Esbilon
Seven Thousand Club
18:47<STMask> Bran came in with a huge box, already opened with smaller, non-descript cardboard boxes inside it. "You ever seen those obnoxious earpieces the secret service wears? This is like that, except better." He sets it down with ease. It's not that heavy, most of the weight is carton and packing.
18:48<STMask> He stretched lightly, brushing hair from his eyes.
18:48— Sophia returns from getting Roxy to sleep in a proper bed rather than slumped over on the table. People have been doing that for her for ages, it's about time she had a time to give something back.
18:49<Sophia> "Hey Bran. Those from your special emerald green sources?"
18:51<STMask> "Yup, that they are. They didn't even care, they just had these left over from an over-fulfilled order." He stated.
18:52<Sophia> "Mind if I take a look at them, it'd suck if they had a backdoor of some kind built in."
19:04<STMask> "No problem what-so-ever." He brings one of the small boxes to her.
19:05<Sophia> "Cool, just a sec," Sophia says before hurrying up to her room, stealthily getting her small tool box (never leave home without a few screwdrivers and a hammer!) without waking Roxy, and returning to the kitchen.
19:06<Sophia> Then she opens the starts taking apart first the box and packaging (the oldest trick in the book, hiding the bug where it's not expected), and then moving on to the headset itself.
19:07<Sophia> Every single piece gets taken apart, separated and examined with her newly acquired superhuman care.
19:12<STMask> These are very nice, new-conditioned parts. There's a chip that shouldn't be there. Easy enough for someone of Sophia's caliber to get around it, if that's removal or dummying it out. It'll even make them work better!
19:13— Sophia frowns with obvious concern and leans in to examine the chip. Does it pick up only on what's said through the headset, or also its surroundings? Where does it send it? And could it also be used to track the headset?
19:27<STMask> It looks like it's a simple anti-theft measure. It connects, it can listen to talk but only if it's got power to it, thus only when a channel is open.
19:29<Sophia> "There's a bug in it," she says to Bran without looking up, "it's nothing fancy, but it'll listen in on conversations on this headset. I propose that we leave a few of those behind, clearly labeled of course, to use for misdirection. But I'll make a clean set, so we can talk safely."
19:30<Sophia> "Thanks for these, though, they look excellent," she adds looking up with a smile.
19:33<STMask> "That's great. I was sure you'd catch it, you got the whole engineering sort of thing going. I really respect that." He stated, sounding duly impressed.
19:33<Sophia> "Thanks," she says, strangely hesitant. "You knew about this?"
19:37<STMask> "I knew they had some kind of anti-theft thing, but not what it did." He admitted. "But I looked you up while I was gone. You're known for having a knack for that sort of thing. And even if you didn't, I would have told you before turning those things on. I'm not really the electronics type, basic computer literacy aside."
19:37<Sophia> "Yeah, I figured," she says, nodding, "where did you find information on me, though?"
19:40<STMask> "Went on up, asked around. One of the senior professors refused to even talk to me, which I don't blame her. The ones with the masks, you can never tell. She refused to even be in private. Smart of her, I don't blame her."
19:41<Sophia> "Ah, at the Heptagram?" Sophia says, suddenly less worried. She wouldn't want the government to have big files on her.
19:42<STMask> He nodded. "Yeah, where else would I check? It's not like I've got more than a contact or two with Intelligence."
19:42— Sophia nods, "no no, it makes sense."
19:44— Sophia begins disabling the security on the other headsets on at a time.
19:44<Sophia> "So," she says while still working, "I'm guessing you noticed me and Anne at brunch this morning."
19:44<STMask> He watches her work.
19:45<STMask> "Yeah, I did. Guess I'm going to be your brother too, huh?"
19:45— Sophia snorts, "no disrespect, but I think it'll take me a decade or two to get quite as comfortable with you as Anne is."
19:49<STMask> "Well, we grew up together and you have every reason to be uncomfortable around me, I'm barely human." He told her bluntly.
19:50— Sophia shrugs, "I don't really care that much about being 'human,' in most people's minds, it's a concept rooted pretty firmly in old prejudice."
19:50<Sophia> "And you might say the same about me."
19:53<STMask> "It's different. Exalted are largely still human. No idea what the hell happened to Joe, I can't even begin to explain it but unlike you? I can actually leave it behind. I've found a way to do it, I'm just... not sure if I should. It means I have absolutely no connection to Cecelyne anymore-but it also means that I am no longer human /or/ exalted if I take
19:53<STMask> that step. It scares the living hell out of me-but it also might set me free."
19:54— Sophia frowns and looks up.
19:54<Sophia> "I don't think I fully understand what you mean."
19:58<STMask> "The gods made Solars, Sidereals, Lunars. Solars created with the current rulers of the universe Infernals, who in turn created Dragonblooded and probably whatever the hell Joe was. Cecelyne, Malfeas, others? They took these shards, ten each for the big winners and put a bit of themselves into them, corrupting them more than becoming an akuma ever would."
19:59<Sophia> "And you know a way to what... transcend that corruption?"
20:01<STMask> "Actually... use it to make myself someday what Malfeas and Cecelyne are. Nobody else has survived long enough or had the sources I do to figure it out. If it weren't for my sister Charity, I would neither have figured it out or survived to do so." He explained. "It's... that corruption can be turned instead into a seed."
20:02<STMask> "Solars live a very long time. Desus? He was four thousand years old. White Lily's about three hundred years old."
20:02<STMask> "Far as we know, anyway."
20:02<Sophia> "Huh," Sophia says thoughtfully.
20:02<STMask> "Even Dragonblooded live two-hundred fifty years."
20:03<STMask> "And longer. With me so far? The average person lives about a hundred ten, hundred twenty years in good health, with good genetics. Or dumb luck."
20:04— Sophia nods.
20:06<STMask> "Infernals? Oh, we stay young. But a buddy of mine? She's kept records for those Infernals who didn't get themselves killed young. Each of them has dropped dead. No reason why. No poison, no essense use. Nothing. Just dropped dead at a hundred fifty."
20:07<Sophia> "I can see why you'd want to change yourself away from that."
20:09<STMask> "-but it also means I become a demiurge." He says.
20:09<Sophia> "But still remain basically 'you'?"
20:12<STMask> "Well, when you think of me right now, you think of me as a person. As... something like that, it's more like becoming a god. I could even bow to the order Morena creates. I take everything I've learned and I create myself a step at a time. I'm recognizable so far... but I might not be at the end. I might be more concept than Bran Aniolrod."
20:13<Sophia> "I generally tend to think of people in terms of goals, likes, tools, and limits," Sophia says.
20:14<Sophia> "I've been pretty into transhumanism for a few years."
20:14<STMask> "Huh. Interesting. You'd probably want to see it happen, wouldn't you? See what it looks like at least for me and where the others screwed up."
20:15<Sophia> "Yes!" She says immediately.
20:15<Sophia> "Though I'd need to understand Essence better before I could really do that," she says with a slight frown.
20:15<Sophia> "I've mostly thought of it in terms of computers, cybernetics and AI so far, which is why that's been my focus."
20:16<Sophia> "But Essence opens up whole new areas of possibility."
20:17<STMask> "But the pure mystery of motonics, it beckons! Ha. Yeah, that sounds about your style. There's a technique that will help, if you don't already have it. You can wish for it. I can make it yours if it's not."
20:17<Sophia> "You can literally fulfil wishes?" Sophia says doubtfully.
20:20<STMask> He tells the truth. "I wouldn't ask for anything but this: serve your debt by being good to Anne. And yes. I can. I made myself a woman at night to fulfil someone's wish. It's fun." He grins.
20:20— Sophia chuckles, "yeah, I noticed."
20:21<Sophia> "But alright then, I wish to be able to understand Essence."
20:22<STMask> "So you have wished-so shall it be granted." He runs his hands very gently over her eyes as his castemark flared to life, a silver hourglass.
20:23<STMask> Sophia innately understands the price that she is to pay-he'd told the truth about the price-but if she should break it... it would vanish and have some nasty consequences.
20:30<STMask> When she opens her eyes, the world is awash with color she never knew existed, as if she'd been missing rods and cones. It was brighter, beautiful and yet orderly. It seemed like she could run her hands over the patterns and turn them into what she wanted-if she had the tools. Bran himself is something that seems incongruous with the rest, almost like a
20:30<STMask> blight, as if his essence was 'sick'. It does not cost her motes... but nor is it going away. When she looks at the parts, she can see it won't interfere with her robotics hobby. This is what they mean by the music of the spheres. It must be.
20:40<Sophia> "Wow," Sophia says softly, looking around the room, at her own arms and finally staring right at Bran, "I should have done something like this the second I Exalted."
20:41<STMask> "Well, I wasn't there when you exalted." That is, as far as he knows, not a lie.
20:42<Sophia> "I guess not," she says, still staring at him, "but I'm guessing your way isn't the only one to open one's eyes to this."
20:44<STMask> He shakes his head. "No. It's not, but you don't have the right strengths to get the ability you'd ordinarily need. This is based on the strengths you already have."
20:45<Sophia> "I can learn," she says with a smirk, "I'm pretty damned good at that."
20:50<STMask> He nods. "Now watch close." He sits in... lotus position. Kosche walks in and her essense is like twinkling starlight, as if she herself was a star yet there's something beneath that, something Sophia understands somehow is her humanity. Something she can see in Bran, even though the movements are strange and sickly..
20:50— Sophia gets distracted by Kosche for a few moments before flipping he gaze back to Bran
21:00<STMask> That sickness in his essence becomes downright virulant, 'attacking' that core and changing each of the small motes of light that make up Bran-yet while he did so, the nature of the movement became both broader and more smooth, as if something had been impeding its course. It was bright, terribly bright and gave the sense of nausea and yet like something was
21:00<STMask> righting itself. Familiar-something familiar shined-and almost as quickly that it had begun, the energy that was Bran was radically changed, of a singular not dual nature like Kosche was or how he had been. It was no longer a marriage of man and power but pure power there. The skin was a shell and it seemed to press at the shell. The sense of a supernova
21:00<STMask> waiting behind it and a limitless expanse gave her the impression that she was more looking at a location than a person. The ordinary colors still showed the same man, an illusion covering the riot happening underneath. "I am no longer human or exalted." He stated-and it was true.
21:02— Sophia blinks, her eyes having dried considerably from staying open while this process was undergoing.
21:02<Sophia> "That was amazing. Do you plan on doing any other amazing things in the next hour or so?"
21:03<STMask> He laughs. "I have no clue what I'm doing. Let me see."
21:12<STMask> "Yeah, I got something. It's... I have to go somewhere special, though. A sort of... place with me written all over it. You will be able to see, though. The no-room should do, just keep the door open."
21:13<Sophia> "Could you wait a bit, I'd like to write this stuff down. And maybe draw some sketches."
21:16<STMask> He nods and stays where he is.
21:17— Sophia pulls out of notepad from somewhere and starts scribbling.
21:18<Sophia> Unlike many scientists, or doctors for that matter, her hand writing is perfectly legible and her writing both compelling and easily understandable. She makes sure to include several drawings which accurately recounts what she saw during Bran's transition, and her notes are written at different levels to include both the overall impression, and the precise
21:18<Sophia> details.
21:19<Sophia> It takes her half an hour and most of a large notebook to finish, but then she looks up and smiles.
21:19<Sophia> "Alright, that should do it, at least for now. Thanks for waiting."
21:19<Sophia> "Ready for step two?"
21:21<STMask> The twin-faced primordial smiled. "Yeah, I think I am." He got up and led the way. "I can get in, but not out. You'll have to invite me out."
21:21<Sophia> "Out of the No-Room?"
21:22<STMask> "Yep. You got it." He took a deep breath and stepped in.
21:23— Sophia sits down, put the notebook in her lap and regards Bran very carefully.
21:54<STMask> "This... might go wrong, I don't know. If it does, get Anne. She probably won't be able to do much but at least maybe I can say goodbye if it's not immediately lethal." He says. "I am changing, but that change can absolutely go wrong." He sounds... afraid.
21:54<STMask> But he looks determined to do it.
21:54<Sophia> "in that case, maybe you should wait until Anne is back tonight."
22:01<STMask> "I can spend the time preparing." He takes out a few things-a knife that almost glows with sickly power, a tall neomah who blinks in confusion as she incorporates and gives an awkward-sounding greeting. He also shrugs off something that glows in the patterns of radioactivity that looks like light chainmail that's been acidwashed somehow. He lets his anima
22:01<STMask> flare, his castemark shining. "This will change if I do it right." He gestures to his head.
