One might think the cluttered conditions would be a distraction for Dr. Cvinth, the current office-holder. But Cvinth is an Eeee, and the ceiling of the room is a latticework of pipes from which the bat can simple hang and shuffle about upside down. To this end, all of the shelved books are also upside down on the higher shelves, and the currently open tome is likely upside down as well. The sunlight coming through the big window is alive with dust motes, and seems to be the only illumination in use at the moment.
Cvinth adjusts his (her?) glasses, and smiles to the arriving guests. The Eeee is going grey, and its long hair hangs straight down (or up, if you were inverted). There's no signs of a beard or moustache though, and the scholars attire is loose enough to hide any really gender cues, as well as being cinched at the ankles and wrists and belted at the waist to keep things from falling. Even the pockets are sideways and sealable. "Ah, Hakeber! It's been a while," the bat squeaks. "Who are your two companions?"
Hakeber makes introductions. "These are Katherine Vesuvius and Tasha Argentine," she notes. "Tasha is from Sinai, and is doing research on pre-Expedition mystery cults." To the two women, she says, "This is Dr. Cvinth, one of my advisors."
Tasha smiles upward, having to crane her neck a bit. "Hello, it's nice to meet you. I apologize for our barging in, but Hakeber assured me it would be acceptable?" She tilts her head, questioningly.
"Oh my, it's quite fine!" Cvinth asserts, coming closer along one of the pipes. It isn't clear if they were always part of the room or got added in later. "Hardly anyone cares about my field anymore! What is it you want to know? And.. pardon my asking, but what are you?"
"I'm a Vartan-Karnor hybrid," Tasha answers in the tone of someone who has answered the same question many, many times. "My mother is Vartan and my father is Karnor. As for why I'm here, I'm investigating the old gods, specifially those considered to be Progenitors and the cults of the same name. Neith, Horus, Adam ... Atum, and their cults such as the Cult of Neith, the Disciples of Ahriman, and related artifacts."
The bat adjusts its glasses - which seems odd, when one is hanging upside-down. "Oooo, the really old stuff," Cvinth coos. "Of course, the whole 'Progenitor' grouping didn't come until after the different cultures had been mingling for awhile, as a way of tying them all together, even though they didn't seem to have much in common in terms of culture and ritual. No, that came about because of the Teutons."
"The forebearers of the Kampfengruppe, developed on Terra and later reloacted to Fafnir? Supposedly they came across the tomb of humanity's creator, or so they claimed. I highly doubt they were the first to make the connection though; it seems more likely that began with the Khattans," Tasha remarks.
"Well, you are informed, it seems!" Cvinth chirps happily. "The Khattans are.. well, frankly riddled with secret societies. The way their culture is set up, it's difficult to label any particular aspect as religious however. They have several gods of myth, but they just don't seem to hold them in awe I suppose. It may just be the way they are, being cats and all."
"That may be true of the majority, but, there is certainly a minority that reveres their gods, or at least respects them. The Order of Mafdet once did, though it is long extinct -- which is true of many of the Progenitor cults it seems. As far as I can tell, the Kampfengruppe is the only one active and out in the open here. It appears the Disciples of Ahriman met their end during a rebellion some time after planetfall. Perhaps you know more about active Progenitor cults here on Abaddon, or elsewhere in this system?" The red woman asks as she manuvers between books until she's in a spot where she can look up without hurting her neck.
"Active?" Cvinth says. "Well, the Kampfengruppe may by an active cult, but they are difficult to penetrate so I can't be sure of their beliefs. The humans were late to the game, as the saying goes, with the whole Progenitor thing, but where the ones that announced their discoveries - the others either found their Origin Markers so long ago that they were forgotten or else kept them under wraps. It's clear that they were all found on worlds not far from their homeworlds, but host to the remains of ancient civilizations - and there isn't anything to tie those together, and no way to analyze the Markers that I've heard of, so they could have been planted there the day before the exploration ships arrived. It's suggested that the Teuton's found their stuff before the Silent Ones did - but again, there is a wall of silence - heh - surrounding the Silent Ones. It's not hard to see why they would cover up such a discovery, for fear of being executed as heretics. So the Teutons are the actual source of th
the Progenitor label, since before them, none of the others were aware of the existence of other Markers besides their own."
