[ There’s still hesitation, but it at least seems like Manon has decided that the quickest way out of this situation is to start talking. If Aetos and his pets are here to collect or kill him, then he just has to get talking as quickly as possible. So, he tells a story. There are pauses, gaps where he’ll shake his head and say that he’s not sure or doesn’t remember, but it’s cohesive. ]
I know some of you have seen the creatures in Alenroux. There’s ones in the Beyond in Highstorm too, but there’s not really much out there. There’s not as much of a reason to go out, so people simply don’t. But what I found, I know it’s something to do with those creatures. They… were. Or are something. I don’t know how they’re different from what I got made into, but I know Aetos made them. Some of them. And Zenith is connected to it, somehow. I think Meridian too, but not Cyrus? That part of things, that’s where it gets muddled. I don’t even know how much of it was real or maybe something one of those other Shards I was with learned or maybe something all of us made up. The way it just was, being one of those things, it doesn’t help make things clearer.
[ He makes a noise of frustration, then continues. The rest he remembers more clearly. ]
But I remember, I went down to Kowloon to try and find Aetos myself, but I don’t remember why because that seems like a stupid thing to do on my own now. I guess I thought I could take him? But I think I started getting closer than he wanted, because that’s when someone tried to kill me the first time. It was an old friend of mine. That’s when I started going to talk to Cyrus, because I realized I’d found out something worse than I thought. If Zenites were trying to kill me, then my best bet was to get in good graces with the Tribune. He’s stupid, but he has power.
Being down in Kowloon all that time tracking down leads and trying to avoid getting stabbed, it’s not good for your Discord when you’re Zenith, though. It… got bad. I don’t know how much of it was real or not, but I was seeing enemies around every corner. And eventually, I killed someone. Someone innocent.
[ He crosses his arms tightly at this point ]
I’d heard about what happens to you when your Discord gets high enough, but I’d never seen it myself. You just….start to become wrong. The way Lady Yima explained it, your soul starts to fracture, and it shapes what you are. If you think of yourself as a normal person, that’s how it makes you. If you think of yourself as a monster… It’s the same. I remember waking up after I killed that person, and roots were growing out of my Shard. I could see my bone underneath, but I didn’t feel anything. I couldn’t even take out my Shard anymore, so… That’s when I left for Alenroux on my own. I’d heard that Aetos had a Cornerstone out there, so I’d either find it or die trying. He found me first.
[ His expression tightens again, since it again gets fuzzy, but for different reasons. It doesn’t feel like the same modification of memory, but a haze of trauma and drugs. ]
I remember being pinned to a table. He was talking about Shards, that mine would be a “base”. Something about creating a new one. But it seemed like he was just welding them onto me. Like trying to sew someone else’s arm onto yours or something. He said something about creating new Shards, but… After that, it got drowned out when the other person got stuck to me. It’s like Communion you can’t leave, and all three of us were just… Dying, I think. That’s the only way I can think to describe it.
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I know some of you have seen the creatures in Alenroux. There’s ones in the Beyond in Highstorm too, but there’s not really much out there. There’s not as much of a reason to go out, so people simply don’t. But what I found, I know it’s something to do with those creatures. They… were. Or are something. I don’t know how they’re different from what I got made into, but I know Aetos made them. Some of them. And Zenith is connected to it, somehow. I think Meridian too, but not Cyrus? That part of things, that’s where it gets muddled. I don’t even know how much of it was real or maybe something one of those other Shards I was with learned or maybe something all of us made up. The way it just was, being one of those things, it doesn’t help make things clearer.
[ He makes a noise of frustration, then continues. The rest he remembers more clearly. ]
But I remember, I went down to Kowloon to try and find Aetos myself, but I don’t remember why because that seems like a stupid thing to do on my own now. I guess I thought I could take him? But I think I started getting closer than he wanted, because that’s when someone tried to kill me the first time. It was an old friend of mine. That’s when I started going to talk to Cyrus, because I realized I’d found out something worse than I thought. If Zenites were trying to kill me, then my best bet was to get in good graces with the Tribune. He’s stupid, but he has power.
Being down in Kowloon all that time tracking down leads and trying to avoid getting stabbed, it’s not good for your Discord when you’re Zenith, though. It… got bad. I don’t know how much of it was real or not, but I was seeing enemies around every corner. And eventually, I killed someone. Someone innocent.
[ He crosses his arms tightly at this point ]
I’d heard about what happens to you when your Discord gets high enough, but I’d never seen it myself. You just….start to become wrong. The way Lady Yima explained it, your soul starts to fracture, and it shapes what you are. If you think of yourself as a normal person, that’s how it makes you. If you think of yourself as a monster… It’s the same. I remember waking up after I killed that person, and roots were growing out of my Shard. I could see my bone underneath, but I didn’t feel anything. I couldn’t even take out my Shard anymore, so… That’s when I left for Alenroux on my own. I’d heard that Aetos had a Cornerstone out there, so I’d either find it or die trying. He found me first.
[ His expression tightens again, since it again gets fuzzy, but for different reasons. It doesn’t feel like the same modification of memory, but a haze of trauma and drugs. ]
I remember being pinned to a table. He was talking about Shards, that mine would be a “base”. Something about creating a new one. But it seemed like he was just welding them onto me. Like trying to sew someone else’s arm onto yours or something. He said something about creating new Shards, but… After that, it got drowned out when the other person got stuck to me. It’s like Communion you can’t leave, and all three of us were just… Dying, I think. That’s the only way I can think to describe it.