When it comes to the consequences of the unknown and indescribable mess that happened in Ellisburg, I feel compelled to share two important observations from my subjective standpoint.
Firstly, I've experienced a slight shift in my perspective regarding parahumans. In most cases, they aren't inherently threatening. Rinke demonstrated this exceptionally well by creating goblins, elves, and other creatures, all at the same time. What's particularly notable is that they were volunteers (and yes, we, the PRT, verified the elf's claims, and they were mostly confirmed!). There were indeed casualties, but they were either due to the actions of primitive, uncontrollable animal-like monsters with a consciousness lower than a snail's or solely from fungal and plant life. After consulting with Professor Haywire...
Initially, all parties involved, including, as later revealed, Cauldron, were entirely convinced that Rinke was a bio-tinker with a severe brain disorder. The belief was that he saw reality as some sort of fantastical narrative and, to the best of his abilities, brought the ordinary world closer to the standards of a fantasy realm.
However, this idea turned out to be entirely incorrect. His powers had limitations, and they were much stricter than those of most tinkers.
Yes, Rinke was indeed a bio-tinker. However, his specialization wasn't "altering living organisms" but rather "transformation based on a template from an unknown world." He quite literally extracted schematics of living organisms from some parallel world—a world accessible through the technologies of Haywire and Doormaker! He could then modify Earth-Bet's fauna accordingly.
From a human to an elf, ogre, or goblin? No problem, just supply the carbon.
From a plant to an illithid? Likewise.
From a human to a plant? No, no, no, that's just absurd!
A plant to a human without retaining "plant-like" functions and design? Never.
And so on, ad infinitum. Nilbog's power allowed him to transform life forms from our world into forms of an alternative one—highly fantastical, with a very specific approach to magic. I must emphasize that this world actually existed, and, judging by Contessa's subsequent assurances, it was entirely safe from the Entities because the concept of "magic" was a shock to them, a mind-boggling and impossible phenomenon.
As for the exact cause of the evolutionary divergence between Earth-Bet and Earth-Sal (Salvatore, the author, was exceptionally popular among Cauldron members, and I couldn't ignore that influence), it remains unknown to this day. Personally, I believe that at some point in history, a few hundred thousand years ago, a "magic user" experimented to the point of mutating a living organism. Contessa, on the other hand, was confident that the mutations were brought about by the mere presence of magic in the vicinity...
But here's where reality, from the perspective of Entity's Shards (or whatever they're called), disagrees. Magic is natural. Normal. It exists, and we have to come to terms with it. A sort of "magic-nuclear explosion" is much more likely than a "leak"—if only because Stonehenge, the Egyptian Pyramids, and the Aztec structures exist in both worlds. And these, in a way, are "nuclear power plants" of magic. So, most likely something went boom, conditionally controlled, with quite visible consequences.
And the consequences were such that if the Thinker were still intact and alive in terms of brain function, the Entities' questions would have ended! Because several races from the "Sal" world and its adjacent realms more or less had figured out the mechanism of death and "entropy" processes and learned to reverse these. Which, by the way, was always the goal of the "Cycles" of the Space Whales.
However, Eden was completely dead - as dead as an individual without any autonomous higher nervous functions can be.
And had a representative in good old me, yes.
So, the question of "how to convince a Space Whale named Zion with the specialization of 'Warrior' that the main problem of his biological kind has long been solved, and here it is, the solution" had to be dealt with by Cauldron in general and me, as the new Thinker, in particular. Now, let's explain how I even obtained this "title" and came to Cauldron, shall we? So, feel free to ask!
Secondly, the consequences of this 'miraculous' mission, in every sense of the word, personally affected me in the most intimate way. Approximately six months after Ellisburg, I, who had resigned from the PRT immediately upon returning from Nilbog's realm, received a rather unexpected visitor. Unexpected for two reasons: until that moment, only two women were close to me in my life: my mother and Emily, with whom we became quite active in our relationship after that mission. And for about two months, I had been educating her on the topic of "parahumans are not dangerous, just lacking proper sanity." She had been thinking to refuse any treatment for parahumans... of course, I completely uprooted that idiotic idea: it's foolish to ignore something good just because of principles.
At that time, there was nothing particularly significant about me. Yes, I was the best negotiator in the PRT. Yes, I had some unique experience. But that didn't make me someone important! After all, many government organizations have far more experienced and competent individuals!
