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: 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.

[bindsthedead]

It's not in any part of Chacier House I have access to. If the government has it, it's not going to be easy to get to.

And if it's undiscovered... we have to choose whether to take it immediately, leave it until we're able to help Viveca's friends, or let them have it.

[blackfire]

Should that ultimately be the case, I trust we will decide as a team.

（ this is perhaps a warning. ）

[bindsthedead]

Yes. Unless the Fables make their own choice. Which they might, if Sam Wilson has told the Hare about the orbs.

Or it turns out the government has them, but given what you learned from Alexandra- can the orb have more than one bargain active at a time with one person? Perhaps the reason the Mayor hasn't used the orb against the Fables is because he's already using it for something else.

[They've already seen it be used to pull someone back from the brink several times in Giva. If the bargain was made by someone on the brink of death, they wouldn't be inclined to haggle.]

[blackfire]

（ there is a substantive pause here, while he calculates whether or not there is any benefit to asking her pointedly if she is trying to infer that sam telling the fables would in any way be similar to her own actions.

ultimately, however — ）

Such as keeping himself alive.

（ if i had killed my father, viveca had said, once upon a time. sometimes, he wonders. ）

[bindsthedead]

Yes. If that's the case, then we don't have many choices.

[Admittedly, if renegotiating contracts is possible, then Reman is in a better position to do it than Welford Branson. But if it was, wouldn't he have done so already, so he could use the orb for something else?

But if not... then negotiation is off the table, and he'll never willingly give it up.]

Unfortunately, the man is reclusive and not very trusting. Getting close to him won't be easy- but if we could, I'd be able to tell if the orb is keeping him alive or not.

[blackfire]

What is the nature of the work have you been doing with Chacier House?

[bindsthedead]

I'm a guard. I've managed to get assigned to the upper levels, but so far... All I've heard is a lot of gossip, and I haven't seen the mayor in person yet.

[blackfire]

It seems he intends to make an address soon. If you can ascertain his location without compromising your position, it may be worthwhile to know.

[bindsthedead]

I should be able to do that. But when it comes time to act, I'll probably end up compromising my position immediately. So he has the orb, I'd probably be able to get up to his penthouse if needed, but I'll lose my position in the process.

And we should see if the Fables have anything planned for his address.

[blackfire]

Agreed. Perhaps Sam can ask.

[bindsthedead]

I think it's also possible that the orb has been in the government's possession for a long time. It's probably behind the earthquake and infection in the water, but only someone in a position of power would be able to trade away such things.

Which again raises the question- what have they been using it for? Unless they've just kept it as a paperweight, or were smart enough to realize it was dangerous and lock it away.

We'll have to see what the Fables and government do next.

[blackfire]

So it seems.