The only thing I can think of is to leave a hidden message somehow to explain what may potentially be your sudden disappearance to the phenocosm agents, but... whoever's behind this is showing an terrifying amount of control over the situation, through mental means rather than physical at least.

It'll need to be something that'll get discovered after whatever mind screwing is over or not actively being watched, maybe under a pillow, or in Pesh or Tesh's coat if they've left them here.

The domino were already set up, now it's time to see how they fall, I think.

>>1100724
If you have access to Tesh's server maybe leave a message there. Whoever's setting this all up might over look it because they think the server's done receiving.

>>1100731
That seems like a good idea. Leave instructions for them or something. Don't forget to thoroughly log out. Though...the adversary can probably pull login info from the twins' memories. Hmm. Are you able to erase your own memory that you left a message? Would it do any good?

…we aren’t likely to survive much longer on our own terms… let’s go get something to eat, maybe chat up some regular people for a little while. We have time.
Also, for the sake of paranoia, do you still have the canister? It’s genuine and not replaced with a fake or just outright gone? “She” obviously knows about it, seeing as how tegge got got, but I want to know what options we have left.

1/6 Aelsaw 2024/12/06(Fri)13:52 No. 1100832 ID: 04e6e3
File 173352197545.png - (128.69KB , 1200x1000 , 819.png )

"I'm sorry you got caught up in this."
>"Don't worry about me, it's just part of the job." I think she's exaggerating, but perhaps more than she knows.
"Goodbye, then."
>"Goodbye."

We hang up. I thought of heading towards the mice, but perhaps I'll leave them as is. I still intend to take them back to the phenocosm with me, but the only thing I can do right now is to see what happens when I give Tesh's real memories back to her. This can be unpredictable depending on what happened to her, and even if it works, Pesh would be left in the dark. It's an awkward situation, and even more awkward to deal with right now.

I think until further evidence comes, I will simply assume that I am heading to meet Pillet. Walking into an enemy's location at their own request is not an ideal move, but I feel that she's gotten a firm handle on the situation. I take a brief meditative break to

>>1100731
>>1100745

top off on rest.

I just realized that I've been feeling and holding onto the canister, but that I haven't seen it since I placed it in my coat. I slide what I expect is the canister out of my inner lining, and... good, it's still here. I'm almost surprised it wasn't taken somehow.

Once I'm ready, I start my walk through the train.

>"Hey, new girl, you still look restless. Take a seat." Odia says.
"Okay." I was planning on walking straight there, but I just don't feel like rushing into something I may not survive.

I chat with them awhile longer. It would be easier if I knew how their minds were altered, but they don't grill me for information, they simply chat about their favorite vacation spots. Once again I lean on Tesh's memories so that I am not clueless to Klivanian geography.

2/6 Aelsaw 2024/12/06(Fri)13:52 No. 1100833 ID: 04e6e3
File 173352197851.png - (133.59KB , 1200x1000 , 820.png )

I pass through the lounge. Tegge looks up, but we simply nod to one another. I spot more plainclothes agents through the following coach cars, and people are exclusively using the observation car as a lounge due to the lack of visibility out there.

Kara is here. She's showing some card tricks to a child between a gap in the benches.

>"Mmm, you pulled out a blue seven."
>"Whaaa?! How?!" The child asks, upon having the face of their card guessed correctly. Kara laughs.
>"A good magician never reveals their tricks! But if you want, I can be blindfo - ah, job's calling, just a moment!" She stands up fully and faces me. "Reneil, are you heading to the back already?"
"I'm making my way through slowly, but I'm not hurrying."
>"Good. Can you help me with this? I think the boy thinks I'm cheating!"
"... Okay."
>"Okay, Hegander!" She faces the boy. "This is Reneil, a kind lady who's going to help me do some tricks."
>"But what if I want to help?"
>"Then you won't get to see so well!"

I did not expect to get waylayed by being volunteered into Kara's magic show. The audience seems to be growing some, and I be a good sport about magic tricks played at my expense. She pokes her hand into my empty pockets, and my hand fully compresses around my canister to protect it. She notices this for just long enough for me to notice her detecting that.

