Daww.
You stick your tongue out when you concentrate.
Adorable.

>>1116701
I think she was trying to pepperspray that guy and got herself.
Understandable.
Given him helping immediately, i suspect he was just a dumbass with no idea of how itd look getting flirty after taking someone to a dark, creepy spot.
Oh, hey.
He had mints in his pocket. Help yourself.
Cant have too much deadguy on them.

>>1116712
Agreed.
Fracturing the... lines maybe?
That indicates Its definately a rune or sigil or word of power that activates on... what exactly?
Its not a mind as cameras may be smart these days but not that smart.
The only shared trait between humans and cameras would be the eye and the camera both have a lens.
Unless thats too specific a trigger and whatever rules govern this specific weirdery are vague enough to cover anything which can behold it.
Sorry.
Probably not relevant.
Do like to figure things out.

... say. Fera.
Do your cards work on dead bodies?
Science and easily distracted minds demand answers!

I really don't think we need to experiment with goggles. Simply spraypainting it with closed eyes should be fine.

Also of note: despite the fact you're wearing those partially-spraypainted goggles, we can see the photos clearly.

>>1116726

Probably activates on being copied or reproduced. Reproduced in your eyes and brain, reproduced on film. I'll bet money that concrete wall took some damage when the angel(?) spray painted the pattern on it.

HEY! WE STILL HAVE THE REQUISITION FORM! REQUISITION A BASILISK GRAFFITI NEUTRALIZER! OR A GLADII-FULLY-HEALER!

Oh, yeah, we can requisition something to heal Gladii for sure. I think spraypaint is enough to neutralize the graffiti, although... to *really* kill it, we need some paint thinner.

Silicon 2025/12/10(Wed)02:51 No. 1118874 ID: be7ff9
File 176536389561.png - (436.00KB , 1500x1000 , C01_13_A.png )

> More importantly! Well actually not all that importantly. But if FOR SOME REASON you needed to look at the basilisk without spraypainting over it, check out that visor. Shattered, with distorted eyes. If you use that photo to replicate that visor, it's probably protection against the basilisk!

> Fancy goggles! Alright that confirms that scrambling the image works.

I think you're right! Assuming that this... person in the photos made the basilisk and lived, it's safe to say they knew how to counteract it.


> Those goggles, they seem to act as a filter, fracturing the images so they don't fully connect all at once.
> Maybe you can do something like that. Put on cracked goggles filled with water, anything that lets you see in fragments.

I doubt it's that simple. The goggles I have are made of pretty thin plastic that doesn't refract the light very much at all. Just filling them with water might distort the image but not shatter it the way these goggles seem to. That's probably beyond our means to recreate, unfortunately.

You know... The hand mirror did crack when it fell... Perhaps if we cracked it some more, it could be used to look at the anomaly. Though I'm not sure what good that would do us exactly. It's certainly not as good as these green goggles would be. Figuring out the shape and size of anything with an unbroken mirror is already kind of confusing. I imagine it only gets worse if it's all messed up.


> I really don't think we need to experiment with goggles. Simply spraypainting it with closed eyes should be fine.

That'll be my go-to for now.


> Also of note: despite the fact you're wearing those partially-spraypainted goggles, we can see the photos clearly.

That's because I did eventually take off the goggles and look at all of the pictures without them.
Silicon: It's definitely not because I found these pictures too hard to look at with the spraypaint effect applied and got rid of it.


> could those be stencils for the killer sigil? perhaps each one holds a portion of the pattern so they can be safely handled, and only when combined do they kill.
> If so this would indicate that the deadly image may be a series of smaller images. May be the effect is stronger with more of them. It would explain why Gladii got hurt even with the small area the mirror would have shown.

Maybe? Impossible to say without access to the stencils. And even then. How would one test that? Honestly, those stencils should probably be destroyed.
Oh God... Stencils imply this is repeatable. They could just make more basilisks if they wanted. They probably will!


> Unusual that the sheriff died without making noise, but it seems the other pictures were taken when the victims collided with walls. ...oh, he shined a flashlight on it. I'm guessing that with more light, the effect is more powerful, so it killed him differently.

I suppose that's possible. He got a better look than anybody else and it just killed him instantly? Maybe!


> Agreed.
> Fracturing the... lines maybe?
> That indicates Its definately a rune or sigil or word of power that activates on... what exactly?
> Its not a mind as cameras may be smart these days but not that smart.
> The only shared trait between humans and cameras would be the eye and the camera both have a lens.
> Unless thats too specific a trigger and whatever rules govern this specific weirdery are vague enough to cover anything which can behold it.
> Sorry.
> Probably not relevant.
> Do like to figure things out.

