casualjacobwrites

[casualjacobwrites]

SO HERE IS THE WHOLE STORY (SO FAR).

I am on my knees begging you to reblog this post and to stop reblogging the original ones I sent out yesterday. This is the complete account with all the most recent info; the other one is just sending people down senselessly panicked avenues that no longer lead anywhere.

IN SHORT

Cliff Weitzman, CEO of Speechify and (aspiring?) voice actor, used AI to scrape thousands of popular, finished works off AO3 to list them on his own for-profit website and in his attached app. He did this without getting any kind of permission from the authors of said work or informing AO3. Obviously.

When fandom at large was made aware of his theft and started pushing back, Weitzman issued a non-apology on the original social media posts—using 

his dyslexia; 

his intent to implement a tip-system for the plagiarized authors; and 

a sudden willingness to take down the work of every author who saw my original social media posts and emailed him individually with a ‘valid’ claim,

as reasons we should allow him to continue monetizing fanwork for his own financial gain.

When we less-than-kindly refused, he took down his ‘apologies’ as well as his website (allegedly—it’s possible that our complaints to his web host, the deluge of emails he received or the unanticipated traffic brought it down, since there wasn’t any sort of official statement made about it), and when it came back up several hours later, all of the work formerly listed in the fan fiction category was no longer there. 

THE TAKEAWAYS

1. Cliff Weitzman (aka Ofek Weitzman) is a scumbag with no qualms about taking fanwork without permission, feeding it to AI and monetizing it for his own financial gain; 

2. Fandom can really get things done when it wants to, and 

3. Our fanworks appear to be hidden, but they’re NOT DELETED from Weitzman’s servers, and independently published, original works are still listed without the authors' permission. We need to hold this man responsible for his theft, keep an eye on both his current and future endeavors, and take action immediately when he crosses the line again. 

THE TIMELINE, THE DETAILS, THE SCREENSHOTS (behind the cut)

Sunday night, December 22nd 2024, I noticed an influx in visitors to my fic You & Me & Holiday Wine. When I searched the title online, hoping to find out where they came from, a new listing popped up (third one down, no less):

This listing is still up today, by the way, though now when you follow the link to word-stream, it just brings you to the main site. (Also, to be clear, this was not the cause for the influx of traffic to my fic; word-stream did not link back to the original work anywhere.)

I followed the link to word-stream, where to my horror Y&M&HW was listed in its entirety—though, beyond the first half of the first chapter, behind a paywall—along with a link promising to take me—through an app downloadable on the Apple Store—to an AI-narrated audiobook version. When I searched word-stream itself for my ao3 handle I found both of my multi-chapter fics were listed this way:

Because the tags on my fics (which included genres* and characters, but never the original IPs**) weren’t working, I put ‘Kara Danvers’ into the search bar and discovered that many more supercorp fics (Supergirl TV fandom, Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor pairing) were listed.

I went looking online for any mention of word-stream and AI plagiarism (the covers—as well as the ridiculously inflated number of reviews and ratings—made it immediately obvious that AI fuckery was involved), but found almost nothing: only one single Reddit post had been made, and it received (at that time) only a handful of upvotes and no advice. 

I decided to make a tumblr post to bring the supercorp fandom up to speed about the theft. I draw as well as write for fandom and I’ve only ever had to deal with art theft—which has a clear set of steps to take depending on where said art was reposted—and I was at a loss regarding where to start in this situation.

After my post went up I remembered Project Copy Knight, which is worth commending for the work they’ve done to get fic stolen from AO3 taken down from monetized AI 'audiobook’ YouTube accounts. I reached out to @echoekhi, asking if they’d heard of this site and whether they could advise me on how to get our works taken down.

While waiting for a reply I looked into Copy Knight’s methods and decided to contact OTW’s legal department:

And then I went to bed.

By morning, tumblr friends @makicarn and @fazedlight as well as a very helpful tumblr anon had seen my post and done some very productive sleuthing:

@echoekhi had also gotten back to me, advising me, as expected, to contact the OTW. So I decided to sit tight until I got a response from them.

That response came only an hour or so later: 

Which was 100% understandable, but still disappointing—I doubted a handful of individual takedown requests would accomplish much, and I wasn’t eager to share my given name and personal information with Cliff Weitzman himself, which is unavoidable if you want to file a DMCA.

