, giving Ayin the initiative to open a conversation. Failing that (or in addition), ask about the specifics of Carmen from his perspective, as his fragments are all undoubtedly warped.
[X] "I take it you're the 'original' Ayin?" -[X] You want to know more about the Voice - or Carmen, as Abel called her. What happened to her? Why is she doing all of this? -[X] Ask why you have a tail all the sudden. You're used to going with the flow, but it's a rather disconcerting remnant of the Dreaming Current - and you've just seen firsthand how dangerous dealing with Abnormalities can be. -[X] See if he has anything to say about the fragment of the Plague Doctor you took along. There's probably nobody more familiar with how Abnormalities work you could possibly quiz - besides the Voice herself, possi
[X] "I take it you're the 'original' Ayin?" - Extra Ayin
-[X] You want to know more about the Voice - or Carmen, as Abel called her. What happened to her? Why is she doing all of this?
-[X] You're also curious on the man himself. Does he dislike the unplanned results that came forth from his plan? Why does he not speak in the Light as Carmen does?
-[X] Ask why you have a tail all the sudden. You're used to going with the flow, but it's a rather disconcerting remnant of the Dreaming Current - and you've just seen firsthand how dangerous dealing with Abnormalities can be.
-[X] See if he has anything to say about the fragment of the Plague Doctor you took along. There's probably nobody more familiar with how Abnormalities work you could possibly quiz - besides the Voice herself, possibly.
3.29 - you are a giant
Ayin is here, in front of you.
Well. You're not exactly thrilled about meeting him- not with the amount of trouble he's caused for you. But you suppose it's an opportunity, too. There's still many things about this entire situation that you don't know or can't fully understand.
"You're... the original, then?" you say.
Ayin closes his eyes.
"I think I am, yes."
Alright.
"I have some questions."
Ayin doesn't show any signs of alarm at your presence. His breathing is calm- there's no apparent worry in his body language either. He seems completely tranquil.
"All right." he says.
...okay, then.
You think of a question. The warm sunlight soaks into your shoulders. There's fresh air, birds chirping, and the soft sounds of the forest. Whatever this clearing is, it is- or was- peaceful. Untouched.
It's a kind memory, of another time. A sanctuary. It could only exist in the Nest.
It makes you feel... out of place, in truth. You are a Color Fixer, and you live on the Nest. But... you never felt like that place was for you. The maze of corridors and avenues and signs that is the Backstreets is, was, and always will be your home, and the people of the Nest don't understand you. You don't think they ever will.
But you also feel something else. A significance, and an absence. You turn your eyes towards Ayin. Not directly at him, but at someone at his side. Someone who should be there, but isn't. Something is missing- some part of the world is not here as it should be. The warmth of the sun feels faulty, incomplete.
The Sun...
"This place... it has something to do with Carmen, doesn't it?" you mutter.
Ayin remains silent, but you understand what he means. Yes. This is a recollection of her, a memory of the Voice in the Light. A happier time, when she and Ayin were both beings of flesh, humans yet to be embroiled in schemes and wars and battles for the fate of the subconscious of all thinking beings.
This is still a prickly subject for him, you think. He seems uncomfortable at her mention, even if it's just a little bit. It's not something he enjoys revisiting, but he knows he has no choice but to do so. There's a hole in his heart. It's not a bleeding wound like it was with Abram, it's not a scratched mass of half-closed scars as it was with Abel, it's not a yawning abyss that consumes everything else as it was with Adam, but it's still there.
It will never stop being there.
"It's a memory." Ayin says, at last. "We used to bask in the sun here. It's been a long time since that. I built it out of... nostalgia, yes. I wanted to go back here, after it was all over. It was the second closest thing to a home that I could think of."
"And what was the first?"
"It... that's a place that moved on since then. I don't think it would want me back."
Nostalgia, uh.
Reminds you of someone.
