3/4 Aelsaw 2024/11/30(Sat)12:36 No. 1100570 ID: 04e6e3
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[ She yields, and I go to the first memory that comes to her mind. ]

20 years ago

>"See? You can turn it on, and it'll move on its own! Do you like your father's present, Kara?"

BAM

"I LOVE IT."
>"Haha, careful, dear! It's rather fragile, I think."

[ She does not change much throughout her childhood. Or really her adulthood, either. She only gets a layer of professionalism and calmness that overlays her love of trains as she grows up. Many people in her life were supportive, if jealously wishing they could love anything as much as this woman loved trains. Even now she intends to continue doing this for the rest of her life. ]

CHOO CHOOOO
"YAS"

[ I don't know if I have ever seen a memory as formative as this one. I skim through the rest of her memories. ]

4/4 Aelsaw 2024/11/30(Sat)12:36 No. 1100571 ID: 04e6e3
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It's a shame she was born here on Klivania with such a promising amount of dedication to a single craft, only to suffer their short lifespans. In any case, I can't detect much wrong here. She's acted slightly more casual and off-script during this ride than usual, but I must be careful thinking that this means anything. Surrounding circumstances have affected this train ride, and it would almost be more suspicious if she acted exactly the same.

>"Are you satisfied, Agent Reneil?"

I can't say I entirely am, but the level of paranoia I'm feeling is making me worry about anything that feels even slightly off. Even though something still doesn't sit right, I can't place what it is and I don't believe that grasping at straws will serve anyone well. Tesh is already on her phone. I wonder if she's loading up the server on her own, as I doubt she and Pesh have the same level of caution I have regarding that.

Well if memories and scans and powers don't show anything off then things are either fine or your mind noticed something off that could count as a normal clue.

Think normal spycraft junk for a lower tech civ. Does she have....

Wrong acent or use wrong words someone from just this planet would not?
Odd things about her uniform or outfit?
Eyes remind you of anyones?
Inocuous things she might have said or done that made you think she was bugging the place during her inspection?
Brands of makeup/colone they would not have on this planet/area?

If you can't quickly think of one of those she is probably fine and wish her on her way. You might just be wanting to get a handful of that nice train conductor booty instead of having to rub her head.

>>1100571
I think the conductor is legit. Only possible pitfall now is that an enemy could interrogate the conductor to find out if anyone on the train (such as you) acted strange.
Tell her to not mention the scan to anyone.

Well, aside from
>>1100572
mundane things (which is a good point, I suspect having mind scanning available would make both sides of a conflict forget about the normal things), everything seems on the up and up. Either she's normal or they've done a real good job hiding whatever is weird, so unless you can pinpoint something I'm not sure it's worth causing a fuss. Do look at the badges after and ask Pesh and Tesh if they know why the badge scan looked weird.

Damn she's cute at heck.

1/2 Aelsaw 2024/11/30(Sat)16:52 No. 1100585 ID: 04e6e3
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What could it be that makes me uneasy? I'll look over the room to make sure it's not bugged, as she could easily have done so if desired.

But beyond that, every little detail she has is either perfectly normal, or almost perfectly so. Her accent matches well, her uniform fits Tesh's near forgotten experiences, and no physical elements of her implies anything from off planet.

What's equally important is that even if something didn't line up, what would I do about it? Apprehend her because her eyes are similar to the color of Pillet's fur? That she said a couple of words strangely? No, I'll treat her as though she's legitimate, even if my guard remains up. No reason to cause a fuss.

I realize I've been staring at her up and down for a second too long to be polite.

"Yes, thank you for allowing that. Please don't mention the scan to anyone else."
>"Sure thing. If that's all I can help with, then make yourselves comfortable. There will be an open breakfast in one hour, and the first 30 dollars of food are free. I'd personally recommend being in the observation car in four hours when we break through the fog. Until then, there's a notebook in the drawer explaining the room's amenities. Many of them are hidden, like the closet."

With that, Kara bows and takes her leave.

2/2 Aelsaw 2024/11/30(Sat)16:52 No. 1100586 ID: 04e6e3
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>"Free food!" Pesh is quick to get excited about food for such a thin girl.
"Didn't you get enough to eat before the train ride?"
>"Huh? I mean, yeah I guess I did, but it wasn't free!"
>"I want to check out the lounge." Tesh clicks at Pesh, putting her phone away.
>"We're going to go check the train out, Reneil. You're welcome to join us if you don't wanna hang out with your agent buddies, haha, just don't interrogate us!"
"Ah, I won't. By the way, did you catch anything when Kara scanned our tickets and ID?" I hold mine up, but nothing seems amiss.
>"Catch anything?"
"That energy she used, something seemed weird about how it was done, but I can't place my finger on it."
>"Nope? That was a normal scan to check for counterfeits. You look pretty fazed, you sure you don't need to take your coat off or something?"

Mention everything seemed suspiciously normal and you'll strip if they do first. Also do whatever you normally do to exit an illusion, I guess.

"I don't think so, just normal agent paranoia. *vague smile*" Have they already checked the server?

I'm still not sure what's weird, nor what to do about it - like...you're not asleep or st? Nobody's attacking your mind while you're actually still meditating in your room or st?

Crossing my fingers we're not all missing a set of glaring clues, Lagotrope counting down the panels until everything goes terribly wrong, haha.

Did she scan it the same way our people or the hidden people do and not the locals?

Take off coat.

Did the name of the train match her hat? Que-line?
Also, we know the twins had their stuff scanned, but did you check your *own* clothes and belongings for tracking energy or even regular bugs? You got some new clothes recently.
>check for counterfeits
Huh, that probably would look weird. Ask how the counterfeit scan works exactly, how does it find counterfeits? Anyway, you checked her memories. There's no way she could have acted on instructions without the memory of those instructions, so if anything was weird it would've been someone else somehow puppeting her or hijacking her energy or other advanced energy technique to allow them to involve themselves in her actions without being there.

After you're done checking yourself out and checking the tickets again, you can ask the twins to look at the server data.

Sorry for the triple post.
Going back through posts, back to shortly before we boarded the train, here's things I notice.
1. The conductor didn't give us our free snacks! Not sure how much to attribute to that.
2. She mentioned a notebook describing the room's "hidden amenities", maybe look at that briefly.
3. Oh - still no sign of Tegge and co.? That's weird, right? Maybe seek out one of the plainclothes agents that were described to you and (discreetly) see if they know what's up.
4. Is it normal for the conductor to show up without the aforementioned "security detail"; do they just come when called?

Aside from that...dunno! *shrug* If nothing else turns up anything, I guess explore the train with these two? Don't forget Tegge said not to be by yourself, which seems like good advice.

Aelsaw 2024/11/30(Sat)17:50 No. 1100594 ID: 04e6e3
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"Do you know how scanning tickets with energy works, exactly?"
>"Nope, that technique's restricted for obvious reasons."
"Right, uh, one moment. Maybe I'll strip if you strip."
>"Haha, we like you but don't know you that well! But that'd be a heck of a story, so I'm seriously tempted." Pesh laughs.

Hmm. I double check my mentality to make certain I'm not in an illusion. Though I do not know the exact science, I have been trained in a technique to calibrate my mind with my true surroundings. It looks like I am still in reality, and to the best of my awareness, I am still in control of my mind. If I am in some kind of dream and I'm unable to tell or break out at this point, it's unlikely I can do so at all. I doubt this is the case.

I check my clothes and the rest of the room as I continue thinking. The amenities are just things like coat racks, ironing boards, nothing out of the norm.

>Compare hat name with train name
Que-line is the name of both. I feel it is some kind of awkward portmanteau? I would love to find out, but not right now. Same as the free snacks we weren't handed out! Kara showing up alone also wasn't suspicious, as security details on trains - according to Tesh's memories - tend to only show up as needed.

Stripping was my attempt a joke, though maybe I should take my coat off. It is just in the company of these two, so at worst they'll make fun of me for my terrible judgement of klivanian fashion.

