+Our Glaives are dead. The Agnos is gone.+
+What? How? The Paladin was–+
+It’s not him. He’s good and snuffed. There was an unforeseen variable.+
+Unforeseen? Unforeseen? The Conflagration should have left her little more than a vegetable. How did she–+
+Not the Agnos. A Regular. Former Regular Jelene Draus. She ambushed field cell three before they could move to support. And then she intercepted field cells one and two at the target location. She must’ve received an automated message from the Agnos somehow. She–+
+A Regular? One? You had eighteen Glaives. With Incubi support!+
+She triggered a Thoughtwave Disruption before she went in. The resulting fight–+
+You lost the Agnos to one! One Gold! Eighteen of our best couldn’t stop one Regular? What the hells is wrong with you? Why do we keep you when–+
+Elder [Redacted]. I speak to you now with the utmost respect. If the next words cast at me are an insult directed toward my comrades who just died serving the Republic, I will find you, kill you, kill your husband, kill your children, and kill every last member within your immediate blood lineage. I will then turn myself in afterward for a formal investigation to account for the question of “why” I did what I did.+
+...I apologize. My calm was… compromised. Startling. Only one.+
+You were not part of the war effort, Elder. You don’t know how many lives fighting her like cost us. We need to pivot. I’m requesting additional resources to choke off their escape before they can ascend the Tiers.+
+Granted. Anything. Everything. But keep yourself in check: Kae Kusanade must be taken alive.+
-Glaive [Redacted] and Elder [Redacted], Ori-Thaum
12-5
The Frame (II)
“Kae Kusanade,” Cas drawled. “She got up to some pretty revolutionary shit before the Silvers cooked her skull.” He looked over at Draus. “She tell you about what she was doing?”
The Regular ran her tongue along her inner cheek. Avo had seen that tell enough to know Draus was thinking about killing the man across from her. “Nah. She wasn’t in much a talkin’ mood when I found her. Hells, she wasn’t in a talkin’ mood even after she got chromed.”
“And you didn’t look into it yourself?” he continued, spreading himself wide as he leaned back. “I don’t know about you, Reg, but I’d be pretty curious what would make Ori-Thaum attempt to capture–and then frame–an Agnosi for the murder of a Paladin.” He looked down to nonchalantly smooth out an unseen article of clothing beneath his veil. “You know they were together, right?”
Draus looked away from Kae’s character profile and glared at Cas. “What?”
“The Paladin, Dawton Morrow, and your consang there were a thing.” He shrugged. “Sure it wasn’t permitted on her end and they tried to be sly about it, but hell, sometimes sparks fly in across Nether, right?”
Draus turned back and stared into Kae’s shimmering visage again. “Fuck.”
“Yeah,” Cas agreed, “fuck, indeed.” He eyed Avo. “Zein said something about you knowing how to fix her? That true?”
“Got a theory,” Avo said. “Will need to see if it survives practice. Experiment with test subjects first. See if the ‘supports’ I have in mind can last.” His gaze briefly drifted over to Chambers.
The ex-enforcer blinked. “Why–why you looking at me like that, consang?” He placed his arm along the wood beams of the terrace and shot a look out over the lily-paded waters.
Avo didn’t give him an answer, instead choosing to pursue a question of his own. “Why?” he asked, gesturing at the sprawl of people and details stretched across the map. “Why do this to her? And what is ‘Godshaper.’”
“A mistake,” Sunrise intoned.
“A major reason why the Stillborn-pattern Liminal Frame even exists,” Denton said.
Draus snarled. “Godsdammit. Kae’s responsible for his Frame? Is that what you’re tellin’ me? Kae? And you’re tellin’ us this shit now? Not before, while we – that fuckin’ Thousandhand." Her glare smoldered in the moonlight. "Well, if Kae built this thing, she sure as shit don’t remember it. Talked like she ain’t never seen it before, she did.”
