Chapter 13-10 The Shattered Dream (I)

Chapter 13-10 The Shattered Dream (I)

And with this Heaven, I divorce us from the atrocities of the past and wed us to the future we are to become. I hope that through the promise of this Ark we all form new bridges, new communities, and from our joining bear the seeds of unity to grow beyond the soil of our discord.

Dont give up on hate. Not even I can overlook the breeding torment of our past. But where we old and scarred will falter, our children and the ones after will be unburdenedto be and love and live unfettered. To experience a world of bliss and prosperity we should have always given them.

The future is uncertain. Veiled with vaster challenges than I could ever fathom, but we do not stand alone. Our long-lost ancestors have found us at the end of a star-spanning odyssey across eons of harsh suffering.

To my family in the void, I bid you a formal welcome to Idheim. See us unblemished, shaped by past horrors, slaves to cruel gods, butchers of shared ancestry, and beyond. See us more than what we could be, but who our children could be.

The Age of the Pantheons has branded us indelibly in sinew and spirit, but from these ashes rise humanitygods no more! Let us take from their powers but shed no more blood, entrapped in their prisons of eternal continuum. Let us use their designs to let life flourish. And let us gaze upon this Heaven again, and see it as our dowry to existence.

For too long we have hurt each other. For too long we have bred ourselves like cattle and farmed our foes for sacrifices. From today forth I give choice to all in Idheimthe choice to love unfettered as you will and to sire based only on the conception of virtue and reciprocity.

This is my final desiremy ultimate dreamthat we can rise and mend fractures of existence as people and not cold gods! Humans, with human hearts and human minds directing ascendant administrators devoid of any addiction to worship save that which is offered in necessity and wisdom.

To be clad in matrimony beneath these towers of rising virtue, building with the canons of change!

-Jaus Avandaer, The Arks Arisen

13-10

The Shattered Dream (I)

Avo caught the ghosts carrying Kaes words before they could flow out from his mind and spill into DRongo.

+I was trying to fix its canons! To stabilize it+ The rage flowed from the Agnos as DRongo spoke in the backdrop, twin lines of dialogue clashing as Avo directed his focus to deal with Kae first.

+I know. Believe you+



+Its not about fucking believing me, its about you!+ Kae seethed. +You and her and your cultist false-fucking-god worshipping stupid half-strand of a father! This was for you! All for you! My mindDawtons lifethe rash! My team and all the people who were with us! All ruined to make a fucking ghoul!+

The beast screeched a request for him to shred her mind clean from his for this disrespect. He thought of merely breaking her focus using that which he gained from Abrel.

DRongos following words removed the necessity of such an action.+...for the sake of winning the war.+ Kaes perception slipped from him, slashing past to peer at the Elder. +I didnt believe you about the Agnos. Kae Kusanade. A daughter of Clan Yinga; an orphan failed by her clan and Guild both, swearing her life to the Agnosi; a much-praised pupil and a bright mind even among her peers.+

The Elder's voice tightened with discomfort. +It wasnt until you showed me what she was making with those Imitators that I turned from my heart.+ Discomfort morphed into hatredthe sheer scorn of the emotion burning like a kindred flame to Kaes. +I despise you, priest. I despise you for reminding me of this transgressionmy crime against the Articles, against a daughter of the Ori.+ A beat passed. The hatred turned inward. +And I hate you for being truthful.+

The revelation of DRongos unwitting deed did not move Kae from her anger, but the fires of her rage were caged by returning control, and silence took her as her ghosts shook like a vessel rocking on waves of tumult.

DRongo continued. +The Imitators I could have never imagined such a thing with my own mind. It is beyond us. A sign of the voiders higher knowledge.+ The praise was accompanied by a sneer. +And our weakness. With something that could change the Heavens to suit the needs of our greatest enemy such a thing could not be allowed.+

+There were non-affiliated observers,+ Kae said, as Dentons ghosts drifted close. +The the Paladins. The Exorcists. Voidwatch too. They would have never allowed my creation to be weaponized. It was only something meant to mend+

+You didnt trust Voidwatch?+ Avo cast a thought out to DRongo. +Didnt think they could ensure commission parameters per the agreements between the Guilds?+

The womans face settled into a cold glare. +How could they, seeing that they engineered these Imitators specifically for our pacification?+

Her words captured the totality of his attention, and within him, a burgeoning curiosity began to burn.

