2024-02-28: Like A Fool
- Log: Like a Fool
- Cast: Gwen Whitlock, Azoth
- Where: Ruid
- OOC - IC Date: February 28, 2024
- Summary: After being visited by the Stranger in her dreams again, Gwen gets visited by an unexpected guest: Azoth, who bears a message from an even more surprising source: Loren.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
'For now, you are required elsewhere.'
The Stranger raised himself from the Gwen that clutched her eyes, her mouth open in a wordless, silent cry, and turned to the other Gwen, who had stopped at the foot of the impossible hill, looking upwards towards him. Each Gwen was unaware of the other, and neither in that moment could be said to be any more or less the 'true' one, as they were both paths that could have been taken, neither properly cleaved from the threat of possibility.
The hand he had used to comfort the Gwen collapsed on her knees was raised up, and the fingers snapped, calling an end to the dream.
----
Gwen had exited Ruid, dismissing warnings of the dangers outside at this time of day. The concept of 'going outside for some air' didn't really exist here, after all, but here Gwen was, moving outside, and greeting the quiet of the forlorn landscape like it was exactly what she needed, right now.
An hour or two and the temperature will have rocketed to the other side of the thermometer. Now, it is almost pleasant, like you could imagine taking on the expanse of land, give or take some jellyfish and monsters that would be more than happy to dine on you.
That, and the bandaged burns that will likely need to be changed, and the slash across your body from Leah's weapon. At least the latter has healed up very well, thanks to Mariel's attention.
She collapses on the boulder, and tries to clear the mud from her mind. Was the dream a true visit, or just her fear of it happening?
The Fiends don't need this extra danger on their hands; but she can't cross the Frontier on her lonesome.
What does Gwen do?
<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.
The last time Azoth saw Gwen, she was being cut down by the Watcher while he released a wounded, digital sound worse than any other he had that battle. Then he was dragged into a shuttle, taken back to base, and had his code thoroughly scrubbed and re-shackled.
He would like to think he will find her in a better state. Gwen has not been easy to find... but that Azoth has, for better or worse, Solaris' resources in information and travel. It does not pay for everything else that it costs, not to Azoth, and not to anyone else, but it's there. And it's always a risk -- he's a risk, a liability -- but this is important to Loren. And it's important there be important things to Loren outside Solaris.
Azoth has finally put his disguise on again. He has to, if he doesn't want to make a scene. Especially on Lunar. But if anyone were watching, it would be all the stranger that a very human appearing young man is able to tirelessly traverse the frontier, barely slowed by terrain, monster, or temperature. Bright eyes scan the area with sensors and calculations beyond human compare, and then -- there.
He does not risk calling out. Azoth is quiet in his approach, making sure no monster, or man, has followed. He steps up to Gwen's boulder, careful to speak softly.
"...Gwen? Hey." He offers a quiet beep-whirr to better advertise who he is. "Are you all right?"
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
When Gwen had been outside these walls, she was the confident courier that strode up and tried to introduce herself, while others balked at her seeming inability to recognize her own mortality.
She had positioned herself as the person who trumpeted a light-hearted approach, but it was secretly because of the heavy tasks the Fiends were undertaking. Zophar had gotten their(?) claws deep into the dominant religion of the land, much like what had happened on Filigia with the Ethos. It was going to be an uphill battle against a force that was larger that possibly anything else that they've faced before.... And Gwen was there, one of two Filgaians.
She could afford to be this way, and she didn't see it as a problem, until now.
At least she knows she can talk to Hiro. She'll just need some time to get her nerve up. It'll be fine! It'll be fine!!
'Gwen? Hey.' Azoth has a brief flash of Gwen's right palm, flicking towards him out of instinct as she spins around on her bottom. The moment Gwen sees Azoth, however, she stops, eyes wide.
"Azoth..."
In spite of herself, Gwen tears up as he gives her that quiet beep-whirr. Both arms reach out now, and she grabs Azoth in a tight hug, sobbing on his shoulder. "... I'm sorry, Azoth, I really am..."
Maybe this is a mirage, like the one that lead Ruby off on a wild goose chase through the frontier, with poor Hiro being dragged behind her. Or maybe, another dream.
She'll just go with it; she's embarrassing herself enough as it is by sobbing on him.
<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.
