CLOSED TO ZENITH | PHANTOM THIEF OF ORACLES

[corvidant]

[ Though the familiar red of his presence shines bright as ever, the heat of anger that usually follows is down to a low simmer, almost pleasant if one has an inclination for a continuous undercurrent of chaos. Fellow Iconoclasts might be able to feel it like a fever, just barely high enough to keep you restless through the night, a heartbeat too impatient and eager for relief, but on the outside, this is perhaps as close to calm as Akechi ever gets. ]

Something has been on my mind since our communion with Florence-san. Something of a high stakes gambit.

[ And it goes without saying that it should be high risk, as well, but he's fine with that. His entire past life was all about playing a rigged game with the odds stacked against him; whatever new world they create going forward would be meaningless without a fair fighting chance. ]

So, I'll be blunt: I'm not willing to sit pretty and simply wait for the enemy to make a move on us. Zenith continues to bleed, and since so many of you-- [ are so SPINELESS as to refuse to KILL ENEMIES IN A WAR-- okay, deep breaths, Iconoclasts please disregard these careless whispers ] --have qualms about trimming Meridian's numbers, I should hope that taking direct action to bolster our forces would be more... palatable.

As it stands, our best alternative would be focusing on the Oracles, though I don't intend to wait for trials, either.

[ Should he mention his experience with big heists and forcibly changing cognition? Maybe, when the moment is opportune. For now: ]

Whether it is creating a new world from scratch or [ scoff, big eye roll ] a deluded promise of restoration, the fact remains that neither side will accomplish their goals with only a portion of the Oracles in their hands. We have barely managed to scrape a win and even our numbers last time, and assuming we can claim the remaining two, at the end of the day it would all be futile effort without the six of them. If I work on the premise that Oracles are persuaded to joining a side just like Shardbearers, then it becomes logical that, like Shardbearers, so too can they shift allegiances. 

Well, that's only my working hypothesis, anyway. It would be easier to figure out a potential pattern had I been present for past successes and failures, so this is why I reach out to you today: for details regarding past trials. With few leads to follow, even hearsay and rumors about the nature of Oracles would be appreciated.

[ A beat, and as he hesitates, his constant simmering rises to a near boil: ]  Unless anyone else would be interested in coming along to investigate?

[ What is this? Teamwork?! UGH. The things he does for Zenith...!! ]

Comments

[spellcollect]

Unfortunately, I wasn't here for any of the past trials, so I can't be of help. But your logic makes sense.

[corvidant]

I know. Furthermore, a stalemate would benefit neither side, and I would rather not wait until Oblivion acts as the tiebreaker.

Regardless, I was only here for the last trial, myself, and I hear even that was something of a special case. [ They don't always get to nap for over a century, after all!! ] There's just not enough information to work with-- and we weren't even conscious for the events immediately following trial results, either. I doubt a mere casting of votes was enough to persuade the Advocate, least of all when we didn't have numbers on our side...

[spellcollect]

It might have had something to do with the choices you made. Maybe it was judging some sort of morality?

[ She doesn't know and she can't really begin to guess. ]

Unless we can communicate with them, I don't know if we'll ever understand it.

[bakedapple]

I've been thinking about this lately, too. Can the Oracles be stolen by the other side, somehow, after they've been won the first time? That's what Florence seemed to be implying, right?

[ He's picking up what you're putting down, Akechi. ]

But how? Maybe you can steal the Effigy, but I don't think that's the same as stealing the Oracle it represents.

[semicharmed]

[ When Matt's psychic presence makes itself known, its animating emotion is a warm mingling of gratitude and pride. He got the sense from their brief interaction before the last Oracle that this kid was receptive to logic, if not necessarily emotional appeals. And look at him now! This is honestly the best-case scenario in terms of Zenith vs Meridian: It's focused on the only part of the conflict that (allegedly) matters. ]

Set seems to think Oracles can be stolen, [ he muses. ] But maybe "persuaded" is the better way to think of it. He also thinks that some Shard-Bearers may have become Oracles themselves, in some form or other.

Not sure how that squares with the previous versions of us all being in the Tree. I tried to talk to the Advocate to get a better sense for ... whether it was a person or not, basically ... but unfortunately, I didn't have any luck.

[baltimores]

We already got the Iconoclast one, so we don't gotta worry about that.

[ There's a note of intrigue as Amos speaks, but mostly he's just pleasantly relaying information. ]

We were in Greenwood Yards for the Exalt one, 'cept we were all shrunk down, so it was kind of a mess. It wanted us to get some stuff that was important to it? [ Sentimentality is not his strong suit, so no, he doesn't get it. ] Meridian ended up with all of them to give back to it though, so they took that one.

