Children's Crusade: Lying By Omission

14:59:05) (Gregor) "Mm. Tiredness kills, but so does inaction." Gregor wearily stands up, kisses Asuka on the forehead, murmuring - 'I'll be right back'- and turns to Kaworu.
(14:59:12) (Gregor) "I had .... feared.... you would say that."
(14:59:45) (Arkalest) "Don't worry, it's a chat-chat, not...The kind that ends in AT decohesion."
(15:00:06) (Gregor) "I know, sir."
(15:00:19) (Gregor) "That is what I meant."
(15:00:24) (Arkalest) Kaworu gently wraps an arm around your shoulders and helps you outside the door-
(15:00:30) (Arkalest) "Brace."
(15:00:44) (Arkalest) He closes his eyes, and there is a flash of light.
(15:00:50) (Arkalest) One moment you are there-
(15:01:09) (Arkalest) The other, you're standing in the middle of a service tunnel, concrete and neon lights.
(15:01:21) (Arkalest) The air is fresh, and it smells of plants and rain...
(15:02:42) (Gregor) "How long, I wonder," Gregor says when the hateful tingle of QETP fades, "until you go mad, sir."
(15:02:48) (Gregor) It's not even a question.
(15:03:27) (Arkalest) "If we are lucky...Years. Long enough to...Finalize things. If we're not...Months." Kaworu grips you a bit tigether.
(15:03:33) (Arkalest) "Sysadmin."
(15:03:41) (Arkalest) A single word. An order.
(15:04:01) (Arkalest) She appears from thin air, in a wisp of Dirac energy.
(15:04:11) (Arkalest)  What do you need-
(15:04:14) (Gregor) "I am quite sorry, sir. But it was better than letting the one who was already mad come out on top."
(15:04:22) • Gregor sullenly glares at the sysadmin.
(15:04:27) (Arkalest) "Why did you lie to us."
(15:04:38) (Arkalest) The thing- She actually looks way.
(15:04:50) (Gregor) "The cloak was ingenious."
(15:04:55) (Arkalest)  I do not /lie/
(15:04:57) (Gregor) "So perfectly obvious."
(15:05:19) (Arkalest)  I merely do not state.
(15:05:34) (Arkalest) Kaworu sighs. "So, what are you? "
(15:05:55) (Gregor) "Lying by omission is still a lie." Gregor smiles sadly.
(15:06:20) (Arkalest)  I am what I am- The system administrator of this Ark.
(15:06:30) (Arkalest)  You should ask better questions.
(15:07:05) (Arkalest) She actually grabs the hems of her hood, and pulls down-
(15:07:36) (Arkalest) A reptile- A snake, a dragon, with scales like porcelain stained with green- A mane made of quill-like tendrils-
(15:08:00) (Gregor) "Did you spawn the Serpent memetic infection vector or did it just hit you, at some point."
(15:08:05) (Arkalest) And her fifth eye, squeezed shut- In the center of her forehead.
(15:08:19) (Arkalest)  That is what I was going to ask.
(15:08:34) (Gregor) "Answer. Did you, did you not, and when did it hit you."
(15:08:39) (Arkalest)  Am I based on the Serpent, or is the Serpent based on me?
(15:08:50) (Arkalest) She shakes her head-
(15:09:08) (Arkalest)  I do not know. There is a large gap in my memories.
(15:09:28) (Arkalest) Kaworu sighs, and the red lance is in his hand from nowhere.
(15:09:42) (Gregor) "To the best of your knowledge. Did you spawn the Serpent meme, yes or no? To the best of your knowedge, when did you get hit with it."
(15:10:19) (Gregor) "Sir." Gregor turns to Kaworu. "Try to reduce your questions to binary answers."
(15:10:24) (Arkalest)  However, there is a non-zero chance that I was hit with it in the previous iteration of the cycle, the one that spawned the entity named "Malak"
(15:10:55) (Arkalest)  No, I did not spawn the Serpent. Not..This version of it.
(15:11:22) (Arkalest) "Why did you not tell them that there was an ADAM fragment inide the Terminal Dogma?"
(15:11:42) (Arkalest)  Because the fragment is right next to an infection vector.
(15:12:15) (Gregor) "If not the current iteration of it, which one?"
(15:13:07) (Arkalest) "The one that took down Malak's king. Remember? Green sun. Just like Diluvio."
(15:13:10) (Arkalest) She nods.
(15:13:41) (Arkalest)  The drones I found are vulnerable to it. It tried to take over one of them as soon as I started analyzing the area.
(15:14:01) (Arkalest) A hologram of one of the sysadmin's drones appears- Outlined in orange light-
(15:14:12) (Arkalest) There is a small green flame at its core.
