They're probably fucking with me again, or at least trying to talk to me... One or the other its not something that I'm losing too much sleep over.
Of all the mundane numbness I've felt around Sirius, one thing stood out to me of all the things I've eavesdropped on, it was something a little less than the usual business chatter and military might. Open on the air yet it was something personal... A tarot reading...? Cards, not the gambling kind but they seemed to be a lot more than just numbers and colours.
First person seemed quite invested into it, instructed to speak to the cards within their mind with a question. Initially this was nothing more than an experience for someone else. Like every other time I observed and watched to understand the method, construct a meaning out of empty words for myself. I still didn't fathom it, maybe because those cards were... Not for me? Camille continued to offer and to at least gauge an understanding of a respectably honest offer for a provided experience; why not? Coined it as communication with my subconscious? Either they truly believed in such or worked it off as a cultural experience that was appreciated nevertheless...
Forty credits later is found myself next staring at these cards. shuffling around for me, watching them exchange places between the deck. Even as those hands moved with natural flow... the falling cards I could see moving like silk with an accurate order of acceptance to work and refined combination. I was told to "Ask the cards a question" as to which I struggled to think. This wont help me source the keys to strategic victory, the means to end a peoples suffering, or to finally rest my fears of humanity signing its galactic death warrant. The cards would have more social meaning, personal to its core. If there was one piece of intelligence I would pay a heavy debt to know with security is... "Who am I?"
At first I doubted the question, the fear of what i represent came closer as I questioned who I am in the eyes of good and evil within its place in the universe... But the cards couldn't wait, one feel from their fingers before giving her a chance to take one at will. She noted that its rather that her deck wanted to speak first in a need of urgency... Calling the card the "Seven of Swords, upright." Now without doubt I was unsettled to hear what it told me as a being. One of trickery and deception within its blood... It was like hearing your unethical regret manifest and condone you in an empty room with no doors or windows.
She placed three cards face down, my comm screen displaying of her silken dressed table of pristine condition presently in my view, told me as if they were my present entity, the question was no longer doubted. Those decorated long nails ensuring the position of the select three with those nails ensuring absolute levelling between each other. Nudges on all cards asking for no more than less of what was required.
The first card of the present was flipped, The Hierophant, unfortunately a resemblance of a holy redeemed individual and not too fitting at face value... I don't know how to feel, I carry the power and marks of infamous seclusion with a deathly toll and I continue to integrate it's service into something ethically mirrored as people watch on. Within the worst soil I've stood on, for all my fuel and my dedication was for the consolidation in favour of the few and what I see as a selfish evil. But that power and service is transferable... I've done for the sake of others, even if its a chance to remove this unsettlement within myself. The disappearances, the observations, the network of knowledge... The foresight to question outside the order of things but towards a people I truly believe are good, for all their faults they are a shining beacon within Sirius. But I have no doubt should we cease when our dedication is no longer required. I've seen what happens when our type of being elates to the power and greed of it all beyond our desperate call... My predecessor turned out to be nothing more than the pride of their own ego and it was never more clear when he stood in favour of selfish oppressive authority.
The second of the future. "Four of Swords, upright." or "A Long Rest", there were many ways my mind raced to decipher the most obvious to the likely alternatives of their meaning... Or I was trying to kick myself back into some sense that I was reading this a little too deeply. Three swords displayed over a resting knight, the fourth at his side signalling an end to his fight. Tempting i know but the idea of finding myself resting...? This is the future we are talking about so how much more I have to fight through may have me concerned enough that while resting, what would I have laid waste to? Or what couldn't I save...? This probably wasn't meant to send me thinking about all of this in a few seconds but one still stands all above the rest. Resting... For what? The potential to rejuvenate and regather my strength and to bring my ability to fruition again. But I always question that last blade, will it hang up on the wall? Or will that sword seal the tomb for good? I reject rest on the notion I am not fulfilling my duties towards those who deserve their defence for the peaceful betterment they can bring. Not I, I must- N-Need... Damn..
