Text;

[undyingcrow]

In light of recent events, I believe we're past due for more information gathering.

First, I'd like to discuss the tower we encountered last month. There were... interesting messages scrawled across its surface, which I thankfully wrote down before its destruction.

They read:

"This remnant-

Carved from [...] First Impact Remains [...]

Meant to be left alone. The Tears used it in their ritual-

Now it's out of control, changing everything it can"

The Convoy Database regards the Silver Tears as effectively the antithesis of the Steel Wardens. Reverent to the moon and its "blessings" (the transformations). I've no doubt they're the ones behind the scattered shrines we encountered some months prior...

And, obviously, we're well acquainted with those wretched Wardens, with their hypocritical obsession with "purging" this world of monsters.

The words "First Impact" stick out to me as significant. I actually spoke with Blake-san about it as well, and she encountered similar mentions of an impact in scavenged books that had a great deal of information scrubbed clean.

There is clearly something that one of the factions does not want us to discover. Given my previous findings, we know that something of significance was broken in two, that the moon goddess suffers in anguish, and a ritual failed, with us as replacement participants to "share her pain" and "put the ritual right."

But now, thanks to that sagebrush, some of us have been gifted with visions, and I believe that if we share our findings, we can come closer to the truth.

In my case, I witnessed a woman dispatching a monster before turning to panicked civilians and murdering one of them in cold blood. Presumably, she went on to kill the rest of them, but the vision ended there.

For the sake of this post, I believe the most pertinent information is:

• Where you had the vision.
• The description of the vision...

An optional detail:

• The object that sparked the vision.

Mine was in the battleground, and the vision came as I tried ripping the sword from a fallen cyborg's hand.

Comments

[undyingcrow]

More of a parallel plane of reality. It is accessed through a smartphone app, however, so I can see the similarities.

[undyingcrow]

Well, we are in what seems to be a post-apocalyptic world overrun with monsters.

"Creepy" falls into genre conventions quite nicely, even if this is far more than a story.

[undyingcrow]

[That's far from a pleasant mental image, even if it's not exactly surprising...]

Repulsive, especially if there was no consent involved. Frankly, at this point, I doubt those Wardens gave a damn.

They only have one priority.

[x2bet]

[Post-apocalyptic worlds overrun with monsters?? This is just a normal world, guy.]

What do you mean, genre conventions?

[purplexing]

Waaait...

Through an app?!

But you're bridging reality...

This sounds like it can be extremely fascinating or a potential headache, but I suppose some supernatural powers of some sort have to come into play here.

[hexrot]

No. Haven't for a while, either.

Ever since the last experiment, I've been . . . Apprehensive. It's too dangerous to dig further with what we have.

[airskate]

I'm more worried that it was consensual. That would mean there were a lot of people working towards the same goal.

[undyingcrow]

Sadly, that's just as likely.

Cults and fascism both are rooted in the idea of following the ideals of a strong and charismatic leader. Similar principles likely apply here.

It's especially effective when people feel powerless and afraid and require a scapegoat to take the blame.

[undyingcrow]

True. Direct testing may present too great of a risk.

Still, do you believe even transcribing new runes individually is too hazardous?

[undyingcrow]

Oh, most certainly.

Not only do we gain supernatural abilities within that world, but the one who granted us the app in the first place was a malevolent "god," evidently, formed from humanity's collective desire to have a higher power dictate their lives.

[undyingcrow]

Well, our present location and circumstances parallel much of the fiction in my own reality.

Horror, dystopia... A sprinkling of science fiction for good measure.

[airskate]

[ Shadow's grasp on Earth history is a little iffy, but he's seen and read enough to have a vague idea of what Akechi is talking about. ]

Are we certain they were just scapegoats?

I'm not saying the Wardens were right, but I've seen how some of the Drifters react during moon warps.

[undyingcrow]

You raise a valid point, but there's a level of extremes between both the Tears and the Wardens, and of the two, I find the Wardens more vile.

They've killed people who weren't even harming anyone, solely for their twisted ideals.

Murder is not something you can so easily take back. I'm quite familiar with that fact.

[airskate]

[ ... Well.

Shadow thinks about Tom, and realizes he can't really argue with that. ]

Do you think any of the ones left can be talked out of it?

[undyingcrow]

It's difficult to say without encountering any humans here.

All of the Wardens we've faced have been impossible to reason with. They're likely too far gone.

[airskate]

It's been the same for me.

[ But... but maybe one of them is still able to be reasoned with. Maybe...?

There's a long, long pause before Shadow finally sends his response. ]

If you meet one that might listen to reason, can you tell me?

I want to try to talk to them.

[undyingcrow]

I'll try.

[He could leave it at that, but...]

The Phantom Thieves aren't murderers. They'd certainly favor another approach, unless left with no other options.

[purplexing]

...

Yep. Definitely a headache.

Soooo in that sense that humanity has subconsciously created their own punishment. Or I suppose, a remedy of a sort.

private

[airskate]

[ Ah, Akechi's friends again. The ones that mean so much to him.

There's another long pause before Shadow responds again. When he does, he's switched the feed to a private one. ]

I killed someone once. Someone who didn't deserve it.

I can't go back and undo it. But someone gave me a chance to do better in the future, and I want to make the most of it.

private from this point on

[undyingcrow]

I understand the feeling all too well.

[To a frustrating degree, really. Perhaps more than Shadow could fully comprehend.]

Killing is one area I excel all too well. At least you've only killed the one individual.

Not that it invalidates your pain or guilt, of course. Rather, you were given that chance early enough that you could change your ways without falling further down that path.

[undyingcrow]

Essentially.

My rival dethroned that false god, but another took his place.

A woefully underqualified therapist, at that.

[purplexing]

I'm afraid to ask how that even works.

[undyingcrow]

Someone had to fill the void, I suppose, and once he obtained the power, he used the knowledge my rival supplied to him about the cognitive world to make himself at home in the proverbial seat of power.

Evidently, that granted him the ability to alter reality and the course of history, which when coupled with a bleeding heart and a self-righteous desire to wipe away the world's woes created a dangerous cocktail of delusions.

[purplexing]

Well that's...awful.

That sounds like a more difficult thing to fix than sending someone back in time to stop an alien invasion.

Text

[electrifyking]

I'm feeling left out; I didn't run into any visions this month. Though based on how unsettled people are about them... Maybe that's a positive after all.

Think people are going to need some food to refuel, after all this? I can offer that much at least.

As for the Steel Wardens and the Silver What's Its... Pretty sure that neither of them count as being friends. Hell, I doubt that they can even stand each other, based on how they act.