TYPE: Transcription
DESCRIPTION: Conversation with a person of interest
PARTIES: Three [3]; One [1] Guardian-type, Class Titan, designate Donovan Morgan [DM] (POI #0268); One [1] Ghost-type, designate Eyeball [EB]; One [1] Guardian-type, Class Warlock, designate Aunor Mahal [AM] (AUN-326)
ASSOCIATIONS: Black Fleet; Crota; Darkness; Drifter; Emerald Coast (EDZ); Europa; Gambit; Hive; Kashaf, Afa [AKA Bog, Dredgen]; Mahal, Aunor; Morgan, Donovan; Morn, Eris; Ohr, Wahei; Rega-7; Sadihj, Samita; Tango, Charlie; Traitor's Die; Umbranomicon; Yor, Shadows of
//AUDIO UNAVAILABLE//
//TRANSCRIPT FOLLOWS...//
[sound of transmat arrival]
[DM:0.1] ...Hold up. This isn't the LZ for Emerald Coast. Eyeball, what's going on?
[EB:0.1] Something hijacked our transmat.
[AM:0.1] That was me. Keep your hands where I can see them, Morgan.
[DM:0.2] You. You got a lotta balls being this close to a Gambit match.
[AM:0.2] Keep your hands up!
[DM:0.3] Yeah, now I get my bearings, I know the combat area's just on the other side of that ruin over there. I can hear the shooting now.
[AM:0.3] I won't ask again, Morgan.
[DM:0.4] Okay, first? [EXPLETIVE DELETED] you, Mahal, if you were going to shoot me for disobedience, you'd have done it already.
[AM:0.4] Morgan--
[DM:0.5] Second? [EXPLETIVE DELETED] you, Mahal, if this was a sanctioned Praxic op, you wouldn't be alone, and you'd have locked-up Eyeball the second he popped into view.
[EB:0.2] Good point.
[sound of Ghost decompilation from tangibility]
[AM:0.5] Dammit--
[DM:0.6] Third? [EXPLETIVE DELETED] you, Mahal, just on general principle. I'm going to the match.
[AM:0.6] We've issued a warrant for Wahei's arrest.
[pause]
[DM:0.7] Okay. [EXPLETIVE DELETED] you, Mahal.
[AM:0.7] We have good reason to--
[DM:0.8] This is because of that [EXPLETIVE DELETED] book, isn't it?
[AM:0.8] You know about it?
[DM:0.9] She's my teammate, Mahal. She told me what she was planning before Rega arranged a meeting with Tango.
[AM:0.9] And you didn't try to stop her?
[DM:1.0] Why the [EXPLETIVE DELETED] would I want to stop her? Much less even think I COULD? When Wahei Ohr wants to learn something, she doesn't stop until she finds an avenue to that knowledge.
[AM:1.0] That book is--
[DM:1.1] A book. The book itself is just paper and ink. The knowledge it holds? Yeah, maybe it's not exactly safe to know. But until Eris crawled out of the pit and showed everyone it was possible to kill the Hope-Eater, everyone assumed learning about the Hive wasn't safe.
[AM:1.1] Morn isn't the best examp--
[DM:1.2] There was a time when [EXPLETIVE DELETED] Osiris himself was exiled from the City because everyone assumed trying to understand the Vex was dangerous. And while the guy's arrogant and self-righteous a lot of the time-- like certain other Warlocks I could mention-- the fact remains that he's been right more than he's been wrong.
[AM:1.2] This is different.
[DM:1.3] There it is. Typical Praxic mindset. "Only we know when something is safe or not."
[AM:1.3] The Darkness is not something any Guardian should be studying!
[DM:1.4] How the [EXPLETIVE DELETED] do you expect to withstand something like the [EXPLETIVE DELETED] Pyramids without trying to study them for any kind of weakness?! Rasputin knew they were coming, he went full ham against them, and they straight up didn't notice and then switched him off like a [EXPLETIVE DELETED] light bulb!
[AM:1.4] We have to stay true to the Light--
[DM:1.5] Oh, for [EXPLETIVE DELETED] sake--
[AM:1.5] That's what the Traveler chose us for!
[DM:1.6] The Traveler chose us to save mankind, to protect them, didn't it? You think the Big White Ball cares if we take any means we can to do it?
[AM:1.6] Too many Dark Age Warlords thought the same way. We must be better than that.
[DM:1.7] Aren't we? We both make our home in the largest human settlement since the Collapse. The people are free to come and go as they please, they haven't really wanted for anything in spite of a Fallen siege that lasted more than a century, and while they got displaced during the Red War, the overwhelming majority survived and were able to come back. And, again, they are free to come and go as they please.
[AM:1.7] This isn't going anywhere-- Look, Morgan. Are you prepared to accept that Guardians can go bad? Not simply... dabbling in shadow, like doing Gambit or subjecting themselves to the mad amusements of a deranged emperor. I mean... Dredgen Yor bad.