I decided to take it to Reddit, hoping it would gain traction in the wider fanfic community, considering so many fandoms were affected. My Reddit posts (with the updates at the bottom as they were emerging) can be found here and here.

A helpful Reddit user posted a guide on how users could go about filing a DMCA against word-stream here (to wobbly-at-best results)

A different helpful Reddit user signed up to access insight into word-streams pricing. Comment is here.

Smells unbelievably scammy, right? In addition to those audacious prices—though in all fairness any amount of money would be audacious considering every work listed is accessible elsewhere for free—my dyscalculia is screaming silently at the sight of that completely unnecessary amount of intentionally obscured numbers.

Speaking of which! As soon as the post on r/AO3—and, as a result, my original tumblr post—began taking off properly, sometime around 1 pm, jumpscare! A notification that a tumblr account named @cliffweitzman had commented on my post, and I got a bit mad about the gist of his message :

Fortunately he caught plenty of flack in the comments from other users (truly you should check out the comment section, it is extremely gratifying and people are making tremendously good points), in response to which, of course, he first tried to both reiterate and renegotiate his point in a second, longer comment (which I didn’t screenshot in time so I’m sorry for the crappy notification email formatting):

which he then proceeded to also post to Reddit (this is another Reddit user’s screenshot, I didn’t see it at all, the notifications were moving too fast for me to follow by then)

... where he got a roughly equal amount of righteously furious replies. (Check downthread, they're still there, all the way at the bottom.)

After which Cliff went ahead & deleted his messages altogether. 

It’s not entirely clear whether his account was suspended by Reddit soon after or whether he deleted it himself, but considering his tumblr account is still intact, I assume it’s the former. He made a handful of sock puppet accounts to play around with for a while, both on Reddit and Tumblr, only one of which I have a screenshot of, but since they all say roughly the same thing, you’re not missing much:

And then word-stream started throwing a DNS error.

That lasted for a good number of hours, which was unfortunately right around the time that a lot of authors first heard about the situation and started asking me individually how to find out whether their work was stolen too. I do not have that information and I am unclear on the perimeters Weitzman set for his AI scraper, so this is all conjecture: it LOOKS like the fics that were lifted had three things in common:

They were completed works;

They had over several thousand kudos on AO3; and

They were written by authors who had actively posted or updated work over the past year.

If anyone knows more about these perimeters or has info that counters my observation, please let me know!

I finally thought to check/alert evil Twitter during this time, and found out that the news was doing the rounds there already. I made a quick thread summarizing everything that had happened just in case. You can find it here.

I went to Bluesky too, where fandom was doing all the heavy lifting for me already, so I just reskeeted, as you do, and carried on.

Sometime in the very early evening, word-stream went back up—but the fan fiction category was nowhere to be seen. Tentative joy and celebration!***

That’s when several users—the ones who had signed up for accounts to gain intel and had accessed their own fics that way—reported that their work could still be accessed through their history. Relevant Reddit post here.

Sooo—

We’re obviously not done. The fanwork that was stolen by Weitzman may be inaccessible through his website right now, but they aren’t actually gone. And the fact that Weitzman wasn’t willing to get rid of them altogether means he still has plans for them. 

This was my final edit on my Reddit post before turning off notifications, and it's pretty much where my head will be at for at least the foreseeable future:

Please feel free to add info in the comments, make your own posts, take whatever action you want to take to protect your work. I only beg you—seriously, I’m on my knees here—to not give up like I saw a handful of people express the urge to do. Keep sharing your creative work and remain vigilant and stay active to make sure we can continue to do so freely. Visit your favorite fics, and the ones you’ve kept in your ‘marked for later’ lists but never made time to read, and leave kudos, leave comments, support your fandom creatives, celebrate podficcers and support AO3. We created this place and it’s our responsibility to keep it alive and thriving for as long as we possibly can.

Also FUCK generative AI. It has NO place in fandom spaces.

THE 'SMALL' PRINT (some of it in all caps):

*Weitzman knew what he was doing and can NOT claim ignorance. One, it’s pretty basic kindergarten stuff that you don’t steal some other kid’s art project and present it as your own only to act surprised when they protest and then tell the victim that they should have told you sooner that they didn’t want their project stolen. And two, he was very careful never to list the IPs these fanworks were based on, so it’s clear he was at least familiar enough with the legalities to not get himself in hot water with corporate lawyers. Fucking over fans, though, he figured he could get away with that. 