Tasha nods, then digs out her datapad and asks, "I'm curious how the Progenitor figures relate to previous and existant deity worship; what's the relation between the Star, Neith, and the Archons both as beings and as a title? I'm also curious how Ahriman relates to the trinary deities of the Celestial Empire, and if you can clarify a bit on why the Human Progenitor seems to be both an Archon Adam Kadamon and the /godhead/ Atum?/"
"Ah, well this is where religion muddles things up a bit," Cvinth notes. "You see, the Markers and the gods and goddesses and Archons are not contemporary to one another. The deities came first, and for the most part were forgotten or replaced by more popular religions well before the Markers could have been discovered. So, really, the particular deities associated with the Markers is a bit arbitrary, save for the fact that they were all very early deities. I imagine their roles were altered to fit the new mythology of the Markers. The notion of Adam-Atum-Ormazd is from the Teutons, but not as the Progenitor of humanity. Eve would be the one filling that role, with Adam being above her."
"According to the Teutons, the hierarchy would be Adam as the godhead, above the Archons which were themselves early deities. This is because they claimed to have found not just the Marker, but the body of Eve and a book explaining it all."
"Ah, that's right. So now we have a creator with a higher ranking being above her. The Human Marker was spposedly found in Eve's tomb, which suggests a body may have also been located, if it persisted until that point. Adam appears to have withdrawn after Eve's death, relocating to the 'Hall of Souls'. I have also heard the Ahriman supposedly interfered with Adam, Eve, or both in some fashion, seperating them from their creations," the hybrid woman exlains. She then glances to Katherine and asks with a smile, "Not too boring, I hope? I'm not all Titan piloting and exploration, you know."
"I've always been a history buff," Katherine notes. "Well, military history.."
"Ah, that is an interesting notion about Ahriman," Cvinth says. "You see, there is one thing that ties the Archon-deities together, and is perhaps why they were chosen: they all abandoned their posts, so to speak. They set things in motion, and then vanished. Which is fairly odd, for a deity. The other thing to keep in mind is that the Teutons were the only ones to announce their discovery, so it's quite possible that the other Markers had guide books or similar with them - although if they had the bodies of the deities in question, that would have been a bit harder to cover up. Those worlds all became colonies after all."
"This is military history in a way. A lot of wars were fought over things like this," the younger woman notes. "The Khattans cults even made war against each other, when normally the Khattans prefer a subtle approach, preferably through agents and proxies. While I don't completely trust the source, I have been told their Origin Marker was lost to a sun in one such exchange." She then turns back to the advisor and adds, "I'm not sure I believe the story, though. As for the deities, that's interesting to know. There has been some thought they came here, though I do not know why. I have however heard that following their footsteps may be an inherently dangerosu affair, which is why I'm dubious about the loss of the Khattan Marker. You may not know this, but an element of the Khattans believed that the gods came here enough to fund an expedition within the grater Expedition."
"The Khattans were the prime financier of the Expedition, true, even though it was the Terrans and Silent Ones that actually pulled it all together," Cvinth notes. "That was enough to get the other major powers to join up, for fear of being left out - although I suppose if these cultists were highly placed they could have influenced the decision. Certainly they must have been in contact with one another after the finds on Fafnir. Of course, the Teutons didn't let anyone see any of the evidence they claimed - which could have been the result of the other groups telling them to keep it secret. It must have come as quite the blow to those humans to find out there were other Markers for non-human races."
"I can imagine," Tasha remakrs with a hint of disataste. She shakes her head and says, "I know for a fact there were elements of the cults amongst the fleet as well as several pieces of technology and artifacts secreted around the Fleet to use in their purpose of investigation. What I do not know, exactly, is what or where this 'Hall of Souls' is supposed to be, what may lie inside of it, what dangers it poses beyond the annhilation of the species that reaches it, or even if it's an actual place or more of a metaphor."