I'm at a loss. I should go see Tegge or one of the plainclothes agents, because I still haven't heard anything on the comms. But since I'm here, I turn back to the twins.

"More seriously, Tesh, have you checked the server?"

She makes a confused face, then taps her phone to speak to me.

>"Server?"
"Yes? The server you had your bugs send data to."

Pesh makes a confused face next.

>"Heyyyy, you know we're not PICK agents like you, right? We're just plain old civilians who wanted to split the cost of first class with you. Whatever weird spy stuff you're up to, I mean, if you wanted to share sure, but we have no idea what you're talking about!"

>>1100594
Hmm. Where the fuck could you have gotten separated from the originals?

>>1100594
what
Are you telling me a memory artificer snuck into your cabin while you were meditating and wiped their memories? It couldn't have been the conductor because she was too weak to do it while they were awake.

I guess look at their memories to see what changes were made. If you can uncover any memories that would allow you to find the server and look at the info yourself, do so. Maybe their phones hold a clue, as well, but if the artificer was able to get in without you noticing then their phones are probably replaced or wiped too.

After all that's done, bring them to one of your agents and explain what happened. If there's no recovering the data then we're truly fucked, exposed and flying blind.

Could they be putting on an act because they think you're bugged? Maybe they did notice something up with Kara.

>>1100597
...if that's true then how do we verify it without also tripping over the surveillance?

If they're lying to throw off surveillance then taking off your coat is probably something you want to do, since they're suggesting it and know things you don't.

Hmm. I think, of the possible options, "Pesh and Tesh are acting like civilians because something's up" is the most likely. (Hopefully mentioning the server didn't already give the game away.) (If they were impostors they'd presumably be trying to play along better rather than stick to a script.) So divesting yourself of your coat is probably the best course for now, though that might mean distancing yourself from the energy canister, unless your non-coat clothes have good pockets.

Assume simple stuff like them feeling your vibe and for sure noticing something off about the conductors scanning. Them getting memory edited or swapped is a big leap.

Take your coat off and think on ways of talking without being spied on.

Seems like a situation where either a memory scan or finding Tegge to get an explanation is going to be our fastest route to getting answers.

Are there any possible dangers in checking Pesh or Tesh's memories, or even asking?

This is exceedingly concerning. Let's... play along for now, but be prepared for things to go south very quickly.

Can you have a silent conversation with one of them through the same means as a memory scan?

>>1100594

But ... hadn't they checked their taxi-passenger's baggage (we will NOT say the name of Papporon out loud) and found a phone they pulled some data from?

Which we saw in their memories, and so did Tesh? Back at Rycell's?

Or whatever an internet-connected device with data on it is called in Klivanian.

The train conductor is suspicious because she is too perfect. Her memories have been constructed by someone telling a tale, not by messy real life events. So either all of reality is fake right now, or you're dealing with a second memory artificer. They may not even be able to create convincing body doubles; maybe they're just the original. Either way, Pesh and Tesh's memories have been mucked with. As impossible as it seems, one outcome here is just becoming more and more likely.

So your sister somehow faked her death to the Phenocosm and somehow escaped, and somehow made direct physical contact with your friends, with a high enough energy level that she could overwhelm their defenses... without your awareness. And she's trying to keep you from getting involved. To protect you? To lead you into a trap? What could she possibly have done to deserve a secret execution?

1/4 Aelsaw 2024/12/02(Mon)12:35 No. 1100644 ID: 04e6e3
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The situation is outlandish, but I shouldn't rule out mundane explanations. Perhaps the twins know something is off and are acting like regular civilians in case the room is bugged in ways I didn't notice.

"Can I 'scan' you two, as well?"
>"Uhhh we'd rather not, sorry. Too impersonal, no offense! We've already spoken to you more than we've spoken to every other cop in our life combined."
"You do realize I'm not an actual..." I don't know how much I want to talk if this room did somehow get bugged, but the context alone may finish my sentence reminding them I'm not a real agent. I shouldn't have to, but there is no teasing, playful tone behind her words.

They share a look, and I see a little glint of interest in them after I say that, but also a level of caution from them that I've only seen in Tesh's memories. I noticed that they suggested I take off my coat. While I have no idea what that has to do with anything, I start unbuttoning it just in case they're onto something. That gets their attention.

"And the server? You checked out the phone belonging to the person you met in the taxi and pulled data from it, right?"
>"Uhhhhh..." Pesh watches me start to undress for a moment and stops trying to respond. She then steps forward and firmly puts her hand on mine to stop the process. "Hang on, let Tesh and me grab our coats and we'll leave, then you can cool off."
"Why?"
>"You're acting pretty weird, ya know. We'd love to see what's under there, but not because you've got heat stroke or something. Come on, Tesh."
"But... I'm fine."

I almost ask about the server again, but my statements and queries are being ignored as though I were talking nonsense in my sleep. I can't sense any double meaning or teasing in Pesh's speech either. Brute forcing their memories is not an option while they're awake, but why didn't Tesh let me? Is it possible she didn't catch what I meant by 'scan'? No, she saw me 'scan' Kara by putting my hand on the back of her skull. Even sleep deprived, she knows we could have a telepathic, private conversation if I did so.

Tesh faces me for a moment, and holds her phone up to play a message to me.

>"Feel better soon, Reneil." She puts her phone away and walks away with Pesh.

My coat is only loosened, but the way they leave makes me feel cold. Whenever I was with them and they take the lead, they've swivelled themselves a little bit towards me with their tails swishing in a way to beckon me to follow.

But now they walk with only their backsides in view, and their tails synchronize to each other instead of having that swish. Their body language tells me that I'm not welcome to follow them.

I can't imagine there is a mundane explanation anymore. This is all too wrong. Are these imposters? No, their actions would still make no sense even beyond being at a loss when the swap occurred. Could their memories have been altered? They were awake when I let Kara in. Maybe Kara was too perfect; it is extraordinarily rare for someone's mind to revolve so absolutely around a single concept such as trains.

I'm thinking in circles and I only find more potential possibilities, each as farfetched as the last and all bringing more questions than believable explanations.

Yet no matter what the case may be, these are not the same twins that I have gotten to know. I let them walk away, I can speak to them later if I need to.

2/4 Aelsaw 2024/12/02(Mon)12:35 No. 1100645 ID: 04e6e3
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I take a moment to calm and cool myself, but no revelations come to me and I did not have heat stroke.

Once I've collected myself enough, I button up my coat all the way again and head down the train cars to see what plainclothes agents I can find. The dining car's kitchen is busy and I have to squeeze by a few cooks, but then I turn the corner just to find a few agents already sitting together at a table. They're far away from the stations I was told they would be around, but I approach them nonetheless.

>"Heyyy, Reneil! What're you doing out here away from your suite?" The purple one, Laxsha, says.
>"Yeah, haha, new agent on the force, and you manage to win the first class ticket lotta, lucky bitch you are." The horned one called Odia says.
>"Language, my guy. There's kids one table over." Pana, the scruffy klivanian, fidgets in her chair.
"Hi, yes." Apparently, these plainclothes agents are not even trying to pretend to be civilians beyond wearing regular clothes. "I haven't heard anything over comms since getting on the train, and no one's responding."
>"Comms?" Odia asks.
"My earpiece?"
>"Heheh. What're you doing with an earpiece already in your ear? We're not on duty until we step off this train. If you need to speak to Tegge, he's in the lounge the next car over."
"... Thanks."

3/4 Aelsaw 2024/12/02(Mon)12:35 No. 1100646 ID: 04e6e3
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Tegge is easily spotted sitting alone by a window.

"Hi, Tegge."
>"Reneil, was it?"
"That's correct. Is it also correct that there has been no communication through my earpiece?"
>"Yeah. Keep your earpiece on hand just in case, but we won't be using them so long as the train ride goes smoothly."
"Are we expecting trouble?"
>"No, but the world's in a state of chaos. You graduated recently and your training wasn't busywork. Even when we're not on duty, you're going to stay alert so long as you're on our payroll. Stay alert."
"I see and I will, thank you. And if I asked about accessing a server of Tesh's, would you know what I'm talking about?"
>"No. Who?"
"Nothing, just checking. Nevermind."