Azoth is not familiar with the politics of Lunar and the struggles it faces. But he does know a thing or two about Gwen in all the time he's known her, and she is unfailingly steadfast. He hasn't always been sure that's a good thing -- like that moment, cut down by the Watcher. Gwen takes care of other people. Who takes care of Gwen? Lan looks out for her. There are other companions, surely. But it isn't always easy to allow oneself to receive help.
He could write a book about that himself, if he cared about writing books.
When Gwen's palm lights up, Azoth does not flinch, either trusting her not to shoot, not caring if she does, or both. But when she reaches out, his eyes widen, and it suddenly feels like an emergency.
Unsure, but gently as he thinks he can manage, Azoth gathers Gwen up against him to hug and support as she sobs. He'd like to allow her to let it all out for as long as she needs to, but he only brought so much water.
... Still, a moment is fine.
"It's all right." It's a lie, but it's a lie he hopes that if they say enough, one day it's going to be true. "...We're all still here. So it's all right."
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
For a selfish moment, Gwen holds onto Azoth, hugging onto him and sobbing, both from remembering her guilt over his capture, as well as the Stranger's visit. A second is all she needs.
..... Mostly because the bandaged areas of her body are beginning to hurt. It seems they're both good at giving tight hugs.
Still, she holds in for another moment now, almost trying to hug Azoth for his sake, on top of her own wants. She doesn't know how to comfort Azoth, but she knows how to communicate that she wants to.
How many more moments will they have left, however.
"Ms. Whitlock, are you alright?" a guard asks out loud, having finally heard the commotion.
Gwen steps from Azoth and signals back. "S'okay! Fellow courier here. Hadn't seen him in a while! Thanks for askin'!"
Gwen has no clue how true that is, but it's okay. She'll find out.
"... It ain't alright," she says, a second later, looking towards Azoth. "... Did you escape somehow? Or is Solaris lettin' you do field work already?" The latter would be surprising, but maybe...
"There's nothin' here they need to know about," she finally adds, closing her eyes. "They got enough boilin' pots to worry over. ... Still, I'm glad you're here."
She'd ask about Loren, but that... is something better asked at another date, if at all. "Do you want me to get someone like Ragnell? Do you need supplies? I got some extra.. Or, oh! You can help us, if the other Fiends're okay with it! Ragnell's here too, she knows your deal." Where is that Seraph, anyway?
<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.
It's enough to want to communicate it and to try, in her own way. Azoth came to the surface to learn how humans do all of that. Intent matters. Effort matters. Even if he's something else, or there's no saving him. All of it.
He never imagined it would hurt them so much. He never imagined it would hurt him so much.
As Gwen moves back, Azoth easily lets go, hands folded behind his back to hide any evidence and spare Gwen the embarrassment, if he can. He only pops one back out to wave to the guard. That innocent smile plastered on his face dims without segue as Gwen's attention falls back on him.
It ain't alright. Azoth can only nod, despite his claims to the contrary. Especially because he hasn't escaped, or anything close.
"...They about undid everything I tried to do before they found me," he says with a weak smile, eyes averted in his guilt. "Don't worry about getting me anything. Or anyone. But I might be able to lend a hand now that I'm here, all the same." Especially if Ragnell's here... His circuits are still raw from his freedom so quickly turned around to get into a battle against her own.
"I'm here for you," he says, with a little more weight. "Because of Loren."
Azoth holds his hands up in surrender. "On a personal request. As a friend."
So maybe Loren didn't exactly word it that way or agree to those terms. But surely Azoth's allow to employ some of his own interpretations with his coveted autonomous functions...!
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
'They about undid everything I tried to do before they found me.' Looking the way he does and sounding the way he does, Gwen could pretend those words meant nothing. Azoth has no reason to lie, however.
"Those assholes..." Gwen shakes her head. "Even if being trapped on Energy Nede forever would be impossible... I'm glad at least we managed to find you when we did. I wanna think we protected you for just a little bit. I just... never thought they'd go with the mission they did." She frowns. "Lan n' I found Loren a few towns away, but we weren't sure if he even knew you were here, or if it was a setup to lead other operative straight to you." Her head hangs, slightly. "N' while I twiddled my thumbs tryin' t'think of what t'do, it happened. So no, it ain't right. It ain't right that I approached it all thinkin' I could use tough love t'save everyone, either. Solaris probably knew Loren was the right fit all around... he's probably...."
'Don't worry about getting me anything. Or anyone.'
Gwen just shakes her head. "... Now you're just soundin' like me. I was tellin' myself the same things a few moments ago over a different deal. It ain't right, but... like you said, you're still here. I'll take that as my reason t'hope."
