Comic 1140 - Talk with the worm
Posted on 7th Dec 2018, 9:21 PM
in Like a Bullet from Behind
Average Rating: 5 (2 votes) /
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Author Notes:
You state that you know 'the man that becomes a city.' You're actively opposed to him, and attempting to stop his plans.
"WHY?"
"THAT IS THE PROPHECY."
"THAT IS TO BE."
"THAT IS THE WAY OF THINGS."
"A NEW GOD."
You... ask about the prophecy. Specifically.
"A MAN WILL BECOME A CITY."
"HE WILL THEN BECOME THE WORLD."
"THE MAN AS THE WORLD WILL SCOUR THE COSMOS."
"HE WILL CONSUME OTHER WORLDS."
"ALL WORLDS."
"A NEW GOD."
"I WILL BE STRONG."
"POWERFUL."
"MY CHILDREN WILL HIDE IN THE INFINITE GOD."
"WE WILL CRAWL BENEATH HIS SKIN."
"WE WILL LIVE, FAT OFF THE MEAT OF THE PLANET."
"WE WILL BE THE WORMS IN THE FLESH OF GOD."
"AS HE GROWS, SO WILL OUR NUMBERS."
"FOREVER."
...Oh.
Huh.
Uhhh.
Where... did the worm hear this prophecy...?
"I SWALLOW SOULS."
"I HAVE VISIONS."
"I SEE THINGS. PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE."
"THINGS HIDING IN THE MINDS OF GHOSTS."
"I LEARNED ALL OF THIS."
"AND SHE, THE POWERFUL SOUL."
"I KNEW IF I CONSUMED HER, I WOULD BE STRONG ENOUGH."
"STRONG ENOUGH TO INFEST GOD."
"I SEEK HER HERE."
"SHE IS SUPPOSED TO BE IN THIS TOWN."
...Wait.
Wait wait... wait.
It eats ghosts. Okay.
It learns things the ghosts knew. That... seems pretty straightforward.
If it learned about Faraday... if it knew she'd be at the bunker in Ilworth, the worm would've had to consume part of a ghost with that information. Only the crew of that bunker, and Director-era Thale, would have had that information.
Further, if the worm saw Thale's plan to become a city... only one person could have had that.
Did... did the worm eat an imprint of Thale?!
Imprints are supposed to take a long time to develop, typically, but Thale's been around for... well, over a hundred years. It's not... entirely out of the question that Director Thale could have, in a moment of great emotional duress (a really strange concept, considering how Thale is now), caused an imprint.
If the silkworm ate that imprint... it would have learned about Faraday, since it was Thale that pressured the Bunker E scientists to enact Incident F. And, with how confident Thale is--and likely was, even back then--in his plans to take over... the worm could easily have mistaken those plans as a 'prophecy.'
Not that you can ask the silkworm for clarification, really--if it's mistaking the insight gained from consuming imprints for prophecies, it probably can't tell for sure if the 'ghost' it swallowed was Thale's.
So... it doesn't want to stop this prophecy?
"NO."
"WE WILL RISE."
"WE WILL BE STRONG."
"WE WILL FEAST ON GOD."
"YOU CANNOT STOP THE PROPHECY."
...All it wants is to live off a god. We can let it do that by letting it and its larvae live in the Red dimension. I have no idea what kind of consequences that might have-- for the worms or for Mine-- but it'd get the thing out of the power plant without any bloodshed.
The bad thing is that it's either only semi-sapient or one of those things that are extremely adamant about their stance.
I think we can ask one of our people outside to do an info ritual as they've never done it before and it might help them feel more useful. Let them ask the Tradesmen: "Can the Silkworm we found in the Ilworth Power Plant be convinced to join our side?" and "How can it be convinced to join our side?" The Tradesmen are professionals and decidedly not dicks so they should be able to answer those sufficiently provided our friend that does the ritual provides the price.
For now, we tell the worm that we are also a New God, we are the one that breaks prophecies and defies fate. We've done so numerous times already and aren't planning on stopping now. Tell it that we've already stopped Thale once.
Also propose if it wants to make a pact with us, ask if it wants to partake in our blood and we can share our knowledge and memories with it of the broken prophecy, and in exchange, they won't become infinite. (edit: the way it's phrased makes it sound more threatening than it is, I just realized that I think it just wants survival for its species, not just like an infestation)
Ask the silkworm if it has a name btw
If all else fails, we intimidate it, then we head off to Plan B: Blooding with our giant construct
Let's also get ready to defend ourselves
EDIT: oh crap, let's keep an eye on the electrical build up as well, get ready to either schlorp ourselves into the red, or build a meat cage around us
Okay, well. We have a new plan, and a better one. After all, it is highly unlikely that The Man Who Becomes A City would *allow* parasites within himself. It's a trivial matter for one such as ourselves-- and we do have the potential to devour the world as he wishes to-- to create mouths and stomachs *within* ourselves. The wyrm and her children would all be consumed.