22:03<Sophia> "This... This is quite something. Did I prompt you to move more quickly with doing all this?"
22:06<STMask> "It's something I've thought about doing for a while. Each of the ones that changed us, created the akuma? They each stand for something. The Demon City is the king with a broken crown. The Endless Desert is a hypocrite who makes laws that only respect strength. The shadow disrespects everything. The crystal orbs are based in purest of logic and collective
22:06<STMask> intellegence." He muses. "An ocean mother."
22:08<Sophia> "And what will you stand for?"
22:11<STMask> "Family. Faith. Bonds made and broken-but not just blood family but the families you choose, like a circle. A sworn brotherhood. Friends who love one another as siblings. The person who fosters and adopts kids. I want something to believe in. Let it be Anne and Morena, then for me." He stated almost... humbly. There was none of the postering irony in his
22:11<STMask> voice. "But there's abusive families. Abusive friends and those bonds need to be breakable for them."
22:13— Sophia nods.
22:13<Sophia> "Those seem like good things to stand for."
22:14<Sophia> "Far better than the current options. Are you sure you can stick to that in this... process?"
22:15<STMask> "I love both my sisters very much but I'm not blood related to either of them-so yeah. I think I can. Why do you think me and Anne jive so much? We both got a lot of faith. I wanted so much to believe-but I know who won't be letting me down." He smiles crookedly. "You guys could have killed me, you know."
22:15<STMask> "You didn't. And that does matter to me."
22:16<Sophia> "I tend to err on the side of not killing people on principle, and Anne seemed quite insistent on it at the time."
22:16<Sophia> "Not sure how much credit I should relaly get for that."
22:37<STMask> He chuckles. "Yeah, guess I've been hanging around fucked up people."
22:38<Sophia> "You still are, just a better brand of fucked-up-ness."
22:40<STMask> He laughs at that. "Man, it's going to be an interesting time over the next few millenia."
22:40— Sophia chuckles, "you're ahead of me. I've only started thinking in terms of decades and centuries."
22:41<STMask> "I just have about a decade over you. You get used to it fast." He mused.
22:42<Sophia> "Let's not make this a competition," Sophia says with a smirk.
22:44<STMask> "I just became something like a god, not really a fair one but all I do, I can now make easier if it applies to what I stand for. You know how you can make some things easier by pouring power into what you do? That is a gift from the sun, the shine of your excellence."
22:46<STMask> "Me, I pour my power into family, into faith, bonds made and broken. To defend my sisters, to instill, create or defend faith, to create or destroy bonds... that is my gift, now."
22:47<Sophia> "And you've claimed the thing that powers it for yourself."
22:47<Sophia> "I don't think the Sun, or Morena for that matter, can do anything to limit what I do with mine either, though."
22:49<STMask> He smiles. "That's the thing, you will be excellent in everything you do-without leaving behind what makes you human."
22:50<Sophia> "We'll see about that. Like I said, humanity is overrated."
22:52<STMask> He laughs. "I'll have to keep an eye on you. Just remember that right now, Anne is human."
22:52<Sophia> "Of course. This isn't a short term thing."
22:53<Sophia> "And I really don't want to hurt Anne, or really anyone, but she takes priority, however, I don't know what the world will look like in a hundred years."
22:53<Sophia> "Things may change, and they may change for all of us."
22:53<Sophia> "Hopefully for the better."
22:55<STMask> "I want to hope, too. If it weren't for you guys, I would have been in despair."
22:55<Sophia> "Good thing we came along when we did then."
23:08<STMask> "Yeah, I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't. Maybe something terrible."
23:09<Sophia> "I'm guessing it's not at all likely that the situation from four days ago is going to repeat itself with all that's happened in the mean time, so I don't think you'll gain much from dwelling on that," Sophia says wtih an encouraging smile.
23:10<Sophia> "Are your former compatriots going to come after you now that you're... changing yourself?"
23:12<STMask> "I got allies. My sister, Charity did and I quote 'bullshit fate hacking, that's all you need to know' unquote." He used air quotes.
23:12— Sophia chuckles.
23:13<Sophia> "She going to be introduced to the group any time soon?"
23:16<STMask> "Right now, she is right where she needs to be: keeping Gorol mildly sane-ish. Instead of completely doing a belly flop into looloo land." He stated.
23:16<Sophia> "She should really, really stay there then. Anything the rest of us can do to help that effort?"
23:18<STMask> "Nah, just work on your power, the local shit and build your bonds to one another-and allies, too. Rebuilding Yu-Shan would be a great goal for Morena. Even if she doesn't build it exactly the same."
23:19<STMask> "You're a demigod, you'll figure it out. You're smart."
23:19<Sophia> "Indeed," Sophia agrees, "but I'm not all that knowledgeable about the world I've been dumped into yet, and as you say, you have a decade of experience on me."
23:20<STMask> "Yeah, I can help with that."
23:23— Sophia nods, "I'm grateful for that. But if your advice for now is to build our power and relations, I can do that."
23:23<Sophia> "Well, my part of it anyway."
23:50<STMask> "Okay, questions and answers time. I know different stuff than Jiji and I'm less likely to be cryptic or 'oh dear dear you're not ready blah blah bullshit' stuff."
23:51<Sophia> "How can we hurt them without being noticed?"
23:54<STMask> "Aim them at piddling shit. Swipe their allies. Start talking to the outliers and keep your eyes open. And occasionally, aim someone eager for fist or wetwork at the nastier types that don't do subtlety." He advised. "They are asleep and aimed at one another. Stirring up a civil war or a shitstorm amongst them? That'll distract them further."
23:56<Sophia> "How much can we actually change the world without them noticing us? Could we, say, help a newcommer become Prime Minster and overhaul Meruvia's foreign and domestic policies?"
23:59<STMask> "They are blinding themselves with themselves. Maybe if it amuses them. You never can tell-but most of 'em? They're just focused on being rock stars. Live fast, die young."
Friday, December 19th, 2014
00:00— Sophia frowns, "why would anyone do that? I plan to live moderately fast and not die at all."
00:01<Sophia> "How much of Mal's crazy shit could we pull without them bringing the hammer down on us?"
01:34<STMask> "What crazy shit has he done that can't be blamed on rogue gods?" He pointed out.
01:35<Sophia> "Nothing yet. And I suppose if most of the Infernals are as lazy as you say, he'd have to be pretty crazy to actually cross the line."
01:35— Sophia sighs.
01:36<Sophia> "What I'm really trying to get a sense of is where that line is, and how bad it would be if we cross it."
01:45<STMask> "I'm thinking there's some audacious stuff you could pull off-provided you didn't get your auras totemic. You know-big glowy symbols? They show up outside the building you're in, too if you do it inside."
01:47<Sophia> "Unless you're in this room," Sophia says with a nod, "like I was a few hours ago."
01:48<Sophia> "If that's the line, then I guess we'll probably be OK."
01:48<Sophia> "But what if we're not? What will they do?"
01:51<STMask> "Probably send some of their usual fixers. I might have been sent first." There's a bit of grief there and guilt. "I'd be the one who'd talk someone down if it was going to be able to solved that way. If it couldn't... well, if not me, one of their shush-shush types."
01:51<STMask> "Man, Anne really does not want to know some of the shit I did."
01:51— Sophia looks a bit torn at the last statement.
01:52<Sophia> "I don't like lies, and I don't like secrets, Bran. You've known Anne for longer than I have, so I'll defer to your judgement on this, but I am generally of the belief that there shouldn't be secrets between friends."
01:52<Sophia> "Much less between family."
02:06<STMask> "It's." He touched his head. "You know, there's five big ones. She Who Lives in Her Name. Adorjan. Ebon Dragon. Kimbery isn't quite a big one. Templars like me? Cecelyne. But each is sponsored by a second, sometimes. Like... they pick and agree between one another. It's rare now. Me? I was picked by Malfeas, I had a connection to him. This affects what sort
02:06<STMask> of... mission they're given. Sometimes it makes no sense. Every Infernal chosen by Malfeas gains the urge to destroy. So, they set me to destroy. An attack dog on a leash."
02:07<STMask> "I've destroyed lives as much as I've killed people, people who wanted to make a difference. Some of them trusted me, some of them even fell in love with me. Or thought they had."
02:08— Sophia nods somberly.
02:11<STMask> "This..." Tears actually rolled down his cheeks. "This is why both my sisters saved my life." His voice cracks, thick with emotion. "Charity told me how it wasn't my fault, that it was necessary to survive until I could turn it around. To learn and know what I needed to tear them apart from the inside out. That I needed to find others like me who didn't
02:11<STMask> like it. Who wanted to do the /right/ thing. And it's how I met Sister Sule.
02:11<STMask> The first one to actually... actually say that was done to me was wrong."
02:14— Sophia nods again and goes to put her arm around Bran.
02:14<Sophia> "I don't think Anne will be happy to know this, but I think she needs to know, and I don't think she'll hate you for it."
02:15<Sophia> "Because you'll be spending the next few millennia making up for every last of those fuck-ups and terrible things."
02:20<STMask> He nods. "She does. Like it or not... it's something I did and a part of me. And yeah. There's that, too."
02:26<STMask> "It's all I will do. It's all I can do is build and heal until it's right."
02:26<Sophia> "I'll be there for you when you tell her. For both of you," she clarifies.
02:27<STMask> "I'm really glad we ended up talking about this." He smiles wanly. "I think I understand you a little better, too. You really will be good for her."
02:28<STMask> "Anne hurt so much. It wasn't just the leg that made her a little slower and her smile a little less bright. You brought that light back into her eyes."
02:30— Sophia smiles
02:30<Sophia> "Yeah, I'm quite happy about how that turned out."
02:31<STMask> "You look happier, too. That's something I like seeing, too." He hugged her back. "It's going to be worth every century I spend making up for what I've done."
02:32<Sophia> "Making others happy is surprisingly rewarding," she says with a smile.
02:36<STMask> "Yeah. It really is. It's part of what's kept me sane." He admitted. "It's part of why I started the Sharing. At night, I'd do... really terrible things. During the day... I'd be everyone's brother, their uncle who made sure they didn't go to bed hungry and cold. Who made sure the kid whose home means bruises and scars didn't have to go there anymore.
02:36<STMask> It's... so little. But it means the world to every single one of them."
02:37— Sophia nods. "It's good work. Better use of your time than than most people make of theirs."
02:38<STMask> "You ever have something... you just had to do? It made zero sense at the time but you did it anyway until you found out why it did?"
02:39<Sophia> "Mmmm, not really, no." Sophia says, "I generally have a pretty good idea of why I do what I do."
02:40<STMask> He chuckles. "Some time, your heart will speak louder but I won't be holding my breath."
02:41<Sophia> "Probably for the best, I don't know how long you can hold it."
02:42<STMask> "A long time, if I prepare properly."
02:42— Sophia chuckles, "well, I'm guessing you have better things to do that sit around holding your breath. Makes it hard to talk for one thing."
02:43<STMask> He chokes laughter back.
02:46<Sophia> "So, I asked Anne what I might do with you as a bonding experience. She suggested I add a tattoo to your collection."
02:47<STMask> He grins. "Oh yeah? What kind of tattoo did you have in mind?" No seems to be the last thing on his mind.
02:50<Sophia> "I've never actually done tattoos before. But I guess you know that these new superpowers come with a bit of a broadening of one's horizons."
02:51<STMask> "Well, you sketch. Imagine sketching with a pen that vibrates in your hand."
02:52<Sophia> "I meant I have little to no idea what makes a good tattoo, much less what would fit with your... collection," she clarifies, making an all encompassing gesture in Bran's direction."
02:56<STMask> He elects to take off his shirt. There's a good deal of ink on him. "Well, one thing to keep in mind is that you are drawing on a contoured canvas. See this one?" It looks quite convincingly like a wooden panel with etching, complete with shadow."
02:56<STMask> "It's pretty good, huh?"
02:57<Sophia> "It is," she agrees, studying his ink, looking for clear spots and getting a sense of what style might fit in.
03:05<STMask> There's a lot of natural imagery, flowers, thorns, flowers, chains. The chains are newer, worked into the ivy, some whole, some broken. There's a nice little space for something to get worked in, to the right of his heart. There's a good amount of space on his arms as well, the designs are loosely placed there.
03:06— Sophia frowns slightly at the empty spot over his heart.
03:06<Sophia> "I have the feeling you've been saving that spot for something special."
