(no subject)

[leftbehindagain]

So I'm really not sure what to make of this, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't bode well.

The Conductor role is not a natural growth on the part of Questing Country, the way Adversaries were.

Being fair, that's not necessarily a bad thing. Synthetics, Diabolin and the baby Starmovers didn't show up naturally, either, and I think most people would agree that those new perspectives are worth having around. [You know. Now that the Starmovers aren't terrifying everyone because they don't know how to talk to toolstuff.]

But I'm definitely more concerned about the artificial imposition of an entire subclass of dreamers than I am about the new arrivals being deliberately introduced.

Comments

[truerevelation]

...So the question's who thought the shiny brigade were a great idea, huh. If they did it on purpose.

[leftbehindagain]

It seems so.

The Starmovers were probably our fault, courtesy of the space jaunt. I'd guess the Diabolin are similarly related to us showing up, though I'm less sure how. And the Synthetics, from what Claudia-san said, are just down to the natural progression of technology - still artificial, but less tied to us.

I doubt the Conductors know who or what is behind their existence, but it might be a place to start.

[truerevelation]

...'our fault'. [private-] I know what you mean. But callin' it our fault says we did shit wrong, and if there was anythin' I did wrong it wasn't reachin' out to them. [And back to public speech.]

You'd figure someone woulda asked already, yeah? So either they don't know, or they ain't tellin'?

[helborn]

[Casper sounds wiped as he responds.]

I haven't tried using Ace's powers since I got here, just in case - he's probably still around - but I also haven't tried finding a spot to go Harbinger because that's really dangerous. Anyone know if that's still a thing?

[leftbehindagain]

I don't know if more have come into being since the last jaunt, but I doubt the ones that did pop up have stopped being Harbingers.

[helborn]

Is that affecting anything? How are they - sorry. I... I guess I'm just worried about Ace.

[reallymean]

Considering the timing, it seems likely that the Conductors are a response to one or more of those things. Or to the wounds the Arcana left on Questing Country.

[leftbehindagain]

That's certainly possible.

[amadine]

The Conductors are a...revelation, of a sort. What they are, how they work, it strips away a level of concealment from Questing Country's underpinnings.

Far be it from me to object to useful fictions, but whatever caused them, we'd best make very fucking sure we know what they're designed to reveal before we decide to cover it back up again.

[leftbehindagain]

...huh. That sounds like someone's exploiting something that could have existed.

I'm still very concerned about this, but you have a point.

[fridgeninja]

Pants aren't natural.

[reallymean]

I agree with your premise, but your choice of example is...concerning.

[letsgetdowntobismuth]

[Bismuth just snickers.]

[leftbehindagain]

Yes, thank you.

But we've both seen how badly deliberately implanting a pattern of thought into the collective unconscious can go. This could go better, but I'm still in favor of treating it with caution until we know more.

[dragoonrouge]

I did some Analysis and the answer I received about the Conductors was vague and potentially ominous in equal measure. Apparently the big purpose of their creation is "to get along with everyone". A statement that can be taken in any number of ways to both prove and disprove Grant's conspiracy.

What do you lot make of it?

[leftbehindagain]

That depends. What's the conspiracy?

Later...

[helborn]

We've got problems. Prepare for incoming memory dump, might wanna mute if you're going to get overwhelmed.

[He shares the memory of his conversation with Leah, cutting off at the mention of Grant's happy dance.]

[He then dumps the much longer memory of him talking to Grant, cutting off as he and Ace wander off to spar.]

The main takeaways here -

[There's the sensation of someone ticking things off on their fingers.]

The Conductors all talk to each other on what's probably their own version of the Network. Which means we're unlikely to have too much good will until we get the bident back.

Grant thinks that the Conductors are directly connected to the result of last Jaunt's Starmover Things and they're very new. The Conductors and their Tessarae - their versions of Spirit Companions, I guess? - apparently are indistinguishable in terms of connections - which I'm going to assume is something like bonds in this case.

He thinks the Spirit Companions of the ones who go Conductor go... somewhere. He's not sure. Apparently this happens to Pillars too, but other people here would know more than me about what happens in that case.

He thinks the Spirit Companions are also manipulating everything which is why they're scared of new things in Questing Country - like Adversaries, once upon a time.

Apparently Harbingers are directly under the control of Starmovers, which I don't know is true or not. If so then I have some Concerns with a capital c.

He wants to make sure that he's released to Adversaries, not other people. I'm going to go talk to Leah to see what the plan is regarding the bident retrieval, and to talk to her about who she thinks is an acceptable person to keep an eye on him. I'll counteroffer if I have to.

... I didn't mean to end up as the diplomat here, guys. I promise.

Re: Later...

[okanetendo]

Dealing with these one at a time?

They need Pillars to try and remove the damn Bident. I volunteered. You're welcome.

Honestly, this guy sounds like he's nine different flavors of crazy, but I'm also inclined to believe he believes them - and that at least some of the shit he's throwing at the wall is either true or his wild misinterpretation of something true and important. Best to treat these as leads instead of facts.

Also, trying to convince him he's full of shit about what he's full of shit about will probably go as well as trying to get who "the pigtailed girl" was through Kuno's depleted uranium skull. That thing is an evidence-proof bombshell shelter, I swear.

We gotta treat him real carefully.

Re: Later...

[levelthreehooligan]

You're doing amazing, sweetie.

[Did she learn that from Naoya or from one of the Conductors? Honestly who knows?]

But you know I'm always in your corner, and I can always be the Adversary that keeps an eye on him if needs be?

I am very concerned about his distrust of the native spirit companions too? Do we know if we would be able to talk to one of them one to one?

[leftbehindagain]

The other option for information is if one of us becomes a Conductor, but I'm not sure if that's something we should hope for or not.

As far as the Starmovers go, last time they were very surprised to find the 'toolstuff' was talking and thinking. Harbingers are most likely a manifestation of how they're used to working with the physical world - they're not very good at the distinction between the land and the things living on it.

Re: Later...

[vrepit_no]

I'd say that the Conductors' bonds essentially are their own Network. It definitely works extremely similarly to what the Travelers use. I don't think they have as much versatility yet as we do, but I wouldn't count on it staying that way.

The other things I can't offer any additional information on yet. I don't like to think of the Spirit Companions as that manipulative... mine certainly seems to genuinely care about me, but that scenario does sound a lot like a vintage horror-based magical girl anime I dug up once. Makes me wonder if the spirit companions can be killed. Not that I'm going to try! But it's... concerning.

Later than later:

[leftbehindagain]

Bidents grew from dreamcatching.

Literally catching dreams, I suppose, if they're pinning stuff to the fabric of Questing Country. I'm not sure what this means yet, but it sure isn't making me feel any better.

[letsgetdowntobismuth]

...that might make it a little bit harder for me to replicate one properly. And I don't have any spares to test that on, either.

Re: Later than later:

[razorblade_empress]

No wonder they wanted the one in the Bore back, instead of just making a replacement.

[reallymean]

Wait - if the Conductors' bidents grew from their Dreamcatchers, does that mean they've replaced the Dreamcatchers as a means of harvesting dreamstuff?

[WHAT DO THE CONDUCTORS EAT?]