three-shining-stars

[three-shining-stars]

[RECORDED LOG 1983.468] - PRIVATE

I don't have much time for this log; a lounge of yellow lizards has climbed up the northeast leg and is attempting to make a nest in the upper struts, somehow, and I need to oversee a Cog on its trip to flush them out. This is more a reminder to myself to further analyze these topics whensoever I have a moment.

One of the other hijackers has named itself: a slugcat by the name of the Artisan. Curious as I am to discern the mechanism by which they communicate, it is, at best, a footnote. I respect their bravery in sharing their identity, though... it makes me wonder if telling the Artificer my own name for the sake of establishing trust was the most intelligent decision. Looking back, perhaps I should have exercised more caution.

Regardless, the Rivulet is mumbling names in its sleep: a mention of someone named Lazuli. The ID drone may be malfunctioning, which is worrisome. The Survivor has a headache, but is otherwise unaffected by the wheel flower as the Rivulet is.

Ruffles is indeed an endearing nickname, and I must now go. Log ends, and good luck to myself and Cog #7 in driving the lizards out. I would not like to purpose a new one should things go awry.

[LOG ENDS]

Hey survivor. How is ruffles holding up after the incident with the karma flower? I read somewhere that the karma flowers are a hallucinogenic plant. So of you do come across more do be careful so you don't have an accident.

Fellow scug

The artisan

Survivor: It's been sleeping all cycle, mumbling about rot and worm grass and someone named Lazuli. This drone has been glitching for some of this cycle, hopefully not damage I caused. It's been echoing its words, or maybe he's echoing it. She sighs. Because of his recent death, I wonder if it's what made him worse. All the flower did to me was give me a headache.

Regardless, thank you for your concern, artisan. I'm sure all we'll need is a cycle or too. Rivulet will get better soon. And Ruffles is a cute nickname.

[three-shining-stars]

[RECORDED LOG 3281.441] - PRIVATE

This is highly irregular. For several cycles now, I have been thinking to myself over and over that this situation the Rivulet and the Survivor are undergoing is entirely out of my understanding, and I do not know what to do about it other than continue working and make this log to record my venting for posterity.

They consumed the wheel flower—karma flower, so said the Survivor—but they did it together, one bite for the each of them. That is... I am sure it is not unheard of, but what effects it may have on the attunement of their cycles, I cannot say; such a thing seems innocuous, but without having any concrete recordings of past tests, speculating feels foolish.

What I know for sure is that the Rivulet's immediate onset of confusion, especially as the Survivor remained completely cogent, is abnormal. I've never partaken, but there are no recorded instances of it causing a stupor so quickly in the archives. Karmically, I believe this may point to some sort of grave imbalance in their cycles, while physically, the wheel flower is a very mild hallucinogenic at best; it should never cause such a reaction.

That is all confusing, yes, and yes, I feel somewhat lost in matters of spirituality; whatever is not recorded here and whatever Three Shining Stars neglected to speak of, I do not know of. But that is not what rankles me such that I constantly find my thoughts consumed by questions. That is not what disconcerts me.

The Rivulet does not remember dying.

That should not be. That should never be; as far as I have ever heard, as far as any of the vast amounts of knowledge stored in the archive suggests, there is no known reason for why a creature would not remember any of their past deaths. It is a given that the cycle pulls the deceased back completely intact, for better or for worse.

And... I don't know. I am the Librarian, sole keeper of a superstructure's worth of knowledge dating back to the very age in which the ancients yet walked the lands, and I'm clueless. Maybe the ancients would have known; maybe Three Shining Stars would have known, but I don't.

And I feel like a little animal with stubby little paws on a device not made for me.

...I wish I could say this was the first time I have doubted myself, but it is not, and I cannot allow these feelings to affect me beyond this log. My incompetence is not a new concept; I am less than a hundred-thousandth of what Three Shining Stars was in stature and intelligence. I just... have to keep going. Keep working.

As an addendum, while I find it interesting that any other prospecting signal hijackers found the Survivor to be at fault for falling prey to her emotions, I am more surprised that she has come to a personal revelation in the time since and is apologizing for her actions. In the short time that I experienced their steadfastness, I found her to be rather irritable. Well, with me, anyway.

I don't know about any of the others, but as has somewhat tormented me between then and now and for what may be the foreseeable future, I do feel as though I was at fault. It was the beckoning of myself and others that led the two of them into danger, and I never blamed the Survivor for losing control and snapping at voices she never trusted in the first place—or so I suspect given her general tone and actions.

It is... heartening, in a way, to have the burden of accusation lifted, but I fear the guilt will remain. An apology will not change what happened.

No matter how many times it's sought.

[LOG ENDS]

(Hi surv I don't forgive you for the whole us taking the blame for the whole rot incident though circumstances do lessen me from hating ya into tolerating you)

But let's put that aside

Huh are you keeping Rivulets death a secret from him?

Why, no like genuinely why?

Survivor: I said the same to another one of you voices, but I mean it. I am truly sorry. I panicked, and, well, you know. I haven't witnessed a death since I was very small, and this time, with it being Rivulet... I can't let such a thing happen again.