He gives me a weird look, but I leave before he pulls me into a line of conversation that will clash against our mismatched perceptions of reality.

4/4 Aelsaw 2024/12/02(Mon)12:35 No. 1100647 ID: 04e6e3
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I go back to my room to lay down and think. I feel I've woken up in a deep hole without knowing when or how I fell in. The big canister feels heavy against my waist. There remains no sufficient evidence to use it. The evidence required may be locked away in other people's heads, which I can only paradoxically get by breaking the canister.

Ah, but that may not be entirely true. Whatever was in Tesh's server can be accessed. I don't need Tesh's permission; I already have her memories on how to enter the server.

...hrm. The anti-sleep meditation you were doing, is there any way someone can interfere with it or manipulate it somehow? You implied your awareness would be reduced, and I'm wondering if that could have been used as an opening to do something to you.

I suspect you've been had, perhaps for a while, but why would they do this? I don't know. Maybe they're trying to bait you into doing something rash or desperate, to make you blow your cover to the point of being unable to salvage it.

My opinion, try to keep a level head, figure out what you figure out. And honestly... worst comes to worst, wait out the train ride. Don't flinch first, basically. If you've been had, you've been had, all that 20k can would do is let you make a last stand.

>>1100647
Alright, there's another possible explanation. Sound control. Someone is altering audible communication. This means what you hear isn't reliable and you can't rely on other people hearing what you say properly. This means you can try using written communication to talk to the twins to find out if they're really refusing to talk about the server, and you can properly report the loss of communication in your earpiece.

Do you even need Tesh's phone to access the server? Do it yourself if you can.

>>1100647

While it seems improbable that the server situation did not happen, I'm suspecting someone on the "security" detail may have nailed all the PICK agents to create a false perception of what they're doing and why they're here.

The inconsistencies are far too dramatic to account for our mismatched experiences.

That said, how reliable is anti-sleep meditation at perceiving our surroundings during it? Could someone have snuck in while we were semi-conscious and altered Pesh and Tesh's memories when they were most vulnerable, but did not wish to risk brute-forcing ours?

Well so far nothing you have seen or done can't be explained away by the twins and Tegge just being super paranoid and politely reminding you to stay with the cover story because its not safe to talk openly.

So if you are in a dream being controlled or some other energy power that is confusing things then you need to prove it in a way that won't break your cover in a bad way.

Remember that breaking our cover in the wrong ways is the biggest worry. So just be very subtle about what happens next.

Think on what sort of mental powers you know of that could be befuddling you/everyone else.

Memory manipulation: Perhaps? Pillet worries are possible but she could be removed from the game already and its only our own paranoia. If you had 20k power and were the conductor/someone on train running around swapping memories how could/would you do it? Also for what aim exactly?

Dream control: If that's a thing gotta break out of dream with out revealing anything important. Could you have been caught napping? Still asleep perhaps while someone sneaks around manipulating the dream to try and get info? Hiding behind the faces of the people you know?

General brain stuff/drug master: Is that a thing? Are you just really really high and being brain burgled?

Train powers! What if the train lady has super train powers that only work on people on a train! She could be train messing with you! Have a whole railroad plot all ready to run you through and find your secrets with her train powers!

Clones/fakes: What if mice are shoved up in the secret closet and those two you talked to were changlings/the things! Pretending to be people to sneak info.



My suggestion for how to deal with all of this, is to think very hard on all the possibilities and then push at the walls of things a bit. If this is a mind trap/something is fucky lets see how interesting it will get if you go off the plot a bit? Go start a strip poker game with other agents while wasting time. Go bother mice with no coat on. Make a meal in the food car and go bother the train driver. Get more info and see if anyone acts way out of character.

1/3 Aelsaw 2024/12/02(Mon)16:04 No. 1100680 ID: 04e6e3
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The anti-sleep meditation lowered my focus, but no more than if I were simply focusing on reading a book or shutting my eyes. At worse, it's simply like being drowsy but still awake. While my attention was diverted during that half hour, I would still have noticed the door sliding open or any other significant stimuli.

Laying here is giving me further ideas of what could be possible. Sound alteration certainly exists, and a skilled person could completely rewrite audible conversations. However, their replacement words would mismatch against the mouth movements of those I've been speaking to.

Knocking someone out and placing them in a perceived dream reality is also possible. That is also a forbidden technique called dream infliction. Inflictors are almost as rare as memory artificers, not because the skill is just as dangerous and restricted, but because its use case scenario is much more limited in scope. I do not even know what real purpose they serve.

Drugs? Aumstail certainly liked them, but her methods seemed like a perverse hobby rather than something skilled. Such drugs could easily be altering my perception, but for what purpose? When would I have gotten intoxicated?

I could keep going. I will if I need to, but I have everything I need to get information before I begin pushing at all the different possibilities. If Tesh's server doesn't yield anything, then I will go back through the train's areas to see just how odd everyone is acting.

First thing is first, I will spend the time to access Tesh's data.

2/3 Aelsaw 2024/12/02(Mon)16:04 No. 1100681 ID: 04e6e3
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Due to the way she set this server up, her phone and a couple other devices I don't have access to already have keys to allow quick connection, but Tesh included a back door featuring a lot of personal information and passwords that she remembered well. I seek that information out within her memories, and go through the rigorous process of entering the server.

It takes nearly an hour, and I find myself nearly hold my breath as the connection is finally granted.
There are few text messages of notes, but I see one long audio file that is being regularly appended with new data from his phone. I open this up and skip ahead to a marked spot in the file where he first made a call.

There's static for a moment, then I hear Paporron's voice.

>"H-Hart?" It's Paporron's voice.
>"What's up?" And that sounds like Hart, but far more upbeat and casual than the stiff person I was escorted by.
>"We have a problem, they're going to test the body double with a memory artificing test. What do I do?"
>"Stick to the plan. I figured there was a chance of that, so I've prepped a bubble. I'm coming."
>"Okay, hey, um...... Hart?"
>"Yeah?"
>"Can I ask something?"
>"Go for it."
>"I understand wanting to cover for Aelsaw, that makes sense, but why use Gel? It seems like it's been one big headache for you, and I thought Aelsaw was just going to report to the phenocosm while in Varther's custody anyway."
>"It's been awhile since I infiltrated the fleet, and they don't make it easy to hitch a ride. I wanted Aelsaw to go up there in person so that the next time I read her memories I get a better idea of what's going on over there. She wouldn't get that if she spent the whole week cooped up in Varther's basement."
>"Ohhh."
>"And I didn't want to be cooped up in Varther's apartment for a week either pretending to be Gel pretending to be her pretending to be me. With any luck, she'd have taken the week off and poked around Shuzenza's flagship and find out more general info."
>"But you said you sensed her come back to the planet immediately?"
>"Yeah, it backfired! You're fine." 'Hart' says. "There was no luck at all! It all slid downhill fast! I knew she was a workaholic, but I didn't think she'd fly right back down! I should've just taken her and kept a straight face in front of her workaholic husband. Now it's a mess, but it's not fucked, not yet. The founders won't be able to find the phenocosm with the tools they're using, but I'm going to make sure they keep searching to make sure the phenocosm stays dark long enough for me to put an end to this. Me doing things out in the open is going to get dicey, but I don't see much of an alternative. I'll call you in 15 minutes when I'm there."

3/3 Aelsaw 2024/12/02(Mon)16:04 No. 1100682 ID: 04e6e3
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About 20 minutes later, Paporron got a call. I play that as I sit upright.