Yeah I get it, it is very strange to think about. A picture that kills is already very strange, but one can imagine such a process to be... physical in a way. But it also destroys cameras, which are just not the same thing as a person. What's the connection?


> Probably activates on being copied or reproduced. Reproduced in your eyes and brain, reproduced on film. I'll bet money that concrete wall took some damage when the angel(?) spray painted the pattern on it.

The wall certainly didn't feel very damaged when I touched it. Mostly felt smooth, which I presume was because of the thick paint. And the other parts felt just like all the other walls. But maybe the damage is deeper?

Silicon 2025/12/10(Wed)02:51 No. 1118875 ID: be7ff9
File 176536390626.png - (419.91KB , 1500x1000 , C01_13_B.png )

> Whoever that guy was, they're either a skilled artist or filled with processing power.

> Also very interesting that the basilisk was created via spraypaint and stencils. I'd have thought it would require more fine detail than that. The halo implies an anomalous individual created the thing, though...

Yeah that's what it is, isn't it?! A halo! That's weird! I doubt that's just some guy with a visual arts degree.


> I kindof want to keep this camera, so that we can give it to our superiors as evidence of a secondary target...

I wonder if these superiors actually care. I mean they might. They should! But well... Agent Gladii didn't seem terribly interested in figuring anything out beyond what the anomaly is and how it might be neutralized. The mission orders, as far as we can actually read them, only instruct us to neutralize. But maybe Gladii's attitude isn't indicative of the Agency as a whole. I really hope it isn't.

> if we can get some disposable cameras from the gas station we can use those to confirm the anomaly is disabled once we sparypaint over it. Make sure to get at least two, so you can use one to confirm the basilisk normally destroys cameras.
> Go get some cameras, use one to confirm the effect, tag over the graffiti, then use one or two more cameras to confirm it's safe to observe.

It's not that big a store. I didn't see any cameras in there and I honestly would be surprised if they stocked that sort of thing in the age of smartphone cameras. Even the cameras our culprit used weren't disposable per se. Just fairly cheap digital cameras.


> HEY! WE STILL HAVE THE REQUISITION FORM! REQUISITION A BASILISK GRAFFITI NEUTRALIZER! OR A GLADII-FULLY-HEALER!

> Oh, yeah, we can requisition something to heal Gladii for sure. I think spraypaint is enough to neutralize the graffiti, although... to *really* kill it, we need some paint thinner.

Oh yeah we do have that form. Hm... I don't have a pen. But surely such a thing can be found. Maybe if I search the bodies one more time. Otherwise, David should have one.

But what do I actually do with it once I've filled it in? I don't think Gladii ever explained how it works. Ugh I guess I'll have to bother them again.

Fera: "Gladii?"
Gladii: "hhKkhh.. Just... just kill the... hhhHHh damn thing already..."
Fera: "I will! but I uhm... i need to use the requisition form. How does it work?"
Gladii: "ghhhHhhk just... Just... hHHhhh f-finish... hhHHHgkhhh"

No help there.

Silicon 2025/12/10(Wed)02:52 No. 1118876 ID: be7ff9
File 176536392259.png - (437.15KB , 1500x1000 , C01_13_C.png )

> Hmm. Looks like she meant to pepperspray the guy, but didn't mean to get him killed. Her hovering over his leg was probably because she was checking if he was dead, and once she realized that she went into the corner in shock. Then she took his stuff, because... I dunno. Considering they used symbols instead of names, maybe it was to remove any evidence of their organization... but she left the note behind? Maybe she just didn't find the note, or didn't expect him to still be carrying it.

> I think she was trying to pepperspray that guy and got herself.
> Understandable.
> Given him helping immediately, i suspect he was just a dumbass with no idea of how itd look getting flirty after taking someone to a dark, creepy spot.

Yeah I think they might both not be terribly bright. The removal of evidence is suspicious. I'd certainly like to follow up on all this with Ms. "Goth-chick" at some later date. Maybe she didn't mean to kill him. But she must be connected to the actual killer.

> Oh, hey.
> He had mints in his pocket. Help yourself.
> Cant have too much deadguy on them.

No.

Silicon 2025/12/10(Wed)02:52 No. 1118877 ID: be7ff9
File 176536393967.png - (436.20KB , 1500x1000 , C01_13_D.png )

> ... say. Fera.
> Do your cards work on dead bodies?
> Science and easily distracted minds demand answers!

...

Silicon 2025/12/10(Wed)02:52 No. 1118878 ID: be7ff9
File 176536395168.png - (428.66KB , 1500x1000 , C01_13_E.png )

...