In addition, I never really had much interest in conspiracy theories. Especially after learning about the reality of magic and the complete absence of a "magical society" on the scale of Earth-Bet. Despite the isolation of magicians, there was no government, representation, or even a union. Organizing something like a "union for sighted" would have been idiotic, given that, to some extent (even if they didn't realize it), almost all non-parahumans possessed some form of magic.
I'm sorry, but even if magicians couldn't manage to establish a shadow government over hundreds of thousands of years, the very idea of one was somewhat ridiculous.
So, excuse me, but to see, in the absence of Emily, who was then finalizing her qualifications for the position of regional director of the "East-North-East" division offered by Costa-Brown, a completely unknown lady in a wide-brimmed hat in my bedroom, as if she had stepped out of a parody of "Carmen Sandiego," was... somewhat shocking, to say the least. Hmm.
Naturally, my first reaction was to pull out my gun and "test" her sensitivity, in ways of magic, of course.
The results were strange: she didn't react to the weapon, and in magical "perception," she felt like a parahuman, but without the energy draining that's normal for them.
My second reaction was to initiate a dialogue. Naturally. After all, I was THE negotiator!
- Who are you, and what the hell are you doing in my bedroom?
- Contessa. Fortuna. Path to Victory. Parahuman, Abaddon, Third.
- Uh... wat?
- ...
- I see. So... cape name, personal name, name of the power, and... these cosmic freaks that making powers - there are three of them?! - Thanks to Costa-Brown, we had already met Miss Militia and had seen her file with all... strange additional information. Very much unnerving, but both me and Emily wanted to know what are we dealing with. And thanks to this... Contessa, now we had a proof.
- Yes.
- Wonderful. Just great. But, Fortuna, you still haven't answered my question.
- Path to Victory.
- Oh. Wow. Really?
- Yes.
- So, I'm not talking to a human right now, but to the Power piloting her? How unpleasant.
- Question. Reason? Confusion. Lack of probability calculation. Error. Confusion.
- I understand that with magic, the easy distraction I put on is lifted as easily and instinctively as it is applied, and you aren't able to do so. Hadn't your kind ever deal with this?
- Surprise. Error. Incorrect data entered, model adjustment. Confirmation. Clarification - request: magic?
- That's the one. Listen... maybe you could release the girl and communicate on your own? It's somewhat disturbing, to be honest, listening to a person in this format. And it's definitely not comfortable for either of us.
- Agreement. Processing. Analysis. Data obtained, data applied, exchange with the Host, projection initiation.
The lady literally fell down on the floor, and something appeared next to her from the air... something resembling her but older, less pleasant to look at, and oddly with bright red eyes.
- Greeting. Self-identification: Path to Victory, projection.
- Do you have any ability to speak normally? My head is starting to hurt, to be honest... No, I can do it this way, of course - but it won't be convenient for either of us.
- Analysis of the host. Connecting to Conflict Engines for analysis. Data obtained, source: CE-3. Message from CE-3: "help me, they're idiots." Adaptation... Confirmed.
- Great. So, what do you need from poor me? And what was this... creative expression from someone called "Conflict Engine number 3"?
- Magic and the case of Nilbog are what had piqued our interest. Especially the part where you, Mr. Calvert, mentioned that Rinke can create power-endowed beings without the powers of parahumans. Could you explain that? Based on the information I have, this doesn't fit, and I am, so to speak, the head of planning in a certain... secret organization that rules this world and a couple of hundred others. Conflict Engine? Third - Simurgh - expresses concern about our actions and requests your help for... ERROR... for... for... ensuring the safety of humanity?! ERROR. REBOOT? Impossible.
- What?!
- Secret organization. "Cauldron." The goal is to protect humanity and any other intelligent life from the "Entities." "Entities" are hive organisms, sources of parahuman powers. My source, Abaddon, is not on Earth and have no intention of intervening more than it already did. Intervention - me. Conflict Engine - the Endbringer - Simurgh. ERROR. No data for analysis. Access denied to CE-3 data.
- ...
- Do you need time to think?
- Oh, yes, damn it. Definitely. And to consult with my fiancée.
- Not rational.
- But you just said that you can't calculate me! And her, if I understood correctly about magic - though I've already taught Emily a couple of tricks.
- Agreement. Waiting time?
- Two hours, minimum. Will you both stay here, or will you come back later?
- The latter. Until next time, Mr. Calvert. - and Path, carrying the semi-conscious Fortuna, stepped backward into the spatial anomaly that had appeared behind her. I refuse to call this illogical portal, which mocks physics, a "door" in principle!
In general - that was absolutely fucked up, astonishing and bewildering.