I fear... The crossed keys return to my head and I'm creating an endless loop of panic and trepidation coming back to me. The same thing that fuelled my constant drive to protect with unending fury, there is no rest until that is broken, maybe that is why the third card of advice came to play.
"Ace of Pentacles", garden of the flowering haven, it wasn't the stunning visual beauty that I know rarely within our dimension of cold resilient metals and engineered harmonic veins, our brutalists concrete monoliths and atomically balanced perfection that I truly understand and refine with personal heartfelt investment. What that card was a mirror image of what I currently live; but that of harmonic breathing life. Within the garden that displays a wonderful experience within its verity of life and flourishing off the glow of the pentacle star that we hardly ask for, yet provides at the expense of its own atoms. I was getting myself lost again.. A few seconds feels like minutes living within the data-lanes of my augments. But it that garden worked as flawlessly as a well maintained and cared for system, but that care must come from somewhere.
I kept looking at these cards on that comm monitor, but every inhale within the confines of my helmet brought me back to realize those are just three cards. They won't do anything beyond what is told to myself... But I had to continue asking those questions every half a second... Repeat. But maybe this has provided me the time to digest something greater. I may not be able to plan an absolute future for the betterment of mankind to be fair and just within the expanse, but I can at least prove to others that we had the ability at some point to ground those foundations.
Even if it was all in spite of the institutions that grew me up as nothing more than a... A Tool! A tool for their own selfish and ignorant betterment! I won't taste this garden, but... Maybe someone else can that can truly appreciate its peaceful synergy and hope to maintain it. My blood in the soil I will defend that garden in the way of the seven swords, but to stand within it and grow it with my ways will rot it to the core. My head no longer hurts since I sat down and recorded this, I needed to confirm what i was fighting for with my own acknowledgment and willpower from what judgements I make. I can not promise that garden the audience it deserves in the case of those that wish to ignite it to oblivion, nor can I dictate its growth into my support. But only hope that what comes from that garden is hoping to stand by my side to what I am willing to give, blind hope with insidious fury. Some may say its risky and I have fallen victim to another manipulative beast. But from my high throne of deception and elusion, I treasure what is the existence of real trust, no matter how unorthodox... That garden, I trust even if in hope.
I thanked Camille for her service, ensured further payment to feel satisfied that her efforts were justified. Although I question that she said the cards had potential to show compassion. I doubt that, there isn't much compassion for the likes of us. And even if it knew me, would they truly trust what it sees in me as the truthful good? Even if I've been deluded myself?
But now Camille, potentially with all her innocent ignorance, has been escalated on my entities of mindful interest. Any similar event will create startling speculation.
I haven't eaten In a while, I'll need to visit the vending hall. FH and EE are usually around there so maybe they'd like to talk free of concealment within our quarters... I returned from Kusari baring treats from passing through, FH has taken a liking to the 'fruits of Sirius' since she's weaned herself off the comfortability of rations packs, seeing them enjoy things like this wasn't imaginable during our previous time... Its nice seeing them get a chance.
[20.10.2023 21:37:22] Laplace.Vector: C: [The card flips. A woman in a cleric's robe, the moon at her feet, flanked by black and white pillars. The High Priestess,--
[20.10.2023 21:37:27] Laplace.Vector: --reversed.]
[20.10.2023 21:38:08] Laplace.Vector: C: The High Priestess, reversed. Your future may contain hidden meanings, false masks, and the repression of your own--
[20.10.2023 21:38:28] Laplace.Vector: --intuition and an inability to make sense of things. Your inner voice will be confused, even quiet.
[20.10.2023 21:38:52] Cherry.Blossom: Th-That does n-not sound pos-sitive..
[20.10.2023 21:39:03] Laplace.Vector: C: It is one potential path. Not the only one.
[20.10.2023 21:39:08] Laplace.Vector: C: Now, for advice.
[20.10.2023 21:39:50] Laplace.Vector: C: [The card flips. A man in a papal tiara and robe sits on a throne, keys crossed at his feet. The Hierophant, upright.]
