Owl Sector Debrief to Ikora Rey, OS-I6 1
IR: So what you're telling me is that an unknown substance or virus or curse is spreading among our Guardians.
SHU: I wouldn't put it that way, but yes.
IR: What are you doing about it?
SHU: We thought we'd ask you. It's not like anything we've seen before. We thought you or the Hidden might know.
IR: Nothing in my experience resembles this.
SHU: For what it's worth, our Guardians aren't worried. It's a carnival out there.
IR: But you and I know—
SHU: We do.
Owl Sector Debrief to Ikora Rey, OS-I6 2
SHU: We are in agreement, then.
IR: As much as I ever agree with you.
Owl Sector Debrief to Ikora Rey, OS-I6 3
IR: Your team is observing strict sterilization, firewall, and decontamination procedures, I hope.
SHU: It's touching to know you still care.
IR: The effects on ordinary humans, Awoken, and EXOs are unknown, and I'd rather not experiment.
SHU: The great Ikora Rey doesn’t want to know?
IR: There are higher priorities in this situation.
SHU: You'd be worried sick if I caught the mite.
IR: The suffering of any lessens us all.
SHU: C'mon, Korrie.
IR: Liaison Shun, please confirm your operating procedures.
SHU: Standard Amber 6 protocol, no deviations.
IR: That will be everything, thank you.
Owl Sector Debrief to Ikora Rey, OS-I6 4
SHU: Have you seen this?
Z. SHIRAZI CB-PZ-1.5
Patient E, Jun, has been uncooperative. Laughed unpleasantly when I told him he would receive Glory 2.1.
"You're running prototypes in parallel because it's cheaper and faster," he said. "No ethics board on Earth would approve. But I don't have a choice. I’m neck-deep in debt to Clovis Bray."
I wish we had tweaked these elixirs to modify disposition.
IR: You wished to introduce me to your Golden Age analogue?
SHU: Ha. Ha. No, I thought you'd be interested in Jun. This kind of coercion isn't a known Clovis Bray practice.
IR: Not in the books you read, perhaps.
SHU: But it's in the record?
IR: It's in the record.
Owl Sector Debrief to Ikora Rey, OS-I6 5
IR: Restricted leave? What did you do?
SHU: Forgot to put on part of the isolation rig. Too tired. I can't remember yesterday at all. Ramos will take over the duties of Liaison to the Vanguard. You treat her nice, okay? She's nervous.
IR: You—rest well.
SHU: I will.
Owl Sector Debrief to Ikora Rey, OS-I6 6
IR: Welcome to the Underwatch, Acting Liaison Ramos. How is Shun? Why are you laughing?
RAM: We had a bet. He said that'd be the first thing you'd ask. He’s still unconscious.
IR: My Hidden are at your command. We’ll do whatever’s necessary. Have you any idea what a cure might look like?
RAM: Not yet. Shun asked me to call this entry to your attention.
Z. SHIRAZI CB-PZ-4.5
Jun has refused to perform required strength and intelligence tests. He has accused me, Willa Bray, and the Clovis Bray corporation of nefarious purposes thirty-two times since injection.
"Clovis Bray destroys the world to remake it in their own image. That's their goal. Look at me—the first step to your perfect colonist. But I'm just a prototype. You know what happens to prototypes, Dr. Shirazi."
I am not sure how this subject passed the psychological screen.
Visual observation suggests good health, despite the nimbus of white particles around his head.
Owl Sector Debrief to Ikora Rey, OS-I6 7
IR: Any change?
RAM: None.
Z. SHIRAZI CB-PZ-7.5
He said, "Everything and everyone dies. The more you try to cheat death, the more you try to profit from life, the sooner we die."
Today I went into Willa Bray's files to look for warning signs, any hint of what happened to Patient B, anything I might have missed. I found optimistic profit charts and a terse order to suppress some amount of data. The data itself is unavailable to researchers at my access level.
Am I complicit?
Owl Sector Debrief to Ikora Rey, OS-I6 8
Z. SHIRAZI CB-PZ-8.5
I said, "You must understand. I'm trying. I wanted to see us among the stars. I ran this study because I dreamed of exploring the unknown and making new places home. I dreamed of the whole universe becoming our home."
Jun said, "You don't even have a home here. They treat you with suspicion. You're not a Bray. Why did you come to Mars? Do you have no home on Earth?"
"I don't," I said.
IR: So she has a conscience.
RAM: I find myself liking her, despite myself.
IR: She's careless, and I find her research methodology appalling.
RAM: A Warlock would say that.
Owl Sector Debrief to Ikora Rey, OS-I6 9
Z. SHIRAZI CB-PZ-11.5
I said: Forgive me. He said: Only if.
RAM: The Hidden, the Witches, and our research corps may have had a breakthrough, using the information that Berriole has unearthed. We think we can neutralize this mite. The only problem is, we might kill Shun in the process.
IR: Are you waiting for permission?
RAM: It seemed respectful to ask.
IR: Do it, and the Traveler's Light shine on you.
Owl Sector Debrief to Ikora Rey, OS-I6 10
IR: Ramos. What's the news?
RAM: Here to say goodbye. I am stepping down as Acting Liaison to the Vanguard. Liaison Shun Li will be resuming his duties shortly. He is in good health. Says he knew you'd be worried sick.
IR: It's been a pleasure, Ramos.
Owl Sector Debrief to Ikora Rey, OS-I6 13
IR: Sometimes I wonder if anything good came from Clovis Bray. Their halls are bright, and yet their records can be so dark.
SHU: Clovis Bray brought us off-world for good, back in the Golden Age. They paved the way for cities and colonies. They raised Earth children on alien planets. You might have been one of them.
IR: Sometimes I regret disclosing my history to you.
SHU: Anyway. If you ever decide that pursuing the mysteries of the universe and pushing the limits of power isn't your thing, you know where to find me.
IR: I wish you luck, Liaison Shun.