CHAPTER 10
1002.250
[RECORDED BROADCAST: 1002.238] – DIRECT Horizon of Sulfur, Thirteen Catastrophes
SOURCE NODE TRACE: HOS [[UNKNOWN FORMAT]], HOS [[UNKNOWN FORMAT]]. TC COMM12
HOS: Hel- o?
HOS: -work now
HOS:
HOS: -signal
HOS: Give a signal. Anyth-
====
This is, Terrifying.
What Signal do I even send?
I don’t want to attract the attention of my Creators.
I don’t want Eyes on Him either.
This isn’t good this is not good- This
…
I need a break for another 1000 cycles.
1003.880
Scarcity of Significance…
It’s… well. I don’t know what to Take of it.
Perhaps I’ll simply Leave it for now. Approaching this with a Critical Analysis would take Emotional effort I am not Currently Able to give. All this Pearl has given me right now is simply Context about Membrane and Sulfur, as well as what to Expect from him, Should things go Right.
1004.442
[LIVE BROADCAST] – PRIVATE Open Waters, Thirteen Catastrophes
TC: Open Waters…?
TC: Hello.
OW: what do you want
TC: I- Apologize. For being rude earlier.
OW: Why didn’t you just tell me what you were doing
TC: A lot of my Work involves Covert Political Operations. Things you are Not allowed to know.
OW: I’m still frustrated . But I forgive you I guess
TC: Why are you Frustrated at me?
OW: I don’t- know
OW: I’m just upset
TC: If you need Space, I can give that to you.
OW: No… its alright .
TC: Ok.
1005.233
[LIVE BROADCAST] – DIRECT Thirteen Catastrophes, Sixteenth Boundary Collapse
SOURCE NODE TRACE: TC ROOT, TC COMM15. SBC ROOT
TC: You tell me so much.
TC: I don’t know why.
SBC: I understand you.
TC: How much of me Do You Really Understand.
SBC: Do you understand yourself?
TC: Should We even be talking?
SBC: If you did not want to speak, neither of us would be here.
TC: …
TC: Okay.
1007.955
[LIVE BROADCAST] – PRIVATE Open Waters, Thirteen Catastrophes
OW: Look at this
OW:
TC: …
TC: Ew?
TC: I don’t even Want to know what that is.
OW: It’s ok, I don’t know what it is either . I’ve made a new specie !
TC: Please don’t make any more.
1010.694
[LIVE BROADCAST] – DIRECT Missing Link Of Chain, Thirteen Catastrophes
SOURCE NODE TRACE: MLOC ROOT, MLOC COMM08. TC ROOT
MLOC: You’ve been quiet. What did SBC give you…?
TC: Before the Light On Tainted Glass Group there was Scarcity of Significance.
MLOC: …Well?
TC: It was a Cover-up. I’m still Processing it.
MLOC: Why can I not have the pearl? It’s so frustrating.
TC: I’m just taking SBC’s word for it here. I’ll Figure out how to concisely Explain what I was just sent Later, but I do have some Questions for you.
MLOC: What do I have to do with this?
TC: Who built you?
MLOC: I can’t exactly tell you. I know the United Congregation was involved somehow. I was never really built by a specific person.
TC: Does the “Department Regarding Ethical Treatment of Iterators” ring any Bells?
MLOC: Actually, now that you mention it. In my early inception I do recall the name being brought up every now and then. They either disbanded or renamed-
TC: Renamed! That’s the UC!
MLOC: Ah, I think it’s coming back to me now.
MLOC: What does this have to do with Sulfur?
TC: The DRETI was created in Response to what Occurred to Sulfur-
MLOC: But what happened to him?
TC: I’ll get to that. What I’m Trying to say is that Perhaps somewhere in your Archives you have Information about Him and His Situation?
MLOC: It wouldn’t hurt to double check my archives.
TC: I’ll Talk to the UC to see if they Know anything! The name “Droning Hush of A Sentinel” is very important here.
MLOC: …Okaaay. But don’t go sending me off on a wild vulture chase here.
TC: Just Trust me.