Two things, in fact. Both are right here with you. Inside your coat. One is sleeping again, dreaming... dreaming inside a dream? Interesting. But it's not what matters right now. What matters is the Book of Abram, inside of your coat, which was just as soaked in nostalgia as this place is.
"You're thinking of him. Of the second." says Ayin.
"Yes." you answer. "Nostalgia, after all. Dreaming. It's what he was all about. This place's right up his alley."
"Maybe." says Ayin. "There's nothing really wrong with nostalgia, per se. Though we shouldn't let the past consume us, we shouldn't run away from it, either. Looking behind can give you strength to push forward. And... this place is probably the strongest memory of the sun that I have. Most of what I remember is from the facility, from the Backstreets, from the buildings... and it's all drowned in smoke. This wasn't a half-bad place to wait for you."
All right.
"Can you tell me about her?" you ask. It's a good question to start with.
Ayin looks at the sky. Leaves start to wither, then fall, and the world shifts as time marches onwards. It is autumn, now.
"Yes, I can. What do you want to know?"
"What happened to her? So she ended up as she is right now, doing the Distortion thing?"
He looks sad.
"She died."
Yes, that memory. Her in the bathtub. What Adam said. But...
"It's better that I be quick on this one. This is the explanation for "the Distortion thing," as you put so succinctly. The Voice is Carmen- my old coworker. I cared for her deeply. She was naturally connected to the Well, even before we even thought of the Light, when we were yet to even pursue being a Wing of the World. She was the one who wished to craft a solution to the disease of the mind. But she could not bear the weight of our many sins, and ended her own life. "
...how did it happen? You understand some steps. She couldn't bear what they did, and killed herself, but you don't know what it was. Then, they made her into their Singularity, but you don't really understand how, exactly, it led to her becoming the Voice in the Light.
"I know she died." you say. "But tell me more. Tell me the entire story."
Ayin nods.
"All of our experiments pointed in a singular direction. We had theorized the existance of Cogito, and everything relied on that hypothesis being proven right. We possessed fragments of the real truth, and we were able to dredge up fragments of it- the Red Mist's E.G.O, a few Abnormalities. The Flames Lurking Within, Forsaken Murderer. A few scattered things, there and there, but nothing truly conclusive. Nothing that could definitely prove that the Well was a thing- that the creatures we found weren't simply monsters produced using relics from the Ruins, that we weren't simply playing around with things we didn't truly understand."
You think that they were, actually. Also.
"The Red Mist's EGO? That sword and her gnarly armor. That was an EGO?"
"The sword was artificial. We called it Mimicry. An Abnormality EGO. The armor was hers. Somehow she found the path to that power, even before we released the Seed of Light..."
"So she was with you, huh." Interesting.
The Red Mist. The strongest. It's rather surprising to hear that she was tagging along with what seems to be a dinky lab in the middle of the Outskirts. It sounds like something beneath her, but she always was one for charity. You never interacted with her much, though you were fellow Colors, and you never cared much when she vanished. You found it a bit strange that her killer didn't come forth to claim the fame of slaying the hero of the Backstreets, but in the end you always believed it was just another casualty of the profession.
Guess you were wrong.
"Yes." he says, before coughing politely. "But returning to the previous talk. Our laboratory wanted to cure the disease of the mind, but to formulate a hypothesis in how to do so, we first had to prove the existance of Cogito, and of the Well of Humanity. Of the collective subconscious. But we needed someone with a connection. We needed a- a bucket."
You blink.
You weren't expecting that.
"A bucket?" you ask, before understanding. "Something to dredge up the "water" from the Well, then? Something to pull out... Abnormalities?"
"Yes. We find ourselves on the very surface of the Well, in a way, right now. But at the time, we didn't have any real way to reliably access it. There's places where the lines blur and the water resurfaces naturally, places with stories, but it's difficult to exert any control over them." Ayin explains, before pausing and muttering something below his breath. Something involving a Golden Bough? "No, it's not important, and we couldn't possibly get one now..."