Then she pulls out a cooking pan through means I fail to understand. Her other hand reveals an egg that she cracks open. Energy is used to heat the pan up, and the egg white sizzles.

>"Waiiit a second, you're a growing boy, you need two eggs, don't you?"
"But you only have one?"
>"I think we can get two yolks out of this egg!"

She holds up the egg. It's whole again. She cracks it again and a second yolk comes out. Did she swap it? I saw the egg the entire time.

Kara had memories that expressed a casual interest in magic tricks for entertaining some guests. However, what she is doing now is far beyond what she learned.

3/6 Aelsaw 2024/12/06(Fri)13:53 No. 1100834 ID: 04e6e3
File 173352198095.png - (66.86KB , 1200x1000 , 821.png )

Kara thanks me, eliciting a round of applause for my participation. I'm left to go through the sleeper car. Beyond this point is staff only, but I noticed the door is unlocked. I go through one, then the next.

The little chime of the train's intercom plays.

>"Hello, this is your conductor speaking. This is a reminder that all unauthorized passengers must remain out of the cargo wagon area. If the two unauthorized individuals who have entered will kindly return to the passenger cars, no fines will be administered, thank you."

Two cars later, and I see Pesh and Tesh sheepishly creeping back the way I came.

"Ah, so it was you two Kara was talking about. What were you doing here?"
>"Would you believe snooping?" Pesh says.
"I would."
>"'Cause we were. We're returning." Tesh's phone says.
"Good. And I'm feeling much better, I'm sorry for those weird things I said before."
>"Haha, you must have forgotten to put pants on under the coat if you wear it so much!"
"I didn't forget, I just... nevermind. The dining car was getting pretty crowded, so you'd both better head over there before the free food runs out."
>"Oh, heck! Okay thanks - you are actually supposed to do something here right? You're not just being weird again?"
"No, no, I'm here at the request of Kara. You can ask her yourself if you like."
>"Okay, okay."

Each of them pat my shoulder as we squeeze by one another.

4/6 Aelsaw 2024/12/06(Fri)13:53 No. 1100835 ID: 04e6e3
File 173352198326.png - (674.29KB , 1200x1000 , 822.png )

About 10 cars later, I've made it. I sense her. She's not much stronger than a civilian, but I have no doubt that she's suppressing her energy well.

I stop short of entering the final car and instead climb up the ladder to scale the roof. I can feel the train's shakiness as I climb, and I wonder how in the world regular civilians are supposed to work like this.

5/6 Aelsaw 2024/12/06(Fri)13:53 No. 1100836 ID: 04e6e3
File 173352198833.png - (1.13MB , 1200x1000 , 823.png )

I form a light shield around myself to prevent the snow from sticking on me. I see a figure up ahead with their back turned.

6/6 Aelsaw 2024/12/06(Fri)13:53 No. 1100837 ID: 04e6e3
File 173352199237.png - (0.96MB , 1195x1000 , 824.png )

She turns.

"Kara? I didn't see or sense you pass me."
>"Like I said, a magician never reveals her tricks. How've you been, Aelsaw?"
"I'm talking to Pillet, right?"
>"Yep. In the flesh."
"What did you do with Kara?"
>"Hey, that wasn't a rhetorical question, girl! How have you been?"
"Oh. I've been busy in unusual ways. Perhaps I'm in over my head."
>"Yup."
"But you, sister! What have you done to get on the number one most wanted list?"
>"'Sister'? We've drifted a little far to keep calling each other that, haven't we?"
"The last three centuries of having you gone are little compared to the millenia we spent together."
>"And it started with me leaving the artificers. If you want to know why I was the most wanted, ask the phenocosm! I didn't put myself up there, hell, the last few centuries I was laying low. Biding my time, learning things the slow way, enjoying being able to get a breath of fresh air without the express permission of three different officials. And it was going great right up until Paporron told me about some insane shitheads that wanted to make a subdimension with or without an artificer. My words, not his. It lit a fire under my ass. We've obviously got to stop them."
"Wait, you want to stop them?"
>"Absolutely. Our interests line up there. I almost tipped the phenocosm off early and anonymously just so they could deal with it themselves before it reached this stage. But I saw an opportunity for myself. So I came."
"Opportunities, such as?"
>"I'll tell you when one of us kicks the other's ass. And no offense, you're not going to be doing much of the ass kicking when you're sporting the energy level of the average PICK agent."

