[16:42:37] * The void gateway stands stark against the withering barley, shackled to the Silo behind with bound ropes of cable. It is an angled web of metal and braided wiring that outlines an open slash through the centre, less a doorway than a wound in the structure; open, and raw. [16:43:15] * And waiting. [16:44:02] * There is a control panel set into the side of the gate, beside the opened space where the world will be sliced in two, and a thin figure is crouched over it, with dusty sweat beaded out across her mottled forehead. [16:44:42] <Auditor> You have been diligent, I see, in my absence. [16:44:53] * The Auditor's voice is quiet, but penetrating, cutting across the breeze that sings through the gateway. [16:46:04] * A_J flinches. She makes another few adjustments, then closes the panel and turns around. [16:46:44] * The Auditor reaches the edge of the crumpled barley, mud and crushed fragments like a highlight wrought in broken ground around the machine itself. [16:47:33] <A_J> Yes, Auditor. [16:49:06] * A_J's voice is toneless, as she looks up to meet the approaching stare, and her gloved fingers clasp furtively at the metal approximations that cap her other arm. [16:49:46] <A_J> I - am a Loyal Daughter. [16:50:29] <Auditor> Indeed. We may even be able to add on another entire percentage point. [16:50:45] * The Auditor moves over to stand in front of the gateway, looking up at it as she tilts her head. [16:51:16] <Auditor> A quirk of Ward minds, I have often thought – the ability to produce so much with so little to work with. Perhaps not a surprise, considering how we are raised, and how thin Mother’s generosity must stretch. [16:52:34] * The Auditor snorts, and shakes her head, and there is the faintest crinkling at the edges of her eyes. [16:53:30] <Auditor> With theory, and wreckage, you will split the world. It is… interesting. Even before - [16:53:53] * The Auditor extends one hand towards the frame, and runs the other up along her hairline, along the still-pink gouge that extends back across her scalp. [16:54:21] <A_J> All Mother’s Children are Prudent. ‘Garland with the Chain the Provident Ward.’ [16:54:47] <A_J> An irrelevance, now. All of our privation will shortly cease should I succeed. Should we succeed. [16:55:01] <A_J> Should my theory be substantiated. [16:55:13] * A_J assesses the woman for a moment [16:55:29] <A_J> Are you quite well, Auditor? [16:55:45] <A_J> I am no Field Medic. But I have seen the furrow a bullet leaves in the flesh. You are headshot. [16:55:52] <A_J> Yet you live. [16:55:58] <A_J> And the wound is healed. [16:56:12] <A_J> Are Auditors eternal? [16:56:19] <A_J> No. We know otherwise. Do we not. [16:57:13] * The Auditor snorts. [16:57:16] <Auditor> A strange serendipity - that a shot taken to end me, might provide exactly what I needed. [16:57:26] * The Auditor presses her fingers to her forehead. [16:57:48] <Auditor> What is understanding, but connections? Drawing patterns from the chaos. Takes some adjustment, but every System has its teething troubles. And the result… [16:58:17] * The Auditor pauses, and her eyes unfocus slightly as she stares at nothing. Nothing visible, anyway. [16:58:45] <Auditor> Incredible. I wonder, Asha, if you truly understood what you have created. [16:58:58] <Auditor> Just how far our legacy will reach... [16:59:05] <A_J> Auditor. [16:59:12] * A_J's voice is sharp. [16:59:28] <A_J> Are you fit for our undertaking? [16:59:42] <A_J> There is little time for your philosophizing, your - [17:00:00] * A_J regards the Auditor's head wound with renewed interest [17:00:05] <A_J> Connections. [17:00:19] * A_J pauses, glancing away, strategising. [17:00:38] <A_J> Perhaps you have a gift for a Loyal Daughter, Auditor. [17:01:01] <A_J> Tell me. Tell me of my own pattern in the chaos. I would know my parentage. [17:01:11] * A_J folds her remnant hand over her heart [17:01:22] <A_J> My discretion in the matter is earnestly sworn. [17:02:06] * The Auditor blinks, focusing again with a faint wince, and her eyes narrow slightly as she looks at A_J. [17:02:24] <Auditor> On the brink of… and you still - ? [17:02:30] <A_J> Give me this. This one thing. I beg of you. Is one answer not due to me? [17:02:47] <A_J> I have worked with diligence. I am your servant, Auditor. [17:02:59] <A_J> And are we not as dear Sisters? [17:03:28] <Auditor> Sentimental. [17:03:49] * The Auditor is very still, for a moment, and then her expression goes very blank. [17:04:01] <Auditor> You were… a mistake, Block A. In the greater scheme of Mother's device, in the pairing and the perfecting of her children - you were unintended. [17:04:42] <Auditor> A single smudge, on an otherwise exemplary record; and easily put aside. [17:05:33] * A_J is quiet for a minute. She smiles, once, mutely. [17:05:40] <A_J> A black mark. [17:05:46] <A_J> I ... See. [17:06:12] <A_J> Was my Mother a woman of Science? My Father - a linguist, or - [17:06:34] <Auditor> Functionaries. Both. [17:07:09] <A_J> ... I understand. [17:07:31] <Auditor> They were never bonded. There were no more... lapses, either way. [17:07:44] * The Auditor takes another step towards A_J, and her eyes are hard, and bright. [17:07:54] <Auditor> Your parents did not intend you. Your little comrades in this flight have left you long ago. [17:08:06] <Auditor> You are alone here. On the cusp of redemption, with Mother's gratitude at -my- fingertips. [17:08:21] <Auditor> Be diligent, A_J. Be extraordinary. [17:08:32] <Auditor> Impress. Me. [17:08:43] <A_J> I intend to. [17:08:53] * A_J takes a breath [17:09:00] <A_J> Mother will love me forever. [17:09:07] <A_J> But we are far downstream from her. [17:09:15] <A_J> I have only you. [17:09:35] <A_J> ... It is time. The equipment will be tested. Remain. We are quite safe. [17:09:40] <A_J> I... [17:09:47] <A_J> I could never ascertain... [17:10:20] <A_J> In the Void, does one see for a billion miles, or not at all? [17:10:30] <A_J> And no answer in the theorem. [17:10:34] <A_J> ... No answer ever. [17:11:01] * A_J tightens her remaining fingers on the rust-specked iron handle of a repurposed breaker switch, set above the controls. She hesitates, for barely a moment, then yanks down quickly, *suddenly*, with a grimace. [17:12:09] * It is faster this time. That alien pressure that unfurls from the heart of the frame, electric-thick and twisting strangely down around the senses as they flare and go numb, spilling a taste of burning metal in the sharp moment of synthesthetic shock. [17:12:50] * The air starts to move, uncertain densities that shift through each other in sourceless wind, as the tangles of cable spark in the strain, draining at the last remaining gasps of power in the Silo’s systems. [17:13:45] <A_J> The connection is stabilising! [17:13:59] <A_J> You might consider retreating to a safe distance, Auditor. [17:14:19] * A_J gestures towards a crude chair set up beside the equipment crates, off to one side [17:14:52] <A_J> The establishment can have - unforeseen consequences. [17:15:04] <A_J> It is unpredictable. [17:15:15] <Auditor> Indeed. [17:15:25] * The Auditor does not move, and her bared teeth shift unpleasantly. [17:15:34] <Auditor> Not a trait you share, it seems. [17:15:59] <A_J> This is a delicate test. Be silent. [17:16:04] <A_J> We must observe. [17:17:00] * The Auditor laughs. That same repeated, recorded snatch of sound, as she leans forward. [17:17:11] <Auditor> I am no engineer. But I know a trap when I see one. [17:17:42] <Auditor> Did you think I was posturing? That my talk of *understanding* was bluster alone, or arrogance? [17:17:52] <Auditor> No. [17:18:00] <Auditor> You are brilliant, A_J, but you are not *me*. [17:18:20] <A_J> A trap, dear Sister? No- this is direct observation, any deviance in the trajectory must be - [17:18:53] * The Auditor reaches forward sharply, digging her fingers into the remains of A_J’s left arm, just above the attachment point of the prosthesis. [17:19:22] <Auditor> I may not have your formula in my bones. [17:19:36] * The Auditor twists the arm, hard. [17:19:45] <Auditor> Or not, perhaps, as much. But I have made a life of seeing what is hidden, or turned aside. [17:20:02] <Auditor> Or simply is –not– there. And there is nothing beyond that doorway. [17:20:15] <Auditor> Your formula may yet puncture the skin of this reality, but it has no component within it to *aim*. [17:21:31] * A_J's smile shows, cut crystal sharp, a slash, over teeth gritted with pain [17:21:47] <A_J> Sister. Please. You are quite mistaken. [17:22:27] * The Auditor brings her other hand