+Poor helpless voiders,+ DRongo spoke in a mocking whine. +To be so powerful yet hapless against the existence-shifting touch of the Heavensto live at the mercy we, their downtrodden, ignorant, savage cousins bestow.+

She drew near, the ghosts conveying the closeness of her scorn. +But Ive seen the lives they live, their days filled with succulence and wanton salaciousness while we, the beacon of their salvation, wither and bleed and offer death upon death to ensure their protections. And yet, here they are, kingmakers unable to embody their role, spectators to a war trapped in a deadlock.+

A soft laugh rife with dismay followed. +Or so we believed. Do you know what I uncovered with my Incubi after you revealed the existence of the Imitators to me? After you caught sight of their existence through those Fallwalkers? How much effort it took? I created a specialized cell of experts capable of diving beneath the mind of one of their machine consciousnesses without revealing themselves. Oh, it took aid from Omnitech, and the favors I had to trade with those capricious cultists were almost too severe.+

Denton let out a verbalization of surprise that was almost a curse. +Aegis is not going to like this. I didnt think this was real+ He felt something pulse in the back of her mind. Something was happening within the confines of her Meta.



His ghosts tight-linked to the Glaive alone. +You didnt know.+

+No,+ Denton said. +Keep guiding her. This conversation has already paid significant dividends, but she knows more.+

Unaware of the second conversation happening alongside her own, the Elder spoke on, her ghost-channeled perception boring down upon Avo like a glaring spotlight. +Voidwatch themselves didnt create these Imitators? No. They engineered it. Did you know this, priest? It is a fascinating thingan organism even that baffles their sciences almost as much as it does our thaumaturgy. Even their god-machines could be mirrored. And to find it drifting so close to usand taken by a cadre of poor organized Fallwalkers makes me curious if this was by design.+

+What?+ Denton said.

+Iyes,+ Avo said, his use of Chambers more instinct than rationale. The moment was so absurd, so unexpect that he found his thoughts slippery, unwilling to linger long enough for him to decide on a proper course of action. +How did you know?+



She suddenly felt very pleased with herself. Part of Avo wanted to reveal the truth, if only to drive her deeper into the throes of bitterness. He kept up the new charade despite himself as she oozed smugness. +We both have our means. You really should have kept yourself out of the limelight. As much as your master disgusts me, he was wise enough to keep himself from attention.+

+I+ Avo trailed off. He turned to Denton for advice, but found himself offered the mental equivalent of a shrug.

+Whats even happening,+ Kae muttered, her turmoil temporarily interrupted.

+So,+ DRongo said. +You must also be the one that stole Project Dichotomy before Highflame could finally auction the Frame off to another one of their butchers?+



A line of text ran through his cog-feed as a Ghostlink request from Chambers filled his mind. With an acknowledgment, the ex-enforcer tumbled in, mind reeling like a whirlwind of chaos. +Why the fuck does she think Im involved with this? What did you do, Avo?+



+I dont know.+ And that was the honest truth of it.

There were certainly witnesses that placed Chambers and Essus on the scene, but if that was

Avo paused. Avo thought back to an earlier point, back when they were trying to kill Mirrorhead. He had used Chambers mind as a access point. The Incubi knew that as a certain truth.

Could they have assumed Chambers was a disciple of sorts to Walton? Or the Low Masters as a whole?

The insanity of such a prospect made him chuckle. Then laugh. It was the type of amusement one got from witnessing a colossally wrong deduction assumed to be truthan accidental conspiracy theory used in place of a stranger fiction.

+Alright,+ Avo said, too bemused not to continue playing along. He could resequence DRongos mind later if this all went south. With Chambers present, perhaps they could continue extracting the details they needed after all. +You got me.+



+Theres no shame in this,+ DRongo said. +Though I will see you dead for the lives of my guards.+



He grunted. +Doubt you have the traumas needed to settle me.+

Chambers blanched. +Stop! What are you doing+

+So,+ DRongo said. +Using me to glean all these details your master never told them to you?+

+No,+ Avo said. +He was always a+ He knew what he had to say. He had the words, he just needed to speak them. +...A half-strand.+



+Ah,+ DRongo said. +Already, I like you more. Tell me: Do you know where he took the Agnos? Her life is valuable. We just want her back to fix our mistake. If you arrange for her return, I can even see to your induction into our ranks. You have the skillsthink of what you can achieve if you could jack with every need metall the phantasmics you want. And ghosts. No lag. A FATE-Skein as well.+

+Wait, hold on,+ Chambers said, the sensation of him licking his lips bleeding over. +Thats a pretty good deal. I think we should take this. I can be your inside man for Ori-Thaum.+



+Already have Denton,+ Avo said.

+Shes not a man?+

+I suppose that is true,+ Denton deadpanned. +As long as I dont get any new mods.+

+Nonetheless,+ DRongo said, +You must be desperate to attempt such a play. Releasing the informationhaving the Paladin arrest me just to arrange this talk Well played, but we both know I do not fear the end. And though you might have the Agnos, she will be no use to either of us if she doesnt finish her work.+

+And whats that?+

+Restoring the Heaven of Love and turning it against our foes.+ Her voice fell low. +And turning the Arks against our enemies.+