"We have been... observing you," picked out the Kusari man, choosing his words carefully. "You see, there are times when we can glimpse the world of the living. To some small extent, we have control over people. There are many limits, however. A rift (for it is a sort of opening that allows us indirect access to the world of the living) must be present. They are naturally occurring..." He paused to drive home the impact of his next words, but the Libertonian intercepted the thought.
"... but there is a way to influence them. A way he has discovered." The ominous tone of his voice startled the pair.
"He?" they almost asked as one.
"This isn't a good idea! We shouldn't be helping them at all, just imagine..." the Corsair began, but was cut off by a gesture from the Libertonian, as well as a look that said 'not now'.
"I will explain who he is later, after the background has been laid," he said with a more gentle tone. The Libertonian led them to a clearing a short distance off the path. "Regardless, the rifts. We are naturally drawn through them to our," he paused, searching for the right word.
"Counterparts," the Kusari man supplied.
"Yes, that's one way of saying it. We influence them for our ends, to feel. Emotions are in big demand here, all the good ones are reserved for the living."
"Where exactly do we fit into this?" Renato asked, afraid of the answer.
"You don't," said a newcomer, who had approached quietly from behind.
A curse bitten off by the Kusari man alerted Vince and Renato to the trouble the intruder was bringing. The body language of the newcomer, a Bretonian by looks, betrayed no hostility - nor any emotion, really. He looked to be in his forties with a practiced poker face.
"Bernard..." the Libertonian began, but was cut off by a wave of Bernard's hand.
"We've been aware of your presence," he addressed the interlopers, completely ignoring the other three men who had open worry painted on their faces. "Do you think such a significant disturbance could go unnoticed?"
Renato began to speak, but was also forestalled by a stopping motion from the newcomer.
"No. There are forces at work here that you likely don't comprehend, forces that would very much like to... meet you." He then directed his attention at the three natives: "And ignorance is no excuse for you three. You will be dealt with in due time."
The Corsair got a look like he was going to fall to his knees and plead for mercy, using his unwillingness as an excuse. The Libertonian, however, placed a restraining hand on his shoulder. The worry was dissolving into a sort of defiant stance. "No, Bernard. Change is coming..."
"Change is never coming. People come and go, and he is always in charge." The way Bernard said "he" seemed to imply that an ominous figure held some sort of power here. Paling for a moment, the Libertonian continued to stand tall. Until his only support began to mist away... Gasping, Vince and Renato regarded their quickly misting bodies with open amazement, and no little amount of horror. "What's happen---" was all Vince could stutter out before they disappeared completely.
Bernard smiled wickedly. "Guess who'd like to see you three? I've been informed that it's... someone's time."
Vince Piccio had awoken in his Sabre in the Siniestre cloud. There was no sign of Renato in the eeriely calm graveyard of ships. And so Vince wandered throughout Sirius, aware now that he was not only a freak of nature, but one that somehow the others could experience things through. He found himself awash with desires, to burn and destroy, to love, to consume. Not all of them were possible, as his body was still an ephemereal mist. But he did his best. People were slaughtered, shown the truth of death and Death. Those that dared oppose him died. Non-believers were forced into recognition only as they passed on to the next world. Vince was never aware of where they went, let alone if they went to the one plane he was familiar with. All he knew was that they suffered. He found himself capable of suspending someone's very soul over the gap, subjecting it to agony unmentionable.
And the hatred for the Great Spirits became palpable. They were an abomination, knowing neither life nor death. They were liars. They deceived. The Outcasts couldn't know how badly their reverence was misplaced, for they had nothing to do with protecting the graves of Siniestre. They deserved nothing less than total annihilation, yet they couldn't be killed. Only shown pain.
So it was that Vince came into his first conflict with the Outcasts -- a Morph destroyed over Malta, and their lack of understanding as to how terribly wrong they were about the "Great Spirits". Vince saw himself as a much Greater Spirit. So he left Omicron Alpha, and found a quiet space of his own.
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