[DM:1.8] Considering you just name-dropped the [EXPLETIVE DELETED] boogeyman, then yes, I am.
[AM:1.8] Imagine what might happen if that same kind of corruption could subvert a powerful Guardian, like... Osiris, or the Hero of the Red War, or...
[DM:1.9] ...or a Warlock who helped kill a dark god?
[AM:1.9] Exactly.
[DM:2.0] You don't think I know what Wahei's doing? You don't think I know what that book's done to other people who've read it? People like Afa Kashaf or Samita
Sadijh?
[AM:2.0] How-- how do you know about them?
[DM:2.1] Shaman* told me about Sadijh. And Afa tried to recruit me to that pack of Yor-simps he ran with. I told him to [EXPLETIVE DELETED] off.
// * - TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: Shaman-9, teammate of both Donovan Morgan and Wahei Ohr. //
[AM:2.1] Why?
[DM:2.2] I got no problem wading into dark waters. Diving head-first and swimming into the deepest trench just because no one's stopping you is something else.
[pause]
[DM:2.3] Oh, sorry you're not buying it. 'Me am Titan, where crayon, me am only kill.' [EXPLETIVE DELETED] off.
[AM:2.2] That's not--
[DM:2.4] No, [EXPLETIVE DELETED] you. You looked as far as the armor and the arsenal and assumed I was full-bore in line with the Drifter's mindset.
[AM:2.3] You're not? You refused to cooperate with our investigation--
[DM:2.5] Because first, you're a Praxic, and you saw a Lightbearer who somehow commanded Taken and immediately assumed he was a bad guy. Second, because you didn't ASK me to cooperate, you practically DEMANDED it. Not that it matters, there were plenty of other Guardians who snitched.
[AM:2.4] The Drifter IS a bad influence. His philosophy is dangerous.
[DM:2.6] Only to hardline Praxic [EXPLETIVE DELETED] like you.
[AM:2.5] When it gets down to it, he will abandon you just to save his own hide.
[DM:2.7] Yes. And?
[pause]
[DM:2.8] Weren't expecting that answer? That's where Drifter and I are different. I might buy into some parts of his philosophy, wear the armor he provided, wield the guns he gave me, but at the end of the day, he's just a Lightbearer, while I am a Guardian.
[pause]
[AM:2.6] You could have saved me a lot of paperwork if you'd just told me that when I first approached you.
[DM:2.9] Yeah. Well. [EXPLETIVE DELETED] you, Mahal. I don't like you.
[AM:2.7] You know what? I'm fine with that. I don't like you either, Morgan.
[DM:3.0] Long as we know where we stand.
[AM:2.8] [pause] About Wahei.
[DM:3.1] [sighs]
[AM:2.9] Please, even if you don't like me, just hear me out.
[DM:3.2] What?
[AM:3.0] You say you trust Wahei, and that's fine, I wouldn't expect you not to, after what you've been through with her. But look at this from my perspective. She is in possession of two dangerous artifacts. The Traitor's Die was crafted in Hive rituals by the Blood of Oryx. Preliminary studies suggested that, used in the right way, it can show visions to the user. We haven't been able to confirm if these visions are objective or not. And without evidence to support that belief, I MUST assume that the visions are slanted to support a Hive perspective.
[DM:3.3] Fair enough. But I still have to assume that my teammate is aware of that and interpreting any visions accordingly.
[AM:3.1] But the Umbranomicon is a different matter. I want to believe that she can read it and make use of its knowledge without going mad, but EVERY person who has read more than a handful of pages of that book has either gone Dark or gone insane.
[pause]
[DM:3.4] I have to trust my teammate, Mahal. You know that.
[AM:3.2] Morgan--
[DM:3.5] But I'll do this much for you. I'll tell you where she's gone.
[AM:3.3] [sighs] Well, it's better than nothing.
[DM:3.6] Sure. You follow her at your own risk.
[AM:3.4] That's the nature of my business.
[DM:3.7] She's heading for Europa.
[AM:3.5] ...[EXPLETIVE DELETED].
[DM:3.8] Yeah. Like I said, follow her at your own risk.
[pause]
[sound of gunshot]
[AM:3.6] [grunts]
[DM:3.9] Relax, you'll be fine. Give your Ghost a minute or two, you'll be right as rain.
[AM:3.7] Why?
[DM:4.0] Because this is how I keep Drifter's Crew from assuming I'm a snitch.
[AM:3.8] You--
[DM:4.1] Eyeball, can you transmat me over to the match now?
[EB:0.3] You got it, Morgan.
[DM:4.2] Ta ta, little piggy.
[sound of transmat departure]
[AM:3.9] ...[EXPLETIVE DELETED] you, Morgan.
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