"Guess we're catching up the hard way."
Move to a secure train car. Don't risk falling off the train during a spar.

...she knows that we know that she knows about the energy canister, or at least I think that's a reasonable guess for her to make. So... she's trying to get us to use it? Why?

I'm wary of her just attacking if we stall but I don't want to go loud unnecessarily. Ask if she's sure she wants to do this, say you don't want to fight on top of a train full of civilians, and would rather just talk it out. Maybe hint that you have some sorta of edge? Not sure.

If push comes to shove, use it, but try to avoid that outcome.

>>1100837

Regardless of the outcome, let's ... promise to leave Pillet be. Seriously

It might mean going against everything the phenocosm stands for, but she's gotten this far and she IS kind of working in their interests.

It probably won't sway her to offer that, but it feels like the right thing to do.

>>1100837
I guess you have to wait to use the energy capsule until the fight starts?
Wait, shouldn't she be worried about attracting attention? If you two engage in a high energy duel then all the Agents in the train will get involved won't they? Perhaps you two shouldn't fight, even as a spar.

Tell her you're very interested in working with her. You were predicted as the best person for this job, and her presence explains everything. You can swear an unbreakable oath or something to keep her alive-status a secret from the phenocosm if she wants... and you kindof want to find out why she's marked for death in the first place. Hold up, why did she fake her death if she didn't know? Also, HOW did she fake her death?

Current day Pillet: Would the memories look like they did if they were recorded by old Pillet? Like, could old Pillet have... read Aelsaw's memories, then stored her memory of those memories, instead of storing Aelsaw's memories directly? Would that explain how the memories look?

Okay, yeah, that's definitely Pillet. She knows you got the energy canister but instead of taking it she wants you to use it to fight her. She may just be rearing for a fight but it's also likely this is a form of indoctrination. She's probably trying to make you act more reckless so she could make use of you some way since if you broke the energy limit to that degree you might as well break a few other rules. That said I doubt she'd go so far as to try to actively recruit you since she knows full well what your attachments are and established that you aren't sisters, probably because her worldview's changed a whole lot in the past few centuries. No offense but three centuries is a lot of time when your memories aren't being constantly scrubbed clean.

Also, this panel can only be referencing one thing, and I love it.

Current Day Pillet: Well, at the very least the moral dilemma of whether the real you, whichever it is, would want to take down this subdimension is dealt with. It seems that both Aelsaw and Pillet agree on this point. Though this does seem like it's affect your policy towards the Phenocosm when you get out. I guess we'll see based on which Pillet gets stuck in the fog though if it's both we have another problem. Also, the fact that Pillet is able of changing the way a soul thinks it should look means appearance is not a reliable way to know who people once were. Delli could have been anyone now, anyone.

>>1100854
Well, that feels a little premature. 1. It assumes we immediately believe her vague statements at face value, and 2. Just because we're working towards the same ends doesn't necessarily mean we want to give her carte blanche. Someone could e.g. be working to achieve world peace, funded by child slavery, and I think many people would object.

Oh, edit - I would still be open to considering some kind of truce, though, personally, depending on how things shake out.

Yeah pop the canister and go epic fight your sister. Destiny and all that.

Refuse to fight, you have no reason to.
She's trying to goad you into taking the canister, possibly compromising yourself.

What's the point of fighting if you're both in agreement about the Phenocosm? Tell her to be honest. You deserve at least that.

Fighting seems a bit pointless at first when we both have the same goals, but given the circumstances working together might be incredibly hard, at least directly. As far the phenocosm is concerned, Pillet's an enemy at this point. Working with us puts herself at a lot higher risk. This might be her testing to see which of you two has what it takes to accomplish the task.

Given who you're up against here, I do not think the phenocosm will judge you harshly for using the capsule. Losing the capsule or all of that energy to Pillet on the other hand would probably earn you quite the scorn and shame. Start absorbing that energy and prove you can do what it takes.

There is no way she went through all this effort just to tell us to keep doing what we’re doing. Something has to be going on that we can’t see and I think she’s trying to bait us to either join her or fight her, though I have no clue why.

