bishop 002.

[dislinked]

Updates:

1. Mission Kamchatka has deployed. St James remains on board to coordinate.

2. We have brought aboard four volunteer for the Neuroclast project: two grounded Dislinked agents and two civilians. They are being given partial access to the Mnemosyne: mess hall and public areas only. If you see someone in an area they should not be, please alert your chain of command immediately.

3. Medani and Aldana will deploy to Sighişoara on Sunday and will be there throughout the planned SP. Our goal, as a reminder, is to reVeil as many civilians as possible. Ground forces will deploy two days before in order to begin quiet evacuation of those who cannot be reVeiled.

4. For those who weren't able to be present at the meeting held by McLeod on Monday, the key takeaways are:

• The current flight of planes can be modified. Keane and Hyun have already begun compiling the necessary parts from Jacobs, Koskinen, Maverick, and Wijk. The liklihood of sourcing in time is low, but I will defer to Keane as that is her area of expertise.

• de Vries, McLeod, and Thomas will begin searching the ground for any additional planes. I'll provide them with intel I have accrued on active and inactive bases.

• According to Hwang's calculations, the Architects' envoy should hit Earth airspace in the early morning of March 13th.

5. [...] We will be bringing additional agents aboard in the next week. As with any former undercover agent, their previous mission is classified until we can be sure all loose ends are tied up.

If you have questions, put them here.

ALDANAS.

I am informing you that Agent Alba Gutiérrez Vega has been compromised. I will be deploying an agent to escort her to a stronghold and then she will be brought onboard.

ST JAMES, BONE, SINCLAIR, DAWSON, NOVAK - SEPARATELY.

I am informing you that [Reid, Flores Romero, Lynfield, Aldana Gutiérrez, Aldana] has a family member that is an Undercover agent whose identity has been compromised. The agent will be escorted to a stronghold before coming aboard. I will inform [Reid, Flores Romero, Lynfield, Aldana Gutiérrez, Aldana] upon return, but it might be shock, so I'm asking you to ensure they remain centered.

OOC: Jax gets Jamie's name, Maryle gets Dom's name, Nishad gets Sloane's name, Cal gets Eva's name, and Niko gets Adri's name

LIM, MCLEOD, BATTEAUX, SINCLAIR.

I'll deploying you to retrieve compromised Undercover agents. Lim, you'll be retrieving Agent Lynfield; McLeod, Agent Gutiérrez Vega; Batteaux, Agent Reid; Sinclair, Agent Flores Romero. Details will be provided when you are formally deployed. This is a stealth mission and considered classified. They will all pretend to be under the Veil until you provide their specific code word, which is in the documents you will receive.

Questions?

Comments

Noldana.

[oneirophrenic]

There is a version of events in which this is less a pointed dig and more an indication that she still harbors feelings for you, Adrián.

Noldana.

[adrii]

What she harbored feelings for was the life we had. She wanted me to be different. That's not love.

Noldana.

[oneirophrenic]

I think this revelation complicates matters.

Noldana.

[adrii]

How so?

Noldana.

[oneirophrenic]

If she's been a Dislinked operative for who knows how long, she clearly had a change of heart.

Noldana.

[adrii]

Seven years. She's been one for seven years.

And it could also be penance for what she did to Eva. She took her choice away and made her easier to handle. I have my own sins to atone for with my daughter, but as far as I'm concerned, they pale in comparison to hers.

Noldana.

[oneirophrenic]

She shouldn't have had Eva chipped behind your back. Nothing about the present alters my feelings on that point.

However, let us step back and consider the situation from a different perspective. By all accounts, Alba was deeply unhappy and living alongside a husband who was growing more distant — not through any singular fault of yours, but because the two of you had clearly begun to want very different lives. In that state, she chose to be chipped, knowing it would quiet the emotions that were troubling her. Under the chip's influence, she made the misguided — and very unfair — decision to have Eva chipped as well, believing it would help. That choice, of course, is the final nail in the coffin of your marriage. You left and she could not even fully process the loss, because the very thing she had chosen had dulled her capacity to feel it.

Then, sometime after the Fall, she was UnVeiled. We both know there are people who beg to return to that numbness — who insist the chips are kinder than reality. Alba did not. Instead, she took on one of the most burdensome and dangerous roles available to us: undercover work. She chose that path knowing it would prevent her from reaching out to Eva. The same is true of you. I won't presume to know whether she still loves you, or whether she hopes for reconciliation. Perhaps she really was being petty, but perhaps she wasn't!

You are, of course, entirely entitled to your anger and shock. You should let yourself feel both. I only caution you not to assume the worst of her without hearing her speak for herself. This is a complicated situation, Adrían, and I think you should be prepared to have that conversation when she is safely aboard.

Noldana.

[adrii]

What makes you think I'm going to speak with her once she's here? I have nothing to say to her, Nikola. I can [...] appreciate that I had a hand in her decision to chip herself. I am not an easy man to be with, and I certainly wasn't any easier back then. I was restless and unfulfilled, and I couldn't fathom how she wasn't.

I have no interest in discussing my failure of being a husband to the person I failed.

Noldana.

[oneirophrenic]

I don't know that you should be looking at the situation as "your failure." It's far more complicated than that.

Either way, the ship is only so big. You can't ignore her forever.

Noldana.

[adrii]

It isn't. I made a vow and committed myself to her for all my days. And then I broke that vow. It's rather straightforward, especially in the eyes of the Church.

I'm aware. I can be civil.

Noldana.

[oneirophrenic]

Ah, yes, the Church. Now there's something we should be clinging to in the end days.

Noldana.

[adrii]

Old habits die hard.

Noldana.

[oneirophrenic]

May I suggest having someone fuck the guilt of you? That's an emotion I haven't dealt with since 1997.

Noldana.

[adrii]

That's a very limited prospect, and 2/3 of them are too busy to help. I guess I'll just hang onto it.

Noldana.

[oneirophrenic]

I'm sure Philip would relish the opportunity.

Noldana.

[adrii]

He probably would.

I spoke with him, by the way.

Noldana.

[oneirophrenic]

And?

Noldana.

[adrii]

And he's trying to figure out which hand and finger it feels best on.

Noldana.

[oneirophrenic]

He should give his left ring finger a try.

Noldana.

[adrii]

That one might be too much of a statement.

Noldana.

[oneirophrenic]

There's no such thing.

Noldana.

[adrii]

I told him I'm not taking anymore lovers. That once you le and Jax move on, I'll be only his.

Noldana.

[oneirophrenic]

I see. [...] That's A discussion would've How are you feeling about that?

Noldana.

[adrii]

About what, specifically?

Noldana.

[oneirophrenic]

Monogamy! Being tied down. Off the market, so to speak. Locked in for the long haul. The one port harbor life. Sworn to one dance partner. Flying a single flag. Spoken for! Domesticated. Under exclusive contract. A closed shop romance. The solo subscription plan. So on and so forth! That's so wonderful for you, Adrían, truly.