Godclads

Chapter 33-8 Unwelcoming Committee (IV)

Chapter 33-8 Unwelcoming Committee (IV)

There is someone watching the world from inside me. I can’t hear them, I can’t feel them, but I know they’re there. Patches of my memories go missing, and there are these times when I can’t separate my dreams from the waking world, but I know… I know…

What I don’t know is who I really am. Not anymore.

For the last fifty years, I’ve lived a life. A real life. An entire life. I was a kid again—or at least planted in the body of a child. I went through the Highflame academic system—got sorted into counter-intel after my Tempering Day. Tempering Day… The final tests that determine your aptitudes and potential for development.

I remember being so proud. But that night I dreamed of something else. Another life. Another series of moments not too unlike this one. Dedicated training in languages, philosophies, artistry, politics, combat, and tradecraft…

I remember people — but their faces were like blank canvases. I remember feelings, but they come to me like echoes. I remember. And then they go away. And I was myself again.

But then something happened. After fifty years of service, after fifty years of holding the Great Wards against the Incubi and trying to keep Highflame safe, the Nether came down. Everything collapsed.

And me with it.

I was diving deep when the Nether fell. There was a distant fire, split through by a scar of gold. And then, for but a moment, that flame fractured, and part of it tore through me. Took pieces out of me. Or broke through my outer shell.

When parts of my present ego shattered, it exposed something beneath—something that was hidden all this time. Another life. Another loyalty. I think—I think I was from Ori-Thaum. I think my assignment was to reach a high enough position to cripple their N-DEF all at once, but I can’t tell if that’s a delusion or if I’m just too nulled…

But like with my dreams, it goes away. It goes away, and I am alone.

But I’m not myself anymore. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know who I am. I don’t know who I am.

-Mit'sem-Log of a Rogue Sleeper

33-8

Unwelcoming Committee (IV)

—[Denton]—

Operative Valerie Denton wasn’t surprised often, but in the aftermath of all that transpired, her continued survival bordered on the miraculous.

Her mind was in fragments after the sundering of Scale, and with the subsequent expansion of the Substance, a good portion of her sheath suffered near fatal damage as well. It was only by pure happenstance that she was discovered—pulled out from a mountain rubble while rescue units were trying to extract a buried Clan Elder.

Some time in a rejuv-vat and a few biological miracles later, she was in as fine of a shape as she ever had been. Physically, at least. Mentally, the damage was severe enough to pose an issue. It went deep enough to compromise even her inner processes. Not ideal, considering the truths that might expose. But seeing as Ori-Thaum was in a hurry to dispatch her to fulfill her usual role of being Chief Paladin Naeko’s point of contact for Ori-Thaum, she assumed they still trusted her.

As much as they always did.

+Oh, before I forget to tell you this, I’m glad you're still unsnuffed, Denton. Cas is going to be burning hot to hear from you.+

Her attention shifted to the Bond leashing her to Draus—or a constructed avatar of the Regular. It never ceased to astonish her how much could happen in the span of days. In the short time since the destruction of Scale, Naeko had been freed, and now occupied the role of a tenth power in New Vultun. Meanwhile, Chambers was the new Heaven of Love—-and the unofficial replacement for the Deep Nether, no less.

The fact that Avo hadn’t interfaced with her mind was disconcerting. Chambers hadn’t remarked on his absence, so the situation couldn’t be entirely dreadful. However, she couldn’t quite shake the feeling of something being entirely out of place…

[Operative Denton: Directives from Inner Council. Establish closer ties to the Lovebringer and associates. Uncover Chief Paladin’s main objectives for the near future.]

The flashing Cognisoft notification almost made her tense before she released a breath. Whatever the capabilities of the Inner Council’s new meta-mental constructs, it didn’t seem to be capable of intercepting exchanges across Chambers’ so-called Lovenet. And a good thing at that, otherwise, they might just have learned more about Denton than she wanted.

Thus far, they were expecting her to angle her way into compromising Chambers through her relationship with Naeko. Which was amusing considering she was likely closer to Chambers than she was with the Chief Paladin.

Their walk through the planetary ring was shortened thanks to Draus’ passages. Some other representatives alongside Denton tensed at the prospect of venturing through a former Regular’s portal, but when she passed through without hesitation, they followed as well. Accompanying her were representatives from all the major and minor clans — save for the D’Rongos. Their clansfolk were altogether absent in all sectors. Not surprising, considering the revelations at the trial.

Another significant individual of note was Valhu Kitzuhada—Ambassdor to Stormtree and someone with a personal interest in attending this conference. His daughter, Kare Kitzuhada, was a Paladin. With the destruction of Scale, her fate was now dubious. Though he kept his expression neutral, his thoughtstuff was spinning at an alarming rate, comparable to the mind of a soldier lost in a battle frenzy.

