Researcher I: Damn! You narcissistic, fat-headed, humanocentrist freaks!
Researcher I: You are the crazy ones! And I, I will prove myself right!
Researcher II: Seriously!? Can someone please bring Matthew back to the rehab center? That mask has made him crazy!
The researcher's arms flail wildly as he stumbles across the shiny silver floor, adding more to the chaos.
Amidst the mayhem, a bottle of alcohol on the ground bursts into bright blue flames.
And then, two metal feet stomp across the fire without hesitation.
Lucy: Any progress?
Cryptography Lead: Not much. We've called all the experts here, but so far it's been a waste of time. Not even a bodily reaction when reciting the text.
Cryptography Lead: It doesn't belong to any known language, nor follow any linguistic rules.
Cryptography Lead: Many are starting to doubt the accuracy of the incantation. After all, it was copied down by a novice investigator with her arcane skill, not her supervisor.
The door is pushed open.
The spacious room is now packed with people.
They're all gathered around a radio on the table.
Liaison Staff I: Ms. Marcus, can you confirm that the incantation you dictated was correct?
Marcus: I ...
Liaison Staff I: We also learned that you witnessed a visual recording of Arcana performing her arcane skill, depicted through images recreated by a pure-blooded arcanist. Is that right?
Marcus: Yes, to be precise, I saw it in the memories of Isolde, a former member of Manus Vindictae, using Ms. Kakania's arcane mirror.
Liaison Staff I: Can you attest to the accuracy of this memory?
Marcus: I can't say.
Liaison Staff I: Do you deem the reflection of Ms. Kakania's arcane mirror to be accurate, factual, and without misinterpretation?
Marcus: I'm not sure.
Liaison Staff I: Can you confirm that your arcane skill, "Read," was performed correctly, and provided an unbiased, objective, and flawless interpretation?
Marcus: I, I don't know about that either.
Marcus: But I saw it with my own eyes. I heard the chanting.
Marcus: I don't know what language that was, but that's how I heard it, and I've written it down phonetically!
Liaison Staff I: Please calm down. We are only verifying the details.
Liaison Staff I: The Foundation has dispatched a special operations squad to you in Vienna. Please make sure the two other arcanists involved will return to the Foundation with you.
Marcus: I ... Understood.
The call ends. The liaison removes the headset.
The result is far from ideal. Her face is pale, as lifeless as her mechanical colleagues.
???: This? Is this it?
A sarcastic voice cuts through the air as a man pushes through to the front.
Enigma: "An ancient miracle, a circle of salvation!"
Enigma: /eɪ u:.nə 'sa.kəʊ/ ... a Tuna Psycho?
Enigma: An inexplicable incantation transcribed by an arcanist based on what she saw in the memory of another arcanist recreated by yet another arcanist.
Enigma: That's as convoluted as a dream within a dream within a dream. To think they wanted an "objective restoration."
Enigma: I mean, if Gnosis is so reliable and can really cross-check not only once, but FOUR times, it should have long replaced science by now.
Enigma: With this level of uncertainty, we might have better luck asking typewriter monkeys to randomly give us the answer to the "Storm" immunity!
Cryptography Lead: Adler?! Why are you here?
Lucy: I requested his participation on the cryptography team.
Lucy: He is a human, but he excels in the field of cryptography.
Cryptography Lead: But ...
The man takes a grim step forward.
Enigma: And why can't I be here?
Enigma: Is it because Greta Hofmann's my sister?
Enigma: And this—is this what a respectable and honorable member of the Foundation gave her life to retrieve? Is this the ritual she died for?
Enigma: Oh, riiight. It wasn't even her who retrieved the ritual. It was her student.
Lucy: You are not currently on the official roster. You can leave at any time.
Enigma: Leave? Why should I leave?
Enigma: I have every right to know what my sister died for!
Enigma: Well, now. Get to work, people. Let's decipher this great mystery and see what it'll bring us.
Enigma: Salvation, or oblivion?
He leaves sneering, waving the note with the phonetic spelling in his hand.
The farce is finally over. The room is at peace again.
The cryptography team turns to the robot, awaiting her instructions.
Lucy: Return to your stations, please.
Lucy: Let us not dismiss its credibility until we have exhausted every possibility.
Lucy: Also ...
She calmly turns her head.
Lucy: Add Adler Hofmann into the cryptography team roster.
The cryptography lead hesitates for a moment, surprised. Nevertheless, he nods and quickly leaves the room.
The phone on the wall, used for internal communication, begins to ring.
Liaison Staff I: "Storm" Observation and Research Center.
Liaison Staff I: Noted. I will make sure Ms. Lucy is aware of that.
The liaison puts down the phone and turns to the robot, a flicker of panic on her face.
Lucy: What is the matter?
Liaison Staff I: It's a call from the rehab center, about the previous study on the Manus mask.
Liaison Staff I: Ma'am, I think you should go see this in person.
Assistant Simone: Very good, Matthew. Now tell us, what did you hear?
The already narrow corridor is now filled with security guards.
The room they're guarding is heavily secured, isolated behind three layers of tempered glass.
A patient sits in the room with a mask on his face.
Researcher I: Voices, those voices! The inaudible murmurs, the frightening whispers, they worm into my ears!
Researcher I: I told you before. I wrote about this before! But you dismissed them as manic episodes. Haha, hahahaha!
Assistant Simone: Did you put on the mask?
Researcher I: Yes. How else would I know that I was right?
Researcher I: And now I know! And never have I heard them so clearly. They are screaming inside my head!
Researcher I: Their temptations, their promises! I just have to let go of my brain. Can you hear it? The benevolent Mother is speaking!
His nails dig deep into his palms, as if fighting an overwhelming impulse.
Researcher I: Now, I can write the ultimate paper!
Assistant Simone: Who is this "Mother"?
She is answered by a loud crash. The researcher throws himself against the glass, gasping in horror and scratching helplessly at the surface.
Researcher I: No, I can't say any more! They see me. They've come for me.
Researcher I: Kill me! Kill me now!
It is too late to beg for mercy. His scream is abruptly silenced as his head explodes open behind the glass barrier.
Amidst the splatter of blood and brain, a new being emerges from the remnants of his flesh.
Manus Follower: roar
The alarm blares loudly.
A Manus follower wriggles up from the bloody floor, holding a triangle in hand. He lets out a loud cry, reminiscent of a newborn's first wail.
The liaison ends the call, cutting off the horrid sounds on the other end of the phone.
Lucy: Suspend all research on the Manus mask at once. Its dangers far outweigh the potential benefits.
Lucy: Seal away all equipment and share only a controlled account of the incident with others. We cannot afford to have another researcher try on the mask again.
Lucy: Now. Clean this up.
Laplace Safety Officer: Yes, ma'am.
The airlock door hisses open, a squad of armed guards storms into the room under the cover of sleeping gas.
On the other side of the glass, the robot turns away from the scene, categorizing yet another set of "Storm" research data as irrelevant and filing it away as waste in her memory.
Lucy: Hm.
Lucy: Another dead end.
COMBAT