Aether is Unbreakable, Section 4

## **Starlight Brigade's Story (from Kara's perspective)**

### **Entry 34**

It was odd having to wake up that morning with the revelation I detailed in the last log, I had to make peace with myself throughout the day.  Jeff wasn't too happy and even as I record this I'm certain he's still contemplating the whole thing.  It turns out Nate was fake too, I wonder where the real one is because the idea worries me.  Kari is able to travel dimensionally and I had memories of Nate being lost from the incident of Operation Black Light.  If this isn't the real Nate then where is he really?  I don't know.  I still have so many questions.  I hate this situation, but I'm trying to find my own answers in it.

Well, I don't know.  We managed to get together and subdue, but not kill, Psyhke.  We left her in one of Hue's planes and Hue would later talk to her civilly.  Because of her capture the plane we fought her in started to warp oddly.  To escape it we followed a dark path down vantablack corridors to a find ourselves crawling through the window of a padded cell in some facility, it wasn't an asylum and I could tell at first.  The feeling was too cold to be anything of mental rehabilitation.  Soon we discovered it to not be an asylum from not only its role in the project that brought Psyche to godhood but also that it was abandoned. Ananke project, that's what it was called. Jeff did his whole post-mortem interrogation but I found something more useful.

Down a dark and damp corridor of fleeting hauntings did I find an old console, similar to the old DOS console in Azathoth's laboratory. This one however held secrets to Breakaway, Ananke, and other black project intel. The console was outdated until we took it and its servers with us in Hue's wagon. Like, get this- we know we're called Axiom Seers. Apparently the rebels have something with the explicit name of "Axiom-Deterrence Armor", and its description is of power armor. If we attempted to look up ourselves or our quarrels, like Azathoth for example, we had no results or strange responses. Given that I was the only one familiar with computers, but not the smartest one there, I took it to myself to administrate the old console from then on.

We made our ways back to Caz's manor with his amazingly simple mass teleport, as we were in the natural plane in a real place and not still in a different plane like Psyhke's. I had to talk to Jeff, I felt like even though I did nothing wrong I had much to ask forgiveness from him for. I wasn't the Kari Frost he loved and bonded with, I was just a tribute. It too kills me inside that it kills him inside. I wanted to tell him how I really felt and try to make him understand, but I failed. He wanted to announce to the group his idea of travelling somewhere because of a letter Hue gave to him from Death himself while Hue was close to dying himself when we fought Ulysses. Whatever the place I don't remember even as I am here currently, the name escaping me in my sullen tide.

In the meantime of travel I rested myself to treat an issue I encountered when we fought Psyhke: SDR was missing. I would have called it a dream if I wasn't meditating, but my mind went into a blank white expanse of nothing, and a voice beckoned me for my identity. A voice genderless and mixed, indescribable otherwise. I wanted to find myself, and I was about to prove I was my own. This must have been my meditation.

"Kara", I stated. "Kara, without a last or middle name. I'll have to get back to you on that."

"Very well, Kara. What is your reason for being?"

"I exist to walk my own path. A path similar to Kari's idea of doing the right thing, but I must make my own decisions. I will not be a pawn of the axis of chaos any longer."

The voice stammered for a moment, then replied, "And how do you wish to do this?"

"By making my own path. My own stories of heroism and my own mistakes. I feel like living her legacy is a lie, I don't have the experiences of hers that make her the 'Legendary Hero of World Zero'. I don't deserve that title because I haven't made my own experiences that define me, yet." I paused for a moment awaiting a response and I was met with silence, and I then asked, "I mean, who are you anyways?"

"I am a friend."

"Nice to meet you, 'a friend', I am Kara! But you already knew that."

The voice chuckled softly and I responded, "If you are one of my friends, then you'll appreciate my humor."

"Trust me, I am. You will find out more than what you've humbly asked for."

Then with that, I awoke from my meditative state.

SDR was back with me when I tried to reach out to her, looking different herself and matching aesthetic to I. I asked where she went.

"I don't really want to talk about it, kinda like floating in an endless void. It was very empty."

"We can't celebrate much, we've got a job to do. But if you even do belong to me or not, or however ascending you got the real Kari the SDR we know, it's still great to have you back." We traded a fist bump, which she put her palm out and not her fist at mine and we shared a momentary glare before bursting out into laughter.

We got to this place and little was I prepared for the idea that it also meant something to Hue, specifically his past. It was about a gang of Oni who brought his circus to the ground, something I'm not familiar with yet. Apparently they threatened him on the spot and he greeted them with his own, and they were no match for him. I was with Duke when that happened, heading our way to the Aether Guard outpost in that city for some record sifting. When I let the idea of Jeff get to me I told Duke I had to step out, then leaving the office to find Jeff and Caz in a graveyard searching for this person Death wanted. I learned then that it was because this person cheated death, and with that realization I asked why Jeff was so stupid to have considered this person who cheated death to be in a cemetery at all. It was then that Jeff and I went to find Hue as Caz went back with Duke. From Hue we learned that this gang frequented a bar down the street, and upon getting Duke and Car back with us we headed for this bar.

The five of us were outcasts, bright pink in a sea of green, when we entered that bar. Bartender was friendly enough for what it was worth and after a while some patrons began to act suspicious. One apparently said something incriminating as Hue immediately got him outside and put us all into one of his planes. It was then that this person gave us the answer that our target given by Death was in a hideout far into the desert dunes. Before Hue executed our captive he informed us that the last gang leader he killed resurrected himself. With that warning none were surprised to see the same but instead were surprised to see him explode into bile and sinew. It wasn't in a good way, as if he just splat. It was some kind of biohazard we were facing, his remnants felt...infectious.

### **Entry 35**

The morning came soon enough and we made our way out to the desert dunes, my way. In the AE86 I was surprised to still have, and thankfully mixtapes of Kari's eurobeat still existed even. I felt a moment of happiness, not like I emulated this woman but that we shared a common interest. I didn't know it, but I was driving for hours. It was only when Caz instructed I take a right turn that I noticed a clean paved road that forked into the dusty path we had been driving on for so long. I drove off to the side and put away the AE86, which come to think of it I didn't notice until then that it still was Kari's shadow AE86. We climbed a dune and below us in a massive crater was what Caz pointed out to me. Commanding the others to lie prone, I spoke first.

"If any of you can do recon, scout the place. I'll head in alone, silently this time and we'll keep it that way. Jeff, you said Death wants this person brought back?"

"Uh, yeah. He said she cheated death."

"Unless you need to do it, I can assassinate her in the midst." Though just then, Caz chimed in.

"You know I'm more fond of the idea that we just barge right in, in the car." They all subtly discussed around, mumbling to each other our sentiments. Hue proclaimed, "How good is your car, relatively speaking?" looking at me.

"Well, it was Kari's. To her it was first made 106 years in the past. To us, well, it won't be made for another 61 years."

"It's a car from the future?" Hue asked.

"Yes. With the knowledge that Kari had I can tell it was a DOHC straight pull eight-piston engine, that being dual overhead camshaft. The engine was combined with elements of the 2JZ RZ engine to have combined properties of small size in the hood compartment, reduced emissions, higher performance, better acceleration, and modified stock handling. I remember how she did it, almost as if it were engineering mechanical genius, being able to do so much to the car without the need of turbocharging it and instead supercharging it!"