Drawn by Draus across a grand expanse of shifting fractals, Denton eyed her Bond and cast a question. +Chambers. A question before we arrive: Do you have any information about Kare Kitzuhada?+

The heavy pulsations of love weakened, as if enervated by her words. +Yeah… I do, but…+

+She is dead.+

+Yeah.+

+How?+

+Fucking, something went wrong when Scale got obliterated. Everything went to shit and, uh… It might be best if Shotin speaks to the Ambassador.+ Denton noted Chambers’ Bond to Valhu being significantly dimmer than the others. +I’ll be honest, consang, just attaching myself to him makes me feel like shit. I haven’t told him at all. Don’t got the heart, and I think it would be pretty fucked if i just forced love into him to blunt the ugly reality.+

+Quite. Shotin. What is his condition?+

+Not doing super nova, either. I had a talk with him earlier. Did what I could. I might be the Heaven of Love, but sometimes… I think some things aren’t fixable with love, you know? Or not really. I could pump everyone up with feel good and pleasure, but that just makes me the Godclad equivalent of a joyfiend dealer. Or a porn-vic.+ An oddly pensive feeling oozed over into Denton. +And I’ve lived that mistake for most of my life. I don’t think I want to have everyone else turn into who I was.+

Chambers’ words proved to be a welcome surprise. Denton noted the man’s growth. Whether that was due to Avo’s influence or outright resequencing, she didn’t know, but it pleased the little bit of her that was “human” to see someone learn and grow.

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Too many people didn’t.

A passage opened far ahead, and Draus tilted her head slightly. +We’re almost there,+ the Regular said, speaking through Chambers’ Bonds. +We’ll need you to play the stranger a bit longer. Naeko’s tryin’ something.+

+I understand. Keep this to a need to know basis. We never know who’s listening.+

+Synced on that.+ A mental sigh slipped over from the Regular. +Any chance you got intel on the kid or the cat? White-Rab and the others.+

Now there was a troubling confirmation. A good portion of Avo’s cadre was missing. That, or Draus was trying to match information she already had. Paranoia came with the territory when you lived as a spy. +No. Ori-Thaum has an internet network. Most of their Sovereignties are in stable condition and a secondary communication network exists via our Cognisofts and other information-based miracles, but the collapse of the Deep Nether was unforeseen.+

+Shit. Unforeseen, and Ori-Thaum still didn’t get caught with their pants down.+

+They spent years fighting you. They needed to be prepared for any eventuality.+

The Regular chewed on that with silence. +Right. And Voidwatch?+

+Also a mess. Lots of standby orders coming in from Threshold. Calvino has been reassigned several times. He’s got a Contingency Bleak tied to his node now.+

+Refusal.+

+Yes. I believe so.+

+Yeah. Reckon their playing their own games too.+

+No. The Bleaks do not play games. If they are involved, then they believe that there is a tangible threat to the continued existence of the polities they were created to safeguard. With what is consuming the Tiers of New Vultun, I’m inclined to agree.+

Draus went quiet. Denton narrowed her eyes slightly. The Regular had always been hard to read—more a weapon in the shape of her person. Aside from bloodlust-derived joy and other muted emotions, she didn’t have so many tells. But her silences spoke volumes, and something closer to intuition than logic made Denton think that the Regular knew more about the Substance than she was saying.

Another notification flicked in Denton’s feed. She wasn’t surprised to see who it was from.

GHOST-LINK REQUEST FROM [VALHU KITZUHARA]

>ACCEPTED

+Glaive Denton. I apologize for my impatience and this intrusion, but…+

+I do not have any information about your daughter yet. I suggest that you wait until we reach our destination and ask the Chief Paladin directly.+ Lies came easy to Denton, but she wasn’t looking forward to the ambassador’s discovery of his daughter’s fate. The man deserved better. He was one of the few decent political operators in Ori-Thaum—among all the Guilders for that matter.

He deserved better.

But since when did deserve mean anything to this broken universe?

+Of course. I apologize. I apologize.+ Valhu disconnected from her immediately, but even seconds after, she felt the after-pressure of his mental tension pressing against her wards.

***

—[Aedon Chambers, The Lovebringer]—

+Fuck.+ That was all Shotin said. That was all Shotin needed to say.

