synopsychic | [Jaunt][Late Week 2] Thanks a lot, Katsuragi

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[Jaunt][Late Week 2] Thanks a lot, Katsuragi

This is Sento, I've been brought back to myself.

[There is a deep psychic sigh.]

In the future, save us all some trouble--if I am fully infiltrated and my name is Takumi Katsuragi, please do us all a favor and have someone come de-infiltrate me immediately. There are certain patterns of behavior that seem to be repeated across universes, and none of them are good.

At any rate, let me know if there's anything Katsuragi's information would assist with--I've started decrypting all of his files, including the remarkably incriminating ones, and they should dump on Dr. Durante's computer very soon, if they haven't already. Thorne, you're welcome.

I've already had a meeting with the Admiral in which I claimed to have given myself a sort of Jekyll and Hyde complex via an odd strand of X-Pression, and I confessed to some of Katsuragi's more heinous crimes, but there's still much to be done.

We need to extract the Aurigan Consort from the Philia Core--did you all figure that out yet, I'm still going through everything--but in such a way that doesn't involve tipping AEGIS off or doing something that would upset the Aurigans further. I'm also working on some form of cure for the X-Pression virus--if we can cure the afflicted Aurigans, that would hopefully give everyone a reason to call the war off.

...and all of this is being done under guard, because, well, Katsuragi's now confessed to a remarkable array of crimes, ethical and otherwise.

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Yeah, we more or less figured that out. How hard is it going to be to get her out of there?

Also, who are your guards?

As I told the Admiral, more difficult than any of us might like--whoever gets her out of there should have a medical doctor on hand just in case. The Phileon is still important to the the fleet and I believe there's some hesitation on the military's part at immediately disarming it without a backup plan, plus there's still AEGIS to contend with. They aren't going to be happy, particularly after I've thrown their CEO under the proverbial bus.

The head guard is Stone's overlay. He appears to have been the unlucky one assigned to me; he'll be reasonable, if nothing else.

I've got some healing magic, but I don't know how well that will work on her. Someone else is probably gonna want to take point on that one.

How involved is AEGIS?

[She's guessing "very."]

Katsuragi's the head researcher on the project, and he works for them. They're incredibly involved at every step of the way; this was to be their big moneymaker. It's all a gross misuse of everything science stands for.

I take it they knew about the Consort?

Several of the higher-ups do, yes--Katsuragi didn't have the resources to put the Core together on his own. But not many were fully aware; that's why Katsuragi was so hellbent on secrecy.

The CEO absolutely knows, and I've already implicated him as such.

He one of ours?

He's Yakumo's overlay, and I'm his personal assistant.

If we need to lay a trap for him, I can arrange for him to be somewhere. He leaves the scheduling to me.

That's twice in a row he's been stuck as a bastard... he's probably not going to like that too much.

[Not that that matters right now, of course.]

I could probably hack his system, in case there's more evidence Katsuragi wouldn't have had.

I basically have complete access to things that don't have security clearance issues, and I have authorization to employ people. That can get you access to the system and you don't have to bother with initially cracking his system.

... I think? I dunno, I'm not a hacker, I just punch in numbers and results come out. I'm good at spreadsheets, not security.

It's okay - the systems here aren't that far off from the Spark, so I can still work with them.

Welcome back. Yes, we largely determined where the princess was, but I'm still unclear on the physical mechanics of the situation, or how to safely extricate her.

Also, if you need an extra whistleblower, I've been myself this entire time and I'm perfectly happy to relay any other information that burns AEGISCorp to the ground to the authorities here. I'm also specialized in distractions, if we need one for rescuing the princess.

I can show you the specifications. I'd rather not widely broadcast the digital files, but livestreaming them will be no issue, so long as we protect it from unwanted psychic interference.

I may take you up on that--I can provide you with some files Katsuragi wouldn't have thought much of, but they'll further implicate AEGIS in the event my list of cover-ups they've assisted Katsuragi with isn't enough.

The more evidence we can pile on from the same source the better. Less because it's more believable and more because we don't want to risk people noting there's a conspiracy behind exposing the conspiracy.

That's very true--I absolutely don't want to risk Katsuragi somehow managing to escape justice after we're gone.

Frankly I'd be tempted to off him before we leave, with your permission, but he's probably going to catch a bullet from AEGISCorp anyway.

Seeing as how I'm still in his body, I'd rather not for the time being.

...and even then, I'm holding out hope that he'll be tried in a court of law. I'm...not comfortable with killing. Even in this case.