I haven't talked to him about it, but he's in no state to talk. I don't mean to keep such things from it, but it's not well enough to listen. Hopefully all it needs is time. I'll try again the next cycle.

[three-shining-stars]

[RECORDED LOG 7175.837] - PRIVATE

As I sat in front of Three Shining Stars' broadcast interface trying to think of a way to both apologize for what previously happened to the Rivulet and compel them both to run from Metropolis as quickly as their legs will carry them, another log was added to the ID drone's bank.

And it's... a wheel flower. A photo of them standing over a wheel flower. Either someone has somehow gifted them a wheel flower or they have stumbled onto one.

Some of the ancients didn't believe in their power, some iterators, too, but Three Shining Stars believed. I believe. It's more than a hallucinogenic; to consume the essence of karma itself is to both become one with karma and completely transcend karma.

If there is any one way to touch the void, to peer into the Rubicon and return from the brink with foreknowledge of what lies beyond, it is through the wheel flower. It is said that ascension is to have one's cycles come to a complete synergy—to have the mat untangled and your string removed from it. The wheel flower allows for the barest taste of such a sensation while remaining in touch with the five natural urges.

Such was how Three Shining Stars described it, her own knowledge thus transcribed from the wisest of the ancients. Those that stared into the fire and eroded into the ground. Those that starved themselves until they no longer were.

I do not know what will come from this, for I have never tasted the wheel flower myself, but... while now may not be the time, I think one of them would benefit from its consumption. I recall that the Rivulet held hazy memories of its past cycles, and while I initially dismissed its musings as amnesia or nonsense, now...

...perhaps he only needs to realign itself with its cycles. Perhaps becoming a single instance within the great cycle will uncloud its mind, if only briefly. I do not know. I am only a scholar, not a pilgrim nor a martyr, and I am certainly no wise saint.

...I should probably stop wasting this time and warn them that they are in peril.

[LOG ENDS]

Rivulet: Surv, hey Survivor, did you bring that box in here?

Survivor: No, it must have been here when we came in. It seems okay to open.

[three-shining-stars]

[RECORDED LOG 5365.615] - PRIVATE

After I finish this log, I'm going down to the genetic recombination laboratory where I was purposed to test myself for signs of medical abnormalities, because the two events recorded on the ID drone's log are so emotionally conflicting with each other I think the whiplash has made me burst a blood vessel.

The Artificer denied me. After so many failed drafts and rerecordings that my voice began to grow hoarse, my perfect plea with all its grand concessions and mild assertions was tossed aside without so much as an acknowledgement of my true message. I don't know what part of the speech caused them to ignore me, but they acted as though I'd actually recommended inaction as a solution instead of a merely lighter punishment. The effort was wasted, and I feel foolish and sick to my stomach for having groveled to them so.

Was my wording too harsh? Did I overestimate their faculties? Perhaps I should have used smaller words, or perhaps I spoke too little of violence; that seems to be all they can understand. Their own justification is rendered deaf to my ears; any sapient creature that knowingly chooses to remain so strongly tethered to the first karma cannot be reasoned with, saddened though I am to admit it.

I realize now that, to them, punishment is synonymous with murder. I do not think mortal depravity of that severity can be overcome.

If that were the end of it, I would have been forced to detach myself from this situation, because there would be only one way for it to end. If a creature is soon to die or be tormented beyond reason, then I cannot remain at all invested in them in any way; the heartbreak would disrupt my work far too much.

But as the Artificer traveled through the gates of their city, some programming quirk in the drone's identification matrix caused its current imprint variable to be overwritten as the most recently logged user came within range. It must disincentivize older owners over the new.

I must say that is a horrible way to encode a gene-bound device since users are likely to die and return many times over, but I suppose this model of drone was dispersed during a time in which the ancients were determined to cross themselves out one-by-one. Logic checking inheritance rules must not have been a priority.

Regardless, the drone fled from the Artificer with one last recording of a piercing howl of indignance, and when next it logged footage, it was of my sleeping slugcat acquaintances. This development is as much a cause for celebration as it is to panic.

With the drone focused back onto them, they may be warned to flee from the encroaching danger that will likely now ferociously hunt them down. That is also a bad thing. Even if my words had some unseen effect on the Artificer or if they had a miraculous change of heart when the time came, that is now very likely not to happen.

The Artificer was already after them, yes, but now I fear their rage has been redoubled. I do not want to think of what may be done to the Rivulet and the Survivor if they are found in possession of the drone.

I sincerely hope they are able to run fast enough to escape.

[LOG ENDS]

[LIVE BROADCAST] - PUBLIC

Hello? I dearly hope this is reaching you, Artificer, because I am composing this broadcast to make clear a plea.

I've sent you a message before, though I previously neglected to give you my name. In an attempt to more strongly prove my sincerity, I will properly introduce myself. I am the Librarian, and I, too, am a slugcat, though situated far away from Five Pebbles.