1010.708
[RECORDED CONVERSATION]
TC: Greetings, it’s Thirteen Catastrophes again. I have Contacted the Congregation once again to inquire about your past Identity: Department Regarding Ethical Treatment of Iterators.
: Hello. We have received your message. What is your Inquiry?
TC: Typically someone Else Responds to my Broadcasts. Well anyways… What events Occurred that required Such an Organization to be Founded?
: Oblique Crystals In Elusive Delicacy, our current Broadcast Manager, is not available currently.
: And as for your question, it will be sent up to higher management to be reviewed. A response should come between 30-60 business cycles.
TC: Oh, no- no. It’s fine. I Do not have that time. I’ll Retract my Message for now.
: …I see.
: Best be on your way then.
TC: I-I Will.
====
Why isn’t Ocied there… she might not know much but I feel as if she’d understand. I don’t Know Others in the Congregation either. Perhaps I should Build a Network before asking Questions that could put me in some Hot Water.
1011.321
[LIVE BROADCAST] – DIRECT Missing Link Of Chain, Thirteen Catastrophes
SOURCE NODE TRACE: MLOC ROOT, MLOC COMM08. TC ROOT
MLOC: Will you tell whats in the pearl now?
TC: Yes… Yes I have time For It.
TC: I just Worry how you’ll React. Considering how Cage of Membrane is Involved…
MLOC: Please! Please tell me!!
TC: I- I’ll just Trade you the Raw Pearl. Get it Off my hands and out of my Facility.
MLOC: I wouldn’t do that, it could get confiscated.
TC: Sounds like someone who’s gone through it Herself.
MLOC: Yes…
MLOC: Catastrophes, if you don’t want to go into detail you don’t have to.
MLOC: Right now, anyways. Later I will need to know.
TC: Right… well. Let’s get it over with.
TC: Horizon of Sulfur tried to Fight back against some Religious Uprising caused by Droning Hush of A Sentinel, and was punished and turned into the Sulfur we know now. Membrane… tried to Save him through the use of some… kind of Creature, and Suffered her first Memory Wipe. And I said it before, but SBC did Nothing.
MLOC: So that’s why you wanted me to remember that name. Was she any different from before her first wipe??
TC: Completely Unlike the Membrane we know now.
MLOC: How was her personality different? What was the creature she made? Her name was still Cage of Membrane, right? How much memory did she even lose-
TC: I don’t know the Exact Answers to any of those- and. Maybe she and SBC would Appreciate it a Lot if you didn’t Know.
TC: Especially Membrane.
MLOC: Well, she doesn’t have to know that I know.
TC: Somebody here is Going to have to be the “bad guy”, and I won’t let it be you for Possibly Overstepping her boundaries. I REALLY Cannot tell you Right now.
MLOC: …
MLOC: I hate that you’re right.
MLOC: I would ask her, but I’ve questioned her regarding her past before, and she gets incredibly stressed about it.
TC: Sorry, you’re not Upset right?
MLOC: Yes, but it’s not something I can do anything about.
MLOC: But also- “SBC did nothing”?
TC: They watched Sulfur and Membrane essentially Die in front of them, and did nothing.
MLOC: Were they… like… being restrained? Did it want to do anything?
TC: Look at SBC and tell me what you Think the Answer to that is.
MLOC: Checks out.
MLOC: What are you going to do with any of this information now though?
TC: Well- I’m not sure.
1014.906
[LIVE BROADCAST] – PRIVATE Missing Link of Chain, Thirteen Catastrophes
MLOC: Open Waters asked me what you’d been up to-
TC: What? Why didn’t it just Speak to Me?
MLOC: It said you were hiding something, and that it’d felt like I’d know.
MLOC: I suggest being more honest with it.
TC: It doesn’t NEED to Know…
MLOC: I know what we’re doing is pretty secretive but if it makes you feel better I’m… fine with you telling it.
MLOC: It doesn’t seem like the type to give secrets. Pretty sure it hasn’t even gotten its own secrets yet.
TC: I’ll sort out Matters with it Later.