03:31<STMask> "My sister said that one day, she'd tell me something, something to fill that spot." He rubs his fingers over it. "I think she wants to tell me where I really came from. I thought about putting something there to represent my future, but I don't know what that is yet. I'm not sure what I'll do with myself."
03:32<Sophia> "Demanding that you know what you'll do with the next two or three millennia now is pretty unreasonable."
03:36<STMask> He smiles faintly. "I remember following her one night when she did her stargazing. She drew, she wrote. Some of the stuff looked and sounded... really damn crazy. Peacocks, Comets, Swords. Crazy stuff. Then she drew something weird." He gestured. "Can I see the pencil and paper?"
03:37<Sophia> "Sure," she says, offering the pencil and a clear page.
03:48<STMask> He takes a moment, closing his eyes. "I remember..." He started drawing in thick, broad lines.
03:50— Sophia looks at the unraveling sketch
04:09<STMask> It's seven figures, four women, three men. One appears to be a woman with only an outline, but the texture he added indicated she was made of sand. An arrogant-looking man with rather sharply aquiline features was beside her, trying to smile gently. He was failing. Each faced the other, stroking one another's face. Beside them was a second couple, a woman
04:09<STMask> that looked very old school class, jewelry and crown, yet the bling didn't make her seem queenly... she just seemed like the very concept of queenly. Beside her was a surprised and awed-looking man who did not get to quite touch her yet she touched him.
04:10— Sophia frowns, "any idea what this is about?"
04:19<STMask> Below them was a man, with features softened from but clearly related to the cruel man and a woman who was weeping and helping with the man's action. The man was touching the woman's face with one hand, stabbing the woman, whose face was a perfect blend of the queenly woman and the meek man. Below was a small child, with a mix of the two, smiling brightly.
04:19<STMask> It looks like... a very young Bran.
04:19<STMask> "I. I don't know."
04:21<Sophia> "It... it seems like a kind of geneology of, well, you."
04:22<STMask> "Yeah but these ones look weird." He taps the queenly woman and the sand woman.
04:22<Sophia> "The sand woman and the not-at-all-kindly king seem like a decent representation of Cecelyne and Malfeas."
04:23<Sophia> "The rest are less clear to me, though."
04:28<STMask> "No, Malfeas is the Brass Dancer and that is definitely not a soul of Malfeas." He taps the king. "Malfeas isn't... civilized like that. He's big, bombastic and obvious but not outright cruel like that. They're either builders, destroyers, engineers-Ligier himself is something of a scientist but back in the day, he was the finest blacksmith who ever lived."
04:29<Sophia> "Well, might be something to talk to the others about. Symbolism and demonic heritage are not exactly my strongest suits."
04:29<STMask> "But he wasn't always like that. He got wounded in the war."
04:29<Sophia> "Oh? Could it be pre-war Malfeas?"
04:31<STMask> "I think that guy's just a human dude, actually. The features are too sharp and imperfect in small ways to be a demon-Trina." He realized.
04:31<Sophia> "What?"
04:32<STMask> "Trina might know more than we two do."
04:32<Sophia> "Yeah, that was who I had in mind," Sophia says with a slight smile.
04:35<STMask> "Yeseult, I'll be back. Please stay there." He got up and held out his hand. "Pull me through?"
04:36— Sophia leaves the No Room and takes Bran's hand, "come on."
04:37<STMask> He is easily pulled out and the neomah watches placidly. "Let's go get her."
04:37— Sophia nods and goes up into the house proper.
04:38<STMask> "Trina?" Bran calls out. His voice carries excellently.
04:40→ Trina and Mallychan joined
04:45<Trina> In the library, Trina sits amid a heap of books, turning from one to the next.
04:46<STMask> "Trina!"
04:46<STMask> It was Bran's voice.
04:46<Trina> "Hmm? What? Yes?"
04:47<STMask> "I want to show you something. Do you recognize this?" He showed her the drawing.
05:53← Trina and Kalikit left ⇐ Mallychan quit ↔ STMask nipped out
12:52→ Trina joined • STMask → Palemask
21:39<Trina> Trina glances at the drawing -- and freezes.
21:39<Trina> "Where...did you get that?" she manages to say.
21:39— Sophia looks intention at Trina
21:41<Palemask> "I saw this once." He stated. "I don't really know what it is, or the significance."
21:41— Trina bites her lip.
21:42<Trina> "Do you...are you aware of who they are?"
21:42<Sophia> "We have a few guesses, but not all of them, and not certainly."
21:42<Palemask> He shakes his head. "I know that's me." He taps the bottom. "It looks like a genealogy record."
21:43<Trina> Trina stands up abruptly, causing several books to fall with a crash. She covers her reaction by picking them up.
21:43<Trina> "Your parents and grandparents?
21:43<Trina> "
21:45<Palemask> "Yeah, that's my guess. I don't... I only remember bits and pieces of my mom." Bran stated softly.
21:45<Palemask> (( ))
21:46— Trina busies herself restacking the books for a minute.
21:46<Trina> "I...I'm sorry."
21:46— Sophia frowns slightly at Trina, but waits patiently for now.
21:47<Palemask> "It's okay. My sister-unrelated-took care of me when she found me." He rested a hand. "What do you know? I think I need to know. It's been this huge mystery my whole life."
21:50<Trina> "Taravel. Her name was Taravel."
21:50<Sophia> "The name doesn't ring any bells."
21:50<Sophia> "How do you know her?"
21:51<Trina> "She...she was born a long time ago. A *very* long time ago. Long ago that I remember seeing her with the, the other me's eyes. *Her* mother..." Trina hesitates.
21:54<Trina> "She was Malfeas' other fetich. The destroyed one. Ruvelia, the Queen."
21:55— Sophia blinks.
21:55<Sophia> "That's quite the heritage you have, Bran."
21:55<Palemask> Bran takes a step back, looking like he was in shock.
21:56<Palemask> "I'm. I'm demonblooded." He murmurs.
21:56— Sophia shrugs, "that doesn't change anything, Bran."
21:56<Trina> "Well...should that be such a big deal? For you especially, I mean."
21:57<Palemask> He rubs his head. "It explains why I was chosen. Why it was such a huge deal. Why I'm not dead yet."
21:58— Sophia nods, "that makes sense, I guess."
21:58— Trina looks at him sideways, as if trying to think how much she should tell him.
21:58<Sophia> "All of it, Trina," Sophia says after spending a few motes to understand the details of her glance.
21:59<Palemask> Bran was busy being bowled over.
22:00<Trina> "I've been reading and...talking to people. Trying to catch up on what I missed when I...my shard...was sealed away. I...heard some things."
22:01<Trina> She drums her fingers on the hard cover of a book.
22:02<Palemask> Bran sits down. "Tell me. I've been wondering most of my life if I was abandoned. Please. I... I need to know." He asks with a raw voice.
22:02<Trina> "Taravel's man was much younger than she was, but he was Yozi-Kin too. A descendant of Cecelyne, I heard."
22:02<Palemask> "Cecelyne. Not one of her souls?" Bran looks at her strangely.
22:03<Palemask> "Like this?" He taps the sand woman.
22:04<Trina> Trina peers at the picture. "The story said Cecelyne's fetich soul, but I thought that sounded too pat. How likely is it that the offspring of two fetiches would exist at the same time, let alone pair off?"
22:05<Sophia> "Who are the two other grandparents?"
22:08<Palemask>
22:08<Palemask> Bran stared at the drawing. "It's not impossible."
22:09<Trina> "Mortal men, both. I, I don't remember the name of Ruvelia's consort. It's been so long...The other grandfather is supposed to have been a priest of Cecelyne, but I haven't come across his name."
22:09<Sophia> "They must have been some quite extraordinary mortals to attract two fetich souls."
22:10— Trina smiles, as if at some private thought.
22:10<Trina> "Third Circle souls have very...unique standards, it's true.
22:12<Sophia> "They're about as close to personifications of concepts as anyone's likely to get," Sophia says, "I'd be rather surprised if they just went for looks and expected life income."
22:14<Palemask> Bran rubbed his forehead. "The chances of this, though. Why?"
22:15<Sophia> "I don't think it's chance. Seems more like, well, a breeding program."
22:16<Trina> "Maybe. Or maybe the men, whoever they were, just fulfilled some ideal the fetiches held."
22:25<Sophia> "Maybe. If they had their unions at wildly different times, I guess it's not too much of a stretch for two Fetich souls to have children with mortals."
22:26<Sophia> "But their children coming together seems premeditated."
22:27— Trina looks at the picture again, at the grim end to the story.
22:27<Palemask> "What happened to her? Taravel?"
22:27<Trina> "If it was a plan, it doesn't seem to have been a well-thought-out one."
22:28— Trina looks at the floor.
22:28<Trina> "The...relationship was not peaceful, I heard. It didn't...end well."
22:29<Palemask> Bran listened, looking numb.
22:29<Sophia> "Perhaps it's for the best then that you never really knew them, Bran. It sounds like your adopted sisters have been far better for you than your biological parents would have been."
22:30<Palemask> "Tell me, Trina. Please. I've wondered long enough." He touches Sophia. "You might be right-but I still need to know."
22:31— Sophia nods.
22:32<Trina> "Her man killed her, eighteen years ago. Malfeas had him put to death for his crime."
22:33<Palemask> "That's. That's the screaming and green light I remember." He realized and sat down.
22:33<Palemask> Well. Slumped in his seat.
22:35— Sophia puts a hand on Bran's shoulder.
22:36<Trina> "I'm sorry, Bran. I truly am."
22:36<Palemask> "It's... she didn't abandon me. She didn't..." He actually sounded relieved.
22:46— Sophia looks a bit ambivalent about that, but doesn't say anything. It's not her family after all.
22:49— Trina smooths a bent page in one of the books and says nothing.
22:51<Palemask> "I don't really know what to do with this information, but. At least I know" He says softly.
22:52<Trina> "You might want to consider if your heritage has any...side effects, in addition to your Exaltation?"
22:53<Sophia> "Wouldn't they have been easier to spot before the Exaltation?"
22:56<Palemask> "Maybe it's why they picked me when I was so young." He mused. "So I wouldn't see it."
22:57<Palemask> "So I wouldn't use it."
22:57<Sophia> "Maybe this is something you should look into before you go ahead with your... other plans."
23:14<Palemask> He closes his eyes. "No, I can see it now-you remember what you already saw, yeah? What did you see?"
23:29<Sophia> "That there was a sickness in your Essence," she says somberly, "and that it became... virulent, and infected the rest, turning it into a single whole."
23:33<Palemask> "What do you see now? Is it worse or better?" Strangely... it's better. Less+
23:34<Palemask> Less incongruous with the world, somehow.
23:34<Palemask> Yet still... wrong.
23:34— Sophia frowns.
23:35<Sophia> "It's changed. It's better. Not sick like it was before. It seems almost... at peace with the world."
23:42<Palemask> "Huh. Strange. Maybe I can yet become a true part of this world yet."
23:43<Sophia> "You *are* a true part of this world. Just maybe not one that's always played well with the other parts."
23:46<Palemask> He chuckles. "Yeah, that's a neat way to think about it."
23:47<Sophia> "Some people seem to think of the world like one of those old puzzles of a forest pond with a deer standing in front of it, where everything has its place and it's nice and peaceful when it's done. But that's just not a very good picture of how the world *actually* is."
23:49← Trina left (uid47865@b3a470b7.uxbridge.f7109e70.com.hmsk)
23:58<Palemask> He shakes his head. "No, it's not. It's a cruel and beautiful world."
23:59<Sophia> "Ascribing traits like cruelty it is disingenuous. It's not cruel, it's not kind, it's not fair, it's not evil. It just *is,*" Sophia says, more passionately than she generally is.
23:59<Sophia> "And it's made up of people who can push it in directions that make it kind and fair and good for the people who live in it."
Saturday, December 20th, 2014
00:00<Sophia> "You've been pushing in the wrong direction for a while," she says more somberly, "but you've changed directions now."
00:11<Palemask> He nods. "Yeah. I really have. Anne pushed me the rest of the way, the moment you saw when I was first here and you guys kidnapped me."
00:13<Sophia> "I kinda think we should apologize for that, because kidnapping people is wrong. But on the other hand, I think everyone's happier this way. Sooo, maybe think of it more like an intervention than a kidnapping?"
00:14<Palemask> "Point taken." He nods.
00:16<Sophia> "So, you think knowing about your heritage has affected some of this change?"
