[Locked from Malnosso//Unhackable]

[malnosso]

You are all terribly distrustful. That's good.

So that you're working with an informed opinion however, this was the work of neither myself nor the Organization.

Comments

[Private]

[chikaidestroyer]

[dryly] Everyone has a few.

But there are few that understand the nuances, and quite possibly none who understand it as well as John. Thus his status in the Organization, and why they do not interfere with his work in the tunnels. With this in mind, would the Organization do anything if they discovered John had killed Tyr?

[Private]

[malnosso]

Unlikely. I'm not quite sure they even could. John's a bit of a powerhouse.

[Private]

[chikaidestroyer]

Then the reason that John did not want us to talk about him taking Tyr and the shopkeepers was not because he expected real consequences. There are other motives that could explain this, then.

I had originally passed it off as John's general irreverence towards others, but the Organization's reaction to Tyr's disappearance and the respect Tyr's name garners makes one question John's tone. [Of course, he had been abducted shortly after the scientists demanded to know where Tyr was, and he had assumed his glib had earned him a wonderful dissected throat during his abduction.]

One is usually that disrespectful if they don't care at all, or if they know another very well. Just how close were Tyr and John?

[Private]

[malnosso]

It's not my place to say. That's about as far as I'm willing to go on that.

[Private]

[chikaidestroyer]

[It's all the confirmation he needs.] It makes John's movements within our cycle a little easier to explain, if he had a personal motive in retrieving Tyr and the shopkeepers.

...Since I had noted I would inquire for another resident, I'll ask now: Why does the Hunter make such infrequent appearances? It's as if the environment needs to be calibrated for its presence.

[Private]

[malnosso]

Well, that might be the catalyst for its release but it doesn't play a significant role. There are other factors involved.

[Private]

[chikaidestroyer]

Other factors? Shifting among them? There is also a curious lack of experiments before the Hunter's appearance.

[Private]

[malnosso]

Many large organizations and corporations in many universes have multiple projects they divide their attention between. ...of course, most of these places don't operate quite like this one does.

[Private]

[chikaidestroyer]

No, certainly not. But there seem to be few things that would interest the Organization more than finding their ways home.

...Unless the Hunter is a weapon against the Third Party. Which would explain why there manages to be an influx of new residents when the Hunter comes into use.

[Private]

[malnosso]

I'm sure that's what it was intended to be.

[Private]

[chikaidestroyer]

But a failure. One they can't truly destroy. ...Unless there are multiple Hunters, and the two we have seen aren't one and the same.

[Private]

[malnosso]

A "work in progress" I believe is the correct phrase. Though I'm curious. Did you note any differences between the incarnations of the Hunter you've experienced?

[Private]

[chikaidestroyer]

I see. John was the one calling it a "failure."

The one we encountered in the park didn't ambush us outright; it attacked us from a distance before closing in. And when we retreated, it had no problem keeping pace with us despite our head start. The Hunter from before... It took no issue in attacking without notable stealth. As I've been told, it was also easily distracted by a magic trick, allowing a resident to escape unharmed.

If it's a "work in progress," its intelligence was noticeably different in both events.

[Private]

[malnosso]

Probably why they recalled it so quickly, actually.

[Private]

[chikaidestroyer]

The fact that it was much more efficient than before?

[Private]

[malnosso]

Their tests were probably concluded. ...although I don't doubt it was because they'd made their point, as well.

[Private]

[chikaidestroyer]

Would you have an estimate on how long the Hunter has been in development? It must be fairly new, since you don't have much information on it yourself.

[Private]

[malnosso]

As far as I know, the first one ever really completed was the one set loose in the enclosure nearly two years ago.

[Private]

[chikaidestroyer]

...What became of it after that "experiment"?

Along the same topic as the Hunter... Its winglessness must be significant. Just as our wing size and color are, in comparison to the Third Party. The members of the Third Party and the Hunters were once like us, weren't they?