around sharply, and it connects with A_J’s mottled cheek with a *crack* that echoes with itself. [17:22:47] <Auditor> Borrowed spacesuit. Borrowed hope, for deluded bravado. [17:23:07] <Auditor> You didn’t think it would be *that* easy, did you? [17:23:16] * The Auditor tenses, shoving A_J away from the switch. [17:24:19] * A_J staggers a pace back, and touches her cheek, expression darkening. [17:24:39] <A_J> What could you possibly have expected. [17:24:57] <A_J> I am no builder of PATHS. [17:25:04] <A_J> I - am a breaker of worlds. [17:25:10] <A_J> Easy, Auditor? No. [17:25:17] * A_J wipes her mouth [17:25:39] <A_J> I did not think it would be easy. [17:26:07] <A_J> To rend only us from this universe. [17:26:14] <A_J> But it shan't be long. [17:26:42] <A_J> Until some savage Aberrant spills out the contents of your skull with a bigger bullet- [17:26:47] <A_J> Or a lump of stone. [17:27:09] <A_J> Why not let me pull you apart at the atomic level, then? [17:27:25] <A_J> Let me honour you with the culmination of my work. No? [17:27:44] <A_J> Our work, then, assigning credit fairly. Our labour. That undermines nature. [17:28:06] <A_J> You know - your ambitions cannot be. [17:28:19] <A_J> For the Greater Good, Sister, the common good, of all... [17:28:55] <A_J> Think not on your simple biases; dreams of hunger satiated in a small nation. Knowledge... [17:29:22] <A_J> The world groans at the seams with every stitch we unpick. [17:29:41] <A_J> Strike through your memories and step into the gate with me. [17:30:07] <A_J> Alongside your most Loyal Daughter. [17:30:23] * A_J reaches a hand to the Auditor, to invite, to beckon. [17:30:29] <A_J> No? [17:30:40] <A_J> Then be hanged. [17:30:58] * A_J withdraws her smashed fingers, and turns, stumbling to centre of the gate, towards the tortured twist of distorted air. But before she can even pass the frame, the Auditor hauls the switch back up again, and the pressure vanishes, the strange whine dying back abruptly, and A_J hits the ground accompanied by nothing more than the whistling of the wind. [17:32:06] * The Auditor snorts as she lets go, staring down at A_J’s crumpled figure. [17:32:32] <Auditor> Disappointing. Very, very disappointing. [17:32:42] * The Auditor looks up at the gateway again, her eyes narrowing. [17:32:49] <Auditor> But it is a start. [17:33:31] <A_J> You foolish woman! Don’t you realise with what it is that you toy? [17:33:38] <A_J> Think! [17:33:46] <A_J> Mother will no more welcome you back than me - you are spent and twisted and as alone as I! [17:34:33] * A_J raises her voice, desperate. She rises painfully to her elbows. [17:34:43] <A_J> If we aim for the State and appear there - who’s to say we wouldn’t be shot on sight? [17:34:49] <A_J> Or hooded and strung up as spies? [17:34:56] <A_J> We must destroy ourselves and this accursed pathway! [17:35:46] <Auditor> Welcome was never likely. If anything remains of our sweet Mother, all I *need* is an edge. [17:36:06] <Auditor> And since circumstance has seen fit to deprive me of those that I would have chosen. [17:36:11] <Auditor> If this bizarre selection of reprobates is as little as I have? [17:36:18] * The Auditor looks between A_J and the Silo, gives a low hiss. [17:36:30] <Auditor> Then I can work with that. [17:36:54] <A_J> You- you leave me without any other recourse! [17:37:55] * A_J shakily draws her small pistol, and points it at the Auditor with a ragged exhale [17:38:57] <Auditor> Oh, please. [17:39:05] <Auditor> Third time rarely is the charm. And you aren’t even holding it right. [17:39:13] * The Auditor waves a hand, dismissively. [17:39:29] <Auditor> If breaking your remaining wrist is sufficient consolation for your continued existence then do, be my guest. [17:40:03] <Auditor> Vesalius is a passable scribe, the Commander is dumbly-competent at manual labour. [17:40:21] <Auditor> And the Physician has dexterity enough. [17:40:31] <Auditor> I have very little need for your intact limbs. [17:41:01] * A_J regards the Auditor, and the gun, with hesitance. She grows silent, speculative. [17:41:09] <A_J> My theory... [17:41:17] <A_J> Everything was correct, Auditor. [17:41:27] <A_J> Before we were, the Void waited for us. [17:42:10] <A_J> Enduring, before our lives. Before Mother. Before - history. [17:42:25] <A_J> But it is not an ultimate weapon awaiting its ultimate practitioner. [17:42:36] <A_J> It is not ours to declare ownership over. [17:42:58] <A_J> You dare -believe- your authority countermands that of *it*? [17:43:21] <A_J> This machine was precise! Calibrated to swallow and annihilate us - only us. [17:43:33] <A_J> What will it do now - after your blasted interference? [17:43:39] <A_J> Rip. Tear. [17:43:44] <A_J> Everything. [17:43:55] <A_J> ... I no longer know. [17:43:58] <A_J> Perhaps. [17:44:05] <A_J> I could activate it still. [17:44:10] <A_J> I could - [17:44:31] * A_J glances to the machine's switch, breathless, injured, floored. [17:44:46] * The Auditor taps her throat, idly. [17:44:58] <Auditor> Seven and a half metres, A_J. Your Interrupt response is… decisive. [17:45:03] <Auditor> You would be choking on your own rotting tongue before you managed three steps. [17:45:15] * The Auditor sighs, glancing up at the frame, and at the position of the sun. [17:45:22] <Auditor> Now, if you are quite finished embarrassing yourself…? [17:45:53] * A_J stares at the Auditor, and nods. The gun hangs loosely in her hand, barely held. [17:45:58] <A_J> I am. Finished. [17:46:08] <A_J> You- have given me so very much, Auditor. [17:46:25] <A_J> You saw the dark glimmer of potential in my Science when others- did not. [17:46:45] <A_J> You were watching. Guiding, unseen. [17:47:09] <A_J> As I routed the mysteries of the world and forced them to stand nakedly before my reckoning. [17:47:13] <A_J> Purpose, Auditor. [17:47:24] <A_J> That's what you gave my life. [17:47:38] <A_J> And that is not all, is it? [17:48:04] * A_J's eyes linger on the blackened flesh of her hand; the bolts, the plaited wire and chassis. [17:48:07] <A_J> Thank you. [17:48:21] <A_J> For your final gift. An idea, an- idea... [17:48:34] <A_J> Seven and a half metres you say. [17:48:50] <A_J> Impossible with the Gordian Interrupt. [17:48:53] <A_J> Impossible. [17:48:56] <A_J> If I hear it. [17:49:16] * A_J stares finally at the Auditor [17:49:41] * A_J cringes shut her eyes as she fires the gun, close to her head, but away, into nothingness. [17:49:57] * A_J cries out, cheek burned by gunpowder. The gun falls from her hand. [17:50:23] <Auditor> .. one bullet, and you waste even that. [17:51:07] * A_J looks up, clutching her ears, a trickle of blood on her cheek. [17:51:32] * A_J is deafened. She bares her teeth and lunges sharply for the switch. [17:52:20] <Auditor> Priority Gor- [17:52:42] * Even as she speaks, the Auditor’s eyes are widening as A_J’s hand drops. [17:52:59] * The Auditor curses, amplified but strange in her flattened voice, and lunges for A_J. [17:53:24] <Auditor> Again-?! [17:54:56] * A_J scrambles towards the switch [17:55:16] * A_J brings her prosthetic claw around it and clamps it onto the handle [17:55:32] * A_J drives it down with all her body weight and issues a strangled scream [17:55:50] * The Auditor grabs onto A_J’s shoulder and wrenches hard, but the metal hand does not budge. [17:56:06] * A_J yelps at the pressure [17:56:32] * The sound seems to blend with the sudden, rising hum that bleeds out of the machine, and the Auditor’s gaze flicks back towards the Gate opening as the air begins to shiver again. There is no colour left to drain out of her face, but for a fraction of a second, she freezes. [17:57:27] * A_J grabs for the Auditor, latching her free arm around her waist with a snarl. Her other hand is locked onto the switch, even as the Auditor struggles in the embrace [17:58:00] <A_J> Tell me - Auditor - [17:58:12] * The rising whining of the machine is a scream now, a sonic contortion that tears out across the field in a blistering wave of broken sound.   [17:58:29] * A_J's mechanical fingers bite down further into the switch, her hand now little more than ruined bone in a metal cage, but there is a blunted strength in the replacement that the tissue might have lacked, and it does not falter. [17:59:13] * The Auditor is caught, wedged between the clinging weight of A_J and the cobbled-together angles of the control panel. Her teeth are bared open, a snarl of command that is ripped away just as quickly in the shrieking wind that pours through the Gate in all directions. [17:59:54] <A_J> - do *you* - regret - ?