I hope that may lend my words some credence when I assert that, though you accused me of it, I am not lying. Perhaps I overestimated the undertone of Five Pebbles' words, and I am sorry if I upset you, but as for the temporary holders of the drone, the other two slugcats, I must assert—plead that you pardon them their transgressions.

I recognize that you are the rightful holder of the drone. I will concede that, by laying paws upon your property, they have done wrong, unknowing though they were. They were truly unknowing, though; they held no malice in their actions. I truly believe they had no idea the lost drone was stolen when they found it. They were... they were foolish and naive, if you must say it.

Please, if you must have them brought before you, if you must penalize them to underscore the totality of your reign, then do not raise arms. Do not strip them of their freedom. Let them walk from your city even if with the stipulation that they not return. I am... I am sure they would comply.

I implore you: grant mercy not through inaction but by consideration for rightful punishment to match inflicted wrongs.

Such would prove you great in more eyes than scavengers'.

[BROADCAST ENDS]

Artificer: Nonsense, I cannot let them leave without punishment. If I did so, could the scavengers still fear me? I've killed scavenges for much smaller crimes, and if I let them go free, what would become of my leadership? Any less of a punishment could make me weak in their eyes. I can't take such a risk again.

Violet: Your Majesty-

Artificer: Silence, scavenger. Come, step onto the karma gate. I cannot activate it on my own.

Violet: Yes, Your Greatness.

The turning of gears and falling of water can be heard.

Artificer: Perhaps I treated you too harshly. But-

Violet: You think so? Thank you, um...Artificer.

Artificer: Not you. But, as I was saying, you must understand. Leading a nation is no easy task. Sacrifices must be made.

Artificer's drone emits several beeps, then speaks;

[HOST DETECTED IN SECTOR 12 "FIVE PEBBLES". REROUTING TO HOST ID 08912 "THE RIVULET"]

The drone floats away faster than the Artificer can chase, and an anguished yowl can be heard through the machine.

You can now send asks to Survivor and Rivulet.

[three-shining-stars]

[RECORDED LOG 2075.624] - PRIVATE

...I need to do something. Anything. I have so little power outside Three Shining Stars' walls, but there must be something. I cannot sit idly by while members of my own race are marched to slavery, not when I could have saved them this danger in the first place.

If not physically, if not by overseer, then I must make contact once more. I must try once more to sway the Artificer from taking their revenge.

...And yet, I cannot truly hold out hope.

[LOG ENDS]

So artificer how are you going to punish these thieves for stealing your drone?

Artificer: Kill them, to teach them a lesson, and when they come back the next cycle, I'll make them serve my kingdom. I could use some extra paws to be my servants.

[three-shining-stars]

[RECORDED LOG 8796.918] - PRIVATE

Turbulent these past few cycles have been, and though my work efficiency has decreased dramatically from these overwhelming thoughts of helplessness, I do admit, my curious predisposition hums to gain such biased insight into scavenger culture.

It is less about the ways in which they act—it is obvious even to the blind that the scavengers live as a collective in all aspects—but to imagine that they have devised their own take on organized religion speaks more highly of their relative advancement more than even their aptitude for tools and crafting.

The ancients held religious views of themselves and the void, and in time, venerated many iterators in the same way, but there is otherwise very little deviation to known religious practices. Some iterators were treated as beings advanced enough to hail as omniscient; the ancients sought purity in the void while languishing in their sins and golden cities alike. Disregarding the even older civilizations the ancients' was built atop, that tells much of the entire story.

Spirits of the ascended... that evokes thoughts of an afterlife; the ancients believed that there existed a purgatory as unfulfilled echoes, that such places in-between as the Rubicon could exist, but otherwise sought especially to remove all lingering traces of themselves. They abhorred the concept of an afterlife, and so it was spoken of in only hushed whispers, never to be made common practice.

I believe... yes, I do believe in the Rubicon, but I do not believe that there is any remaining trace of those who enter the void baths. I do not think I believe in an afterlife any more than I do echoes, and especially in this interpretation, that spirits could somehow inhabit pearls, I am skeptical. The great cycle does not comprise such nonsense.

...Oh, yes, it is more obvious now that the Artificer is a tyrant. That much has been startlingly clear for a while, much as I wish the situation were different. The wimpish scavenger says that there was no indication of why the ID drone fled, which points to an assumption made that my slugcat acquaintances outright stole it.

I... cannot recall what claims, if any, the Rivulet made as to where he found the drone, but I would like to believe they are not thieves. They had no reason to obfuscate the truth, so why would they have bothered lying?

It is very bad form to draw conclusions based on personal feelings rather than logic, but even trying to think of it in a realistic light, I cannot determine an answer. They didn't lie.

...They couldn't have.

[LOG ENDS]

Psstt violet meesa have some questions for you

1 How are scavengers raised by their parents or communally?

2 Do Scavengers have a culture?

3 Do the thieves who stole the drone look like slugcats who are pure white and blue?

*Violet and Artificer's drones beep and repeat the message in sync.*

Violet: You have questions for me? Oh, thank you. Scavenger culture is very interesting, if I do say so myself. We raise and protect the cubs communally, and I remember the many caretakers I had when I was small. I don't help so much around there though, I'm barely older than a cub myself.

