text ↪ un: 朱

[blackfire]

（ there are a variety of reasons he has resisted making this announcement, chiefly among them that he is as fiercely protective of viveca's privacy as he is his own — however, he is keenly aware that such desire does not follow a pragmatic path. viveca must have known that sending them to this world would make her history impossible to conceal. his own tendency to withhold information from others needs to be set aside if they have any hope of bettering this — her — world.

he has spoken on the matter to a few people, those he trusts more than not — but his conversation with sam has resulted in the realization that if viveca is... upset at others learning the truth of her nature, she may as well be so with him. at least he can control the narrative, and stave off attempts at ferreting out further information about her.

thus, his delivery is entirely without embellishment — ）

E-23b is Viveca's world of origin. Those of you who have spoken with her on the matter may recall her propensity to say that she built herself — it seems she was human, and as such had a hand in the design of her digital parameters. She is the daughter of the Mayor, Jacques Reman and his wife Alexandra — with whom I have spoken directly — and was the original leader of the Fables known by the animal moniker 'Fox'.

I will not speculate on the circumstances that resulted in her being as we know her, nor explain my certainty — do not ask.

Sam Wilson is currently speaking with the Hare, confirmed to be Callan de la Cruz, and he is the source of our learning of Viveca's identity as the Fox. Presently, he appears to be an ally, and Viveca seemed to trust him — it was the symbol of the revolution that she gave Sam that sparked their conversation. If anyone can think of any information that may be pertinent to our efforts and possibly known by the Hare, please direct your queries to Sam. He is in an unknown location, and his ability to return communication is limited due to the nature of his situation. I do not believe him to be in any amount of danger, however — I would suggest that you respect both his time and his discretion in this.

（ the message ends there, for a time. some moments later, he amends it: ）

Collectively, we owe Viveca a great debt. I cannot think of better repayment than helping her home in a way that she can be proud of.

Comments

text. un: barnes.

[starer]

he told you he's talking to the hare right now?

[blackfire]

（ hm. ）

I asked. He confirmed.

（ it was not a thing volunteered, at any rate. ）

text | un: 182

[fuchsiative]

so we're revolutionaries now?

[blackfire]

If that is what you believe I am saying, you should reconsider my words.

（ it's never so black and white. helping does not mean allying themselves unnecessarily with anyone. it can be as simple as a single act of kindness.

he is learning that such things have an echo. ）

Text; un: Sabriel.Abhorsen

[bindsthedead]

We should help Viveca's allies, but- in all of this, do we know who has the orb? Because if the Fables have it, our course is straightforward. If the government has it, we can't just steal it.

[blackfire]

I cannot speak for what the others may have learned, but Alexandra seemed certain that neither Jacques Reman nor the Hare have it, as by her reasoning such a thing would have been used to tip the scales of this conflict already. Whether she is correct or not I cannot say.

Text| un:Wei Wuxian; Private

[singlelogbridge]

[He doesn't have a strong opinion on Viveca. He hasn't had many interactions with her since his arrival and though his own unformed feelings on her remain fairly positive, he can admit when he's ignorant. That being said, if Itachi trusts that she's good, it goes a long way for him.]

So this is where she's from? You're right then, we owe this to her. She's one of us, how could we do anything less? [And uninformed or not, he's clear about Viveca being one of their own.]

By the way, I'm not dead

[blackfire]

Congratulations.

text | un: silent

[callada]

... Ah. Well, then. I'd suspected she had a human body once, given how she speaks about not having been programmed.

Months ago, when the north wing was first opened to us, I found this photograph in the former crew's quarters. Glad I took photos of it and the text on it. Seems the Hare had written that note to Viveca - and I had guessed she was "Freckles" but now we have more context.

I'm wondering if a lot of these people are former Ximilia crew who no longer remember their time on the station.

[attached are the photos of the photo, front and back]

[blackfire]

Please send the photograph to Sam directly. If any members of the Fables have their masks off around him, it may be possible for him to transmit their images to us for comparison if he knows roughly what we are looking for.

（ given the wildly varying worlds from which those currently aboard the ximilia hail, he does not think it likely that the former crew would all from a single planet, but it would not surprise him to learn that a few are accounted for in such a way. ）

text. un: newt

[groupiedrifter]

Oh... shit.

Okay.

Some ex-employee mentioned the mayor's daughter was bedridden somewhere. Said that her mother's 'betrayal' and sentencing to the labor camps was blamed for it, but that he thinks his daughter was actually in on the rebellion, too and was locked up or put in a camp or whatever.

But turns out, she's, y'know. On a space station looking for orbs.

The mayor's covering it up by saying she's bedridden????

[He rubs his chin, thoughtful.]

I also found some old footage on a hard drive, too blurry to really tell a lot, but... I think it was Viv in the footage. Viv and her Fable pals. From before the rebellion, when she was in the University.

[blackfire]

I wonder what he feels he has to gain by claiming to have her. It would paint a far more sympathetic storyline to the general public if he were to announce she had died as a direct result of his wife's defection.

Unless, of course, her body has remained here, or has caused to be here as the result of a mishap with the orbs or the teleporters themselves.

Do you have a copy of the recording?

[bossily]

We'll find a way to honor her by helping here. I just wish it was more clear the right path to take to get the job done.

