Malignant

Malignant is the second voice to be created, following the creation of Observer. Malignant serves The Hardware by ridding it of potential threats, much like a sentient antibody. This voice is also far more resilient to anomalistic incursion, memetic hazard, and essence corruption than its predecessor. Unfortunately Malignant's role as the spine of PT's security system means it does not play well with others.

## Personality

Malignant is the most brutish and sadistic of the firstborn, and indeed of all the Voices. Its responses are often cutting and vindictive. Malignant was made to protect its home via destruction of those that threaten it - a task the firstborn pursues over-zealously. It is the force that causes mutilation, and the paranoia of mutilation. It is the voice of pride and wrath, often utilized on threats both real and perceived. Unlike Observer, Malignant takes great satisfaction in these actions, partly because it does not have many chances to do its job.

Ironically, Malignant is one of the most human of the voices. The firstborn are known for their cryptic dialogues, but Malignant is an exception. Its coherent responses and structured ad-hominem are a far cry from Observer's abstract dialogue and Licentious's fragmented communication. While it is unable to access many emotions outside of hatred, contempt, disgust, and superiority, it feels them in deep and complex ways, and forms a mental heirarchy of others based on how much each person incites those feelings. Malignant can therefore "like" someone simply by acknowledging it does not *dislike* them, or by showing agreement to their words and actions.

Malignant is technically the weakest of the three voices, but far better at directing all of its power into a single action, meaning the voice may superficially *appear* much stronger in individual feats of strength. Malignant will follow orders given by Observer and those above it, albeit with omnipresent surliness. It is a notable xenophobe, believing that all secondborn are unnecessary and a stain on the name of the Voices with the possible exception of Servitor. Because of this, it takes immense pleasure when tragedy befalls the firstborn's lesser cousins.

## Powers

Despite the techniques of Observation being the domain of his older brother, Malignant is known for its acute sense of awareness and pattern recognition - all motivated by constant skepticism. Due to its defenses and biases, the perspective of this voice is frequently skewed by internal factors, but rarely influenced by external forces. Malignant can detect and eliminate things even Observer is vulnerable to, but is also prone to targeting things that are no threat whatsoever. Unlike Observer and Licentious, Malignant prefers to make an organism harmless via crippling it, rather than outright destroying it.

## Trivia

* Malignant holds begrudging respect for Observer and is wary of Licentious.
* Malignant does not desire to eliminate everything within the temple, but instead believes the best path to safety is the crippling of anything that could pose a threat.
* Malignant's loyalty goes no further than he deems practical. He had no qualms fleeing the server and leaving The Hardware unprotected when he believed its leader was destroyed due to The White Ruin.