[20.10.2023 21:40:30] Laplace.Vector: C: The Hierophant, upright. The deck advises to look at tradition, conventional methods... to heed the words of others, of--
[20.10.2023 21:41:06] Laplace.Vector: --experience and education. Beliefs will be founded in learning and practice from that which is established.
[20.10.2023 21:41:19] Laplace.Vector: C: This is the advice the deck gives.
[20.10.2023 21:41:19] Cherry.Blossom: Elaine: Quite funny how this fits to your current situation. And that Camille is there to give you advice for things.
[20.10.2023 21:41:29] Cherry.Blossom: W-Well I m-mean..
[20.10.2023 21:41:42] Laplace.Vector: C: I assure you, Elaine, there is no slight of hand.
[20.10.2023 21:41:59] Cherry.Blossom: Elaine: I bet she read your diary.
[20.10.2023 21:42:00] Laplace.Vector: C: The deck provides perspective on our present issues. Illuminating that which we may not have considered.
[20.10.2023 21:42:20] Cherry.Blossom: N-No! Sh-She can't.. It is.. l-locked by a fingerprint s-scanner, r-retina and v-voice match.
[20.10.2023 21:42:52] Laplace.Vector: C: [A smirk.]
[20.10.2023 21:43:07] Cherry.Blossom: W-Well th-then Camille! G-Give m-me adivse.
[20.10.2023 21:43:16] Laplace.Vector: C: The cards did.
[20.10.2023 21:43:35] Laplace.Vector: C: Listen to them. See what you feel.
[20.10.2023 21:43:42] Laplace.Vector: C: The truth you glean from that is what to heed.
[20.10.2023 21:44:15] Laplace.Vector: C: [They leave the cards out for a bit.] So. It resonates?
[20.10.2023 21:44:50] "Civil'Servant": I'll give it to you, listening to cards isn't really on my list of things to look out for.
[20.10.2023 21:45:12] Cherry.Blossom: W-Well.. I think.. I un-nderstand a b-bit of it..
[20.10.2023 21:45:17] Laplace.Vector: C: Do I sense a "but" coming?
[20.10.2023 21:45:38] Cherry.Blossom: F-From who? M-Me?
[20.10.2023 21:46:00] Laplace.Vector: C: More meant for our civil servant, here.
[20.10.2023 21:46:05] Cherry.Blossom: A-Ah!
[20.10.2023 21:46:20] "Civil'Servant": No I'm just surprised someone can get that much from someone from the mere notion of a select set of cards.
[20.10.2023 21:47:04] Laplace.Vector: C: The human mind is an incredible repository of symbols and interpretation.
[20.10.2023 21:47:23] Laplace.Vector: C: The medium of the tarot cards gives us a way to interpret our own unconscious self more effectively.
[20.10.2023 21:48:01] "Civil'Servant": My unconscious self? I think sleep tends to--
[20.10.2023 21:48:49] Cherry.Blossom: I w-wonder if you d-do that again on another d-day, if it w-ould be the same.
[20.10.2023 21:49:31] "Civil'Servant": Anyway, these... Cards.
[20.10.2023 21:49:50] Laplace.Vector: C: Mhm?
[20.10.2023 21:50:34] Laplace.Vector: C: [They return the cards to the deck, shuffling.]
[20.10.2023 21:50:51] "Civil'Servant": If its my unseen self that will be... communicating this to me.
[20.10.2023 21:51:50] "Civil'Servant": Then how am I to seek what it says?
[20.10.2023 21:52:05] Laplace.Vector: C: Ask a question.
[20.10.2023 21:52:16] Laplace.Vector: C: Ask it of the deck. Forty for the reading is little to play.
[20.10.2023 21:52:42] Laplace.Vector: C: Only forty credits for answers. For guidance.
[20.10.2023 21:52:54] "Civil'Servant": Asking me of anything is already a heavy burden, 40, per-card.
[20.10.2023 21:53:03] Laplace.Vector: C: No. Per reading.
[20.10.2023 21:53:31] "Civil'Servant": I care little for these digits, and I think you'll get more use out of it than me.
[20.10.2023 21:54:06] Laplace.Vector: C: Suit yourself, stranger. The butterfly effect doesn't always work out, hm?