Everyone was staring at my like I exhaled utter nonsense and I remembered DOHC engines, let alone that technology, wouldn't be around until the rest of the century at least. "To answer your initial question let me put it in relative terms of speed. How fast is the fastest car nowadays?" To that everyone stopped for a moment, and Duke answered me.

"Maybe 60 miles per hour?"

"With that, this car is measured mainly in kilometers per hour with the miles per hour in the inside measure." With a short process of thinking out loud I answered, "This car is supposed to only be able to go maybe 90 to 100 miles per hour-"

"That's much faster." Hue replied, but I wasn't finished.

"However this is not a stock AE86. As opposed to 100 miles per hour, this thing tops out at around 183 miles per hour."

"We should have no trouble causing some if we were to barge right in." said Caz, having closed in our mode of attack. I was about to object, but instead I thought back to the meditation for just a flash, then looking back at Caz.

"I would normally be inclined to object, but today I feel as if I agree." With that we all got right back in and I hard charged right over the dunes, flying in the air and landing in the flat crater below in a skid. Controlling into a drift, we didn't waste any time.

SDR saluted Randy off with her minigun to give him some ranged action, and I turned to Jeff for just a moment to get his attention and said, "Here, in case you need range too. You won't be as skilled as I with it so I'll give you the one that hurts the most." handing him my Colt Single-Action Army. Spells cast everywhere from us at enemy camps and the building itself: invisible fire burning the tents, cast geysers pulverizing the building's foundation, glass cyclones warding off pursuers, and much more. I spent my time focusing on driving, and I can't say I've ever recalled a time with a smile that prevalent.

The enemy tried so hard to shoot at us but even gunfire wasn't able to scratch the car as I maneuvered around the circular crater at unreachable speeds. Many pursuers got in their own cars and cut us off from ahead, given it wasn't hard to tell we were driving in a circle. I just weaved around them, but Jeff had geysers blast them into the air and SDR even picked up one and threw it at another. To ward off anyone else I would give SDR 7.62 NATO rounds (funny, as NATO doesn't exist here) from my FAL magazines to effectively flick so hard as to shoot them from her bare hands. Duke cast a pillar at the ground to make a ramp and I took it to drive up and over the remaining pursuing cars, the rest of my friends doing much like incinerating the cars and casting pillars as large roadblocks to stop them from following our circuit path.

I noticed after some time that Caz was not with us but instead in the crumbling building, sneaking up on someone. In all the chaos Death himself assisted Jeff in this daring mission, and I can see why honestly. After learning the true nature of what that infectious feeling from the previous day was, a magically casted everlasting life with the side effect of a kind of zombie virus, it wasn't much longer before I noticed Caz speaking to a book in his hands with the woman gone and a sword on the ground. I didn't want to assume anything but a memory from searching the console late last night made me wish it wasn't so. I recalled reading that the lousy rebel forces lost the Necronomicon, and seeing death so prevalent, someone cheating death, Jeff and Death involved, and Caz talking to a book made me assume something dire.

### **Entry 36**

A wave of energy and a surging realization, and not a moment's pause did the undead being lunge at Caz. Its name once was Alma Yokomori. This city and this name, it reminded me that within Kari's memories of a place called Japan. I wondered if there was a connection, then shifting to second gear and hitting all pedals to drift ourselves into a new route. With as much traction as rear-wheel drive gets on sand gets I drove head on towards her, at the last second slamming my feet onto all three pedals, shifting back down into second gear from when I sped up, and threw the steering wheel to the left and ever so quickly back to the right. I did a 180 turn, hitting the heaviest end, the back end, of the AE86 right into Alma. She was thrown into a boulder near a pylon's wreckage. I drove forwards slightly and ordered everyone out of the car, myself climbing on top of it as a vantage point.

The battle was quick, Duke and I making quick work of this peon of the Necronomicon. After her final death, Death himself arrived to claim dues, thank Jeff and the rest of us, and explain the situation of the book. It is fate, it seems, for this to occur and occur every so often. With order comes chaos, this is the natural order. He cast the book into the beyond and left us to our continued musings.

It was easier traveling back to the city, and back to the Aether after that, and yet another job aligned in our path. We were to investigate a Breakaway outpost in the Fengloom. Now see this, with the console found from investigating Psyhke's realm further down its forgotten path we were one step ahead of everyone. Ahead of the Breakaway, ahead of the new gods, and ahead of our own faction. Me especially, as I would tirelessly spend late nights and early mornings investigating all I could from this terminal. With Kari's knowledge of modern computers, I grew impatient with this hardware but I was making an effort for the rest of my friends' convenience. We knew about this Fengloom outpost's status and the rest of them for that matter, so this was no surprise to us.

### **Entry 37**

We were, well, anxiously teleported to this base with some very excited Aether FNGs intercepting the portal ritual that allows people into the outpost to begin with. It was a lot less of an exciting mission than I would have hoped for by the end, as in I was sneaking around the whole base but it was unnecessary given that there was no one readily there to notice me. Everyone but one lone rebel was petrified on the spot, and would come to action if disturbed as some kind of stone sentry.

Everyone was left petrified in place, animate only with our intervention. At the end of the meandering halls was a row of cells. One where some of these statues stood around, and in it a breach. The breach led to a forest, oddly enough. It was overgrown at all angles and in it was a rebel left still yet not petrified, the only movement he could muster being moving his eyes and eyelids.

This rebel man, as by his uniform, was rather helpful to us as it were.  Shamefully, though, there wasn't a thing to be done regarding his situation so we had only to leave him there for the time being.  Turning the corner and further into the forested offshoot we went, low and behold Hestia sat in front of us all in a clearing.  She wasn't all that perceptive of us, but she wasn't alone and Hugh's Vessh friend Python was in a small meadow closer to us- he couldn't have noticed us though.  He was eyeless, and earless, if you could even call it that.  It's more like his modules for those senses were removed.  I can't exactly explain what happened next much other than Hugh confronted Hestia alone and had to do so with a hand behind his back for it was like a father talking to a child that isn't his own.  He did it, though only two of us are rather incapable of speechcraft as fine as that.  What the expected outcome was that Python was returned to us, but what did surprise me is mostly that it worked because Hugh promised Hestia he'd show her his circus and thus she came with us.

Well, that was three dealt with and stepped down, and two remained.  Arachne was next.  First order though was getting Python back in shape, and given that me being a gunsmith and Kari being a mechanic in her youth that meant I was resident mechanic.  Not that I was upset about that, it was something I was capable of doing and willing to at that.  Hugh and I went about finding a means to repair Vessh hardware and found essentially what you'd call a robot clinic?  Frankly, when a race exists out there that is of metal and servos I don't really know what I was expecting.  Some rather big big Vessh guy exchanged a greeting with us on the way in as they made their way out, really impressive to be honest.  With the Kari thoughts still within my head somewhat my first instinct is what I'd give to sit down and talk about him with that guy, but then I considered how odd it would be for someone to want to talk about how I'm a changeling.

