Edit Question: Questions/Question 408

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QuestionText:	Hello! Just wanted to check in re: this as I make some plans for July — totally happy to wait, however I just wanted to throw out the option of setting it aside for the time being if the Wildness™ persists. I completely understand that modding is a huge job and don't want to put further pressure on you if it's too much, especially considering the game is getting so big and the plot is so rich and complex. I imagine there are more and more plates to spin every month!<br><br>Anyway thank you again for all you do, and I'm v much looking forward to July's TDM \o/
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AnswerText:	<p>The wildness does persist......... I'm so sorry for how long this has taken. Regardless of how wild life gets, I feel I should at least be able to offer an ETA for things like this when matters get hectic on the RL side, and moving forward I hope to do better about this.</p> <p>But we've found a moment to collaborate some more on this while keeping it distinct. I hope this works for you, but if not please feel free to offer your thoughts!</p> <center> <div style="width:50%;border-bottom:1px dotted #997533;"></div> </center><br> <p>To Aemond's request, Patho-Gen will hear him out. You're free to say that he's started pitching it to those at the Wellness Centers, who promise they'll funnel the request upwards... It reaches somebody, but they've no need to specifically address Aemond until <i>now.</i> He's a volunteer, after all; his motivations don't matter as much to them.</p> <p>(Basically, you're free to have had Aemond approach Patho-Gen as many times as you prefer in the time it's taken us to get back to you on this! They'll keep pondering their options, while assuring him that they'll have <i>something</i> for him soon.)</p> <p>And that something comes now, in July. With the unveiling of Kelesis, Aemond offers something to them that Patho-Gen cannot refuse: he is a <b>Spectral-type,</b> and Spectral-types have proven to have some manner of... special traits in the face of Kelesis, haven't they?</p> <p>Patho-Gen will page Aemond via Syntrofos <b>sometime in July,</b> whenever it suits you with regards to planning. Either later this month, or in early August, they will invite Aemond to Patho-Gen HQ, where they will invite him into an office. In this office, they will outline the following to him:</p> <p>Patho-Gen wishes to obtain Aemond's consent to be a test subject to understand better the unknown qualities of the Spectral-type. They understand goats and bears and squids... but Spectral-types deserve some extra exploration, they claim. They say they must monitor him regularly; if he wishes to work with them, they insist <i>gently</i> that this is to be kept under wraps, as much as possible. What they intend to do to him, however, <b>they cannot tell him at this time.</b></p> <p>Unlike with Viktor, however, this Patho-Gen scientist does not give Aemond time to think about it. They expect an answer then and there. If Aemond insists that he needs time to think over it, they'll only reluctantly grant him some time to think and remind him of the <b>secret nature</b> of this endeavor.</p> <p>If Aemond agrees, the scientist will nod and thank him for his willingness. It's then that Aemond will lose consciousness.</p> <center> <div style="width:50%;border-bottom:1px dotted #997533;"></div> </center><br> <div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="overflow:auto;"><div style="font-weight:bold" class="mw-collapsible-header">Aemond will pass out, but he will have a couple moments of hazy awareness... <b>cw: human experimentation, blood, hallucinations</b></div><div class="mw-collapsible-content"> <blockquote><p>There is something in particular that Patho-Gen wishes to understand about Kelesis, and Aemond, a willing Spectral-type, is the perfect vehicle for their prodding and poking.</p> <ol> <li><p>The first time Aemond wakes, he will smell iodine paired with something that smells like the asphalt after a thunderstorm.</p> <p>The room is nearly pitch black, and Aemond is strapped up on a gurney that is tilted back, his arms taut against his sides. No matter how he struggles or reaches for his powers, none are available... if he could struggle at all. His body will feel leaden, and the dark of the room swirls with faded imagery of that which Aemond fears most. Any time he attempts to focus on one of these spectres, it disappears; another crops up in his periphery, ready to lunge for him.