FOUND: Fragment Twelve: Into Hell - Aorthora

The Reading Room The Monarch Papers Archive Fragment Twelve
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I know I’ve advocated a “wait and watch” approach these past few days, but it seems KS has inadvertently forces our hand with tomorrow’s opportunity. I would agree with @Revenir that disclosing as much as possible, but blanching out some of the weirdness, would be the best place to go.

Think of all of us here; we are searching because we want to find out what’s in the Book of Briars. We want to have magiq in the world; we accept things like flying, firebreathing apprentices, memory-restoration tea parties and a teenage boy whose mind is adrift on the Internet, each carte blanche because we want magiq. We yearn for it. We chose do do so when we found Ackerley Green’s Guide, found our homes in our Guilds, and asked to join the journey here at Basecamp.

Whistler did not. He has no motivation to believe any of it. After everything he’s been through with his head injury, the stress and anxiety of leading a double life, I’m not sure he will accept our story at face value. He has never sought out magiq. Keep this in mind when you explain what he’ll probably see tomorrow.

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Well put. @Augustus_Octavian

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Well said. Tell him what we know.

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Forewarned is forearmed.

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I agree. Although, as long as Whistler knows that Aether is in the machine and needs to get back to his/a body, I don’t think it matters whether he believes in magiq or not.
There are people who believe in ghosts but not magiq. If Whistler thinks it’s magiq, supernatural or even a new form of technology, it doesn’t make much difference in my opinion.

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I told him. Told him about Aether and what he can do and how we have to get him back to his body, about Portencia and the pieces of her mind, about Climber and how she’s connected to us. I told him that KS pushes the boundaries of science and technology into what some people might call magic. I told him we know a little about that world and no matter what he sees down there, we will handle it together.

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I think that is all for the best.

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It probably is. But whether it is or not, I’m sure we can find a way together.

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My fronds are positively vibrating with nervous anticipation.

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All getting very interesting…

In the middle of trying to find a new house to live as mine has sold unexpectedly fast. Paniiiiiic.

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Let’s hope this all goes well and he stays safe. I’m worried about him freaking out a little bit. He seems so on edge…I would be too, honestly.

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@Marty.60 thanks! I think he’ll really appreciate knowing he isnt alone in this :slight_smile:

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We appreciate knowing you’re safe.

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Any new information on what happened at KS today? Has Whistler been in touch?

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Whistler :

After they dropped me off tonight, I walked around for hours. They could’ve been watching me, I don’t care.

It’s the girl. They put her in the chair again. The chair is this old throne hooked up to a processing system, and a stone arch. Even when I saw it though I didn’t believe you. About magic or whatever. Not yet.

They brought her in and lashed her to the chair. The people who carried her in were in these airtight suits. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I was watching from a monitoring room with two techs and Fallon who didn’t have the balls to be in the room with her. The system showed the chair was giving off waves of energy. And they were putting this poor girl in it.

I had to sit in that room with him for hours, pretending that this wasn’t the worst thing I’d ever seen. I’m ashamed of myself.

Fallon kept telling her to use her “ability” to look into the arch and see what was really inside it, and the chair would help “manifest her will.” He went on for hours, taking notes of… nothing. She just sat in the chair, quiet, or crying. She even fell asleep once, probably out of exhaustion.

I was there to monitor the outer security but I was watching Fallon. Writing in his notebook. Once or twice I noticed for a second that the notebook was writing back. Words would answer his words and then disappear. He was discussing the experiment with someone through the journal, telling them what was happening, and someone was telling him what to say.

That’s some Harry Potter level shit right there.

I just wanted to run, pull her out of the chair and run. But I didn’t. I stayed and let it happen. I probably wouldn’t have gotten fifty feet before Fallon’s team caught me. I know having access to the sublevel, to her, is the only chance we have of getting her out, and anybody else down there. I know that if I didn’t play it, I could blow this shot. But a big part of me didn’t care. The old part of me. The real part. I wanted to break his neck.

She couldn’t see us in the monitoring room. But at some point I felt her. Almost like she was in the room. And then in my head. She was trying to flip through my mind, my memories, like a book. I looked around. It seemed like I was the only one. She saw you and your group. A life outside of the company. I think she showed me my future. I saw her in the chair, crying, but in my head she was looking for something. A way out. I think she’s pretending too. But it’s hard for her. I felt her. Felt like it hurt her to use her power.

So yeah, I needed to walk tonight.

I was in the room, for prep and procedure, for almost fourteen hours so I have today off. I guess she does too. I hope she does.

I go back Wednesday morning.

I need time to think. Get my head around you, around her. And what the hell we’re gonna do about it all. Whatever it is, we gotta do it soon.

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Fallon has a Magiqal journal that communicates back to him? A connection to The Storm, to whatever is guiding KS?

So they think the Chair “manifests will” and that having just any adept connect to it can help them “see” through the veil, with the Arch as their peephole? Do they really think that’s how this works? Something tells me they are shooting blind.

That sweet girl is still fighting. What a champion. I’m torn between nausea and pride. Is what we have done for her making a difference? Is she… I hate to use the term “better,” but it’s the best thing I can think of. Not whole yet, but able to control her magiq?

With Whistler’s help, we are going to get her out of there.

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Who is on the other side of that journal? Past or present, concurrent or memory.
Fallon is quickly falling into the category of rogue.
It is, however, good that Portencia knows Whistler is with us. She might get some strength from that.
A stone arch? Another doorway?

So what do we ask Whistler to do?

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I’m assuming this procedure is what they were conducting on Aether during the video he sent us. I think they are running on the assumption that any adept can be a Brandon Lachman if they just provide an ample power source (which I assume is what The Chair is). And perhaps this Archway is some kind of trans-dimensional aid. Regardless of the logistics behind these abominable experiments, I think what we need right now is to focus on a plan. We need a concrete strategy to present to Whistler today so that when he goes in tomorrow, we can hopefully get Portencia free.

My only current line of thought is that if Whistler is running computer security protocols, then he may be able to get a way open for Aether. And once Aether is inside their system, I believe he’ll be able to find a way to shut them down long enough for Whistler to save Portencia. Maybe Aether can kill the lights, shut down the power, that sort of thing?

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The arch was referenced by Fallon here: http://kemetic.solutions/lachmann/

It also mentions that the arch is on sub-level five, which may be helpful in planning this big jail break with Whistler.

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Can you ask him if any phrases have been repeating themselves or echoing in his mind?

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