Hugh was able to gather the appropriate parts and I got a manual on working out Vessh operations.  As we returned to the circus and made our way to the big top tent itself, we settled down on the performing floor and I made the first capable advancement by installing Python's reciprocal audio functions (his ears).  After a bit of directing on basic circutry and mechanical do's and don't's I handed the manual to Hugh saying, "If there should be any questions, this will help you quicker than running after me." as I went off relatively nearby up into the general seating area to begin work on my own arsenal for the next few hours.  I had the general thought in the back of my mind that should things go wrong I was both in earshot and had a sight picture on their progress.

It was after some time that I had to make my way to this Nate that sat around the camp.  One may not remember it, but he is as close to Nate as I am to Kari: a clone in their shadow.  He took it a bit worse than I did, questioning a means of will and being, as you'd expect someone in an identity crisis to be feeling.  I felt it was my duty above all to convince him what I had been convincing myself as I went along, that being that realizing we are not who we were made to be simply means we're free from any shackles.  Free to live our own lives, no gods or masters unless we should choose to include any.  It was heartfelt, and he was thankful.  I didn't give him a means to reach me other than saying, "Should you need us, the circus remains for as long as I can foresee".  He left the circus with what he had, and went off to wander that lonesome road

### **Entry 38**

As I had said prior, Arachne was next, and that's just what we set out to do. We knew where to go, and we knew we couldn't simply walk on inside whatever place they were holed up within. An odd travel, at that. Caz stole some museum artifact that was of the area in question and planar teleported us straight there. It was a swampland of some sort, on the coast of either the grand ocean or some lake I actually wasn't sure. What was immediately apparent were the ooze-like monstrosities wandering amongst and open yard. I do call it a yard because there was a dock abandoned, boats, crates, and all. It's not that these things looked threatening, it's simply that my mind, Kari's mind I suppose, went first to attempt to harmlessly sneak around these things.

With what one might imagine, given first that they understand my modus operandi to some extent, I was able to sneak around those things. In situations where I simply could not silent step my way around them I threw empty magazines at where I wanted their attention to be. In a world where the FAL hasn't been invented yet, it matters not when I make my own magazines anyways, forever the memory and blueprints as to how. The only thing I am partial to any given magazine on that rifle is the nose-in, rock-back nature of it and nothing more. I scouted ahead capably to find a cave entrance that led a railway from deep within it to the end of the dock in a straight line. I did remember at that moment that all Caz needed to teleport somewhere was an accurate imagine in his mind or a piece of something from a place. I took with me a sizable pile of gravel and snuck my way back.

"Any luck?" as Hugh subtly greeted my unscathed return.

"Caz, it is true that in lue of a real image in your mind a piece of a place will allow you to mass teleport us to a location, yes?"

"Indeed that is the case, yes." he replied, and I handed forth the pile of gravel. With a singular look at it he returned a toothy grin and replied further with, "Splendid". After calling Jeff and Duke forth to us, Caz in an instant grabbed us all with his many arms and took the gravel pile in an empty hand, just as quick as it happened there we were at the mouth of the cave.

Hugh and I went ahead, though I insisted I lead until we need to split paths, and good for it too as to our left was an open door with a light on that connected to the cave at the very end of it. Within this doorway was a small storeroom of rotten foods, strangely enough, and a rather worse for wear Breakaway rebel. He had tar coming from his mouth and his fingers were a gangrenous black, though also by tar. His eyes were bloodshot and blackened. At first my instinct was to sneak past him but I knew my allies would not be so fortunate to do so. The next though of what to do was the one enacted, as I suplexed him unconscious.

This place was some sort of Breakaway compound, or at least was at once point, and at that point was being used instead as a church for Arachne and whatever narcotic that caused such tar. The complex was full of these guys, though my best practices were used from that point on as the halls themselves at that point were large enough to not be detected. Through searching around and eventually revealing to the worshippers there that really we meant no harm so long as we could all see reason, many things were revealed. The whole manner of being detected was that Jeff decapitated some man, and we all had to sit around and deal with resurrecting him. That was new, but at that time it was pretty clear that these worshippers weren't going to be our enemy.

First thing is that if they should choose to intake this tar then so be it. Sure, they have loved ones that care about their health and would wish not to waste away in solitude in the swamps but at that point so long as they meant no wrongdoing I would allow them within myself to not push the issue any further. That might be where Kari and I differ, her morals and selfless intentions are her law whereas bygones are just as they are for me. Secondly was that if these worshippers overdosed or suffered chronic effects they were held in a ward, which if they became unstable turned into a prison. Beyond that, they were locked away in separate dormitories. When I mention being locked away I do mean it, the doors were barred off and sealed more heavily than to desperately keep undead within. For all I was aware, that was the case as when I attempted entry all I was returned with was roaring and banging at the door.

In this regard, it was Jeff's path to speak further with Arachne as we initially came here for. Of all that should, it would be another arachnomorph. The worshippers did some noticeable good by allowing such, as that would mean forgiving Jeff for the act of murder first. At one off section of the hallway was a pile of gold and gilded treasures, as the word "treasures" really does describe well this odd pile of metal trinkets that lay stacked at head height to act as a noisemaker and deterrent to entry. Behind this pile of "treasures" was apparently where we'd see Arachne, but not before one of us drank from the tar itself. As you can imagine Jeff did just that, and for directly taking a concentrated and pure narcotic orally I'd say he handled it rather well actually. No high or anything, just sadness.

It really did feel like we went all that way for nothing, but I do suppose it wasn't for naught. Arachne did not settle on our terms and neither party, ours or her alone, really wanted to fight each other. I suppose we just settled on a "Or else" clause, though if I recall that would be problematic to our long-time deal with Salieri some months ago. At the time I assumed nothing more would come of that, though. We left just as we came, with a singular teleport.

### **Entry 39**

Upon returning to base our CO awarded us with an unrewarding payment, but with rewarding news. Two Breakaway bases were about to be lain under siege, one named Site Alpha and the other Site Omega as ambiguous as it was. We did go in that order, starting with Site Alpha. It wasn't what I'd call a long trip, but long enough to again resort to tinkering with my arsenal a bit to pass the time (so possibly a few hours at least). Upon arriving there we were assaulted by Breakaway aerial and surface-to-air defenses which were easily depleted of. Something, though, was very wrong when I stepped off of Scallion's ship and laid my foot on the stone-tiled dock. A deep feeling of dread and a chill down my spine told me, along with a mass of unequivocal evidence, that I knew this place. This place was where I was made, under Azathoth's guise.

There were Breakaway rebels at the gate to attempt and stop us, but given what we know and just how powerful we are it was, and still is, better to just convince them to stand down and not have us take their lives. In fact, in a room off to one side we were able to find a few of them guarding what looked to be a storeroom. A storeroom solely consisting of containers that only held three things: Sprite Cranberry, Twinkies, and the AE86. In our attempt to have them stand down and surrender intel, Hugh noticed one with an open can of Sprite Cranberry. The conversation about it between me and him deserves its justice being read word for word:

"My, why have you there? Wouldn't happen to be a Sprite Cranberry, would it?"

"Y-yes?" the rebel meagerly said, before proclaiming, "It's not that great or anything I thought".

"Take note rebels, for what you are witnessing here will become the next scientific study of focus, your friend here."

"Wh-what do you mean?"

"Oh I shouldn't be bothered to begin to describe what horrors the side effects of ingesting it are."