[20.10.2023 21:54:28] Cherry.Blossom: N-Now I can s-see you.
[20.10.2023 21:54:47] Laplace.Vector: C: [Camille is in fact there. Shuffling the tarot deck in the seat.]
[20.10.2023 21:55:09] "Civil'Servant": The trade is done.
[20.10.2023 21:55:15] Laplace.Vector: C: Excellent. Do you have the question in your mind?
[20.10.2023 21:55:22] Cherry.Blossom: [Cherry reaches forth with her hands, seemingly making a zooming notion with her hands. There was a faint shimmer in the glass]
[20.10.2023 21:55:44] "Civil'Servant": I think I do.
[20.10.2023 21:55:54] Laplace.Vector: C: Keep it there. Ask it of the deck in your mind.
[20.10.2023 21:56:04] Laplace.Vector: C: Once you have done that, I will draw.
[20.10.2023 21:56:48] "Civil'Servant": Odd but... I have asked the deck.
[20.10.2023 21:57:43] Laplace.Vector: C: [As they shuffle, a card falls out. An image of a man making off with seven swords, stealing them from a camp. The Seven--
[20.10.2023 21:57:51] Laplace.Vector: --of Swords, upright.]
[20.10.2023 21:57:59] Laplace.Vector: C: Oh! That doesn't always happen.
[20.10.2023 21:58:15] "Civil'Servant": I wish that sounded new.
[20.10.2023 21:58:20] Laplace.Vector: C: Whenever a card falls out during a shuffle, I consider it as the deck very much trying to tell you something.
[20.10.2023 21:59:03] Laplace.Vector: C: In this case, the upright Seven of Swords signifies betrayal, deception, escape... all manner of cunning and trickery.
[20.10.2023 21:59:16] "Civil'Servant": Ah...
[20.10.2023 21:59:19] "Civil'Servant": Aha--
[20.10.2023 21:59:31] "Civil'Servant": I think I'll take your word on these cards.
[20.10.2023 21:59:42] Laplace.Vector: C: The deck says this energy is present... somewhere about you. Past, present, future... anything. But it is there.
[20.10.2023 22:00:14] Laplace.Vector: C: Now. For the actual draw.
[20.10.2023 22:00:31] Laplace.Vector: C: [Three cards are laid out, face down.]
[20.10.2023 22:00:34] "Civil'Servant": I guess the deck couldn't wait.
[20.10.2023 22:00:52] "Civil'Servant": Most things usually don't for me.
[20.10.2023 22:01:11] Cherry.Blossom: Elaine: Captain, I think such was already achieved.
[20.10.2023 22:01:22] Laplace.Vector: C: First card. [Flipped over. A man in a papal tiara, sitting on a throne and holding a scepter. Keys crossed at his feet.--
[20.10.2023 22:01:29] Laplace.Vector: --The Hierophant]
[20.10.2023 22:01:39] Laplace.Vector: C: Hm. Drawing a lot of you lately...
[20.10.2023 22:02:16] Laplace.Vector: C: The Hierophant, upright. Representing tradition, education, experience, conformity... all the established things.
[20.10.2023 22:03:21] "Civil'Servant": Concerning... But--
[20.10.2023 22:03:25] Laplace.Vector: C: Now, the Hierophant appears in your current, present situation.
[20.10.2023 22:03:39] Laplace.Vector: C: Think on that, and I shall draw the second. A potential future.
[20.10.2023 22:04:58] Laplace.Vector: C: [The card is drawn. A man sleeps in a church, in death-like repose. Three swords hang on the wall, one by his side.]
[20.10.2023 22:05:22] Laplace.Vector: C: The Four of Swords. Rest. Gathering strength. The calm before the storm.
[20.10.2023 22:05:42] Laplace.Vector: C: Sanctuary and recuperation is in the future. Healing.
[20.10.2023 22:06:16] Laplace.Vector: C: Especially after suffering.
[20.10.2023 22:06:18] "Civil'Servant": *His speech gone, but his own breath remains as he slouches back into his flight-seat with a slow creak.*
[20.10.2023 22:07:02] Laplace.Vector: C: Now. The third. Advice from the deck.
