prismatica | ( video, un: koriel )

[ it’s this guy again. although he seems considerably less sad than he did the last time he appeared on the network to talk about accidental sympathy with the oracles of the sinless, that may not be the best thing in the world once he begins speaking. he's also wearing small angel wings, visible in the view of the camera—they're definitely fake accessories, however, rather than being a moonblessing or even a more permanent effect of the bracelet. ]

…hello.

[ he's nervous? he's nervous, and his shoulders fidget slightly. he can't look at the camera. ]

There’s been a lot of people asking about churches. [ ah. ] …I am a member of one that recently opened. It is… a re-establishment of the Order I used to belong to in my world before.

[ it isn't a ringing endorsement, but it is the truth. ]

We don’t worship any god. It is an order that focuses on the internal self and what people are capable of. A man named the Archangel is our leader. If you’ve met him… um, anyway, please come by.

[ and included, information about the Order of Malkuth, located in a primo spot on level one. go ahead, join the cult. ]

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I see.

[Ferran might not know a whole lot about this Order, but he feels like he knows enough for this:]

I don't have to tell you what a bad idea this sounds like, right?

[ the honest answer is that dextera knows it’s a terrible idea. he’s setting himself up for misery, and at the very least, facilitating the misery of others, too.

yet here he is anyway. stupid. ]

The Order of Malkuth is different.

[Ferran doesn't want to think this guy is that stupid, with the attitude he'd had during their last conversation.]

That's kind of the standard response, isn't it? I think you know better.

[ it’s the leader, dextera wants to say. it’s not the order itself. the archangel is the one who corrupted it. ]

I know how it sounds, but I mean it. The Order of Malkuth isn’t trying to bring about the end.

[Well, something did... and it's not an insignificant issue.]

Then who is?

[ it’s the worst question that could have been asked. dextera is trying to defend the order of malkuth, and it is so easy to do it in response to that, but it also means calling his own sanity and his role in any of this into doubt and shadow.

there’s a reasonably long gap of time before he says anything. ]

I can’t answer that.

[Ferran may not always be the best at looking for shady intent, but that pause combined with the answer is kind of a giant red flag...]

You can't, or you refuse to?

[As much as he'd like to give the guy the benefit of the doubt, it's already looking very bad. And even aside from the world-ending threat, more in line with the nonmagical cults he's read about from his own world...]

Can you really say being a part of this Order isn't dangerous?

[ of course he can’t. dextera wishes he could openly, honestly assure someone asking that direct question that it would be fine, and they should come by, and the archangel would assuage their fears.

that is not what will happen. ]

I can say that it’s helped an incredible number. An unspeakable amount of people would have died in our world if not for the Order.

[Ferran has to wonder what the answer would have sounded like if it hadn't been through text. Without their previous conversation, he would have accepted it without a second thought and taken those words at face value... As it is, he can see his question was dodged again. As nice as the sidestep sounds, it's still suspect enough to keep him from thinking much positive about this Order in its current state.]

I guess you know what you're getting into.

[He's pretty sure he can't convince the guy to rethink what he's doing, given that Ferran doesn't know much about him, among other obstacles.]

I'll just have to hope no one ends up getting hurt.

[ dextera does regret the way this conversation has played out, but not because he thinks it could have gone any differently. someone who was so kind to him last time now doubts his intentions, and even if dextera understands what he’s doing, that doesn’t make it good. ]

I’ll make sure that they won’t. Please don’t worry.

Easier said than done.

[Maybe he'll try to check up on this church sometime... when he's in the right state for it, anyway. He's been so out of it the past few days that he questions how much he'd be able to notice, much less do anything about. But also...]

I never got your name. I'm Ferran.

[ come by, see dextera in his natural state. ]

My name is Dextera. My username, Koriel, was my title within the Order.

[ it’s a little bit of information that he automatically gives, like he feels the need to explain why their leader is called the archangel. it’s a title. they’re all titles. ]

But please call me Dextera.

Dextera, then.

[Even if he doesn't feel like he can do much about the situation, he can at least get some more information about this church in the meantime. Even if it weren't a dangerous cult, he'd still be curious.]

Does the title mean anything specific? Like what kind of things you have to do.

We were a group of people just under the Archangel. The title denotes a degree of authority.

It’s different here, but there used to be different factions. We had researchers, guardians, warriors… our Order sustained itself, within itself.

So a second in command of sorts?

[That certainly sounds like some kind of Order... less of a religion and more of its own insular community. Which doesn't do much to dispel his doubts, that's for sure.]

Were you in one of those specific factions?

I was raised as the Archangel’s right hand. That’s always been my role.

[ …so, you know. he’s busted. ]

[... yeah, talk about being in deep. Trying to think that Dextera knows what he's getting into isn't doing him any favors now, though, as being in a cult is one thing, and leading one is quite another.]

I see. So you do whatever he tells you?

Yes. I do.

[ it’s a time where hearing dextera’s voice might lend some weight to the easy admission. he does whatever the archangel tells him to, or he did once, because that was his only guidance. these days, he’s just confused. ]

[That says pretty much everything, doesn't it? So much for questioning things...]

Good to know. [He might have tried to word things in a less judgmental way if he weren't under so much stress himself, but maybe he wouldn't have succeeded anyway. It's not like he's ever tried to talk to someone in a cult before.]

Thank you for telling me.

[ there’s another long pause before dextera responds to that. it takes a lot of courage to come up with his reply, after all. ]

I’m not a fool. I know how this looks and sounds.

[ after their last conversations, of course he would look like another sad victim of a cult, and in a way he is. it’s also what he’s familiar with, and it’s much easier to work within it than outside of it. trying to explain all that to a stranger, though, is asking for trouble. ]

It would be worse if I didn’t.

Is that what you think?

[There's definitely a benefit to knowing, of course. It's a potential step forward. But taking that step, and then turning right back around... if that's what's happening, then it's definitely worse.]

It doesn't matter what I think about it, in the end. Or anybody else. It's about doing what's right.

( video, un: koriel )

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