Idira"Lord Captain, I'm sorry for barging in like this, but I just saw... no, heard! Sensed? Anyway, it's close. My salvation, it's close. It's somewhere in this system. Remember I told you about having new visions? Well, thanks to those visions, I now know of a way I can get them to settle down a bit. Wait, I'm jumping ahead! I'll just start from the beginning."
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Entry point 7 of 8
Idira(no text)
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Entry point 8 of 8
IdiraIdira hurriedly enters the study, sniffling and hunching her shoulders. She looks haggard — there are bags under her eyes, her hair is dishevelled, and her hands quiver slightly every few moments. With some effort, she focuses her eyes on you and forces a crooked smile.
Idira"Lord Captain, I wanted to thank you for not leaving me with that sick Haemonculus. And I'm sorry if I said a bunch of things I shouldn't have said. I was... pretty out of it. You just don't know what it's like to finally be alone with your own thoughts. It wasn't easy to give that up and believe it was just another trap set by a xenos."
Idira"Well, thanks to you, things are back to the way they've always been — the door's cracked open again, and my dear old whisperers are back to torture me, the rascals." She chuckles bitterly. "You know, I didn't come here just to get all teary-eyed and grateful on you. It's something important, something about my whispers. See, I've been having some interesting visions... And I feel like how we deal with those visions is going to decide my fate. I know it sounds dramatic, but I'm being dead serious."
Idira"I keep having the same vision over and over again. I'm walking down a corridor, and there's this door at the end. And I just know that right behind that door is blissful silence — all I've got to do is reach out and open it. So I touch it with my fingers, I can feel the cold, rough metal... and then I suddenly snap out of it and always find myself staring at a wall in some compartment or other. I look behind me, and all the doors on the way are open, but I have no memory of how I got there."
Idira"Lord Captain, I'll cut to the chase: please help me find that door. I'm not joking, this is a matter of life and death. My gut tells me it's my last chance to deal with my powers, and if I don't..." She trails off.
YOU"Before I make my decision, I have questions to ask you."
Idira"Absolutely, Lord Captain! Ask me anything and I'll try my best to answer!"
YOU"What do you think is behind the door?"
Idira"I've no idea! Maybe it's some incredible implant from the Tech-Priests' secret stores? Or, I don't know, a serum kept in the Inquisition's vault? There's such a thing as archeotech, right? Plenty of it lying around, maybe some of it could help me." Idira is trying to maintain a facade of confidence while simultaneously pulling at a hangnail so hard her finger begins to bleed.
YOU"What do you think is behind the door?"continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Do your visions contain any clues on where to start looking?"
Idira"Vague ones, as usual. I think I can hear the muffled cries of some weird birds, and my head is sweating like it's somewhere hot. I'm surrounded by rockcrete, your everyday Imperium stuff, except it reeks of burnt flesh, fried cables, and chemicals."
Idira(sequence)
Idira"And... it gives off a sense of despair. Suffering, thick like tar, hangs in the air, gets into your nose and throat, makes you sick. I've only been to one other place that felt like that — the Haemonculus's lair." Idira flinches.
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Idira"Sorry, that's about it. Nothing more concrete. But I think, if we get close enough, I'll sense it immediately."
YOU"What do you think is behind the door?"continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Do your visions contain any clues on where to start looking?"continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Is the door you describe similar to the door your whispers come from?"
Idira"No... Well, I don't know. It feels different. The one from the visions feels very, I don't know, real? I can even touch it. It's definitely not an illusion, it really does exist somewhere. And trust me, neither of us wants to open the other door, the whispering one."
YOU"What do you think is behind the door?"continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Do your visions contain any clues on where to start looking?"continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Is the door you describe similar to the door your whispers come from?"continues where this line first appears above
YOU"I find it difficult to believe that suppressing your abilities is safe."