The Harbinger one was kind of a dick? Like nothing was gonna be good enough for it, so fuck if I know why it went with Meridian.

[fursuit]

Now you're gettin' it.

[ He doesn't mean Akechi, though. He means Zenites as a whole, even though Akechi is just one part of it. This kid (which, no offense, Akechi, you're pretty much all kids to him, really) understands the stakes and is actually willing to put forth the effort for it. He'd been surprised that so many of them were so... peaceful, but there's still only so much he'll do.

So. He's pleased, essentially. ]

Don't know any more about the Oracles than you do. Basically just got here myself, since I showed up when my brother got murked. [ He laughs to that, so clearly there's no brotherly love here... ] But doesn't matter so much. I agree that sittin' pretty and solvin' things honorably is a waste of time. You want that future? Take it.

[corvidant]

If it had been a matter of morality, then I doubt my choices would have secured a win.

[ And he's going to... leave it at that... because he's learned his lesson from last time, no more bleeding hearts ganging up on him...!! ]

But, you have a point about communicating with them. For this last trial, the Advocate did speak to us, though we didn't have much of a chance to speak back. Whether that has always been the case or not, it's still proof that they're capable of some communication, at least.

[corvidant]

I believe persuasion might be key here. But this is only the most likely hypothesis, based on the limited knowledge we've gathered.

[ And how convenient is it, that Link, of all people, has shown interest. Though it could also be a risk, considering his... former ties to Meridian. Still: ]

From what I hear, Cyrus could foretell an Oracle's awakening once. Assuming Yima-san and Florence-san possess a similar skill, then they may share a deeper connection to Oracles than they let on. Alas, if they have secrets to share, they might be privy only to those of unquestionable faith to Zenith.

[ Is he a higher ranked Zenite? No, but what matters is that he's not a FORMER FILTHY MERI, he's leagues ahead of the likes of Link!! ]

[corvidant]

[ What is this... warmth? Pride?! Akechi is utterly unfamiliar with any of this, this is weird, take it back?? ]

If it's true that Shardbearers can become like Oracles, then the other way around should also be possible, to some extent. I don't suppose he happened to share any names...?

[ If he were to venture a guess, then maybe the highest-ranked within Meridian and Zenith? Hmm. Something to keep in mind... ]

Regardless, from what I've gathered so far, the Oracles may speak to Shardbearers during trials. If we have any hope of communicating with them, we may need to awaken them a second time-- ideally, away from Meridian's interference.

[bakedapple]

[ It's a good thing Akechi didn't say that part aloud! because Link definitely would not be interested in cooperating with a Zenite who hurls the same abuse at him that the Meris do :') ]

I don't know about that.

The Oracle Effigies sit out in the open — anyone can just walk up and try to communicate with them, as long as you have access to where they are. You can go see the Zenith Effigies right now if you wanted to. If Florence wanted to talk to an Oracle, she could do it anytime.

[ And as far as Link knows... They don't talk. That would be too easy, wouldn't it? Kenos would have zero mysteries if they could communicate with the Oracles. ]

[diegeticmusic]

[Whew, this guy is comin' in hot. But it makes sense...]

I was only here for the last one, so I don't have much info for you. But it's not a bad idea...

Sneaking into enemy territory just to investigate wouldn't be easy, though.

[settingup]

Might be able to, I guess... Some of them kinda got their own wily ways about 'em.

[ He isn't about to soon forget the Harbinger Oracle making demands that he forget something entirely different instead. ]

You just gotta know how to impress them in the right way, which might mean figurin' out how the Meris did it in the first place.

[spellcollect]

It depends on who was judging. And how.

[ But yes, let's move on. ]

Do we have access to the Oracles we've won? Could we speak to them again? Or try?

[corvidant]

[ And Akechi appreciates the intel, of course, but it's gunny to note that he's come to appreciate Amos's presence, too. It may have been reason for suspicion at first, but the man really is as easygoing as they come, just playing along in earnest with Akechi's potentially questionable ideas. ]

The Harbinger Oracle is the one I've been able to gather the most intel on so far. [ Since the trial was broadcast and all. ] It demanded sacrifice after sacrifice, and I hear our side took the brunt of casualties. I don't imagine that must have made for a very good impression.

But, between that and the Exalt, I'd wager we could have better odds of persuading the Harbinger. If it truly was a matter of sacrifice, then perhaps we could raise the bar, so to speak.

[ They should blow up a Meri this time around! That probably racked up their points by a lot!! ]

[corvidant]

[ There's a sense of a slight arch to his eyebrows at the very casual mention of a dead brother, but he doesn't dwell on it past some vague approval. Lingering attachment -- to places, people, anything connecting to the old world -- would probably do Zenites no good. ]

Glad to see some of us still have good sense.