You tily your head. Is he sure. That does sound like it could be important.
"I'm sure. It's not relevant to the current matter. Can I continue?" he asks. You nod, and he does so. "We needed a definite connection. Someone with an inborn link to the Well."
"I suppose it was Carmen herself, then?"
"Yes. She was the only compatible connection point we knew for sure existed, but the calculations pointed towards that connection point not surviving the process. To make the Bucket, someone would have to die. And Carmen was our anchor, our leader. We didn't want to lose her. We didn't want to sacrifice her, and so we searched for any other possible option. An artificial connection point, a way to force the a Well-linked location to become stable, and... well, finding a replacement."
Finding another person to sacrifice so their friend wouldn't have to do it themselves.
You can't say you don't empathize. You'd do the same in a heartbeat.
"But we couldn't find it. There was a kid we were taking care of. From the Outskirts. Him and his sister. His name was Enoch, and he volunteered for the experiment. To become an alternate connection point. Some data suggested he might be compatible. So, we went with it. And it didn't work." Ayin tells you. "He died. Lisa was inconsolable."
A memory bleeds through as he speaks.
"You should've been the one to die..."
"You're hearing it, aren't you? You know what comes after. Carmen tried to kill herself, and I desecrated her body, her still living body, to make what would be our Singularity. But it didn't end there."
A familiar memory. You've seen it before. A bathtub, slit wrists. A door that someone frantically tries to open, banging on the wood and pulling the doorknob until their knuckles bleed.
"While she lay dying, she realized one thing- she didn't want to die. Above all, she didn't want to die. She did not want to sacrifice herself. I think... I think she stewed on that regret for years. For ten thousand years."
The "bucket."
You stand before it, now. You and him. No longer are you on the grass, on the outside. You are back in the Facility, in a room you've been before, a few minutes ago. But now, it is whole, and you see her remains, inside that tank, floating.
A human nervous system, perfectly preserved.
"I think... that she was stewing on this, for all those years. Stewing on that regret. Ever since we made her into this."
The glass cracks, and now you're back on that clearing once again. Ayin is looking at the trees, frowning.
"Carmen regrets her sacrifice. We all did, but she..."
She felt it. She felt the consequences, for every second of ten thousand years, didn't she?
"She rejects it, now. If she had lived for herself, for her own desires, if she had not chosen to suffer in the name of other people... a selfish wish to live. Now, she wants to show that wish to the world. The Distortion Phenomenon, the wish to live for her own sake, to paint the world in her own color. And she wants to show it to others, too. This "truth" that she witnessed."
He turns towards you.
"Do you remember the final day? The White Nights and Dark Days?"
You do.
"What the hell." Sleepy gasps, staring at the window. "It still hasn't stopped?"
You breathing is hurried. Your pen slips out of your hand, smudging your signature.
The sun is already setting, but the light is just as bright as ever. So far, many Offices have received information gathering missions to discover what, exactly, is the source of that glow. While you haven't received one personally, your contacts have told you that it hasn't been of much use- L-Corp's Feathers don't seem to know anything, and the heart of District 12 is entirely covered in light.
"It's been shining through the whole day." muses Alvar. "Wonder if it'll keep going on forever."
Lobotomy Corporation is dead, you realize. It's not coming back from this one.
Well, two L-Corps came and went in less then two decades, it's almost funny. The last one got themselves destroyed after clogging the skies with smoke, this one got itself destroyed after painting the skies with light. You wonder who's going to claim the spot afterwards. They better hope there isn't a curse on the position or anything like that.
"Hey, Lech. You think it was foreign action? Like, an attack by a rival Wing? Sounds like all their energy's leaking out or something." questions Arabella. "It's... comforting, though. This glow. How strange."