(15:14:47) (Gregor) "Sysadmin. Please confirm. Did you spawn only the Serpent vector of Malak's cycle, or others in addition to that."
(15:15:14) (Arkalest)  The virus, the infection tried to attack other drones under the guise of being a suicidal parasite charge.
(15:15:25) (Arkalest)  Only the Serpent vector.
(15:15:43) (Gregor) "I meant only during Malak'S cycle, or during others, too."
(15:15:44) (Arkalest)  I..Think that they tried to interface with me.
(15:16:12) (Arkalest)  Only during his- The..Serpent, it...Rode someone in, and took something from me.
(15:16:22) (Arkalest) "He fucking upgraded."
(15:16:37) (Arkalest) "He...He is gathering bits of Progenitor knowledge.
(15:16:58) (Arkalest)  It could not get out, however.
(15:17:22) (Gregor) "Sir. What are you, and what is Lilith, taught to hate above all else, fear it like nothing else in this world."
(15:18:00) (Arkalest) "I am..A Progenitor sub...Routine." He closes his eyes.
(15:18:17) (Arkalest) "....A piece of soul software, running on Adamite matter. "
(15:18:43) (Arkalest)  The Serpent's Malak-incarnation was trying to do something else.
(15:19:18) (Gregor) "Yes. Mass create EVAs."
(15:19:43) (Arkalest)  No, I mean when it tried to use the drone to infect me.
(15:19:46) (Gregor) "Host bodies capable of of holding almost any sort of soulsoftware. Including a progenitor-tier entity, as with Lilith and Unit 11."
(15:19:56) (Arkalest)  It was a ruse
(15:20:22) (Arkalest) The sysadmin hoists up one long, needle-like claw- And points it at a zone inside the green flame-
(15:20:34) (Arkalest) There is a blue spark inside the green.
(15:21:24) (Arkalest)  It was attempting to gather energy and data to perform Quantum Enta-
(15:21:32) (Arkalest) "Correspondence."
(15:22:02) • Gregor starts thinking furiously as the Sysadmin and Kaworu talk.
(15:22:50) (Arkalest)  Correspondence seems to be tied to the Dirac Sea. The Dirac Sea is a particularly malleable reality that-
(15:22:59) (Arkalest) "Can be used as a storage medium."
(15:23:04) (Gregor) "... the Alchemist?
(15:23:07) (Gregor) "... the Alchemist?"
(15:23:42) (Arkalest) She shakes her head.
(15:23:56) (Arkalest)  No, the fragment is not corrupted.
(15:24:33) (Arkalest) "Sysadmin...What does this Ark have that the others do not?"
(15:26:58) (Arkalest)  A bigger-than-usual complement of stasis pods.
(15:32:38) (Gregor) (( does gregor know about the possibility for neural rewrite? ))
(15:34:22) (Arkalest) (Yeah.)
(15:34:38) (Arkalest) "...Stasis pods. Why would they need stasis..."
(15:34:47) (Arkalest) "...." Kaworu's eyes snap open.
(15:35:02) (Arkalest) "To...They work using Dirac tech, don't they?"
(15:35:08) (Arkalest)  Partially.
(15:36:17) (Gregor) "Neural rewrite, sir?"
(15:36:36) (Arkalest) "No, no..."
(15:36:53) (Gregor) "Furthermore, please refrain from asking indirect question. The Sysadmin is known to lie by omission."
(15:37:10) (Arkalest) "Let me...Yes, the Serpent..It's many things. It's..An umbrella term. It is an entity, a memetic hazard..."
(15:37:27) (Arkalest) "And something that has to do with Correspondence, with..Dirac..."
(15:37:45) (Arkalest) "It's..All over the place. It can access nearly everywhere.."
(15:38:21) (Arkalest)  It might be because the Serpent stored its components inside a Dirac dimension, and is using Quantum Entanglement to recall them at will.
(15:39:09) (Arkalest) "...That's how he spreads. They..Trigger Correspondence in people.-"
(15:39:17) (Arkalest) "Donwload themselves in."
(15:39:49) (Gregor) "Ahh. Leave enough of itself to be found, all over the place. And guarantee it will never go out, as long as carrier-medium minds exist."
(15:39:51) • Gregor pauses.
(15:39:54) • Gregor looks at Kaworu.
(15:39:57) (Gregor) "I am so very sorry, sir."
(15:40:45) (Arkalest) He sighs. "I could have never won."
(15:41:01) (Arkalest) "Nor could have the other. The..Serpent, he rigged it all in their favour."
(15:42:03) (Arkalest) "But...They want to further the cycle for some reason..."