</p> <p>A bolt of lightning <i>zaps</i> through his body, from skull to toes. These treatments <b>may even leave Lichtenberg figures as scars</b> along his body—but just before he passes out again, he will realize he isn't alone in the room. In fact, there is the figure of a <b>beast</b> highlighted by the shock of lightning on a table opposite of Aemond: with a pendulous trunk in place of a nose, the being is <i>almost</i> humanoid, coated head-to-toe in thick fur and with piercing, luminous eyes. <i>It's fully awake,</i> dripping with black blood and embedded with silver stakes, breathing hard yet unable to move.</p> <p>Whatever it's doing, whatever it <i>is</i>, Aemond won't know.</p></li> <li><p>... Except there's one more moment, not quite of <i>wakefulness</i>—but rather, of his dreams. Spectral-types have the ability to <b>manipulate dreams</b>, but Aemond will find himself totally incapable of it this time.</p> <p>This lucid dream takes place under a ceiling of kaleidoscopic stained glass. A cloaked figure keeps Aemond silent and sits opposite of him for hours.</p> <p><i>"Please. Do not use your powers to visit harm upon us,"</i> it pleads. Tension in the air suggests that this figure, and whatever it represents, feels Aemond would be capable of utterly destroying all it holds dear... and in holding him captive like this, it's the only way it can stop him. <i>"They'll let you kill us. Show us mercy. Show my kin, and their ward, mercy. Show this world... mercy."</i></p> <p>This individual sitting across from Aemond has the resolve of someone who is duty-bound, utterly determined to defend itself at all costs. And in this dream, Aemond cannot move. But something tells him that with time... he'll be able to.</p></li></ol></blockquote> <p>Rise and shine! ... Dark room and shady figure? Huh? What dark room? Figure who? Oh, those scars? Those came from an unfortunate accident with some tech in Patho-Gen HQ, where Aemond is now. He's in a real nice bed, frankly. Well in hand and comfortable, he is told he can rest as long as he needs. <b>Aemond's recollection of those two moments will be so lucid that they veer into fantastical,</b> like something out of a drug-induced hallucination. Explaining them to Patho-Gen personnel will elicit truly shocked reactions: it's the first time they've heard of <i>any</i> of this, and they've had him here the entire time??</p> <p>What has Patho-Gen done? First: Aemond will realize his <b>neck's been cut open again.</b> Thanks, Patho-Gen. They explain to Aemond that they <b>fitted him with a device</b> that should be able to gather feedback from him any time he taps into his Spectral powers. No, it's not another Augmenter or anything... But it has a sort of, ah, <i>uninhibitor</i> in it to help him tap into his greatest potentials. They want to understand the powers of Spectral-types, from their strengths and weaknesses; their ability to control wildlife... and their ability to tamper with dreams.</p> <p>Patho-Gen encourages Aemond to tap into his powers more often. <b>A strange, nagging feeling</b> will accompany this suggestion: Aemond will feel... strangely endeared to Patho-Gen, obedient and compliant. Intrinsically he feels his powers <b>should not be used on anyone who is allied with Patho-Gen.</b></p> <p>Aemond won't notice much different for about a month, save for the fact that <b>sleeping will always, always result in horrific nightmares.</b> Those nightmares can be whatever would serve to haunt him the worst; he will feel an increasing sense of paranoia accompanying it.</p> <p>But after that... Aemond's nightmares will start to bleed with reality. He may be awake, but he'll hallucinate that which plagues him most, like a waking nightmare. <b>Paranoia and rage</b>, especially around fellow Augmented, will erratically haunt him; he may be more inclined to Shift against his will, his powers harder to control. He will become more likely to harm those who he doesn't wish to hurt, and find it difficult to distinguish between nightmares and reality. Being around Katalyth makes him even more volatile... which is strange, given that Patho-Gen surely wants him to be able to <i>resist</i> Katalyth, right?</p> <p>Does he gain <i>anything</i> from this? Aemond will find he has an increasing <i>talent</i> for <b>interfacing with dreams</b> in a meaningful way. Going to sleep at the same time as another Augmented One means he can invade their dreams; remotely, like this, he can actually <b>visit harm upon them in real life.</b> A cut in a dream translates to a cut on that person's body.</p> <p>And Patho-Gen will be <i>intrigued</i> all the while. Something about this is of great interest to them...</p></div></div>

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Edit Question: Questions/Question 408

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