Note

**Note** is an Animus, a sapient consciousness formed from pure null energy of a host Spectral. Her past is heavily intertwined with Valentine's, his soul having acted as host.

## **Biography**

### **First Iteration**

The first iteration of Note was the Animus of Paragon Valentine. Not much is known about this version of Note other than she was entrusted with caring for the Paragon's clone in the chrysalis, and her psyche was damaged by the Cell during their abduction of it.

### **The Mark of Eden**

#### **Second Life**

The second iteration of Note had no idea who or what she was upon first gaining consciousness. The only hint as to her identity and purpose was a single phrase which kept repeating in her mind: *"We are each and all reflections of the gods that made us."* This drove her to a goal of finding "the gods" and asking them who she was meant to be.

Unbeknownst to her, she was inside of the Animus matrix that had been given by her first iteration to Val to help him escape the Cell ship they were on. She unknowingly unlocked doors for him as they appeared to her in the form of "cold-lights", and eventually accessed the main systems of the ship itself. At this moment, she accidentally triggered the ship's null-drive as well as the communications relay. The clone and ship were sent to a random destination at null-speed, and Note was beamed out into space as a stray data-package.

#### **Finding Val**

Note became trapped in the Mercantile's internal systems after it intercepted her stray data-package. Over the next two years, she spent her time stealing components and building a body for herself through the use of hacked drones. Once she had a proper body of her own, she found a Sentinel which she proceeded to interface with and access the Nexus to look for information on Val. After being rejected by the Sentinel, it informed her to seek out the planet of Jantii.

Stealing a cloak and ship, she landed at Pragley Rok's farm and approached him, his niece, Ten, and Val. Rushing forward and lifting Val into the air, she demanded to know who she was, only to be disappointed by his answer that he didn't know. The two of them then discussed what had happened to them in the last two years, attempting to figure out why their origins were seemingly entwined.

Unbeknownst to Note, her location had been tracked by the Cell, and they launched an attack on the farm in an effort to recapture Val. The ensuing carnage resulted in Prag's death, and the surviving trio was able to make it off Jantii and escape the Cell on Note's ship, watching as the Sentinels arrived in the sky and began to repel the Cell.

#### **Building a Team**

As neither Ten nor Val had been to the Mercantile, Note acted as their primary guide. Setting up a meeting with a potential bodyguard, she led them to a cantina to meet with a kugraw mercenary named Niles who eventually agreed to protect them from the Cell. Niles then led them to his friend, Quix, given Note's request for Val to learn more about why he was experiencing the same dreams and hallucinations that she had experienced herself.

Studying Val intensely, Quix theorized that he was undergoing 'Mnemonic Synthesis', a concept where two different sets of memories, their previous set and their current set, were merging and trying to join messily. With no clear answers relating to his or Note's origins, Val declared that he would venture into the Umbra to find them, and Note agreed to go with. As the others joined in, Niles told them that they would need a Vaulter if they were going to explore Architect ruins.

While Niles and Val set off to recruit the Vaulter, Note, Quix, and Ten purchased new clothing and supplies for Val and Ten, as all of their possessions had been destroyed on Jantii. Quix fabricated clothing to Val's specifications, and Note and Ten discussed the implications of the few memories Note still had. Meeting back at the Mercantile's dockyards, Note met the team's newcomers, Isaak and Chellor, both Vaulters that would help in exploring the temple on the dead moon. Once they'd all boarded Niles' ship, the *Manta*, the new crew set out into the Umbra.

During the last night of their journey, Note was present in the cockpit when Niles entered and opted to sleep in his normal spot of in the pilot's chair, offering to help teach her how to fly when they had more time. They had a brief discussion about the history of the Hegemony and Empire. Note asked about the arrangement of strings of lights on the cockpit's ceiling, and Niles revealed that they were to imitate the constellations of the Gamma Plane, mimicking a ceiling poster of glow in the dark stars he'd had as a kid. As Niles slept, Note discovered the presence of a trans-spatial network capable of meta-luminal communication, and woke Valentine up to show him and Niles as it was leading to their same destination.

#### **The Dead Moon**

Upon arrival at their destination, a dead moon, Note and the others discovered evidence of an Imperial camp outside the temple. The *Manta* crew then descended into the temple and found the chamber where Val's Chrysalis had been. In the same room, an AI designated as Ouroboros appeared and revealed the truth that Val and Note came from the Architect civilization.

A creature living on the moon attacked them, and Note ran with Quix and Isaak into the temple's Gateway. There, she worked on bringing the facility's connection to the Plexus network online, though Ouroboros briefly stated that the action would also bring any connected Architect facilities back online as well. Once the Gateway was working, Note and the others used it to escape to the surface.

#### **The Cell's Attack**

When the *Manta* eventually emerged from null space, everyone witnessed the Cell attacking the Mercantile. After they crash-landed inside the station, Note and some of the others, along with Val, were chased through the Scrubs. Note, Quix, and Chellor found themselves traversing platforms hanging over a massive garbage disposal. Quix threw both Note and Chellor to safety, but was tackled by one of the two cell chasing them in mid-air, the other plummeting to its death. As Quix wrestled with the cell, she urged Note and Chellor to run, but Note and Chellor stayed with the latter killing the cell with a climbing anchor.

They eventually rejoined with the others above ground and learned that Val had been captured by the Cell. Note rallied everyone together, claiming that they were all fighters in their own right and encouraging them to fight to save Val. Bolstered, everyone boarded the *Manta* and chased after the Cell.

#### **Eden**

After the *Manta* followed the Cell flagship through the energy cloud surrounding the Rings of Eden, the ship was shot down. Note channeled all of her strength into her null abilities and disabled the Cell flagship in a burst of energy. She and the others were forced to pursue the Cell and Val on foot before Val was thrown through a Tear. On the other side, she and the others realized that the Rings were merely a Tear-Gate connecting to the true Eden where the Sensus had been lying dormant for millennia.

While Isaak and Niles fought the Sensus' wraiths, Ten, Note, and Quix attended to an unconscious and dying Val, eventually being joined by the others. When Val woke up, the *Manta* crew traveled back through the Tear where Val instructed Note to channel her abilities again and stop any ships from the Sensus fleet from coming through while he closed the Gate. She pushed herself to her absolute limit, collapsing in exhaustion after unleashing a blast powerful enough to stop the black diamond from entering Spectra.

The ensuing explosion of null energy from the collapsing Tear damaged the *Manta* and stranded everyone in space for several weeks before they were picked up by a Hegemony patrol and arrested.

## **Trivia**

• Note is named after the smallest component of a musical score.