"It likely is not." he answers, tapping the spot in his chest where his internal generator is. "Enkephalin burns. If there was a major leak we would be seeing fire. This is undoubtedly something they planned. Likely for a long time. They had deals with T-Corp- I never participated in any of the collaboration projects, but... was it for this? Was this the goal?"
"...I don't like it." says Arabella.
"Didn't you just say it was comforting?"
"I don't like feeling this way out of nowhere. I feel like I didn't earn this." she mumbles.
Sleepy blinks, well, sleepily, and turns a confused eyebrow towards her.
"Earn it? None of us earned any of this. I don't get what you're saying."
"Tch. It's just something I feel. The light... It's enlightening, and I feel a magnificent sort of thought. But it could have come by itself in time."
"Really? That sounds fucking stupid."
You try to concentrate on the contract. Your eyes glaze over the pages, and you find out you've been writing gibberish in your notes. It's not the light, you know. You've been overworking yourself for a few weeks by now, and only now you're realizing. You're not entirely sure why you did that, either...
"Why would they just blow themselves up like this? Sounds fucking stupid." says the Rat King, reclining on the sofa, his blue eyes staring into the distance. "Tch. There's something familiar about the shine, though. Any of ya feeling that?"
"Nah, it's just being a bother." mumbles Sleepy. "Eh, I'm going back home, boss. Got everything finished for the day. You okay?"
You look at your hands- you broke the pen. Your gloves are all smudged with ink.
"I don't know, but..." you sigh. "I think I should take a break for now."
Maybe you'll go on vacation.
"That was the final day of Lobotomy Corporation. In that day, we released the Light. But she came, too. Just as we faded away, she followed us… we believed it was because of Angela, but… I'm not so sure, now."
Angela.
You remember her. The Pale Librarian. Exiled from the City. An Impurity declared unfit to live in the territory ruled by the Head. You don't have much fondness for her, but it's good to have some hypotheses confirmed. It was suspected she had some sort of link to L-Corp, but no one knew exactly what that link was.
"Not so sure?"
"...do you know who Angela was? Did Abel not tell you?"
Not much. Abel is cagey, evasive. He has a marked tendency to not elaborate on what he doesn't think is immediately important, you believe. If you ask, he will answer, but it's difficult to make the right questions when you're working on such limited sources.
"He mentioned she would kill him for her revenge, but he didn't elaborate much."
Ayin takes a deep breath.
"Of course he did." he says. "Angela was our assistant. I created her to be Carmen, but... she wasn't what I wanted. Though she was my creation, the product of mine and Benjamin's work… I hated her."
You recognize the name, if only vaguely. "B," no? The emissary of Lobotomy Corporation. You think you only saw him personally once, in that ball with Dias. You know who's he talking about, but it's best if you confirm.
"Benjamin?"
"My friend. At the time, my only friend." he tells you, with no small amount of sadness in his voice. "We created Lobotomy Corporation together. He's a Patron Librarian now."
"All right. Back to the "you hated her" thing. Please elaborate."
"I won't insult you and her with any excuses. I hated her because she made me remember Carmen. I hated her because she wasn't Carmen, and because she wasn't the version of Carmen that existed in my head." he continues. "I despised her, even though her role was vital, even though she was meant to oversee the cycle. She experienced every second, trapped in my script, unable to deviate and experiencing every second a hundred times slower, made to be my jailor, my guide and my torturer. And I hated her, even before she had done any of that."
You stare at him.
He doesn't shirk away from your stare.
"...it didn't end there. After it was all over, when the light was shining over the City, she rebelled."
Of fucking course she rebelled.
"I wanted to deactivate her, her and everyone else," he confesses. "At the end of it all. A final rest. She didn't- she couldn't accept that. She rebelled against me, and she claimed her prize. The Light was not allowed to shine for seven days as it should."
He looks mournful now.
