War update, Life update
30 Oct 2024Ember Lacson
I really don't know how to start this off. So much has happened since my last entry, but I can talk about almost none of it.First, I was on site when Seo Jin-ae had her seizure. I wasn't in the room, but Nicole was..."being held" is not the term they want me to use, but let's be honest, that's what it is...anyway, Nicole and I were in the same facility at the time. I remember watching a team of medics rush by at break neck speed. I told Nicole to stay put and followed them, and they really tried not to let me see what was happening, but I did. I think I might have some trauma to process with that one, because the first time you see a grand mal seizure like that...it tends to stick with you. I spoke with Seo before setting out to attack Raijin, and she said she was fine, but I could tell she was lying. She's afraid. Poor woman does not deserve the life she's been forced to live.
Second, Paz a Todos, the Thargoid entity who used to speak through Nicole, didn't give back as much control as she promised. I've caught her a few times, never snooping or anything untoward, but more exercising her curiosity about us. Aegis is currently trying to study the differences between Paz's methods of communication and the Azimuth implant, and for a while they didn't know how Paz had formed the psychic link. But now they do. And screw the NDA. If I get in trouble, I get in trouble.
After Raijin went boom, I went back to my Asp Explorer, the Iathrana, to check the logs from that day in HIP 22460. I watched the video twenty times, trying to find something, but no dice. Then I had Eden run a full diagnostic scan, looking for any evidence of intrusion. I was expecting some kind of electromagnetic something, but Eden found traces of ammonia in the life support monitor logs for that day. Her hull diagnostics returned a microscopic caustic scar. I couldn't wait any longer. I booked a shuttle back to Aegis and confronted Paz about it. She was very reluctant to tell me, but yes, Nicole has a biological Thargoid implant in her brain that allows two-way communication between her and Paz. I had one, but my body rejected it. Paz still hasn't told me whether that implant allows her to control Nicole's body or not, and she refuses to give me a straight answer on whether the enemy Thargoid faction can access the implant as well, like they accessed Seo's. She says she doesn't know. But I'm not so sure.
As for the implant itself, once it has bonded to the host, it's there for life. The Thargoids can deactivate it permanently, but they will only do so if Nicole really wants it, and she has made it clear that she does not. She feels Paz is now a part of her, and she says asking them to deactivate the implant would be like telling her best friend to forget her comms number and station address. The most unfortunate part of this is that Nicole may end up being Aegis's only link to the Thargoids, should the worst happen with Seo. It's not something I want to think about.
We currently don't have the technology to detect these implants, but I'm hypothesizing that the humans rescued from the Titans have them as well. And if something happens and those implants are used to control their hosts...I fear for Nicole's safety. I trust Aegis...sort of. But there are those among them that have ethics more in line with Azimuth. Prof. Tesreau would never admit it, but with all the billions dead and/or in quarantine...it's only a matter of time before people try to mutiny, especially if this "sleeper agent" theory everybody is throwing around winds up happening.