Historical Earths/Victory

Depending on on how many worlds you've sided with Alana, and on how many with Red, you'll get different victory messages after completing Ultima. The total number is what decides which message you get, not what you did on Ultima.

## Sided with the Sons of Hephaestus more

*X,*

*The Sons of Hephaestus want to acknowledge that your work single-handedly saved humanity from the biggest, most far-reaching mistake we could have made. Your courage was unwavering; history will hail you as a hero.*

*Our own scientists have combed through your work and applaud your capacity to engineer this outcome for Project Ishtar. There is space for you among our ranks -- if you wish to join us.*

*Over the next few days, you will see the failure of Project Ishtar hit the news cycle. The Sons are calling for extreme sanctions to be placed on Venus so that the Gaians won't be capable of recreating their mass-terraforming blacksites.*

*We're happy to say the Horizon Corporation will hold a press conference tomorrow morning. Since they're our largest contract, we realized that outing the Gaians to Horizon directly would be in our best interest. The CEO has said he will insist that this project was doomed from the start due to the arrogance of pursuing the A.I. without outside help or oversight. He believes the lack of philosophic diversity at the top would have meant misstep after misstep, and the Gaian economy would have sucked dry. Soon, Horizon will be disentangling itself from the Venusian trade agreements.*

*Hopefully, this news cycle will relaunch the ethics of terraforming debate among the world leaders so we may finally come to a consensus on how to move forward.*

*We will find a way to destabilize the Gaians and, God willing, it will lead to their eventual downfall. Their ability to seduce people with the mere mention of "Paradise" is dangerous. And with our surge of new recruits, we may finally have a chance of putting an end to this once and for all.*

*The Gaian security forces are still attempting to override the systems, but as they no longer have control of the A.I. they will be forced to manually shut down the construction sites. This means there will be far more people at these sites than usual. Some Hephaestian off-shoots have threatened to use this opening to commit acts of violence. I am working to get cell leaders to back down.*

*Our conversations with Alana were a good reminder that civil discourse leads to discovering holes in your own belief set. I knew you and I weren't wrong, but the Hephaestians often took their anger too far. We will be working to build out our organization as a way to continue to keep both terraforming groups, and our own, in check.*

*Thank you, X. Keep your head down. Don't tell anyone of your part in this. And don't forget, you have a place with us if you so choose.*

*- Neil*

## Sided with the Daughters of Gaia more

X,

The Gaians want to offer you gratitude for your excellent terraforming work. Your choice to stay faithful to our original intentions was actually honorable. Even our scientists examined your work and they compliment about your expert terraforming skills. This is the result we imagined for Project Ishtar. So, if you want, we will welcome you with open arms in our ranks.

I want to give you heads up on what is coming down the pipeline -- I don't want to make your head spin. In the next few days, you will see the unveiling of Project Ishtar and its wild success hit the news cycle. We recently disclosed the project to the UNSA Intelligence and Technology Committees. Even their experts have dubbed it the largest scientific advancement in human history. Unfortunately, their report won't come out for a few more months, but we can't afford to wait on that.We want to get the ball rolling so we can encourage investment in these sites. We must capitalize on this triumph -- OUR triumph!

The plan is to unveil the project first and once the report is released, we'll get to expose the Hephaestians and their newest hacking tactics. Hopefully, if we put enough pressure on the Horizon Corporation, it will force them to drop the contract they hold with the Sons of Hephaestus. Whatever it takes, we will find a way to destabilize the Sons and, God willing, it will lead to their eventual demise.

We will likely see a large uptick in new converts and enlistees -- which is great, as our sites will need heavy security. We believe the success of Project Ishtar will drive the Sons to desperate actions.

Again, please consider joining us! In the meantime, keep your head down. Don't tell anyone of your part in this. There will be a time for introducing the world to our newest patron saint, but our priority must be securing our terraforming sites. Protecting you is not in the cards at the moment. Luckily, Neil no longer has access to our systems, so whatever info has been mined on your identity is safe with us.

From the bottom of my heart, X, thank you.

Paradise is coming. For everyone. -Alana Lee, Vicereine of the Daughters of Gaia

## Sided with both Factions an equal amount of times

My life has turned upside down. The last few weeks are simultaneously a haze with every detail seared into my brain.

No one explained what could happen if I didn't choose a side! I thought I could compromise, but the lack of confident decision-making has thrown Project Ishtar into chaos. No one really knew what would happen, I guess. The fallout isn't over. Nothing is settled.

Where do I start?

I lost my job. I couldn't extend my sick leave any longer. HR told me I should get therapy. I don't know that they're wrong. So, I'm writing this as a letter to my future therapist. I'll refer to you as... X. Hahaha! Oh man, that was a bleak attempt at a joke, huh?

Maybe I should start over from the beginning.

Dear X,

According to the media, I am persona non grata.

I'm watching far too much news. The Sons of Hephaestus, or probably just Neil, leaked the existence of Project Ishtar to the media. If he thought they would get brownie points, he was wrong. The Sons are being driven underground. The Gaians aren't fairing much better -- they've been severly sanctioned.

News outlets are reporting that Project Ishtar is performing erratically. The Gaians are struggling to shut it down. The A.I. keeps maneuvering around whatever roadblocks pop up. I guess the Gaians have attempted to manually dismanle the engineering systems, but the A.I. keeps fixing them. I've calibrated a monster.

If it continues functioning, it'll wreak havoc on the environment. Scientist are predicting that the polar ice caps will melt, hab farms will flood, livestock will drown or choke on the air as oxygen percentages fluctuate. The air filtration systems weren't built to keep up with drastic changes. Emergency evacuations are underway. Someone's big idea was to make the Gaians take in the refugees, but the new arrivals are revolting, predictably.

People have died. I wonder -- are those deaths all on me? Some pundits blame on "X." (Me, not you). But others make the argument that I was put between a rock and a hard place, and anyone would be afraid for their lives.

Was I afraid of my life? I... I don't know...

The UNSA/Horizon tracked me down. I hadn't left home in weeks. I hadn't contacted anyone. (It's not lost on me why I was fired). Anyway, they just showed up at my door one day. I figured it would happen eventually, but it was still frightening. I guess Alana handed over all her info and agreed to help them find me as a part of some deal she cut.

They called me a "co-conspirator," but I told them I wasn't given a choice! Alana and Neil pulled me in every direction! I was but a pawn, used to their own ends! I don't think there was anywhere to turn...

...the stock market crashed. Is it weird that that's the part I feel worst about? People have died, yes. And that's awful. But the living... how do they recover?

Alana and Neil haven't been in contact. I'm in constant limbo. I can't tell anyone who I am what I did. My lawyer says I can have a therapist, although the UNSA/Horizion has to vet them first. My future makes me queasy to think about. I'm in a really bad headspace.

Humanity's future is unknown. Everyone has so many questions... the lack of answers is truly paralyzing.

I do know I can help though. Did anyone consider that maybe the A.I. is still learning? I know it wasn't programmed to continue needing the sim, but was it programmed to ignore it? I can help! I can go back and turn it around! But first, I'm the one who needs help. I can't do this if i doubt every choice I make. Or worse... I can't do this if I'm too scared to make a choice at all.