Memory

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Memory>

*Shrugs*
I know a thing or two. But I won't pester you too repetitiously from this point.

@GalaxyRaider

I doubt you will find me easily after a point as well. No matter.
*Steps out onto empty space away from the maze, and a bridge rises from the depths to meet my feet*

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Memory>

I believe so. You can reach me, I assume, when you lot have things ready for me to come by?

@GalaxyRaider

We certainly can.
*The glass and gears fall away, leaving us in a sprawling three-dimensional labyrinth of self-lit translucent walkways, intersecting each other and with several falling away into emptiness, with rays of light frozen in mid-air emanating from the corners of each intersection*
And you seem to know how to find me.

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Memory>

That's about what I expected if I came here and got into negotiations at all. Completely reasonable; no objections.

@GalaxyRaider

*Stands up*
Very well then. Does that bring our business to its conclusion?

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Memory>

*Exaggeratedly nods in agreement*
I sure would hope not.

@GalaxyRaider

*Stands up*
I'll request authorization to begin analysis of the project. You will work hand in hand with Data Stream and will not be granted unsupervised access to the artifact. Understood?

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Memory>

You can tell the line of work you're in with an assumption like that, eh? Not that it would be advantageous to disclose something like that if I were planning to act in such a way.
*Clears my throat*
I'm not in the market of hurting anyone, attacking anyone or otherwise enacting extreme measures to get my way here. It's too delicate a problem to treat with anything less than the lightest touch. I will not be the cause for some of the worst events in my life to repeat.

@GalaxyRaider

*After a few moments of silence, folds up my glasses and clips them onto my shirt*
That water is potable. I'm not interested in poisoning you.

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Memory>

I lead with what matters to me. I'm selling you what matters to you. Let me be crystal clear- My priorities are unchanged.

@GalaxyRaider

And, hypothetically, what drastic action would you take were we to refuse?

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Memory>

Sure, in a vacuum, they are perfect unknowns. But to retort to both of those assertions, I will say that I have no say in whatever and however many resources you want to spend of your own into something like this. But, as grand as the resources at your disposal are, I believe you’re talking to the leading expert in all things related to this region of the Outside. I swear to you, my analysis, and my efforts, would be wasted if they were ignored and excluded.

@GalaxyRaider

A leading expert who began his appeal with the emotional impact of the project in his life. That's far from the utilitarian appeal you're making now. Why the sudden shift?

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Memory>

*Nods and holds the glass, not drinking from it as I speak in animated form*
Close. To be more precise, invert that second clause. I’m proposing we have a far greater chance of ensuring our safety through study, understanding and acting on any knowledge we gain, than by not studying it at all. It could very well be that keeping it under lock and key forever is sufficient, but odds are against that. Both from internal and external factors on their own. Incredibly so when weighed together.

@GalaxyRaider

The chance that it will remain dormant and the chance that it reactivates are both perfect unknowns at the moment. But at the same time, perhaps I agreed and told you I would dedicate Tier Five resources to studying the device. Something tells me that answer would not satisfy you.

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Memory>

*Furrows my brow, closes my eyes, and exhales*
How about any semblance of certainty that he won’t come crawling out on his own, in time? For every second we assume it’s safe, in the event that it isn’t, could be time for him to recover and come back. It’s not good for anyone to be sitting on an armed bomb, that much, I’m sure you agree with.
*Throws my hand out to the side, summoning a holographic display of a square chart divided into four quadrants, and some data strewn about with lines drawn across it to acknowledge correlation, and an assortment of footnotes*
Based on dividing possible scenarios of our situation into four groups, you can see easily that sitting on this thing is more likely to be dangerous than looking into it, if you map the permutations of possibilities with potential threat of action versus that of inaction.

@GalaxyRaider

In other words, your pitch is that the chance of us both understanding and neutralizing the artifact is greater than the chance of triggering a cataclysm by studying it. Correct?
*Snaps, and a masked Servant copy enters the room and hands you a glass of ice water, before bowing and exiting*

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Memory>

There’s no way to know without knowing. But fear of knowledge never got anyone anywhere.
*Shoves my hands into my pockets, thumbs out*
But I have some theories about the unbelievably endothermic nature of the gem, and the potential for it to be highly impractical for anyone to use as a weapon. I feel like something like that is worth knowing, as an active deterring fact to would-be thieves who would do anything to use it as such, consequences or no.

@GalaxyRaider

Do not be mistaken—we are are not cut from the same cloth. Fear of knowledge is indeed foolish, and yet, knowledge left unto itself has no inherent value; unapplied, information is worthless. The pursuit of knowledge is not a meaningful end.
*Rests my chin on clasped hands*
This philosophy is my master's, and you must understand it to trade with him. Information is a flexible tool, be it a building block for an elaborate blueprint or the minted currency of a transaction. So the question we face today is: How much is this pursuit worth to you, and what will be your ultimate return on investment?