[16:55:57] * Dickie staggers from the entrance of the ruined Facility into the badlands of dark, amber glass. The ground is hardened cinders and caked slurry over barren granite, and his footfall drives a fine grey dust ahead of him. [16:57:36] * Dickie glances behind, at the ruin of the doorway, the tracings of smoke. He carries, underneath his arm, the strange helmet of the mobile therapeutic resonance unit. [16:58:54] * Dickie falls forward, into the ash, with a series of painful coughs. Before him, the bony, fire blackened limbs of peeled trees stretch. There is no wind. [17:00:25] <Dickie> Mr... Pengersen... [17:00:39] * Dickie kneels weakly [17:02:44] * Dust swirls up around the kneeling figure, not wind but another swish of footfall in the ash, spilling fresh eddies from the ruined ground. There is no wind, but there is a breath straightened above, although it too is wound with ashes. [17:06:25] <Auditor> Luck may be something that you make - but by this point, even statistically-speaking, this building may as well be actively cursed. [17:07:24] * The Auditor looks over Dickie's bent head, her eyes narrowing at the jutting ruins beyond. [17:08:05] <Auditor> Ill luck, planning, or intentions. [17:08:22] <Auditor> The outcome, curiously similar. [17:09:02] * The Auditor looks down at Dickie again, and her gaze flicks to the spoils clutched at his side. [17:09:13] <Auditor> Looting. [17:09:48] <Auditor> Is a hangable offence, [17:09:58] <Auditor> I wonder if any court remains. [17:10:16] <Auditor> Or cares, in this husk of a world. [17:12:14] * Dickie turns his head to her, his face twisted in the red of his cloak, and streaked with ash. He tosses forward the knit of wires and metal, and makes a breathless fumble for his pistol. Below them both is the gentle creak and moan of the Facility, freighted with incinerated soil. [17:16:34] * Dickie levels the little gun at her hesitantly [17:16:54] <Dickie> Pardon me, Madam. If I don't - stand. [17:17:53] <Auditor> Indeed. [17:19:12] * The Auditor's foot jerks out sharply, the sturdy toe of her boot aimed into Dickie's wrist. [17:21:40] * Dickie drops the pistol. It skims the ash and Dickie clutches his wrist to his ragged cloak. [17:22:45] <Auditor> I have had quite enough of that particular repetition, here [17:23:53] * The Auditor eyes the ruins again. [17:24:12] * Dickie stares at her, with a curious fury, that passes swiftly, a handful of dust [17:24:35] <Auditor> Not who I might have... expected, to find lurking in the ashes here. [17:25:10] <Auditor> You are - [17:25:16] * The Auditor stops. She blinks, and tilts her head, almost violently, for a second. [17:26:42] <Auditor> ...different. Recall - recognition - but only forty-six percent. Percent. [17:26:59] * The Auditor blinks, unevenly, and her eyes slightly unfocus. [17:27:17] <Auditor> Percentage accuracy. That's different. [17:27:27] <Auditor> You. [17:27:34] <Auditor> Identify yourself. [17:28:13] <Auditor> Accurately. I tire of chasing stories. [17:29:16] * Dickie eases the torn folds of cape from his lips [17:30:23] <Dickie> I am not ... [17:31:02] <Dickie> Entirely certain, Madam. Dee. Kay. Eight - six - six - and then... [17:31:42] <Dickie> The faintest of - [17:32:10] <Dickie> ... Stand and deliver. [17:32:25] * Dickie says it passively, watching her [17:33:43] * The Auditor has gone quiet. Half-idly, she reaches out one gloved hand and tugs the cape further aside, letting the fabric fall, as one eyebrow arches. [17:34:35] <Auditor> ...oh. [17:34:40] <Auditor> Now that is interesting. [17:34:59] <Auditor> Ninety-seven percent match. [17:35:12] <Auditor> But even before - yes. [17:35:48] * The Auditor's hands swing back behind her as she takes a step aside, staring hard at the hunched man. [17:36:17] <Auditor> Estimate, ten pounds loss of physical condition. [17:36:28] <Auditor> Scarring - differently placed. [17:36:41] <Auditor> Poor recent medical treatment. [17:36:59] <Auditor> Deficiency in at least three major nutrient groups. [17:37:26] <Auditor> Mother's shriveled favour sits poorly on you here - or perhaps, not at all. [17:37:50] <Auditor> "Dee. Kay." [17:38:24] * Dickie narrows his deeply shadowed eyes, his hand coming to the rags at his throat. He glances about himself, in desperation. [17:39:27] <Dickie> There was an occasion when - [17:39:36] <Dickie> My mind goes back to the time when - [17:39:40] <Dickie> When - [17:39:46] <Dickie> But it - [17:39:58] <Dickie> It doesn't go back. [17:40:11] <Auditor> Evidently not. [17:40:39] * The Auditor leans forward abruptly, catching Dickie's jaw in one hand, and brings her other up to tug aside the tangled hair at his temples. Staring, at the dull, deep freckling there. [17:42:15] <Auditor> I wonder, in this wretched world, precisely who you angered. [17:42:52] <Auditor> I remember the demonstrations. Posturing, and pointless. A very boring, viscerality to it all. [17:43:17] * The Auditor pauses, to glance up at the ruins again, and the edge of laughter ripples across her words. [17:43:30] <Auditor> Although I have had my uses for it. [17:44:14] <Auditor> Not so extensive. [17:44:21] <Auditor> Not so complete. [17:44:30] <Auditor> And with its own drawbacks. Still, I wonder. [17:44:50] * The Auditor twists Dickie's jaw, forcing his head into her eyeline again. [17:45:06] <Auditor> Who has been inside *your* head. "Dee Kay" [17:45:12] * Dickie grunts in her grip, straining away from her [17:45:48] * The Auditor lets go, as quickly as she grasped and straightens back up. [17:47:51] * Dickie draws back, his hand on the baked ground coming to rest against the odd helmet. His breath comes in gasps, and he wipes a streak of ash onto his mouth [17:50:19] <Dickie> He said - read the manual. [17:50:44] <Dickie> He said - listen. [17:51:32] <Dickie> I don't recall who - but I - [17:52:43] <Dickie> Was given an invoice, Madam. [17:53:17] <Auditor> You seem to have a little more than that. [17:54:05] * The Auditor looks down at the helmet and wires, half-sunken in the ash. [17:55:30] <Auditor> Serendipity, it seems, is on your side. [17:55:54] <Auditor> I would see *that* gone, before I leave. Inconvenient. [17:56:00] <Auditor> But. [17:56:43] * The Auditor looks back at Dickie, and for the briefest of moments, her gaze is not so sharpened. [17:57:29] <Auditor> A replayment, perhaps. For the sake of fate, and favours done unrealised. [17:58:30] * The Auditor scoops up the helmet, and starts to fiddle with the wires. [17:59:23] <Auditor> Similar enough to what she made. [17:59:31] * Dickie watches her intent calibrations, and casts down his eyes. He returns them to her, searchingly [18:01:59] <Dickie> Do I - Know you, Madam? [18:03:34] <Auditor> Let's find out. [18:04:01] * The Auditor swings the helmet up, and pushes it down onto Dickie's head. She fiddles with it for another few moments, adjusting, then she catches Dickie's wrist, pushing his hand up towards the activation switch, and holds it there. [18:06:20] * Dickie moistens his lips, and looks at her apprehensively [18:06:42] <Auditor> I am an Auditor, "Dee Kay". With the state of this world, I may be *the* Auditor. [18:07:05] <Auditor> Your Auditor Knows. [18:07:51] <Auditor> With this device, so might you. [18:08:19] <Auditor> One chance. [18:08:58] <Auditor> I leave the choice of it up to you. [18:09:02] * Dickie speaks. It is an urgent whisper. [18:09:17] <Dickie> I don't feel like my nerves were ever very strong. [18:10:29] * Dickie takes one breath, and another. He squeezes closed his eyes - and opens them, gasping. [18:10:43] <Dickie> On - On the count of three, then. [18:11:32] * The Auditor snorts. [18:11:43] * Dickie closes his eyes tightly [18:11:59] <Auditor> Pull yourself together, Woodrow. [18:12:09] <Dickie> One - two - three - or, or ought that to be... Three, two... One... [18:12:24] * The Auditor's eyes seem to gleam behind her lenses, and for a moment the blackened rictus of her face might almost have been a terrible smile. [18:12:43] <Auditor> I can recommend it. [18:12:49] * The man pulls the switch [18:13:40] << His own voice. Might not be a bad thing. Hanging. In some circumstances. But only for Wards, of course. I know some Facilitators have- Dealings with their employees, but matrimony? I've been invited, but I won't be going. You know my thoughts on that type of business. [18:15:08] << There is an ear-splitting resonance, and the sudden push of something taut and fingerlike inside his mind [18:16:02] << The uprush of memory, the parting