"No, tell me!" yelled the rebel, as he stood there in a cold sweat with a worrying expression. One that only grew as I went further in my immediate response.

"Do you think you'll live long enough to change your mind even if I told you? You couldn't possibly have known, the can is innocuous and welcoming in its printed designs and futuristic nutritional labelling. You had no idea of knowing, no idea of realizing, what mortal danger you are in from ingesting such a substance known only as Sprite Cranberry!" as at that moment the poor guy passed out cold in fear. Job well done, I thought, as I erupted into a fit of genuine laughter in that echoey warehouse. Never until that moment had I a reason to laugh in such a way, and for once I felt alive.

The others pretty quickly surrendered themselves as well as anything we asked them pretty quickly. Never once have I use the instilled fear of a carbonated beverage in a bluff as an interrogation tactic, but now I can have that one in my interrogation repertoire.

Like a storm of absolute chaos, we failed to stay in one spot to level the opposition with random nothingness, so we split off our efforts. Myself, Jeff, our summons, and one of Duke's summons went one way and the entire rest of the group went another. The direction we took was farther back into the warehouse room, finding a freight elevator before us. I attempted to hack it but it had no interface, so I attempted to rewire it instead. That wasn't going to work either because for every port there was a wire directly somewhere, no simplification or efficient current movement at all. It was a mess of wires, and we didn't have all day and night. I ordered Duke's summon to attempt to take hold of a structural weakpoint, then ordering Randy to do the same and asking SDR to take the opposing side to Randy. Jeff thought he'd speed up the process by spitting up acid on the locking rails of the elevator for more leverage but instead we just plummeted down the elevator shaft, it reminded me of a story Kari knew of Dr. Peterson. Though, the memory of the story was an afterthought, as I didn't have enough time to think that when it actually happened given how quick we went from the top of the shaft to the bottom and then into combat. As soon as the elevator hit the bottom we found ourselves surrounded by, well, Kari. Four of her. Though, I knew it wasn't her, it was just another like me. Difference being that I had free will.

### **Entry 40**

A squad of Karis wasn't going to stop me, and I certainly knew that if they were anything like me then all our friends here were in trouble as well. I have enough of a kick in my step to even dodge bullets quite literally, reflexes sharp enough to cut skin, and a level of intellect to stay one step ahead and have a plan to kill or subdue every adversary I cross. This, though, I cannot say is something my allies all have together. Duke is stronger, much stronger than I, with both faith and charm about him. Hugh is likewise charming, and is a combination of many great skills. Caz much more reflexive and insightful than I, and possibly just as smart at least. Jeff is the same way, indeed very smart, but his skills lie more in relations and stands as a reminder of us to stay grounded despite our significance. It is only I who possesses these skills all together, despite Jeff being smarter than I and Caz more insightful, though I am unparalleled in my sleight of hand and acrobatics. This is why the party is in danger as surely these fakes are rather dexterous as well, which meant they knew how to handle a firearm accurately, though they'd have to try harder to compete with me.

You would be surprised how easily we took those fake Karis, though I am a fake too but that is beside the context here, but not without Jeff taking a serious beating as he is both easy to hit and not of high constitution. As we regrouped I had warned them about hostile fake Karis, as opposed to the friendly one I am, but at that time Hugh and Caz both mentioned having seen three already and having their own difficulties fighting them. Caz went on a bit about it, explaining how he both found a letter from his Uncle in a passage further down and that he would despise being my adversary in a fight.

As Caz attempted to show us what it was he found, it seems someone else found us instead. An old face, no less. The Breakaway insurgent in the snake-like ship we crashed into one of the many layers of hell so long ago, and this time we got the pleasure of his name: Iron King. At least, that was his name so said he, but to me he was a king of nothing but the airship he stood on. Allied with meager rebels and another squad of Karis, we had to do something about it. The king of nothing also had something similar to Duke's supreme summon and it turned out to be just as hard to hit as I imagined Duke's was. Well, difficult for all but me. Turns out, the king of nothing not only singled out Hugh to the point of him dying a second time but Caz's mutagen spell was not a good combo. Well, enough chaos energy formed from dead Hugh to create a chaos dragon in his stead and Jeff being a reaper had something to say about that. By the end the ship was split in half, the king of nothing was sent into oblivion itself, and his crew but ashes. What did remain was the dragon, and so we didn't have to waste our time trying to fight it Caz spoke to it to offer this base as its home and I guess according to him it accepted those rules.

Little did I realize that I would return once after that point, but at that current moment I felt something was missing since we left immediately due to the dragon. I didn't get to see what exactly it was that Caz wanted to show me, but even when I later returned I would be disappointed.

It was the same long trip back to the Aether, and we rested up to take on the other objective we had been given. That day in particular was a long day.

### **Entry 41**

Site Omega was much different in its atmosphere than Site Alpha, as Omega was not only in the Natural World it was in a desert. Reminded me of a place Kari calls "New Mexico", though I wondered what Old Mexico was as I stepped foot off of the ship just as I did dozens of times before. While we were entering the base a lot of the Aether Guard there was a bit more than excited to see "Special Forces" arrive, and the, uh, lieutenant or ensign commanding there led the way to explain their situation. I don't really remember what he was by rank, just that we had operational authority.

The situation was a bit more average than out prior sorties. Aether stuck on the top floor, Breakaway on literally every next floor, person in charge was communicating to the Aether through whatever console system was installed in the facility with threats, taunts, and warnings. To be honest, I didn't think the same thing would happen twice in order to get down to other levels. While Caz sloshed his way into the vent system with whatever his eldritch whatnots would allow him to do, the rest of us took the elevator down with force. To be honest, I personally just didn't want to open the control panel cover again and nearly vomit at the poor electrical efficiency tolerances these insolent rebel engineers made.

As the elevator crashed down, and Hugh not one to take the fall having flown to hover above us a bit, we must have landed on someone as a meaty crunch accompanied the crash to the lowest floor that elevator could take. I'll have to make this description brief as I personally don't remember much given my thoughts were elsewhere, still on what I had been missing in Site Alpha. The one who was talking through the base's internal communications system noticed when I attempted to hack a door open and my first thought was to identify myself as one of rebels and impersonate him as well. Apparently there must have been some kind of closed circuit system because he wasn't so easy to fool. Hugh just popped through the big door I was working on and the man on the comms system was more interested in Jeff at that point. I thought for a moment at something long ago, that Jeff said he was looking for his sister (who we met briefly) but also for his younger brother? Something almost wanted me to disbelieve that, but it made sense once I remembered that Jeff also said his younger brother joined the rebels. I couldn't be sure unless I saw it myself, as I wouldn't know his brother by voice as I'd never met him.

Apparently, this voice over the comms was rather welcoming of us simply walking in and around the base and unlocked the door for us. He described to us what each room's purpose was wherever we went, and his word choice made me think it was either that he was proud of it all or was attempting to convince us to switch sides. Caz appeared, and for some reason with some elven woman that he said he released from a cell. I guess either the voice didn't mind or didn't care that she walked free with us, though when we went a floor lower however he was much more interested in us seeing an experiment. We didn't exactly get to wander around as we came face to face with rebels with irradiated power armor that made them stand tall and firm, guiding us to an observation room. "Axiom Buster Suits," I thought to myself, "Must have been".

