voice; un: eliasainsworth

[thornydisposition]

I believe I have some information that might be of use, or at least to consider.

[The voice is low and very even, having only the barest hint of a conversational cadence.]

My companion, Shuyi, and I managed to locate and capture Miz Poppy. We captured her and two of her Deemer companions, and as we began to take them back to Perdition's Rest, she had some very interesting things to say.

She reaffirmed that there was no way to safely separate a Taraxa from its host without the destruction of the latter. What is more troubling, however, was that she insisted that hers and her compatriots' mission of destruction was something which the TIMELINE.EXE asked of them.

Before we could deliver her back here, one of the other captured Deemers sacrificed himself so that she may escape in the confusion.

It is not my intention to offer this information in order to incite mass confusion or doubt, as it is quite possible she was lying. But I do not think we can completely discount that she might be telling the truth—or that she and her fellows are somehow deluded enough to believe that they are. It is, as I originally said, something to at the very least keep in mind.

Comments

AUDIO. UN: LOKI

[selfimage]

That means that the execution of the program itself isn't something exclusive to ALASTAIR.

[ there's an easy way to connect the dots here, and it leads right back to Oska. ]

Isn't that curious?

[thornydisposition]

Indeed.

That is what I have gathered from this, myself.

[Particularly with the other information that had been gathered. Zymandis, and its particular take on the Timeline. They have the threads, but to weave them into the truth of the matter was a tricky ordeal.]

I am unsure of this changes our directive, but it certainly makes matters more complicated.

[selfimage]

The Timeline.exe itself stated that it was meant to calculate mission objectives based what best suited the survival of the multiverse, but it's just a program. It's only as good as the calculations that come out of it.

Though the matter of who programmed it in this case gets a little more intriguing.

[thornydisposition]

I see... [There is a brief, thoughtful pause.] My knowledge on the program is limited, as I only recently arrived. But in my experience, operations such as this are limited not only by the veracity of their calculations, but also by what they might end up entailing. Its ends do not need to be justified by any means.

[That was a constraint of morality. But he doubts such a thing affects the program.]

Has there ever been any indication of its creator before? [Genuinely interested...]

audio | UN: ANIKI

[dokyuu]

Well, it wouldn't be the first time someone set two groups against each other to achieve a goal...

[He knows the Timeline isn't a person, but that doesn't discount someone using it as a tool to accomplish their goals. Whatever that was meant to be.]

video; un: deathweaver

[respired]

[ Irritably. ]

We already know these slugs for liars. Their claims of salvation and religious devotion were a front. They cannot be trusted.

[thornydisposition]

Mm, certainly not.

[A brief pause.]

Have you noticed anything that might pertain to an outside opposing party before this?

video;

[thornydisposition]

[Elias switches on his video feed to reply. It only seems polite.]

What would you see that they stand to gain in misleading us in this manner, then?

[He had been wondering that himself, specifically of what Miz Poppy had said about the Timeline. Unrest, sure, but she should know that they wouldn't take her word for it. Not without good reason.]

[selfimage]

[ there's a sigh and off camera, Loki scratches the place behind his ear in exasperation. ]

One that has been forgotten, even by ALASTAIR members, themselves. They seem to have taken up the task with ensuring the survival of the multiverse post-cataclysm from whomever, or whatever, programmed Timeline.exe.

[respired]

Sowing doubt. Dissent. Making us question our missions.

[ 'We're not so different, you and I'. Classic villain tactic, man. ]

audio; un: kazbrekker

[steler]

Has anyone found any evidence to the contrary about the Taraxa separation?

[because he hasn't heard any but who knows.]

[thornydisposition]

[He's aware. He's used that tactic a few times before.]

If they had intended to confound, doing it earlier would have been more preferable, before some of the larger wheels had started motion.

At this point, it might've been a gambit of desperation, and she did not seem desperate.

[thornydisposition]

Mm. If the origin is so obfuscated, it is not outside of the realm of reason that the program itself could have more branches of which we, attached to ALASTAIR as we are, are unaware of.

[In the end, it was all conjecture. But the Taraxa were apparently previously used by ALASTAIR, and that they would show up again in a rival faction meant that they were either being deceived, controlled, or they knew something that the Audentes faction did not.]

[selfimage]

Possibly.

[ but Loki doesn't sound entirely displeased. it's a step in a direction that has quite a few options. ]

Though it could be someone running a copy of the same program to achieve a different objective.

[respired]

[ A deep, rattling sigh. False breath, like air through a broken window. ]

Zymandis seeks to end the timeline, not serve it. These creatures are in their employ! That slug is only trying to distract us.

audio; un: cardmaster

[fateality]

It's soundin' less and less like the Deemers are gonna be able to be saved. We're gonna be sending a few back to Oska, just in case there's somethin' we overlooked, but it's not lookin' very likely.

That said, I'm sure some are awful curious about this timeline mess. Assuming they weren't lying. Hard to say for sure. Either way, there's no real reason to not fulfill whatever task ALASTAIR put out for us right now.

[thornydisposition]

Now there's an interesting thought.

[For someone who usually sounds so dispassionate, he actually does sound interested.]

And a dangerous one. There could be some kind of conflict between them, if there were multiple.

[selfimage]

You know what happens in these kinds of ordeals: someone's wrong, someone's right ...

[ he says it all to wistfully. there's a long history of Asgardia (lost or no) of taking place in wars of their own making. ]

[thornydisposition]

[Elias merely seems bemused.]

I do not disagree with you.

But I do believe this is just one possibility, albeit the most likely one. What I do disagree with is anything that would stymie attempts made to remain wary of our situation.

Particularly when the information we are given is heavily controlled.

[And by an organization Elias sees no reason to trust any more than anything else.]

[respired]

[ Koltira is ill-tempered at the best of times, and he's fiercely defensive of ALASTAIR--they have treated him better than most organizations back in Azeroth, save for his brothers and sisters in death. ]

I have been with ALASTAIR for nearly a year. In all my time with them, we have never sought anything but the highest good.

[ To his perception, anyway. ]

audio

[thornydisposition]

I personally have not.

I know others have been able to separate the parasite from the host, but I haven't heard if any hosts survived the ordeal.

audio

[thornydisposition]

I came to a similar conclusion in our confrontation with the Deemers at their camp. Due to the fervor with which they fight, they are... particularly difficult to subdue.

[And they didn't really seem to be interested in anything but absolute victory or absolute defeat. One had even sacrificed himself to allow Miz Poppy to escape... It was a difficult enemy to face.]

I don't believe we have any other option currently, but I will be... very curious as to what answer they might have to this, if any.

audio; un: urahara

[predomination]

[don't mind urahara just casually sliding in here.]

We had a few survive, though "survive" is a very loose way to describe it. They're just blank- like every bit of personality and thought has been drained out of them.

It lines up with what the documents said about how the Taraxa infect hosts.

[fateality]

I'd bet on somethin' vague in response, or that there isn't much we can do to save them and we're better off gettin' rid of 'em. Just a guess, though.

Did you get any indication where Miz Poppy would've run off to?

[dokyuu]

Not before we got here, but this is only the third outing I've been on. That ain't much info to judge from. Might be some others we can ask, or records back at Oska, though.