Though not too many know much about us, everyone knows scavengers like pearls. Other creatures usually just say we like their shine. The truth is that many of us believe they contain the spirits of the ascended inside. I've never been one for religion, but it is nevertheless an important part of our culture. We've had a civilization here for hundreds of cycles, but when this artificer here arrived, she-

Artificer: Yes?

Violet: ...improved the kingdom tenfold. We couldn't be more grateful for a leader such as him.

Artificer: Hm.

Violet: After they took over Metropolis, they claimed the drone of the previous leader, so they had two of them. The "thief" had no obvious identity, the drone just disappeared without a trace Our Royal Majesty here entrusted me with the other drone to find the lost one. I finally now was able to use it to pick up its faint signals after it already had returned to her. Thank you for trusting me with such a task, Your Greatness.

Artificer: You are nothing special, you were the first one I saw. Now quit your yapping, scavenger, we have a long journey ahead of us.

[three-shining-stars]

[RECORDED LOG 9062.665] - PRIVATE

I must keep this log brief on account of a systems failure that needs my attention, but the ID drone's server has a new captured feed that concerns me greatly, even over the warning sirens blaring over my head.

The Artificer conquered the scavengers living atop Metropolis, killed their leader and exiled it beyond return. My suspicions were right; this is a truly violent, uncaring creature. Bloodthirsty in the most terribly literal meaning.

But that is hardly my biggest concern; this scavenger... Violet, the meek sycophant with another ID drone, claims that the Rivulet and the Survivor have been found. I do not know if that is synonymous with capture, but I worry.

I do truly worry, and yet, even beyond that, I resent my helplessness. The most I could do would be to send an overseer, but what would that accomplish?

Nothing. As always, my role is to observe, not interfere.

And that infuriates me.

[LOG ENDS]

So artificer what are you doing leading a nation of scavengers?

I'd have thought you were going to keep going on your killing spree but apparently you are leading them now?

How'd that happen?

Artificer: I live the life of luxury like this. The scavengers give me anything I could ever desire, and when I still crave their blood, well, death is the punishment for all crimes in Metropolis. I killed their former leader and when it came back the next cycle, exiled it from the region-

*The shelter doors open with the sound of clicking gears, and a brown and purple scavenger with a similar drone to Artificer's enters and starts to chatter.*

???: Artificer, Your Royal Greatness, we have completed your task! We found the ones who stole your golden drone!

Artificer: Foul beast, my drone has been returned! But... *They seem to soften a little* I am ready to take my revenge. You will lead me to them, you... what do they call you?

Violet: Violet, Your Majesty. *Its drone begins to click and a faint echoing voice speaks through it, but no true words can be heard.*

(You can now send asks to Violet)

[three-shining-stars]

[RECORDED LOG 2270.834] - PRIVATE

My message has reached the Artificer, and suffice it to say, what may generously be called 'negotiations' are not going well.

They are standoffish, untrusting of the words of others and quick to take offense. Near everything I said in my message was discarded as fiction—no, that is too light a word: the Artificer believes I lie. Obviously, I do not, but from my vantage half a world away, there is practically no way to genuinely prove my veracity. They do not seem to put much stock in words alone.

As for words, they use odd ones for their context: kingdom, sector... by what delusion do they view Metropolis? It is as much a kingdom as this archive, though I suppose they do hold dominion over the scavengers. Other than claiming ownership, though, they do not seem willing to answer the question of their rule's viability. I shudder to think of their ability to subjugate.

And... they threaten the Rivulet and the Survivor once more, speaking with nonchalance about the misery of death. It is true that the cycle does not let living things go so easily, but to deny that death holds any meaning...

...it wears on the soul, on a creature's karma. It is more than a means to an end; it is a severe strike against the mind, and death may only be weathered so many times. The cycle cares not for those who can no longer live, and if any being loses the strength to stand, to think, or to even be, then they merely sit and erode into the ground, forever entangled in its net.

And the threshold is often much slimmer than it appears.

I worry for my acquaintances' safety. If only I had a way to contact them once more, I would urge them to flee far away from this crimson beast with the cruel tongue.

[LOG ENDS]

[LIVE BROADCAST] - PUBLIC

...um... Hello? Is... is this reaching you?

I am... uncertain of how to address you, or of how to introduce myself. I am the... um, actually, I will just say that I was previously acquainted with those that supposedly made off with this ID drone before it found its way back to you. I met them in much the same way I meet you now; this device has an open communication channel. Well, relatively open, anyway.

You are... the Artificer? The drone's previous holders made contact with Five Pebbles, and she spoke somewhat fondly of you, though expressed that you hadn't returned in a while. What are you still doing in Metropolis? You... you rule the scavengers here?

...And... I have to mention, you seem... dismissive of the drone's previous owners. You are aware they are slugcats, aren't you? Your own kind? Are you not... you wouldn't actually attack them if they sought the drone, would you?

Not that they would, and not that I'm implying they might, of course, I just... well, I worry for their safety in the future.