**A note about the AI that Weitzman used to steal our work: it’s even greasier than it looks at first glance. It’s not just the method he used to lift works off AO3 and then regurgitate onto his own website and app. Looking beyond the untold horrors of his AI-generated cover ‘art’, in many cases these covers attempt to depict something from the fics in question that can’t be gleaned from their summaries alone. In addition, my fics (and I assume the others, as well) were listed with generated genres; tags that did not appear anywhere in or on my fic on AO3 and were sometimes scarily accurate and sometimes way off the mark. I remember You & Me & Holiday Wine had ‘found family’ (100% correct, but not tagged by me as such) and I believe The Shape of Soup was listed as, among others, ‘enemies to friends to lovers’ and ‘love triangle’ (both wildly inaccurate). Even worse, not all the fic listed (as authors on Reddit pointed out) came with their original summaries at all. Often the entire summary was AI-generated. All of these things make it very clear that it was an all-encompassing scrape—not only were our fics stolen, they were also fed word-for-word into the AI Weitzman used and then analyzed to suit Weitzman’s needs. This means our work was literally fed to this AI to basically do with whatever its other users want, including (one assumes) text generation. 

***Fan fiction appears to have been made (largely) inaccessible on word-stream at this time, but I’m hearing from several authors that their original, independently published work, which is listed at places like Kindle Unlimited, DOES still appear in word-stream’s search engine. This obviously hurts writers, especially independent ones, who depend on these works for income and, as a rule, don’t have a huge budget or a legal team with oceans of time to fight these battles for them. If you consider yourself an author in the broader sense, beyond merely existing online as a fandom author, beyond concerns that your own work is immediately at risk, DO NOT STOP MAKING NOISE ABOUT THIS.

Again, please, please PLEASE reblog this post instead of the one I sent originally. All the information is here, and it's driving me nuts to see the old ones are still passed around, sending people on wild goose chases.

Thank you all so much.

[casualjacobwrites]

the edit itself

this edit is getting taken down from tiktok every time someone reuploads it, its straight up censorship at this point

Im not even american but im having a great time with this

DONT LET THIS DIE

credit to miraculousgastropod for the original

[casualjacobwrites]

[casualjacobwrites]

“Many people seem to think it foolish, even superstitious, to believe that the world could still change for the better. And it is true that in winter it is sometimes so bitingly cold that one is tempted to say, ‘What do I care if there is a summer; its warmth is no help to me now.’ Yes, evil often seems to surpass good. But then, in spite of us, and without our permission, there comes at last an end to the bitter frosts. One morning the wind turns, and there is a thaw. And so I must still have hope.”

— Vincent Van Gogh

[casualjacobwrites]

god grant me the strength to write my weird porn, the serenity to write my weird porn and the wisdom to write my weird porn

[casualjacobwrites]

Oh, and take advantage of labelers too! There's a pronoun labeler to make your pronouns visible on every post to other folks who have the labeler enabled!

God, Bluesky is so nice compared to Twitter. You just subscribe to the MAGA block list under moderation settings and you can have conversations in peace without some red-pilled cunt trying to Devil’s advocate your right to existence.

I’m sure the usual leftist in-fighting is happening somewhere too but so far I either haven’t seen it or it hasn’t reached me.

Anyway. Come say hi if you’re on there.

Also don’t forget to block the MAGAs before they even get to breathe in your general direction:

[casualjacobwrites]

the thing about anders is he has literally everything except a writer that loves him. he is so compelling and interesting and has a lot of lore-compliant potential that can easily slot into any dragon age narrative seamlessly. but because the writers (and, truly, the world itself) loathes him, he can’t

[casualjacobwrites]

Regarding Thancred's eyepatch in the post-Heavensward patches, here's my personal theory....

XIVbsky | swag

[casualjacobwrites]

to anyone reading this who has questioned their gender but now feels they have to ignore that part of themself in order to stay safe, I'm thinking of you and im loving you. i hope you come out, i hope we get to meet you. i hope you feel you are able to live fully and authentically, even if it's as an act of rebellion. whether you're 15 or 60, it is not too late. don't let another decade go by. this is especially to the boys out there who might not be boys: i promise to protect you.

[casualjacobwrites]

I'm already seeing advice from people in the US to purchase queer books and other banned or "controversial" books on paper as a way to combat the wave of government censorship that is coming. While this is a good idea (it is! absolutely!), it's not accessible to everyone, and truly, we're not going to be able to consumerism our way out of this one.

