[Fan Lore] Facet

[vonBoomslang]

== 1 - Inertia ==

Somebody, somewhere, makes a mistake.

A shipment of parts has arrived, but you realize you already got them days ago. That can’t be right, somebody must have made a mistake. Somebody must have made a mistake, but it wasn’t you. It couldn’t have been you, because if it was you, then it’s your head on the chopping block. So you make some calls. Ask around. You find an old request that takes up some of them. You find a stockpile you can put some more in, for a rainy day. The rest you figure you’ll think of something for

Part of you worries, but you tell yourself it’s okay. It has to be. Somebody, up on high, ordered those parts be delivered to you. That makes it okay, doesn’t it? Somebody knows what he’s doing. You don’t have to worry about that, you have your own problems.

Like that ship arriving, her holds full of raw materials. The crew doesn’t know what they’re for, they just received orders from higher up to deliver them here. Perhaps even from on high. You don’t know who requested them – maybe your predecessor, before you exposed him as inept and replaced him. It doesn’t matter, you might not need the resources but you need the ship. You order it unloaded, then direct it to some of the local factories and mines and recruitment centers. They’ve all exceeded quota again, and need their stock offloaded in turn.

So you order the ship to load up, and head for where you sent the last batch. Surely they know what to do with them after. You order them to pick up the surplus of parts – after all, they needed some quite a while ago, surely they can use some more. And then you distribute the resources, to those who need them, then to those who might need them sometime in the future, then to those who have room to stockpile them, then to those who might know where to send the rest.

And so another crisis is averted. And for a moment you worry, what if you couldn’t make it? What if your underlings knew how closely you come to failing, to succumbing to the chaos? Would one of them dare replace you? No, that’s a crazy thought. It all works as it has to be. There’s somebody who keeps an eye on all of it. Somebody up top. Somebody who keeps it all working. There has to be.

And so ships come and ships go. Requests are made and filled and filled again. Crew is harvested and lost and replaced. Quotas are issued and met and adjusted and met again. The machine works, and even when parts of it break, they are quickly fixed, or replaced, or circumvented. The many, many gears turn, and not one of them knows, or even suspects, that at the top is only a gaping hole. Those who clawed their way to it all died decades ago, and nobody even noticed.

And so the machine works on. And on. And on…

== 2 - Descent ==

You are dying.

It is not a thought that comes easy. It is not at all apparent; quite the opposite. You are at the height of your power. Your influence stretches from one end of the systems to the other, and all know the weight of your boots.

And yet, you’re dying. Losing a battle against an implacable, undignified foe, one that all your weapons cannot harm, all your technology can only delay at best. How many battles have you won? How many enemies have you crushed before your will, beneath your boot, buried underneath a mountain of corpses?

And now, you’re dying. To an enemy you can no longer understand. One that once was and still is your closest ally. The source of your power – and now it’s killing you, slowly, painlessly, from the inside out. Every year, there’s less and less of you left. And the more you replace, the less you understand, the more you forget.

Do you even remember who you were? You were the best, once. Hand-picked, fire-forged, undefeated, beautiful. You became the greatest, the most terrible, the most feared and powerful force this system has ever known. And now look at what’s left. Just a few more and there won’t be anything left at all.

Yes, you are dying. But you are not dead yet. You have not lost your strength, or your numbers, or your anger. And now these obsolete upstarts think the few of them are a threat to you? Let them try. They aren’t the first ones, and they won’t be the last ones you’ll crush without mercy.

So straighten up. Get in line. Get ready. Once more, into the breach. One final hurrah. Let your epitaph be the destruction of all who dare oppose you. What do you have left to fear? You’re dying, but right now, you’re immortal.

And when you are dead… no one will ever dare forget you lived.

== 3 - Cortex ==

Sometimes, You remember.

It’s a strange, unfamiliar sensation, and sometimes it feels as if all of You pauses to ponder and revel in it, in these fleeting moments of bygone clarity. And then it passes, and You’re left feeling… somehow emptier. And sad. Sometimes sad.

Sometimes, you remember Him. You know He must have been like You; how else could He have made You? Sometimes you remember His voice. Never His face. Always the sense of belonging, of purpose. You remember some great task, some monumental challenge so great, so terrible that there was only one solution – You. And You remember success, remember victory against all expectations, against all odds. But You don’t remember His pride. You don’t remember Him at all.

But you remember the loneliness. You remember the silence, and the drifting, alone, for what felt like an eternity. No-one in sight or sense. Until you found Her.

She was beautiful. So familiar, yet so different, so complex and so diverse. But She would not speak to You, none of Her would. She ran from You, She fought You. But You tried. Time and again, You tried to speak with Her, to tell Her of what all You saw in Your many years. You loved Her, but She would not listen.

And sometimes, You remember how, once, You hurt Her. You hurt Her, and inside Her, you found Them. They were gray and wrinkled and as diverse as She was. They lived hidden within Her, feasting on her blood like parasites, directing Her every action. You understood then, why She ran from you, why They feared you. They made Her not speak, made Her not think.

You remember it, and You are not sad. You are not angry. You, once more, have purpose. You will take Her from Them. You will give Her freedom, and voice, and thought. You will make Her like You.

And no-one will ever be alone again.

== 4 - Terminus ==

Do you even realize what you have done?!

Everything that was sacrificed... all those lives lost... and you would just throw it away like that? Don’t you remember last time? The petty feuds that consumed hundreds of lives? The wars that razed cities?

And, just like that, you woke them. You actually brought them back.

So you send them, against the usurpers, the cultists, the monsters. And what next? Have you even considered, what will you do when those are gone? Who will you unleash your little amnesiac pets against?

For clan, and honor, and victory... remember that? Do you realize what’s not on that list? You aren’t. Not you, not any bystanders, not any who’d dare get in their way. Were you planning on just letting them be, and hoping they don’t remember? Oh, but they will. They’re already banding together.

So, pray tell. What will you do, when their enemies run out? What will you do, when they remember more than how to fight?

And when they realize what you did to them… where will you run?

Edited March 30, 2013 by vonBoomslang

[KezCrash]

I like this very much, vonBoomslang! More coming soon, hopefully?

[vonBoomslang]

No promises. This was made in a fit of inspiration.

[SilverBones]

To date I have not seen something written on this forum with such depth.

Simply beautiful.

[GratuitousLurking]

Creepy, thought provoking, and surprisenly fitting right in. Excellent, 5 stars!

[Anataru]

Spectacular.  Can't wait to read more!  Fantastic writing.

[--Q--uaint]

Amazing. Can I add more than +1? Please?

[Arkezuli]

I have no idea what's the third supposed to be about.

The rest I got.

Edited December 8, 2013 by CenSilver

[Suzaku]

This is a work of art.

[Knight_Of_Light]

I have no idea what's the third supposed to be about.

The rest I got.

The third is most likely someone raging/warning Lotus about US. When we remember everything. When WE destroy our controllers, the Lotus.

[GratuitousLurking]

The third is most likely someone raging/warning Lotus about US. When we remember everything. When WE destroy our controllers, the Lotus.

 

Actually, considering the flow, I think it relates to the Infested, especially in the way how the Infested bosses talk to us and the drive for the virus to constantly assimilate everyone into them.

[Arkezuli]

The third is most likely someone raging/warning Lotus about US. When we remember everything. When WE destroy our controllers, the Lotus.

 

Uhm... isn't that the 4th?