of a membrane - the dark surge of a stolen, remembered life [18:16:40] * Myles Woodrow arches on his back, kicking dust [18:17:28] << The fabric of himself almost indiscernible. A pattern of words in a censored book faded by migraine white light. [18:17:34] <<Myles>> My Facility... [18:18:24] <<Myles>> Ed - Education for AGRI-FAC Wards is an ORNAMENT! A way to boast of broadmindedness but - [18:18:42] <<Myles>> Mine aren't interested in anything other than - [18:18:53] <<Myles>> Hacking one another with hoes from time to time... [18:19:11] << A white room. A concrete room. Flickering. [18:20:11] <<Myles>> What - I... [18:20:38] <<Myles>> Heard he bleeds his Wards and stirs the blood into their *feed* [18:21:06] <<Myles>> Rather than buy the buttermilk - anything to save a - few - a few pennies... [18:21:52] <<Myles>> Wouldn't surprise me if he - did it with his wedding cake, too... [18:22:00] <<Myles>> Fairy - tale... [18:22:18] <<Myles>> Dee. Kay. Eight - six, six - [18:22:31] <<Myles>> It's not a dog. [18:22:37] <<Myles>> It's NOT a dog! [18:22:59] << He is required to be, friend. [18:23:26] << A memory of turning his hands. Swollen and dripping bite wounds. [18:23:57] << I am a modern man with a modern methodology, friend. [18:24:08] <<Myles>> MY - FAC! [18:24:59] << There is no certainty in the scrubbed recesses of his mind now, only the knowledge that years have passed. [18:25:14] * Myles lies gasping in the ash. He wrenches away the helmet, finally, sweat running down his face [18:26:42] <Myles> That bastard. That - BASTARD. [18:27:39] * The Auditor regards Myles coolly. [18:28:15] <Auditor> A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, Mister Woodrow. [18:29:33] <Auditor> Do try to use it with more skill than the you I knew. [18:30:27] * The Auditor picks up the discarded helmet, regards it for a moment, then plunges her fingers into the wires [18:30:52] * There is a -click-, then a burst of sparks and the acrid scent of burning plastic - [18:31:12] * The Auditor waits for a moment, then yanks out a handful of seared components. [18:31:28] * The Auditor pockets a few, then tosses the helmet aside. [18:32:26] * Myles sits up, slowly, wretchedly [18:32:48] * Myles clamps his filthy hands to his head and groans [18:33:33] <Myles> I think I might vomit. [18:34:13] <Myles> Who did you say you were? [18:35:12] <Myles> Eurgh. Get this bloody thing off me. [18:35:24] * Myles wrenches away his tattered cloak [18:35:27] * The Auditor has already stepped back at the mention of vomit. [18:36:43] <Auditor> Alpha-two-five. Stewart, Morrigan. [18:36:58] * The Auditor frowns slightly, and presses two fingers to her forehead. [18:37:32] <Auditor> Still... accurate, I see. [18:37:36] * Myles speaks, pointedly [18:38:13] <Myles> Well thank you very much. Stewart Morrigan. [18:39:16] <Auditor> ...indeed. [18:39:37] * Myles holds his pounding head with a grunt [18:40:10] <Auditor> I would wish you luck, Mister Woodrow. But I rather think that besides any reasonable point. [18:43:54] * The Auditor turns, and with a final look back at the ruins behind him, strides away into the blackened trees, soon lost in the ashes. [18:44:54] * Spiritless, faded, eyes deeply in shadow, Myles stares forward. The warden now, of his own identity.

[14:16:43] * Cyborg drifts on her glider looking for a good tree to stick the poster on [14:16:53] <Cyborg> Ah. [14:17:23] * Cyborg drops in mid-air, landing with the noise of the cybernetics in her legs as they absorb the shock [14:17:38] <Cyborg> This'll do. [14:17:46] <Cyborg> Fewer leaves to hide it! [14:17:50] <Cyborg> ... actually none. [14:18:18] * Cyborg begins to attach the printed sheet to the tree's trunk [14:20:52] * The sound of impact, and subsequent muttering, is clear against the forest-edge calm - [14:21:46] * The Auditor pauses, in her slightly-erratic stride beneath the assorted canopy. [14:22:22] <Cyborg> That should hold it. [14:22:49] * The Auditor turns to move in the direction of the sound, stepping quietly. She pauses as the figure comes into view, tilting her head a little to look at the augmentations visible on Cy's head, and she blinks as she moves forward smoothly - [14:26:23] <Auditor> "Beach. Shak." [14:27:02] * Cyborg jumps as the voice speaks, having been distracted enough to not hear the person behind her [14:27:32] * Cyborg hits the branch above and her one real eye is suddenly seeing stars [14:27:40] <Cyborg> Ah! [14:27:58] * Cyborg bites down a curse word [14:28:57] * The Auditor takes a step back, looking the slightly-dazed figure up and down. An eyebrow arches. [14:29:55] <Auditor> Lower limb augmentation. [14:29:59] * Cyborg slowly turns round, hand on her eye and real eye closed in pain [14:30:26] <Auditor> Cranial; ocular replacement. [14:31:09] <Cyborg> ... Indeed. [14:31:32] * Cyborg is watching for signs of hostility [14:32:31] * The Auditor's hand rises slowly, half-idly, and her fingers trace along her hairline. [14:33:14] <Auditor> ...the wheeled canid, I will admit, eludes me. [14:34:01] <Cyborg> I don't know either... I never asked. [14:34:35] * Cyborg straightens up, opening the other eye to look at the woman before her [14:36:07] <Cyborg> I don't know you. Do I? [14:36:33] <Auditor> I doubt it. People tend to remember. [14:37:34] <Cyborg> ... I don't. Not everything. [14:37:59] <Auditor> I do. *a faint wince tweaks at the Auditor's expression, and her fingers press more tightly into her hair - [14:38:39] <Auditor> I am not entirely certain I recommend it. [14:38:49] <Auditor> Useful. [14:38:55] <Auditor> Vital, perhaps. [14:39:01] <Auditor> But... tiring. [14:39:45] <Cyborg> Somehow I feel I have forgotten something vital... [14:40:27] * Cyborg goes to her neck, that same nervous gesture [14:41:12] <Cyborg> It doesn't matter. [14:41:48] <Cyborg> You don't look like someone from Katton. [14:43:12] <Auditor> From what I've seen, there is considerable variation possible within that definition. [14:43:23] <Auditor> But... no. I doubt I do. [14:43:59] * The Auditor looks from Cy's purple eye, to the position of her fingers against her neck, and there is an edge of curiosity in her remaining features - [14:44:42] <Auditor> Your augmentations. [14:44:50] <Auditor> Cybernetics. [14:45:25] <Auditor> Are - were - you a patient of a Doctor Vachan? [14:46:12] <Cyborg> I... I don't... [14:46:31] * Cyborg tries to remember, just getting that same shadow again, the smile... the voice... [14:46:57] <Cyborg> ... the one who gave me... the ONES who made me... fixed me. [14:47:07] <Cyborg> ... their voices were male. [14:49:33] * There is the faintest movement in the Auditor's shoulders. Almost a slump, very slightly - [14:49:56] <Auditor> In which case, no. [14:50:14] <Auditor> My Doctor... [14:50:18] <Auditor> No. [14:50:21] * Cyborg has dropped what she was gently rubbing at her throat, her eye clouded slightly [14:50:28] <Cyborg> ... voices? [14:50:57] <Cyborg> But if one... *touches her leg softly* then why...? *the hand goes to her eye* [14:51:43] * Cyborg feels a familiar twinge in her head [14:52:40] <Cyborg> ... the first run. [14:54:36] <Auditor> And suddenly, I feel quite comparatively coherent. [14:55:12] * Cyborg comes back at that, and glares [14:55:26] <Cyborg> ... State? [14:59:05] <Auditor> Augmentations for movement, and clearing conclusions from a standing start. [14:59:13] <Auditor> Not, perhaps, a standard setting. [14:59:47] <Auditor> But... yes. And no, perhaps. [15:00:06] * Cyborg takes a step back, hitting the tree [15:00:16] * The Auditor blinks hard, a few times. [15:00:31] <Cyborg> ... I don't know about the research outpost. [15:01:46] <Auditor> Outpost? [15:02:08] <Auditor> Everything in this mouldering little clime seems an outpost or other. [15:02:21] <Cyborg> I don't know what happened I mean... I was taken... kept... saved... but [15:03:08] <Cyborg> ... is that what you came for? [15:03:28] <Auditor> You? [15:03:50] <Auditor> No. [15:04:07] <Auditor> I have what I came for. [15:04:11] <Cyborg> Oh. Okay... [15:04:53] <Auditor> I merely must return - return - re - [15:05:13] * The Auditor presses her hand into her forehead again, her teeth grinding together. [15:05:54] <Auditor> I can assure you Doctor, that no. I do not. [15:05:57] <Auditor> Not. [15:06:00] <Auditor> Yet. [15:06:23] <Cyborg> ... Memory. Painful, tiring memory. [15:06:32] <Cyborg> Imperfect recall. [15:06:36] <Auditor> Not... redacted. Anymore. Connections... obvious. Should not. [15:06:56] * The Auditor looks up