1/2 Aelsaw 2024/12/08(Sun)11:23 No. 1100941 ID: 04e6e3
File 173368578167.png - (1.04MB , 1200x1000 , 825.png )

>To Present Pillet: Would the memories look like they did if they were recorded by old Pillet?
>Delli could have been anyone now, anyone.
[ Maybe, on both counts. I'm going to see where all this lands before I think too hard, but I'm sure Delli's remained who he is ever since he killed the founders off. ]

Usually if a memory artificer has to apprehend anyone, it's because several safety nets, precautions and protocols all fell through. Such things were bypassed by sending me here as Ellie, Reneil, and Pillet. Still, phenocosm protocol declares I am duty bound to prevent Pillet from getting away.

With that said, there is too strong of a chance that I simply cannot. She has control of the situation to the point that even using the canister seems like it might be playing into her hands. I don't feel like fighting is the best option.

"Do we need to fight, Pillet? First of all, we're on a train. With passengers!"
>"And children, yeah. Why do you think I had us go to the back of the train? The nearest person is nearly 300 meters away."
"Oh, good." This is the most secure car to fight on, if it comes to that. "Secondly, won't the agents come fighting? They still think they're agents, no matter what you did to them."
>"They'll let Polly handle it."
"Who is that?"
>"I made him up. Trusty old Polly, Tegge's trusty right hand man that'll take care of any cargo wagon troubles and no one else."
"Hmm. I still want to know why you were supposed to be killed. And for that matter, how did you fake your death?"
>"I told you, I'll tell you once I kick your ass."

She starts striding slowly towards me. I finish compacting my light shield such that it's functionally invisible. Judging by how the snow flows off of Pillet, she's done the same technique.

"I'd rather not fight. What's the point in it?"
>"For god's sake, I didn't remember you being so unpredictable."
"God? Klivanian customs have rubbed off on you, haven't they?"
>"It's just an expression! There are no gods watching us. The phenocosm must be cleaning your heads out way too much ever since I left. Do you really think I could just leave and not be on the kill list?"
"Is there not more to it?"
>"Of course not. You must still know the cardinal rule. Our duty is to serve until death. I stopped serving. Now the phenocosm wants me to finish my duty and die."
"And to become number one most wanted?"
>"Really. That's all it took."

She stops a few steps in front of me. I'm still hesitating to use my canister.

2/2 Aelsaw 2024/12/08(Sun)11:23 No. 1100942 ID: 04e6e3
File 173368578587.png - (497.82KB , 1200x1000 , 826.png )

>"It's because of how afraid they are of us, of what a rogue artificer could do. That's why they keep ones like you naive and loyal by constantly brainwashing yourselves. You might not believe it, but there's a centennial gathering that includes discussions on whether or not to stop the artificing program. If they decide to cut it off, they'll kill every last one of you."
"I could believe it, but I would also accept it. If they don't want us, then what else is there?"
>"Everything! You've already been getting your own ideas on Klivania, I know it because you're sitting here trying to make peace with me. The Aelsaw I know would try to convince me to turn myself in, sure, but she'd also know when it's time to fight. You're going to forget your time and everyone you met here."
"It's a cost I've already sworn my life to. If what you say is true about the centennial meeting, then it's the loyalty of all other artificiers that has made them decide to keep us around every century!"
>"You'll always be the naive child with that thinking. It's not because you're such good loyal phenocosm tools, it's because of the subdimensions."
"Oh?"
>"The phenocosm tried to kill off all knowledge of making pocket dimensions a long time ago." She points downwards. "Now it's happening anyway. Except now they're so ill equipped to deal with it that Shuzenza can hardly take any action!"
"He did send me. I do question if I was really the best choice, but I was sent all the same."
>"Hah! Shuzenza didn't want to send you. It was that encephalon matrix that pushed him into thinking it was a good idea, and he who had every idea of his shot down was pressured into sending you."
"Wait a second, how do you know all that?"
>"Think about it. You already knew it was odd the encephalon sent you down to pretend to be me, when it knew that there was a soul seer down there who could tell you weren't me! And it didn't have any way of knowing Paporron would cover for you anyway! That's not the sign of a healthy, functional encephalon matrix. And you just heard my call with Paporron, where I mentioned I had already infiltrated the fleet."
"You're saying those are connected. You poisoned the encephalon matrix, just to somehow call me down? That's virtually impossible, I thought the encephalon's terminals were self sustaining and inaccessible to flesh and blood."
>"The phenocosm is right to fear what a rogue artificer can do. That's right, I'm the reason you're here. First of all, I needed you to generate hope for Shuzenza. I've studied his career. If he couldn't place his hopes in someone like you, that would have festered into desperate measures. And desperate measures from Shuzenza are too unpredictable and explosive. But mostly, I just needed you to fill the role of official memory artificer so that the place could function correctly for the long term, all while I was left to move freely unbeknownst to the founders."