[BROADCAST ENDS]

Artificer: This kingdom is mine, and the city is my home. It has been for many cycles. You have that right, and it will not change.

That name again? I had gone without hearing it for cycles, to have it said twice in one. Five Pebbles... That doesn't sound like her at all. She threatened my death, hissing at me to leave. You must be lying. There's no other explanation. We had a few happy moments, but I made our times together in that other message sound far too positive. She wouldn't want me back. You must be lying. There's no other explanation.

If you lie so naturally, there is no reason to listen to whatever else you have to say. Other slugcats? That's almost as unrealistic. I am the only of my kind still in this sector, other than... no, it's impossible. Even if they were, I don't care. I will kill whoever crosses me. Death means little, for what it's worth. Little more than a way to intimidate.

[three-shining-stars]

[RECORDED LOG 4401.623] - PRIVATE

Last cycle, I... I caught myself doing... thinking unwise things, and it needs to be addressed.

Some time ago, I had sent an overseer as far east as its connection can allow to return an update on the worsening situation among the local group situated near the shore, but on its way, I... I interrupted its journey. I made it double back, overwrote my initial command and bid it to capture something new.

There was a slugcat in the wild, picking its way through a rare ground-bound ancient city abandoned after the construction of the iterators and mass migration to their cities. That itself is nothing special; my species has long spread across the abandoned world. This slugcat, however, was not alone. This slugcat had tamed a lizard.

I know of the practice very well; the common wild lizard, purposed in ages long passed by the ancients, is genetically predisposed to subservience. Very rare is a genus that will not bow its head for regular feedings and warm shelter, and slugcats, especially, have taken special notice of this. This was not my first time seeing such a thing.

...But never had I seen a bond develop past subservience. That lizard did not bow its head or raise itself taller to test the slugcat's dominance; it did not slink across the ground after it or sit in nervous anticipation for its next feeding, always alert and tensed to flee in case its opportunity ran out. It... it was protective. Loving. It kept close not for safety or simple-minded gain, but for... care.

I watched with rapt attention to see them travel, the lizard always keeping close when it wasn't prowling ahead to scout for danger, and as it returned, the slugcat rewarded it with real affection. No... perhaps rewarded isn't the correct word; it seemed truly happy to have it around, to see it and to welcome it back to its side. The lizard, too, sought not the scratches under its chin or the long, loving rubs along its sides, but warmly accepted them regardless. Their bond was strong, their affection genuine.

They watched out for each other, protected each other with fierce, reckless abandon. Their actions were taken in each others' benefit, their cycles in harmonious synchronization. True companions.

The purest essence of the third karma.

...It hurt to watch. Ever since Three Shining Stars was disconnected and I was left alone to maintain her and continue her task, I... there have been few cycles gone by where I have not missed her. Where I have not missed the comfort of her embrace, her warmness in demeanor if not her cold body and metal fingers. Isolated scholar she may have been, built and maintained by the ancients who cared not for even life itself, but she did know of love.

And I... I loved her too.

I could not watch for very long, and I don't care very much where they went or what became of them. I sent the overseer back on its way. I resumed my tasks. I... I want to forget about what I saw.

I know she would be mad, but I cannot bring myself to store this feed in the archive.

[LOG ENDS]

[ARCHIVE ACCESS] - S137R93L12

[CONTENT] - OVSFT2425.yuv

[LATTICE REFRESH]

[EMPTY STRUCTURE] - WRITE CONTENT Y/N

Pals!!

(No small creatures were harmed in the making of this friendship)

[three-shining-stars]

[RECORDED LOG 1865.675] - PRIVATE

We have many instances of artistic renderings such as this recorded in the archive, and of course they are only whimsical works of fiction, but here and there, I do find myself wondering at the chances some isolated iterator could purpose beings like this. Void forbid this could be a natural evolution; it makes my fur itch to think about.

This being, though... rather unlike most I have ever seen. Seems to be a kind of canine species, an animal family that has long since gone extinct, with an odd mutation of squidcada genes, though it lacks visible wings. Would such a thing crawl along the ground? Would it inhabit the sea if not the sky? I struggle to imagine such appendages being very well suited for aquatic life.

I cannot tell, either, whether it is covered in fur or much smaller tendrils, though the former would be to its benefit in colder climates. That seems like a realistic evolutionary trait, though its shockingly bright color scheme, while eye-catching and interesting, indicates it to be a very unadaptable prey species, if not a predator. Many lizards come in bright colors, too, but they fear little aside from vultures, and this being lacks any of their noticeably sharp advantages.

The more I stare, the more I take in its big, glassy eyes and panting tongue, the more I wonder if this could not be an organism purposed for companionship as some slugcats and their ancestors are. It appears... somewhat cuddly, though I do not think it and I would get along. It appears messier than I am comfortable with.

Perhaps this archival is better to be imagined than observed.

[LOG ENDS]

Alien Doggo specimen #001

Our studies show so far that this is indeed a good boy!

