The shuttle glides soundlessly through the void of space, its form a compromise between the more aerodynamic structure required of a vessel that might be required to make atmospheric entry, and the Silent-Ones' predilection for decorating most everything – military or civilian – with sculpted forms and structures more appropriate for a cathedral than a starship.
After all, this craft, the Harbinger of Joy, is no mere workhorse – It is a personal shuttle in the service of the Prophet Light-of-Star, ferried to the Primus System in one of the cargo barge-units of a Khattan Caravan Stringrider – given a similarly presumptuous and lengthy name, The Bountiful Bearer of Endless Delights.
It wasn't necessary to alert the Khattan merchants to the recent events that had occurred in Silent-Ones space, and so long as they were contacted through the agreed-upon channels and paid the proper amount of shekels, they were in no mood to ask questions.
The cloud-wrapped, Lapis lazuli orb of Sinai looms ahead, like the face of some colossal goddess, crowned with the Procession as a glittering diadem. It continues to grow larger in the view-ports of the shuttle, until continents can be made out through the clouds – though the sky islands themselves are so miniscule in comparison that they are invisible to the naked eye.
A fleck of light grows in prominence, until it reveals itself to be an object floating above the Savan – in geosynchronous orbit directly above the City of Hands, in fact, though that is a fact that no one would be able to discern at this elevation without the aid of sophisticated equipment.
The shuttle approaches this satellite, and eventually it takes shape as a floating structure linked to a vaguely humanoid craft – a Titan – that serves to both protect the station and supplement its power. Magnification provided by view-orbs within the shuttle allow it to be seen in greater detail – but while it is still nothing more than points of reflected light if viewed through the window, the shuttle is contacted with a transmission from the station.
Subject #42, a six-armed, three-armed cheetah in draperies of plain white linen and golden cords stands before an electronic eye, making signs to the guardians of the station. "I am here to represent the interests of our Lord. Prepare for our arrival."
The holographic image of the figure on the other side is disjointed, showing his face as one image, and a pair of hands as another, floating before Subject #42. The image of the Khatta on the other side shows a perplexed and surprised expression. As he speaks, the hands translate his speech in hand-sign, though due to the requirements of translation – and the time it requires to sign what could otherwise be said – the hand-signs lag behind, and leave out "unnecessary" elements of conversation, such as articles and sometimes even conjunctions, leaving a great deal to context.
"We were not expecting you," says and signs the Khatta image, the audible portion of his voice coming across as a mrowl that has an element of a purr to it even despite the cant of his ears. Even as he speaks, he adopts a more cool demeanor. "To what do we owe the pleasure, your Worship? Indeed, your actual beauty is unrivaled by that suggested by any of the reports. But then, it must be that those honored by your presence have been struck dumb by the overwhelming spectacle of your holy countenance."
There is a slight pause, and then the Khatta continues, "Our joy at your arrival would be surpassed only if our Lord would be with you as well. Indeed," the Khatta adds, raising his eyebrow as if something has suddenly occurred to him, "why is our Lord not addressing your humble servant now? Forgive us, but we are concerned that he should not be coming here himself."
Subject #42 has a stern look on her face, signing, "Flattery may wait until after we have safely arrived. Our Lord is displeased with the developments in the Empire, and he has been detained due to that insipid 'contest' presided over by the Sinailing. We must escalate certain of our Lord's plans, lest our enemies sabotage our efforts. But that is not for me to discuss across the vacuum. I bring to you a message from our Lord, which I am to deliver to you personally. Let there be no delays."
Without giving the Khatta a chance to protest or add more, Subject #42 waves one of her spare hands, and the phantom images blink out of existence. The cheetah turns about, regarding the gunmetal Skreek, the black Khatta, and the warriors – Holy Guardsmen among them – riding in the passenger compartment. She nods, then signs to the warriors, smiling wryly, "Remember, as my entourage, you will not be referring to me as 'Subject #42'. For now, to my true believers and faithful worshipers, I am 'Third-Vision'."
Report from Science Captain Young-Blood of Ring-Sword on the Assault on the Orbital Observation Station above Sinai, to the Archon:
Glory to the Star! The station was no fortress, and its primary means of defense – an archaic, early model Lightbringer-Class Titan – was useless once we were already allowed to dock with the satellite and board it. Pacification was possible with only minor casualties, and no fatalities, and we were able to prevent three suicide attempts on the part of the defenders – warriors of the House of Khoman, further underscoring that connection.
One of the captured prisoners was a scientist of the Nagai Empire, one Hephaessa Geshura, a specialist in neural technology. Dr. Geshura was surprisingly open to interrogation, seemingly pleased with the opportunity to brag about her research to our technical specialists. It would seem that Dr. Geshura had been stationed here for an extended period with associates who did not share her technical expertise in this field – torture, no doubt, to a Nagai scholar.
Dr. Geshura, it seems, has been collecting data on Abaddon and Sinai, and has been processing this to provide more "material" for Light-of-Star's brainwashing activities back over Zion, though she was careful to use far more politic terms for what she was actually participating in.
Despite the hopes of the Dack nobility, we did not find any bodies in stasis on the station. Dr. Geshura indicates that the station never was set up to house bodies … though it does have some smaller cryogenic units that are not presently seeing any use. If Dr. Geshura is to be believed, these units were used to store brains that were transported from Sinai several years ago.
