#|| save

Since I missed Halloween and, by extention, Antonín's birthday, here's a little commemorative sketch of Oct 31st, bc our favourite war criminal deserves all the best <3 Nik kisses him silly sloppy in all verses (yes that's his absolute best attempt at calligraphy)

THIS IS SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.... I LOVE IT. And Antonín loves Nik and his cake (pun intended ofc) --- relevant x2 cause you suggested the date for his birthday AS A JOKE but the joke's on you: I'm a clown 😌✨

So, I knew going into chapter 2 about the brainwashing. I didn't know when or where it would happen, but I figured due to some other spoiled line I saw that I would be captured and tortured and then brainwashed. That it would all be visible and plain to the player.

And the scene where you meet the SIS team you've been recruited into is very good at setting up false expectations. You have this one character who trusts you the least, and will be the hardest to win over. You have those two off in the corner sparring, who look interesting and amicable and who you might get to buddy up with. Theres character dynamics to explore and trust to win over and the idea is planted very subtly that these are the people you're going to betray. You're going to know them and might even like them, and you'll all be buddy buddy by the end of it and so betraying them might take an emotional toll. Maybe you'll try to keep them out of the line of fire when you do so. Theres also this leader of the cell who seems very mature and is definitely a jedi of some sort judging by the lightsaber and he seems very fatherly to the rest of the team. He might fight you when this is all over, to protect his team from what you've wrought.

You're an accomplished agent at this point. I know I as a playee was very excited to take on this deep cover mission, because it seemed like such a dynamic challenge for my character to overcome, and because it meant interacting amicably with republic characters, which would bring new perspectives.

Anyway, you get introduced to the team and are revved up and ready to start doing missions and earning their trust and then leader man says a codeword and you black out.

Because jokes on you, sucker. You've ALREADY BEEN BRAINWASHED.

And this is where it REALLY starts. You thought you were leading these people on. You thought you were in first place a lap ahead. But the rug's been pulled out from under you. You're stuck in their web now. And you can't even do anything to get out. You can't call for help. You can't hurt them. You can't do anything against their orders. Now it's no longer a manipulation job. Now its a desperate uphill battle for the sake of your FREE WILL. For the ABILITY TO HAVE CONTROL OVER YOUR OWN BODY. For the most BASIC FUCKING THINGS.

And no one but you and your hallucinations even knows.

And you can try to get into their good favor. But it doesn't do any good. You're in the field, working, kept far away from anyone you could bond with. Asking how they're doing is seen as evading the question and is shut down. The one person you can get even slightly in the good graces of doesn't stay in the group for long. There is no real opportunity to gain their trust. There is no option to convince them to let you be free. You are scrambling for scraps but the buzzards keep flying off with all the roadkill.

There is every reason to want each and every one of them dead. Either for doing this to you, or for being complicit. Suddenly everyone in that room knew, from the moment you walked in, that you would be their bitch. And, from your perspective, they did nothing to stop it. Horrifying.

This isn't even talking about the mental breakdowns and hallucinations and very real brain damage you start experiencing. Because fuck, they don't even know how this technology is supposed to be used. They could issue one last order and your brain might just collapse, and no one will know how they killed you. No one will know the pain you endured. Silent suffering and then death.

You HAVE to get out. For your free will. For your Empire. For your BRAIN and your SPLITTING SKULL. And for revenge on the people who did this to you, because you'll be living with this trauma for the rest of your fucking life.

Amin-Le: The fracture is deep.

Amin-Le: to rebuild a body, a spirit, one rebuilds history.

Amin-Le: The vitalicron is the vessel of memory. Each petitioner fills. In a vitalicron, the ceremony is preserved.

Cipher Nine: I’m honored, Mystic of the shrine.

Amin-Le: Yes. Breathe the mists and speak true.

Cipher Nine: [Breathes in, faints. Awakens after a short while and stands.]

Amin-Le: You are the tree. Your roots, the past. The universe the soil.

Amin-Le: The tree is sick. See what nurtures the roots, and remember your early teachings. A uniform, before it became a mask... who were you then?

Cipher Nine: I wanted to serve the Empire and all its worlds. Joining Imperial Intelligence was a natural step.

Amin-Le: Consider now the seasons that shaped the tree.

Amin-Le: First a season of fire. You stamped out a spark. You could not purge the darkness; none but you could have tried.

Amin-Le: Then a season of famine. You stood alone; your friends and foes carved the wood of your mind. Speak of the wound. Speak of your strength.

Cipher Nine: Both sides treated me like a puppet. It all started to seem pointless.

Amin-Le: Now you are in a season of mists. All things are obscured.

Amin-Le: Your spirit shines, but it is trapped. You must change; what will you become?

Cipher Nine: No more control. No more orders. I want to choose my own fate.