She moves her odd light source to the side and lifts her hand towards me. I will be absorbing the energy if she even blinks in an aggressive way at this distance, but her posture is too relaxed.

>"If you want to work together, let me borrow your body. Take my hand and yield yourself. I'm not going to explain what I mean, it's way easier to show you."

Break the canister and then take her hand. If you are not on equal footing you have no power to dictate terms at the table.

Honestly she has a lot of good points. You are a memory expert turned field agent in a insane act of desperation. None of the last week has been anything you should have been thrown into. And your bosses are so scared of you that this conversation alone and using the power canister will likely get you killed or worse at the end of the mission. The phenocosm is a bloated mess of a organization and not horribly trustworthy. Maybe standing at your sisters side is the best idea. But you can only worry about that sort of thing if you are not a zonked out zombie in a bit.

>>1100942

... alright, why not? She makes some valid points, and if one person can manage all of this (and we've literally seen her do a fair bit already, just on this train, let alone the logs!) then we are so far in over our head that we're apt to become collateral from the fleet anyway.

Better to let Pillet show us and then make our decision, particularly if our interests already coincide.

Can she go back to looking like herself first? Wearing the conductor is making this a bit weird.

...alright. If she had enough access to manipulate things to get you here, she has enough access to cause you hell for just having a higher than legal energy level if you are able to return. We're in deep enough that the only way is down.

Use the canister. I don't yet know whether we should fight or not, but either way, we're doing this on a more even footing.

You can't trust the Phenocosm when they've had root access to your very soul this whole time, but you can't mindlessly obey the narrative of someone who wants that control for herself. The whole reason you're fighting, in both narratives, is to stop a messed-up science experiment from potentially whirling out of control, consuming everyone in the universe and forcing them to play to the tune of an eternal purgatory they will have no choice but to live in, the ultimate expression of 'enslavement of the self'. If Pillet can't accept your will to fight that fate as your own person, then you can't accept her desire to merge with you. Keep talking it out.

....Nah, not trusting it.

She already told us she's been moving all the pieces to put us here. That she's more dangerous that anyone knows. AND she can alter souls!

The Phenocosm is likely every bit as bad as she says and then some, but she sure as sin ain't trust worthy.

Break the cannister and kick her ass. Read her memories. Every last bit.

Maybe she's expecting it and is ready for it. But fuck it, I think it's well past time we stopped trusting blindly on people who shamelessly pull our strings.

She has already had access to you unconscious, so I don't think yielding now is of any further danger.

You have a computer plan military strategy? With no checks on it, if it gets detached from reality? A single point of failure?

...the phenocosm kind of sucks.

Looks like Pillet's deeply rooted into this and more knowledgeable on the situation than the phenocosm themselves. With that, and the fact she's asking you instead of just taking what she wants by force speaks volumes. Take her hand and trust the plan.

1/8 Aelsaw 2024/12/16(Mon)14:54 No. 1101320 ID: 04e6e3
File 173438966515.png - (1.68MB , 1200x1000 , 827.png )

"Can you go back to looking like yourself?"
>"That's not how this is going to work."

She summons energy through her palm. I reactively crack my canister before waiting to see what she's doing. It's not easy taking in this much energy for me, even if I have a few spare training memories of doing this.

Pillet responds just as reactively by leaping backwards.

