A god came to Alhambra

[srwu_npc2]

Like if having one androgynous non-human around wasn't enough, suddenly without any prior warning (but with much fanfare in the form of flashing lights and other supernatural special effects) a strange person descends from the skies and starts looking around the Unity Group base like he owned it.


"I place my feet on this ground, transient facilities erected above it. So this is the shape humanity's resistance against fate has taken. To think Kagura would take her small form and relocate it to a place where many human frailties, taken together, result in strength..."

Say hello to the most powerful of the Executors, Minogame. If you can discern just what the hell he's talking about that is.

Comments

[srwu_npc2]

"Words are like a mirror - by itself empty, its meaning depends on who stares into it."

"In the mirror of my words, I wanted to see your reflection first. The reflection of your deceptive, thick shell."

[keep_your_dignity]

YOU COME HERE TO JUDGE ME? YOU OF ALL PEOPLE, YOU SANCTIMONIOUS FUCKER? YOU'RE THE ENTIRE FUCKING REASON THAT WHAT YOU CALL A DECEPTION IS NECESSARY IN THE FIRST PLACE AND YOU COME HERE TO JUDGE ME?

[Yeah, Kagura is angry now. She almost raises a cannon - but she stops midswing, lowers it slowly, and turns, showing Minogame her back and not looking at him.]

WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR ANGLE, MINOGAME? WHAT DO YOU EVEN WANT? AND SPARE ME THE SOPHISTRIES.

[srwu_npc2]

"I am aware. You may call this - that I tell you, while no one else knows; an act of recompensation."

[keep_your_dignity]

[Kagura stays silent for several seconds, her back still turned, before her voicebox pops up again]

THEY KNOW MORE THAN YOU THINK. I'VE BEEN ABLE TO MAKE SOME PEOPLE TALK TO ME. A SET OF COORDINATES WHERE THERE IS SUPPOSED TO BE SOMETHING HAS BEEN EXTRACTED FROM THE DATA THE TEAM YOU ESCORTED GOT. BUT NOBODY I KNOW IS MOVING BECAUSE OF SOME TOP LEVEL ORDERS. SOMEONE WANTS TO DO SOMETHING MORE THAN JUST CHECK THIS OUT. AND THERE IS NOTHING IN THEM, AT LEAST TO SENSOR MACHINERY. I CHECKED.

[More silence as Kagura thinks. This is huge. And Minogame may be a misdirecting, cryptic asshole, but he doesn't lie - he's never seen a reason to bother]

YOU REALIZE WHAT THAT IS GOING TO IMPLY, DON'T YOU? IF YOU AREN'T JUST SHITTING ME, IF THE CARDINAL SHAFT THEORY IS REAL AND THESE MYSTERY COORDINATES ARE REALLY IT, TAKING IT COULD MEAN WE WIN. AND SOMEONE IS HOLDING OUT ON US WHILE WE'VE LOST TWENTY PERCENT OF OUR EXECUTORS IN THE LAST THREE MONTHS ALONE TO ATTRITION.

MAYBE THIS IS WHY THE COLONEL- [She interrupts herself abruptly. A couple seconds, and then she shifts topic, turning to look to Minogame straight on]

IF THERE IS ANYTHING ELSE YOU KNOW ABOUT THIS TRUE SHAFT CASTING THOSE SHADOWS, TELL ME NOW.

[srwu_npc2]

"The wheel of karma is turning. With its turns comes change of destiny..."

"Reincarnation - reincarnates in itself."

Is this what you hoped to hear, Kagura?

[keep_your_dignity]

RIGHT. I FORGOT WHO I WAS TALKING TO. I REALLY WOULD PREFER DATA INSTEAD OF BUDDHIST MYTHOLOGY.

[Still, Kagura thinks on it. Reincarnation. The PRAYERs are not rebuilt, but reincarnated by something in this Cardinal Shaft? That seems... believable. So they are remade on themselves in there - maybe depending on what they did last sortie, like Buddhist karma? That would explain Minogame's references.

It really would be nice if Minogame spoke clearly for once in his life, but Kagura knows better than to try. That's a quick road to frustration.]