If you can buy the books, do. Whether you can buy the books or not, borrow them from your library.

Borrow the paper versions. Borrow the ebook or audiobook versions. Request the titles you want that your library doesn't have. The more a title circulates or is requested, the better librarians are going to be able to defend keeping it if and when it's ever challenged.

Use libraries like @queerliblib too. The more members they have, the better they'll be able to fundraise.

Your community resources depend on you using them. Borrow the books before they go away.

InB4: Piracy is not the solution here. We're trying to keep community resources available, not make sure individual people can read individual books. Different problems.

The books are still available. Borrowing them from your library and returning them on time and in good condition will help keep them that way.

[casualjacobwrites]

— Mary Kate Teske

[casualjacobwrites]

If history must be unwritten, let it be unwritten. Become what you must.

[casualjacobwrites]

Wait... you actually do really want to fuck werewolves and it's not a joke???

You phrase this like it's unbelievable and yet you're on the site that wanted to fuck the Onceler and Sans Undertale. I'm very tame comparatively.

[casualjacobwrites]

FFXIV Write 2024 Prompt 19 - Taken

So I got sick Friday night followed by throwing my back out Monday on top of a lot of other crap. Needless to say, writing was not something I could do. I do still plan to get back to the single story idea, but tonight I took a little break from that to write a scene in which Honoroit and a crew member discuss theories as to why it is Emmanellain and Sicard always seem to be at each other's throats.

Wastgeim is just a random roegadyn I created and not a named NPC from the game. I keep forgetting to go look for actual names for crew members of the Bloody Executioners.

Anyway, please enjoy Honoroit coming to the realization that Lord Emmanellain might not be straight.

Word Count: 1,247

__

After several weeks at sea, Honoroit had settled into a routine aboard the Astalicia. Every evening he made a point to stand near the bow and peer at the endless expanse of ocean. For an hour or more he would listen to the creaking of the ship and the waves rolling beneath while marveling at the moonlight's reflection upon the water. During this time he let his mind wander from thought to thought, never lingering on any matter for longer than a few moments. He found this quiet meditation to be both relaxing and energizing, especially after a long day of playing mediator to Emmanellain and Sicard.

Upon thinking of his master and the acting captain of the Bloody Executioners, he closed his eyes and put his head on his forearms as he leaned against the railing of the ship. They'd had another row just before dinner which resulted in both men taking their meal in their respective quarters, which wouldn't be too terrible if it didn't mean Honoroit had to listen to Emmanellain spend an hour reciting a litany of Sicard's many flaws and perceived failures.

A tap on his shoulder brought him out of his miserable recollection. He looked up to see Wastgeim holding her flask out to him in a silent offer. Having heard enough about sort of grog favored by the Executioners, he was smart enough to refuse with a polite smile and a shake of his head.

"Suit yerself," she said before taking a swig. She swallowed then let out a hiss of air, her face twisting in response to the burn of the alcohol. "Ye gods, Lafotal weren't kiddin'. This shite could put 'air on me mother's chest."

Honoroit laughed despite the roegadyn's vulgarity. Though the Executioners' speech had been quite shocking in the beginning, he found their boldness and honesty refreshing after years among Ishgardian nobles whose words often held double meanings. "If it's that terrible, why drink it?"

"S'not terrible!" Wastgeim paused and looked at the flask. "Maybe it's a bit terrible," she admitted, "but it 'elps after a day of puttin' up with yer master an' the captain's squabblin', don't it?"

He had to admit she had a point. More than once he'd found himself eyeing his master's collection of Ishgardian wine and thinking he could nick a bottle. "Today's fight was quite spectacular, wasn't it?"

"'Spectacular' ain't the word I'd use, but aye, it was one for the ages."

"I don't understand what it is." While Honoroit was used to Emmanellain being a veritable thorn in the sides of those around him, he was at a loss to explain the frequency and intensity with which he quarreled with Sicard. More than once he had tried to gently suggest that perhaps his lord should reconsider the proposed business partnership with the Bloody Executioners. Yet, each time Emmanellain refused and promised to stop provoking the other man only for the two to be at one another's throats the next day.

"I wouldn't worry too much, lad. They'll figure it out soon enough."

"I'm not so certain. The contracts have already been drawn and agreed upon and still they fight."