His offer to help, however, she thinks about, and then nods. "Alright. We got attacked recently, so people're on edge. I'll be truthful to my friends as to what the risks are, but. We might need another hand on deck, t'be honest."
He's here for her, he says.
"... For me?" Gwen blinks, then finally smiles, truthfully, with a laugh. "Shucks, you could've wait until I got back--"
'Because of Loren.' As if to emphasize this, while Gwen tries to understand it, he sais 'on a personal request. As a friend.'
Gwen blinks.
".... He told you to not tell me that, didn't he? You little trickster." She bumps Azoth's shoulder with her left fist, chuckling. "N' here I thought I've messed his life up enough for him to swear off on all friendships forever. N' you... probably didn't mind yourself, did you? Aside from, uh." She motions with her chin to the frontier wasteland.
<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.
"... It was a short break," Azoth says. "But it was the only one I remember ever having." His smile may be pained, but it's only to emphasize how important that was. It meant something, however temporary, however futile.
For a moment, the Azoth was simply Azoth.
"Being discovered was inevitable. You never could have prevented it. But... thank you, for making it last as long as it could. I won't forget that."
Azoth's face breaks into a smile when she accuses him of acting as she had. "Is it so bad to act like you?" He smiles more softly. "... I understand what you're saying, though. And... listen, I mean you being here as much as me. What you did -- that battle..."
He frowns and looks away. "She's right, you know. The Watcher. It's not worth it." He's not worth their devotion. He already knows that won't stop them from giving it. "The same with everyone here. If anyone's even the tiniest bit worried, it's not worth the added risk. They can't find what they need to if they're watching their backs from their own side."
Oh no, Gwen calls Azoth out! And yet his eyes just glitter as he plays a cheerful, musical beep tone. "Maaaay~be." He grins. "Yeah, no, it's funny. For some reason he completely forgot to order me not to tell you. I have no idea what could have possibly distracted him from that! I was just making conversation!"
Azoth knows what he did.
But then his expression sobers.
"Seriously though, he's clearly worried. He came looking for me, which he hates doing on account of the fact I'm creepy and annoying on purpose. This is important to him." Azoth meets Gwen's eyes. It's a subject that has caused worrying reactions before. But, again, important. "After that battle, they scanned Loren's Ether thoroughly for any of the Stranger's Ether. He said he wasn't sure why or what that means. I was hoping you and Lan might. But... he wants you both to be careful."
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
Azoth's smile may be pained, but Gwen gives a nod, sharing a gentle smile back. It's important because he had it.
"Just an idea, but, hear me out on this." Gwen sits back down on the boulder. "Write down what you remember somewhere. Give a copy of it to someone else. That way, even if it won't be the same as remembering it, they can't quite take it from you, no matter what. And even if they do, it means, when you escape again, you'll have the same joy for the first time, while havin' a copy of what you did before."
The fact that he smiles when she accuses him of acting like her just makes it all so much worse. Aughhhh.
And then, he has the nerve to say 'it's not worth it'? "It ain't up to her," Gwen sharply replies. "She doesn't even seem t'value her own past." Her tone softens. "Besides, there were people who would've said the same thing 'bout me." Or Silas, her childhood friend who now runs the very orphanage they were both at. They said the same about Janus, too. And Romero, And Dario. And--
"As for the others, I'd let them decide when it comes to it." It's already beginning to heat up, but, Gwen hopes, even if it did get too hot, he can always stay for a day before continuing back. "It'd be better if you stay here for a day, at least. Robot or no, you need to rest up before you even try to travel back."
Not only did he quietly subvert Loren's orders, he actively distracted Loren. "Hehehe." It is strange, though. For someone who is able to still circumvent their orders, why did they go through so much just to get him back? He's unique, but what is it in that uniqueness that's this valuable to them?
As she follows that train of thought, Azoth continues, clarifying Loren's determination even more, as well as delivering the message he wanted to send.
Suddenly her bruised midsection feels itchy.
"... Damn it." Gwen shakes her head, then lets it hang. "Out of all the times I could've, to have that dream... This can't be good at all."
She looks up towards Azoth. "What I can tell you is probably nothin' Loren doesn't already know. But that don't mean it ain't useful for *you* to know."
<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.
Azoth blinks with open surprise. "I hadn't considered that option before," he admits, then taps at his own head. "Something on paper can't be 'read' the same way... but it also can't be changed..." He closes his eyes, then gives a slow nod as he looks back at Gwen. "... The overrides will limit what I can record, and I'll have to be selective, but it's worth a try."