>"Hello?"
>"It's Hart. Are you in a spot you can talk privately?"
>"Yeah... yeah. There are some PICK agents here, they're kind of giving us trouble."
>"That's fine. I've knocked Gel unconscious, and I'm ready to be seen. 2nd basement, north wing, office room 2. Just walk past the agents."
>"Okay. How did you get so good at soul seeing? I mean, it's not a surprise you're better than me, but still!"
>"It's not as much vibes and mystery magic as they'd like you to believe. They don't want people knowing the full science of a soul. And trust me, it's for good reason. I'll teach you some tricks to sense souls through walls later."
>"But you seem to be able to do more than just sense them."
>"I'm not teaching you anything that isn't seeing. Soul artificing should not exist."
>"R-right. Aelsaw's not making much of a mess back in Winterheight, is she?"
>"So far no, they at least had the sense to give her a different body. I've been tailing her with a minidrone, and she's just chatting up some nefarious mice."
>"Nefarious mice?"
>"Low level, detached founder agents. Ones that nearly fucked everything up! They have no idea what they screwed with."
>"Pesh and Tesh?"
>"Wait, you met them? God, you didn't play their favorite game of thousand questions, did you?"
>"N-no, I was vague. They were just looking for Aelsaw - that is, they called her 'Ellie' - and happened to be in the cab that took me to the airport."
>"Right. Ah, heck, I'm listening in on them. Aelsaw's openly reading their memories? Wait, is she going to adopt them? Fuck, those lucky rats are going to live as long as they want. Whatever, that's enough chitchat. Let's wrap this up. Come on over and tell 'em I'm Pillet."
>"Okay!"

There's another call. The timestamp is about a minute after I read Tesh's memories.

More static, and then -

>"Paporron?!"
>"Y-yes?!"
>"Think! You said you met Pesh and Tesh, was there any chance that they could have put spyware on your phone?!"
>"Hm? I don't - er." Paporron makes a choking noise. "Th-they seemed nice, th - "
>"What happened. Tell me, slowly, with your words."
>"I... left my luggage with them - "
>"FUCK. Throw the phone in the trash!"
>"Wha - "
>"Don't! Say! Anything! Destroy the phone, now!"

There's a pause, then I flinch as a sharp noise of metal being shredded apart occurs next to the microphone not intended to record such a noise. That's the end of Tesh's data.


RING

Ack - my phone's ringing. Caller ID says... Kara Lograss?

Wow, that raises a lot of questions at the same time.

Including, why is the audio file still being appended to if the phone was destroyed hours ago?

Huh. So is this mysterious Hart Pillet who has been training and manipulating things from behind the scenes and learned some other powers from her boy toy? Or some new dangerous threat? Regardless it seems like someone got moved to big action and started taking out the sisters and anyone else with access to these calls.

You know what you should absorb that big energy canister now. Those call logs are scary and you need to be scarier now.

Do it before or while you answer the call.

This is... something. So, we know we've been had, that's confirmed. Hart and Paporron don't want the founders to know about your real identity, seemingly because they have their own agenda? I think that's our only saving grace right now, so don't go loud.

Soul artificing, the implications are disturbing but that'd explain why you looked like Pillet after you were killed, and potentially why you look like her now, beyond appearance drift over time.

Don't use the can, that closes off subtle options. Just... answer the phone. We're no longer in control of the situation, only thing we can do right now is to observe and look for an opening.

Okay, so Hart is a memory artificer, and a strong one. Strong enough to beat you in a fight. I think we know what happened, then. Hart ambushed you on this train, and rewrote the twins' memories to erase the knowledge of the phone bug. He also erased your memories of being ambushed, but you were somehow able to hide everything else... maybe thanks to your energy boost.
...wait, Paporron is going to teach Hart soul sensing too? I wasn't aware it was possible to acquire multiple disciplines like that. Paporron might be creating a monster... he's so naive.

Anyway, now we know what's really going on. Tempting to use the energy capsule right away, but... I think Hart was only able to ambush you because the twins were asleep. Stick with them and they'll be able to sense him coming, which will let you use the capsule legally.

Hmm, Kara is the conductor. Why not answer it? But move towards the twins while doing so.

...OH. Paporron and Hart let you keep the memory of the server because they wanted you to know they've gone rogue?

My current expectation is that Kara is a front, somehow - not sure how. I expect we'll find out soon. Keep your hand on the vial.

The one other thing - Hart mentioned prepping a bubble. Does that mean anything to anyone else? Without actually knowing, it makes me think of like, a bubble of reality or st - maybe he can swap out sections of reality with another altered in some way?? Wild speculation, but SOMETHING weird is going on, and "your local reality is now different" would explain why, uh, everything seems different. And perhaps the general sense of unease.

Well at least now you know the mission as initially specified is FUBAR: Paporron and "Hart" knew from the start you couldn't possibly be Pillet, and you can bet Hart scanned you the moment you were sedated.
They've been humoring you this whole time, but for some reason hiding this from their allies?

...unless this whole conversation is also part of the illusion you may or may not be trapped in.

1/2 Aelsaw 2024/12/03(Tue)12:01 No. 1100714 ID: 04e6e3
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>Why is the audio file still being appended to if the phone was destroyed hours ago?
That *is* odd.

... Oh, nevermind, it's nothing. The database is just filling in placeholder silence waiting for further bug data that isn't coming. That's a strange way to do it, but Tesh knew about this design flaw.

This log *is* unnerving, but I won't use the canister yet. If or when I do, several people or possibly just everyone will detect me. I hold it tightly in my coat.

The thought that Hart is a memory artificer... it's absurd, but I have been given the knowledge that the reports of Pillet being missing were lies, as I was then told she was executed. And if she is alive and here, then those are outright wrong. My trust on this matter cannot be 100% anymore, but even then, it is absurd to me that Hart, a random Klivanian, is a memory artificer who simply ferries people.

I would sooner believe that either Pillet or some dangerous new threat is posing as Hart for whatever reason.

>Paporron is going to teach Hart soul sensing too?
I believe the other way - Hart - or whoever he is - would teach Paporron about improving his craft of soul seeing. This implied that Hart knows soul seeing better than Paporron.

Soul artificing is not something I like the sound of, but it may have been what was used to make me look like Pillet even after I resurrected. For what purpose, I don't know.

>I wasn't aware it was possible to acquire multiple disciplines like that.
It is, but it's phenocosm law that any practioner of a restricted skill cannot learn another restricted skill.

... If Hart is Pillet, and the phenocosm knew Pillet learned soul and memory artificing, then that would start explaining why she was public enemy number 1. Those are not skills any one person should have.

>Hart mentioned a bubble
In the context of the conversation, I think it was a travel bubble. It's a non-restricted travel technique for those with relatively high energy to form a bubble with preloaded propulsion levels. It can be used to protect oneself from the elements while not requiring constant focus and energy on standard flight. An invisible version of it is what Zanthe placed me in to extract me from Klivania.

2/2 Aelsaw 2024/12/03(Tue)12:02 No. 1100715 ID: 04e6e3
File 173325612634.png - (41.72KB , 1200x1000 , 818.png )

>Hart ambushed you on this train, and rewrote the twins' memories to erase the knowledge of the phone bug. He also erased your memories of being ambushed, but you were somehow able to hide everything else maybe thanks to your energy boost. Paporron and Hart let you keep the memory of the server because they wanted you to know they've gone rogue?
Even if Hart's energy vastly outscaled mine, it would have taken time to rewrite my memories. Perhaps he knocked me unconscious first to make it quick, but there are no signs of a fight or of lingering injury or energy usage on my person even now.

But if he did get access to my memories, then by that point I would not have been able to hide anything. Any of my memories could have been removed if this is the case - perhaps he did not have time? I'm speculating too deeply now.

It's too many questions, and the phone is ringing a third time. I answer.

"Reneil speaking?"
>"Hello, this is the train conductor. I've been asked to deliver a message. An anonymous person of interest is requesting that you walk to the very back of the train's cargo wagon line and get on the roof any time between now and 5 PM. Normally this is unacceptable, but I can't stop this. I'm unable to get any of the security agents to help. I'm sorry. She'll be waiting for you on the roof, but asks that you do anything you'd like to do on the train before showing up."
"And if I don't?"
>"If you don't show up by 5 PM, then she'll be coming for you instead."
"Who is 'she'?"
>"I'm not... able to say."