"I weren't talkin' 'bout the business." Wastgeim smirked at him.

Honoroit stared at her. "I'm afraid I don't follow."

The roegadyn took another sip from her flask and leaned against the railing. "The captain don't usually let anyone get under his skin, 'less he cares about 'em. There ain't anyone on this star that has ever made him lose his temper faster than yer master." She gave the young elezen a sideways glance. "The captain is quite taken with yer master, an' from what I can tell, the feelin' is mutual. Trouble is neither of 'em has a clue what's got 'em all twisted up inside, an' it makes 'em angry instead."

"What? No." Honoroit shook his head. "That's not possible."

"Why not?"

"My lord Emmanellain is quite well known among the noble ladies in Ishgard."

"Aye? An' I suppose he has his eyes set on one lass in particular, right?"

Honoroit hesitated. "Yes, he does. He has been courting Lady Laniaitte for quite some time." Or rather, he'd been attempting to court Lady Laniaitte. Thus far he had yet to succeed in winning her over, but now that Honoroit thought on it, had Emmanellain ever truly pursued her? When he made overtures, he always did so in front of others. He never approached Laniaitte in private or did more than offer her empty platitudes. As for other women, Emmanellain would speak of their beauty and talk at them, however Honoroit couldn't recall a time when his lord did more than that. Was it all for show?

"It's never gone anywhere, has it?"

"No." His head swimming, he gripped the railing and exhaled in a rush of air. The idea that Emmanellain might be attracted to Sicard should have been absurd to him, but it was starting to make sense. After all, if rumors were to be believed about the late Haurchefant Greystone, he would hardly be the first son of Edmont de Fortemps to possess certain proclivities. "Even so, it is difficult to imagine my lord fancies Master Spence in that fashion."

"I think it's just as hard for the two of 'em, too," Wastgeim said. "Given what I know about you noble types, I doubt his lordship ever knew such a thing were possible. As for the captain, well, maybe it's the first time a man has caught his fancy." She shrugged.

"I still don't quite believe that's true, but if you are correct, then what will the crew think should the two of them ever…come to terms with their affection?"

"If yer worried about mutiny or some other sort of retaliation, then ye can relax. At worst we might tease 'em both a bit, but no more than we do anyone else who finds love." She smiled and clapped a hand on the young elezen's shoulder. "We don't care much who shares whose bed so long as ye do yer job, an' there ain't no one I trust more to run this crew than the captain. If anythin' we'll be relieved if they sort themselves out 'fore they blow a hole in the ship."

Honoroit had been unaware of the tension in his shoulders until Wastgeim's reassurance eased him somewhat. While he wasn't wholly convinced his master harbored feelings for Sicard, he was glad to know no one among the Executioners would look down on him for it.

"Well, I best be gettin' back to me rounds." The roegadyn pushed away from the railing with a grunt. "Don't want to run afoul of the captain's temper after he's been dealin' with yer master." She gave the page a playful wink.

"And I will make sure to keep my lord out of Master Spence's hair a bit longer." He chuckled. "Have a good night, Wastgeim."

She touched the rim of her hat in a sort of farewell gesture before walking away to leave Honoroit alone at the bow once more. He turned his head up to gaze at the moon high over his head. Before long his thoughts turned to the many myths he'd read regarding the goddess Menphina the Lover. With little to lose, he offered up a silent prayer.

If there is love to be found between Lord Emmanellain and Master Spence, then I pray for your aid in revealing their hearts to one another.

[casualjacobwrites]

FFXIV Write 2024 Prompt 10 - Stable

Real life forced me to take a couple of days off. I'm eking this one in just under the deadline.

Continued from last post. (Reminder I’m using the prompts to tell a single story versus standalone prompts.)

I’m just going where the vibes take me. Right now I’m telling a story and setting up a crisis that will push our two boys, Emmanellain and Sicard, into each other’s arms.

Word Count: 487

__

With Sicard in his quarters, Emmanellain was left to explain to Honoroit what had occurred on the other ship. True to his nature he spent more time describing Miss Marina than telling his manservant how his friend came to be injured. Eventually the younger elezen steered the conversation back to Sicard, but before he could answer his linkpearl emitted a soft chime in his ear.

"I need you to go back to the other ship," Sicard said in a weary voice.

Emmanellain rolled his eyes. Not moments ago the hyur had acted angry when he suggested helping Marina and now he was ordering him to go back. "Why?"