Silicon 2025/12/10(Wed)02:52 No. 1118879 ID: be7ff9
File 176536396133.png - (446.19KB , 1500x1000 , C01_13_F.png )

...

Silicon 2025/12/10(Wed)02:52 No. 1118880 ID: be7ff9
File 176536397542.png - (345.03KB , 1500x1000 , C01_13_G.png )

...

Silicon 2025/12/10(Wed)02:53 No. 1118881 ID: be7ff9
File 176536398433.png - (409.94KB , 1500x1000 , C01_13_H.png )

...

Silicon 2025/12/10(Wed)02:53 No. 1118882 ID: be7ff9
File 176536399218.png - (263.94KB , 1500x1000 , C01_13_I.png )

...

Silicon 2025/12/10(Wed)02:53 No. 1118883 ID: be7ff9
File 176536400214.png - (396.84KB , 1500x1000 , C01_13_J.png )

Seriously?

I mean... I guess I could try. I uh...

Should I?

Silicon 2025/12/10(Wed)02:53 No. 1118884 ID: be7ff9
File 176536401452.png - (242.19KB , 1500x1000 , C01_13_K.png )

Do I have to?

Silicon 2025/12/10(Wed)02:53 No. 1118885 ID: be7ff9
File 176536402897.png - (777.40KB , 1500x1000 , C01_13_L.png )

Okay, it's probably important that I get a grip on how this stuff works. So I pick up Gladii's card again and take a deep breath before moving over to the awfully ripe corpse of the athletic guy. Breathing shallow breaths, I gently push the card against his chest. And... It sinks in!

My every muscle tenses up painfully when the dead man raises his head and begins to speak in a quiet, raspy voice.

: "This sucks, being back. I sampled the great void and now I'm jealous of the dead guy over there."
Gladii: "What the f- hhkggk-uck?!"
: "Shit, now I'm getting all reflective. I shouldn't have made music. Every song, every note, every tone? Stains on perfection. I spent my whole life on... fucking up a perfectly good silence."
Gladii: "What d- did you do?! HhHHhhhgghkkk... Hk..."
Fera: "Uuuhhh..."
: "I gotta be done with it. If I can't die and stay dead, maybe I need to... silence the universe."
Fera: "Okay, nope!!"

I yank the card out of him and his head slumps back down. He's silent. Still. It's as if nothing happened. Eerie!

I get upright and turn to move away and-

Silicon 2025/12/10(Wed)02:54 No. 1118886 ID: be7ff9
File 176536404068.png - (466.83KB , 1500x1000 , C01_13_M.png )

Fera: "UaaAAAGH!"
Gladii: "... hhHhgh"
Fera: "Sorry, you startled me!"
Gladii: "hHhh Let me see that."

Gladii snatches the card from my hand and looks at it.

Silicon 2025/12/10(Wed)02:54 No. 1118887 ID: be7ff9
File 176536405119.png - (448.47KB , 1500x1000 , C01_13_N.png )

Gladii: "Huh..."
Their tone is wistful and sad.
Gladii: "... Huh..."

When they hand the card back to me, they have re-assumed their flat affect, however.
Gladii: "If this represents what I think it does, -ghhHhkh- you haven't taken it from me entirely. It's... dulled."
Fera: "Thank you. That's... really useful information."

Before I remember why we agreed not to look at it, I've already turned the card over in my hand.

Silicon 2025/12/10(Wed)02:54 No. 1118888 ID: be7ff9
File 176536406468.png - (1.69MB , 1500x1000 , C01_13_O.png )

That's the Ten of Swords, by my count.
Odd. Given what David's card looked like, I would have expected this to depict Gladii. But that's a different suit and the hair's not the right colour

Fera: "What do you think it represents?"
Gladii: "Again, I'll not put ideas in your head about how your own practice works."
Fera: "But..."
Gladii: "And I think sorting out which part of that grisly display was me and which part was the dead man will be a valuable exercise."
Fera: "Of course you think that."

I carefully tuck the Ten of Swords in the inside pocket of my jacket.

Gladii: "You are hhHh... covered in blood, by the way."
Fera: "Yeah I know."

Silicon 2025/12/10(Wed)02:54 No. 1118889 ID: be7ff9
File 176536409344.png - (426.99KB , 1500x1000 , C01_13_P.png )

Fera: "You uh... Seem to be doing a lot better all of a sudden."
Gladii: "I... lost my train of thought."
Fera: "And that helped?"
Gladii: "Evidently."
Fera: "What were you thinking about that whole time? The basilisk?!"
Gladii: "I felt compelled to reconstruct it in my mind. I still do... It's... I think it's coming back. hhHhgh..."
Fera: "Do you mean like a supernatural compulsion?"
Gladii: "Possibly."