So. Here's the plan: Ilworthoggr accepts our blood. This means a few things.
One: no more eating souls/ghosts/imprints/etc. Instead, we can feed Ilworthoggr experiences directly via sync, just do an upload of interesting "prophecies" every once in a while. We could also look into feeding her life experiences via the methods that they use to put expertise into tube cops.
Two: instead of parasites of Thale, she and her brood become symbiotes of the red. They can defend the red from intruders-- we can come up with a method of signposting so we can communicate whether entities are *supposed* to be in the red, or whether they're intruding. We can learn from her how to use electricity as she does, and she can spin webs for us. The red is literally infinite, so there will be plenty of room for her children and their children and their children's children.
Three: no more devouring sapient, or near-sapient, beings, no matter how powerful. Food that Mine makes for her out of her own red is the exception, of course.
We must be honest that our blood will allow us a certain degree of control over her, and by necessity we'll probably have to blood her children too, if they are to live safely in the red. However, the benefits it brings are many; we can make it so they are not considered a parasite by their host, constantly fighting for their lives against the host's immune system, but instead living and functioning in communion with the host.
How does that sound?
(With some concerns about the possible exponential growth of a Godpest in the Red. Although if its children eat the Red, does that actually count as successfully blooding them? Also, it's still possible that entering The Red will drive even a mutant silkworm insane, or will suffocate it.)
I suggest blooding and draining it, then visiting its subconscious. An oversync is dangerous, to be sure. But it might give us insight into Thale's plans to attain godhood.
Force-syncing a creature with such an alien mind would be *incredibly* hazardous. We haven't even tried force-syncing a regular animal yet, much less one that's full of souls. It's far, far safer to do willing syncs. If we can convince this thing to offer its expertise *willingly,* that's the best option by far.
I say we just let Caius know to sit on standby. Yes, negotiations have just started, but having some backup ready JUST IN CASE might be a good idea.
Also, MAYBE having Michelle load her crazy rad rounds might be in the cards. Just because something COULD be friendly, doesn't mean it always will be. ANd those rounds are basically warheads in bullet form, so...
So on the one side, we attempt a seriously risky forced-sync with a an insect brain, and possibly learn more details surrounding Thale's plan. On the other hand, we do away with a giant worm who's idea of paradise is crawling around in the flesh of gods. Gods like us.
I'm going to call NOPE on this one, and vote for annihilation.
1) Syncing the ability to control electricity with more finesse, just like we can sync expert gunplay from Michelle. It has a lot more experience being an electricity-manipulating entity than we do.
2) Knowledge of Thale's plans and mindset. Sure, it ate an imprint of Thale from before Thale became what he is; but there's still a *lot* of relevant information we can get. Details of his plans, resources he planned on using-- if he already had the plan in place for creating secretary clones, for example, we could possibly learn WHERE he intended to do that. Also, what event caused the imprint to be created? An experience that intense *must* hold relevant information for us.
3) Knowledge of Zone 50's activities and resources. This wyrm is obviously a Zone 50 project, and if it managed to eat an imprint of Thale, it might have also eaten other Zone 50 imprints and absorbed *their* knowledge. Since Zone 50 was so heavily fragmented, this diversity of viewpoints is incredibly valuable.
Force syncing for this information WOULD be incredibly risky. That's why I want to get this wyrm on our side if at all possible, and get it to sync us this knowledge and expertise *willingly.* It's certainly not guaranteed that we can bring it around, but we can definitely TRY before moving on to plan B.
We can try diplomacy and, if that fails, subjugation and, if that fails, annihilation. We can NOT try annihilation and then something else afterwards.
Ask the Worm if it is interested in an infinite amount of flesh.
(I want to throw this thing into the Red XD)
Time to break out the bug spray.
We can not befriend everyone we meet.
Time to accept that.
Time to put an end to Silky.
We can try diplomacy and then, if that fails, subjugation, and if that fails, annihilation. We can NOT do these things in the reverse order-- if you destroy something, you can't then try something else with it afterwards. So let's follow the logical course instead of jumping ahead.
To change mama worm's mind about this whole prophecy thing, Mine would have to give her an imprint of her own confidence and knowledge to feed upon in some form, then she'd see how the wannabe god has been consistently thwarted by the legitimate demiurge and may reconsider her approach.
Not too sure how to pull that one without hurting Mine or Red. Sacrificing a ghost-limb would be a powerful gesture, but ehhh...
Re: killing her - getting rid of parasites is a bit of a nasty business. There are too many to count, and there's nothing more alluring than a forbidden treat. Spellcasters worldwide are essentially red-parasites, and Mine's influence has caused spells turning towards a more protective angle since she started embracing her heritage.
I'd say it's fine to let various entities tap in the red (it's infinite enough, right ?), mama worm included.
We have a chance to make a very powerful ally if we play our cards right.