(Inspirations: Corgi + Blue Ringed Octopus)

[three-shining-stars]

[RECORDED LOG 3961.352] - PRIVATE

As is apparent, the Artificer is quite the callous creature. She... or he? Their voice is so grizzled and hoarse, their figure so rugged and scarred, it is difficult to tell.

No matter. They are not nearly as amiable as my previous associates; even the Survivor, in her most prickly moments, was not so inherently hostile. The way they speak makes my fur stand on end. Some intrinsic sense of warning deep within me stirs to life in a way I have never felt to see them act and move, so intent and dangerous in every motion.

They seem... content, somewhat, to return communications, though their priorities are not clear. They seem oddly possessive of Five Pebbles' city, Metropolis, which only makes me wonder more at their relationship with the iterator. Five Pebbles spoke as though she hadn't seen the Artificer in some time, yet here they remain.

They say, though, that the drone was stolen from them—a claim I cannot verify the validity of. I don't know where the Rivulet picked the drone up from, but the two of them never seemed notably circumspect in walking around with it. I... am less inclined to trust the Artificer's word, but why would they lie? Could it be a misunderstanding?

They seem to have an odd relationship with the remaining scavenger population here—a population I was previously aware of thanks to old overseer footage, but was not aware still remained after the Rivulet's previous uncertainty. If I'm not mistaken, they seem to rule them in some fashion, which is eminently strange.

Their mask is similar to the ones scavengers seem to favor, but where did they find it? Were they gifted it? Did they steal it? How did they come into their position?

Their demeanor sets me on edge, but I truly fear I may have to open a broadcast channel soon. I have never experienced the rebirth inherent to the cycle, but my curiosity may just bring that about...

[LOG ENDS]

Well that was rude

I'm not talking about you artificer, I'm talking about the other Slugcat who decided to destroy the drone we were talking through

because apparently we were the one's responsible for her friend's death even though he wanted to go exploring and got eaten by rot, (we gave warnings about the rot)

Though I can give some leeway since she saw her best friend get swallowed?, eaten? (Yeah let's go with that) in front of her

Artificer: Oh? The beasts who stole my drone from me? They clearly damaged it, I can see the cracks in its center. I don't pity either of them. It sounds like they got what they deserved. At least I can take proper care of it, and under my rule, I am the only one allowed a drone. This time, they won't get it back without a fight.

[three-shining-stars]

[RECORDED LOG 4980.062] - PRIVATE

Something strange has happened this cycle.

It's been... I'd like to say I haven't been counting the cycles since the Rivulet's death, but with the constant maintenance tasks I have to undergo to keep the superstructure running, I know it's been four or so. He's certainly woken up by now and probably back with the Survivor as happy and carefree as they have been, but their business is no longer any of mine.

But... I had assumed the Survivor destroyed the ID drone they'd been using to communicate, but a short time ago, during a routine search for informational broadcasts, I saw... their signal. It's back online.

I was... I was apprehensive, I admit, to check the log. For all I knew, it could've been filled with outgoing threats or vows of vengeance from the Survivor, or at least some kind of bitter disavowal. I do not deal well with confrontation; I would much prefer to duck out and search elsewhere for knowledge or stimulation.

But of course, my curiosity overwhelmed me, and I checked anyway. The absolute last thing I would've expected was the drone's survival and its apparent migration, and the figure it sent images of...

...It must be the Artificer, the violent former owner that Five Pebbles spoke of. Whether her comment that the slugcat was akin to a beast was derogatory or not, I see the resemblance. A shadowed, sunken gaze peering out from a soot-blasted mask of bone, crimson fur charred and scarred and stained all over by a much deeper, messier red, and the way it carries itself...

...I am unsettled. Few creatures have inspired such intrinsic unease as this, and I have seen the dreaded miros vulture. If I am to make contact as I have before, I will have to build up a store of courage to do so.

...Though perhaps it would be safer for everyone not to bother.

[LOG ENDS]

[A HOST HAS BEEN SELECTED.]

[ID 14801 "THE ARTIFICER", SECTOR 0015 "METROPOLIS".]

[SYNCHING DATA TO NEW HOST. THIS MAY TAKE SEVERAL MINUTES.]

[PROCESS COMPLETE. THIS-]

*The audio signal cuts out sharply, and a single blurry image is transmitted.*

. . .

"My little drone has finally come home to me."

*The signal comes back on, and several voices blare at once from the drone.*

"Well, that is new..."

(You can now send asks to the Artificer)

[three-shining-stars]

[RECORDED LOG 2870.846] - PRIVATE

...Their signal went offline last cycle, and... well, the last log in the offline server is recorded alongside an unsettling image of rage. The Survivor... I don't need to imagine what she did with the spear she held.

I feel... I feel responsible. If I'd known, I never... I wouldn't have asked them to go in, would I have? I didn't know the extent of the danger within the superstructure. I... I didn't.

...But I knew what the outside looked like. I knew Five Pebbles was falling apart, was infected by the rot; I just didn't want to admit it. I... I just wanted so badly to know. I could have—should have insisted more strongly that they abandon their venture. This was preventable. It might've been preventable by me.