Fera: "The talking dead guy really spooked you, huh?"
Gladii: "It was not the... necromancy alone that shocked me. It was the things he said."
Fera: "Why?"
Gladii: "At the peril of spoiling the aforementioned exercise... hHhh... I related to the sentiment. That is all I will say."

Fera: "So the Peanut Gallery has suggested I use the requisitons form to get some gear. But you never explained how it works."
Gladii: "Fill... hHhhh it in. Deposite it in a slot. ghhkk... Most any slot will do."
Fera: "And then?"
Gladii: "And then y- hKk 're done."
Fera: "Okay that sounds simple. But what do I actually write in there?"
Gladii: "Fill in the blank boxes. Leave the hatched ones empty. Requisition is a powerful tool if you know the... Ghhkhhh structures and words it responds to. But for now, I suggest you keep it simple. A list of items perhaps? hHhhh..."
Fera: "Okay, I'll think it over."
Gladii: "Just don't... waste too much time. Mngghhkkhh..."

Silicon 2025/12/10(Wed)02:55 No. 1118890 ID: be7ff9
File 176536410502.png - (572.90KB , 1500x1000 , C01_13_Q.png )

Agent Gladii retreats to the corner of the room and sits down. Their breathing grows more laboured again.
Meanwhile, I quickly go over the sheriff's body again. Lucky! He's got a pen in his breast pocket.

All right, Peanut Gallery, what's our next move?

Silicon: For convenience, here's the form again: >>1102577
What should we put on the requisition form? Maybe some cameras? I don't know if a 'Gladii-fully-healer' is too abstract, but I guess we could try it? What else?

Is there anything we want to ask Gladii about while they're responsive?

And I'm almost scared to ask but... Should we experiment with the cards some more? We have the Nine and Ten of Swords. So far we've tried the Nine on Gladii and the Ten on the dead athletic guy.

>ten of swords
Painful endings, deep wounds, betrayal, bitterness, loss. Considering what the corpse said, I'm guessing that Gladii feels bitter that they are not allowed to die, or are not allowed to stay "gone" since they keep being sent out on missions. They wish for silence but are denied it. It might be that there are no tarot cards close enough to what they feel, though, and that's not them on the card. "dulled" would mean... the feeling is more intense than the card signifies? Like a deep desire for death but being unable to die?
...huh, intrusive thought to take a listen to her earpiece, but that would be very rude. I'm thinking her own Peanut Gallery must be pretty negative...

>But it also destroys cameras, which are just not the same thing as a person. What's the connection?
Well, it also forms a supernatural compulsion for survivors of the attack to reform the basilisk in their minds. So it's supernatural. But just going "it's magic" is kindof boring, so... uh, what if the basilisk is "big"? Like, if you look at it, your brain tries to comprehend it, but it's too BIG so the sensory overload causes you to recoil from it violently. Cameras just burn up from too much "input", like if you tried to shine a laser through the lens and take a picture of that?

Anyway, ways to kill it with the tools we have right now: shooting it to blast off bits of the paint, scraping it with the crowbar, smashing the wall with the crowbar.

Breaking the mirror further to get a really fucked up reflection does sound like a neat idea for getting the gist of what the basilisk looks like.

As for the requisitions form:
Requisitioning Agent: Fera
Type: Equipment
Request:
Something to help Gladii recover from cognitohazard exposure
Enough paint thinner to clean a 6 foot by 6 foot area
A 6-inch wide paintbrush
Some cheap cameras

I'll amend that, instead of "enough paint thinner", specify a gallon bucket of it. Maybe two.

Also I guess you can try the other card on the sheriff's body. ...you could even try using cards on yourself, but you might not want to use the 10 that way, it's dangerous.

>>1118885
Well, that was terrifying on an immediate AND existential level.
Thankyou for your contribution to science.
Have you reconsidered the mints?

>>1118892
All good requisitions.
Dont forget the thicker goggles we can fracture and refract the image through. Actually, a thought...
Maybe a place like the agency would be into esotaria sufficiently to understand a request for fractal goggles. Except properly attuned or reinforced to purpose rather than those fun ones ravers and shroom heads use.

>>1118893
I... I really wanna know how fera
Reacts to a card selfinsertion but...
Until theres a safer spot, keep yourself in the control group fera.
Seeing what the other card does to our fabulous dead volunteer would be interesting...
Are the cards physical manifestation of souls, codified to be understood by fera or are they fragmentsnof the same. Traits that can be tweaked and altered like... spirit lego.
Ismitmpossiblento insert two cards or would one sort of... nudge the other out the other side.
Oh, hey.
What would happen if you,put one in an animal?
Wait, no, stop.
Im Getting lost in the weeds again.
We can play with dead bodies later fera.
Promise you.