Could Solaris see what the Azoth thought was valuable to write down by going through his memories and use it against him? But there must be something... He'll have to consider it.
But Gwen has, rightly, some gentle argument to give. Azoth mimes a sigh with the slump of his shoulder. "Figured you'd respond like that. Just..." He glances down to her midsection and back again. "Be careful." A gentler smile. "And I won't go running off right away, however it goes."
He can promise that much.
Gwen has excellent questions, but Azoth couldn't answer them if he knew. What, indeed, makes it worth it to Solaris to put up with Azoth's everything? For now, it's not about Solaris. Just Loren.
"Uh. Dream?" Azoth only knows of dreams as bad things. Supposedly some nocturnal hallucinations are quantified as pleasant, but hello??? But this sounds like a particularly... unfortunate case. He frowns in concern.
"... I'm listening." Especially if he might be able to use it to help.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
"Oh yeah, there's the overrides." Gwen winces. "Damn it. That Pokemon you were with might be able t'help, but I ain't sure how much they're able to communicate with you." She rubs a hand through her curls. "Well, maybe you can think of somethin' that allows you to record without it turnin' into somethin' that's used against you. I bet you can think of somethin'. You got that unique energy stuff, so many there's something on you that only you can decode. Like, computer instructions, or..." That could be even riskier. Gwen sighs. ".... Man, this stinks."
Azoth despairs, and Gwen pats him on one slumped shoulder. "Then maybe a better way of puttin' it is... 'be careful, Gwen, I like you bein' in one piece'. It's the reason I didn't just go and take on Solaris, after all. Or..." Her gaze shifts downwards. "Why I can't just kidnap you n' never let you go back. You'd be forced t'fight me, n'... even if you're not truly free right now, I imagine you find these kinds of missions their own sort of reward, right? .... when y'ain't walkin' straight through a wasteland."
"Hm?" Gwen blinks, then raises a finger. "Oh! You wouldn't know what they are, huh. Uh, Dreams're..." She rubs the back of her neck. "Like... parts of your mind resolving themselves, when you're asleep. Like, when a soup's got all these ingredients, n' the soup will taste like all of those ingreidents at once, but if you give it time, they all form a different taste! Or... hm. That don't work well..." She frowns. "Dreams can be anythin'. Most of the time, I don't remember my dreams at all, and many times, they're just stuff. Like, me needin' to complete a deadline, but Gulliver, my horse, is missin', and I got no pants, so I gotta make sure my client doesn't see that I'm in my undies, anddd..." She's making it worse. "Okay, okay, it's... like, your mind is working through questions you didn't necessarily need answerin', and only certain parts of your brain are awake, so it gets all weird but not a bad kind of weird. Just 'huh'. Some are actually kinda nice!"
_Gwen explains dreams._ "But, yeah. I ain't sure if it was a real Stranger dream, or just a plain nightmare, but... I wanna say the former, 'cause usually I'm pretty good with sleeping. I do a lot of it, after all."
She'd try to explain dreams all day instead of talking about the Stranger, but she also said she'd tell Azoth for his own sake. She breaths a soft sigh.
"H'okay. T'be honest, this is kind of hard for me to recount, because so much of it... don't make much sense." Her eyes point out into the sunless frontier, at the ghostly jellyfish that float on the waves of wind. "The Stranger, as far as I know, is some kinda experiment that got away from Solaris. Nobody seems to know his name, how his powers work, or what his plans are, except that Lan and I are the two he's picked to carry some part of 'em. Dreams are one part, but it's so much more. He can somehow manipulate reality, n' not like they're illusions, but make things real that shouldn't be. There's... people, within him too, that I ain't sure are real or not. Like.. Possibilities. The more that I understand him, the worse off I seem t'get, and... I think that's the point. He is also the person who... took my heart, you can say. My physical heart, by stabbing it through. My ARM had to grow one for me. I just get this sense that to him, it wasn't even 'killing'. Like that was just... one me. He's getting another me... And he... will..."
Her voice becomes more disjointed and confused as she speaks, before smoothing out into something soft, mercilessly gentle. Inviting. Accepting.
She's looking straight at Azoth now, without having given any indication of having turned her head, looking at Azoth with a benevolent gaze, like a statue of a saint that has achieved a state of completeness with some higher power.