It'll... it'll be fine. Even the damnable, all-consuming rot can't tear one from the cycle. The Rivulet will wake right back up again like nothing ever happened.

...He'll wake right back up again. He will.

...but I think... I think I need a cycle of sleep...

[LOG ENDS]

Survivor: It's... it's dead. This is your fault, you know that? You never should have told us about this place.

The cycle. I will see him again. I will. But you took him away from me. I can't forgive that.

. . .

[SERVER SIGNAL LOST]

[three-shining-stars]

[RECORDED LOG 9328.293] - PRIVATE

Oh! That's good, my broadcast has finally gone through. It's a little redundant by now, thanks to the recent decay in Three Shining Stars' communication arrays, but it's freed up an outgoing broadcast request at the least.

That is... disheartening, to hear that Five Pebbles would ask such a thing, and somewhat confusing. It is true that iterators cannot shut themselves down by command of an intrinsic taboo, but it is not an easy thing to entirely remove their consciousness. The superstructure may be shut down, perhaps due to lack of power, but the iterator's consciousness will remain, while if their consciousness is disconnected, the superstructure will remain powered, if entirely helmless.

I suppose... I suppose both could be done in sequence, though I just... I can't fathom why any iterator would willingly... I... it's just...

...what happened to Three Shining Stars was... it wasn't as though she... she didn't...

...Perhaps I am just... idealistic, and perhaps I hold too much investment in the lives of iterators. After all, if Five Pebbles' condition truly is so severe as it seems, perhaps it would be a kindness to make an attempt at cessation.

There isn't an iterator still functioning that doesn't fear... that... that doesn't...

...the rot. Oh... oh void below...

I... I need to... I have to...

...l-log end...

[LOG ENDS]

[LIVE BROADCAST] - PUBLIC

...lo... ...hel... ...llo..? Hello? Hello? Oh, I think this may finally be reaching you two!

By the great void below, I'm very thankful that your signal's come back online; it's been cycles now without any trace of it. When last you two communicated, you were on the cusp of entry into the structure. I was quite worried!

I can see from the recent logs on the drone that the journey has gone smoothly as far, though I understand it can be jarring not to have your paws on the ground, what with the disruption of gravity. I was born into it, myself, so I actually find it stranger to be tethered down!

I also think... wait, that image in the log... is... is that Five Pebbles' puppet? I've only seen a picture or two that came along with some... erm... concerning gossip some time ago, but her appearance is distinct. The superstructure is still standing, obviously, but is Five Pebbles actually still iterating?

...and... that blurry, blue, blobby shape in the corner... is there much more of that there? I'm... it's important, please.

[BROADCAST ENDS]

Survivor: It's good to hear from you again, too! We've stayed with Five Pebbles for the past five cycles, but we have decided to keep going. The rumors are true. She is... not doing well. The walls crumble further every cycle as the blue beast eats at her. *She jumps onto a lower platform.*

Rivulet: I haven't told Surv, not to worry them, but there is another reason I want to go further. Pebbles told me how to put her out of her misery, so to speak, by shutting down her systems. *He jumps, much faster than Survivor.*

Survivor: Oh, there you are, Riv.

*A high-pitched screech rings through the machine*

Rivulet: Survivor!

[three-shining-stars]

[RECORDED LOG 5691.252] - PRIVATE

Hrm... it is no secret that Five Pebbles was not held in particularly high esteem, personality-wise, whenever she was last communicative with the larger iterator community, and that seems not to have changed. Judging on my own interactions with iterators, many of them are dismissive of the individuality of so-seen lesser beings, but that is not necessarily a rule.

I have one or two iterator contacts that delight in conversation, even knowing what I am, and... Three Shining Stars was... well...

...I miss her.

...Anyway, I am growing more and more leery of the other signals communicating with the slugcat pair. How many of them are familiar with this situation? How many have previously made contact with Five Pebbles? Some of their knowledge seems preternatural, and I do not entirely trust them.

Who is this Artificer that Five Pebbles speaks of? It rings soundly as the common naming scheme of wild slugcats, but not any I am familiar with. Not that I am familiar with any, really, beyond some mythical archetypes as the holy Saint or the unholy Invenot.

There is an implied familiarity between Five Pebbles and this Artificer; were they a creature she purposed? She doesn't seem the type, not for companionship nor function. In an earlier log, she mentioned... a violent beast. The former owner of the ID drone. Are they one and the same? I am curious, though lack a means of finding out, which rankles me.

...Oh, um... as to whether the slugcat pair are... romantically entwined is... not my place to speculate on. Not at all. Whether they are overtly familiar, whether they seem compatible, whether I have thought to ask, I have not, will not, and intend to actively avoid the subject going forward.

The realm of the second karma is not of any interest to me or this archive. Log ends.

[LOG ENDS]

Well hi there pebsi say hello to these two rats

Also where's ruffian?

Psstttt I'm betting 10 bucks these 2 are going to be mates in less than 60 cycles

5P: They have been driving me mad, but it is better than going mad alone, I suppose.

