Ikora: The Vault of Glass. It is one of the Vanguard's greatest triumphs. The destruction of Time's Conflux. A victory over the Vex collective mind. From deep in that vault, we've received a signal laced with an old Vanguard signature. Vex technology disrupts the weft and weave of time itself. If a Guardian has become lost, unstuck in time, we must return them home.
WAKING RUINS, ISHTAR SINK, VENUS
Ikora: The message we received was this:
Praedyth: [static] a message. The creatures will soon reach the heart of the vault. When [static] once they take the Vex, they'll come for the Light.
Ikora: That's why you're here.
Praedyth: [static] where I am. My name is Praedyth, and I was a member of Kabr's Fireteam. I just hope[static].
Ikora: Praedyth. I've heard that name before. Scattered pieces of gear, references in the margin of a text. He is real.
COLLECTS GHOST MEMORY
Praedyth: So the Vex have predicted their own annihilation. When did they believe this would happen? Can the calculations of minds the size of planets be wrong?
Ikora: If the Taken are here in the vault, they are at the heart of the Vex collective mind. Imagine the machine-planets of the Vex surging with Taken power. This must not be, Guardian.
Praedyth: [static] [I don't know why they're letting] me speak. Now, after so long. But if anyone is listening [static] [I came] into the vault with two others. Kabr was intense sometimes. And Pahanin was always talking to himself [static] [but] they don't deserve this. No one does.
Ghost: I'm tracking the signal. Just a little further.
TEMPLAR'S WELL
GORGON'S LABYRINTH. COLLECTS GHOST MEMORY
Praedyth: I had a friend back at the Tower. She used to say, "Praedyth, there's always room in the mind for hope. It's the crack that lets the Light in." The Vex have no hope. No imagination, no drive, no fear. All they have is the pattern. Everything must fit. If it can be made to fit, good. If it can't, it gets cut away.
Ghost: I've lost the signal. Something down here is blocking it.
DISCOVERS THE BLIGHTED MIND HYDRA
Ghost: That's it! That Hydra is causing the block. Take it out or we may never find Praedyth.
DESTROYS THE BLIGHTED MIND
Ghost: I think...yes. We've cleared the vault of Taken. For the moment, anyway.
Praedyth: I think that's it. They're closing the door. I lived! Just remember, tell them I lived [static]
Ghost: Signal's gone. But I can pinpoint the source.
COLLECTS GHOST MEMORY
Praedyth: They think this is the end of them, a path with no escape. And yet, here they are, there they were, and there they will be, and there they will have been. For them, there is no paradox. There is only the pattern. And the pattern needs the Vex to see it to completion. And so the Vex must be. For the mind of the Vex, is that faith?
ENTERS THE VAULT OF GLASS
Praedyth: Welcome to the end of the Vex. Their "immutable" future.
Praedyth: Enslaved to a will they don't understand. A will long dead here. Dead eons ago. But then, they won't end, will they? Because you're here.
Praedyth: The Vex won't spare the City. They won't even thank you. But that's the thing about Light. You never know where it will shine.
OPENS CHEST
Ghost: Another dead Ghost. This is...wait, I think this is Praedyth's Ghost. She's still got files in her core memory. They're marked with Future War Cult headers. I'd bet Lakshmi will want to see this.