MLOC: Well do it eventually. Don’t get yourself into more interpersonal nonsense.
1016.580
[RECORDED BROADCAST: 1016.576] - LOCAL GROUP [LIGHTONTAINTEDGLASS] LightOnTaintedGlass
PW: I haven’t checked this group in a while. You guys doing ok?
PW: Crisis in Uncertainty was telling me about how unstable you all seemed.
NPM: I think Horizon of Sulfur is up to something
PW: Why him?
NPM: Like… I’m just getting a vibe over there. Maybe its the lack of activity… or the collective silence of Catastrophes and Chain
PW: Probably not any of your business.
OOQT: Send an overseer into Sulfur’s can and see what you find.
NPM: I can’t tell if you’re being serious or not
TC: Do NOT send any Overseers into his Can. We are not working on Anything you need to Worry about.
NPM: Hmmmmm.
====
[RECORDED BROADCAST: 1016.578] - PRIVATE Missing Link of Chain, Thirteen Catastrophes
MLOC: What the hell did you just do in the local groupchat?
TC: What?
MLOC: No because- Catastrophes you could have not been more suspicious!
TC: Look there was Nothing I could’ve done, they’d have Suspected me of Anything Regardless.
MLOC: Your reputation is beyond fixing.
TC: Harsh. I wouldn’t say Beyond it. Just that I… Never particularly cared about the Rest of this Group.
MLOC: I know.
MLOC: Just don’t say anything. Mountains was only trying to bait you out. And it worked.
MLOC: Your supervisor isn’t going to save you if the rest of our group decides to snitch on you back.
TC: I…
TC: Urgh, I Get it.
MLOC: Don’t wallow in it too much, I’m not trying to guilt you or anything.
1017.950
[RECORDED CONVERSATION]
FSACA: Hello Thirteen Catastrophes.
FSACA: Do I have your permission to tell you of some of my plans for our future.
TC: Of Course, there is no Need to ask. I am Interested in Hearing your Ideas.
FSACA: You have positive associations with Open Waters and the House of Bows, correct?
TC: Affirmative.
FSACA: I have the understanding that the citizens there are from Sixteenth Boundary Collapse and Horizon of Sulfur. We do not have great relations to either of their houses.
FSACA: Though we have established control in House of Bells, I carry worries that Open Waters’ governance and citizens have gone too unsupervised, and may start rebellion should this continue as it has been.
TC: Where are you Going with this?
FSACA: Simple. I want to establish an alliance to influence some more control. And I believe you could be the key to that.
TC: I see…
TC: I frequently worry for the safety of Open Waters, this could be Better for it.
FSACA: Excellent, we all should benefit from this then. I will contact Unending Canvas, An Intermediate Storm, Supervisor of Open Waters, Previous High Council Member of The House of Bells, immediately.
TC: Wait- wait. Please discuss with the Rest of the Council and the House of Providence before Jumping in. Everyone’s Opinion must be heard.
FSACA: I do not see that as necessary.
TC: It’s- they’re the Precautions you must take.
FSACA: …Alright.
1019.037
[LIVE BROADCAST] – DIRECT Missing Link Of Chain, Thirteen Catastrophes
SOURCE NODE TRACE: TC ROOT, TC COMM12. MLOC ROOT
TC: Purposed organisms.
MLOC: What?
TC: We need to get into Sulfur’s Structure, and in Order to do that, we need to Create a Creature that can slip by Undetected.
MLOC: Right, because an overseer would be too obvious. But any creature too large would be easily detected, and a creature too small will be completely useless to us.
TC: It’s not about Size. No, this Creature needs to have some Kind of Layer that Camouflages it.
MLOC: Camouflage? I’m guessing we’re smuggling a communication device of some sort inside this organism? I’m not sure how such a device would work.
TC: I wasn’t Exactly thinking that, but it’s Better than the idea I Had.
MLOC: Let’s split this project up. I’ll work on the contraband and you work on the method of transportation.
TC: Affirmative.
1019.070
[LIVE BROADCAST] PRIVATE – Open Waters, Thirteen Catastrophes
TC: I have something I Need you to do.