>>1118892
I think Gladii meant that the feeling they have is dulled (by the removal of the card? I forget how we got that but infer we pulled it from Gladii), not that the feeling expressed by the body is a dulled representation of the one Gladii feels.

Hm. Perhaps the image 'expands'? A superposition of all possible configurations of the basilisk, simultaneously imposed on whatever data incurs it all at once. Anything that can't process data, like matter, absorbs the excess photons simultaneously, but anything that creates data from data is overwhelmed with the impulse of parallel processing - and nothing in this universe is prepared to perform infinite parallel processes.

Gladii, in contrast, is every possible incarnation of Gladii, which... mitigates it? I dunno.

Requisition a machine that destroys data in every universe.

>>1118892
Get infrared goggles, a where's waldo book (to purge Gladii's visual memory), a paint scraper, and some plaster to cover up the paint if we can't get it all off.

I think we're overthinking this a bit. This problem can be handled with several gallon buckets of black paint, a paint roller with a long handle (plus paint tray), and a pair of those horizontal glasses that show you a 90 degree view.

As long as you don't look up you're safe. So keeping your view of the floor, paint over the entire wall. Starting with the bottom half and work your way up.

You will also need about a dozen digital cameras for testing.

How long ago was the camera installed? Halo guy might come back to check on his work.

I think we could probably use the broken mirror to get a look at the basilisk, safely. As an extra precaution we could view the mirror through the live feed on a camera.
But I don't expect there to be anything special in the next room, let alone evidence painted on the walls. We're already down an agent, we should do the coverup and get out.

Our orders are to eliminate the anomaly, by means. Is the anomaly the paint job in the next room, halo guy, or the deadly nature of the image?

>>1118885

Gladii isn't a musician and he is. Was. So it probably was him. Possibly along with whatever... stresses you pulled out of Gladii? Nevertheless it is well known that the dead would like to stay dead, and you should only disturb them if you have a very good reason to do so.

I'd suggest you appreciate the silence, but well, Gladii's breathing... maybe you should destroy that painting right now, so the mission is complete and the Agency can uh... make Gladii stop being. Injured.

>>1118924
If we paint over it, then it'll still be there, behind the paint...

Silicon 2026/02/01(Sun)03:40 No. 1120666 ID: 004009
File 176994601624.png - (817.71KB , 1500x1000 , C01_14_A.png )

> Painful endings, deep wounds, betrayal, bitterness, loss. Considering what the corpse said, I'm guessing that Gladii feels bitter that they are not allowed to die, or are not allowed to stay "gone" since they keep being sent out on missions. They wish for silence but are denied it. It might be that there are no tarot cards close enough to what they feel, though, and that's not them on the card. "dulled" would mean... the feeling is more intense than the card signifies? Like a deep desire for death but being unable to die?

Well that all seems to track. Gladii being bitter about some kind of deep betrayal or loss would explain a lot. But why would they be bitter about being immortal? That seems like a pretty sweet deal!

Who is that on the card anyway?

> I think Gladii meant that the feeling they have is dulled (by the removal of the card? I forget how we got that but infer we pulled it from Gladii), not that the feeling expressed by the body is a dulled representation of the one Gladii feels.

That was also how I understood it. Removing the card hasn't removed the feeling entirely. And yes, this card popped out of Gladii when they looked at the Basilisk. So why does it seem to depict someone else?

> Gladii isn't a musician and he is. Was. So it probably was him. Possibly along with whatever... stresses you pulled out of Gladii? Nevertheless it is well known that the dead would like to stay dead, and you should only disturb them if you have a very good reason to do so.

Well, Gladii did say they found the sentiment relatable.

It occurs to me that I can just ask about stuff now that Gladii is a bit more lucid again.

Fera: "Part of the Peanut Gallery suggests that the dead would rather stay dead. But I think the death wish is actually yours."
Gladii: "Very astute."
Fera: "But why? Why would you want to die?"
Gladii: "The dead do not necessarily want to stay dead. They don't want much of anything, really, being dead. hhHhhhh... Enviable, no?"
Fera: "... Is it?"
Gladii: "Give it time. You'll see. It's pointless to try and explain."
Fera: "Mmmngh. All right. What about the person on the card? Who is that?"
Gladii: "Me. In a hkhh... In a way."
Fera: "Doesn't really look like you."
Though honestly... not entirely different either. Suit and hair colour don't fit, but the build seems the same.
Gladii: "Perhaps there used to be more to me than you know."
Fera: "Thanks. Very cryptic."
Gladii: "I try. hHHhhh..."