>>1100715
Tell her you're sorry she got caught up in this.
Might as well go immediately, we've got nothing else to do and it seems Hart is helping you for some reason so we should probably find out why.

Is probably best to leave the mice. Giving them any memories would just hurt them and your side knows of your intentions to take them along later. Pillet or Hart or whoever has gone to some effort to reset those around you.

So keep your power canister close and go meet her up top.

Anything we should do before going? Lay some traps, cache something useful? ...Free food? Dunno what traps/caches, really, and it feels like whoever is behind this has pretty firm control of things, so they might be watching you, but it still feels bad to walk into sb else's arranged meeting without anything up your sleeve (canister notwithstanding). Unless we're entirely conceding the upper hand, I suppose.

The only thing I can think of is to leave a hidden message somehow to explain what may potentially be your sudden disappearance to the phenocosm agents, but... whoever's behind this is showing an terrifying amount of control over the situation, through mental means rather than physical at least.

It'll need to be something that'll get discovered after whatever mind screwing is over or not actively being watched, maybe under a pillow, or in Pesh or Tesh's coat if they've left them here.

The domino were already set up, now it's time to see how they fall, I think.

>>1100724
If you have access to Tesh's server maybe leave a message there. Whoever's setting this all up might over look it because they think the server's done receiving.

>>1100731
That seems like a good idea. Leave instructions for them or something. Don't forget to thoroughly log out. Though...the adversary can probably pull login info from the twins' memories. Hmm. Are you able to erase your own memory that you left a message? Would it do any good?

…we aren’t likely to survive much longer on our own terms… let’s go get something to eat, maybe chat up some regular people for a little while. We have time.
Also, for the sake of paranoia, do you still have the canister? It’s genuine and not replaced with a fake or just outright gone? “She” obviously knows about it, seeing as how tegge got got, but I want to know what options we have left.

1/6 Aelsaw 2024/12/06(Fri)13:52 No. 1100832 ID: 04e6e3
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"I'm sorry you got caught up in this."
>"Don't worry about me, it's just part of the job." I think she's exaggerating, but perhaps more than she knows.
"Goodbye, then."
>"Goodbye."

We hang up. I thought of heading towards the mice, but perhaps I'll leave them as is. I still intend to take them back to the phenocosm with me, but the only thing I can do right now is to see what happens when I give Tesh's real memories back to her. This can be unpredictable depending on what happened to her, and even if it works, Pesh would be left in the dark. It's an awkward situation, and even more awkward to deal with right now.

I think until further evidence comes, I will simply assume that I am heading to meet Pillet. Walking into an enemy's location at their own request is not an ideal move, but I feel that she's gotten a firm handle on the situation. I take a brief meditative break to

>>1100731
>>1100745

top off on rest.

I just realized that I've been feeling and holding onto the canister, but that I haven't seen it since I placed it in my coat. I slide what I expect is the canister out of my inner lining, and... good, it's still here. I'm almost surprised it wasn't taken somehow.

Once I'm ready, I start my walk through the train.

>"Hey, new girl, you still look restless. Take a seat." Odia says.
"Okay." I was planning on walking straight there, but I just don't feel like rushing into something I may not survive.

I chat with them awhile longer. It would be easier if I knew how their minds were altered, but they don't grill me for information, they simply chat about their favorite vacation spots. Once again I lean on Tesh's memories so that I am not clueless to Klivanian geography.

2/6 Aelsaw 2024/12/06(Fri)13:52 No. 1100833 ID: 04e6e3
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I pass through the lounge. Tegge looks up, but we simply nod to one another. I spot more plainclothes agents through the following coach cars, and people are exclusively using the observation car as a lounge due to the lack of visibility out there.

Kara is here. She's showing some card tricks to a child between a gap in the benches.

>"Mmm, you pulled out a blue seven."
>"Whaaa?! How?!" The child asks, upon having the face of their card guessed correctly. Kara laughs.
>"A good magician never reveals their tricks! But if you want, I can be blindfo - ah, job's calling, just a moment!" She stands up fully and faces me. "Reneil, are you heading to the back already?"
"I'm making my way through slowly, but I'm not hurrying."
>"Good. Can you help me with this? I think the boy thinks I'm cheating!"
"... Okay."
>"Okay, Hegander!" She faces the boy. "This is Reneil, a kind lady who's going to help me do some tricks."
>"But what if I want to help?"
>"Then you won't get to see so well!"

I did not expect to get waylayed by being volunteered into Kara's magic show. The audience seems to be growing some, and I be a good sport about magic tricks played at my expense. She pokes her hand into my empty pockets, and my hand fully compresses around my canister to protect it. She notices this for just long enough for me to notice her detecting that.

Then she pulls out a cooking pan through means I fail to understand. Her other hand reveals an egg that she cracks open. Energy is used to heat the pan up, and the egg white sizzles.

>"Waiiit a second, you're a growing boy, you need two eggs, don't you?"
"But you only have one?"
>"I think we can get two yolks out of this egg!"

She holds up the egg. It's whole again. She cracks it again and a second yolk comes out. Did she swap it? I saw the egg the entire time.

Kara had memories that expressed a casual interest in magic tricks for entertaining some guests. However, what she is doing now is far beyond what she learned.

3/6 Aelsaw 2024/12/06(Fri)13:53 No. 1100834 ID: 04e6e3
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Kara thanks me, eliciting a round of applause for my participation. I'm left to go through the sleeper car. Beyond this point is staff only, but I noticed the door is unlocked. I go through one, then the next.

The little chime of the train's intercom plays.

>"Hello, this is your conductor speaking. This is a reminder that all unauthorized passengers must remain out of the cargo wagon area. If the two unauthorized individuals who have entered will kindly return to the passenger cars, no fines will be administered, thank you."

Two cars later, and I see Pesh and Tesh sheepishly creeping back the way I came.

"Ah, so it was you two Kara was talking about. What were you doing here?"
>"Would you believe snooping?" Pesh says.
"I would."
>"'Cause we were. We're returning." Tesh's phone says.
"Good. And I'm feeling much better, I'm sorry for those weird things I said before."
>"Haha, you must have forgotten to put pants on under the coat if you wear it so much!"
"I didn't forget, I just... nevermind. The dining car was getting pretty crowded, so you'd both better head over there before the free food runs out."
>"Oh, heck! Okay thanks - you are actually supposed to do something here right? You're not just being weird again?"
"No, no, I'm here at the request of Kara. You can ask her yourself if you like."
>"Okay, okay."

Each of them pat my shoulder as we squeeze by one another.

4/6 Aelsaw 2024/12/06(Fri)13:53 No. 1100835 ID: 04e6e3
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About 10 cars later, I've made it. I sense her. She's not much stronger than a civilian, but I have no doubt that she's suppressing her energy well.

I stop short of entering the final car and instead climb up the ladder to scale the roof. I can feel the train's shakiness as I climb, and I wonder how in the world regular civilians are supposed to work like this.

5/6 Aelsaw 2024/12/06(Fri)13:53 No. 1100836 ID: 04e6e3
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I form a light shield around myself to prevent the snow from sticking on me. I see a figure up ahead with their back turned.

6/6 Aelsaw 2024/12/06(Fri)13:53 No. 1100837 ID: 04e6e3
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She turns.

"Kara? I didn't see or sense you pass me."
>"Like I said, a magician never reveals her tricks. How've you been, Aelsaw?"
"I'm talking to Pillet, right?"
>"Yep. In the flesh."
"What did you do with Kara?"
>"Hey, that wasn't a rhetorical question, girl! How have you been?"
"Oh. I've been busy in unusual ways. Perhaps I'm in over my head."
>"Yup."
"But you, sister! What have you done to get on the number one most wanted list?"
>"'Sister'? We've drifted a little far to keep calling each other that, haven't we?"
"The last three centuries of having you gone are little compared to the millenia we spent together."
>"And it started with me leaving the artificers. If you want to know why I was the most wanted, ask the phenocosm! I didn't put myself up there, hell, the last few centuries I was laying low. Biding my time, learning things the slow way, enjoying being able to get a breath of fresh air without the express permission of three different officials. And it was going great right up until Paporron told me about some insane shitheads that wanted to make a subdimension with or without an artificer. My words, not his. It lit a fire under my ass. We've obviously got to stop them."
"Wait, you want to stop them?"
>"Absolutely. Our interests line up there. I almost tipped the phenocosm off early and anonymously just so they could deal with it themselves before it reached this stage. But I saw an opportunity for myself. So I came."
"Opportunities, such as?"
>"I'll tell you when one of us kicks the other's ass. And no offense, you're not going to be doing much of the ass kicking when you're sporting the energy level of the average PICK agent."