00:18<Palemask> "It just... makes it easier, actually. I'd always wondered. Now, I can finally leave that behind." He smiles, a bittersweet thing.
00:18<Sophia> "And look to the future."
00:21<Palemask> He nods. "Yeah, that too. You both do that. Anne and you."
00:21<Sophia> "I find it matters more than the past."
01:02<Palemask> "Well, I think we've blown away Trina-want to go back downstairs?" He smiles crookedly.
01:03— Sophia glances at Trina's scattered books and then looks back to Bran. "Sure."
01:14<Palemask> He led the way down. "You ever felt lost and then found yourself on the path you'd been looking for the whole time?" He asked.
01:14<Sophia> "I've been a teenager," Sophia says, not entirely sure what it is Bran is asking.
01:19<Palemask> He chuckles. "Yeah, I would imagine that's so." He steps in, the neomah in the no-room visibly relaxing. She eyes Sophia curiously.
01:19— Sophia returns the Neomah's gaze. It's only the second time she's seen a demon, after all."
01:20<Sophia> More than just examining its, admittedly aesthetically pleasing, physical form, she focuses on what she can see with her new Essence Sight.
01:22<Palemask> The demon has clear bonds to Bran, carrying a bit of his essense. Well. More than a bit really. She seems to be a bit of... a lot of things. She lacks the duality and she can see that the neomah is much weaker than Bran. Very much weaker."
01:22<Palemask> "Hi?" The neomah greeted awkwardly.
01:23<Sophia> "Hello," Sophia returns its greeting, focusing back on it like she would on a person.
01:34<Palemask> "I'm called Thalia. I can't imagine why master might call me that." It spoke drolly.
01:36<Sophia> "Sophia, because my parents wanted a child who was smart rather than just rich and beautiful. At least that's what they've been telling me."
01:38<Palemask> "Well, sounds like they hit the jackpot." The demon commented. "You've never seen something like me, have you?"
01:39<Sophia> "Yes and no. I've seen an agatha before, which I understand is similar to you, but I couldn't see Essence very well at the time."
01:42<Palemask> She sniffs. "They're okay. They're the Azure Queen's steeds. They exist to be ridden. I can make better. I am a neomah, a fleshcrafter."
01:43<Sophia> "You can make things that are better at flying people around than agathae?" Sophia asks skeptically. "What do you need to do so?"
01:45<Palemask> "Well, I need flesh to make it. I can even make babies between two parents who couldn't otherwise. Two men, two women, two people of different species... I'm telling you, it's a fantastic age when I can announce that I manipulate DNA at its most basic levels and be understood." The neomah looked pleased at that.
01:46— Sophia nods, this she understands. "Labs can do a lot of that stuff too these days, but I'm guessing you have enough bullshit magic powers to still be ahead of us."
01:58<Palemask> "Yeah, just a bit." The neomah giggles. "Me and mine ended up courtesans somehow. This is probably why." Within a few minutes, a smaller, pink-purple copy of Sophia smiled at her. "And that is hardly the end of what I can do to my own self."
01:59— Sophia frowns, "people generally want to have sex with themselves?"
02:01<Palemask> "No, more like something like this..." Thalia changes to a classic pinup beauty, with full lips and cheeks, large chest and a slender waist. "Or this." The next minute was a young man who looked rugged yet slender. "Or many other things." Thalia decided to keep the male-looking form for a while.
02:02<Sophia> "Right, that makes more sense."
02:03<Sophia> "How do you actually feel about that? And if you're summoned and bound to do it, are your feelings actually..." she frowns with distaste as she adds "real?"
02:10<Palemask> "Well, in a sense I don't exist when I'm not summoned. I exist in the heart of Malfeas. So if I'm summoned, my purpose either becomes what my summoner wishes... or if they lose the contest, I might go around and create new life where I please." He shrugs. "As for feelings? Why does that matter? I get a nice little bit of lust for all things. I am content
02:10<Palemask> when I create. I am alright with serving as an assistant in a great deal of things. I didn't even have a name until Master Bran summoned me. He helped me get strong enough to want things for myself, for some reason."
02:11<Sophia> "What do you want for yourself, then?"
02:14<Palemask> "Why, to be a person. And to be able to roam freely. Even if that means I die someday, I will have a name of my choosing. I just need to figure out how to manage it." The neomah replied.
02:14<Sophia> "How do you distinguish between being a person and not?"
02:17<Palemask> "If Master Bran dismisses me, I will cease to exist, returning to the Demon Emperor. I do not want to be reliant on that, but I am still a part of him. A part of the Demon Emperor. Long ago, another broke free but he was not so lowly as me." The neomah sighed. "A person does not cease to be when they are dismissed."
02:19<Sophia> "I'm not actually sure that's true," Sophia muses, "that doesn't mean you're not a person, that just mean you can die in ways humans can't die."
02:25<Palemask> "But humans reincarnate. Neomah do not." The neomah pointed out.
02:26<Palemask> "You can be reborn, over and over again unless you leave a ghost."
02:27— Sophia shrugs, "in principle that's true, but since none of your personality, memories or knowledge survives, I've always thought that sort of a bullshit excuse. Yes, my soul has been used before, but that does not make whoever had it before a part of *me.*"
02:28<Palemask> "Yes but I am a part of a larger being. Like a cog in a machine. You are independant. Master Bran won't but could command me to change my personality tonight. My appearance, everything."
02:29<Sophia> "Sure, and that arguably makes you a non-person," Sophia agrees, "it's just important to recognize what's what."
02:32<Palemask> The demon smiles. "But don't get me wrong-some demons? They're best off that way. And make no mistake, that's what we are. We've never been devas or angels or whatever nonsense."
02:32<Sophia> "Isn't the difference mostly semantic?"
02:36<Palemask> "Well, angels to my knowledge never quite existed far as I know. Devas, though. Those are the souls of the-" The Neomah stops. "The Incarnae imprisoned."
02:37<Sophia> "Ah. Yeah, I think I see the difference."
02:37<Sophia> "Are they people?"
02:39<Palemask> "They have free will. Lives of their own. They won't be exactly plotting against their higher selves, but you get the picture. Some might be still around, posing as gods. Because they're a natural part of the world, it's impossible to tell the difference."
02:39<Palemask> But the neomah feels wrong, incongruous.
02:40— Sophia nods, "I think I understand what you mean, even if I disagree with your choice of words."
02:41<Palemask> "If you want an orator, look at the Chosen. Not my job." The neomah stated.
02:42<Sophia> "I wasn't talking about oratory so much as your use of the the word 'nature' to mean something other than 'everything around us'"
02:45<Palemask> "Ohhh, yes. Right. The great and grand tapestry of energy that is Creation, which did not rise up from the cracks in the backing where essence grew tainted."
02:45<Palemask> The neomah clapped a hand over her own mouth.
02:45— Sophia shrugs.
02:46<Sophia> "Just because it was added later in an inelegant manner doesn't mean it isn't nature."
02:57<Palemask> "Evolution happens, yeah? You and I know that humanity has evolved and changed. It's not an evolution but a sickness. They can't change how Master Bran has. They are incapable. The times they changed, parts of them died. Major parts." The neomah pointed out. "They aren't entropy, but cancer. The world used to be a lot brighter than what your eyes see now.
02:57<Palemask> More colorful. Next to what it used to be? It's like a threadbare tapestry."
02:59<Sophia> "Cancer's part of nature too," Sophia points out. "And I never said that natural was good. My point is that natural is a shitty concept that doesn't mean anything. Instead we should talk about what kinds of things we want to have happening."
02:59<Sophia> "And I want for people to be able to live good lives, and for non-people who want to be people to be people."
03:03<Palemask> "You're a neat human, that's for sure. It's never dull." Sophia can see the room being soaked in Bran's energy, the neomah's energy changing as it does. The various things he's got, they too are soaked with his energy like a halfway point between steam and water except not hot, merely warm and strangely inviting yet something tells her not to step in.
03:03<Palemask> The neomah seems clueless.
03:03<Sophia> "Bran," she says, looking at him, "are you doing that thing we said you should wait until Anne got back before doing?"
03:05<Palemask> "I am waiting, but the room has to be soaked in my energy. That takes time to do and I wanted to see if I can't give Thalia what she wants. My purview does include bonds broken." He pointed out.
03:06<Sophia> "And just how are you doing that?" She asks, looking carefully at the room's new Essence flows.
03:10<Palemask> "Attaching some of my anima banner to her. I saw something like that happen once and I thought about how I could mimic that for fun and profit. Not all of it, I can't manage that, it really hurt when I tried in a weird way. I used one of the Malfeas charms as a basis on how to possibly do it." He stated. The neomah looks at him curiously at that. He does in
03:10<Palemask> fact look like he's radiating bits of his soul. There's a sense that if only he had another piece of the puzzle that it might bud and form seperate things. Or beings.
03:11<Sophia> "You are aware that what you're doing is powered by your soul, right? Not sure if that's a finite, infinite or pracitcally infinite source, though."
03:11<Sophia> "Also, I think you could probably do something similar to make... beings from whole cloth."
03:12<Palemask> He looked at her curiously. "Your eyes got something better than I thought they might."
03:12<Sophia> "Thanks, I think."
03:16— Sophia says, waiting to see just what it is Bran is doing.
03:59<Palemask> It looks something like radiation, except instead of harmful energy and light, it's like he's making things more his wavelength or temperature. If it were water, he brings cold water to deliciously warm. Oddly, the chain tattoos are glowing.
04:01<Sophia> "Bran, do you know why your chain tattoos are glowing?" Sophia asks, sounding somewhat worried.
04:08<Palemask> "Oh these? That's the vitriol. I did those with some powder and mixed ink to see what it would do. It does that sometimes, not sure why it's not all the time when my banner's active. It seems to coincide most when I tap into some stuff. Maybe it's reacting to tapping into my own stuff?" He reasons.
04:09<Palemask> Indeed, he is starting to shed an unearthly light, his castemark burning.
04:09<Sophia> "You inserted *vitriol* in your skin to see what it would do?" Sophia asks momentarily stunned.
04:09<Sophia> "You were not just evil crazy, Bran, you were crazy crazy."
04:10<Palemask> It's unchanged, it's still an hourglass. "Yeah, I wasn't really caring at that time what happened to me, but all it did was give it this fantastic shade on the black."
04:11<Sophia> "Yeah, I get that," she says a little concerned. "You do care what happens to you now, don't you?"
04:12<Palemask> He nods. "I do, I really do."
04:14<Sophia> "Good," she says smiling slightly. "Are you closer to figuring out what it is you're doing? And how to do it?"
04:24<Palemask> "Okay. So. I'm a Templar. This changes it some, allowing me to redefine some parameters. It's like... preparing the ground to completely redesign what I do. This allows me to change how my anima works. You? You can make yourself less squishy. Anne can protect herself from stuff like demons, raksha and weird shit. Kip and Malcolm sanctify deals and act as
04:24<Palemask> ambassadors, learning the techniques of allies or whatever. It's a little bullshit. Dawns are not afraid but can make themselves scary as fuck and Nights are sneaky as fuck. Not as sneaky as Mizu and Kosche. That's just weird." He commented.
04:27— Sophia nods.
04:27<Palemask> "So as I stretch out my anima and soak in well. Meness. Instead of what Templars do, I can change it to something else. What mine will do is oh. Sanctify marriages. Break them off. Assist in defending family and friends-but not myself. Just friends and family-people I have connections with. Maybe even enemies... and inspire faith in what the person already
04:27<Palemask> believes in."
04:27<Palemask> "I /think/, anyway."
04:28— Sophia gives a slightly crooked smile.
04:28<Sophia> "If we knew what we were doing, it wouldn't be research."
04:28<Palemask> "Yeah and you get to see it happen." He tells her. "In a way nobody else will. How does it feel to take part in history?"
04:28— Sophia examines what exactly is going on with the Essence flow, is Bran's soul still leaking, and if so, does the core seem to get smaller?
04:31<Palemask> It's not growing smaller... it's just stretching, as if it's too large for the shell and is just easily overflowing the longer he stays in that room. It does not leave the room. It stops cold at the door. Something tells you that it's something Jiji did. Something like stars glimmer over the door and wall when Sophia looks more carefully around the entrance
04:31<Palemask> to the no-room.
04:32<Sophia> "The good news is that your soul seems to be infinite," she says dryly, "and possibly that Jiji expected something close enough to this that whatever you're doing can't leave the no-room. Which I guess you suspected and is the reason you're doing it here.l"
04:34<Palemask> "It's safer for both of us and everyone in the house." He stated. He sounds both nervous and excited.