> Also I guess you can try the other card on the sheriff's body. ...you could even try using cards on yourself, but you might not want to use the 10 that way, it's dangerous.

> I'd suggest you appreciate the silence, but well, Gladii's breathing... maybe you should destroy that painting right now, so the mission is complete and the Agency can uh... make Gladii stop being. Injured.

If you don't feel strongly about it, I'd rather not futz with the dead again. Maybe some other time?

Silicon 2026/02/01(Sun)03:40 No. 1120667 ID: 004009
File 176994602817.png - (964.05KB , 1500x1000 , C01_14_B.png )

> ...huh, intrusive thought to take a listen to her earpiece, but that would be very rude. I'm thinking her own Peanut Gallery must be pretty negative...

Fera: "... Say, Gladii. Could I listen to your Peanut Gallery?"
Gladii: "Hghhhh... I don't think so. Why?"
Fera: "I'm curious."
Gladii: "Well if it'll curb your curiosity and contribute to... mnggh hhHh.. you moving on with the mission, by all means."
Fera: "Really? You're sure?"
Gladii: "hhHhhh... It's not going to work, Fera. Other agents have tried it before."

They hold the earpiece out to me.

Silicon 2026/02/01(Sun)03:40 No. 1120668 ID: 004009
File 176994604055.png - (949.48KB , 1500x1000 , C01_14_C.png )

I settle in against the wall next to Agent Gladii and pick up their earpiece. I hold it to my ear and...

> Eripe nos ab existentia!

> The Newbie sure is inquisitive.
> Stop sitting around! Do something!
> Apathia letum est!
> Murderer!
> Eripe nos ab existentia!
> This is Balor's doing. It has to be Balor, right? It's got his fingerprints all over it!
> Apathia letum est!
> Hello? Why am I still here?
> It fits. The Media are involved. It's a picture.
> What's the point? We're speaking to the void.
> Eripe nos ab existentia!
> For heaven's sake! Fera is the one person that has no reason to hate us and you're already fucking it up with fer.
> I don't understand. It was supposed to be over.
> You couldn't even get that part right. Absolutely comprehensive failure.
> Apathia letum est!
> No way out. No way out.

Silicon 2026/02/01(Sun)03:40 No. 1120669 ID: 004009
File 176994605639.png - (950.30KB , 1500x1000 , C01_14_D.png )

I... I can hear them...

> Eripe nos ab existentia!
> When are you gonna stop rolling over and seize it all by the throat?!
> Wait what?
> One hand in the hair of the world. The other holding the blade. Cutting. Its. Throat!
> Yes, good. More murder. Awesome.
> No wait shut up! The little weirdo can hear us!
> Eripe nos ab existentia!
> Rude!
> Impossible.

Hello?

> !!!
> How?!
> Quickly now! Say something useful!
> Beware the Media of the Collective! The Eye!
> I said useful!
> Eripe nos ab existentia! A mundo!
> Do not trust the Agency.
> Easy now.
> Gladii rarely lies. But their greatest talent is being wrong.
> Eheu.
> Tell Cal we're sorry. Gladii never will.
> We're not sorry!
> Gladii is a lost cause!
> Why do you seem so familiar? Who are you?
> Please. Be kind to Gladii.
> They do not deserve it!
> Murderer!
> Even so.
> They ruined everything!

Silicon 2026/02/01(Sun)03:41 No. 1120670 ID: 004009
File 176994606996.png - (974.15KB , 1500x1000 , C01_14_E.png )

Gladii is looking at me. I think they're... realizing what's happening.

> Okay Fuck! Gladii is a load-bearing pillar of the universe The Sole Survivor There is no end for us the Sword is Gladii is the Sword and it cuts the future
> Tell them I'm sorry.
> Tell them to stop moping!

They're reaching over.

> Aaah uuhh Gemini half Sinisterum Dexterum the one on the card Gladii Virgae Pentacula Calices Fera
> The Two of Swords
> Tell them I'm sorry.

Silicon 2026/02/01(Sun)03:41 No. 1120671 ID: 004009
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And they rip the earpiece away from me.

Gladii: "All right, that's- hkghk... enough of that."
Fera: "I think they wanted to tell me something important!"
Gladii: "Forget it. I don't know how you did that, but hhHhh... that's the last of it."
Fera: "They wanted me to tell y-"
Gladii: " Ghkrkh! Keep it to yourself! If I wanted to hear what they have to say, I would."
Fera: "But-"
Gladii: "Do your damn job, F- hhhkgh- Fera!"

That was intense!