"Guess we're catching up the hard way."
Move to a secure train car. Don't risk falling off the train during a spar.

...she knows that we know that she knows about the energy canister, or at least I think that's a reasonable guess for her to make. So... she's trying to get us to use it? Why?

I'm wary of her just attacking if we stall but I don't want to go loud unnecessarily. Ask if she's sure she wants to do this, say you don't want to fight on top of a train full of civilians, and would rather just talk it out. Maybe hint that you have some sorta of edge? Not sure.

If push comes to shove, use it, but try to avoid that outcome.

>>1100837

Regardless of the outcome, let's ... promise to leave Pillet be. Seriously

It might mean going against everything the phenocosm stands for, but she's gotten this far and she IS kind of working in their interests.

It probably won't sway her to offer that, but it feels like the right thing to do.

>>1100837
I guess you have to wait to use the energy capsule until the fight starts?
Wait, shouldn't she be worried about attracting attention? If you two engage in a high energy duel then all the Agents in the train will get involved won't they? Perhaps you two shouldn't fight, even as a spar.

Tell her you're very interested in working with her. You were predicted as the best person for this job, and her presence explains everything. You can swear an unbreakable oath or something to keep her alive-status a secret from the phenocosm if she wants... and you kindof want to find out why she's marked for death in the first place. Hold up, why did she fake her death if she didn't know? Also, HOW did she fake her death?

Current day Pillet: Would the memories look like they did if they were recorded by old Pillet? Like, could old Pillet have... read Aelsaw's memories, then stored her memory of those memories, instead of storing Aelsaw's memories directly? Would that explain how the memories look?

Okay, yeah, that's definitely Pillet. She knows you got the energy canister but instead of taking it she wants you to use it to fight her. She may just be rearing for a fight but it's also likely this is a form of indoctrination. She's probably trying to make you act more reckless so she could make use of you some way since if you broke the energy limit to that degree you might as well break a few other rules. That said I doubt she'd go so far as to try to actively recruit you since she knows full well what your attachments are and established that you aren't sisters, probably because her worldview's changed a whole lot in the past few centuries. No offense but three centuries is a lot of time when your memories aren't being constantly scrubbed clean.

Also, this panel can only be referencing one thing, and I love it.

Current Day Pillet: Well, at the very least the moral dilemma of whether the real you, whichever it is, would want to take down this subdimension is dealt with. It seems that both Aelsaw and Pillet agree on this point. Though this does seem like it's affect your policy towards the Phenocosm when you get out. I guess we'll see based on which Pillet gets stuck in the fog though if it's both we have another problem. Also, the fact that Pillet is able of changing the way a soul thinks it should look means appearance is not a reliable way to know who people once were. Delli could have been anyone now, anyone.

>>1100854
Well, that feels a little premature. 1. It assumes we immediately believe her vague statements at face value, and 2. Just because we're working towards the same ends doesn't necessarily mean we want to give her carte blanche. Someone could e.g. be working to achieve world peace, funded by child slavery, and I think many people would object.

Oh, edit - I would still be open to considering some kind of truce, though, personally, depending on how things shake out.

Yeah pop the canister and go epic fight your sister. Destiny and all that.

Refuse to fight, you have no reason to.
She's trying to goad you into taking the canister, possibly compromising yourself.

What's the point of fighting if you're both in agreement about the Phenocosm? Tell her to be honest. You deserve at least that.

Fighting seems a bit pointless at first when we both have the same goals, but given the circumstances working together might be incredibly hard, at least directly. As far the phenocosm is concerned, Pillet's an enemy at this point. Working with us puts herself at a lot higher risk. This might be her testing to see which of you two has what it takes to accomplish the task.

Given who you're up against here, I do not think the phenocosm will judge you harshly for using the capsule. Losing the capsule or all of that energy to Pillet on the other hand would probably earn you quite the scorn and shame. Start absorbing that energy and prove you can do what it takes.

There is no way she went through all this effort just to tell us to keep doing what we’re doing. Something has to be going on that we can’t see and I think she’s trying to bait us to either join her or fight her, though I have no clue why.

1/2 Aelsaw 2024/12/08(Sun)11:23 No. 1100941 ID: 04e6e3
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>To Present Pillet: Would the memories look like they did if they were recorded by old Pillet?
>Delli could have been anyone now, anyone.
[ Maybe, on both counts. I'm going to see where all this lands before I think too hard, but I'm sure Delli's remained who he is ever since he killed the founders off. ]

Usually if a memory artificer has to apprehend anyone, it's because several safety nets, precautions and protocols all fell through. Such things were bypassed by sending me here as Ellie, Reneil, and Pillet. Still, phenocosm protocol declares I am duty bound to prevent Pillet from getting away.

With that said, there is too strong of a chance that I simply cannot. She has control of the situation to the point that even using the canister seems like it might be playing into her hands. I don't feel like fighting is the best option.

"Do we need to fight, Pillet? First of all, we're on a train. With passengers!"
>"And children, yeah. Why do you think I had us go to the back of the train? The nearest person is nearly 300 meters away."
"Oh, good." This is the most secure car to fight on, if it comes to that. "Secondly, won't the agents come fighting? They still think they're agents, no matter what you did to them."
>"They'll let Polly handle it."
"Who is that?"
>"I made him up. Trusty old Polly, Tegge's trusty right hand man that'll take care of any cargo wagon troubles and no one else."
"Hmm. I still want to know why you were supposed to be killed. And for that matter, how did you fake your death?"
>"I told you, I'll tell you once I kick your ass."

She starts striding slowly towards me. I finish compacting my light shield such that it's functionally invisible. Judging by how the snow flows off of Pillet, she's done the same technique.

"I'd rather not fight. What's the point in it?"
>"For god's sake, I didn't remember you being so unpredictable."
"God? Klivanian customs have rubbed off on you, haven't they?"
>"It's just an expression! There are no gods watching us. The phenocosm must be cleaning your heads out way too much ever since I left. Do you really think I could just leave and not be on the kill list?"
"Is there not more to it?"
>"Of course not. You must still know the cardinal rule. Our duty is to serve until death. I stopped serving. Now the phenocosm wants me to finish my duty and die."
"And to become number one most wanted?"
>"Really. That's all it took."

She stops a few steps in front of me. I'm still hesitating to use my canister.