"I am also uncertain as to the meaning of the sides of the Markers," Tasha adds after a glance at her datapad.
"Since the Markers were kept secret, the number of sides for each was up for debate," Cvinth says. "As far as everyone was concerned, they were all identical, until the groups started communicating with one another. Then the numbering may have been used as an argument for who should lead the new Progenitor movement. But that didn't go anywhere, either. The problem with secret societies is that.. they like to keep their secrets. Most of what we know is from confessions of members that were arrested - Imperials and Silent Ones, for the most part. We've no idea how far back the cults go for the same reasons. The Archons they chose were not widely worshipped, and likely had cults centered on them. This could be why the members would be influential however - if they really had secret knowledge to take advantage of."
"Have you ever seen one of the Markers, Professor?" Tasha inquires, looking up from her datapad.
"There is also a problem with the sequence of the linear arrangement of sides," she adds, head tilting as Vartans often wont to do.
"Well, no," Cvinth says. "Their existence is based on hearsay."
"As for the issue of the number of sides.. no two sources seem to agree on the sequence. But that doesn't sound like the problem you mentioned?" the bat asks.
"It certainly does involve a great deal of hearsay," Tasha agrees. She glances back at her datapad, then notes, "One side, two sides, three sides, and so on. If this sequence is used to establish a heirachy, it would list Humans as first. Alternatively, as a hexagon, the Vartan Marker may be closer to a position of prominence -- but there is one problem with either sequence, aside from the fact I do not believe in the arguement of prominence: a two sided Marker. It is not possible with the geometry the Markers have established, and I'm uncertain what this means, if anything. I would find it very hard to believe space traveling alien creators could not notice this error. What do you think?"
"But the lack itself is interesting. Why use the sequence if one design cannot be used? Why use numbered sides at all? I'm begining to wonder if it wasn't a very clever way to generate contention, perhaps as a test to see if those who found them could be trusted with what they represent," she continues.
"Well, a two-sided Marker is possible, if a one-sided one is a circle," Cvinth notes. "Bisect the circle, so you have one curved side and one straight side. Or two curves that meet at angled points."
"That would certainly be a radical departure from the designs I have seen, but I can't deny you may be correct," Taha admits. She taps her nail against the screen on her datapad, types something a moment later, then asks, "To go back to an earlier question, do you know anything about where the Progenitors go off too when they leave their 'posts'? I have heard that it is some place called the 'Hall of Souls,' but the nature of the place, if it is indeed a place, is uniformly vague across my research. Do you know anything about it?"
"The Hall of Souls, in this context, would refer to something translated from the Book of the Names of the Dead, which the Teutons claim to have found with Eve - and somehow be able to translate. It is also quite central to the entire Progenitor notion, in that it is supposedly the wellspring of souls. Although that in itself is ambiguous. Do all souls come from there? Or just the ones the Progenitors used to create the first people, if you look at the story that way? Or is it where the Archons were created? Very little of the Book has been leaked over the ages, and frankly most of what is claimed to have been in it is probably hoaxed for profit. I'm sure that the translation is a bit off, at least in some points. For instance, Ahriman, as named in the Book, is not the name used by the Celestials."
"That is quite peculiar. The book itself may not even exists, if we take the very real possibility of hoax or manipulation to the extreme. How have the Kampfengruppe reacted to inquiries regarding the book in the past?" The red woman asks.
"Oh, they react the same as to any inquiry: none of your business, alien," Cvinth notes with a chuckle. "Ask them about the weather and you will get a similar response. They don't share anything."
Tasha grins, albiet wryly. "I've noticed. Compared to the Kampfengruppe, the Silent-Ones are practically gregarious. Have you ever heard of hostility towards anyone inquiring in to the matter before?"