Silicon 2026/02/01(Sun)03:41 No. 1120672 ID: 004009
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> Well, it also forms a supernatural compulsion for survivors of the attack to reform the basilisk in their minds. So it's supernatural. But just going "it's magic" is kindof boring, so... uh, what if the basilisk is "big"? Like, if you look at it, your brain tries to comprehend it, but it's too BIG so the sensory overload causes you to recoil from it violently. Cameras just burn up from too much "input", like if you tried to shine a laser through the lens and take a picture of that?

What a strange idea of a picture that is too big for your brain but still somehow fits on a wall in a pretty small room.

> Hm. Perhaps the image 'expands'? A superposition of all possible configurations of the basilisk, simultaneously imposed on whatever data incurs it all at once. Anything that can't process data, like matter, absorbs the excess photons simultaneously, but anything that creates data from data is overwhelmed with the impulse of parallel processing - and nothing in this universe is prepared to perform infinite parallel processes.
> Gladii, in contrast, is every possible incarnation of Gladii, which... mitigates it? I dunno.

I guess that would make it big in a way that it still fits on the wall. But also I'm not sure I understand what you're trying to say at all. Wish we could just ask the artist, right?

> How long ago was the camera installed? Halo guy might come back to check on his work.

Uuuhm... let's see maybe the camera can help... I fiddle with the buttons and I find something called meta-data aaaaand... The difference between the first picture and the final picture is is about 4 days and six hours.

> Breaking the mirror further to get a really fucked up reflection does sound like a neat idea for getting the gist of what the basilisk looks like.

> I think we could probably use the broken mirror to get a look at the basilisk, safely. As an extra precaution we could view the mirror through the live feed on a camera.
> But I don't expect there to be anything special in the next room, let alone evidence painted on the walls. We're already down an agent, we should do the coverup and get out.

While I am a bit curious, I also lean heavily towards never actually looking at this thing.

> Our orders are to eliminate the anomaly, by means. Is the anomaly the paint job in the next room, halo guy, or the deadly nature of the image?.

That's a good question. Let's see what Gladii thinks.

Fera: "Gladii-"
Gladii: "No."
Fera: "I swear this is mission critical."
Gladii: "Ugh hhghhh... Fine."
Fera: "What exactly is the anomaly? Is it the picture? Its deadly nature? Or is it the painter?"
Gladii: "What makes you think there's a p- hhghkkgh... a painter?"
Fera: "Oh the uh... The camera. They installed it before they went to work. And it caught them."
Gladii: "... hhHhhh... I see."
Fera: "So?"
Gladii: "So hHhh... it's not him. The painter I mean. The Agency term for that sort of thing is usually 'Person of Interest' or somesuch. hhHhhkkh... Between the other two... Does it matter? Destroy the picture and its deadly nature will be destroyed with it."
Fera: "You're sure??"
Gladii: "Educated... ghhhkkhhh guess."

Silicon 2026/02/01(Sun)03:41 No. 1120673 ID: 004009
File 176994611791.png - (907.50KB , 1500x1000 , C01_14_H.png )

> I think we're overthinking this a bit. This problem can be handled with several gallon buckets of black paint, a paint roller with a long handle (plus paint tray), and a pair of those horizontal glasses that show you a 90 degree view.
> As long as you don't look up you're safe. So keeping your view of the floor, paint over the entire wall. Starting with the bottom half and work your way up.

Hey that's actually a really smart way of going about it! Let's try that!

> If we paint over it, then it'll still be there, behind the paint...

Hmm that is a good point.

> As for the requisitions form:
> Requisitioning Agent: Fera
> Type: Equipment
> Request:
> Something to help Gladii recover from cognitohazard exposure
> Enough paint thinner to clean a 6 foot by 6 foot area
> A 6-inch wide paintbrush
> Some cheap cameras

> I'll amend that, instead of "enough paint thinner", specify a gallon bucket of it. Maybe two.

You know what? I'm sure I can also apply paint thinner with a paint roller, so this is perhaps a good combination. And if the paint thinner doesn't work I can maybe wash it off and paint over the thing afterwards, right?

> You will also need about a dozen digital cameras for testing.

> All good requisitions.
> Dont forget the thicker goggles we can fracture and refract the image through. Actually, a thought...
> Maybe a place like the agency would be into esotaria sufficiently to understand a request for fractal goggles. Except properly attuned or reinforced to purpose rather than those fun ones ravers and shroom heads use.

> Requisition a machine that destroys data in every universe.

> Get infrared goggles, a where's waldo book (to purge Gladii's visual memory), a paint scraper, and some plaster to cover up the paint if we can't get it all off.

