The past is still a mystery

[a_louse]

[Some time after the spooooky expedition into the Paradigm underground and an encounter with a certain mummy, Roger is sitting at a desk. The desk is full of stuff, some of which are documents related to the case. He picks up something else, though - an hourglass - and turns it around, watching as the sand slowly seeps.]

The truth that Seebach... no, Schwarzwald, discovered, has driven him insane. But at the same time, it was undeniably the truth. I wish he spoke more about it. Unfortunately, it's impossible to track him down now; all of my trails have ended.

Rosewater seems to be happy with this result regardless. It's like Paradigm Corp expected it to end this way all along.

[There's a hint of disgust in Roger's voice when he says that last line. He puts away the hourglass and picks up parts of another, identical but half-finished one. With the precision of a clockmaker, he starts to assemble it.]

Comments

[caressthedarkness]

They expected it to...?

Do you mean...what became of him as well?

[a_louse]

Probably not that part. But the fact that negotiations will go nowhere, and only result in Seebach going deeper into hiding...

[caressthedarkness]

Then...they wish for him to hide...

[This is indeed confusing.]

[a_louse]

The manuscript he wrote... I don't know what's in it. But I think Alex Rosewater doesn't want anyone to read it. If he got his hands on it, I sincerely doubt he'd actually publish it.

[caressthedarkness]

Is there anything we can do about this...?

No matter how we look at it...it is suspicious...

[a_louse]

We can't do anything, at least for now. Schwarzwald went even deeper into hiding, and Rosewater won't say anything more. There's a reason I usually don't work for that man.

For now we can only return to our daily lives and help the people who need our assistance, one case at a time.

[star_of_sad]

What kind of truth would drive a man insane like that?

Just... what is the truth behind Paradigm City?

[a_louse]

I would like to know that as well. All I learned here are scraps of information; how Megadei similar to Big O were common before mass amnesia befell the city.

[star_of_sad]

A scrap maybe, but it's still very puzzling... if there were a lot of such machines 40 years ago, you'd expect there to be some outside records.

Humanoid machines weren't even that common back then, were they?

[a_louse]

Since the rest of the world has a history that doesn't cut off 40 years ago, I checked the records. 40 years ago only rudimentary giant robots existed. There are no traces of Megadei in the history of the outside world.

[star_of_sad]

It's like if Paradigm City existed in a bubble of its own...

Please tell me, Roger - do you know anything of guests from outside the city, any kind of outside contact? Before I stumbled into Paradigm, I mean.

[a_louse]

There are rumours. But I've never met, or heard of, anyone who's a confirmed guest from outside the city before.

[star_of_sad]

So it's really like if Paradigm was a world of its own. A city in a bottle...

[a_louse]

Living in a bottle your whole life and then learning there is a whole, different world out there, was quite an eye-opening experience.

Eventually, the eyes of everyone in Paradigm will open like that.

[star_of_sad]

Eventually... are there reasons why they're kept in the dark? Is it because of culture shock?

[a_louse]

To open to the outside world, Paradigm has to establish relations with ESUN first. And that takes time.

Many people in the city are already aware that there's something out there, some other people. The robots who fought in the port didn't come out of nowhere.

[star_of_sad]

They'll allow others to string them only for so long. The people will want answers.

I hope you will be ready to give them when the time comes.

[a_louse]

If it was my decision, I'd open the city to outside contact already. Unfortunately, I'm not the one who's running Paradigm.

The least I can do is participate in the negotiations, to make sure they finish as soon as possible.

[star_of_sad]

That's true. Let's hope it happens soon, then.

[whats_a_good_end]

[Ana can't even recall how long it's been since she's been in a fancy mansion like this. One reason or another's lead her here though, and with how Roger's been talking about the Paradigm Corp...]

How powerful are they in this place?

[a_louse]

Paradigm Corp serves as Paradigm's government, or the closest it has to one. It owns most of the city and its public services, including the the police.

[whats_a_good_end]

That kind of influence... but why send you down in the first place of nothing really got accomplished?

[a_louse]

If I had to take a guess? Rosewater was afraid that without our interference, Schwarzwald might've shown his manuscript to someone else. He can't do that if he's deep in hiding.