(15:42:30) (Arkalest)  You are being used as cattle. We all are.
(15:42:37) (Gregor) "Explain."
(15:42:47) (Gregor) "I have suspicions, but I would hear it from you first."
(15:43:28) (Arkalest)  The Serpent's single components could not even be sentient, like we are. They could be incredibly smart attack vectors programmed with the idea that the whole must survive...
(15:44:22) (Arkalest) "Like...Like cells. Like me, likeLilith- Subroutines."
(15:44:44) (Arkalest) ".........." Kaworu closes his eyes.
(15:45:07) (Arkalest) ".................The Serpent...I.. think that it wants to be freed."
(15:45:16) (Arkalest) "From..Whatever it is inside."
(15:46:46) (Gregor) "With every word you say I edge closer to supporting NIGHTMARE GREEN."
(15:47:47) (Gregor) "... funny how that ended up the codename for Terminal Dogma breach countermeasures, isn't it."
(15:48:01) (Arkalest)  Perhaps it i best to remove the cloak.The implications...Are troubling.
(15:48:09) (Arkalest) There is a shuffle as she drops it-
(15:49:04) (Arkalest) Gregor: Overall, the sysadmin is still humanoid- Four arms, legs- Vaguely reptilian, ending in three talons- Her whole body seems to be covered in a mixture of smooth, bone-like material, scales and muscle-fiber-
(15:49:16) (Arkalest) But it's her torso that reminds you of something-
(15:49:31) (Arkalest) She has no middle section to speak of- Only her spinal column-
(15:50:01) (Arkalest) And there are two diagonal pylon-like structures extending from the base of her neck-
(15:50:10) (Arkalest) Kaworu blinks.
(15:50:22) (Arkalest) " /Motherfuckers,/"
(15:51:00) (Gregor) (( I have trouble visualizing this ))
(15:51:24) (Arkalest) (Alright.)
(15:51:33) (Gregor) ( especially the pylon things)
(15:51:52) (Arkalest) (Imagine the Angeloid Unit you saw inside the flying whale tape.)
(15:52:06) (Arkalest) (Only with four arms, and a reptlian head.)
(15:52:30) (Gregor) (( i must be more fucked up than I thought. flying whale tape?! ))
(15:53:03) (Arkalest) (The one Jo showed you. About the giant flying whale slash AA Wunder they found in Siberia.)
(15:53:15) (Arkalest) (Ckk did link you the paste, right.)
(15:53:56) (Gregor) (( Oooh, d'oh ))
(15:54:07) (Gregor) (( yeah sorry brain's just not working right from all the tiredness ))
(15:54:15) (Gregor) "... well, you look familiar." Gregor's voice is icy.
(15:54:37) (Arkalest) "Welp, we now know what they wanted to build."
(15:54:42) (Arkalest) Kaworu growls.
(15:55:05) (Arkalest) "Sysadmin, are there any drones that look like-" He closes his eyes.
(15:55:08) (Arkalest) "This."
(15:56:22) (Gregor) "What they want to build is EVAs, sir."
(15:57:48) (Arkalest) "No, no...They were building Evas as temporary bodies."
(15:58:50) (Gregor) "Yes. Duh."
(15:59:01) (Gregor) Gregor says this with the tired voice of someone at the end of their ability to be polite.
(15:59:02) (Gregor) "What."
(15:59:03) (Gregor) "The fuck."
(15:59:14) (Gregor) "Needs an E scale body/meat hardware."
(15:59:15) (Gregor) "To run."
(15:59:27) (Arkalest)  A Progenitor.
(15:59:29) (Gregor) "A.) A progenitor."
(15:59:32) (Arkalest)  Duh.
(15:59:34) (Gregor) "B.) Whatever made a progenitor."
(16:00:12) (Gregor) "Get your pawns to grow looooots of EVAs." Gregor says sullenly. "Lots and lots."
(16:00:24) (Gregor) "And then, bamf! Multiply! Pour intothem. Fill in the cracks and empty spaces."
(16:00:31) (Gregor) "Immortality."
(16:00:34) (Gregor) "And, of course, unity."
(16:00:44) (Gregor) "No more thousands of little fragments, scattered all over."
(16:00:51) • Gregor shakes his head after the outburst.
(16:01:01) (Arkalest) "No, no, no.."
(16:01:03) (Gregor) "Or, of course, something else entirely."
(16:01:09) (Arkalest) "They..A temporary measure."
(16:01:16) (Arkalest) "It's her, it's her what they want."
(16:01:23) (Arkalest) The sysadmin actually blinks.
(16:01:26) (Gregor) "For what, full amalgamation?" Gregor snorts.
