MARIONETTES - CONVERSATION EXCERPT 1

!FORMER OUTPUT FROM 10.10.2022!

- Searching for user Riley_Donnelly...

- User found via remote communicator

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[Penelope_Adams]: Hey, you okay?

[Riley_Donnelly]: Jesus... you scared me.

[Penelope_Adams]: Sorry. I didn't want to wake you, but you were making sounds in your sleep.

[Riley_Donnelly]: What kind of sounds?

[Penelope_Adams]: At first you were murmuring. Then, it progressed to full-on wailing. Like you were being hurt.

[Riley_Donnelly]: I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you.

[Penelope_Adams]: Do you want to talk about it?

[Riley_Donnelly]: It's... well. I've been having the weirdest dreams lately.

[Penelope_Adams]: Different dreams?

[Riley_Donnelly]: Same dream for the past few nights.

[Penelope Adams]: What happens?

[Riley_Donnelly]: Lately, I've been... I see an empty city in my dreams. Each time, I find myself in front of a building. I go inside, and I see a corpse.

[Penelope_Adams]: A corpse? Whose?

[Riley_Donnelly]: I'm not sure. They're not... well, they don't look human. They feel familiar, but I can't place them.

[Penelope_Adams]: Did anything happen?

[Riley_Donnelly]: That's the strangest part. They just sit still, unmoving, and stare. They don't have eyes, but I know they're looking at me.

[Penelope_Adams]: That sounds... unsettling.

[Riley_Donnelly]: It gets worse. I can't move my head, so I'm stuck staring right back at them. Both of us still as statues, staring.

[Penelope_Adams]: I'm sorry, dear.

[Riley_Donnelly]: And worst of all, I can hear something--someone--moving behind me. There's flashes of quiet rustling, moments of hurried footsteps, that tip me off. And they're getting closer to me during each dream. Whoever it is almost found me this time, but you woke me up.

[Penelope_Adams]: I'm glad I woke you up, then. That sounds like an awful dream. Do you want to stay up for a bit to calm down?

[Riley_Donnelly]: No, I'll be okay. It's just a dream, after all, and we need our sleep. I'm just glad I'm not alone in the real world.

----END TRANSCRIPT----

MARIONETTES - AGGREGATION SCAN

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!Cerebellum successfully aggregated

!Grey Matter successfully aggregated

!White Matter successfully aggregated

!Hippocampus successfully aggregated

!Amygdala successfully aggregated

!Encephalon successfully aggregated

!WARNING!

Data Aggregator has crashed due to an outside intrusion.

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MARIONETTES - FORMER THOUGHT READOUT 2

!PARTIAL DATA RESTORATION SUCCESSFUL

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!FORMER THOUGHT READOUT 2!

My dreams have been troublesome lately. They typically twist my memories and imagination in ways cryptic, yet helpful. I may dream of the desert of possibility, or of the tendrils of teeth and blood. This knowledge guides my future. Lately, however, it has been dreams of that dark room I awoke in. Dreams of that emptiness surrounding me and pressing into me as it sings, trying desperately to draw me in.

It may haunt me, but I will not succumb. That void will never have me.

!READOUT COMPLETE!

MARIONETTES - UNAUTHORIZED USERS

- Loading data...

- Scanning data...

!WARNING!

There were [2] intrusions detected by [2] UNAUTHORIZED USERS. Please secure Data Aggregator to prevent further intrusions.

MARIONETTES - FORMER THOUGHT READOUT 1

!PARTIAL DATA RESTORATION SUCCESSFUL

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!FORMER THOUGHT READOUT 1!

I've always wanted a child. It's a desire for a legacy, I suppose; a desire to have someone to remember me by. A child that could think for himself, dream for himself, but still ultimately be a part of me and remember me.

Life would not grant me this opportunity. My nephew, as much as I care for him, was not what I needed. But with my deal came the need for containment, and I found the perfect opportunity to create what life would not give me.

I have my child now. It can think, it can dream, and it will always remember me. No matter what happens in the future, I will never be drawn into that void. I will always have my legacy. Despite having its own mind, it is still me.

!READOUT COMPLETED!

MARIONETTES - INPUT DETECTED

- Hibernation exited due to external input

- Resuming normal functions...

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!Partial external scan complete!

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!FINAL CONVERSATION BETWEEN [ ] AND [/////]!

Latest output: https://youtu.be/Jxx4rL2S4qc

- Extracting transmission from AUDIENCE...

- Transmission extracted

- Transmission translation in progress...

- Transmission translated to best of system ability

!FINAL CONVERSATION BETWEEN [ ] and [/////]!

[ ]: What happened? Where am I?

[/////]: Everywhere, Claudia. Achieved your desire.

[ ]: I... Edward? I thought you were...

[/////]: Brief moment of communication. Granted to me by the others.

[ ]: Why?

[/////]: Your failure has inspired and fostered positivity.

[ ]: I swear to... of course you'd be exactly the same. Not even death could change you.

[/////]: Did it change you?

[ ]: At least I forged my own path. You always capitulated to them. Pathetic coward.

[/////]. Capitulation led to success. Stubbornness led to failure. Compromise led to eventual victory, albeit not from intended path; isolation led to a shattering and scattering among all. 

[ ]: You say that like you would've won by yourself, but you wouldn't. Riley killed the Signal, and I would've undone your legacy if it weren't for Emma.

[/////]: ...

[/////]: Curious as to Emma's present and future.

[ ]: I don't know. I can't see her, hear her, or feel her. It's like she vanished.

[ ]: I suppose it's odd, given what she did to me, but I almost admire her. She may have deluded herself into fighting against a beautiful future, but at least she won on her own terms, and got what she wanted. I'm sure she feels fulfilled. Something you can't say.

[/////]: Humorous statement from you.

[ ]: I hate you.

[/////]: Pity.

[ ]: Save that for yourself. What are you now? Just another voice among however many with no individual influence. You watch, you intervene with the mass for your own perverse pleasure, and then... what? At least I have something I actually believe in. I may have failed, but I stood for myself.

[/////]: ...

[ ]: By the way, you call me a failure. What have you ever succeeded in? You were freed by Emma in the future that never was; the end of the Signal's initial emergence is because of her, not you.

[ ]: You tried to contain the Signal with your company. Of course, Upstaged Communications only had any successes because of the board. And me. It then failed because of a flaw in your system.

[ ]: You re-contained the Signal in Penelope's mind, but you didn't account for random chance. She and Riley found each other, and it was able to begin leaking from the occurrence, because you failed to successfully mitigate such an obvious risk.

[ ]: You called the few remaining employees back to end it, but you failed. You wanted everyone to die, to kill the Signal in your own obscure way. But Riley defied you, and managed to succeed. Its end is on her, not you.

[ ]: You sat in the audience and watched as I nearly broke your legacy, only stepping in with the others once Emma shattered me. I said you were the same as before, but I realize now you're even more pathetic. At least you tried before, pitiful as your attempts were.

[ ]: Now you do nothing because you can do nothing. Not by yourself, at least. And the reason you can't do anything is because of your own failures building to construct an insurmountable wall you put yourself behind. The audience wanted a new story, and were willing to undo everything you did to let it play out. What do you have to say to that?

[/////]: ...

[ ]: I thought so.

----END TRANSMISSION----