“She isn’t entirely responsible for its creation,” Denton elaborated. “Merely the guiding principles behind the Metafac. Truthfully, the Stillborn’s construction required a great many things and factors to align. Materially, it will be hard to make another.”
“Well, let’s hear about these ‘many things and factors,’” Draus said. She leaned in closer and rattled the table with a pointed digit. “And don’t leave shit out this time. I’m tired of not knowin’ who’s shootin’ at me or why.”
Cas chuckled. “You’re gonna lead a pretty exhausted life if you decide to jump in with us, Reg.”
Draus remained unamused.
“Cas,” Denton said. “Shut up.”
“Synced on that.”
A sheen lifted from the conspiracy map and split over into another section of phantoms on the other side of the table. A faint simulation of neon orange poured, forming a fissure over a diminutive representation: a person atop a block. Near-invisible threads of flowing Essence cycled between the tiny person and key markers in the world sprouted strings of mem-data.
Words like “Rupture,” and “Ensouled,” or “Subrealitistic-Totality-Expansion-Zone” lined Avo’s field of vision as Denton ordered more into sequence. It didn’t take an Agnos to seean inverted Frame, but what caught his attention were the rigid structures that limited Liminal architecture
The subreality budding free from the person was wide and flat one moment, then narrow and tall the next. The confines curved and dented and folded at impossible angles that would not accommodate the shape of just any Heaven, powers not only capped by storage, but angles and alignments.
A slow understanding dawned within Avo as he took in the stiff nature of the unidentified figure’s Frame: This was what it was like to have something other than the Stillborn, to be blessed by immense power, yet bound to the metaphysical geometry.
Kae was right. His was a cloud–a living ocean that coursed and cupped whatever form he deigned. Others were hard walls and fixed passages, solid and unmoving, incapable of stranger possibilities.
How alienating not to modify the bones of their ontology. It was like have all the arms and legs you could choose from, but being forced to accept a crooked spine.
To be forced into accepting a Frame such as this would be torture for Avo – to taste gutter-water after supping from nothing but the streams purified by the miraculous build of the Stillborn.
“The concept behind Godshaper was to create a more efficient means of adjusting a Liminal Frame,” Denton began. Mem-data kneaded into shape as more details loaded into the scene. The fissure expanded over the individual. A string titled [RUPTURE - NUCLEUS] burned into shape at the very heart of the simulation while hundreds of small bodies began washing upward away from the Ensouled individual, blending into the cracks as it fed a fire spreading across the sky.
Thousand died. Thousands offered to the Rupture. Thousands more needed.
“The bodies you’re seeing right now are the sacrifices it takes to keep a Rupture fed and malleable. Even more than all the dead it takes to feed a Frame, our data suggests it takes a stable Rupture to expand a Liminal Frame fully and safely out of a central ego without collapsing the Frame itself.”
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
“My god,” Essus said, flinching with each trickle of life that leaked up into the hungering crack that lined the skin of existence like a maw unseen, “are you saying that… it takes death to even… change our Souls? Our… powers?”
Denton pressed her lips together as she took a moment to think. Diplomacy was at the root of how she interacted with others, and Essus was an open page raw with pain. She spoke in a measured tone using a stable voice, keeping her eyes affixed to his while blinking slowly, almost hypnotically. “The border between the eldritch absolute and fickleness of mortality is bridged with one thing: Death. Usually, it takes a constant feed of lives to compose the necessary lores and mythologies to first align and access the Heaven’s canons before it expands fully in the subrealtiy. That is when modifications can be made.”
She paused for a beat thereafter. “It doesn’t mean it’s not regrettable.”
“So, wait,” Draus said. “You’re tellin’ me that most Heavens need a requisite amount of mind-twisted dead to even open, a constant stream of the dyin’ to stay open, and then an additional amount on top of the previous to make any changes.”
“The excess is meant to be directly applied into the fully unfurled Heaven of the Ensouled’s subreality. Everything else is like… making a key.”