There's obviously the revolution, but there's something about this mission that feels off compared to the others.

text ↪ un: 朱 (🔒)

[blackfire]

In what respect?

（ privately, he agrees — but though clara has no formal training, she is a shrewd thinker, and he is curious of her opinion. ）

private

[coordination]

You feel that too?

Something off. A lack of clarity on what path we should take here.

I've had it on that mind more than any mission in the past, myself.

[chrysology]

This is where she is from? That's gonna mean we have to do what we can to help out. And get the orb, of course. But. If we can figure helping out while we are here. Try make some difference to help out since she can't. At least, in her stead.

Not sure if the Fables know about the orb but either way they might know other stuff that might help us out. See what Sam finds out and go from there?

[blackfire]

Do you have anything to contribute?

（ because he doesn't have a lot of patience for people wasting his time with the obvious. ）

text | un: andy | private

[oiorpata]

Hit a lot dead ends on my end, unfortunately.

[ this is easily the hardest world for her to feel adapted to. hell? sure. wild west? excellent. technology everywhere? gross. ]

Short of just breaking into the mayor's house, but I'm holding on to that as a last resort, because I assume they'll kill me immediately and I'd like to keep that trump card for now.

🔒

[blackfire]

It can't be helped. We are operating with less foreknowledge here than on other worlds.

Alexandra may have some knowledge of how to gain entry to his manor. While I am hard-pressed to believe his security codes would be the same — even the layout of the building would be beneficial. I will see what can be done.

If you do decide to infiltrate the manor, would you prefer to do it alone or with a team?

text (un: major.yzak.jule)

[coordination]

Aside from the Mayor preparing to provide a statement regarding the Fables' broadcast in the near future, I haven't uncovered much else yet. Not even exactly when and from where he'll be doing so. But I'll keep an ear out, just in case.

I'd like to do right by Viveca as well. But I do wonder what the best way to do that is.

[blackfire]

'Near' future may suggest a period of less than two weeks. Where did you hear this information?

（ such addresses seem to be rare — the fables may wish to take advantage of that. if it happens to be a public address... has there been a better time to finish the work started four years ago in the interim? ）

text; un: mccoy

[homeostatic]

I'll be damned.

Well, Jim and I found medical records for her, but they're gibberish. All I can tell is that she's possibly being seen bi-monthly, but that's about it, if that's even the case.

I've retained copies, if anyone wants to try taking a crack at them. We have records for Alexandra and Jacques as well, but those are relatively straightforward.

Text. un: Kirigan. Private to Mccoy

[cruelyethuman]

Have you found her body?

un / text: solnishka

[peasant]

viveca was accused of the assassination attempt on her father, according to articles we found in the library system.

she made her last speech two days before the assassination attempt. said something about how the future would change, and that she was committed to making that change.

if those stories are true, i can't say i blame her.

[ what she doesn't admit is her sympathy for that plight; it's no easy conclusion to come to, resolving yourself to kill someone you once thought you loved.

she'd know a little about that, lately. ]

there's something else, too.
i thought this world looked familiar to me. viveca asked me to paint a mural of her home months ago.
she made it sound like it belonged to someone else from the crew before us. someone who died on these missions.

[blackfire]

（ he can't say he is surprised to learn that — the consideration has been held in the back of his mind as far back as their conversation about his familicide. if i had killed my father, she had said then, and something in her tone caught in the gossamer edges of his awareness.

who else could have gotten so close?

he has always suspected that viveca was the more ruthless of the two, between her and degar. like, after all, knows like. ）

Were there any details of the mural that stood out especially to you?

text | un; mal

[tochnyy]

[ he doesn't particularly feel strongly about viveca but she is giving them a chance to undo a regret and seems to be helping them. her motivates aren't clear, maybe it's part of her own goal, but mal doesn't really care.

if he can change things, come out of it all alive -- well, he's not going to throw that aside. ]

we should help her any way we can. [ maybe it'll help them in the end too. ] not sure how though.

with the revolution, maybe, but not anything else. viveca sent us here for an orb but has anyone found a hint of it? there has to be one causing some part of this, right?

[blackfire]

She deliberately refrained from telling us about her connection to this world. It is likely she did not wish to influence our actions here unduly, for all that she must have known it would come out during the course of our time here.

（ she would not ask them to choose, of that much he is certain. she has always stressed that the orbs are more important than any one person, or any one world.

she had told him she trusted him to be pragmatic, but in certain contexts, pragmatic is just another word for ruthless. his fingers flex faintly, and he turns the face of his ring outward with a rub of his thumb. ）

Thus far, no one I have spoken to has uncovered any sign of the orb.

text | un: spade

[pursuit]

So we could end up hunting these orb-things in our own worlds then? I mean, if this is Viveca's...

[ The thought trails off there. He knows Itachi's a practical guy, and his musings are probably just going to waste the guy's time. ]

I don't have anything to add, but I'll do my best to help.

[blackfire]

One cannot discount the possibility.

（ he cants his head to one side. then: ）

If you have yet to speak to anyone in an official capacity, it may be worth your while to approach Chiayi.

text, un: kozuki.oden

[hannyas]

itachi! where have you been, i haven't seen you in a while

[ a lot of important information about this mission and the voice on the station? cool, not as important as where be friend ]

[blackfire]

（ count the ways he doesn't actually want to answer... that. properly.

after a long, long moment he just sends them a location ping. ）

Here. Why?