Spite

Edward sent me an email today.

It's a short one. The subject is "Spite" and it reads: "What happens when all you once had is taken away, leaving you with nothing to lose?"

I replied, asking who he was talking about, and I got the auto response.

It's the same, except for the bottom part, under the dashes. That reads: "Three | Endless eyes are watching from the sky"

I wonder what the three is referring to.

I'm going to check Event Simulator. I think something happened. 

Discord

[INFORMATION OUTDATED]

Some people who have been watching this unfold have made a discord server to discuss it all. I'm not interested in joining, but I've been informed that Edward keeps an eye on it, and sometimes talks. I assume he wants his version of the story to be told. 

Here's the link if you want to join it: [REDACTED]

Amygdala Liberation

Video: https://youtu.be/yoepI3Qty6A

I'm free.

Just one more thing is needed from me. I think I have to wait for Nashiko, Wyatt, and Riley to finish their parts first, though.

Marionettes update

I got another email from Edward today. Unprompted, but I was expecting it.

The subject line is "Marionettes update" and it reads:

"FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY

Upstaged Communications is proud to announce a new program available to all employees through Marionettes: Event Simulator. The existing AI of Marionettes has been upgraded, allowing it to not only monitor stations and determine their status, but also simulate events that have taken place within them, and to any employees, so that they may be displayed and preserved. These simulations are almost entirely accurate approximations of events that have transpired, utilizing Marionette's complex AI and advanced data gathering capabilities to paint a more complete picture of our world than ever before.

Use this to see.

Edward Marion

Upstaged Communications HR, Marionettes Admin

Dpt. 85

-------- -----

The window is quiet"

I replied immediately, asking him how I can access this event simulator. I got an automated response:

It's the same as it always is, except for two changes: he now has Marionettes Admin there, and below the lines, it just says "Four". 

I don't know what the number is referring to.

Something happened earlier. I think I'll use event simulator to view it. 

The future that never was

I received an email from Edward today. Unprompted.

It's another story from Edward. It reads:

"In the future that never was, I watched as it began to rain. It spilled like tears onto the ground, the sky crying from the horror it was forced to bring to the world. The rain pierced the minds of all it could reach, toxic well water it had created now evaporated into the sky to infect the ones below. Toxic well water composed of lies it whispered so truthfully. Everyone was turned, slowly, as the rain melted away their sense of self, and eventually their life. Nothing was left behind but empty shells, devoid of any humanity, ready to be puppeteered by the one anathema to nature.

Survivors locked their doors and boarded up their windows, desperate to escape the rain. The storm. But as the days went by, they heard a tapping against their windows. Incessant, endless tapping. It quickly started to drive people mad, as nothing could block it out. It doesn't matter how deep into silence they tried to dive; the tapping always wormed its way in. No way to block it out, people began to give up. They opened the doors, and walked into the rain, where they were welcomed into the cold, murderous arms of its storm. All fell in time. Then a deal was struck, and the sun was finally able to shine through.

Do you hear it tapping against your window?"

When I saw that Edward emailed me, the contents of what he said were secondary to my concern for his and the other's safety. As such, I just skimmed what he sent, and frantically emailed him back, asking if he was safe to send that to me, what was going on in there, and if he was okay.

I got the automated response.

The message at the bottom changed. It now reads:

"Upstaged Communications is aware of the continued issues surrounding Marionettes. We will focus on repairing it and installing necessary updates as soon as possible. All necessary changes for the futu[/////]

Do you fear its storm"

It seems that Edward is trying to repair Marionettes. 

I've been putting off what I need to do. Honestly, I'm still scared. Scared that this will somehow all backfire, and I'll end up ruining everything. Like I apparently did before. I know what he's telling me, though. I know what to do.

Cutting Strings

Video: https://youtu.be/0tMPfX0znls

I did it. Control's been given back to Edward. The Signal is saying we'll all be dead in less than a year. I won't let that happen. 

I know what I need to do next.

Letter from Riley 2

I wasn't expecting anything more, but I got another download request from Marionettes today.

It's called "letter(1).pdf" and it's only a page long. It's another letter from Riley.

This is what it said:

"Penelope,

Congrats on finishing the first part of this thing. I know it's painful to learn about your history, and the history of this entire thing, but you did it. The first step's done.

The next step is to free your amygdala. Like Edward said, to do that, you need to face your fears, and wrest control away from it. Prove it has no control over you. First, you have to help retake Marionettes. You're afraid of messing up again, and giving it more control, so you have to do it right this time. It's also important if any of us are gonna survive. No pressure or anything. 

In the next 24 hours, I'm going to go into the Marionette's central server room, and I'm going to try to just mess it up. It should lead to a chain of errors, which you can use to enter the pages the Signal normally wouldn't want you to get into. Fun little exploit, isn't it? It should eventually bring you to the admin control page, where you can switch ownership back to Edward.

The Signal is probably going to try to use Marionettes to stop you. Distract you. Don't focus on the distractions. That's how it was able to get out in the first place. Focus on fixing things. After that, Marionettes will be retaken, which is important for everyone's future, and the first step in freeing your amygdala.

You know what to do after this. I'll contact you again when I can. 

     - Riley"

Just to verify what Riley was saying, I emailed Edward, asking him what I should do next. I got an automated response:

It's the same, except for the bottom part, which reads: "Next is cutting strings of control"

It's almost creepy how he always seems to know what I'm going to ask. 

I'll be sitting here, waiting for it to start. I'm guessing I'll see an error prompt when it happens. 

It was mentioned before that Riley seems to be reaching through the errors. That matches what the exploit is, which gives users access to things they wouldn't normally be able to access with the errors. I'll focus on those. Anything else might be a distraction from the Signal. 

I won't let myself get distracted by anything I see. I have to do this. I have to.