"It was a mistake. No. Many, many mistakes. Her role was vital. She would orchestrate everything, ordain the loop, and she did so perfectly, time after time, without a single word of thanks. I didn't- I didn't even think of the possibility she would rebel, when I wrote the script. She was a machine. A machine that I hated, but still just a machine. A cog. But her slowed perception of time made her experience almost a million years within the facility, and in the end, when I finally atoned for our sins, Angela herself would… be sealed. Shut down."
A final "fuck you." No wonder she rebelled, you realize. You'd rebel too. You would probably burn the whole facility down while you were at it, dance on the ashes, and scatter the pieces in the shape of a colossal middle finger. A million years, and not even a single "thank you" for it.
You look at the man again. You think…
You almost want to kick him in the face for the trouble he's given you and your friends for the sake of his boneheaded plan, but to be frank? That's something that Angela should do. If there is anyone who has dibs on giving this man a swift kick and a few shattered ribs, it's her.
One million years.
"This is... hell." You end up saying before you can control your tongue. You mean it. What the fuck. One million years, you think, chuckling darkly. "Something beyond anything the City could imagine. True Hell, yes. I don't think anyone managed to figure out how to make someone suffer for one million years before you."
Even T-Corp's fancy time compression torture-sticks can't manage that, the victim's mind always breaks down after a year. One million is an unbelievable sum.
"I know." answers Ayin, before sighing. "She had every right, yes, to rebel. But the Sephirah, my friends, challenged her. They didn't want her to destroy our dream. Angela released the Abnormalities, and Binah- the Arbiter you faced- chose to turn over to her side."
You turn your head. Right, the Arbiter.
"How did you even get one in your team?"
"She attacked us. That was some time after Carmen died. I believe the Eye saw that we would create an AI, and the Head launched an assault in response. Nearly all of us died, but Kali- the Red Mist- loyal as she was- defeated the Arbiter. And two Claws while she was at it."
So that's why the Red Mist vanished. You whistle in appreciation. You haven't ever faced one in combat, but both are hardy combatants. You did end up fighting alongside a Claw, when one of your bounties turned out to have evaded her taxes, and tried to bomb the Backstreets of District K and flee to the Outskirts, but that was a quick affair.
"Right. So, after your friend killed the Arbiter, what happened?"
"We extracted her brain and the valuable information within. Blackmail material, critical data on Singularities, and most importantly, a way to hide from the Head's gaze. Afterwards, we collected and stored the brains of our team. Some had died before. Elijah, Giovanni. Some had died in the raid. Daniel, Lisa, Kali. Much later, they became the Sephirah, when I established Lobotomy Corporation and finished my work on the loop. I placed then in machine bodies, and they were meant to assist the Manager in the cycle."
"Right. I won't deny I'm interested in…" you gesture vaguely around you. "All of this. But it's best if we continue that last topic."
It is interesting, and you find yourself respecting this strange man before you just a little, and the tale of his friends and his laboratory. For all of this pointless, irrational cruelty, for all of this futility, it's hard to not respect someone willing to go this far for someone else's wish. Even if that wish was somewhat twisted around in the process.
"Yes, it is. Angela warred with the Sephirah for three days. In the end, they had to accept her proposal, at the dawn of the fourth day. Three days of light, and four of darkness. The light shone in an incomplete manner. With the four remaining days, she made her Library."
The darkness of the four other days.
The air feels cold, and dry.
You never realized how miserable it feels to be here, without them, in this miserable wreck of a townhouse.
The light went down. At first, some people thought it was good news. Arabella was smiling, Sleepy was glad he could finally get his sleep on, and you were just content it was finally over.
But then you felt this absence. It's not an effect of the darkness, you realize.
It's the realization.
You've always been like this. You're missing that brief moment in where you weren't, when you had a lingering hope growing inside your heart.
You resent this place, you realize. You resent this house, even thought it is yours.
You resent this Nest.
Arabella said she felt empty again. She said she felt like there was no escaping her thirst. Sleepy is more aggressive then ever.
It's not an effect of the light.
It's just you.