"The notion of Ahriman opposing Adam is not strange, however, in the proper context," Cvinth lectures. "The Celestials referred to angra mainyu which could mean several things, and not necessarily ones that could be personified. One translation is 'inhibiting thought' for instance, while Ahriman seems to personify 'malign spirit', which is another translation of the same terms. And the Kampf react with hostility to just about everything, if they react at all. They aren't known for sending out assassins to target people they don't like, however, if that is your concern."
"It's always good to know I won't be attracting assassins," Tasha admits with a more amused grin. "I have to keep in mind politics as I investigate my pet project, too. I'm sure you know how it is. Anyway, so if what you're saying is correct, we could be dealing with abstract principles rather than actual beings -- or beings that simply represent the principle, which is often the case with deities. What we don't know is if it's an actual being, an avatar or simply a abstract concept being presented as incarnate for the purposes of storytelling. I suppose there's really no way to know, though I have met a being claiming to be aware of, at least, the path to the Hall and even claiming so much as to hear the orders of whatever being or beings may be behind it all; does the name 'Lord Yama' mean anything to you?"
"Ah, that would be from Terran mythology, I believe," Cvinth notes. "A death god of sorts, although there are parallels in Celestial myth as well. More of a judge, or wrathful deity than one that was worshipped. Although there are elements still extant in the Great Serpent religion that is the primary belief of the modern Celestials - the Great Serpent devours the souls of the dead, and either destroys them or recycles them into new lives."
"The Celestial incarnation of Lord Yama was the son of Adoniranakh and Sutaranakh - the Sun and Moon, respectively."
"A very ominous figure, in line with what I experienced," Tasha murmurs. After taking a deep breath to clear her head as the memories of how close she came to death at the hands of the self-same judge, the young woman lowers her datapad and says, "That concludes the questions I had, unless you have some for me, or have any insights you think I may have missed or would value knowing..?"
"You mentioned Neith, who was an ancient Silent Ones war goddess, although also a goddess of fate. The Khattan Mafdet was the goddess who protected them against serpents, oddly enough. It's been suggested that she may refer to a time when the Khattans first encountered the Celestials on less than friendly terms."
"That seems as likely a story as any. More than anything, I've found every question just leads to further mysteris. It's like flying through the city in the dark, so I've been trying to find what few pieces of information I can, as I can. But anyway, thank you for taking the time to speak with us," Tasha inclines her head respectfully. "We'll be off then, unless you two have anything you need to say before we leave?" She asks of her companions.
"As for questions," the Eeee continues, "are you actually looking for the Hall of Souls, in the Seventh Heaven?"
Tasha pauses, glancing back to the scholar and watching him a moment before answering, "If there is such a thing, there is the possibility that I will seek it out."
"I'd like to know what you find, if you do," Cvinth notes. "My kind has no Origin Marker that I am aware of, after all."
"Nor does half of my kind. If whatever I should find is something I may safely share with the world, then I will do so. If it is not, I will likely hae to conceal it until such time that it does not present a danger. I have heard that approaching the Hall of Souls without the, for lack of a more definite descriptor, mindset can result in the "destruction" of all those of the same species as the contact. As I am the only one of my kind, and should that prove to be true and occur, I am hoping I alone will disappear -- in which case you may be able to learn something from my passing if you inquire afterwards," the young woman says.
Then, Tasha glances to her companions, "Ready to get going?"
"If you want," Hakeber says. "I do have an errand to run."
"I won't keep you waiting any longer then." Tasha turns and gives the Eeee a smile, "And thank you again for seeing us. C'mon, you two." And with that, she turns to leave with her friends.
"Let me know if you decide to enroll!" Cvinth says in lieu of farewell. Once outside, Hakeber admits, "I still don't which pronoun to use for Dr. Cvinth."
"I was trying very hard to avoid using them," Tasha admits as they walk along. She glances back for a moment, then admits, "I wish I had time to enroll, but I'm far too busy with the JEF and my personal projects right now. Maybe when we've grown a bit I'll be able manage the time. Wouldn't that be something?" She smiles at Hakeber in particular, then asks, "Do you think you can run that errand now? It would probably be best that Katherine not join us."