(16:02:05) (Arkalest) "No...Admin privileges for the Arks."
(16:02:19) (Gregor) "Because if they have reaved the sysadmins of the other Arks, and," a nod at Sysadmin, "is the only one left, what for."
(16:03:38) (Arkalest) "They..Haven't, I think. Because they are looking for..Something else, maybe. "
(16:04:08) (Arkalest)  My theory is that they are not looking at administrative priveleges for all the Arks.
(16:04:24) (Arkalest)  But for one specific Ark whose systerm administrator was erased.
(16:06:06) (Gregor) "Sysadmin." Gregor leans agianst the wall, tired. "Why were you lying by omission when we last talked."
(16:06:23) (Arkalest)  Each cycle is an attempt of the Serpent to build a race that can repair the Arks.
(16:06:54) (Arkalest)  Because if you had rushed to the LEGION-being, the infection would have been unleashed, and..I would have ceased existing.
(16:08:34) (Gregor) "Are you lying right now, by omission, specific phrasing or otherwise?"
(16:08:56) (Arkalest)  No. I am not lying in any way.
(16:09:06) (Arkalest)  The Serpent would have erased me-
(16:09:12) (Arkalest)  I...
(16:09:17) (Arkalest)  Want to live.
(16:09:52) (Arkalest) And in that moment- You understand-
(16:10:15) (Arkalest) You understand why she would lie, why she would cloak herself- Why she would hide...
(16:10:21) (Arkalest) She is afraid.
(16:11:13) (Gregor) Yeah, welcome to the club. Nobody wants to die.
(16:11:55) (Gregor) "Nobody wants to die." Gregor yawns widely. "Nngh. Sir. Is there any - any - way to prevent this infection vector from taking you over.
(16:12:25) (Gregor) "Short of decoupling a stasis pod from the ark proper, formatting it to default, and then poking at your brain until the squiggly green worms go away."
(16:13:35) (Arkalest) "Soul surgery, I think...Or finding a pure Adam fragment- Is there even such a thing- And swapping matter."
(16:14:04) (Gregor) "Welp."
(16:14:18) (Gregor) "I wonder how long Asuka has, in that case."
(16:14:28) • Gregor blink-blinks. "Wait, what."
(16:14:48) (Gregor) "Step 1: Hunt down the source of her K/A parts.".
(16:14:57) (Arkalest) Kaworu blinks.
(16:15:20) (Arkalest) "....God, no.What if that is the Serpent?"
(16:16:07) (Gregor) "Hm?"
(16:16:14) • Gregor blinks again, tiredly.
(16:16:54) (Arkalest) "I mean, her Adam bits and Serpent backdoor must have come from somewhere..."
(16:17:52) (Gregor) "Yes. And," Yawn, "she exhibited Josephine style polymorphic chameleon cell structure." Yawn. "At least I think. Or else her mods would have been obvious."
(16:19:38) (Arkalest) "...Polymorphic..Like a snake shedding its scales..."
(16:19:48) (Arkalest) "....Strong, like a conqueror."
(16:20:08) (Arkalest) "...A conqueror. The Snake conquers all, and they do not even realize...No.."
(16:20:12) (Arkalest) Kaworu shakes his head.
(16:20:26) (Arkalest) "Thank you for your time, sysadmin."
(16:20:48) (Arkalest) "We can be your allies, if you wish to. No need to fight us."
(16:20:51) • Gregor rubs his eyes again. "Would like to..." Yawn. "Contribute more but...." yawn "even I am ... ultimately just human."
(16:20:55) (Arkalest) "No need to lie."
(16:21:22) (Arkalest) "And..If you do that again, I /will/ make sure that it will be the last time."
(16:21:24) (Gregor) "Sir."
(16:21:29) (Gregor) "Which part of you is talking right now?"
(16:21:30) (Arkalest)  ...........understood.
(16:21:39) (Arkalest) "Fuck if I know."
(16:21:57) (Gregor) "Well, I'm going to kick your ass if you start talking about breaking open terminal dogma."
(16:22:00) (Gregor) "Just saying."
(16:22:31) (Gregor) "If the Serpent would make itself god," Gregore stands up, shaking his head, life flushing back into him, "Then I will murder this false god and topple its throne."
(16:23:05) (Arkalest) "Double fuck no, i am not touching that shit with the Lance even. One fragment is enough."
(16:23:47) (Arkalest) "Also.. Clever girl."
(16:23:52) (Arkalest) She tilts her head.
(16:23:56) (Arkalest)  what
(16:27:22) (Gregor) "what."
(16:31:11) (Arkalest) "...Just wante to lighten the mood."