It's that awareness of yourself going away, that motivation dissipating, and everything you were realizing could change becoming an impassable burden once again...
Even the moonlight feels weak.
It's a haunting sensation. Did you really live like this?
"I see. So that's why the Distortion exists? But…" you mumble. There's a missing piece on that puzzle, you think. "The Light was released again. Shouldn't that have fixed it?"
"I thought it would. That Carmen only found her grasp on the Light because it shone wrongly. But I was wrong. Nearly every last spark shone, but the Distortion remains. The potential was always there. I just didn't see it."
You see it. Hm.
"Why don't you speak in Light as she does? You're here, after all."
"I don't think I should say anything. Every time Carmen speaks to someone, she's trying to push them down her way, her path to the future- and I won't do that. I won't impose myself on anyone anymore. I don't have that right. In the end, fading away was my reward, and a punishment. This world is no longer for me."
You take a better look at him. While there is a sadness sometimes, there is also acceptance. He might know he made mistakes, but… he's in peace. He's accepted the past and the future.
"Okay. Do you like this? Those… results? You seem to be in peace."
"I won't say it couldn't have ended in a better way, but it ended well. Though the Distortion is a terrible thing, the Light also roused things long asleep in us. It gave a chance, a fighting chance, to many who would not have it."
You frown. You have disagreements with that idea, with the entire plan, but you'll keep them inside of you for the moment.
"I see." your tail twitches. Right, that thing. "Do you know what exactly this is? Can I get rid of it?"
He takes a long look at the member, and sighs.
"You can't, sorry. Cutting it off won't do anything, it will just hurt and grow back in a week of so. It's a gift from an Abnormality. We had tech to sort of hide it by making it untouchable, shifting to a different wavelength in psychic terms, but that technology is likely gone by now. It wasn't employed anywhere but the main facility."
"I see..." you mutter. You're going to be keeping this, huh.
It's not exactly a good thing, but you're not angry? It's a handy thing, though you might have to adapt your entire fighting style to a new limb. At least you can say it's your animal trait. Might help you fit better on Terra.
"What about… this?" you say, taking the feather out of your hair.
Ayin frowns.
"Did you- did you keep that? Why?"
"I didn't want the Apostles to die- the Plague Doctor offered their life. In exchange it would survive in this."
He massages his temples.
"Can I see it? Let me… have a look."
You hand it over. He touches it, caresses it. It seems he's seeing things you aren't.
"Right, right, that. Okay, this isn't a gift. It's the Abnormality itself, from what I'm seeing. It hid nearly half of its entire being, somehow, inside that feather. I'm also seeing parts of a human consciousness, torn apart and stretched around it. It… I can't really say what this is supposed to be. I've certainly never seen anything like this."
Oh.
"One thing is certain, it's not dangerous to you. It seems that… It's bound by a compulsion. A contract of some sort, and it will follow it. Do not harm the holder's flesh. Live within the holder. Do not damage the holder's mind as you do so. Things like that… and there's something else."
"What?"
"...immortality. A line in the contract." Ayin explains. "So Shall He Never Die."
He hands the feather back.
"It's doing something to your body, restoring cellular damage and telomere shortening. Repairing weakened tissue and restoring your implants. You… you're biologically immortal. I think you can still die, but you won't age, and you don't even need to eat or mantain your implants." he stares at you. "I'm not sure you even really need to breathe anymore."
"That's… unexpected, for sure. But… thank you." you say, blinking slowly.
It's best if you don't think about it much.
"It's nothing."
There's snow falling now. The trees don't have leaves. It's winter.
"We're almost out of time." Ayin says, somber.
"What happened?"
"You're waking up, and I don't think you'll find your way here again if you leave. What do you want to do, now? I can't stay in your mind like the other me, unfortunately."
"And why is that?"