2/8 Aelsaw 2024/12/16(Mon)14:54 No. 1101321 ID: 04e6e3
File 173438967023.png - (697.49KB , 1200x1000 , 828.png )

I'm ready for a fight, but I don't launch the offense. Pillet's body language isn't aggressive either as she lands. She waits a moment for me to finish consuming what I can of the canister before speaking.

>"I'm just forming a memory. Calm down."
"Okay. Send it to me."

She floats it toward me. With my current energy, I'm confident there's no real danger in accepting this memory. I do not trust her fully, so just in case there is poison within this energy pulse, I extract the memory from the energy manually rather than absorb the entire thing at once. There's nothing suspicious about it, and all my knowledge indicates that it isn't feasible to harm me when I take this precaution. If she can lay a trap that could incapacitate me like this, then I likely had no chance to begin with.

3/8 Pillet 2024/12/16(Mon)14:54 No. 1101322 ID: 04e6e3
File 173438967326.png - (437.64KB , 1200x1000 , 829.png )

An Unknown Number of Years Ago

[ It's Pillet. She's on her home planet, which is home to an immortal phenotype. No, a species? It's a slightly different categorization of organisms that predates me. She doesn't know the science of such things yet in this memory, and only a tenuous grasp of how her planet moves around the solar system. It's a large, tidally locked planet that's only habitable in a sizable but comparatively small circle on the far side. Two moons circle the planet, providing the sun's light when it is over the horizon but not blocked by the planet itself, thus the two moons provide 4 short days. ]

[ She is looking over the larger of the two moons, but it does not reflect light that well, so it still provides less light than the small one. A heavy storm is approaching, which is common on such a disorganized celestial system. However, its own self violence includes heavy seismic activity, which has provided plenty of natural shelter through deep cliffs that she will soon retreat to. ]

[ The oldest of her species is over 70,000 years old. They are revered for their age, but often have trouble remembering that they are in the present. They ask about people they knew who have been dead for thousands of years, and often go to old destroyed sites believing it's where they live. Pillet spends a moment here wondering if she will be like that someday. Long lived, but senile. For now, she is only 24 years old, and this is the earliest genuine memory she has. Though she does not remember her life as a child, her people treat her like a newborn. ]

[ They live using knowledge of the planet mixed with blueprints and raw resources brought in by the civilizations of the galaxy, but trade ships only come once every two hundred years or so. She's asked about leaving on one such spaceship, but was told that one came shortly before she was born. Therefore, she can't entertain the thought of travelling the stars for close to two centuries. ]

[ The reason for the long gaps is because there is no FTL travel here. There is no energy, not as the phenocosm knows it. ]

4/8 Pillet 2024/12/16(Mon)14:54 No. 1101323 ID: 04e6e3
File 173438967694.png - (133.91KB , 1200x1000 , 830.png )

[ She was only 29 when the universe had a hole ripped into it. This came with an incomprehensibly large fleet that came from a different universe entirely. This universe was visible through the rift, but it appeared pitch black. There were simply no visible stars in this universe. ]

[ The fleet came to avoid the incoming heat death of their universe. They came as conquerors rather than refugees, aiming to take the warmth and light of her reality. They were far beyond not just Pillet's people, but her universe's people. With FTL tech and energy that allowed a single one of them to match an entire fleet of Pillet's universe, there was no significant resistance. Her people had their land taken while they were put aboard generational ships, split up, and relocated. ]

[ It could be said that Pillet fought back, but the extent of her fight was to talk back against her oppressors. This was enough to be made an example out of, and so she was sent to be imprisoned back in the old universe. She spent years inside of a jail cell where the rift was visible, but she sometimes wished her cell was windowless. Living in this universe would slowly let her build up her own well of energy, but her binds and other machinery in the prison served as energy blockers.]