This experiment was of some elven man in an angled-up hospital bed, and an interesting chalice. The elven woman Caz brought with us pleased and begged, telling the guards in suits to let her brother go. Well, it's not like I'd sit there and let it happen when there's no moral good to. After a bit of a debate of what morals mean and the difference between right and wrong with the voice on the comms, Hugh and Caz thought the same as I as suddenly Hugh swapped places with the elven man, Caz targeted the chalice, and I broke the observation room glass window into pieces. We overpowered the supposed "Axiom Buster" suits a bit too easily as the battle extended out back into the hallways we arrived from. Well, funny enough down the hall was the voice on the comm's office and I suppose my intuition was correct. The man was Octavius Wright, Jeff's younger brother. We tried, Jeff tried, to get him to come with us but Octavius was less unwilling because of rebel loyalty or stubbornness but instead of self pity.

As one might guess, we stuffed him into the cone like "Nate"'s ally. As one might not have guessed, he worked with Grotesque. In fact, she funded everything and provided everything for the base before disappearing entirely. Well, we know where she ended up as we killed her. Then, Caz and I killer her again. Apparently Octavius had been working with something in a secret room behind a large painting in his office, but was entirely surprised when we opened it up to find no one and nothing. At that point our work was done and the rebels would have to back down or be absorbed into the Guard. We left Site Omega to return to the Aether for a much needed week long break.

### **Entry 42**

I can't exactly say what everyone else did during that time but there are few exceptions. I spent the first few days thinking about a light machine gun design Kari was somewhat fond of, something called the Stoner 63a Commando. Was made for a military force called the "Navy Seals" in a place she called "the United States of America", 50 years into the future. I tried my best to remember her disassembling it for cleaning and field stripping so I could get an understanding for the parts inside the weapon, and after two days of writing things down haphazardly in my tent at the circus I took it as rough but workable blueprints to a machine shop in the Aether. I rented out a space for three days and three nights. Somewhere on the second day or so Caz sought me out to ask for my assistance in something and I had to tell him that I would be glad to do so after I finish this machine project. He left patiently and I did just that when I finished the Stoner 63a. It worked really well, and I can only hope that if and when I get to World Zero that it matches the real one except that it used plastic furniture and I had to use wood. Thankfully, wood is stronger than plastic but there were problems of where plastic is thin and wood is not that I had to compensate for so in places the furniture is bulky.

After a resolute wardrobe change I readily helped Caz in his expedition, tinkering on the 63a on the way there, and where we went exactly I have no clue. All I know is that he had Scallion take us to some strange demonic plane for a singular brick and he needed me for protection detail since with guns I'm rather good at that. After Caz and I got his brick and returned to the Aether I watched as he returned to his work and away from Scallion's ship. I stayed there, and I asked Scallion to take my somewhere specific. That somewhere being Site Alpha. I still had something in the back of my mind that was bothering me, and I would only partially be let down by my findings.

As one might infer from past dealings of me and Azathoth, you'd expect the dealings of finding him to be less than simple negotiations. As it turns out, they're more likely to speaking terms than one would imagine based on their track record with me. As it turns out, there's more to the story than it would seem as that is the whole issue here: as what something might seem, but isn't actually.

Sweeping each corner in Site Alpha and checking every terminal (I thought I checked every terminal at the time, at least), I eventually turned the corner to see Kari. Thinking it was a leftover one of those bio-drones that I am I opened fire on it with the 63a. To my surprise, there it stood, and it gave me a sarcastic comment:

"My, now that that is over with may we deal with each other civilly?" I didn't know what to say, that is until I realized who this actually was.

"Well, excuse me but the last time something took that form that wasn't me it was hostile. That's a mistake on your part if anything, you and I both know how Kari was trained in her counter-terrorist group."

"Indeed so." proclaimed Azathoth, and in Kari's form it began to approach me. Deep inside me I knew from my past dealings that this could be danger, but some intuition of mine reassured my mind and kept me still. Azathoth straight walked past me and into a room with terminals I checked prior, a room that had every terminal in fact. It told of the Void Net program, and it was by this program I exist. As they entered the room, they procured a crowbar and walked towards the first terminal in the back of the room.

"My, you must have a lot of questions, yes? Ask them now, while we've both got the opportunity to be here."

"On one condition."

"And what might that be?"

"You leave Kari's form in peace. She's already been butchered and bullied in this multiverse enough, even by me. She doesn't deserve to be tarnished by you, these wretched clones, or even my own self." Azathoth drew a deep sigh and relented, changing to a form akin to what I knew them as but as an older woman rather than an older man. I realized it then that what betrayed their appearance as Kari is what betrayed he always and me sometimes: orange eyes.

I won't begin to record every word that was said, simply because there is no way I can remember every exact word that was said. I was talking with Azathoth for what felt like the whole day, but was actually maybe an hour or two straight. The short of it, all the while they were smashing the consoles up to pieces, was disappointing, even they too were disappointed by the answers they had to provide. It didn't matter, because the truth itself was disappointing. The Void Net program was something that caught their interest, and it was funded by the rebels as an attempt to get the upper hand as always. It was an antenna that swept other dimensions with no tuning whatsoever, so it's like trying to find a specific AM radio channel without knowing its frequency except if the frequency required tuning to the millionths place. Maybe even more precise than that.

The Void Net, somehow, only produced four things, and once the first item had gone through then the rebels were able to more accurately tune it. The first was Sprite Cranberry, which is a bit strange. If you think about how that works relative to Kari's time then that does confirm that it was a hop in universes and not also a travel back in time. My understanding of Kari using SDR to hop universes in indeed that it was a swap, and not a travel back in time and a swap. This means that when it is 1924 here that it is 2091 there, and that is the parallel value. Though, I am unsure what that means for these other memories regarding her son and so forth, like what year Ferox is in. Maybe one day I'll have the chance to visit him myself.

The second item to travel through the Void Net and into Site Alpha was a Twinkie. The third, the AE86. This explains how Salieri was able to conjure them, but also first sell them. The fourth and final new item to go through the net was a wraith copy of Katya. Through that Azathoth was able to milk it to produce clones of Kari, such as myself. It slipped my mind at the time, but I couldn't have been the only except to the army of clones. By that time, Azathoth was done destroying all of the terminals. The last thing was that where Caz had shown me was a strange and astral room had at that current time been replaced by a wall. Azathoth mentioned something about being glad I didn't go in there, some dreams of the real Azathoth or what not. I asked what they meant by that, and the response was something along the lines of the being I was talking to was actually more like a fragment or a comfortable form of Azathoth. They gave me their best answers so my trip back to Site Alpha was concluded, but it did not sate my unease I went there with to solve.

There was one question that I do remember quite vividly, and it was one regarding Ping Keraser. I asked why he left, and why was it that only I remember him, and Azathoth frankly answered that he was a null variable.

"How could you say that about a living being? He was more of a free individual than I was at the time and I'm regarded as a hero for things I haven't done, and as great potential for having power that shouldn't be mine. I adhere to Kari's morals strictly for this one, whereas normally I go with what I think is proper in a situation: a person's life is of no masters but their own selves solely. If one is to disregard him, that would be just as able to disregard me, my allies, or all of society."

"Very well, Kara. Think what you must on the issue and I won't refute it."