[20.10.2023 22:07:42] Laplace.Vector: C: [A hand emerges from the clouds, holding a coin with a five-pointed star over a lush garden.]
[20.10.2023 22:10:26] Laplace.Vector: C: Now, the advice given to you, Civil Servant, is the Ace of Pentacles.
[20.10.2023 22:10:28] Cherry.Blossom: S-Scary.
[20.10.2023 22:10:49] Laplace.Vector: C: It represents rebirth. New beginnings. And the plenty, security, and stability that can come from reaching a new paradise.
[20.10.2023 22:11:17] Laplace.Vector: C: Look for the new dawn. The new prospects of life.
[20.10.2023 22:11:25] Laplace.Vector: C: They will guide you true.
[20.10.2023 22:12:08] "Civil'Servant": Well--
[20.10.2023 22:12:30] Laplace.Vector: C: Does the reading resonate with you?
[20.10.2023 22:14:03] "Civil'Servant": Your cards are certainly quite the listeners themselves.
[20.10.2023 22:14:14] Laplace.Vector: C: They are very compassionate, in their own way.
[20.10.2023 22:14:20] Laplace.Vector: C: I find their readings are often hopeful.
[20.10.2023 22:15:31] "Civil'Servant": Hopeful? Potentially... But I have to say that their compassion is wasted on me.
[20.10.2023 22:15:50] Laplace.Vector: C: Mm. Best not to presume the utility of the deck's judgements.
[20.10.2023 22:15:56] Laplace.Vector: C: They simply are what they are.
[20.10.2023 22:16:25] "Civil'Servant": In my line of work, a rock isn't always a rock.
[20.10.2023 22:16:32] Laplace.Vector: C: I know.
[20.10.2023 22:16:37] Laplace.Vector: C: The card said so.
[20.10.2023 22:18:00] Laplace.Vector: C: So, I wonder what you will do with this... perspective.
[20.10.2023 22:18:35] "Civil'Servant": Well if the 'first' card was to say anything about me, would you believe what I say?
[20.10.2023 22:18:59] Laplace.Vector: C: Mm. Lie to me, if you like. So long as you learn to not deceive yourself.
[20.10.2023 22:19:25] "Civil'Servant": A lesson learnt through blood and salt.
[20.10.2023 22:20:25] Laplace.Vector: C: I do believe that, despite your initial skepticism, you see the value in the cards.
[20.10.2023 22:20:33] Laplace.Vector: C: [They return the tarot draw to the deck.]
[20.10.2023 22:21:32] "Civil'Servant": Was I skeptic about the cards?
[20.10.2023 22:22:36] Laplace.Vector: C: The transport captain heeded the cards, though they came true in a way I did not expect.
[20.10.2023 22:22:49] Cherry.Blossom: D-Did he e-explode?
[20.10.2023 22:22:52] Laplace.Vector: C: Danger was not on the way, but in the place he was coming from.
[20.10.2023 22:23:01] Laplace.Vector: C: An earlier ship.
[20.10.2023 22:23:19] Laplace.Vector: C: An interesting development.
[20.10.2023 22:28:57] "Civil'Servant": Your cards have a lot more insight than they wish to have I think.
[20.10.2023 22:29:18] "Civil'Servant": I wouldn't have figured it would be so eager to share what it thought.
[20.10.2023 22:29:31] Laplace.Vector: C: They are agents of fate. They share what they know, do not keep secrets.
[20.10.2023 22:29:39] Cherry.Blossom: L-Last time I ch-checked.. I w-wasn't a boy..
[20.10.2023 22:29:41] "Civil'Servant": Although I did admit, the question in itself was very simple.
[20.10.2023 22:30:02] Laplace.Vector: C: Sometimes simple questions are good questions.
[20.10.2023 22:30:13] Laplace.Vector: C: Especially for smaller draws.
![[+]](/forums/images/collapse_collapsed.png "[+]")
Spoiler![[Image: image1.png]](https://i.ibb.co/MDkkQ9dZ/image1.png)