He heard Sicard's sigh through the linkpearl. "Because I bloody said so?" He paused and mumbled something to someone else, likely the conjurer who he'd ask to assess his injuries. "Wastgeim is in a panic an' I need more mendin'."

"Wastgeim doesn't panic." Emmanellain exchanged glances with Honoroit.

"She does around children."

"Children?!"

"Accordin' to Wastgeim there's a handful of 'em. It seems Miss Marina left out some very important details in her story."

The elezen frowned. He could hear the silent accusation in Sicard's words. "Perhaps she assumed we would know, or in her current state she didn't think to mention their ages."

There was another heavy sigh. "I ain't accusin' her, but somethin' doesn't smell right, Emmanellain. An' if there's a Blasphemy chasin' them, it won't be long 'fore it comes back."

Mentioning the Blasphemy sent a shiver through Emmanellain's body. Next to him, Honoroit raised an eyebrow. "Yes, the children will be safer on the Astalicia."

"Right, an' as much as I hate to admit it, those children are more like to respond positively to a gentleman like yourself than to a crew of former pirates."

Emmanellain smiled. "At last you recognize I am a gentleman of good breeding."

"I said nothin' about breedin'. If I was in Ishgard, I bet I could throw a rock and hit someone better than you." He stopped to mumble something to the conjurer. "Snow needs to do some magickin' to my head. Wastgeim's in charge 'til I'm stable. I just need you to keep those children calm."

"Worry not, old boy. Honoroit and I will ensure they come to no harm." He nodded to his manservant who was still wearing an expression of confusion.

"Good. Oh, an' Emmanellain?"

"Yes?"

There was a long pause before Sicard spoke again. "Be careful. If you see anythin' suspicious or think that Blasphemy shows up, you get those children and yourself belowdecks and barricade the door."

For a moment Emmanellain was struck speechless. Though he couldn't see the hyur's face, he heard genuine concern, and not just for the children, but for him. "I…I…of course," was all he managed to say before the linkpearl fell silent. Dumbfounded, he turned to Honoroit.

"I worry his head is more injured than I thought."

[casualjacobwrites]

FFXIV Write 2024 Prompt 07 - Morsel

Continued from last prompt. (Reminder I’m using the prompts to tell a single story versus standalone prompts.)

I’m just going where the vibes take me. Right now I’m telling a story and setting up a crisis that will push our two boys, Emmanellain and Sicard, into each other’s arms.

Reminding myself that I don’t have to be perfect. Just get it done and turned in.

Spoilers for Endwalker.

Word Count: 1,260

Marina paused to draw in a shaky breath. With damp eyes she continued speaking. "If I had known what he did, I never would have agreed to join him. Then again, if I had not, I never would have had the opportunity to save them."

The way she tried to emphasize her goodness made Sicard suspicious. It could be she felt guilt for choosing a bad partner, but it might also be a ploy to distance herself from blame so when the truth came to light she could put it all on her lover's shoulders. He had known his fair share of villains and had a keen sense for manipulation.

"I believed his experiments were agricultural in nature," she continued. "I didn't want to believe the rumors about the island laboratories. No upstanding Garlean wanted to think our late emperor would condone such things." She looked into his eyes as if imploring him to believe her. "The moment I realized what was truly happening, I knew I had to save those unfortunate souls."

Something about the way she referred to the victims as "unfortunate souls" annoyed him. Still, he kept his mouth shut so she might finish explaining how she came to be stranded in the middle of the sea with a deck full of dead sahagin.

"For over a year I tried to plan our escape, but it wasn't until recently an opportunity presented itself."

"The End of Days," Sicard said.

Marina's brow furrowed. "I-is that what they called it? I only know that, over time, we received fewer and fewer communications from Ilsabard. Then, one day it stopped altogether. That was weeks ago."

"An' no one tried to leave to find out what was happenin'?"

She shook her head. "There are protocols in place. The laboratories are designed to operate independently of the Empire, and should Garlemald fall, the legatus in charge will then destroy all evidence of their existence. Only Roland hesitated to issue the final command."

"Just enough time for the enlisted and conscripts to decide they'd rather live."

"How astute of you, Master Spence," Marina smiled, though it was far from happy. "Several fled on supply ships, others attempted to seize command from Roland."

"I assume they failed."

She nodded. "But amid the chaos I was able to free the subjects and board this ship."