IdiraIdira snorts. "Oh, it's really, really not! I'm sure you've heard stories about how people tried to lock psykers' abilities away for good, and how those psykers would then eventually go insane and explode into little pieces."
Idira(sequence)
Idira"Besides, you don't need stories to remember what happened to me when Tervantias blocked my powers. Just a bit longer, and my brains would've been mush."
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Idira"But if there's a way — no, not to shut my door completely, but to make it so a tiny little crack remains... now that's a different story. I can just feel it: if we find this thing, whatever it is, it'll all be all right!"
YOU"What do you think is behind the door?"continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Do your visions contain any clues on where to start looking?"continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Is the door you describe similar to the door your whispers come from?"continues where this line first appears above
YOU"I find it difficult to believe that suppressing your abilities is safe."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"What if it's a trap?"
Idira"No way! It can't be! Whatever, I'll go in alone if you like, just please help me get there..."
YOU"What do you think is behind the door?"continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Do your visions contain any clues on where to start looking?"continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Is the door you describe similar to the door your whispers come from?"continues where this line first appears above
YOU"I find it difficult to believe that suppressing your abilities is safe."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"What if it's a trap?"continues where this line first appears above
YOU"I have no more questions."
IdiraIdira nods and looks at you anxiously.
YOU"Before I make my decision, I have questions to ask you."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"We will find this door. I give you my word."
IdiraSome of the darkness in Idira's eyes clears, and her smile widens slightly. "Thank you, Lord Captain! I knew you wouldn't leave me in a bind! As soon as I sense we're close, I'll let you know right away."
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YOU"We have to find that door. You are too unstable."
IdiraIdira gives a reserved nod. "Yes, Lord Captain. I'll prove to you that I deserve a place aboard this ship. As soon as I sense we're close, I'll let you know right away."
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YOU"Out of the question. I will not indulge your sorcerous visions."
IdiraIdira hugs herself and looks at you with eyes filled with despair. Silence falls. Then it is shattered by her utterly lifeless voice: "B-but, Lord Captain... I... Doesn't that mean... I'm going to die?"
Idira"No. No, of course I won't die. I'm stronger than that. Yes... yes, you're probably right, the voices must be leading me into a trap — why would they want to shut themselves out, right? We'll... we'll find another way, won't we, Lord Captain? Of course we will..." Idira's voice wilts with every word she speaks, turning into incoherent mumbling and eventually fading away completely.
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YOU"I have no more questions."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"What if it's a trap?"continues where this line first appears above
YOU"I have no more questions."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"I find it difficult to believe that suppressing your abilities is safe."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"What if it's a trap?"continues where this line first appears above
YOU"I have no more questions."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Is the door you describe similar to the door your whispers come from?"continues where this line first appears above
YOU"I find it difficult to believe that suppressing your abilities is safe."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"What if it's a trap?"continues where this line first appears above
YOU"I have no more questions."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Do your visions contain any clues on where to start looking?"continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Is the door you describe similar to the door your whispers come from?"continues where this line first appears above
YOU"I find it difficult to believe that suppressing your abilities is safe."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"What if it's a trap?"continues where this line first appears above
YOU"I have no more questions."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"We will find this door. I give you my word."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"We have to find that door. You are too unstable."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Out of the question. I will not indulge your sorcerous visions."continues where this line first appears above
Idira"Thank you for agreeing to hear me out, Lord Captain! Here's the deal: after all that happened recently, the voices in my head suddenly flared up and started gabbling worse than before. Don't get the wrong idea, I'm handling them just fine. But I think I know of a way I can get them to settle down a bit."
Idira"I keep having the same vision over and over again. I'm walking down a corridor, and there's this door at the end. And I just know that right behind that door is blissful silence — all I've got to do is reach out and open it. So I touch it with my fingers, I can feel the cold, rough metal... and then I suddenly snap out of it and always find myself staring at a wall in some compartment or other. I look behind me, and all the doors on the way are open, but I have no memory of how I got there."continues where this line first appears above