[ They made prisoners do hard physical labor, but what she found insufferable was that they didn't let her keep any belongings. Her diaries and photographs of her home were thrown out. She refused to let go of what was taken from her, so she managed to recreate them within the prison. She was not yet a memory artificer, but she is confident she was able to recreate her diaries and photos with reasonable accuracy. ]

5/8 Pillet 2024/12/16(Mon)14:54 No. 1101324 ID: 04e6e3
File 173438967865.png - (38.84KB , 1200x1000 , 831.png )

[ Many years later, she would be released along with all the other people in that prison. When she heard a ship was headed back through the rift, she stowed herself away on it. Oh, I have this memory. It was one of the few I saw in Shuzenza's vault, but I lacked the context. I see now why there was so much despair. From Pillet's vantage point in the prison, the rift had appeared open because light from her universe was still travelling to her cell from so far away. But once the ship got out of FTL travel, the rift was discovered to have been gone for years. The captain got on the intercom and expressed his condolences about the closed rift and a speech about the dying universe still having at least some generations of life left in it, but Pillet couldn't listen to the details. ]

[ The civilization that had captured Pillet already moved who they wanted through it. The remaining people were considered undesirables, and were purposefully left behind in the dying universe. That, she learned, is why her prison was dissolved. Yet in Pillet's perspective, her prison cell simply got larger. The life she had barely started was robbed, and this was the moment where she first thought that she may never get it back. The memory mercifully stops before her despair completely sets in on the ride back. ]

6/8 Pillet 2024/12/16(Mon)14:54 No. 1101325 ID: 04e6e3
File 173438968014.png - (34.79KB , 1200x1000 , 832.png )

[ As time continued, the undesirables, criminals, and bottom class citizens slowly found the one final star in the universe that still held significant light. In this memory, she looks over one of her recreated photos of her mother and father as she takes a work break. She had become an engineer in the properties of gravity, and lived on a space station with a growing population. The abandoned people gradually come to this last star to work together, dedicating themselves to the pursuit of stopping the heat death of the universe. ]

7/8 Pillet 2024/12/16(Mon)14:54 No. 1101326 ID: 04e6e3
File 173438968405.png - (758.04KB , 1200x1000 , 833.png )

[ They succeeded. The memory skips ahead to the same spot on a space station as she looks into the sky. Though Pillet only had a relatively small part to play, she still helped with designs made to collect lost matter within the dark universe using black hole nets, though I don't know how literal that term is. Over time, they employed methods to make stars, even galaxies at a time. This new civilization spread back outwards into its own artificial stars. ]

[ The final natural star of the old universe was given a new name, the Final Core. It remained in the center of this new universe, where it would be fueled for a new eternity as the seat of the new civilization. This new collective also gave itself a new name, now to be known as the phenocosm. ]

8/8 Aelsaw 2024/12/16(Mon)14:54 No. 1101327 ID: 04e6e3
File 173438968846.png - (623.64KB , 1200x1000 , 834.png )

That was all she showed. I never knew Pillet had a hand in the formation of the phenocosm itself.

"You don't hate the phenocosm at all."
>"No. They're flawed control freaks that are way too eager to burn libraries down, but no. I just want to go back and find my family and home. All I need to do is figure out how to rip a hole in the universe, and then that's it. I leave the phenocosm, and they won't ever need to worry about me again. It's a little silly at this point, because it's taken me so long. I doubt my family even remembers me, but I remember them. Anyways, you had an energy canister! Did you make Tegge forget he gave you one?"
"Not that I can remember."
>"Hah."

It's possible all of those memories are fabricated, but I doubt she's been trying to pull on my strings considering how she was determined to fight me just a moment ago.

>Your computer plans military strategy with a single point of failure?
No, it's... hm, that doesn't line up well with what I know about the phenocosms security.

"Something is bothering me, Pillet. The workings of the encephalon matrix shouldn't be accessible so easily, no matter who you impersonated. How did you do it?"
>"I didn't change its inner code or anything like that. All I altered was what data and priorities were fed into it. No matter how good a computer is, what it comes up with can only be as good as its data. So it thought sending you down was a better idea than it was in reality. I seriously doubt Shuzenza thought it was a good idea either, but he's found himself in a bad position. The union between you and him is one hell of a conflict of interest, you know, and the only reason he let you come to this solar system with him to begin with was because he wasn't told what he was dealing with until you were both here. There's more to it than that, but even I'm not omniscient."

If it's true that she gave the encephalon matrix bad information, then maybe I truly was never a good choice. Did Shuzenza really think I could do this, or did he simply want to support me knowing that there was little other choice? It would be like him to be positive in the face of disaster. As usual I am speculating with many gaps in my information, but if this is the case, maybe I truly cannot do this without Pillet.