"Of course, I'll meet you back at Clemson's place?" Hakeber asks.
"That sounds good. I'll see Katie back home, then we can get going." Tasha then turns to the model and explains, "We need visit a unsavory part of town to look in to some things, so it would be best you not come with us. While Hake and I are relatively unknown, you would probably be recognized and that could lead to a very uncomfortable situation for you. I plan to be armed, in fact, so it's not just you, but you would attract more attention than we could handle."
"Ah, you're going to talk to the Offworld Legion then, aren't you?" Katherine guesses, one eyebrow arched.
"So much for that. Yes, we're walking in to a Kampfengruppe dive to gather information. It is not a plasant place, especially towards women, and we need to take certain steps to blend in -- and we can only do this because we're not widely known. I really fear for your safety if you were to walk in there, and while I am willing to defend you, it would likely result in our losing our lead at best, the hybrid woman admits, shrugging a little. "It is what it is. I don't even like the risk Hakeber is taking, but she assures me she knows what she's doing. But I bring my swords for a reason."
"Don't worry about it, I'm not offended," Katie claims, holding up a hand. "I can't be involved with such things. Plausible Deniability and all that."
Tasha smiles a little at that. "I'm glad you understand. Sometimes we mustdo things we dislike in order to keep up appearances and maintain safety. I will see you later tonight, or if not, tomorrow morning when we head to the Pit."
"Anyway, lets enjoy the walk back -- unless you want to fly," the cadet insists in a cheerier tone.
The location is different this time, since it's still daytime. Hakeber takes Tasha to a crashed ship that's been reduced to little more than a husk by centuries of scavenging - whatever is left is either of no value, or the technology to recycle it doesn't exist anymore on Abaddon. "This is where my dead-drop is," Hakeber explains, going to an ancient locker within the hulk. She actually has a key to open it, and retrieves a folded piece of paper from inside.
"At least we don't need to fondled up by half the bar this time," Tasha remarks as she scans the surrounding area, back to Hakeber as she works. "Any luck?"
"I kind of like the fondling," Hakeber notes, and reads the message. "Well.. I think Captain Herschel wants to meet. There's a time and coordinates outside the city, and.. uh.. a weird phrase: The Chimera Is Slain. The Hero Has Stormed Heaven. His Soaring Steed Awaits The Commands Of The Gods. That mean anything to you?"
"It's a line from the mythology of Bellerophon, which -- unlikely to be a coincidence -- is the name of the JEF's current flagship. It is also a particularly ominous choice: Bellerophon is thrown from his flying mount, Pegasus, after daring to believe himself accomplished enough to ascend to heaven. The chimera is a creature he slew with the help of pegasus earlier in his career, but I am also a chimera and as one of Bellerophon's crew, could be the considered to play his role -- and about to fall and be cursed. It reads like a warning, perhaps a threat," the hybrid woman explains, frowning as she continues to watch the area. "We should come prepared. You may not want to come at all."
"And one more thing: it sounds like they know," she adds a second later.
"How would he know that phrase though?" Hakeber asks, and bites her lower lip. "I hate mysteries I can't look into. But it also seems this is a direct invitation for just you: these coordinates are almost twenty miles outside the city. Easy for you to fly, but I'd need a vehicle and that would cancel out the whole secrecy thing.."
"It feels like a trap," Tasha admits as she finally turns to face her friend now that she's certain the area is clear. "I'm glad you won't be going. This will be very dangerous. They may just want to confront me, but it's also possible they intend to kidnap me or even try to kill me. If they feel I'm a threat to their pursuits and beliefs, if they realize how close we are, they may be desperate. Still, I intend to go; it seems unlikely they'll risk attacking me, I just can't be sure. Killing me would mena that the path to Adam has been reset: whomever followed my hoofsteps would need to stand before Lord Yama, or face his wrath."