The Regular let out a slow rasping breath. Her gaze slashed over to Avo and he found himself looking back at her. “Your Frame ain’t hyper-efficient, Avo, it’s godsdamned perfect. No waste at all…”
“The Metafactory,” Denton said. Another layer to the second simulation rose from a line above the fissure. Now the dead that were being fed through the openings into the Rupture were being stitched together, connected like strips of fabric instead of the beings they were. A chain of death formed, and through the lip of the fracture the connected deaths ran like a chain from the soil to a place beyond the sky. “There were several concepts behind its design. Some Agnosi theorized that if we could somehow create a hive-mind from the dying, they could keep the Essence preserved and modular as they began to feed the deaths through wholesale. The idea… failed. Human self-perception rejected the entwinement.”
“How many died to learn of this?” Essus whispered.
Denton pretended not to hear him. “Other means were attempted. Adapted bioforms grown from vats. Heavily neuro-altered prisoners resequenced into thinking they were all identical twins sharing the same life beyond minor deviations… There was always something that broke the narrative of the worship. At this point, the last Guild War was beginning and the project was shelved under the command of the Highest Choirs of Highflame as Inter-Guild collaborations broke down and the Agnosi were sworn to silence.”
“Pssh, sworn to silence.” The snort that came from Chambers told everyone what little he thought of that vow. “Why don’t they just… I don’t know, leak some shit into the Nether?”
“Because according to Article Thirteen of the Spiral, all thaumaturgical knowledge is to be rendered banned when not housed in specific minds, and any disseminators of memories will be hunted and nulled per the last true agreements between the Guilds. That and the Agnos are supposed to be supervised by a circle of Paladins when undertaking a commission for a specific Guild. Three guesses what the Paladins are supposed to do if the Agnos breaks their part in the agreement.”
Chambers pouted a muttered garble of gibberish in reply. “Hey, it beats getting a synaptic-frying-bomb-thing planted in the base of your skull, right?”
“It’s not a competition, half-strand,” Cas said.
“Yeah, sure,” Chambers nodded. “But if it was, I’d have it worse.”
The Columner frowned and turned to Avo. “Isn’t this half-strand former Syndicate muscle? Why’d you ‘Clad him?”
Chambers frowned. “Hey, fuck you, consang.”
“Wanted to keep his mind,” Avo said, throwing out a vague response. Again, he wasn’t really thinking when he restored all three companions into a cadre, but Cas had a point: Chambers was more captive than ally despite his constant sniveling attempts to ingratiate himself with the group.
That being said, the stalemated calamity within his mind presented useful avenues of research and a potential component to Kae’s salvation.
Ultimately, Chambers possessed little threat on his own. The man might’ve had an imbued Heaven, but Avo still had easy access to his mind. Stripping his senses and crippling his brain functions would take less than a full thought. Even should he escape, a lone Fallwalker was easy prey to a hungry city.
“From what we could piece together,” Denton continued as if the digression had never happened, “Agnos Kae Kusanade was commissioned by Highflame in the immediate aftermath of the Fourth Guild War to restart the Godshaper project. This time, however, the reignition of the project followed closely behind another, seemingly unconnected incident.”
Across from the Frame simulation, four profiles rose out from the conspiracy map as Kae’s form fizzled out into thoughtstuff. In her place manifested four different figures sporting various degrees of chrome and other visible implants.
Then, their final details loaded, and Avo found himself more interested in the Third Sphere-ratings of their Liminal Frame instead.
“Fallwalkers,” Denton said. Cadre numbered a Scaarthian with eight rusted arms, an exoskeleton-clad individual vibrating between two points in time like a frequency, a Sang with a chitinous hive growing out from her exposed ribs, and a floating spine encased within the shell of an egg-shaped war golem. “The Cadre called themselves Mignight’s Fall, and they specialized in… less than sanctioned smash-and-grabs.”