"... bring forth the forgotten world, where all those left behind will be gathered. I'll bring you there too, Azoth. Everyone. The forging process will be completed. I shall gather you all in and take you there."
The wind howls overhead loud enough to sound like it's screaming....--
"--Azoth?" Gwen's looking at Azoth now, sweaty and normal, blinking her eyes.
<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.
At the mention of the Pokemon, Azoth wilts, looking away. "I released him when Loren came for me. I didn't want him to get caught up in everything..." Little does Azoth know, that didn't stop Ceru. He smiles faintly at Gwen. "But really, it's a good idea. I'll come up with something. If I think it can help you stop me or Solaris' hold on me, I won't be able to give it to you, but there are things that come before that."
If they knew something was wrong, and that he wasn't himself... It might not save them, but it might prevent them from making a crucial emotional mistake. Solaris isn't invested in him breaking any hearts with twisted friendship. Er, not that he knows of.
Azoth points at Gwen. "Yes! That! Those words exactly!" He frowns, but forces it up into a smile. "...You're right about all of that. But I appreciate the sentiment. And yeah, it's like it goes..." He makes a positive chime, "'Ding' when I get to successfully complete a task. One an override didn't ask for. The funny thing about being forced to do something is no intrinsic reward system is needed to encourage it."
Instead, it just hurts.
Dreams. Azoth's attention remains, but his eyes blank, his blinking slowed as he tries to absorb the soup metaphor. "Yeah I uh, I don't taste, either." His expression proceeds to go on a journey of various shades of shock and confusion. Dreams can't process horses? And leg ware? What is happening. UNTIL:
like, your mind is working through questions you didn't necessarily need answerin', and only certain parts of your brain are awake, so it gets all weird...
"Oh!" Azoth's face lights up in understanding -- not literally, except for the eyes. "Okay, that makes sense." He frowns. "And so does not being able to tell if the data was new or being processed... a testament to how confusing the new data is..."
The Stranger. Azoth's met him only once. Fought him once. It was... an experience unto itself.
But Gwen explains further. Azoth follows her gaze briefly, then settles his back on her again. Of course Solaris. Why not? They ruin everything else. Gwen mentions her stolen heart, and Azoth frowns gently, but doesn't interrupt. He doesn't even interrupt as she begins to take that sudden shift in demeanor. His own expression fades, then turns blank.
He witnesses, and he listens, and it's only once Gwen's awareness seems to return that Azoth moves again, taking hold of her shoulder in case he needs to steady her.
"I'm right here. You are, too. You don't need to explain further."
It's easy, as an android, to look calm even while his computations are firing sixty different ways and holding a new piece of data with utmost alarm. He was already afraid something like this might happen again.
...It's data, and it's up to him to figure out if he can do anything with it.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
Azoth dings. Gwen's eyebrows level. ".... They look at you, n' decide t'make you a glorified egg timer. That's just insulting." Maybe, that's part of the point.
As for dreams, somehow, Gwen manages to stumble on a way to explain it. "Yeah! Like that! .... I think." She clears her throat. "I think it really is important, but not like 'what does the horse mean', or 'why was I missing my pants', but like, maybe I was just thinking a lot about getting something done on time? Or maybe, I'm just processin' that I was doing that, and it got combined with other threads, and... yeah. I don't think we're meant to remember them because they don't have meaning outside of, like, that space."
It's a classic Gwen explanation. Full of attempts, never minding how serious they might be, all in service of trying to find a way to make the right point.
The Gwen that gazes cleanly back at Azoth, meanwhile, carries the mystery, showing everything and nothing. Out of context, that 'version' of Gwen wouldn't look or sound malicious to some outsider, and it's not as if Gwen hadn't tried to comfort Azoth earlier along similar lines. Except, everything was based in the logic of this world. 'Write a dairy, wait, that won't work, let's think of something else'. 'I hate that I can't keep you from going back'. 'You're beginning to sound like me'.
This one promises to gather him in and take him to a forgotten world.
"... Did something happen? Shit.... shit..."
Azoth says she doesn't need to explain any further, as he grips her shoulder. Gwen quickly shakes her head. "No, there's something else, I need to tell you. It's important." This tone is definitely from the Gwen he knows. "Everything I've done has been my decision. But, it's like one of those shaped trees. No one *forces* it to grow, it just grows into those shapes the gardener's left out. Lan, she's... worse off than me. I hadn't had a dream like that in a long time. ... He must be getting more active." She stamps a foot. "... I'm gettin' offtopic again. The point is that I chose him again, to be able t'take on somethin' really big and powerful. So the Stranger sealed my fear, or... well, preservation? 'Something'. I used the Mockingbird to grab a spark from the Fray Primarch. It stayed inside me, getting bigger and bigger, and then... the Stranger harvested it. You were there when that happened. He took off the seal, and harvested that part. There's been maybe one or two other times he's come to me since then."