04:35<Sophia> "Yeah, containment is generally a good policy when doing reckless and untested experiments."
18:48<STMask> He stretched lightly, brushing hair from his eyes.
18:48— Sophia returns from getting Roxy to sleep in a proper bed rather than slumped over on the table. People have been doing that for her for ages, it's about time she had a time to give something back.
18:49<Sophia> "Hey Bran. Those from your special emerald green sources?"
18:51<STMask> "Yup, that they are. They didn't even care, they just had these left over from an over-fulfilled order." He stated.
18:52<Sophia> "Mind if I take a look at them, it'd suck if they had a backdoor of some kind built in."
19:04<STMask> "No problem what-so-ever." He brings one of the small boxes to her.
19:05<Sophia> "Cool, just a sec," Sophia says before hurrying up to her room, stealthily getting her small tool box (never leave home without a few screwdrivers and a hammer!) without waking Roxy, and returning to the kitchen.
19:06<Sophia> Then she opens the starts taking apart first the box and packaging (the oldest trick in the book, hiding the bug where it's not expected), and then moving on to the headset itself.
19:07<Sophia> Every single piece gets taken apart, separated and examined with her newly acquired superhuman care.
19:12<STMask> These are very nice, new-conditioned parts. There's a chip that shouldn't be there. Easy enough for someone of Sophia's caliber to get around it, if that's removal or dummying it out. It'll even make them work better!
19:13— Sophia frowns with obvious concern and leans in to examine the chip. Does it pick up only on what's said through the headset, or also its surroundings? Where does it send it? And could it also be used to track the headset?
19:27<STMask> It looks like it's a simple anti-theft measure. It connects, it can listen to talk but only if it's got power to it, thus only when a channel is open.
19:29<Sophia> "There's a bug in it," she says to Bran without looking up, "it's nothing fancy, but it'll listen in on conversations on this headset. I propose that we leave a few of those behind, clearly labeled of course, to use for misdirection. But I'll make a clean set, so we can talk safely."
19:30<Sophia> "Thanks for these, though, they look excellent," she adds looking up with a smile.
19:33<STMask> "That's great. I was sure you'd catch it, you got the whole engineering sort of thing going. I really respect that." He stated, sounding duly impressed.
19:33<Sophia> "Thanks," she says, strangely hesitant. "You knew about this?"
19:37<STMask> "I knew they had some kind of anti-theft thing, but not what it did." He admitted. "But I looked you up while I was gone. You're known for having a knack for that sort of thing. And even if you didn't, I would have told you before turning those things on. I'm not really the electronics type, basic computer literacy aside."
19:37<Sophia> "Yeah, I figured," she says, nodding, "where did you find information on me, though?"
19:40<STMask> "Went on up, asked around. One of the senior professors refused to even talk to me, which I don't blame her. The ones with the masks, you can never tell. She refused to even be in private. Smart of her, I don't blame her."
19:41<Sophia> "Ah, at the Heptagram?" Sophia says, suddenly less worried. She wouldn't want the government to have big files on her.
19:42<STMask> He nodded. "Yeah, where else would I check? It's not like I've got more than a contact or two with Intelligence."
19:42— Sophia nods, "no no, it makes sense."
19:44— Sophia begins disabling the security on the other headsets on at a time.
19:44<Sophia> "So," she says while still working, "I'm guessing you noticed me and Anne at brunch this morning."
19:44<STMask> He watches her work.
19:45<STMask> "Yeah, I did. Guess I'm going to be your brother too, huh?"
19:45— Sophia snorts, "no disrespect, but I think it'll take me a decade or two to get quite as comfortable with you as Anne is."
19:49<STMask> "Well, we grew up together and you have every reason to be uncomfortable around me, I'm barely human." He told her bluntly.
19:50— Sophia shrugs, "I don't really care that much about being 'human,' in most people's minds, it's a concept rooted pretty firmly in old prejudice."
19:50<Sophia> "And you might say the same about me."
19:53<STMask> "It's different. Exalted are largely still human. No idea what the hell happened to Joe, I can't even begin to explain it but unlike you? I can actually leave it behind. I've found a way to do it, I'm just... not sure if I should. It means I have absolutely no connection to Cecelyne anymore-but it also means that I am no longer human /or/ exalted if I take
19:53<STMask> that step. It scares the living hell out of me-but it also might set me free."
19:54— Sophia frowns and looks up.
19:54<Sophia> "I don't think I fully understand what you mean."
19:58<STMask> "The gods made Solars, Sidereals, Lunars. Solars created with the current rulers of the universe Infernals, who in turn created Dragonblooded and probably whatever the hell Joe was. Cecelyne, Malfeas, others? They took these shards, ten each for the big winners and put a bit of themselves into them, corrupting them more than becoming an akuma ever would."
19:59<Sophia> "And you know a way to what... transcend that corruption?"
20:01<STMask> "Actually... use it to make myself someday what Malfeas and Cecelyne are. Nobody else has survived long enough or had the sources I do to figure it out. If it weren't for my sister Charity, I would neither have figured it out or survived to do so." He explained. "It's... that corruption can be turned instead into a seed."
20:02<STMask> "Solars live a very long time. Desus? He was four thousand years old. White Lily's about three hundred years old."
20:02<STMask> "Far as we know, anyway."
20:02<Sophia> "Huh," Sophia says thoughtfully.
20:02<STMask> "Even Dragonblooded live two-hundred fifty years."
20:03<STMask> "And longer. With me so far? The average person lives about a hundred ten, hundred twenty years in good health, with good genetics. Or dumb luck."
20:04— Sophia nods.
20:06<STMask> "Infernals? Oh, we stay young. But a buddy of mine? She's kept records for those Infernals who didn't get themselves killed young. Each of them has dropped dead. No reason why. No poison, no essense use. Nothing. Just dropped dead at a hundred fifty."
20:07<Sophia> "I can see why you'd want to change yourself away from that."
20:09<STMask> "-but it also means I become a demiurge." He says.
20:09<Sophia> "But still remain basically 'you'?"
20:12<STMask> "Well, when you think of me right now, you think of me as a person. As... something like that, it's more like becoming a god. I could even bow to the order Morena creates. I take everything I've learned and I create myself a step at a time. I'm recognizable so far... but I might not be at the end. I might be more concept than Bran Aniolrod."
20:13<Sophia> "I generally tend to think of people in terms of goals, likes, tools, and limits," Sophia says.
20:14<Sophia> "I've been pretty into transhumanism for a few years."
20:14<STMask> "Huh. Interesting. You'd probably want to see it happen, wouldn't you? See what it looks like at least for me and where the others screwed up."
20:15<Sophia> "Yes!" She says immediately.
20:15<Sophia> "Though I'd need to understand Essence better before I could really do that," she says with a slight frown.
20:15<Sophia> "I've mostly thought of it in terms of computers, cybernetics and AI so far, which is why that's been my focus."
20:16<Sophia> "But Essence opens up whole new areas of possibility."
20:17<STMask> "But the pure mystery of motonics, it beckons! Ha. Yeah, that sounds about your style. There's a technique that will help, if you don't already have it. You can wish for it. I can make it yours if it's not."
20:17<Sophia> "You can literally fulfil wishes?" Sophia says doubtfully.
20:20<STMask> He tells the truth. "I wouldn't ask for anything but this: serve your debt by being good to Anne. And yes. I can. I made myself a woman at night to fulfil someone's wish. It's fun." He grins.
20:20— Sophia chuckles, "yeah, I noticed."
20:21<Sophia> "But alright then, I wish to be able to understand Essence."
20:22<STMask> "So you have wished-so shall it be granted." He runs his hands very gently over her eyes as his castemark flared to life, a silver hourglass.
20:23<STMask> Sophia innately understands the price that she is to pay-he'd told the truth about the price-but if she should break it... it would vanish and have some nasty consequences.
20:30<STMask> When she opens her eyes, the world is awash with color she never knew existed, as if she'd been missing rods and cones. It was brighter, beautiful and yet orderly. It seemed like she could run her hands over the patterns and turn them into what she wanted-if she had the tools. Bran himself is something that seems incongruous with the rest, almost like a
20:30<STMask> blight, as if his essence was 'sick'. It does not cost her motes... but nor is it going away. When she looks at the parts, she can see it won't interfere with her robotics hobby. This is what they mean by the music of the spheres. It must be.
20:40<Sophia> "Wow," Sophia says softly, looking around the room, at her own arms and finally staring right at Bran, "I should have done something like this the second I Exalted."
20:41<STMask> "Well, I wasn't there when you exalted." That is, as far as he knows, not a lie.
20:42<Sophia> "I guess not," she says, still staring at him, "but I'm guessing your way isn't the only one to open one's eyes to this."
20:44<STMask> He shakes his head. "No. It's not, but you don't have the right strengths to get the ability you'd ordinarily need. This is based on the strengths you already have."
20:45<Sophia> "I can learn," she says with a smirk, "I'm pretty damned good at that."
20:50<STMask> He nods. "Now watch close." He sits in... lotus position. Kosche walks in and her essense is like twinkling starlight, as if she herself was a star yet there's something beneath that, something Sophia understands somehow is her humanity. Something she can see in Bran, even though the movements are strange and sickly..
20:50— Sophia gets distracted by Kosche for a few moments before flipping he gaze back to Bran
21:00<STMask> That sickness in his essence becomes downright virulant, 'attacking' that core and changing each of the small motes of light that make up Bran-yet while he did so, the nature of the movement became both broader and more smooth, as if something had been impeding its course. It was bright, terribly bright and gave the sense of nausea and yet like something was
21:00<STMask> righting itself. Familiar-something familiar shined-and almost as quickly that it had begun, the energy that was Bran was radically changed, of a singular not dual nature like Kosche was or how he had been. It was no longer a marriage of man and power but pure power there. The skin was a shell and it seemed to press at the shell. The sense of a supernova
21:00<STMask> waiting behind it and a limitless expanse gave her the impression that she was more looking at a location than a person. The ordinary colors still showed the same man, an illusion covering the riot happening underneath. "I am no longer human or exalted." He stated-and it was true.
21:02— Sophia blinks, her eyes having dried considerably from staying open while this process was undergoing.
21:02<Sophia> "That was amazing. Do you plan on doing any other amazing things in the next hour or so?"
21:03<STMask> He laughs. "I have no clue what I'm doing. Let me see."
21:12<STMask> "Yeah, I got something. It's... I have to go somewhere special, though. A sort of... place with me written all over it. You will be able to see, though. The no-room should do, just keep the door open."
21:13<Sophia> "Could you wait a bit, I'd like to write this stuff down. And maybe draw some sketches."
21:16<STMask> He nods and stays where he is.
21:17— Sophia pulls out of notepad from somewhere and starts scribbling.
21:18<Sophia> Unlike many scientists, or doctors for that matter, her hand writing is perfectly legible and her writing both compelling and easily understandable. She makes sure to include several drawings which accurately recounts what she saw during Bran's transition, and her notes are written at different levels to include both the overall impression, and the precise
21:18<Sophia> details.
21:19<Sophia> It takes her half an hour and most of a large notebook to finish, but then she looks up and smiles.
21:19<Sophia> "Alright, that should do it, at least for now. Thanks for waiting."
21:19<Sophia> "Ready for step two?"
21:21<STMask> The twin-faced primordial smiled. "Yeah, I think I am." He got up and led the way. "I can get in, but not out. You'll have to invite me out."
21:21<Sophia> "Out of the No-Room?"
21:22<STMask> "Yep. You got it." He took a deep breath and stepped in.
21:23— Sophia sits down, put the notebook in her lap and regards Bran very carefully.
21:54<STMask> "This... might go wrong, I don't know. If it does, get Anne. She probably won't be able to do much but at least maybe I can say goodbye if it's not immediately lethal." He says. "I am changing, but that change can absolutely go wrong." He sounds... afraid.
21:54<STMask> But he looks determined to do it.
21:54<Sophia> "in that case, maybe you should wait until Anne is back tonight."
22:01<STMask> "I can spend the time preparing." He takes out a few things-a knife that almost glows with sickly power, a tall neomah who blinks in confusion as she incorporates and gives an awkward-sounding greeting. He also shrugs off something that glows in the patterns of radioactivity that looks like light chainmail that's been acidwashed somehow. He lets his anima
22:01<STMask> flare, his castemark shining. "This will change if I do it right." He gestures to his head.
22:03<Sophia> "This... This is quite something. Did I prompt you to move more quickly with doing all this?"