### **Entry 43**

Well, there wasn't much else of that break we had by the time I had concluded it with that trip to Site Alpha. Well, actually, we'd be fighting fire soon enough and all of us simply were itching to know what our favorite pyrotechnics "expert" might have in mind. Turns out, something exactly like the grapefruit bombs but instead it was a passionfruit. And it froze targets rather than burned them. Well, with what we were expecting to come across I couldn't resist but to purchase 25 of them for about a quarter of my heavy wallet's worth. Given that they were smaller than a grapefruit I was able to tape them around a stick easier for that "AT grenade" function, able to get 5 on a stick rather than just 3.

What me and my allies had before us at the end of the break was taking care of the last of the newly ascended gods: Prometheus. We knew exactly where to go, an island somewhere in the southwest. It was an ashen island, and its volcano still there. Remnants of its past left sunken in igneous ground on hills and in barren ashen deserts. It took a day of travel to see even the first sight of civilization, and even then when we got there the scorched and crackled inhabitants weren't kind towards us. Though, they weren't hostile. Perhaps it was a means to warn us to leave, but it was soon after we showed up when a loud bell tolled and all those townspeople ran for their homes. What they were hiding from we'd soon know: people just like them, but instead bellicose. As you'd imagine given us as a group we'd take care of any belligerents very quickly. Turns out these cultists spawned beings of ash and they were thrice as strong as the cultists themselves were. Fancy that.

The townspeople were quite thankful for our efforts, and rewarding as such they told us of the two sides to this religious feud on the island. The civil folk, those like them, worshipped the flame of prometheus with the abbot Rumwold in the volcano itself. The cultist folk like those we wiped with the dead leaves and the dirty ground were within an abandoned military base at the coast in the opposite direction. Well, as one might imagine, that base used to be a Breakaway base. We went up the hills and into the mountain to consult the abbot first, as perhaps if he is peaceful then he might too want the cultists in their own way to leave them alone.

In the volcano itself was a large cavern, and in the center was a lectern stalwart before a massive pit of fire that extended high before us. So much so I'd almost consider it licking the ceiling of the cavern, which was probably a hundred feet high at least. When we spoke to the abbot we got exactly the peace we expected in his message, but he was particular to speaking with Duke more. The abbot told us that the cultists in the base were led by someone referred to as the "reverend", and he was the major belligerent that is causing all this infighting. We knew what and who to look for, and after that meeting we went back down and furthermore to this abandoned rebel base to confront this reverend.

The base itself was heavily populated on the outside, and as such I again shed some light in the dark. We had been given sending stones by Hugh some time ago, it's time we use them. There were two paths into this building, one was a walkway close to us and the other was a hallway much further down and was much more likely to be seen walking into. I snuck over to the walkway, and down it was a shorter hallway into a small smithing area. A cultist was busy at work within a smithing bench, and after easily making my way past him undetected there was a small room with cultists and ash beings surrounding a taller, armored individual. Best guess was between what sight fell before me and the fact that he was reading from scripts preaching about violent flame that this was the reverend. There wasn't much of a better way around them, as there was only one doorway further and it was too cramped of a room to sneak past anyone, but luckily I learned a thing or two from Ping before his sudden disappearance.

The shadowcloak he used that I too had obtained a copy of at one point could allow me short range teleportation, just the edge I needed to get past. Upon doing so I took shelter in a bunk room, and although it did have one sleeping cultist I could most definitely deal with him with a single bullet. That would wait at that moment there, as I hid under an unoccupied bed and used the sending stone to contact Hugh. I asked him to make a distraction of some kind to get the base's attention outside with the rest of the party. I also mentioned I found the reverend and that I would make it quick. After waiting a moment for something to kick up to keep the mass of hostiles outside busy while I dealt with the small group with the revered, I used the stone to ask Duke to move his giant golden knight summon to block the doorway I went in through, and I can only assume he did as such given future events.

I got up from the bed and used my Mk23 to take out the cultist on the other bed, and it didn't even need more than one bullet. I brought out that double-barreled rocket launcher I forged, the RPG-14, and quite literally opened fire on the reverend and his group. All of the cultists in the room were swept into the very ash they praised, leaving two ash beings and the reverend only a bit singed. I brought SDR out to face the ash beings as I faced the reverend alone. All according to plan.

Actually, it may have been according to plan, as Duke's golden knight did advance to assist SDR and block the halls on the way (I can only imagine with a single thrust of the spear that he dealt with the guy I passed on the smithing bench). What I didn't expect is that even with my spry footwork and agile edge over the reverend, he was still able to hit me more times than most. It hurt quite a bit, but I wouldn't let a substantial amount of pain stop me from completing the mission. It was a total of nine cold-exploding passionfruit that would wipe the reverend off the face of the plane, always being faster than him before throwing it. The party finished up everyone outside soon after and it didn't even occur to me that at this point this entire base was dim and dark, running off auxiliary power at best. I suppose my natural instinct when it is dark is that it works to stealth, especially when darkvision aids to its own accord.

After sorting through the intel and little leftovers of the abandoned base we went all the way back to the abbot to tell of the happenings of the reverend being killed solely by fruit. It was, however, too easy of a fight and too strange of a world we live in to be surprised when the reverend and several cultists appeared behind us in the entryway we traversed not but one minute before our conversation with the abbot. The reverend as one might imagine was not happy, and I imagine he'd be the least happy with me. While preparing to distance myself being the sniper I am, the reverend began to chant and this I do recall:

"Do you really think that what you burn, the ash and dust, the livestock, and the flora will suffice for our mighty lord Prometheus? No! And isn't that right, my lord? You need more to burn! More to fuel your lordship!" And with that, the pit of fire erupted violently, and within it came a being of flame massive and great. With no second guesses, this was Prometheus. The abbot and other pious members who were not cultists took shelter, those that weren't so lucky were turned into cultists by the reverend. When I say turned into, it really was like that. As if with a flick of his hand these people were corrupted into dark flame in an instant.

The fight was long and winded, and I happen to fall in it twice, Caz having to teleport me and him far away from Prometheus to save my life. By the end of it though I was conscious, and I saw Prometheus burst into a blinding light. Then, next, before Duke stood a mountainfolk being made of flame. Duke spoke to it, softly. I could barely hear it if not for being in an echoey cavern. He apologized to the being of flame, and recognized it as Prometheus. He apologized for not being able to save him before, and asked if he wanted to hear a story. Prometheus said nothing, and we knew he obliged. Duke told a story of a phoenix who stood as a light shining in darkness, and how that light became too bright. It overpowered everything, and took advantage of too many just so it could shine bright forever. By the end its light ran out, and it was surrounded by darkness, and it too became darkness. It was a lesson to Prometheus, and it would have been towards the reverend too if not for that he died his final death in the fight. We left Prometheus there, and left the abbot and his people to respect Prometheus in equal parts that Prometheus would be respectable in return, and returned home.

### **Entry 44**

I was brought back to a stable condition, and a new revelation came to us in the wake of everything occurring. Ms. Grotesque that Jeff's brother mentioned being still on ice, since Caz and I had to kill her a second time, brought us a new perspective on all of these gods. We had interrogated her before we left for Prometheus and after we visited Subtle-T, but I hadn't thought more on the issue since it actually happening. She brought to light a being we before knew nothing about but only mentioned by Octavius: Phanes.