sharply. [15:07:03] <Auditor> Quite. The opposite. [15:08:13] <Auditor> Knowledge is - everything. [15:08:25] <Auditor> I had not... anticipated. [15:09:03] <Auditor> When you have - everything. At your fingertips. Right - there. [15:09:06] <Auditor> Something. [15:09:10] <Auditor> Anything. [15:09:16] <Auditor> ...difficult. [15:09:40] * The Auditor takes a step back, shaking her head. [15:10:08] * Cyborg gives a concerned look, before sighing. [15:11:13] <Cyborg> Whatever is happening, I hope you find this 'Doctor'. Sounds as if you need something... [15:11:23] <Cyborg> ... fixed. [15:12:27] * Cyborg moves sideways, finally getting the tree from out behind her. [15:12:53] * The Auditor stops, abruptly, and her hand drops down to trace across the metal places on her jaw. [15:13:21] <Auditor> She would not, I think, thank you for the implication. [15:13:28] <Auditor> Sentimental. [15:13:40] <Auditor> Until the end. [15:14:22] <Cyborg> My experience of the State has taught me. As a cyborg I'm no more than a 'machine'. [15:14:35] <Cyborg> Maybe for you it's different. [15:15:21] <Cyborg> Although you are the first other cybernetically enhanced person I've met since I returned. [15:17:14] * Cyborg turns to leave [15:17:52] <Cyborg> Excuse me, I've posters to put up... erm, what did you say your name was? [15:18:52] * The Auditor's eyes narrow, slightly, but she does not move. [15:20:20] <Auditor> Stewart. Morrigan. Alpha-two-five. [15:20:43] <Auditor> Quartermaster System; Version Three. [15:21:04] <Cyborg> I'll remember. I'm Cyborg. Predicted Unit. [15:21:53] <Auditor> As will I. I am... certain, of that. [15:22:04] <Cyborg> Until next time. [15:22:20] * Cyborg leaps into the air and uses the glider to drift off into the sky [15:22:39] * The Auditor watches her go, blinking. [15:23:02] <Auditor> ...I still do - not understand the dog.

[22:41] * Cain awakens, minutes or hours later. It's dark. He lies on his back quietly in the grass until he can move, stumbling home.*

[13:35:35] * Kaja coasts over the town, heading to where she'd heard a ruckus earlier. Some large trees have angry dents and gouges in them, and some smaller ones are snapped in half. [13:36:35] * Kaja lands among them, frowning. She wanders through the small destructive trail and continues past. [13:37:30] * Kaja spots a monochrome figure a bit further away, and follows it, catching up. [13:41:24] * The swish of wings isn't an unusual sound, but the magnitude of the sound is enough to give pause to the Auditor's still-slightly weaving gait. She stops, warily, and glances around. [13:44:22] * Kaja casts a large shadow, crossing in front of her and landing again, curiously studying [13:45:54] * The Auditor stops, sharply, and her eyebrows rise. [13:47:24] <Auditor> I should... probably be more surprised by this. [13:47:50] * The Auditor blinks, owlishly, and tightens the eye on her headwound side. [13:48:53] * Kaja cocks her head to the side, noting the mostly dried crease of blood* Do you need help for that? [13:49:36] <Auditor> Help? [13:50:33] * The Auditor frowns at Kaja, her eyes unfocusing a little again. [13:51:08] * Kaja nods slowly* Yes. If not for your wound, perhaps for direction. [13:51:40] <Kaja> You don't exactly seem the type to have come through Katton, but all types live. [13:51:45] <Auditor> Purple. Winged. Humanoid. Considerable additional notes, crossed out, somewhat hysterical. [13:52:24] <Auditor> "Kaja" [13:53:20] <Auditor> My wound is... inconvenient. [13:53:32] <Auditor> Nothing more. [13:54:11] <Kaja> I can at least fix the superficial part. Perhaps not what's underneath. [13:54:24] <Kaja> Or what happened to cause it in the first place. [13:55:20] <Auditor> A... tool malfunction. [13:56:32] <Auditor> The underlying calibration will rectify itself. [13:56:41] <Auditor> I am... assured of that [13:58:23] * The Auditor peers at Kaja's wings. Her fingers twitch slightly as she begins to prowl around the other figure, examining, but keeping a distance. [13:59:10] <Auditor> Interesting. [13:59:12] * Kaja watches her, turning slowly and rustling her wings. Her halo lights up the area as night falls* [14:01:18] <Kaja> You knew my name. Will you trade me yours? [14:02:24] * The Auditor stops, and for a moment she looks surprised. [14:04:35] <Auditor> ...considerable interest in that, it seems. [14:05:40] * The Auditor hesitates, her brows creasing in a thin frown. [14:05:48] <Auditor> ...Stewart. [14:06:30] <Auditor> My father's. And... not. [14:07:03] * Kaja nods, watching her carefully* Good eve, Stewart. [14:07:18] <Auditor> It does not pay for those who deal in masks to be too... fixed. [14:07:52] <Kaja> You, ah.. Seem to be missing yours. *she glances down at her teeth, bare and exposed* [14:08:52] * The Auditor laughs, shaking her head. [14:09:10] <Auditor> An understatement, perhaps. [14:11:18] <Auditor> An adjustment [14:11:58] <Kaja> What brings you by this cherry town then, Stewart? It doesn't exactly seem to fit you. [14:13:20] <Auditor> There was an... invitation. [14:13:53] <Auditor> Proximity [14:15:21] <Auditor> Circumstance. [14:15:58] <Auditor> Coffee. [14:18:20] * Kaja hmms quietly, and then shakes her head* Are you quite sure you don't need assitance? [14:18:35] <Kaja> You seem quite.. disconnected, as it were. [14:18:58] <Auditor> Are you medically qualified? [14:19:38] <Kaja> To a degree. I could stop that bleeding and close your wound, at the least. [14:20:20] * The Auditor glances up, as if she is trying to see the damage to her own forehead. [14:20:48] <Auditor> That would be... pertinent. [14:22:16] <Kaja> I might suggest sitting down, then. *she steps closer, curling her hand around a small glow* [14:22:52] * The Auditor jerks back slightly, her eyes widening at the sight. [14:23:36] <Auditor> Ah [14:24:02] <Auditor> ... interesting [14:25:06] <Auditor> That. [14:25:10] * Kaja looks at her, hand half-raised* Or would you prefer to stand. [14:26:14] <Auditor> Standing would be acceptable [14:26:48] <Auditor> I am accustomed to discomfort. [14:27:44] * The Auditor eyes the glow warily, and there is a visible tension to her shoulders, but she stays still. [14:27:52] * Kaja nods and moves right next to her, examining the split* [14:28:13] <Kaja> Whatever 'malfunction' happened, they need to be more careful next time. [14:30:56] <Auditor> I'm sure they would be. As, however, would I. [14:31:15] <Auditor> I have been too... reliant on assumptions. [14:31:43] * Kaja glances at her* Just take their gun away next time. Don't let them aim it at you first. [14:33:06] <Kaja> I'm going to touch you to fix this, okay? *she pauses, waiting* [14:33:43] <Auditor> ...yes [14:35:06] * Kaja nods and gently wipes her cupped glow over the blood smears, leaving clean skin behind. [14:36:04] * Kaja murmurs something into her fingertips and traces them along the gouge, [14:37:00] * Kaja and it knits itself back together, shining slightly. She touches it to make sure it will hold. [14:37:23] * Kaja steps back, dusting her hands off* There. [14:39:08] * The Auditor reaches up, with a controlled movement that almost passes for nonchalance, and runs her fingers down the sealed flesh. [14:39:53] <Auditor> That. [14:40:06] <Auditor> Interesting. [14:40:48] <Auditor> Not - exactly - [14:41:57] * Kaja smiles* What, scientific? [14:44:27] <Auditor> Familiar. [14:46:36] * The Auditor looks from Kaja's hand, back up to her wings. [14:46:39] <Kaja> The fixed part or the magic part? [14:48:23] <Auditor> I am quite familiar with the usual arrangements of my own skull. [14:48:50] <Auditor> So. [14:49:13] <Auditor> The... "magic". [14:49:34] * Kaja grins a little, ruffling her wings* It really is that uncommon here, then. How curious. [14:51:16] <Auditor> There is certainly... potential. [14:52:33] * The Auditor looks hard at Kaja, her gaze sharpening again. And there is an edge of hunger to the grey-ice stare. [14:53:16] <Auditor> Interesting. [14:57:26] * Kaja smiles at her again, her teeth sharper than they were, and grey* Certainly am. [14:58:28] * The Auditor peers up at the circling light of Kaja's halo, and her eyes narrow slightly. [14:59:06] <Auditor> ...thank you for the assistance. Kaja. [14:59:11] <Auditor> And the information. [14:59:35] * Kaja fans her wings out and takes a few steps back* Travel safely, Stewart. [15:00:07] * Kaja takes off, heading back into Katton* [15:01:17] * The Auditor watched the figure rise, and twists the tension out of her shoulders. [15:01:34] <Auditor> Very interesting.