+Yeah,+ Chambers replied. +THis isn’t going to be easy, consang. Maybe I should just—+

+No. Don’t you godsdamned dare. He’s my bondsbrother. I’ll tell him. See if I can get him to dump some of his hate on me—+

+Hey. No. Don’t do that shit. Trust me, I did the whole “I’m a piece of shit” thing for years just to survive. But it never solved anything. It never made anything better. You tell him who’s actually responsible instead. Tell him the High Cuntess did this. That’ll give him a real direction.+

Through their shared Bonds, Shotin studied his bondbrother’s face, noted the deepen wrinkles on the man’s forehead, the scratches on his glasses, the cold sweat beading upon his brow. +Fuck,+ Shotin said again.

+Yeah, I know, consang. I know. If you need something to blunt the hurt, just tell him. I’ll give you a spike.+

Shotin wanted to say no. Chambers could practically feel it. However, he could also feel the raw agony hatching out of the man’s chest. There was only so much hurt someone could bear before they started looking for a way out. In the end, the Seeker didn’t say yes, but he didn’t need to.

+Shotin,+ Naeko said, awkwardly entering the conversation with a grunt. +I’ll make sure you get your moment to speak with him. But I want to talk with him after. To offer… I don’t know what the fuck I’m going to offer. She was one of mine, and now she’s gone. I got a debt of responsibility here too.+

Holy fuck, it was like the misery was contagious. Was everyone going to do the woe is me thing. Chambers wondered if he should infuse the Bonds connecting all of them with a bit more love, but he wasn’t sure at this point. He created an internal set of connections between the members of the Symmetry, effectively creating a Love-lobby for everyone to work together, but the compounding misery wasn’t very nova…

Ever so slightly, he added just a bit more pleasure into the Bonds.Some rawness dissolved immediately, and Chambers caught a cast from Draus. +Nice work. Probably a good call. Keep them focused. Just don’t overdo it.+

He almost did a double-take. She was complimenting him more now. Barely grumbled at him anymore. Shit, maybe he should have Mercy take a dive into her mind. See if anyone pierced her wards and was jacking through her ego.

+She is clean. I am certain of this.+ Mercy’s voice made Chambers flinch.

“Gah! Fuck! Don’t do that shit!”

+I apologize, Keeper of Love. But I hope that you might be assured by my sugbtlety. If you did not notice my intrusion, then few others will. And few things are capable of slipping my notice.+

+Alright,+ Chambers said in reply. +Just keep an eye out. Our flats got any bites yet?+

+A few have reached into them thus far. They are probing through my false memories. The contagion should spread through the delegation relatively soon.+

+Nova. Heh. These poor half-strands don’t even know what kind of game’s being played.+

***

—[The Majority]—

Every person had a Shadow.

It wasn’t exactly like an ego-node possessed by the Low Masters of Noloth — nor was it ever meant to be. Rather than copying from one’s sequences directly, a compilation of information, actions, decisions, and other essential details were channeled through the Majority to create a near-perfect model of a Constituent.

Near perfect because the highest Domains for Ori-Thaum were never the realm of minds or consciousness, but intelligence, information, and perception.

After all, the mind was such a malleable thing. Easily changed, easily fooled. Better to control the environment it faced rather than the vulnerable core itself.

That being said, they still needed a means to access and imprint the mem-data composing an ego — a task that was immensely difficult when the specific ego you were trying to copy was a Highflame Regular.

Constituent of Aedon Chambers [Failed — Connected to the Dreamer; Risk Potential: 99.5%]

Constituent of Samir Naeko [Failed — Connected to the Dreamer; Risk Potential: 99.5%]

Constituent of Cas eld’Canduir generated

Constituent of Cala Marlowe generated

Constituent of Famine of Mercy generated

Constituent of Shotin Kazahara updating… [Failed — Connected to the Dreamer; Risk Potential: 99.5%]

Constituent of Jelene Draus pending… pending… pending…

“Other infiltrated egos on hold. Devoting more resources to the replication of the Regular.”

A brief shuffle of discord passed through the Majority. Some didn’t like this idea—thinking it a waste.

“She is just one person. This is not worth the expense.”

“She bears a fragment of the Stillborn. She is a herald of the Burning Dreamer. We must have her Shadow retrained for predictive simulations. Nothing must be left to chance—chance—shekilledmeshekilledsomanyofuskillherherkill…”

“And what of Shotin?”

There was the other person of concern. Though he had a vague sense of their Seeker, his Shadow was now diluted with a burning presence that seared the Majority’s tendrils when they dared to approach.

“He has been marked by the Dreamer too. We must approach with caution. Manipulate them through social engineering methods. Cogni-thaumaturgical means deemed too high risk.”

“Concurred. Most optimal path to allegiance with Ori-Thaum: Create conflict with Voidwatch. Engineer moment of assistance to deepen ties.”

“Risks… acceptable. Revelation of Kill Team Innsmouth also useful.”

“Confirmed. Beginning info-simulations… Priming Constituents Denton and Kitzuhada…”