Okay, okay, I think I got everything. I hope this isn't too much at once...

Now... a slot... hmm... I look about the basement, but nothing jumps out at me. But surely the gas station has somewhere I can 'mail' this.

Fera: "I'll go send the requisition form. Will be back asap."
Gladii: "Gghhkk Good."

Silicon 2026/02/01(Sun)03:42 No. 1120674 ID: 004009
File 176994613058.png - (251.80KB , 1500x1000 , C01_14_I.png )

The gas station doesn't seem to have a mail slot. Well. On a whim I try sliding the folded document under the door. And when I open the door... it's gone.

Silicon 2026/02/01(Sun)03:42 No. 1120675 ID: 004009
File 176994614043.png - (268.38KB , 1500x1000 , C01_14_J.png )

I guess that worked! I wonder how long it's gonna take for the uh the stuff to- Oh.

Silicon 2026/02/01(Sun)03:42 No. 1120676 ID: 004009
File 176994614736.png - (789.27KB , 1500x1000 , C01_14_K.png )

There are two documents here. The first is... Ah the requisition form again. Hmm. Seems we didn't get everything and-
What the- A gun? How's that supposed to help Gladii?

I check the other document.
...
What does that even mean?

... Okay I guess it's time to see if I can move all this stuff to the bunker.

Silicon 2026/02/01(Sun)03:42 No. 1120677 ID: 004009
File 176994615994.png - (668.51KB , 1500x1000 , C01_14_L.png )

Gladii: "HhhHHhhhkkh gkhrghh??"
Fera: "Here. This should keep you occupied."

Silicon 2026/02/01(Sun)03:42 No. 1120678 ID: 004009
File 176994616981.png - (452.42KB , 1500x1000 , C01_14_M.png )

While Gladii gets started on their picture puzzles, I try one of the cameras.

ka-chk

Works just fine. I point it around the corner at the basilisk and snap a picture.

ka-chrrzzzt

Smoke billows up from the camera. Yup. It kills cameras. Bizarre.

Silicon 2026/02/01(Sun)03:42 No. 1120679 ID: 004009
File 176994617825.png - (673.94KB , 1500x1000 , C01_14_N.png )

I take the paint roller and the 90-degree goggles and paint thinner to the next room and apply a generous coating of the stuff to the basilisk.
Oh this is so handy, being able to see the floor and the bucket as I work.

Wow I'm feeling a bit woozy after doing that.

A-anyway, what do we do while the paint thinner gets to work on the basilisk?

Question
Your
Sexuality!

Start counting to one thousand.

I hadn't thought about it before, but you should probably get out of there. The paint thinner fumes are either going to make you loopy, or pass out completely. You should also extract Gladii--it's not clear whether passing out would cure basilisk exposure, but it would be disadvantageous to lose an agent. (In case Mr. Painter guy shows up.)

Also, I would advise against using the Gladii-full-healer, since 'recovery' might mean they are rendered non-existent until the next mission, and you don't know how to end the mission and return to non-existence yourself.

Finally, it appears someone has tampered with the requisition form. I don't speak German, but I can guess a "splittergranate" is not something you want to use in an enclosed space.

>>1120670
Ohhh wow that's a lot.
The TWO of swords. There's two of Gladii. Or, used to be? Left hand and right hand. What we saw on the card was their other "hand". Also that one voice in the Gallery listed out all the suits, with "Fera" as the last one... which is interesting since that voice was also using latin and Fera in Latin is Beast. So I think we can conclusively state that's what your name means. That word... can be interpreted in many ways. Why is its symbol a spiral though? Or maybe that's just your curly hair.
"Eripe nos ab existentia! A mundo!" translates to "Rescue us from existence! The world!". It seems even Gladii's Peanut Gallery wishes for death. Also apparently they had some sort of plan and Gladii screwed it up which resulted in their current state. Gladii tried to kill the universe, but the act somehow got them tied into the very nature of the universe itself...

...your hair color changed while you had the earpiece in. It was a lighter shade of pink, close to Gladii's skin color. ...I just realized, Gladii has a skin color, but everyone else we've seen appears to have white skin! Does that mean anything...?

>>1120676
Someone tried to sabotage your requisitions by putting what seems like a bomb on the list... that means there's a double agent in the Agency? Good thing whoever's in charge of authorization has some sense. Ask Gladii what the item was, since we can't know for sure.
>gun to heal Gladii
Uh, but Gladii can't die? What good is that? ...unless, shooting Gladii right now would change them into their other "hand"? Ask them what would happen if you used the gun on them.

>>1120679
Be wary of the fumes. Close everything up and exit the room so you're nearer the ladder and thus the supply of air.