[ Is it really that good if these two agree on the matter? Hm. Don't worry about it!! ]

A shame that you have no information to share, but there are other ways to help, if you're interested. Everyone has a different set of skills and strengths to offer, and though I prefer to work alone, even I realize this isn't something I can accomplish on my own.

[ That's. That's teamwork. He's willing to do the teamwork thing, gasp and shock. ]

For that matter, we might even need to bring Meridian into this. Would you happen to have any ties to them?

[corvidant]

[ Listen, he may be a piece of shit, but he knows better than to openly offend people who can be useful to him!! ]

Someone claims to have already tried as much, with no results. But, that alone does not suggest an impossibility. It could simply mean whatever method they employed was inadequate.

[ So no, he doesn't expect things to be that easy in any way. But in simpler terms, there might be a trick to it that only a select few are privy to; that's what he's interested in, no matter what it takes. ]

Our very presence in this world is reason to expand our horizons. I myself am only getting acquainted with a whole new realm of possibility, and plenty of hypotheticals I wouldn't otherwise have to consider. You'd be wise to do the same.

[ Especially given what he's heard about Link's world and how the guy came upon forbidden knowledge... ]

[corvidant]

"Sneaking into enemy territory" is precisely what I used to do back home, though.

[ Granted, he isn't just about to go sharing his Methods with someone he's just (telepathically) met, so: ]

Admittedly, even in my line of work, I have never had to face an enemy so heavily guarded-- not on my own, at least. That is the part I need [ UGH ] assistance with-- people who have connections to Meridian and could walk among their ranks more easily.

[ He's. He's not great at the bonding part, you see. ]

[bakedapple]

[ There's a sense of Link staring at him, huffing, and crossing his arms with acceptance. He won't argue that point. Akechi is right. ]

...I've been wanting to find a way to go see the Meridian's Oracle Effigies recently.

I gave something very important to the Harbinger Oracle. Something that will help us fight Oblivion, if we have to. If I could get it back, somehow...

[corvidant]

I've been told that one was kind of a dick.

[ And maybe Link can tell there's a hint of amusement crossing over Communion, like the thought of insulting enemy Oracles is genuinely fun to Akechi. ]

Regardless, seeing the effigies currently in Meridian's custody shouldn't be too hard for you. You still have [ friends ] connections among them, don't you? People who could accompany you, if they don't entirely trust you around their Oracles.

[bakedapple]

It's not that easy.

[ That's all Link is willing to say on this point to someone like Akechi. ]

Besides, even if I could, I wouldn't know what to do. Like I said, they don't answer if you try to talk to them.

[corvidant]

In this hypothetical scenario, all you would have to worry about would be getting physically close enough to the effigy. As for knowing what to do, you'd simply have to leave it to someone more [ competent ] resourceful-- and that is something I can do from a safe distance.

[ In other words, he wouldn't be allowed near the effigies, but giving the step-by-step to a potential partner? A finger taps at his forehead, like a figurative nod at their shared ability to communicate telepathically. ]

But, that is the easiest solution I can offer you. Whatever... difficulties you may have with Meridian might be beyond my help, though.

[ Well. For as long as Link isn't willing to tell him about them, anyway. ]

[bakedapple]

[ At this, Link frowns, but it isn't defensive like before. It's a thoughtful, pondering, curious frown. ]

You already have a plan to try to talk to an Oracle?

How?

[corvidant]

[ Yes, he keeps hearing about how the Harbinger was, to quote Amos, kind of a dick. Maybe that's the one they should target first. ]

That is what I believe, as well. From what I hear, they were faster in retrieving whatever items the Exalt asked of them, so it was a matter of superior skill. I can accept that.

[ Begrudgingly. ]

Personally, I feel like the Harbinger was our biggest failure. Not only did Zenith not sacrifice enough, but some of us were offered as sacrifice, on top of it. It's no wonder Meridian made the better impression-- and that kind of obstinate commitment is precisely what many Zenites seem to lack.

[corvidant]

As I said, I have a number of hypotheticals in mind. It could be something as simple as an ancient, secret ritualistic prayer passed down to a select few, or as intricate as triggering a shift in their cognition, however limited. After all, knowing that each Oracle stands for an aspect of the soul, it shouldn't be too far-fetched to conclude they may have a heart.

[ And forcing a Change of Heart is a skill he's got some experience with. If Zenith powers his Personas now, it's possible these forces are connected to the Metaverse. ]

Of course, I don't intend to blindly test them all out. Our time with the effigy would be limited, so ideally I would narrow our options down before taking solid action. Accounting for contingency plans would be wise, as well, just in case the other side took... drastic measures.

[ He hears Link fell to some idiot or another. That's a bad look, but see, he's willing to provide back-up! ]