She grabs his shoulder now, as he's grabbing her.
".... I came outside because I wondered if I needed to cross this Frontier to get away. 'What if I'm a danger'. 'It's not worth it for them to have to deal with this right now'. But I wasn't bein' fair to my friends, even thinkin' about that. Maybe I don't need t'lean on them immediately, but." She pats one of the bandaged areas. "I took this on for them, and for myself. I wanna see them succeed against Zophar, on their terms."
She lets him go. "As for Leah, maybe she sees somethin' she can use in the Stranger's power. You're gonna need to get to Lan and tell her too. Even if you reaching me means all she needs t'do is command you to get me, I don't know if she realizes I probably have some of that Ether in me. Lan... she'd definitely know. Even if me tellin' you's probably gonna kick me in the rear, she's gotta think about actually *looking*. And she may not, if Lan's easier to find."
<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.
Azoth gives Gwen a knowing smile. "You have no idea." She has plenty idea, but there is still a part of Azoth missing -- the self he can't be and the perspective he cannot speak of. When he was that, Solaris could not fully control him. He won't be again until they know they can.
Gwen's managed to put dreams in a logical light for Azoth, which is an impressive feat in its own right. At least, seems logical enough to him. "I see... So they don't make sense, because they're a process of finding sense. Still sounds like a terrifying experience, but... I'm glad most of them aren't considered distressing."
Some are. The last one was. And what happens to Gwen next as she speaks of it is terribly distressing. Azoth does not shy away. He owes Gwen that.
Gathered. Taken away. Those left behind. Forgotten worlds.
It all tugs at something. Not the same way it tugs at Gwen or at Lan. Or maybe even at Loren. But on the edges of Azoth's memories, he feels a feeling he has no explanation for -- an event that's rare for him. He knows what they're all for. But this one is missing its connection, leading to empty space where history should go.
Azoth tries to give a reassuring squeeze. "You had something else to say. Or maybe he did," he clarifies, hoping it's gentle enough that it doesn't trigger anything else. But Gwen's determined to continue, and Azoth makes himself listen. "So that's what that was..."
He hadn't quite understood it then. The Stranger's machinations are especially bizarre to a machine like Azoth. He lacks an understanding of hallucinations and unreality in the same way as organics to. But that man definitely distorted Azoth's sensors.
What if I'm a danger.
Azoth gives a sheepish smile. This isn't the first time he's accidentally served as a mirror for someone else. But looking again to the bandage, he finds himself wilting. It's not easy. Any of it.
"Yeah, I'm... good at finding people." His smile weakens again. Gwen's already come to the conclusions on what that really means and the danger it poses. Solaris' reach is large when it wants to be. And for every scrap of help Azoth tries to give, his presence also marks continued successful infiltration.
"But as long as I don't understand what any of this means, I get to file it under data collection!" he chirps. "I'll go rest as long as you go rest, and we can let everyone make their own decisions about us."
He glances skyward. "...Then I'll go find Lan."
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
"Don't take it as a bad thing, Azoth." Gwen smirks. "Better you getting me than Leah herself. But that's only if she thinks it's something she needs to dig into. Maybe..."
She looks out into the bleak moondust. "... Maybe it was because she actually was concerned for Loren." A wish, or Gwen just choosing to be the fool.
Still, she hugs him again, because she can. Loren, in spite of all these reasons to hate her, did something selfless. She got to see Azoth, on top of it.
She just wishes it wasn't so hot out here already.
Standing up, Gwen offers her hand to Azoth. ".... I'll fill everyone in when I can. We just got attacked by two high-ranking members of Althena's Guard. One of 'em, Red Priestess Mauri, transformed into a weird fire hydra thing. I... still ain't good with fire. Which was real ironic, considerin'.... the whole... spark thing." Her smile is uneasy. "So a lot of this's just burns." She points to her head. "Also a concussion. Maybe. So maybe, all of Stranger business is just that!"
No it isn't, and Gwen doesn't seem to think it either.
But it's easier to play the fool sometimes, as you keep walking forward through the major cards the world decks you with.