In a curiously roundabout fashion – necessitated by Sinai's peculiar interference with certain types of technology – these brains were procured on Sinai and transported to Abaddon (or procured on Abaddon, in a few cases), then taken into space, and eventually brought back to Sinai … or that is, to the station in orbit around it. Dr. Geshura took part in some experiments on the brains during their duration there, but it seems that most of the results of her work have been put into practice back on Zion, in her absence as a craft from Zion would come and retrieve these macabre trophies.
One issue that was pressed by the technicians under my command is where the "brain-taping" equipment was kept. One of the theories that has arisen is that "brain-tapes" were made of several persons from the world of Sinai, so that their clones could be given their memories. Dr. Geshura asserts that her experiments have nothing to do with brain-taping technologies, which she claims are a "lesser" and "artificial" means of shaping psyches. I gather that she seems to regard this as "copying", and that there is something more noble and challenging in modifying the "real thing".
One particularly disturbing demonstration of her work was when she demonstrated her equipment used for fashioning artificial reconstruction of memories. She was encouraged to find something pertaining to Third-Vision, and came up with a rather brutal episode of torture at the hands of the Sinai Nagai (which look curiously more genetically varied than those of the Celestial Empire, I must note). She expressed great pride in having realistically recreated Sinaian Nagai torture techniques. I for one did not press on how she came about this sort of knowledge.
As for the purpose of this particular construction, it would seem that the matter of making someone forget selective memories is not an easy process in such neural manipulation. In particular, it would seem that the Queen of the Savanites was betrayed by some sorcerer-priests known as the "Twelve times Twelve". It would stand to reason that if these Twelve-times-Twelve were secretly aligned with Light-of-Star, and that the "avatar" of this reborn goddess were to be a loyal servant of Light-of-Star, it would help if her memories didn't include uncomfortable memories of betrayal such as that. Might cause conflicts amongst Light-of-Star's lackeys.
The solution, it would seem, would be to create new memories to try to "blot out" the old ones … or make the old ones seem like they were part of an array of nonsensical dreams. I do not understand the concepts behind this, but it seems to have something to do with recreating absurd versions of the actual memory, but with erroneous details that don't make sense upon recollection. In the end, the subject, when remembering the event, will remember those incongruous details, and be led to discount the entire memory as a dream, especially when the subject has other, entirely different memories of the same event that seem more believable and consistent.
In this case, the torture at the hands of the Sinain Nagai is meant to be believable … and, what's more, a more vivid memory, more powerful, to overwhelm any lingering memories of treachery at the hands of those supposed to be the subject's allies.
The implications of this raise some new issues, I think, as to what we should do with these so-called clones. Apparently, some of them are genuinely new clones, with artificially implanted memories. Some of them, however, have the brains of technically deceased individuals from the planet of Sinai – a process made possible by some sort of conspiracy with Nagai and other agents on Sinai to make use of magic to keep the brains preserved for a journey to a portal known as the Gateway … and then the use of true technology on Abaddon to keep them in cryostasis for transportation first to the orbital station, then back to Zion, where tissue samples would be used for the generation (and "fine-tuning") of clone bodies, the brains would be subjected to artificial environments, and then – when the bodies would be properly developed, they would be planted – and subjected to even more virtual "experiences" and technological brainwashing.
So, who is the clone? Who is the real individual, given a new body? We've been able to obtain a list from Dr. Geshura, who was present and involved in the transfer of brains and tissue samples through the outpost. Most of them were those that the Sinai Nagai Empire would have had access to. Ironically, one of these subjects would be Subject #1, the "Emperor". It would seem that great care has been taken to purge his memory of the treachery that must have taken place in his own court. Another would be Subject #42.
Why real minds transplanted into new bodies in some cases, and entirely new creatures – given wholly artificial experiences – in other cases? It would seem largely a matter of availability, as the whole process involved of shuffling living brains off of Sinai is not only a grotesque but a rather complicated ordeal. But this gives the "reborn" subject a degree of authenticity – Namely, while the people of Sinai might not have the means to be suspicious about the absence of a brain in a corpse, 'Mind Mages' might be able to discern the difference between a true entity and a copy. Thus, with individuals who had close relationships with Mind Mages, it would be important that the mind be the same. For those who had less contact with Mind Mages prior to their deaths, there would be less chance of definitive discovery.
After all, mere behavioral changes would not be enough to prove anything. In fact, behavioral changes would be intentional, as Light-of-Star sought to bring back many deceased leaders of Sinai – totally loyal to himself. As for the difference in bodies – well, he would plainly state that he had given them new bodies. But presumably, from what I have been told of Sinai sorcery, only a Mind Mage or a Spirit Mage who had great personal experience with the subject prior to death could with absolute certainty verify that this was or was not the same individual brought back from the grave.
Given the personal involvement of the Dack nobility in this, I am turning over my notes and records of my observations for their perusal. We believe that we have the station properly secured, and do not foresee any reason why there should be an attempt to retake the station by opposition forces – if any should still exist – but we nonetheless eagerly await the arrival of reinforcements to hold the station for the longer term, for continued study of the extent of Light-of-Star's scheme.