[13:37:09] * The setting sun sets slowly drifts toward the horizon as Nights makes her way slowly toward the edge of town. The trees echo her metallic footsteps as her suit hisses and thumps its way forward. [13:38:37] * Nights stops and sighs, looking down at the helmet in her hands, ready to put it on and endure the long flight back home.* [13:44:41] <Auditor> Not - perhaps - a sight I would have anticipated here. [13:45:34] * The shadows cast by the sinking sun are thick near the base of the hillside. Darker still here, where a dark figure can be made out, sitting against a rock near the bridge. There is an empty mug at the Auditor's feet, trailing spilled coffee onto the planks* [13:47:37] * The Auditor's fingers are laced together in front of her, and her slightly-ill focused gaze fixes on 42. [13:48:20] * Nights pauses, her helmet half raised to her head as she turns toward the figure she had not seen yet* [13:49:24] <Nights> And if I am correct, I could say the same thing. *She lowers the helmet* [13:51:23] * The Auditor tilts her head slightly, her eyes narrowing. [13:51:31] <Auditor> FAC-19. Asset. Zero-zero-four-two. Reactor maintenance and engineering. [13:52:03] <Auditor> Most recent assessment on file: Acceptable. Competent. [13:53:42] <Auditor> Several small deviancies from compliance - noted. [13:53:48] <Auditor> Expunged. [13:55:42] <Nights> An accurate assessment, if not lacking in detail. *she says plainly, almost accusing* [13:57:42] <Auditor> Detail. [13:58:06] * The Auditor stands up, very suddenly, and rocks slightly as she gets her balance back. [13:58:37] <Nights> You are as steady as the State itself. [13:59:22] <Auditor> In this world, Asset? I rather think I'm doing better than that. [13:59:55] <Auditor> The -detail- of our own remains to be seen. [14:00:47] * The Auditor twists her head from side to side, staring the suit up and down. [14:01:05] * Nights straightens at the mention, rolling her shoulders back defensively, the suit hissing* [14:01:49] <Auditor> Devils and details, zero-zero-four-two. [14:02:00] <Auditor> We seem to have omitted so many of both. [14:02:24] * Nights' eyes narrow at the designation* [14:04:42] <Auditor> I wonder how many we have overlooked? [14:05:16] * The Auditor's eyes slide away from the suit, staring into nothing again, as her fingers twitch. [14:06:13] <Nights> Enough to fill the great libraries surely. Perhaps we shall remedy one? My designation is Nights. [14:09:55] * The Auditor blinks. [14:10:00] <Auditor> Why? [14:10:42] <Auditor> Six weeks seems somewhat... inconsequential. [14:11:53] * Nights looks mildly surprised at her, frowning in confusion at not expecting such a response* [14:14:31] * Nights looks more firmly at the Auditor, working up the the nerve to say what she wishes* [14:14:49] <Nights> You will address me as Nights *she says more firmly* [14:18:50] <Auditor> You will explain your reasoning, Asset [14:19:39] <Auditor> Taken designations, I find, are very... telling [14:19:54] <Auditor> The night conceals many things [14:20:31] <Auditor> I wonder what it is you hide [14:20:40] <Auditor> Beneath steel [14:20:44] <Auditor> And hydraulics [14:22:44] <Auditor> Steel... [14:23:02] * The Auditor pauses again, her hand rising to her forehead, and her fingers trace the edge of her wound [14:25:03] * Nights steps forward, tilting her head, watching the Auditor carefully, studying her in the dim light* [14:25:22] <Nights> Perhaps I hide the monster your mother has made. [14:25:34] <Nights> Would you be prepared to face such a thing? [14:27:29] * The Auditor's teeth clash together, sharply. [14:28:37] <Auditor> Impress me. [14:30:00] <Nights> You are not yet worth it *she lifts her metallic fingers to just lightly ghost off of what would have been the Auditors jaw line* But you do make me want to. [14:31:49] * Nights brings her hand back away, as if remembering to stop* [14:33:42] <Nights> I did not expect mother to look this, so... Missing. [14:34:47] * The Auditor stiffens, and suddenly there is anger in her eyes. [14:35:14] * The Auditor steps forward sharply, ducking around the suit's extended arm, and glaring upwards. [14:35:37] <Auditor> Your Mother, Asset. [14:35:41] <Auditor> Not mine. [14:36:24] <Auditor> The voice in your head. The guilt in your heart. The brand on your recycled little soul. [14:36:48] <Auditor> Manufactured. Constructed. Reworked for a purpose given to you, and nothing more than that. [14:37:32] <Auditor> An obedient cog in a dying machine. [14:37:36] <Auditor> And yet - [14:38:06] * The Auditor steps back again, glancing across the suit once more. [14:38:10] * Nights raises her chin, still looking down at the Auditor* [14:38:41] <Auditor> The heart of your own, here. [14:39:06] <Auditor> How fallible are your mechanisms, Asset? [14:43:40] <Nights> I am able to repair such mechanisms. Tell me, can you repair yours? [14:44:34] <Nights> Can you repair the skin that hangs from your metallic skull, or the components that make you whole? [14:44:45] * The Auditor laughs. It is a recorded sound, but for a second it might even reach her eyes. [14:44:53] <Nights> Or are you as useless as the gun that tried to end you. [14:45:05] <Auditor> Would you believe that no one has dared ask me that, yet? [14:48:10] <Nights> No, But I believe I am the first asset to dare speak of how useless you truly are. *she growls* [14:48:55] <Auditor> Fourth, Ms Nights. Although, I will admit, you are the only one still breathing. [14:50:17] * Nights smiles* I intend to stay that way. [14:50:55] <Auditor> Indeed. [14:51:00] <Nights> Do you intend to for long? Tell me what will happen when your cybernetics fail you here. [14:51:47] * The Auditor holds up a hand, suddenly, one finger raised like a teacher making a point. [14:53:00] <Auditor> One concern I have never held, is the competence of my... architect. [14:53:46] <Auditor> Sentimental. [14:53:53] <Auditor> But unsurpassed. [14:54:44] <Auditor> I wonder what she would have made of you? [14:56:38] * The Auditor presses her finger into the exposed metal of her skull, and her teeth grind together. [15:00:09] <Nights> It truly is fascinating how you still stand after such a wound. [15:00:44] <Nights> I wonder if you have a death wish, shoving dirty gloves into a hole in your head. [15:01:41] * Nights steps even closer, looming over the Auditor. She reaches up and grabs her wrist, pulling her hand away from her head* [15:06:40] * The Auditor stops. Not -tense- as such, but there is a sudden focus in her stance that wasn't there before. [15:07:25] <Auditor> Tell me, my so-breathing Asset. [15:07:39] <Auditor> If the heart of the machine is - stilled? [15:07:48] <Auditor> Stopped. [15:07:52] <Auditor> Interrupted. [15:08:21] <Auditor> Do you have failsafes, for that? [15:09:25] <Auditor> If you are Mother's monster, then you will remember well her voice. [15:10:00] * Nights lets go of the the Auditor's hand, blood dripping from her gauntlet* [15:10:46] <Nights> Do you think you might kill me so easily, surrounded by those I trust? [15:13:38] <Auditor> They would have to be very fast, four-two. I can assure you of that. [15:13:54] <Auditor> Had I interest in your death. [15:17:55] <Nights> Is That So *she uses her free hand swiftly up to the Auditor's throat* You who will not be breathing? [15:18:05] * Nights growls her words fiercely in anger* [15:19:42] * The Auditor does not move, but she does speak. [15:20:17] * And the mechanical tinge of her voice is - just for a second - somewhat different. [15:20:31] <Auditor> Priority. [15:20:38] <Auditor> Gordian. [15:20:41] <Auditor> Interrupt. [15:20:47] <Auditor> -Authorise- [15:21:06] * Nights' fist clenches just before her fingers reach around her neck, her eyes wide and her body frozen* [15:23:01] * Nights body shakes, the plates of armour adjusting as the machine does not know how to respond to the trembling of its pilot* [15:24:12] * The Auditor leans forward slightly, around the arm. [15:24:40] <Auditor> It's a blunt instrument. [15:24:47] <Auditor> But right now? So are you. [15:25:00] <Auditor> I thank you for the... conversation, Asset. [15:25:08] <Auditor> I am feeling much better. [15:26:42] * Nights trembles and her expression twitches in anger and defiance, unable to move* [15:28:06] * The Auditor turns back towards the darkened hillside, melding rapidly into the falling evening. [15:28:15] <Auditor> As soon as you are able, I would advise you to try to breathe.