22:06<STMask> "It's something I've thought about doing for a while. Each of the ones that changed us, created the akuma? They each stand for something. The Demon City is the king with a broken crown. The Endless Desert is a hypocrite who makes laws that only respect strength. The shadow disrespects everything. The crystal orbs are based in purest of logic and collective
22:06<STMask> intellegence." He muses. "An ocean mother."
22:08<Sophia> "And what will you stand for?"
22:11<STMask> "Family. Faith. Bonds made and broken-but not just blood family but the families you choose, like a circle. A sworn brotherhood. Friends who love one another as siblings. The person who fosters and adopts kids. I want something to believe in. Let it be Anne and Morena, then for me." He stated almost... humbly. There was none of the postering irony in his
22:11<STMask> voice. "But there's abusive families. Abusive friends and those bonds need to be breakable for them."
22:13— Sophia nods.
22:13<Sophia> "Those seem like good things to stand for."
22:14<Sophia> "Far better than the current options. Are you sure you can stick to that in this... process?"
22:15<STMask> "I love both my sisters very much but I'm not blood related to either of them-so yeah. I think I can. Why do you think me and Anne jive so much? We both got a lot of faith. I wanted so much to believe-but I know who won't be letting me down." He smiles crookedly. "You guys could have killed me, you know."
22:15<STMask> "You didn't. And that does matter to me."
22:16<Sophia> "I tend to err on the side of not killing people on principle, and Anne seemed quite insistent on it at the time."
22:16<Sophia> "Not sure how much credit I should relaly get for that."
22:37<STMask> He chuckles. "Yeah, guess I've been hanging around fucked up people."
22:38<Sophia> "You still are, just a better brand of fucked-up-ness."
22:40<STMask> He laughs at that. "Man, it's going to be an interesting time over the next few millenia."
22:40— Sophia chuckles, "you're ahead of me. I've only started thinking in terms of decades and centuries."
22:41<STMask> "I just have about a decade over you. You get used to it fast." He mused.
22:42<Sophia> "Let's not make this a competition," Sophia says with a smirk.
22:44<STMask> "I just became something like a god, not really a fair one but all I do, I can now make easier if it applies to what I stand for. You know how you can make some things easier by pouring power into what you do? That is a gift from the sun, the shine of your excellence."
22:46<STMask> "Me, I pour my power into family, into faith, bonds made and broken. To defend my sisters, to instill, create or defend faith, to create or destroy bonds... that is my gift, now."
22:47<Sophia> "And you've claimed the thing that powers it for yourself."
22:47<Sophia> "I don't think the Sun, or Morena for that matter, can do anything to limit what I do with mine either, though."
22:49<STMask> He smiles. "That's the thing, you will be excellent in everything you do-without leaving behind what makes you human."
22:50<Sophia> "We'll see about that. Like I said, humanity is overrated."
22:52<STMask> He laughs. "I'll have to keep an eye on you. Just remember that right now, Anne is human."
22:52<Sophia> "Of course. This isn't a short term thing."
22:53<Sophia> "And I really don't want to hurt Anne, or really anyone, but she takes priority, however, I don't know what the world will look like in a hundred years."
22:53<Sophia> "Things may change, and they may change for all of us."
22:53<Sophia> "Hopefully for the better."
22:55<STMask> "I want to hope, too. If it weren't for you guys, I would have been in despair."
22:55<Sophia> "Good thing we came along when we did then."
23:08<STMask> "Yeah, I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't. Maybe something terrible."
23:09<Sophia> "I'm guessing it's not at all likely that the situation from four days ago is going to repeat itself with all that's happened in the mean time, so I don't think you'll gain much from dwelling on that," Sophia says wtih an encouraging smile.
23:10<Sophia> "Are your former compatriots going to come after you now that you're... changing yourself?"
23:12<STMask> "I got allies. My sister, Charity did and I quote 'bullshit fate hacking, that's all you need to know' unquote." He used air quotes.
23:12— Sophia chuckles.
23:13<Sophia> "She going to be introduced to the group any time soon?"
23:16<STMask> "Right now, she is right where she needs to be: keeping Gorol mildly sane-ish. Instead of completely doing a belly flop into looloo land." He stated.
23:16<Sophia> "She should really, really stay there then. Anything the rest of us can do to help that effort?"
23:18<STMask> "Nah, just work on your power, the local shit and build your bonds to one another-and allies, too. Rebuilding Yu-Shan would be a great goal for Morena. Even if she doesn't build it exactly the same."
23:19<STMask> "You're a demigod, you'll figure it out. You're smart."
23:19<Sophia> "Indeed," Sophia agrees, "but I'm not all that knowledgeable about the world I've been dumped into yet, and as you say, you have a decade of experience on me."
23:20<STMask> "Yeah, I can help with that."
23:23— Sophia nods, "I'm grateful for that. But if your advice for now is to build our power and relations, I can do that."
23:23<Sophia> "Well, my part of it anyway."
23:50<STMask> "Okay, questions and answers time. I know different stuff than Jiji and I'm less likely to be cryptic or 'oh dear dear you're not ready blah blah bullshit' stuff."
23:51<Sophia> "How can we hurt them without being noticed?"
23:54<STMask> "Aim them at piddling shit. Swipe their allies. Start talking to the outliers and keep your eyes open. And occasionally, aim someone eager for fist or wetwork at the nastier types that don't do subtlety." He advised. "They are asleep and aimed at one another. Stirring up a civil war or a shitstorm amongst them? That'll distract them further."
23:56<Sophia> "How much can we actually change the world without them noticing us? Could we, say, help a newcommer become Prime Minster and overhaul Meruvia's foreign and domestic policies?"
23:59<STMask> "They are blinding themselves with themselves. Maybe if it amuses them. You never can tell-but most of 'em? They're just focused on being rock stars. Live fast, die young."
Friday, December 19th, 2014
00:00— Sophia frowns, "why would anyone do that? I plan to live moderately fast and not die at all."
00:01<Sophia> "How much of Mal's crazy shit could we pull without them bringing the hammer down on us?"
01:34<STMask> "What crazy shit has he done that can't be blamed on rogue gods?" He pointed out.
01:35<Sophia> "Nothing yet. And I suppose if most of the Infernals are as lazy as you say, he'd have to be pretty crazy to actually cross the line."
01:35— Sophia sighs.
01:36<Sophia> "What I'm really trying to get a sense of is where that line is, and how bad it would be if we cross it."
01:45<STMask> "I'm thinking there's some audacious stuff you could pull off-provided you didn't get your auras totemic. You know-big glowy symbols? They show up outside the building you're in, too if you do it inside."
01:47<Sophia> "Unless you're in this room," Sophia says with a nod, "like I was a few hours ago."
01:48<Sophia> "If that's the line, then I guess we'll probably be OK."
01:48<Sophia> "But what if we're not? What will they do?"
01:51<STMask> "Probably send some of their usual fixers. I might have been sent first." There's a bit of grief there and guilt. "I'd be the one who'd talk someone down if it was going to be able to solved that way. If it couldn't... well, if not me, one of their shush-shush types."
01:51<STMask> "Man, Anne really does not want to know some of the shit I did."
01:51— Sophia looks a bit torn at the last statement.
01:52<Sophia> "I don't like lies, and I don't like secrets, Bran. You've known Anne for longer than I have, so I'll defer to your judgement on this, but I am generally of the belief that there shouldn't be secrets between friends."
01:52<Sophia> "Much less between family."
02:06<STMask> "It's." He touched his head. "You know, there's five big ones. She Who Lives in Her Name. Adorjan. Ebon Dragon. Kimbery isn't quite a big one. Templars like me? Cecelyne. But each is sponsored by a second, sometimes. Like... they pick and agree between one another. It's rare now. Me? I was picked by Malfeas, I had a connection to him. This affects what sort
02:06<STMask> of... mission they're given. Sometimes it makes no sense. Every Infernal chosen by Malfeas gains the urge to destroy. So, they set me to destroy. An attack dog on a leash."
02:07<STMask> "I've destroyed lives as much as I've killed people, people who wanted to make a difference. Some of them trusted me, some of them even fell in love with me. Or thought they had."
02:08— Sophia nods somberly.
02:11<STMask> "This..." Tears actually rolled down his cheeks. "This is why both my sisters saved my life." His voice cracks, thick with emotion. "Charity told me how it wasn't my fault, that it was necessary to survive until I could turn it around. To learn and know what I needed to tear them apart from the inside out. That I needed to find others like me who didn't
02:11<STMask> like it. Who wanted to do the /right/ thing. And it's how I met Sister Sule.
02:11<STMask> The first one to actually... actually say that was done to me was wrong."
02:14— Sophia nods again and goes to put her arm around Bran.
02:14<Sophia> "I don't think Anne will be happy to know this, but I think she needs to know, and I don't think she'll hate you for it."
02:15<Sophia> "Because you'll be spending the next few millennia making up for every last of those fuck-ups and terrible things."
02:20<STMask> He nods. "She does. Like it or not... it's something I did and a part of me. And yeah. There's that, too."
02:26<STMask> "It's all I will do. It's all I can do is build and heal until it's right."
02:26<Sophia> "I'll be there for you when you tell her. For both of you," she clarifies.
02:27<STMask> "I'm really glad we ended up talking about this." He smiles wanly. "I think I understand you a little better, too. You really will be good for her."
02:28<STMask> "Anne hurt so much. It wasn't just the leg that made her a little slower and her smile a little less bright. You brought that light back into her eyes."
02:30— Sophia smiles
02:30<Sophia> "Yeah, I'm quite happy about how that turned out."
02:31<STMask> "You look happier, too. That's something I like seeing, too." He hugged her back. "It's going to be worth every century I spend making up for what I've done."
02:32<Sophia> "Making others happy is surprisingly rewarding," she says with a smile.
02:36<STMask> "Yeah. It really is. It's part of what's kept me sane." He admitted. "It's part of why I started the Sharing. At night, I'd do... really terrible things. During the day... I'd be everyone's brother, their uncle who made sure they didn't go to bed hungry and cold. Who made sure the kid whose home means bruises and scars didn't have to go there anymore.
02:36<STMask> It's... so little. But it means the world to every single one of them."
02:37— Sophia nods. "It's good work. Better use of your time than than most people make of theirs."
02:38<STMask> "You ever have something... you just had to do? It made zero sense at the time but you did it anyway until you found out why it did?"
02:39<Sophia> "Mmmm, not really, no." Sophia says, "I generally have a pretty good idea of why I do what I do."
02:40<STMask> He chuckles. "Some time, your heart will speak louder but I won't be holding my breath."
02:41<Sophia> "Probably for the best, I don't know how long you can hold it."
02:42<STMask> "A long time, if I prepare properly."
02:42— Sophia chuckles, "well, I'm guessing you have better things to do that sit around holding your breath. Makes it hard to talk for one thing."
02:43<STMask> He chokes laughter back.
02:46<Sophia> "So, I asked Anne what I might do with you as a bonding experience. She suggested I add a tattoo to your collection."
02:47<STMask> He grins. "Oh yeah? What kind of tattoo did you have in mind?" No seems to be the last thing on his mind.
02:50<Sophia> "I've never actually done tattoos before. But I guess you know that these new superpowers come with a bit of a broadening of one's horizons."
02:51<STMask> "Well, you sketch. Imagine sketching with a pen that vibrates in your hand."
02:52<Sophia> "I meant I have little to no idea what makes a good tattoo, much less what would fit with your... collection," she clarifies, making an all encompassing gesture in Bran's direction."
02:56<STMask> He elects to take off his shirt. There's a good deal of ink on him. "Well, one thing to keep in mind is that you are drawing on a contoured canvas. See this one?" It looks quite convincingly like a wooden panel with etching, complete with shadow."
02:56<STMask> "It's pretty good, huh?"
02:57<Sophia> "It is," she agrees, studying his ink, looking for clear spots and getting a sense of what style might fit in.
03:05<STMask> There's a lot of natural imagery, flowers, thorns, flowers, chains. The chains are newer, worked into the ivy, some whole, some broken. There's a nice little space for something to get worked in, to the right of his heart. There's a good amount of space on his arms as well, the designs are loosely placed there.
03:06— Sophia frowns slightly at the empty spot over his heart.
03:06<Sophia> "I have the feeling you've been saving that spot for something special."
03:31<STMask> "My sister said that one day, she'd tell me something, something to fill that spot." He rubs his fingers over it. "I think she wants to tell me where I really came from. I thought about putting something there to represent my future, but I don't know what that is yet. I'm not sure what I'll do with myself."