>"Oh well, the cookie's crumbling, and only a few pieces are in our control. I don't have anything else to show you, at least nothing I'm comfortable with sharing. No more talking it out, either take my hand and yield, or fight."

Taking her hand would almost certainly fly in the face of all my duties and loyalties to the phenocosm and its principles, but given the potential stakes at hand and how much I may need Pillet's help, maybe I should set aside her crimes for the greater good.

Hold out your hand but give her a grin.

"Well that memory of yours is very nice. But all I see is your history, your life, your despair and your struggle... Not our life. Not a bit of me in those memories. If I am your sister show me how much I actually matter to you by giving me a proper fight."

"Oh and keep the fight to your memories of me please. I don't mind joining you but I don't actually know you due to occupational hazards. If you want me to join you? Prove that you are the stronger loving sister I hope you are deep down.... also maybe keep collateral damage down to a light spanking?"

Waggle the other hand up and down as if motioning for her to consider this to be a sibling tussle and not a back alley knife brawl.

She'll get your help.. but at least see if you can actually land a blow first. She has to earn it.

Always in for betraying the status quo in favor of reckless changes to the way things are. Let's fucking goooooooo

>>1101327
She's one of the founders of the universe. She's got seniority over the phenocosm, and she's on their side even if they want to kill her for some asinine reason. There are precious few reasons aside from a rather restricted sense of loyalty/duty not to cooperate with her. So go ahead, take her hand.

I'm guessing Tegge made *himself* forget he gave you the energy core, via taking some sort of chemical or regular mental effort. He wasn't supposed to do that, after all. As for why Pillet didn't see that you had it in your memories, I can only guess that she didn't look through them exhaustively; you did something similar with the conductor too where you didn't look at all her memories. Or maybe Pillet didn't look at your memories at all, since she didn't have any good reason to.

Wow, so this entire universe is one big Space Australia? And now Space Australia has become its own oppressive empire.

And now we have to wonder what became of the conquerors.

"So, that's it then. What the Phenocosm fears most is the empire which accidentally created it - because they would see us, and everyone in this universe, as one big mistake to be... corrected. Again. How can you guarantee that you won't accidentally give the universe-colonists enough intel to find out about their reborn universe and 'reclaim' it all for themselves?"

Hold out your hand.

"It would be hypocrisy for me to try and convince you to abandon this obsession just to be my big sister, when you helped build an entire universe on the hope that you might see your parents again. But that's exactly why our choice can't be cut-and-dry, why it has to be complicated and weird. You're as much my family as your parents are, this universe is as much a part of you as your home was, and you can't abandon us both without risking your conviction break apart."

Grasp.

"So we have to get freaky. Merge part of your soul with mine. Part of you has to be with me forever... and part of you has to leave forever. Find the rest of your family, tell them all that you accomplished and how they helped make what we did possible. You have to be two to be you; it's messed up, but so are post-universe colonists. And if I have to... part of me should go with you."

>>1101327

Considering everything she knows and what she's been through, I don't think we ever HAD a chance to fight her.

Let's submit. Better to have her on our side, an actual founder of the phenocosm, than fight what's starting to sound like a battle we were already set up to lose.

Hmmm... I'd like to confirm she's telling the truth by reading her full memories. Plus, let's face it, a super-powered combat scene has been a long time coming.

[musical note symbol] Fighting tiiiiime! [/musical note symbol]

Her crime of defecting from the phenocosm is nothing compared to the crimes she had to endure. Can you really fight and turn her in after seeing all of what's she been through? Give your sister a hug and team up.

Her—crimes? You still haven't identified any crimes. It may be completely sensible to execute any memory artificers who try to retire, but it's convenient to keep that secret, and thus extralegal, and thus Pillet has broken no laws.

If Pillet is this... incomprehensibly ancient being older than the phenocosm itself, who helped create all the stars in the sky then the phenocosm has a duty to serve her, so serving her is doing the phenocosm's duty, which is doing your duty. There's only one problem with this that doesn't quite add up.

You are her sister. How old are you? Her parents didn't get taken through the rift, so you have to be immeasurably old too, don't you? Are you really her sister?