I hadn't known because only a feeling of it existed this whole time, but Caz was a god now. He must have done it some time within our week of a break. To become a god in a week, now that's in its own way impressive. Maybe less than a week given that actually I hadn't felt any divine sense of him when he asked for my help during the break. Either way, we went to the body on ice as a whole group. Jeff resurrected her and Duke asked one thing only, "Do you remember me?". In a moment's haze, as I imagine being dead must take away your sense of being quite a bit, Grotesque replied, "No, I-" before Duke slapped her once and she died a third time. After Jeff annoyingly resurrected her again one might understand that she was annoyed and gave a rebuttal to Duke's actions, which he returned with another fatal slap. This went on for long enough that it was funny, then it became annoying, then it was funny again.

It wasn't until many slaps in and a lot of questions by Caz that revealed who, or in this instance what, Phanes was. An AI that went lose, sole directive was the achieve what the artificial gods we dealt with did. Caz being a god at that moment, and understanding what Grotesque was (something called a star vampire or the like) he offered her patronage to him instead. She accepted, surprisingly, as Caz said, "Good, now I own your soul. I'll make you more cooperative now." as he cast some spell that quite literally flayed her alive into nothing right before her eyes.

"Now if we should need any more questions from her, she is within this crystal" as he held up a black crystal, blacker than onyx, that held a faint glow to it, "that way she cannot refuse to answer anything we might have to ask her about. And by the way, take these." as he handed us each a small crystal of similar appearance, each on a necklace, "use it to summon me instantly, but it does take a third of my sanity so do try to use it in emergencies".

### **Entry 45**

As soon as we got back to the Aether, we returned finally to our CO. He addressed us formally, mentioning he was being promoted though rather it was a demotion, being sent to a base in the Natural World that had recruits in needing of sharpening up. With a genuine smile, I congratulated him, followed by a blank stare in thought at the rest of my allies next to me. My friends. I looked to our CO and calmly exclaimed, "I would like to file for my resignation". Jeff and Duke were a bit shocked, but Caz and Hugh followed suit. Soon then, so too did Jeff. Our CO was genuinely deeply saddened by this sudden news, but in my case I followed it up with, "Should I be needed, say my name and I will be there".

I turned right back around and left the Aether that same hour. At the time the intent was that I never wanted to return ever, except when danger lurked and I was called for should I ever break my own promise. A promise to Kari, one that stated, "I owe it to you to meet in person. I may hold residence here, but I have no home. I belong nowhere, and I exist in limbo between realities. My only wish, should I die tomorrow, is to meet the person I've been manufactured to be. Of who's memories of happiness, sadness, anguish, and hope I hold in my illegitimate mind. Given the last thing you saw was you, me, shooting myself you probably think I'm dead. Why do you think I continue to record these logs? They're not for me, they're a coping mechanism. To cope with my illegitimacy. To tell you my story in case I cannot bring myself to. Here's to you."

I traveled the Natural World for months on my own, driving endlessly from place to place. People got to know me and what all I did when I stopped in towns and cities. People were fascinated by my stories of my service with the Aether Guard. Some people began to buy food and drink for me. I started to finally understand how Kari felt when she went into public, how citizens view heroes. It didn't feel so bad to me, I had finally made my own identity and had shown to the people I saved what I had done for them so that they would never have to. The whole time, though, I had to think about what I had missed when talking to Azathoth or if I was just being paranoid. A revelation hit me, though, that there is a likely possibility I am not the only exception to the clones of Kari.

Where would Kari be if not Germany, if not Los Angeles, and if not on Earth at all? Somewhere forested, that's certain. What would she be doing? Possibly, what is considered the right thing to whoever's asking. Though, that does include mercenary work within reason. And, that is when the revelation hit me the most. The one who ripped my arm off so long ago back when I was still Kari wearing the mask, and the one who Hugh, Caz, and I met at Alpha One. The one who perceived time slower than us so that he would move faster. The one who was under contract by Salieri and was after Val for some reason. Somehow, I thought, it was likely that he too was once a Kari, and Salieri knew it all this whole time. He was under an oath of confidentiality and thus could not tell us at the time. I knew where I had to go.

By that time I purchased by own personal fighter ship to travel from plane to plane without Scallion's help, although I would still trust him and his beloved ship to get me places. I took it from where I was staying at the time in the Natural World and flew straight to Salieri's fey city, not being struck down by an elder being this time. He welcomed me back as Kari, and after correcting him with "Kara" I asked,

"So, you can tell it is still me? Or, perhaps you are confusing me with someone?"

"Ah, you see, I with my keen eye can tell just exactly who is who, no matter a being's original form. This does make sense to you as a changeling, yes?"

"Exactly, which means you know another changeling like me, doesn't it?" And with that, we began a bit of negotiations. For all I could ever ask about this other Kari, where they are, how to get them, and how to counteract them, all I needed was to hand over my Stoner 63a Commando over so it may be copied and sold by Salieri to organizations everywhere. It took a moment, but I opened the LMG's cover and charged it once after removing its box magazine.

"You never said it had to be loaded." I proclaimed, as I handed it forth for him to scan and copy on some strange device he had on the conference table.

"Fair point!" he exclaimed, as it happened quickly and without complications, then handing it back to me.

"If I should find this be taken advantage of, or in the hands of undesirables, and redistributed poorly, inadequately, or improperly then I will personally hunt down every buyer and user. All of this, plus bringing you their confirmed deaths right to your desk myself and I sure won't be friendly about it, do I make myself clear?"

"Oh, dear me, of course you do. Better yet, I cannot simply not uphold my end of a bargain you know."

Salieri told me that this other being, one we did not have a name for, also was Kari Frost just as I had been. Their contract at that point, the one with Salieri himself, was over and thus information on him was open game. This other Kari was in a circus world, a world to themselves where they could hide in plain sight amongst crows of the gluttonous, lusting, and prideful. He told me how to get there, and what to expect, and then he asked if my friends would be joining in.

"While they are irreplaceable allies and trustworthy friends alike, I couldn't not bring myself to have them fight on my behalf for my burdens. This is a war I have been waging since my creation, and I have a promise to fulfill."

### **Entry 46**

After this, I will be dark for some time, as I remain in this Festival of the Gods for some time. I'm not sure for how long, but I suspect months. Everything is calm, the gods are meddling with our business as always, and all is for the time right with the world.

I took the ship Salieri provided to me, and in a couple hours' time we arrived in a barren landscape save for the festival that spanned as far as Liechtenstein, the sky a pitch black rather than space-like. We landed on a makeshift landing pad and I was given a sending stone for contacting the crew along with well wishes. After no time at all I stumbled upon just some arcade gallery, I figure there is nowhere really best to start with since apparently after some time wandering I could not find any information booths. Went straight up to the ticket counter and saw many typical prizes, along with actual firearms and weapons on the millions of tickets' worth side too. I asked if the guy, a wood elf or something that didn't surprise me as this was a realm of archfey, about who I was looking for. Was also a wood elf with rather darker skin tone, long dark brown hair and eyes to match, tall and lanky, and wearing a green suit. Would it be all that interesting if he told me right from the start? It sure would, as he directed my attention to a sign that required all minor information cost 1,000 tickets.