"Well, what do I do if you don't come back?" Hakeber asks. "Should you risk taking along your tablet?"
"I think I'd better get a gun though, just to be safe. Katie can probably arrange that -- as much as I like my armor I don't want to test it against an ambush of people who know about it, holding just a pair of swords," the red woman adds in thought. "They have reason to dislike me for other reasons too. I'm the one who restarted the JEF, and pushed for PHTO assistance. If they kill me they could also hurt Gabriel, maybe cause the JEF to collapse." She pauses to glance down at the pouch containing her datapad, muzzle twisting, then says, "I'll upload the data to Harmonia then purge everything except its basic functions and communications functions, which I'll assign to a spoken purge command. Unless you'ld feel better holding on to it?"
"As long as you can use it to communicate, and be tracked through it, I'd say take it along. Just don't take it out. If it's not a trap, Herschel will still not want to be recorded," Hakeber says.
"I'll honor his wishes if he's being genuine. Now lets get out of here -- I have prep work to do and the last thing we need is to get delayed now. I'll fly you back, then I need to see Katie. Her military contacts should be able to get me something," Tasha says. Instead of waiting, she simply scoops Hakeber up and begins walking towards the exit where she can take wing. "I'm sorry for all the cloak and dagger and the danger. If something happens to me, I want you stick to safe areas and contact Gabriel. Maybe contact Katie if you feel things are getting too dangerous. Bring Clemsen."
"Clemson? He'd just melt all over the floor," Hakeber claims, and holds on tight. "Try not to be noticed carrying me!"
"I'll fly high; there's not enough fliers in this city to risk being spotted easily." Breaking in to a run, soon the young woman is racing into the dimming light as she takes wing and begins to ascend. "Bring Clemsen," she insists over the rush of air, "He might be in danger for associating with us."
"Oh! I hadn't thought of that," Hakeber admits, and then goes quiet as she clings to Tasha.
Mr. Invention sets an ornate looking metal case on the table before Tasha. "These are my personal sidearms," the Karnor says. "I expect to get them back."
"They'll come back if I do, that's all I can promise," Tasha says as she reaches to open the case. "I'll bring my cloak too -- it's not perfect but at least it conceals most of my armor. I don't want to alarm anyone heading out."
Inside the case are a matched pair of automatic pistols, each with a twelve-inch long barrel. The finish is glossy black, with silver filigree depicting, of all things, flowers. The grips are thick, made for Karnor hands, and there are two clips of ammunition - one with red tipped high-caliber bullets, the other with green tipped ones.
"Armor piercing ammunition?" The young woman asks, looking up and raising a brow.
"Not quite," Mr. Invention notes. "Red for incendiary rounds, green for fragmentation. Anti-monster rounds."
"Of course. You must have quite an arm and a steady hand to be able to use these effectively. I'd like to see that, some day." The woman accepts the weapons and loads each, though she does not charge the weapons yet. Both are slide in to her belt before she looks up. "Are you sure about this? These weapons ... " her voice trails off as she watches the man, then she simply smiles. "Of course you're sure. Mr. Invention is not a man of uncertainty. And by the way ... Tell Katie's father that I never meant to be trouble for her. I actually never expected to meet her, things just ... Happened. There may be some fallout if I disappear, and I won't sad if you deny any association. Call me a thief if it protects Katie."
"I made this weapons myself, and have made sure that your personal association with Katie is known only to myself and Miss Necessity," the man replies. "As far as everyone else is concerned, you came in for the photo shoot and that was the end of it. And you will come back, because I know you do not want to disappoint me. I'd have to make another set of pistols from scratch."
"You're right. I may have come here for Katie, but I'm glad I met you, too. Katie really has wonderful people working for her, and really talented too. I'll do my best to live up to the trust you've given me." After taking a moment to look herself up and down, Tasha nods, then extends her hand, "I guess that's it then. I'd better go, destiny doesn't like to be kept waiting." She looks up and offers one last lopsided smile. "I'll be seeing you, Mr. Invention."