2/2 Aelsaw 2024/12/08(Sun)11:23 No. 1100942 ID: 04e6e3
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>"It's because of how afraid they are of us, of what a rogue artificer could do. That's why they keep ones like you naive and loyal by constantly brainwashing yourselves. You might not believe it, but there's a centennial gathering that includes discussions on whether or not to stop the artificing program. If they decide to cut it off, they'll kill every last one of you."
"I could believe it, but I would also accept it. If they don't want us, then what else is there?"
>"Everything! You've already been getting your own ideas on Klivania, I know it because you're sitting here trying to make peace with me. The Aelsaw I know would try to convince me to turn myself in, sure, but she'd also know when it's time to fight. You're going to forget your time and everyone you met here."
"It's a cost I've already sworn my life to. If what you say is true about the centennial meeting, then it's the loyalty of all other artificiers that has made them decide to keep us around every century!"
>"You'll always be the naive child with that thinking. It's not because you're such good loyal phenocosm tools, it's because of the subdimensions."
"Oh?"
>"The phenocosm tried to kill off all knowledge of making pocket dimensions a long time ago." She points downwards. "Now it's happening anyway. Except now they're so ill equipped to deal with it that Shuzenza can hardly take any action!"
"He did send me. I do question if I was really the best choice, but I was sent all the same."
>"Hah! Shuzenza didn't want to send you. It was that encephalon matrix that pushed him into thinking it was a good idea, and he who had every idea of his shot down was pressured into sending you."
"Wait a second, how do you know all that?"
>"Think about it. You already knew it was odd the encephalon sent you down to pretend to be me, when it knew that there was a soul seer down there who could tell you weren't me! And it didn't have any way of knowing Paporron would cover for you anyway! That's not the sign of a healthy, functional encephalon matrix. And you just heard my call with Paporron, where I mentioned I had already infiltrated the fleet."
"You're saying those are connected. You poisoned the encephalon matrix, just to somehow call me down? That's virtually impossible, I thought the encephalon's terminals were self sustaining and inaccessible to flesh and blood."
>"The phenocosm is right to fear what a rogue artificer can do. That's right, I'm the reason you're here. First of all, I needed you to generate hope for Shuzenza. I've studied his career. If he couldn't place his hopes in someone like you, that would have festered into desperate measures. And desperate measures from Shuzenza are too unpredictable and explosive. But mostly, I just needed you to fill the role of official memory artificer so that the place could function correctly for the long term, all while I was left to move freely unbeknownst to the founders."

She moves her odd light source to the side and lifts her hand towards me. I will be absorbing the energy if she even blinks in an aggressive way at this distance, but her posture is too relaxed.

>"If you want to work together, let me borrow your body. Take my hand and yield yourself. I'm not going to explain what I mean, it's way easier to show you."

Break the canister and then take her hand. If you are not on equal footing you have no power to dictate terms at the table.

Honestly she has a lot of good points. You are a memory expert turned field agent in a insane act of desperation. None of the last week has been anything you should have been thrown into. And your bosses are so scared of you that this conversation alone and using the power canister will likely get you killed or worse at the end of the mission. The phenocosm is a bloated mess of a organization and not horribly trustworthy. Maybe standing at your sisters side is the best idea. But you can only worry about that sort of thing if you are not a zonked out zombie in a bit.

>>1100942

... alright, why not? She makes some valid points, and if one person can manage all of this (and we've literally seen her do a fair bit already, just on this train, let alone the logs!) then we are so far in over our head that we're apt to become collateral from the fleet anyway.

Better to let Pillet show us and then make our decision, particularly if our interests already coincide.

Can she go back to looking like herself first? Wearing the conductor is making this a bit weird.

...alright. If she had enough access to manipulate things to get you here, she has enough access to cause you hell for just having a higher than legal energy level if you are able to return. We're in deep enough that the only way is down.

Use the canister. I don't yet know whether we should fight or not, but either way, we're doing this on a more even footing.

You can't trust the Phenocosm when they've had root access to your very soul this whole time, but you can't mindlessly obey the narrative of someone who wants that control for herself. The whole reason you're fighting, in both narratives, is to stop a messed-up science experiment from potentially whirling out of control, consuming everyone in the universe and forcing them to play to the tune of an eternal purgatory they will have no choice but to live in, the ultimate expression of 'enslavement of the self'. If Pillet can't accept your will to fight that fate as your own person, then you can't accept her desire to merge with you. Keep talking it out.

....Nah, not trusting it.

She already told us she's been moving all the pieces to put us here. That she's more dangerous that anyone knows. AND she can alter souls!

The Phenocosm is likely every bit as bad as she says and then some, but she sure as sin ain't trust worthy.

Break the cannister and kick her ass. Read her memories. Every last bit.

Maybe she's expecting it and is ready for it. But fuck it, I think it's well past time we stopped trusting blindly on people who shamelessly pull our strings.

She has already had access to you unconscious, so I don't think yielding now is of any further danger.

You have a computer plan military strategy? With no checks on it, if it gets detached from reality? A single point of failure?

...the phenocosm kind of sucks.

Looks like Pillet's deeply rooted into this and more knowledgeable on the situation than the phenocosm themselves. With that, and the fact she's asking you instead of just taking what she wants by force speaks volumes. Take her hand and trust the plan.

1/8 Aelsaw 2024/12/16(Mon)14:54 No. 1101320 ID: 04e6e3
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"Can you go back to looking like yourself?"
>"That's not how this is going to work."

She summons energy through her palm. I reactively crack my canister before waiting to see what she's doing. It's not easy taking in this much energy for me, even if I have a few spare training memories of doing this.

Pillet responds just as reactively by leaping backwards.

2/8 Aelsaw 2024/12/16(Mon)14:54 No. 1101321 ID: 04e6e3
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I'm ready for a fight, but I don't launch the offense. Pillet's body language isn't aggressive either as she lands. She waits a moment for me to finish consuming what I can of the canister before speaking.

>"I'm just forming a memory. Calm down."
"Okay. Send it to me."

She floats it toward me. With my current energy, I'm confident there's no real danger in accepting this memory. I do not trust her fully, so just in case there is poison within this energy pulse, I extract the memory from the energy manually rather than absorb the entire thing at once. There's nothing suspicious about it, and all my knowledge indicates that it isn't feasible to harm me when I take this precaution. If she can lay a trap that could incapacitate me like this, then I likely had no chance to begin with.

3/8 Pillet 2024/12/16(Mon)14:54 No. 1101322 ID: 04e6e3
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An Unknown Number of Years Ago

[ It's Pillet. She's on her home planet, which is home to an immortal phenotype. No, a species? It's a slightly different categorization of organisms that predates me. She doesn't know the science of such things yet in this memory, and only a tenuous grasp of how her planet moves around the solar system. It's a large, tidally locked planet that's only habitable in a sizable but comparatively small circle on the far side. Two moons circle the planet, providing the sun's light when it is over the horizon but not blocked by the planet itself, thus the two moons provide 4 short days. ]

[ She is looking over the larger of the two moons, but it does not reflect light that well, so it still provides less light than the small one. A heavy storm is approaching, which is common on such a disorganized celestial system. However, its own self violence includes heavy seismic activity, which has provided plenty of natural shelter through deep cliffs that she will soon retreat to. ]

[ The oldest of her species is over 70,000 years old. They are revered for their age, but often have trouble remembering that they are in the present. They ask about people they knew who have been dead for thousands of years, and often go to old destroyed sites believing it's where they live. Pillet spends a moment here wondering if she will be like that someday. Long lived, but senile. For now, she is only 24 years old, and this is the earliest genuine memory she has. Though she does not remember her life as a child, her people treat her like a newborn. ]

[ They live using knowledge of the planet mixed with blueprints and raw resources brought in by the civilizations of the galaxy, but trade ships only come once every two hundred years or so. She's asked about leaving on one such spaceship, but was told that one came shortly before she was born. Therefore, she can't entertain the thought of travelling the stars for close to two centuries. ]

[ The reason for the long gaps is because there is no FTL travel here. There is no energy, not as the phenocosm knows it. ]

4/8 Pillet 2024/12/16(Mon)14:54 No. 1101323 ID: 04e6e3
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[ She was only 29 when the universe had a hole ripped into it. This came with an incomprehensibly large fleet that came from a different universe entirely. This universe was visible through the rift, but it appeared pitch black. There were simply no visible stars in this universe. ]

[ The fleet came to avoid the incoming heat death of their universe. They came as conquerors rather than refugees, aiming to take the warmth and light of her reality. They were far beyond not just Pillet's people, but her universe's people. With FTL tech and energy that allowed a single one of them to match an entire fleet of Pillet's universe, there was no significant resistance. Her people had their land taken while they were put aboard generational ships, split up, and relocated. ]

[ It could be said that Pillet fought back, but the extent of her fight was to talk back against her oppressors. This was enough to be made an example out of, and so she was sent to be imprisoned back in the old universe. She spent years inside of a jail cell where the rift was visible, but she sometimes wished her cell was windowless. Living in this universe would slowly let her build up her own well of energy, but her binds and other machinery in the prison served as energy blockers.]