I attempted not to completely storm off and instead walked around the different games a bit peeved. The ticket guy mentioned a game called "treeball" that to me just sounded like basketball, though he mentioned it being the cause of a lot of casualties. I didn't understand how basketball could be lethal, that is until I passed the closed courts and found that the hoops were 40 feet high. Well, I may be acrobatic but I am only as fluid as a person can be. Which is, to quote someone from World Zero, to flow like water. I found a shooting game easy enough, and the wood elf lady there was happy to greet me. With my get up I probably scream, "science fiction technoir darkwave antihero" so I can see how someone finds me to look conspicuously like a seasoned shooter. Though, in a technoir darkwave dystopian future kind of context one would think I solely use a handgun. That's beside the point, as the attendant claimed there to be four difficulties: easy, medium, hard, and marksman. I went straight for the latter, and claimed the gallery guns better not be rigged. She pointed towards a chained magnifying glass with a label reading, "Magic Detection Lens". I ignored it entirely and in a flash I had already hit all three targets, with keen eyes having seen that the moment I fire the targets recede. The attendant was impressed, and off I went with 3,000 tickets after one game. I cannot physically shoot worse than those targets provided me with, so at least I was in sound mind knowing I could very easily return for more tickets should I need to and in such haste.

Returning to the ticket counter with a couple of questions and a sizable sum of tickets, I asked where this man might have gone as the ticket counter did recall having seen him and heard of him. He said this man was in the center area of the festival, a place known as the core. It was where more of the partying and drinking took place. I asked where the core is, costing me another one grand of tickets. He pointed directly that it was in the center of the entire festival. I asked him if the whole festival used tickets for currency, which he refused taking my tickets for as some kind of policy. He simply said that that is the case, yes, and I went on my own way.

I returned to the ship and mentioned this, and the crew got us ready to head further north to the direct center. We did so in much quicker time, as I learned this festival really was as large as it was described, however I was wrong about one thing. This festival was much bigger than the Earthen country of Liechtenstein. If anything, it was more akin to the size of Poland. Think about that. This festival, if not ruled by archfey, could have their own government and necessary structures, but no. The entire grounds were used solely and simply for incredible leisure. The closer we got to the center the easier I could see that there were large tents suspended on mechanical spider legs that wandered the festival around patrons. The ship could not land there, so I took a rope and signaled off the crew before descending to the ground below. I noticed that these walker tents actually weren't too high up. I tried to use that cloak to flick myself up there, but someone hanging from the bottom of it countered it. I waited 30 seconds to try again, and this time the same happened followed by the person talking to someone out of sight.

Instead bringing my focus more to a legitimate line, I thought not to cheat out the system but instead cheat the system with subterfuge. This, especially so, was the case when I noticed a bouncer at an elevator for the tent. With a quick survey of the line I snuck around to the back of the elevator to set off a blasting cap to get everyone's panicked attention. It worked, and just as quickly as it happened I became the person in front of the line and mimicked them perfectly, such is a master of disguise. With no problem I went into what was apparently a nightclub and reverted to my form. I found the nearest bar there and asked the attendant for the same man I had been seeking this whole time, to which even he also had a sign for 1,000 for minor information. "I should of seen that coming", I thought as I handed him my remaining tickets. The bartender took me to a window and pointed me to a substantially large walking tent not too far along, and I bid him farewell before making an expeditious exit and rerouted towards the larger tent.

It turns out that when I arrived at this larger tent that there was no line, just two bouncers who immediately ushered me into the elevator. This nightclub was indeed much, much larger. I had noticed it in the last nightclub, but it was much more noticeable here; there were upper levels that looked down into the club floor that each had a green light or red light above it, security detail present. I could only suspect that these were VIP rooms or what have you, and one of them in a far off corner had three security personnel in front of it. Amateurs. Given that it was loud as all being in there and would be in darkness if not for strobe lights and colored spot lights it was rather easy to sneak on around in plain sight. I did exactly that, and threw a smoke grenade at the door as noticeable as I could given that probably even another blasting cap wouldn't be loud enough here. I saw the guards rush towards me and I used the shadow cloak to blink into the smoke cloud, open the surprisingly unlocked door, and close it behind me irregardless of noise made as it probably wouldn't even be audible if I slammed it shut.

The moment I shut the door behind me, I happen to be in the gaze of two wood elves. The one I happen to be looking for in a seat on the left side of the room, and a more visually noticeable one on his left. There sat a woman, instead, with the brightest and puffiest red hair I'd ever seen, sitting in an out of place chair as red as she was. With a flick of her wrist and a motion of her long, red-nailed fingers she knitted a line of string and it tugged right into my heart. In a single moment it reminded me of something Kari's SDR was familiar with, but within a millisecond after I was yanked to a third seat adjacent from the man. The woman mentioned something on the lines of a talk he and I must have, and even the man was questioning how I was standing before him. The woman offered me to sit, and I simply said, "I'll stand" as I brought out SDR. Didn't matter much, as she made me sit as easily as she had me be brought over to her, and I returned SDR.

The red-haired woman had not introduced herself, and that was my first question to the fellow clone of Kari I was finally face to face with. With a hearty chuckle she introduced herself as Morrigan, but this was no ordinary person. At the time I didn't know it but I felt it, that this was one of the archfey I was warned about. Not that it mattered in the end. I asked about how he got out, and he mentioned sneaking out on an outbound ship after somehow one day finding themselves with free will. I asked about his contract, and he mentioned being hired by the Breakaway to kill me. I asked by who, and he said the Iron King. With a further reasoning that he was no longer a segment of the Breakaway and I was actually no longer a segment of the Aether Guard either, I asked for him to elaborate more. At first it was a request, but after Morrigan took control of his heart too it became a demand.

His temporal ability of perceiving time slower than it is, filling in the question of, "What am I missing?" came about from his less-SDR-looking SDR. It was less feminine than mine and Kari's, and held a temporal device like clocks and watches in its four arms. He didn't know what to call it, and it did occur to me in that moment that while he knew of Kari's life up to a point that this point was much sooner than mine. In fact, given how long he'd had free will I was certain he'd not known about Voce. I could only assume that he didn't even know that Kari had faced these familiars from people she'd known for years let alone just Katya. My best guess is that he knew nothing from 2090 onward.

With that, my fellow Kari produced a sword from nowhere. Claimed we were known as Astra, a race of bioengineered super soldiers from the past. I had no idea what all of this meant, just as I'm sure he was clueless when I mentioned that Kari's son, Voce, had called our familiars "Anima". Upon mentioning also that he came here to the Festival of the Gods to retire forever, Morrigan mentioned that she would only accept that deal between them if he trained me about whatever it meant to be an Astra. At first he was displeased, however mentioned to me that I should not sell his whereabouts to anyone if he were to accept. I had mentioned I did come alone and had no reason to tell where I have gone to anyone.

To a claim of discretion, the deal was accepted, and that was it for the time. Now I sit, set and unprepared as I've always been. A new kind of dawn arises, and I stand before it. Ascension, then salvation. I will meet you, Kari. Thank you for what I was given and be thankful for what I have. The least I can do is save you from your strife, I was strong enough to overcome mine despite it being stronger than yours. I can help. I will help. Please wait for me.