"I don't have… a presence there. On Terra. I don't have a foothold. Using the power of the Book of the Purple Tear, Carmen tore the door open, and sunk her claws in this world through you. She would have found somewhere else, I'm sure, and with Distortions going around she has more, now, but the fact remains that you were the first, and that I never had you. The fragments had their Abnormalities, beings linked to them, beings that gave them form and presence in Terra. I don't have one such being. As far as Terra knows, I'm not real. I can't speak to them at all. It's… it's complicated, but that's the gist of it."
You tilt your head. What is he asking of you, then? If he can't help? The information was good, sure.
"What do I even have to do, if time is running out?"
Ayin's eyes are now empty cavities, you realize. You take a step back.
There is a great power in the air.
"I can't come with you. All I can give you is information. I can tell you one special secret. The second it leaves my mouth, the dream will end. So, please look into my eyes."
You look into Ayin's eyes. They are empty. They are golden. They are kind. They are cruel.
A secret.
It has great power.
It is a savior that will judge you, and an executioner that will deliver your demise.
In its eyes, you find…
(Make a plan, and choose two. And only two. Two eyes, after all.)
[ ] A purple gleam.
(You will gain a Rumourmonger's Network: Information on the City and on the current state of Turbulence Office. A way back, as well.)
[ ] A blaze of power.
(You will gain a Dreadful Surmise: A power. The secrets of stolen Singularities, perfectly preserved. Knowledge of a brilliant mind, worth immense fortunes. A cloak that will obscure the gaze that sees the past and future. A bounty earned from the vanquishing of an Arbiter.)
[ ] Black waters.
(You will gain an Impossible Theorem: The complex process of extraction of EGO from an Abnormality, and the generation of Enkephalin.)
[ ] Warm light.
(You will gain a Coruscating Soul: A deeper comprehension of the Light- what composes it, how exactly your hands seem so inclined towards shaping it. And an extra sort of edge in your light-constructs.)
[ ] The warm rays of Terra's sun.
(You will gain a Cartographer's Hoard: A glimpse of the vastness of Terra, and of the potential within it. Of the places your friends have been, and of the places you yourself may one day go. A land unconfined by restricting Wings and beyond the gaze of the Eye… a new home, perhaps?)
[ ] Yourself.
(You will gain a Concentrate of Self: An understanding of your own mind- your messy, strange, flawed and unrealized, undecided and perhaps undistorted, unegoistic human mind… and a way to protect yourself from the Light.)
[ ] Nothing. Not even silence.
(You will gain a scream that's stuck on your throat like a stone- a danger coming from terra and from the light a green and black glow old and young collapsing so cold so cold it's the end)
Asking about Plague Doctor granted us the knowledge that he had removed the pale half of himself
and You are letting us pick two cheating option.
The Purple Gleam will let us basically achieve the thing Sieg have been wanting to do since the beginning. And now complicating whether or not we really want to or not, and the location of the Purple Tear, which if we now have, the city folks are going to gravity towards us because we know how to get back
The blaze of powerwill give us the knowledge of The Arbiter...a shard of the knowledge of the Head. That is A LOT.
The Black water option can permanently remove the need and reliance Terra has on Originium while giving us Abnormality EGO.
The warm light might give us item making with light like Angela.
The warm sun of Terra will give us all the knowledge of this land, which is incredibly useful when we are this deep into the quest and Sieg still don't know a lot of things, and we will know the unknown too.
The option of yourself will make us immune to Carmen... And might give us EGO.
And the last one.... Is a warning of the future. The collapsing of time...
We can choose to seek way back to The City, or make new home on Terra. We can choose to be selfish and focus on things that will benefit Turbulence Office, or be selfless that benefit either worlds as a whole. We can also try to walk the middle road, but is it wise to not commit to any option strongly, when the outcome will shape the next act of this quest?
Which one do you guys prefer?
oh, and btw, @thenew is there anything in particular you have to reveal about some Act 2 fights, now that we're almost certainly nearly done with Act 3, like you had with Capone fight? Sorry in advance if thats an impolite question to ask.