"That included the sahagin?"

"Yes, those brave creatures were able to fend off the few soldiers who were still loyal to Roland."

"An' Roland is your, ah, what did you call it? Paramour?"

"Was my paramour, yes." She wrung her fingers together in her lap.

"I suppose he was none too happy to see his lover runnin' away with all his secrets." Sicard tugged at his lower lip as he considered everything Marina told him. "Still doesn't explain what attacked your ship."

"It was Roland."

"As I told you earlier, whatever killed those fishbacks wasn't a man, Garlean or otherwise."

Marina shook her head with such violent force it caused her hair to fly of her shoulders. "No, no, it was Roland. As we sailed away I saw…I saw him…change."

Sicard froze. "Change how?"

"I don't know how to describe it, not exactly. One moment he was on the shore shouting orders. The next there stood a beast unlike any I have ever seen." A tremor ran through her body as he recounted what she'd seen. "He attacked his own men. Devoured them whole and tore through them. Those he didn't kill, th-they changed too."

"Wastgeim is ready to take the passengers across," Emmanellain said, oblivious to the terrifying revelation just delivered by Marina. "Perhaps my lady should be the one to let her friends know they've been rescued." He offered her his hand.

"Oh, yes." She accepted the help and stood.

"After you." Emmenallain bowed and let her pass him. Just as he was about to follow her to the cargo hold, Sicard seized the hem of his coat and yanked. The elezen stumbled backward then fell onto his rump. "What?" Upon turning to see the grave expression on the other man's face, he cocked his head to one side.

"We have a problem."

"I should say so. Do you know how delicate the stitching is? It could have ripped."

Sicard ground his teeth. "Sod your stitchin'! I found out what attacked this ship."

Emmanellain paused in his examination of his sleeve. "Oh?"

"It's a Blasphemy."

"A Blasphemy?" the elezen shouted. Upon being shushed by Sicard, he lowered his voice. "Are you sure?"

"Fairly certain, assumin' Marina is tellin' the truth that is."

"Why would she lie about such a thing?" The way his face twisted in confusion at the suggestion Marina might be dishonest was enough to make Sicard snort.

He's too trusting by half, he thought. "Lots of reasons, but I suspect we'll learn more once we can question those folks hidin' in the cargo," he said. "Here, help me stand up. I need to get back to the ship."

Getting to his feet proved more difficult than Sicard thought it would be. Without Emmanellain's solid form to lean against, he doubted he would have managed on his own. The edges of his vision darkened while his head pounded in a brutal rhythm.

"Are you sure you're safe to walk across?" Emmanellain put Sicard's arm over his shoulder and wrapped a hand around his waist.

The hyur smiled at the apparent concern in the other man's tone. "Well, I can't stay here. There's no grog."

"I don't think a drink will help in your condition."

"It won't hurt, neither."

With a resigned sigh, Emmanellain guided Sicard back to the steps leading up to the deck. Given the narrow space, he had to walk behind the hyur while holding onto his hips to make sure he didn't fall. When they were back on the deck, he returned to his side.

Seeing that her captain was injured, Wastgeim rushed over. "Captain, are you all right?"

Sicard waved her off and gestured toward the hatch with his thumb. "I'll be fine after a drink. You get down there and find out what you can from our new passengers. I want every morsel of information you can squeeze out of them. Once they're settled on the Astalicia report back to me."

Wastgeim saluted with an, "Aye aye, sir," then hurried to the door.

"Perhaps I should also lend a hand," Emmanellain suggested. "Miss Marina will surely feel more at ease with a gentleman such as myself by her side."

Sicard rolled his eyes and shoved the elezen away. He staggered a moment before regaining his balance. "Go on then. I don't need your help." Even to his own ears he sounded like a petulant child. "Take care of your new friend." Hurt and anger welled inside him, though he couldn't understand why. He started toward one of the planks connecting Marina's ship with the Astalicia in what he believed was a straight line only to end up several ilms to the right of said plank.

"What is wrong with you?" Emmanellain darted to his side and quickly put an arm around him again. "You're going to fall overboard."

Despite Sicard's grumbling and complaints, Emmanellain managed to successfully guide him back onto the deck of the Astalicia. Once there, Sicard shoved him away and called for one of the crew who knew a little bit of conjury to meet him in his quarters. A puzzled Emmanellain watched the hyur leave the deck, unable to explain to Honoroit what just happened.