I suppose this is a civilized world and not the domain of some all-powerful patriarch who needs to be eliminated for healing to happen. He's your overlay, so I'll trust your judgement, even if I don't trust a court of law farther than I could throw the building it convenes in.

Edited 2019-11-01 02:41 (UTC)

At this rate, I'm imagining it'll be a military court with most everything kept hush-hush from the general public if AEGIS has its way, but that's something. I'd like to get him turned over to the Aurigans, but obviously I can't show any suspicious favoritism one way or another regarding his fate.

It was not terribly difficult to piece together. That no one has done so before now suggests they preferred to remain ignorant in order to obtain their weapon.

They really want me looking at an alternate system using volunteers. And that they're not immediately shutting everything down worries me--they say going without the Phileon will leave them too undefended.

Why they haven't been trying with volunteers in the first place...Katsuragi's likely to blame for that.

Of course they do. They are worried about getting caught, not concerned about doing what's right.

As despicable as your overlay is, he wasn't operating in a vacuum. Placing the blame primarily on him will only allow the others involved, both at AEGIS Corp and in the ESDF, to do even worse in the future.

They were not using volunteers because volunteers have to be informed. They have to be compensated. They have a right to refuse, and they may have people who care about them who will demand proof of their well being. Prisoners are more convenient, particularly if they are from an enemy force, and the only people who might come looking for them are people you're already authorized to kill.

I'm trying to do as much as I can from this position--among other things, I'm implicating as many people possible in my whistleblowing. I can only hope it will get some change started.

Unless the human government sees repercussions for this, it seems highly unlikely that anything but the faces involved will change. Unfortunately for everyone who will be impacted by this, Katsuragi's scientific monstrosity works.

It's far too well-documented for me to try to say otherwise.

I'm still doing what I can. They've opted to have me continue researching instead of shipping me off to trial for the time being, and with any luck, I'll be able to create a viable alternative.

That says nothing good for their future intentions. The best thing you could do would be stop now, before you create something that could be used in an even more horrific manner.

[Like a mass-produceable person battery.]

How do I keep getting myself into situations like this...

I've created weapons before. In the right hands...they've been used to protect people. To do good. But I'm not really sure I've seen any evidence of anyone here being ready to handle that. I'm trying to at least leave them something they can use to defend themselves, but I suspect the best "viable alternative" I have is curing the Aurigan manifestations of the X-Pression virus. I'm working on that as well, but I need more Aurigan samples--and samples from other afflicted species.

I doubt many of them would willingly allow you to experiment on them further, and I cannot blame them.

I am not a member of any of the species native to this universe, but I share...certain similarities with the Aurigans. If it would help to find a cure, I will allow you to infect me with the virus and observe my immune response - it should provide insight either into how it can be fought off, or how it adapts to infect other species.

Oh, this overlay has a legitimate body count when it comes to research subjects. Asking for samples is inherently difficult, even if all I want for the moment is a cheek swab from the infected.

It might help me pin down how it's jumping between species and give me something different to look at from all the human samples I've taken from myself (which is less than ideal because Katsuragi has been experimenting on himself for years and I'm not quite sure what he's done to himself), but only if you're sure--I can't guarantee how it might manifest, and you might be stuck with it.

I don't relish the prospect, but I would be no less stuck with it if I were to contract it from another Traveler, and at this may at least serve a valuable purpose.

I do have one condition, however: promise me you will destroy any samples you take before we leave. I would prefer not to have to worry about what your overlay might do with them once you're no longer serving as a tempering influence.

That's true--I caught it shortly after I arrived, though I can turn it on and off at will.

[There's a long pause.]

I wonder if I can turn my strand back on and leave Katsuragi with rabbit ears and a tail as a parting gift.

[And a long sigh.]

I will absolutely dispose of those samples--only data would be left behind, and even then, I'll strip as much identifying information out as possible. Possibly even mis-file it as Aurigan, and even then, it would only be in the interest of allowing others to continue researching the cure if my genius alone isn't enough.

I can agree to maintaining the data. Even if you do achieve a breakthrough, maintaining records will be important to continued testing and replication.

Good, good. Is there any way you can swing by Katsuragi's office? My leaving will be difficult, as will portaling in. I'm under constant guard.

I can. Have you put out a request for volunteers to provide blood and tissue samples, or should we arrange a pretext for my visit?

I actually have put out such a request, but I've had very few takers. It's unsurprising, given Katsuragi's reputation and general demeanor. It's possible more have gone to medical to give samples there and that medical hasn't gotten back to me, but I hesitate to agitate too much for more samples at this point in time--I'm on thin enough ice as it is.

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[Jaunt][Late Week 2] Thanks a lot, Katsuragi

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