[ They made prisoners do hard physical labor, but what she found insufferable was that they didn't let her keep any belongings. Her diaries and photographs of her home were thrown out. She refused to let go of what was taken from her, so she managed to recreate them within the prison. She was not yet a memory artificer, but she is confident she was able to recreate her diaries and photos with reasonable accuracy. ]

5/8 Pillet 2024/12/16(Mon)14:54 No. 1101324 ID: 04e6e3
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[ Many years later, she would be released along with all the other people in that prison. When she heard a ship was headed back through the rift, she stowed herself away on it. Oh, I have this memory. It was one of the few I saw in Shuzenza's vault, but I lacked the context. I see now why there was so much despair. From Pillet's vantage point in the prison, the rift had appeared open because light from her universe was still travelling to her cell from so far away. But once the ship got out of FTL travel, the rift was discovered to have been gone for years. The captain got on the intercom and expressed his condolences about the closed rift and a speech about the dying universe still having at least some generations of life left in it, but Pillet couldn't listen to the details. ]

[ The civilization that had captured Pillet already moved who they wanted through it. The remaining people were considered undesirables, and were purposefully left behind in the dying universe. That, she learned, is why her prison was dissolved. Yet in Pillet's perspective, her prison cell simply got larger. The life she had barely started was robbed, and this was the moment where she first thought that she may never get it back. The memory mercifully stops before her despair completely sets in on the ride back. ]

6/8 Pillet 2024/12/16(Mon)14:54 No. 1101325 ID: 04e6e3
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[ As time continued, the undesirables, criminals, and bottom class citizens slowly found the one final star in the universe that still held significant light. In this memory, she looks over one of her recreated photos of her mother and father as she takes a work break. She had become an engineer in the properties of gravity, and lived on a space station with a growing population. The abandoned people gradually come to this last star to work together, dedicating themselves to the pursuit of stopping the heat death of the universe. ]

7/8 Pillet 2024/12/16(Mon)14:54 No. 1101326 ID: 04e6e3
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[ They succeeded. The memory skips ahead to the same spot on a space station as she looks into the sky. Though Pillet only had a relatively small part to play, she still helped with designs made to collect lost matter within the dark universe using black hole nets, though I don't know how literal that term is. Over time, they employed methods to make stars, even galaxies at a time. This new civilization spread back outwards into its own artificial stars. ]

[ The final natural star of the old universe was given a new name, the Final Core. It remained in the center of this new universe, where it would be fueled for a new eternity as the seat of the new civilization. This new collective also gave itself a new name, now to be known as the phenocosm. ]

8/8 Aelsaw 2024/12/16(Mon)14:54 No. 1101327 ID: 04e6e3
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That was all she showed. I never knew Pillet had a hand in the formation of the phenocosm itself.

"You don't hate the phenocosm at all."
>"No. They're flawed control freaks that are way too eager to burn libraries down, but no. I just want to go back and find my family and home. All I need to do is figure out how to rip a hole in the universe, and then that's it. I leave the phenocosm, and they won't ever need to worry about me again. It's a little silly at this point, because it's taken me so long. I doubt my family even remembers me, but I remember them. Anyways, you had an energy canister! Did you make Tegge forget he gave you one?"
"Not that I can remember."
>"Hah."

It's possible all of those memories are fabricated, but I doubt she's been trying to pull on my strings considering how she was determined to fight me just a moment ago.

>Your computer plans military strategy with a single point of failure?
No, it's... hm, that doesn't line up well with what I know about the phenocosms security.

"Something is bothering me, Pillet. The workings of the encephalon matrix shouldn't be accessible so easily, no matter who you impersonated. How did you do it?"
>"I didn't change its inner code or anything like that. All I altered was what data and priorities were fed into it. No matter how good a computer is, what it comes up with can only be as good as its data. So it thought sending you down was a better idea than it was in reality. I seriously doubt Shuzenza thought it was a good idea either, but he's found himself in a bad position. The union between you and him is one hell of a conflict of interest, you know, and the only reason he let you come to this solar system with him to begin with was because he wasn't told what he was dealing with until you were both here. There's more to it than that, but even I'm not omniscient."

If it's true that she gave the encephalon matrix bad information, then maybe I truly was never a good choice. Did Shuzenza really think I could do this, or did he simply want to support me knowing that there was little other choice? It would be like him to be positive in the face of disaster. As usual I am speculating with many gaps in my information, but if this is the case, maybe I truly cannot do this without Pillet.

>"Oh well, the cookie's crumbling, and only a few pieces are in our control. I don't have anything else to show you, at least nothing I'm comfortable with sharing. No more talking it out, either take my hand and yield, or fight."

Taking her hand would almost certainly fly in the face of all my duties and loyalties to the phenocosm and its principles, but given the potential stakes at hand and how much I may need Pillet's help, maybe I should set aside her crimes for the greater good.

Hold out your hand but give her a grin.

"Well that memory of yours is very nice. But all I see is your history, your life, your despair and your struggle... Not our life. Not a bit of me in those memories. If I am your sister show me how much I actually matter to you by giving me a proper fight."

"Oh and keep the fight to your memories of me please. I don't mind joining you but I don't actually know you due to occupational hazards. If you want me to join you? Prove that you are the stronger loving sister I hope you are deep down.... also maybe keep collateral damage down to a light spanking?"

Waggle the other hand up and down as if motioning for her to consider this to be a sibling tussle and not a back alley knife brawl.

She'll get your help.. but at least see if you can actually land a blow first. She has to earn it.

Always in for betraying the status quo in favor of reckless changes to the way things are. Let's fucking goooooooo

>>1101327
She's one of the founders of the universe. She's got seniority over the phenocosm, and she's on their side even if they want to kill her for some asinine reason. There are precious few reasons aside from a rather restricted sense of loyalty/duty not to cooperate with her. So go ahead, take her hand.

I'm guessing Tegge made *himself* forget he gave you the energy core, via taking some sort of chemical or regular mental effort. He wasn't supposed to do that, after all. As for why Pillet didn't see that you had it in your memories, I can only guess that she didn't look through them exhaustively; you did something similar with the conductor too where you didn't look at all her memories. Or maybe Pillet didn't look at your memories at all, since she didn't have any good reason to.

Wow, so this entire universe is one big Space Australia? And now Space Australia has become its own oppressive empire.

And now we have to wonder what became of the conquerors.

"So, that's it then. What the Phenocosm fears most is the empire which accidentally created it - because they would see us, and everyone in this universe, as one big mistake to be... corrected. Again. How can you guarantee that you won't accidentally give the universe-colonists enough intel to find out about their reborn universe and 'reclaim' it all for themselves?"

Hold out your hand.

"It would be hypocrisy for me to try and convince you to abandon this obsession just to be my big sister, when you helped build an entire universe on the hope that you might see your parents again. But that's exactly why our choice can't be cut-and-dry, why it has to be complicated and weird. You're as much my family as your parents are, this universe is as much a part of you as your home was, and you can't abandon us both without risking your conviction break apart."

Grasp.

"So we have to get freaky. Merge part of your soul with mine. Part of you has to be with me forever... and part of you has to leave forever. Find the rest of your family, tell them all that you accomplished and how they helped make what we did possible. You have to be two to be you; it's messed up, but so are post-universe colonists. And if I have to... part of me should go with you."

>>1101327

Considering everything she knows and what she's been through, I don't think we ever HAD a chance to fight her.

Let's submit. Better to have her on our side, an actual founder of the phenocosm, than fight what's starting to sound like a battle we were already set up to lose.

Hmmm... I'd like to confirm she's telling the truth by reading her full memories. Plus, let's face it, a super-powered combat scene has been a long time coming.

[musical note symbol] Fighting tiiiiime! [/musical note symbol]

Her crime of defecting from the phenocosm is nothing compared to the crimes she had to endure. Can you really fight and turn her in after seeing all of what's she been through? Give your sister a hug and team up.