To Azardad

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Karl the Mad
 

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To Azardad

Post by Karl the Mad »

What drew you to Aidan Drake and Charles Jenkins as puppets for your schemes? How did they do, were there areas one excelled in that the other lagged behind with, and vice versa? And if you could take back or redo any part of what you did to either of them, what would it be and why?
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IamLEAM1983
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As Anton

Post by IamLEAM1983 »

"I'm sure you'd love to hear that I carefully cherry-picked each of my candidates and that I spent months studying their mental or physical capabilities. The fact is, however, that the only qualitative factor I could reasonably affect was the source of my samples. Past that, the luck of the draw is what made me cross paths with Jenkins and Drake.

The alternative would have been excessively costly and would have undermined the precious reserves of time we have. I'm well aware of the fact that I could have subjected myself to more stringent protocols, I maybe could have attempted to maximize the Lexicon's connectivity with intellectually-inclined individuals just as I could have tried to emphasize its martial capabilities by focusing more overtly on soldiers - but any decent sample requires a pool of subjects to consider. I needed as many side-effects or unforeseen consequences of implantation as I could glean, in order to be able to identify those variables that indicated a sound mind for my purposes - and a body that could shoulder them.

Charles showed me how I couldn't afford to embrace the ethos of the Full Spectrum Warrior. Being too scarred for my purposes - despite his resilience - his Lexicon seemed to tap into the amygdala more than in his brain's more evolved centers. His appetite for destruction grew, while his mind seemingly tried grasping for a target - something that warranted the mayhem he ached to unleash. As of now, he possesses the most raw power of my two core implantees, but I'm concerned as to whether or not he'll be able to temper the Lexicon's natural inclination for the Mad Arts with human virtues.

Aidan is proving to be an interesting study in polar opposites. A young soldier, he'd never been given the chance to endure trauma before I met him. Being shiftless, there's an element of self-doubt and extreme personal caution that is pushing him to question the Lexicon's input. I hadn't expected it, but the end result is surprisingly... sober. Where one was more or less grafted with a nugget of raging madness, the other is approaching his Lexicon as a Non-Euclidean Swiss Army knife of sorts. Fearing what he might unleash, he chooses to ply the power I've granted him carefully - except when anger strikes him. This level of care is entirely alien to my brethren, but this might exactly be what I require.

Void Weavers express their power conversationally. There's no such thing as Jenkins' raging glossolalia in our social basin, while we do have a few introverts who are closer to Drake's ethos. People who, in surface-dweller terms, measure their words. Even they, though, liberally speak in the Black Speech.

You could say I've created a sledgehammer and a workshop multitool. Which one is better than which, however - I couldn't possibly determine. The sledgehammer could turn and come to harm his allies, while the multitool might face foes of such a size or power as to be unable to affect them. It could also be that my assessment of both of them is incorrect. It could be that I'm missing variables.

I'll have to keep looking over their shoulders for a good long while, it seems..."
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Karl the Mad
 

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Re: To Azardad

Post by Karl the Mad »

#NecroPostingFTW

So would you answer this question any differently, given recent implications involving you and Gabriel? More specifically, if Gabe was helping you, did you have the benefits of Angel Time when you picked Charles and Aidan?
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IamLEAM1983
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As Azardad

Post by IamLEAM1983 »

"This might disappoint you, but I learned of Heaven's involvement only a few weeks prior to Holden Hall's do-gooders making the connection. Gabriel came to me as a United States Army general interested in my work as a neurosurgeon, someone who had learned of my experiments but served as too risky a target for me to simply terminate. The Archangel played his role well, down to having packed flash-bangs for our initial meeting. I tried to break free using the Black Speech, the blinding charges' explosions left me with ringing ears - too much so to coordinate my words.

No flaming swords or wings were involved - the Archangel played his cards close to his chest. A gun was placed on the back of my head, however. If I cooperated and reviewed a list of potentials, I received assurances that my research would perform a qualitative quantum leap. Promises of funds unending, amnesty and even scientific legitimacy were offered, but I could tell this so-called General Lichtmann was as much of a cynic as he could be an optimist. I now know the two weeks I spent in Florida were funded by Angelic intercession, and that Gabriel bent Fate around my piss-poor motel room near Twentynine Palms so nobody would ever see me from up close in daytime. I'm fairly sure my improvised operating theatre in an abandoned warehouse was Veiled, and that my mysterious one-time-use support staff consisted of some of Gabriel's angelic allies.

As you can imagine, this would mark the second time the US military seemingly displayed an interest in my work. The first time had me operate on Charles Jenkins. General Lichtmann was General James Gabriel back then, and the pretense involved a quick end to the Vietnam War. If anything, Jenkins earned me a new identity and a one-way ticket to Israel to keep the legitimate arm of my studies going.

We didn't collaborate much. In both cases, Gabriel came forth as someone wanting to study groundbreaking mental augmentation technologies. James Gabriel was as ruthless as a product of the Vietnam War could be, Lichtmann wanted a glorified on-site interpreter and military investigator.

Two sides of the same coin. I spent decades without realizing I'd been used, and the Loyalists dare to spit in Heaven's face. You don't spit in the face of someone who manages to win your trust twice, under two distinct appearances."
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