The little artificer hasn't come here in a long time. They used to visit every day, despite my intolerance of them. Their visits became shorter and farther between, until they disappeared, and I almost missed them. Almost. I would never think so highly of an animal.

And the slugcats are sleeping now, but they don't seem to be responding positively to such comments. However, when they speak to one another, the way they act is familiar. With intelligent organisms like I, of course that makes it different, but the two little ones remind me of somebody I used to know.

My heat processers failed long ago, but the thought makes me feel warm. I do not know what to think of this.

[three-shining-stars]

[RECORDED LOG 9828.940] - PRIVATE

Hm. If Three Shining Stars were still conscious, it's possible she would be displeased at my actions in taking advantage of failing security systems to tap into an otherwise private signal, but... well, as with the ancients that sought the secrecy, there's no point in hearkening to voices of the passed. After all, I act for her because I believe in her cause, not because I am obliged to.

...Though I am obliged to. Three Shining Stars was... she was kind.

Rather unlike the ancients, as Five Pebbles attested to. They largely sought purification of their souls and preached detachment from mortal pursuits, but in that very pursuit, they idealized very mortal means. Period texts—very biased texts—from their age indicate that those who did not actively seek ascension were... not looked upon favorably.

By that metric, bathing in the void baths was considered a punishment; without repentance of the five natural urges, they say those who were crossed out experienced an... unclean shearing from the cycle. There's been absolutely no known documentation about whether the mythical echoes are fact or ghostly fiction, but... I don't really believe, personally; I'm one who sees truth in the Rubicon.

As for the means of communication, I... hm. I hadn't thought too much about it. Now that I am, it does seem odd. Really, how plausible is it that every other unfamiliar voice crackling in is a slugcat with the mark and the technological means to hijack radio signals? Our language isn't exactly common; I wouldn't even know it if not for the method by which Three Shining Stars purposed me.

We have the schematics for the standard-issue citizen ID drone issued to many cities here in the archive, but there's nothing about any kind of interspecies translator in its design. Is it some kind of odd modification? An alternate model? I can't exactly see the drone from the pictures it takes, so it's difficult to presently discern.

I can't trace the source of other signals from the drone alone; I'd have to chance upon them by searching randomly. They may not even know any more than I do. This seems like a mystery I can't solve on my own.

...How frustrating.

[LOG ENDS]

You think there’s a way to use that ID drone to allow the two slugcats to communicate back?

5P: The drone uses very primitive technology, but it is capable of communication between any drones functional enough to connect to the server. When my city was inhabited, every citizen was authorized a drone, both used as a doorkey and to issue emergency signals through the server, which happened frequently. They were a violent group of people.

It is incredible so many voices can still communicate with the little animals. It means many drones have survived the test of time, or somebody has used an alternate device to connect to the server. This would have been considered highly illegal, but nobody is left to do anything about it, and I couldn't care less at this point.

[three-shining-stars]

[RECORDED LOG 4360.954] - PRIVATE

...Interesting. I have felt for a while that there may be something inconsistent with the Rivulet, but while previously I believed it to be genuine in its nescience, now... I am not sure. I have listened to this playback several times at varying volumes, but I just cannot determine what its voice conveys. Is he genuine? Is he not? I don't want to make a guess for fear of being incorrect.

Why would he lie, though? Without knowing more of it, even with the scant memories he has claimed were dreams, it's impossible even to hazard a guess. A facade for the Survivor? Running from its past? The possibilities boggle my mind, and I do not have an iterator's ability to explore ten thousand possibilities in a second.

Hopefully I... we, even, considering the other signals and the Survivor herself, may someday find out. I don't know about them, but there is a profound curiosity burning in my heart.

...Perhaps this is an indication that I should find more things to fill my cycles with.

Regardless, yes, the mark is a method of one way communication, and however contradictory and captivating it is that the Rivulet possesses one, it is invaluable for creatures wishing to relate to iterators. Wherever and whenever it was developed, unknown though it be, it is a true gift.

There are many methods of making this stream flow both ways; in my case, Three Shining Stars allowed me access to an artifact known as a keyboard—a device I continue to use in her absence to interface with her systems.

I somewhat doubt that Five Pebbles has access to one—Three Shining Stars' entire facility is dedicated to the storage of ancient knowledge and artifacts, after all—but perhaps they'll find some other method of communication if they seek it. Those with the mark understand ancient language; maybe they'll try writing?

...It is... funny, in a way, to be looking in while having the faculties to understand both languages.

[LOG ENDS]

Rivulet, how do you know Five Pebbles?

Rivulet: I've just met this robot creature, she's called Five Pebbles? I don't know her, Survivor and I discovered this place by accident, mostly, when we explored deeper into here.

5P: Creature, I cannot understand your primal squeaking. The mark of communication you have is only functional one way. I wonder which iterator gave it to you?

Rivulet: This Five Pebbles knows nothing. I have never met an "iterator" before, whatever that is.

Survivor: What is going on, Rivulet? What is happening?

5P: This one does not understand? You do not have the mark. Though my systems are failing, I can still give it to you.

*The Survivor has received the mark of communication.*