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Cyberpawz wrote:. Can someone who seems to have a better grasp of Wapsi reality right now give me a cliff notes version.
jwhouk did up a great Cliff Notes summary for the current storyline just last night... go here to read it.
As to Brandi's doppelganger / personality shift: we've known for a couple of years that Brandi has had somewhat of a dual personality. She's referred to herself as a sort of cold, unfeeling "chessmaster" making complex plots and schemes, which she doesn't let herself know about because "that's not me."
Brandi had also told Monica about the day she was captured by the Lanthian priests for sacrifice. In attempting to defend herself she accidentally killed an infant who had been left in her care, and in horror she surrendered. She told Monica she'd made a "deal" as a result; the priests didn't know about it but "the demon world noticed".
Euryale had told Monca that Brandi and Bud had been among those who set up the secret "Men In Black" organization within our government (originally consisting in part of some Lanthian survivors or those with some access to their technology) and we learned more recently that it's this manipulative chessmaster Brandi who is the "Senior Director Oduya" of the MIB. She has a distinctly different body language than the Brandi we are used to... superficially charming and seductive.
Things started to really become clearer a few weeks ago when we saw "Brandi" actually change into "Senior Director Oduya" in the middle of a conversation... it was clear that one personality was displacing another. The two don't have identical memories... each has knowledge and experiences that the other lacks. We saw this happen a second time in a flashback, when it became apparent that the manipulative "Oduya" was somehow capable of giving Brandi the ability to act outside of her Golem programming and was setting up a complex scheme to "kidnap" and perhaps destroy the entire population of Etheitians (the survivors of Lanthis who had escaped the Chimera's destruction of that civilization).
Bud has now identified the true nature of Brandi's second personality. It's a vengeful Nu Gui spirit, a ghost derived from the innocent child Brandi accidentally killed. Brandi apparently made a deal with the ghost-child, allowing it to reside within her (as compensation for its killing?) in return for the ghost enabling "Brandi" to act with more free will than she would have had as a programmed golem. Bud has had nightmares about a ghost for years, and there was mention of a little dead girl "caught up in the Chimera"... this seems to be her!
The Nu Gui spirit seems to be devoted to revenge against the Lanthians and their descendents, holding them responsible for its death, and it seems quite willing to commit murder (individual, mass, and genocidal) without any remorse. The Nu Gui are known for doing their dirty work by manipulating others into harming themselves... hence, "The Chessmaster".
Sad thing is I got most of that, except the possession aspect, that is what was throwing me. Like I said before been away from a while, and grandfather in Hospice really hasn't helped my mental ability to be exactly on target. My thing is I am wondering how much longer is Brandi going to be able to deny being what she is per say.
Cyberpawz wrote:Sad thing is I got most of that, except the possession aspect, that is what was throwing me. Like I said before been away from a while, and grandfather in Hospice really hasn't helped my mental ability to be exactly on target. My thing is I am wondering how much longer is Brandi going to be able to deny being what she is per say.
Not much, I suspect... Bud's hit her (or "them") with a giant industrial-sized barrel full of Acacia's Patented Brain Fry... and I suspect that "Senior Director Oduya" may react to it much in the same way that Norman reacted to Kirk and Spock's torrent of illogic.
The truth is going to be out, hell for noon, in very short order.
I'm sorry to hear about your grandfather, BTW - it's a tough time of life (for both the individual and his/her entire family), and the fact that it's inevitable doesn't make that easier. At least there is such a thing as hospice today... definitely an easier path than the "spend your last days or weeks in a hospital bed" road that so many have been forced into during past decades. Do try to take care of yourself in the days that come...
"Ham (-fisted) acting".. *Drops bag of A+ in pun-jar*
Are you acusing Bud of Ham to ham combat or possibly being a Large Ham of Shatneresque proportions? Well then, the porks on you.
*Throws a Smithfield spiral cut honey rosted ham in the general direction of the Pun jar and ducks for cover*
As usual, the puns are spiraling out of control.
Tosses a pigskin (in a perfect spiral, of course) into the suddenly alert Pun Jar, hoping it will control the reaction.
zachariah wrote:There is no way Bud can know about the crystal in the cleavage. She does know that this is probably not the way to really kill a vampire permanently. This is aimed at pushing SDO over the edge so she reacts instinctively rather than by reason. That should give the opening for Bud's other allies a chance to spot an opening and strike. It also tells Lilly that she is an etheitian and on SDO's supposed hit list. What that accomplishes I don't know. But all of this is a mental overload for SDO and is coming at her so fast she can't react in an effective way.
I doubt the crystal they have will do anything for them at Mesa Vedie. There is no place for it to be slotted into and the computer it works with has blown up. So it is now a secondary issue until Sali can have it. Since Sali is the computer now probably only she can access the information in it.
We do not know what Bud may or may not know about the crystal. They have ways of knowing, and there may be other ways we don't know about. We don't know what it may be used for.
I'm reduced (again) to waiting and seeing. Maybe in 10-15 years it will link up with some other unlikely detail and make perfect sense....
this is why you should always read the instructions first and follow all safety protocols when dealing with ancient super computers, probing open sockets is just asking to get shocked. . . .
Not only ancient ones. I recall R2D2 plugging into a powerport rather than a dataport on the Death Star once.
dex drako wrote:this is why you should always read the instructions first and follow all safety protocols when dealing with ancient super computers, probing open sockets is just asking to get shocked. . . .
Not only ancient ones. I recall R2D2 plugging into a powerport rather than a dataport on the Death Star once.
It was in Cloud City on Bespin, technically, but yes - poor Artoo bit off more than he could process & short-circuited himself. Hm. Between that, a proficiency for snappy comebacks, ability to fly & a knack for getting stuck in impossible situations, Atsali & my favourite droid have much in common.
"Give orange me give eat orange me eat orange give me eat orange give me you." - Nim the chimp Animation courtesy of shadowinthelight (thanks again!)
dex drako wrote:this is why you should always read the instructions first and follow all safety protocols when dealing with ancient super computers, probing open sockets is just asking to get shocked. . . .
Not only ancient ones. I recall R2D2 plugging into a powerport rather than a dataport on the Death Star once.
It was in Cloud City on Bespin, technically, but yes - poor Artoo bit off more than he could process & short-circuited himself. Hm. Between that, a proficiency for snappy comebacks, ability to fly & a knack for getting stuck in impossible situations, Atsali & my favourite droid have much in common.
Thanks for the correction. Yep. You could also mention a tendency to speak in dialect (binary beeps and boops; teen).
Hm. Between that, a proficiency for snappy comebacks, ability to fly & a knack for getting stuck in impossible situations, Atsali & my favourite droid have much in common.