[b]November:[/b]

[b]Black: [/b]

You do find a few bugs, actually - one in a ceiling fixture, one inside a hollow of the desk, one in each private meeting room in incisions made in the carpet. But they’re old, dead. Whoever cared to do surveillance lost interest years ago. Long enough not to replace the tiny batteries, or place new bugs. 

As for the files? Well, follow the money. Martyrtech isn’t publicly traded, which limits how much about its financials it’s required to reveal. There’s no investors for fiduciary duties. A good thing, too, because the company bleeds it in papercuts. 

It’s not that it has no revenue - Returns on old patents and consulting services still bring in a decent revenue stream. It’s just that its expenses outstrip it - the price of real-estate on Thrones, wages, Nepenthe’s hardware, all that means the company runs into the red. Back of the envelope math, Singh’s paying the equivalent of a few hundred thousand dollars a year in 2023 money to keep the company bouyant. 

It’s not clear how long he can run the business like this, where the rest of his money is, how much he has. Educated guess? Singh’s probably got a strong investment portfolio and he’s running Martyrtech off the dividends. If he made a dollar more, it’d be reflected in the expenses. 

Other files show that this company is basically skunk works inc. Some of the patents seeing returns are; Wetware computing and in-vitro programming (collaboration with Yggrasil who did the lion’s share), EMDR therapy equipment (outdated, but one of the first to algorithmically optimize for the patient, rather than being one-size-fits-most). 

A big one is a way to categorize and score people on metrics that can lead to psychiatric diagnosis, and suggestions of optimal treatment. This is the biggest one, but it barely earns in the thousands-of-dollars range. It looks like the licensing cost is just a review fee - to ensure the work is being used ethically. 

Green sends the signal; it’s time for Goat.



Goat has been attached to Nepenthe like a violinist in a pro-choice parable.

“No tether.” Singh says. “Can’t risk the damage to Nepenthe. She’d let it happen, is the thing, if she thought it would help.” Sad, and proud. “It’s the thing we’ve had to be the most careful about.” 

Goat wakes up. And in the explosion of simultaneous voices you understand that Singh cannot;

[img]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/680660068642979863/1125048782191603793/Word_Art1.png[/img]

And Nepenthe replies:

[img]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/680660068642979863/1125048781889609780/Word_Art4.png[/img]

It’ll be more complicated after this. Introductions are the simplest part - nobody has said anything to respond to, and responses beget more responses, ideas fractioning off. And that’s already more than most people manage with just one psyche and just one mouth to express it. 

There is Goat, awake again. There is Nepenthe, whose hands you would be entrusting Goat to. There’s Singh, whose hands will not stop shaking as he scrolls on his phone a text summary that Nepenthe is sending him. 

And there you are, November. It’s safe to talk.



[b]Blue and Yellow[/b]

“The angels too,” Fiona murmurs. “And the penitent and the damned and the sinners, all.” 

“Tell me again about the sinners.” Crystal nips Fiona’s ear, and Fiona retreats back. 

“Really? Still?” She is not as exasperated as she’s pretending to be. 

“I have very happy memories of this spot.” Crystal pouts. “And I could stand adding to them, yes.” 

“We were just talking about-” Fiona starts, but Crystal silences her with a kiss.

“But there’s nothing left to say for now, is there?” She asks Yellow. The question is an invitation. 



[b]Aevum:[/b]

[b]Oxytoxin:[/b] Done. 
[b]Oxytoxin: [/b]You’ll hear from him soon
[b]Oxytoxin:[/b] Minimal tearing mostly scar tissue 
[b]Oxytoxin: [/b]Better out than in though
[b]Oxytoxin: [/b]fuck that thing was so tacky

Who goes to pick up Rudy? If anyone. A pickup would probably be[i] wise[/i]. 

Pink and White could be free now, if you wanted them to be. The crisis is ongoing - escalating, without Goat - but their cover is intact. They can leave and know they’ll be let back in with open arms.