[15:34:48] * The Auditor walks along the wooden path that leads into Katton proper; an ill-fitting slice of shadow against the bright landscape. Each of her movements is precise, but oddly-connected to those before, leading a strange lurch to her stalking gait, and she twists her head from side to side erratically, as she peers at the village's varied architecture [15:36:23] <Auditor> ...Wynne. [15:36:28] <Auditor> There was. [15:36:54] <Auditor> An invitation. [15:37:33] * The Auditor pauses, reaching up for a second to run her gloved hand across her forehead  and it comes back stained. Again. There is crimson slicked through her grey hair, and he regards her fingers dispassionately for a moment, before continuing on. [15:41:25] * Egg adjusts her hat before she steps out of the house and into the sunshine, basket over one arm [15:41:55] * Egg progresses only a few feet before spotting the Auditor looming on the bridge [15:44:08] * The Auditor looks up and stops, silent and still for a long moment, as she stares at Egg. [15:44:39] * Egg stares back [15:45:48] * Egg rapidly recoils, retreating back towards the house [15:47:57] * The Auditor seems to re-animate, following the girl's path. [15:49:30] <Auditor> Ms Wynne. [15:49:35] <Auditor> There was. [15:49:39] <Auditor> An invitation. [15:50:16] * Egg eyes the blood staining the Auditor's hair and face [15:50:24] <Egg> Th-there was...?! [15:52:36] * The Auditor blinks slowly. Her gaze lacks some of the ice-edge focus it more normally contains. [15:53:03] <Auditor> Coffee, Prosecutor. [15:53:11] <Auditor> You were quite clear. [15:53:34] <Auditor> And. [15:53:45] * The Auditor stops, blinking again. [15:53:55] <Auditor> ...cake. [15:54:21] <Egg> Oh. Right. Yes... [15:54:49] * Egg looks at the head wound again, before slowly going inside and holding open the door [15:56:35] * The Auditor follows her in. She grips the doorframe tights as she enters, leaving a bloody handprint [15:56:59] * Egg cringes slightly, more at the mess than at the blood [15:57:05] <Egg> Are you...alright...? [15:58:12] <Auditor> A slight. Setback. [15:58:46] * The Auditor tilted her head from side to side, wincing slightly. [15:59:21] <Auditor> Inconvenient. [15:59:28] <Auditor> Nothing more. [16:00:12] * Egg opens her mouth to reply, but after a moment shuts it again. [16:00:22] * The Auditor looks around the room, blinking owlishly. This close, the bloody gouge is clear running up her forehead, into her hairline, and there is the gleam of metal underneath. [16:02:21] <Auditor> This. Your residence. [16:02:47] <Egg> Um. Yes. Welcome? [16:03:03] <Egg> You should... p-probably come and s-sit down. [16:03:18] * The Auditor looks at the floor [16:04:36] <Egg> Not... not on the floor. Um. Th-this way. [16:04:53] * Egg heads towards the lounge, gesturing to the dining table within [16:05:39] * The Auditor sways for a moment and then follows her, sweeping her ill-focused attention around the room. The potted flowers get a particularly dark stare, and a low mutter of 'gardener'. [16:06:58] * The Auditor catches herself against the edge of the table, and her teeth grind together. Her fingers twitch against the woodwork, tracing something rapidly, as she sits down. [16:08:25] * Egg collects a glass of cold water while she does this, placing it down next to her [16:08:33] <Egg> S-so. Um. This... s-setback. [16:14:26] <Auditor> Irrelevant. [16:14:26] <Auditor> Inconsequential. [16:14:26] <Auditor> ...irritating. [16:16:00] * Egg looks once again at the exposed metal of the Auditor's skull and the blood seeping from the flesh around it [16:16:15] <Egg> Do you n-need... would you, would you like an-anything? [16:18:01] * The Auditor's fingers continue sketching, and she stares at them. [16:18:18] <Auditor> ...paper. [16:19:24] <Egg> I can. I can get you s-some. Um. Wait here. [16:20:15] * Egg scurries off upstairs, returning with a notepad that she tears a handful of pages out of before giving them to the Auditor alongside a pen. [16:20:30] <Egg> Um. I g-got you a pen too. I. I didn't know if you had one. Or, um, n-needed one. [16:21:47] * The Auditor snatches up the pen, pinning the paper down as if it might escape, and starts to sketch. It isn't quite writing; it is more like printing, the pen moving rapidly from side to side across the length of the page. Her eyes narrow as she stares down at the developing page. [16:23:12] <Auditor> Ask. [16:23:47] <Egg> Me? Um. [16:25:25] <Auditor> Repetitive inanity is valid, Ms Wynne. *The Auditor slices the pen across the page like a statement, and instantly begins to draw what looks like musical notes either side of the line.* [16:25:33] <Auditor> Ask.  Something. [16:26:21] <Egg> Erm... are you f-feeling alright? Where did you get that? Why... why are you here? Why ARE you here? [16:27:37] * The Auditor laughs, with that one moment of recorded sound that is so at odds with the rest of her voice. [16:28:01] <Auditor> Philosophical. [16:28:36] <Auditor> Beginnings, and endings, Ms Wynne. [16:28:56] <Egg> I meant in Katton. And. Um. N-not the Silo...? [16:29:19] <Egg> I'm sure A_J would be able to h-help you. Your. Setback l-looks quite, um, painful. [16:32:19] <Auditor> Indeed.  *The Auditor shoves the first sheet of paper aside - a remarkably detailed sheet of musical notation, scattered with handwriting that does not match* Remarkable, how perception of such things can be modulated. *Her other swings up, very suddenly, to press into the metal places either side of her exposed jaw* And not. [16:33:10] * She begins the second sheet - this one more writing, but with carefully-etched in dark bars across the words - and glances up momentarily at Egg. [16:33:18] <Auditor> There was. [16:33:27] <Auditor> An invitation. [16:34:15] <Egg> Oh, um, yes. Cake. And c-coffee. [16:34:37] <Egg> Would you... like that? [16:35:38] <Auditor> Perhaps... not the cake. [16:36:07] <Egg> Oh. Good. S-Someone stole the last slice I had from me, so, um, there isn't any. But. I can d-do coffee. [16:37:51] * The Auditor does not react. Still sketching. Still staring, half-focused, as a new line of crimson begins to work its way down her temple. [16:40:09] * Egg looks at the bloodstain on the dining table with more annoyance than disgust, before peering at the paper currently being written upon [16:40:22] <Egg> What, what are you doing? [16:40:54] <Auditor> Calibrating. *She blinks, and looks up suddenly, seeming to stare right through Egg. [16:43:39] <Auditor> Quartermaster System, Iteration Three, Eff-Cee-Four-Four-Six.  Neural firewall reset required under circumstances of extreme blunt force cranial trauma. [16:46:29] * The Auditor tilts her head suddenly, and for a bizarre moment the voice that rises up her throat is not the usual mechanical tone.  Deeper, differently accented, and with a strange snatch at the start like a recording started partway through. [16:46:50] <Auditor> - t wriggling out of that, Morrigan. You signed it; I just implement.  Replicate. Exactly. [16:47:44] * Another sudden shiver of movement at her fingertips, and she drags a third piece of paper into place. [16:49:51] <Auditor> Coffee; Prosecutor. [16:50:08] <Egg> Oh. Yes! Right. Right. Um. Yes. I'll... be ri-right back. [16:51:19] * Egg steps into the kitchen to make the coffee, every now and then leaning out to check that the Auditor hasn't passed out or done something unspeakable [16:52:58] * The rapid sound of the pen continues - and then stops. [16:53:39] * Abruptly. [16:55:16] <Auditor> Very different. [16:55:25] <Auditor> This location.  Landscape. [16:56:08] * Egg quickly puts the coffee down [16:56:21] <Egg> Yes? Yes. Th-that's why I'm surprised you're... not in the Silo. [16:56:49] <Egg> You w-weren't exactly happy about, about us being here the first time... [16:57:59] <Auditor> My emotional state has little to do with that chlorinated concrete crypt. [16:58:33] * The Auditor stares down at the sheets of inkstained paper, and her eyes narrow. [16:58:38] <Auditor> I am... successful. [16:59:28] <Auditor> Two years.  For what balance of time there is between the wreckage of worlds. [16:59:58] <Auditor> A calculated risk. [17:00:55] * The Auditor's hand goes up to her face again, digging into the blackened edges of skin around her facial  plates, as her teeth grind. [17:01:20] <Auditor> A calculation, Ms Wynne, is only ever as good as the data it is based on. [17:02:10] <Auditor> Nonetheless. [17:02:16] <Auditor> I am successful. [17:02:38] * Egg nods slowly, entirely unsure as to what the Auditor is talking about. [17:02:43] <Egg> I'm... sure you are? [17:03:16] * The Auditor looks up sharply, and for a second the focus is back in her eyes. [17:05:22] <Auditor> I wonder, Ms Wynne.  If either of us are quite... sure. [17:08:34] * The Auditor stands up, so suddenly that the chair shoots away backwards, and picks up the cup of coffee. [17:10:26] <Auditor> Thank you for the invitation, Prosecutor. [17:11:16] * She turns and strides back through the colourful house, and the sudden slam of the door is like punctuation.