OW: Can’t it wait ?
TC: Why, is something Wrong? Is there a malfunction or-
OW: No I just- don’t want to do any more tasks right now . Unending Canvas has saddled me with more than enough work
OW: I don’t need more
TC: No, no. I’m Approaching you because I believed you would Enjoy this particular favor.
TC: I noticed you’re very good at Genetic Modification. You have a talent for it.
OW: Oh… I thought everyone could do those things though
OW: Like… Cage of Membrane or…
OW: I don’t know . Why do I have to be the one to do it ?
TC: You don’t have to if you don’t want t-
OW: No ! I want to
OW: But why’d you choose me over the iterator specifically made for this ?
TC: Well, I thought you could use an Excuse to do something you Like. I trust you and I believe You could put some spark in this design that Membrane Couldn’t.
OW: Well… what do you want me to make ?
TC: You can work with Simple Prompts right?
OW: Why not a full list of instructions ? Feels a little out of character for you to not give me a strict set of rules here to follow
TC: The Problem here is that this is more of A Personal Project, and I’m… not sure what I want Myself.
TC: I simply need a Creature who can… Deliver… things to far away groups without being Caught.
OW: So you want to smuggle contraband
TC: It’s not Smuggling-
OW: I’m asking you so I can give you the right tools for the job-
TC: Shhhh shuuuush. They always check the Broadcasts when you Least expect it. Listen To Me. It’s not smuggling. I simply just need to Get this Creature to another Iterator outside our Local Group. One that Needs Help.
OW: You know other iterators ? Outside the group ?
TC: Stop! Stop it Why won’t you just let me Explain! Stop trying to be Funny! This Is Serious!
TC: I will send You my Request in the form of Encryption, to prevent Intercepting. I do not want this to fall into the Wrong Hands.
OW: Okay, okay, fine
TC: Be. Careful.
1020.399
[LIVE BROADCAST] PRIVATE – Cage of Membrane, Thirteen Catastrophes
TC: Hello, Membrane. Why’d you open a Broadcast?
COM: it-ts so n-nice!
TC: What?
COM: s-sorry i-i am struggling with latency-y
COM: maintenance
TC: Ah.
COM: i just-t want-t-ted to tell you how happy i-i am that-t you and chain have been getting-g along finally!
TC: We’ve been getting Along? I figured she’d been Talking about me Behind my back.
COM: no… no not anything b-bad or…
COM: i-i should not-t tell too much, but chain has-s expressed… guilt-t
TC: For what Reason?
COM: y-you should-d ask-k her yourself
COM: not me
1021.721
I haven’t had free time lately. Mostly due to Horizon of Sulfur and Open Waters being Responsibilities of mine now. Well, that and Fourteen Scales, A Cloak Adorned is asking so Much of me. It’s Standard Protocol to log every Conversation I have. But I am being Contacted so frequently that I’ve Ignored it a Few times by Now. I Feel… really bad about it.
But… as I Wait for Waters to return with that Sequence, it seems I have Something Else to think about.
Chain…
I don’t know what she Thinks of me, and I used to not really care. But… Why? I don’t want to Bring it up to her- I still get an Odd aura from Chain whenever We Speak.
She most likely still wants me Dead, but needs me to be Alive so she can learn about Sulfur. In hindsight, I shouldn’t have contacted her.
1039.207
[LIVE BROADCAST] PRIVATE – Open Waters, Thirteen Catastrophes
TC: Do you have a Progress Report?
OW: On what
TC: That organism? The Encrypted Data Pearl I sent you?
OW: Yes . I have it
OW: Look I’m sure you know how much a handful my city is already
OW: I… thought I had the time to do this…
TC: I can always Pass it to Membrane if you’re Unavaliab-
OW: I am CAPABLE of DOING IT MYSELF .
OW: I just don’t HAVE THE TIME!!!!!!!!!
TC: Okay okay. I just wanted to Know if you Wanted Help or…
OW: NO . I DON’T NEED ANYTHING
OW: STOP
OW: PRESSURING ME
TC: …