03:32<Sophia> "Demanding that you know what you'll do with the next two or three millennia now is pretty unreasonable."
03:36<STMask> He smiles faintly. "I remember following her one night when she did her stargazing. She drew, she wrote. Some of the stuff looked and sounded... really damn crazy. Peacocks, Comets, Swords. Crazy stuff. Then she drew something weird." He gestured. "Can I see the pencil and paper?"
03:37<Sophia> "Sure," she says, offering the pencil and a clear page.
03:48<STMask> He takes a moment, closing his eyes. "I remember..." He started drawing in thick, broad lines.
03:50— Sophia looks at the unraveling sketch
04:09<STMask> It's seven figures, four women, three men. One appears to be a woman with only an outline, but the texture he added indicated she was made of sand. An arrogant-looking man with rather sharply aquiline features was beside her, trying to smile gently. He was failing. Each faced the other, stroking one another's face. Beside them was a second couple, a woman
04:09<STMask> that looked very old school class, jewelry and crown, yet the bling didn't make her seem queenly... she just seemed like the very concept of queenly. Beside her was a surprised and awed-looking man who did not get to quite touch her yet she touched him.
04:10— Sophia frowns, "any idea what this is about?"
04:19<STMask> Below them was a man, with features softened from but clearly related to the cruel man and a woman who was weeping and helping with the man's action. The man was touching the woman's face with one hand, stabbing the woman, whose face was a perfect blend of the queenly woman and the meek man. Below was a small child, with a mix of the two, smiling brightly.
04:19<STMask> It looks like... a very young Bran.
04:19<STMask> "I. I don't know."
04:21<Sophia> "It... it seems like a kind of geneology of, well, you."
04:22<STMask> "Yeah but these ones look weird." He taps the queenly woman and the sand woman.
04:22<Sophia> "The sand woman and the not-at-all-kindly king seem like a decent representation of Cecelyne and Malfeas."
04:23<Sophia> "The rest are less clear to me, though."
04:28<STMask> "No, Malfeas is the Brass Dancer and that is definitely not a soul of Malfeas." He taps the king. "Malfeas isn't... civilized like that. He's big, bombastic and obvious but not outright cruel like that. They're either builders, destroyers, engineers-Ligier himself is something of a scientist but back in the day, he was the finest blacksmith who ever lived."
04:29<Sophia> "Well, might be something to talk to the others about. Symbolism and demonic heritage are not exactly my strongest suits."
04:29<STMask> "But he wasn't always like that. He got wounded in the war."
04:29<Sophia> "Oh? Could it be pre-war Malfeas?"
04:31<STMask> "I think that guy's just a human dude, actually. The features are too sharp and imperfect in small ways to be a demon-Trina." He realized.
04:31<Sophia> "What?"
04:32<STMask> "Trina might know more than we two do."
04:32<Sophia> "Yeah, that was who I had in mind," Sophia says with a slight smile.
04:35<STMask> "Yeseult, I'll be back. Please stay there." He got up and held out his hand. "Pull me through?"
04:36— Sophia leaves the No Room and takes Bran's hand, "come on."
04:37<STMask> He is easily pulled out and the neomah watches placidly. "Let's go get her."
04:37— Sophia nods and goes up into the house proper.
04:38<STMask> "Trina?" Bran calls out. His voice carries excellently.
04:40→ Trina and Mallychan joined
04:45<Trina> In the library, Trina sits amid a heap of books, turning from one to the next.
04:46<STMask> "Trina!"
04:46<STMask> It was Bran's voice.
04:46<Trina> "Hmm? What? Yes?"
04:47<STMask> "I want to show you something. Do you recognize this?" He showed her the drawing.
05:53← Trina and Kalikit left ⇐ Mallychan quit ↔ STMask nipped out
12:52→ Trina joined • STMask → Palemask
21:39<Trina> Trina glances at the drawing -- and freezes.
21:39<Trina> "Where...did you get that?" she manages to say.
21:39— Sophia looks intention at Trina
21:41<Palemask> "I saw this once." He stated. "I don't really know what it is, or the significance."
21:41— Trina bites her lip.
21:42<Trina> "Do you...are you aware of who they are?"
21:42<Sophia> "We have a few guesses, but not all of them, and not certainly."
21:42<Palemask> He shakes his head. "I know that's me." He taps the bottom. "It looks like a genealogy record."
21:43<Trina> Trina stands up abruptly, causing several books to fall with a crash. She covers her reaction by picking them up.
21:43<Trina> "Your parents and grandparents?
21:43<Trina> "
21:45<Palemask> "Yeah, that's my guess. I don't... I only remember bits and pieces of my mom." Bran stated softly.
21:45<Palemask> (( ))
21:46— Trina busies herself restacking the books for a minute.
21:46<Trina> "I...I'm sorry."
21:46— Sophia frowns slightly at Trina, but waits patiently for now.
21:47<Palemask> "It's okay. My sister-unrelated-took care of me when she found me." He rested a hand. "What do you know? I think I need to know. It's been this huge mystery my whole life."
21:50<Trina> "Taravel. Her name was Taravel."
21:50<Sophia> "The name doesn't ring any bells."
21:50<Sophia> "How do you know her?"
21:51<Trina> "She...she was born a long time ago. A *very* long time ago. Long ago that I remember seeing her with the, the other me's eyes. *Her* mother..." Trina hesitates.
21:54<Trina> "She was Malfeas' other fetich. The destroyed one. Ruvelia, the Queen."
21:55— Sophia blinks.
21:55<Sophia> "That's quite the heritage you have, Bran."
21:55<Palemask> Bran takes a step back, looking like he was in shock.
21:56<Palemask> "I'm. I'm demonblooded." He murmurs.
21:56— Sophia shrugs, "that doesn't change anything, Bran."
21:56<Trina> "Well...should that be such a big deal? For you especially, I mean."
21:57<Palemask> He rubs his head. "It explains why I was chosen. Why it was such a huge deal. Why I'm not dead yet."
21:58— Sophia nods, "that makes sense, I guess."
21:58— Trina looks at him sideways, as if trying to think how much she should tell him.
21:58<Sophia> "All of it, Trina," Sophia says after spending a few motes to understand the details of her glance.
21:59<Palemask> Bran was busy being bowled over.
22:00<Trina> "I've been reading and...talking to people. Trying to catch up on what I missed when I...my shard...was sealed away. I...heard some things."
22:01<Trina> She drums her fingers on the hard cover of a book.
22:02<Palemask> Bran sits down. "Tell me. I've been wondering most of my life if I was abandoned. Please. I... I need to know." He asks with a raw voice.
22:02<Trina> "Taravel's man was much younger than she was, but he was Yozi-Kin too. A descendant of Cecelyne, I heard."
22:02<Palemask> "Cecelyne. Not one of her souls?" Bran looks at her strangely.
22:03<Palemask> "Like this?" He taps the sand woman.
22:04<Trina> Trina peers at the picture. "The story said Cecelyne's fetich soul, but I thought that sounded too pat. How likely is it that the offspring of two fetiches would exist at the same time, let alone pair off?"
22:05<Sophia> "Who are the two other grandparents?"
22:08<Palemask>
22:08<Palemask> Bran stared at the drawing. "It's not impossible."
22:09<Trina> "Mortal men, both. I, I don't remember the name of Ruvelia's consort. It's been so long...The other grandfather is supposed to have been a priest of Cecelyne, but I haven't come across his name."
22:09<Sophia> "They must have been some quite extraordinary mortals to attract two fetich souls."
22:10— Trina smiles, as if at some private thought.
22:10<Trina> "Third Circle souls have very...unique standards, it's true.
22:12<Sophia> "They're about as close to personifications of concepts as anyone's likely to get," Sophia says, "I'd be rather surprised if they just went for looks and expected life income."
22:14<Palemask> Bran rubbed his forehead. "The chances of this, though. Why?"
22:15<Sophia> "I don't think it's chance. Seems more like, well, a breeding program."
22:16<Trina> "Maybe. Or maybe the men, whoever they were, just fulfilled some ideal the fetiches held."
22:25<Sophia> "Maybe. If they had their unions at wildly different times, I guess it's not too much of a stretch for two Fetich souls to have children with mortals."
22:26<Sophia> "But their children coming together seems premeditated."
22:27— Trina looks at the picture again, at the grim end to the story.
22:27<Palemask> "What happened to her? Taravel?"
22:27<Trina> "If it was a plan, it doesn't seem to have been a well-thought-out one."
22:28— Trina looks at the floor.
22:28<Trina> "The...relationship was not peaceful, I heard. It didn't...end well."
22:29<Palemask> Bran listened, looking numb.
22:29<Sophia> "Perhaps it's for the best then that you never really knew them, Bran. It sounds like your adopted sisters have been far better for you than your biological parents would have been."
22:30<Palemask> "Tell me, Trina. Please. I've wondered long enough." He touches Sophia. "You might be right-but I still need to know."
22:31— Sophia nods.
22:32<Trina> "Her man killed her, eighteen years ago. Malfeas had him put to death for his crime."
22:33<Palemask> "That's. That's the screaming and green light I remember." He realized and sat down.
22:33<Palemask> Well. Slumped in his seat.
22:35— Sophia puts a hand on Bran's shoulder.
22:36<Trina> "I'm sorry, Bran. I truly am."
22:36<Palemask> "It's... she didn't abandon me. She didn't..." He actually sounded relieved.
22:46— Sophia looks a bit ambivalent about that, but doesn't say anything. It's not her family after all.
22:49— Trina smooths a bent page in one of the books and says nothing.
22:51<Palemask> "I don't really know what to do with this information, but. At least I know" He says softly.
22:52<Trina> "You might want to consider if your heritage has any...side effects, in addition to your Exaltation?"
22:53<Sophia> "Wouldn't they have been easier to spot before the Exaltation?"
22:56<Palemask> "Maybe it's why they picked me when I was so young." He mused. "So I wouldn't see it."
22:57<Palemask> "So I wouldn't use it."
22:57<Sophia> "Maybe this is something you should look into before you go ahead with your... other plans."
23:14<Palemask> He closes his eyes. "No, I can see it now-you remember what you already saw, yeah? What did you see?"
23:29<Sophia> "That there was a sickness in your Essence," she says somberly, "and that it became... virulent, and infected the rest, turning it into a single whole."
23:33<Palemask> "What do you see now? Is it worse or better?" Strangely... it's better. Less+
23:34<Palemask> Less incongruous with the world, somehow.
23:34<Palemask> Yet still... wrong.
23:34— Sophia frowns.
23:35<Sophia> "It's changed. It's better. Not sick like it was before. It seems almost... at peace with the world."
23:42<Palemask> "Huh. Strange. Maybe I can yet become a true part of this world yet."
23:43<Sophia> "You *are* a true part of this world. Just maybe not one that's always played well with the other parts."
23:46<Palemask> He chuckles. "Yeah, that's a neat way to think about it."
23:47<Sophia> "Some people seem to think of the world like one of those old puzzles of a forest pond with a deer standing in front of it, where everything has its place and it's nice and peaceful when it's done. But that's just not a very good picture of how the world *actually* is."
23:49← Trina left (uid47865@b3a470b7.uxbridge.f7109e70.com.hmsk)
23:58<Palemask> He shakes his head. "No, it's not. It's a cruel and beautiful world."
23:59<Sophia> "Ascribing traits like cruelty it is disingenuous. It's not cruel, it's not kind, it's not fair, it's not evil. It just *is,*" Sophia says, more passionately than she generally is.
23:59<Sophia> "And it's made up of people who can push it in directions that make it kind and fair and good for the people who live in it."
Saturday, December 20th, 2014
00:00<Sophia> "You've been pushing in the wrong direction for a while," she says more somberly, "but you've changed directions now."
00:11<Palemask> He nods. "Yeah. I really have. Anne pushed me the rest of the way, the moment you saw when I was first here and you guys kidnapped me."
00:13<Sophia> "I kinda think we should apologize for that, because kidnapping people is wrong. But on the other hand, I think everyone's happier this way. Sooo, maybe think of it more like an intervention than a kidnapping?"
00:14<Palemask> "Point taken." He nods.
00:16<Sophia> "So, you think knowing about your heritage has affected some of this change?"
00:18<Palemask> "It just... makes it easier, actually. I'd always wondered. Now, I can finally leave that behind." He smiles, a bittersweet thing.
00:18<Sophia> "And look to the future."