[14:38:48] * Breyos and A_J are alone in the upper level of the Silo, a warren of rust, red lights, and unlit concrete. To one side of them is the chalkboard, dustily rubbed clean of the terrible, world ending burden of its truth. [14:41:36] * A_J slowly paces the grills in the floor, turning to the man, sharply [14:42:26] <A_J>  - and you, you, Mr. Vesalius. Would have done the same. [14:42:36] * A_J's voice is hushed and urgent [14:43:10] * A_J glances at the stairway [14:44:31] <A_J> ... I smell cigarettes. [14:45:46] * Breyos cleans a speck of dust from his glasses with a corner of his coat. [14:46:14] <Breyos> I can smell it constantly. Either smoke or chlorine. Both burns. [14:46:31] * Breyos inspects his glasses by holding them up to one of the ceiling lights. [14:47:28] <Breyos> And no. I would not have done the same. [14:48:06] * Breyos places the glasses back on his nose. [14:48:49] * The clang of footsteps drifts up the stairs, rapid and unusually unsubtle [14:50:06] * A_J stares darkly at the man before turning to the steps, straightening, eyes hooded. [14:50:58] <A_J> Our honoured guest. [14:51:21] * The Auditor stalks up the last few steps, a few remaining wisps of smoke still trailing from her teeth [14:52:17] * Breyos runs his hands over his coat to smooth out the creases. [14:52:24] <Breyos> Auditor. [14:52:34] * The Auditor pauses as she see the figures stood there, and stops, almost hesitating. [14:53:05] <A_J> Good evening, Auditor Stewart. [14:53:19] <A_J> Planning a departure? [14:53:21] <Auditor> Facilitator. [14:53:51] <Auditor> There has been a... development. Not of your concern. [14:54:35] <Auditor> I will not require long. I trust you can - both - manage something productive in my absence. [14:54:56] * A_J regards the woman and nods, gently [14:55:38] <Breyos> The Silo will remain in good hands, Auditor. [14:56:56] <A_J> We will anxiously await your return, Auditor. [14:57:12] <Auditor> Indeed. [14:57:58] * The Auditor begins to stride towards the main door again, a frown nipping onto her brow. [14:59:05] <Breyos> You can rest assured, the Wards will be kept busy. [14:59:50] <A_J> The Commander and I shall not be idle. [15:04:57] <Auditor> I consider myself suitably reassured. I'm sure. [15:05:28] * The Auditor reaches for the keypad, fingers dancing across the familiar lock combination. [15:09:09] <A_J> We do so miss you in your periodic absences, Auditor. [15:09:32] <A_J> None of which have a documented itinerary. [15:11:33] <Auditor> Your emotional pangs are of very little relevance to me, Block A. [15:11:52] <Auditor> And my movements very little of yours. [15:12:23] * Breyos smiles widely but insincerely. [15:12:30] * A_J glances downward [15:13:00] <Breyos> What she means is... Have a safe journey, Auditor. [15:13:41] <A_J> Yes - Of course. [15:17:58] * Breyos raises his hand, haltingly, before the other woman has a chance to leave. [15:19:11] * The door hisses open, letting in a wash of comparatively-fresh air into the stale space- [15:20:15] <Breyos> I am taking this as a safe assumption that my... 'internship'...- [15:20:58] <Breyos> ...has been extended for a yet to be determined period of time...? [15:22:21] <A_J> That - was not the agreement. [15:22:59] <A_J> I was to be reinstated after completion of my work! [15:25:08] * The Auditor's fingers twitch, visibly, and she turns back to the room sharply. [15:26:34] <Auditor> I have... considerably larger concerns than your personal power struggles. [15:26:42] <Auditor> The world has changed. [15:26:57] <Auditor> And we are on the brink of shaping it. [15:27:13] <Auditor> Figure. It out. For yourselves. [15:28:01] * The Auditor strides out, and the door slides closed behind her. [15:28:19] * A_J watches her leave, and whips around to Breyos [15:28:42] <A_J> Yes, Auditor, no, Auditor! Oh most certainly, Auditor! [15:28:54] * As soon as she leaves, Breyos' smile fades like snow in the sun. He turns to A_J. Glaring. [15:29:03] <Breyos> Oh shut up! [15:29:30] <A_J> Hand over my uniform. You heard the woman. [15:29:56] <A_J> I am the rightful Facilitator. [15:30:06] * Breyos laughs abruptly. [15:30:24] <A_J> And you - remain - bulging and unsightly - in my labcoat. [15:30:25] <Breyos> Have you not heard what she said? [15:30:47] <Breyos> Did she re-assign you? Hmm? I think not! [15:30:58] <Breyos> And she won't. [15:31:13] <Breyos> Not after all this mess you've put us in. [15:32:04] <Breyos> Do you -know- what you have done, A_J...? [15:32:09] <A_J> You - have no conception of the - burden I have endured! [15:32:42] <A_J> And I am a loyal daughter. [15:33:07] <A_J> I have fulfilled my mandate. [15:33:12] <Breyos> 'The burden you have endured'?! What about the burden that still awaits us? [15:33:28] <Breyos> You gave her the formula... [15:34:46] <A_J> Well - what else could I have done you - wretched man! [15:35:17] <Breyos> Y-you could have...- [15:35:38] * Breyos inhales deeply. When he speaks again, his voice is softer but also hissing slightly. [15:36:08] <Breyos> You could have -killed- her, for example! [15:36:46] * A_J's breath is indrawn [15:39:06] <A_J> Traitor. [15:39:26] * A_J stares at him, and exhales [15:40:23] * Breyos licks his lips nervously. He looks tense, glancing towards the Silo's entrance and back to A_J. [15:40:42] <Breyos> I am not a... [15:41:06] <A_J> Don't you think I've considered it? [15:41:35] * Breyos raises both hands slightly, palms shown. [15:41:39] <A_J> No. They have ways of stopping you. [15:41:40] <Breyos> Alright, alright... [15:42:13] <Breyos> A_J. [15:43:12] * Breyos looks at the large Void Gate, only a couple of feet away from where they are standing. [15:43:20] * A_J turns away from him [15:43:25] <A_J> Mr. Vesalius. [15:43:43] <Breyos> Let us, for a moment, assume your calculations are right. [15:44:00] <Breyos> If you go through that gate... [15:44:46] * Breyos points towards the machine while still looking at the woman in front of him. [15:45:03] <Breyos> ...and go back... [15:46:05] <Breyos> then I fear to think of the consequences that await not only this world but all others as well. [15:46:27] <Breyos> You cannot tell me I'm wrong. [15:50:20] * A_J speaks, an intonation, in the dark theatre of the room [15:50:45] <A_J> I have a responsibility, Mr. Vesalius. [15:51:40] <A_J> My observations have been diligent. My reflection profound. And my thesis - exact. [15:52:09] <A_J> The Auditor is nothing but an interested spectator. [15:52:43] <A_J> With or without her, I would have come to the conclusion of my experiment. [15:53:57] <A_J> I do not require your conjecture and philosophical speculations. [15:54:48] <A_J> Give me measurable data; demonstrable argument. [15:54:59] <A_J> I am a scientist, Mr. Vesalius. [15:55:28] <A_J> And as such I am indifferent to the fruit of my theory. [15:56:44] <A_J> I cannot guarantee that the State will not have its victory. [15:57:02] <A_J> But I assure you, Mr. Vesalius. [15:57:12] <A_J> That the universe will lose. [15:57:29] <A_J> Everyone. [15:57:32] <A_J> Will lose. [15:57:56] <A_J> But I... [15:58:09] <A_J> Will. [15:58:18] <A_J> WIN.