Chambers snorted. “Sounds like some street squire shit to me, consang.”
Denton kept talking. “Their targets were usually voidships or orbitals.”
“Sounds like a short immortality to me,” Draus said. “Ain’t no one takes too kindly to you hittin’ the voiders.” She paused. “They hit any hydroponics? Could be deniable operatives for the No-Dragons.”
“And the Reg doesn’t miss,” Cas said, smirking humorlessly.
A triple-ringed orbital connected to a central spire pulsed into view. Its name was redacted, but the damage inflicted on its hull was obvious. Whatever the Fallwalkers had done, they tore clean through one of the rings and rampaged their way into the central spine of the station.
“Ori-Thaum assembled enough details to assign the No-Dragons some complicity to this attack. The working theory was that they were trying to force those in Stormtree territories to purchase their produce instead. Their biotheurgically altered produce, that was.”
“‘Course it was,” Draus said without any hint of surprise. “You ain’t one of the Great Guilds without playin’ some fuck-fuck games.”
“The problem came afterward,” Denton said. “From what we gather, Midnight’s Fall didn’t return planetside immediately. Evidence from Aegis suggests that they smuggled themselves aboard a passing Voidwatch vessel during their escape. They took something from that vessel that made the Stillborn possible.”
“The ‘Imitators,’” Sunrise hummed. “The Thoughtless-Dreamers…”
Avo found his attention drawn to the small bees settled on his left shoulder as they flapped their wings in agitated bursts. To his surprise, he found himself able to detect a hint of tension within them, a speck of emotion that he could taste emanations of their thoughts.
“Ninth Column isn’t sure what the Imitators are, only that Voidwatch struck a bargain with whatever terrestrial Guild could help them secure what was stolen.”
The four Fallwalkers promptly went gray.
“Highflame ended up winning the bid to rectify the issue, and after their bid, they secured Voidwatch’s patronage in a highly unusual bargain.”
“Heavily restricted information,” Sunrise added. “I don’t have access. And Aegis won’t tell.”
“Whatever the case, Agnos Kae Kusanade was directed to task under a Paladin team headed by one Dawton Morrow and his cadre. The memories behind the project are heavily redacted, but from what we could glean, her work proved to be highly successful. Groundbreaking. A prototype Frame was patterned from a nascent Soul, whatever the Fallwalkers stole from Voidwatch, and Highflame’s resources. This proved to be dangerous for the balance…”
Cas’ face flattened into a wince as he stared at Avo.
A sense of disquiet settled on the ghoul.
“Val, maybe we can–”
“He should know,” Denton said without even needing to turn and look at her colleague. “Zein foresaw the construction of your Frame in the paths. But she wasn’t the only one. The “Walton” branch of the Low Masters had also infiltrated the project, and a bargain was struck between the Column and the nodes to steal the Frame from where it was held.”
A beat passed. “In light of recently gathered information, we also believe that it was one of the Waltons that leaked the key details of the project over to Ori-Thaum. Including Kae Kusanade’s involvement and the Paladins attached.” Denton’s eyes snapped over to Draus. “To the same extent, we are also quite certain that he directed a thoughtcast of her distress over to you, Captain Draus.”
Walton. Ori-Thaum. Kae.
More plays working the Great Guilds against each other. More innocents caught in the crossfire.
Silence followed as all expression bled out of Draus’ face. “Kae… Kae contacted me.”
“That would be impossible. Her mind was already compromised by that point, and the Incubi had used her to eliminate her lover, Dawton Morrow. She wasn’t fully herself until your Thoughtwave Detonation struck. We believe that “Walton” sought to remove the key intelligentsia behind Project Godshaper to ensure the fruition of his own plans, but if that’s the case, we cannot explain why he contacted you.”
Avo felt Denton stare right through him. “For when he ambushed our extraction team and stole the Frame for himself and vanished, we’re pretty sure everything played out just as he wanted. Which was when his nodes started turning up dead.”