00:21<Palemask> He nods. "Yeah, that too. You both do that. Anne and you."
00:21<Sophia> "I find it matters more than the past."
01:02<Palemask> "Well, I think we've blown away Trina-want to go back downstairs?" He smiles crookedly.
01:03— Sophia glances at Trina's scattered books and then looks back to Bran. "Sure."
01:14<Palemask> He led the way down. "You ever felt lost and then found yourself on the path you'd been looking for the whole time?" He asked.
01:14<Sophia> "I've been a teenager," Sophia says, not entirely sure what it is Bran is asking.
01:19<Palemask> He chuckles. "Yeah, I would imagine that's so." He steps in, the neomah in the no-room visibly relaxing. She eyes Sophia curiously.
01:19— Sophia returns the Neomah's gaze. It's only the second time she's seen a demon, after all."
01:20<Sophia> More than just examining its, admittedly aesthetically pleasing, physical form, she focuses on what she can see with her new Essence Sight.
01:22<Palemask> The demon has clear bonds to Bran, carrying a bit of his essense. Well. More than a bit really. She seems to be a bit of... a lot of things. She lacks the duality and she can see that the neomah is much weaker than Bran. Very much weaker."
01:22<Palemask> "Hi?" The neomah greeted awkwardly.
01:23<Sophia> "Hello," Sophia returns its greeting, focusing back on it like she would on a person.
01:34<Palemask> "I'm called Thalia. I can't imagine why master might call me that." It spoke drolly.
01:36<Sophia> "Sophia, because my parents wanted a child who was smart rather than just rich and beautiful. At least that's what they've been telling me."
01:38<Palemask> "Well, sounds like they hit the jackpot." The demon commented. "You've never seen something like me, have you?"
01:39<Sophia> "Yes and no. I've seen an agatha before, which I understand is similar to you, but I couldn't see Essence very well at the time."
01:42<Palemask> She sniffs. "They're okay. They're the Azure Queen's steeds. They exist to be ridden. I can make better. I am a neomah, a fleshcrafter."
01:43<Sophia> "You can make things that are better at flying people around than agathae?" Sophia asks skeptically. "What do you need to do so?"
01:45<Palemask> "Well, I need flesh to make it. I can even make babies between two parents who couldn't otherwise. Two men, two women, two people of different species... I'm telling you, it's a fantastic age when I can announce that I manipulate DNA at its most basic levels and be understood." The neomah looked pleased at that.
01:46— Sophia nods, this she understands. "Labs can do a lot of that stuff too these days, but I'm guessing you have enough bullshit magic powers to still be ahead of us."
01:58<Palemask> "Yeah, just a bit." The neomah giggles. "Me and mine ended up courtesans somehow. This is probably why." Within a few minutes, a smaller, pink-purple copy of Sophia smiled at her. "And that is hardly the end of what I can do to my own self."
01:59— Sophia frowns, "people generally want to have sex with themselves?"
02:01<Palemask> "No, more like something like this..." Thalia changes to a classic pinup beauty, with full lips and cheeks, large chest and a slender waist. "Or this." The next minute was a young man who looked rugged yet slender. "Or many other things." Thalia decided to keep the male-looking form for a while.
02:02<Sophia> "Right, that makes more sense."
02:03<Sophia> "How do you actually feel about that? And if you're summoned and bound to do it, are your feelings actually..." she frowns with distaste as she adds "real?"
02:10<Palemask> "Well, in a sense I don't exist when I'm not summoned. I exist in the heart of Malfeas. So if I'm summoned, my purpose either becomes what my summoner wishes... or if they lose the contest, I might go around and create new life where I please." He shrugs. "As for feelings? Why does that matter? I get a nice little bit of lust for all things. I am content
02:10<Palemask> when I create. I am alright with serving as an assistant in a great deal of things. I didn't even have a name until Master Bran summoned me. He helped me get strong enough to want things for myself, for some reason."
02:11<Sophia> "What do you want for yourself, then?"
02:14<Palemask> "Why, to be a person. And to be able to roam freely. Even if that means I die someday, I will have a name of my choosing. I just need to figure out how to manage it." The neomah replied.
02:14<Sophia> "How do you distinguish between being a person and not?"
02:17<Palemask> "If Master Bran dismisses me, I will cease to exist, returning to the Demon Emperor. I do not want to be reliant on that, but I am still a part of him. A part of the Demon Emperor. Long ago, another broke free but he was not so lowly as me." The neomah sighed. "A person does not cease to be when they are dismissed."
02:19<Sophia> "I'm not actually sure that's true," Sophia muses, "that doesn't mean you're not a person, that just mean you can die in ways humans can't die."
02:25<Palemask> "But humans reincarnate. Neomah do not." The neomah pointed out.
02:26<Palemask> "You can be reborn, over and over again unless you leave a ghost."
02:27— Sophia shrugs, "in principle that's true, but since none of your personality, memories or knowledge survives, I've always thought that sort of a bullshit excuse. Yes, my soul has been used before, but that does not make whoever had it before a part of *me.*"
02:28<Palemask> "Yes but I am a part of a larger being. Like a cog in a machine. You are independant. Master Bran won't but could command me to change my personality tonight. My appearance, everything."
02:29<Sophia> "Sure, and that arguably makes you a non-person," Sophia agrees, "it's just important to recognize what's what."
02:32<Palemask> The demon smiles. "But don't get me wrong-some demons? They're best off that way. And make no mistake, that's what we are. We've never been devas or angels or whatever nonsense."
02:32<Sophia> "Isn't the difference mostly semantic?"
02:36<Palemask> "Well, angels to my knowledge never quite existed far as I know. Devas, though. Those are the souls of the-" The Neomah stops. "The Incarnae imprisoned."
02:37<Sophia> "Ah. Yeah, I think I see the difference."
02:37<Sophia> "Are they people?"
02:39<Palemask> "They have free will. Lives of their own. They won't be exactly plotting against their higher selves, but you get the picture. Some might be still around, posing as gods. Because they're a natural part of the world, it's impossible to tell the difference."
02:39<Palemask> But the neomah feels wrong, incongruous.
02:40— Sophia nods, "I think I understand what you mean, even if I disagree with your choice of words."
02:41<Palemask> "If you want an orator, look at the Chosen. Not my job." The neomah stated.
02:42<Sophia> "I wasn't talking about oratory so much as your use of the the word 'nature' to mean something other than 'everything around us'"
02:45<Palemask> "Ohhh, yes. Right. The great and grand tapestry of energy that is Creation, which did not rise up from the cracks in the backing where essence grew tainted."
02:45<Palemask> The neomah clapped a hand over her own mouth.
02:45— Sophia shrugs.
02:46<Sophia> "Just because it was added later in an inelegant manner doesn't mean it isn't nature."
02:57<Palemask> "Evolution happens, yeah? You and I know that humanity has evolved and changed. It's not an evolution but a sickness. They can't change how Master Bran has. They are incapable. The times they changed, parts of them died. Major parts." The neomah pointed out. "They aren't entropy, but cancer. The world used to be a lot brighter than what your eyes see now.
02:57<Palemask> More colorful. Next to what it used to be? It's like a threadbare tapestry."
02:59<Sophia> "Cancer's part of nature too," Sophia points out. "And I never said that natural was good. My point is that natural is a shitty concept that doesn't mean anything. Instead we should talk about what kinds of things we want to have happening."
02:59<Sophia> "And I want for people to be able to live good lives, and for non-people who want to be people to be people."
03:03<Palemask> "You're a neat human, that's for sure. It's never dull." Sophia can see the room being soaked in Bran's energy, the neomah's energy changing as it does. The various things he's got, they too are soaked with his energy like a halfway point between steam and water except not hot, merely warm and strangely inviting yet something tells her not to step in.
03:03<Palemask> The neomah seems clueless.
03:03<Sophia> "Bran," she says, looking at him, "are you doing that thing we said you should wait until Anne got back before doing?"
03:05<Palemask> "I am waiting, but the room has to be soaked in my energy. That takes time to do and I wanted to see if I can't give Thalia what she wants. My purview does include bonds broken." He pointed out.
03:06<Sophia> "And just how are you doing that?" She asks, looking carefully at the room's new Essence flows.
03:10<Palemask> "Attaching some of my anima banner to her. I saw something like that happen once and I thought about how I could mimic that for fun and profit. Not all of it, I can't manage that, it really hurt when I tried in a weird way. I used one of the Malfeas charms as a basis on how to possibly do it." He stated. The neomah looks at him curiously at that. He does in
03:10<Palemask> fact look like he's radiating bits of his soul. There's a sense that if only he had another piece of the puzzle that it might bud and form seperate things. Or beings.
03:11<Sophia> "You are aware that what you're doing is powered by your soul, right? Not sure if that's a finite, infinite or pracitcally infinite source, though."
03:11<Sophia> "Also, I think you could probably do something similar to make... beings from whole cloth."
03:12<Palemask> He looked at her curiously. "Your eyes got something better than I thought they might."
03:12<Sophia> "Thanks, I think."
03:16— Sophia says, waiting to see just what it is Bran is doing.
03:59<Palemask> It looks something like radiation, except instead of harmful energy and light, it's like he's making things more his wavelength or temperature. If it were water, he brings cold water to deliciously warm. Oddly, the chain tattoos are glowing.
04:01<Sophia> "Bran, do you know why your chain tattoos are glowing?" Sophia asks, sounding somewhat worried.
04:08<Palemask> "Oh these? That's the vitriol. I did those with some powder and mixed ink to see what it would do. It does that sometimes, not sure why it's not all the time when my banner's active. It seems to coincide most when I tap into some stuff. Maybe it's reacting to tapping into my own stuff?" He reasons.
04:09<Palemask> Indeed, he is starting to shed an unearthly light, his castemark burning.
04:09<Sophia> "You inserted *vitriol* in your skin to see what it would do?" Sophia asks momentarily stunned.
04:09<Sophia> "You were not just evil crazy, Bran, you were crazy crazy."
04:10<Palemask> It's unchanged, it's still an hourglass. "Yeah, I wasn't really caring at that time what happened to me, but all it did was give it this fantastic shade on the black."
04:11<Sophia> "Yeah, I get that," she says a little concerned. "You do care what happens to you now, don't you?"
04:12<Palemask> He nods. "I do, I really do."
04:14<Sophia> "Good," she says smiling slightly. "Are you closer to figuring out what it is you're doing? And how to do it?"
04:24<Palemask> "Okay. So. I'm a Templar. This changes it some, allowing me to redefine some parameters. It's like... preparing the ground to completely redesign what I do. This allows me to change how my anima works. You? You can make yourself less squishy. Anne can protect herself from stuff like demons, raksha and weird shit. Kip and Malcolm sanctify deals and act as
04:24<Palemask> ambassadors, learning the techniques of allies or whatever. It's a little bullshit. Dawns are not afraid but can make themselves scary as fuck and Nights are sneaky as fuck. Not as sneaky as Mizu and Kosche. That's just weird." He commented.
04:27— Sophia nods.
04:27<Palemask> "So as I stretch out my anima and soak in well. Meness. Instead of what Templars do, I can change it to something else. What mine will do is oh. Sanctify marriages. Break them off. Assist in defending family and friends-but not myself. Just friends and family-people I have connections with. Maybe even enemies... and inspire faith in what the person already
04:27<Palemask> believes in."
04:27<Palemask> "I /think/, anyway."
04:28— Sophia gives a slightly crooked smile.
04:28<Sophia> "If we knew what we were doing, it wouldn't be research."
04:28<Palemask> "Yeah and you get to see it happen." He tells her. "In a way nobody else will. How does it feel to take part in history?"
04:28— Sophia examines what exactly is going on with the Essence flow, is Bran's soul still leaking, and if so, does the core seem to get smaller?
04:31<Palemask> It's not growing smaller... it's just stretching, as if it's too large for the shell and is just easily overflowing the longer he stays in that room. It does not leave the room. It stops cold at the door. Something tells you that it's something Jiji did. Something like stars glimmer over the door and wall when Sophia looks more carefully around the entrance
04:31<Palemask> to the no-room.
04:32<Sophia> "The good news is that your soul seems to be infinite," she says dryly, "and possibly that Jiji expected something close enough to this that whatever you're doing can't leave the no-room. Which I guess you suspected and is the reason you're doing it here.l"
04:34<Palemask> "It's safer for both of us and everyone in the house." He stated. He sounds both nervous and excited.
04:35<Sophia> "Yeah, containment is generally a good policy when doing reckless and untested experiments."
/
)
