DD-DDD05 (Nov 29, 1988)
Puzzle
"1/24th."
Knowledge | Come Back to L8R | 3 Words
Clue
Hover over the clues if you require!
Clue 1: Other Cafe.
Clue 2: Who was each in possession of 1/24th of the Mantle of 8?
Clue 3: More specifically, when did these 1/24ths...interact, for lack of a better word, with each other?
Clue 4: I'd personally read through Figments of Light's more...'bigger picture'...receipts.
Clue 5: 'Listen close. Tap into your connection to the other El'Utopyah...'
Answer and Explanation
Answer: Enter The Light
Explanation: In the Other Cafe's Welcome the Dark Archive, the TriCaD's 1/24ths of the Mantle of 8 whispered to them 'Enter the Light'.
Summary of Receipt
Summary
Transcript
NUMBER: DDD05
PRIORITY: DINER DINER
DATE: 29-11-88
CUSTOMER & ORDER: ERRATA
SERVER: OTHER
Paranoid old fool. It’s so obvious in hindsight—Jean-Marc was the cause of most of his own problems. Not Fate. Sure, I won’t deny that Fate wanted him dead. But even then, I’m not convinced. Honestly, I think the first time he died, he became an even greater threat to Fate. This time around, I’d wager Fate wanted him to be as average and ordinary as possible. Tall order for a dick like that.
He did everything in his power to get ahead of the inevitable, and look where it got him. A dead lover. Estranged kids. And a really questionable deal to turn himself into some kind of man-made god. Funny, isn’t it? Even if Indrid hadn’t slammed the door shut on him, God would’ve. He made that bet with the Devil—counting on Jean-Marc being narcissistic enough to activate the Heart of Netzach. I can only imagine where he’d have ended up after winning God’s wager. The deepest, darkest bottom of the Black… Thorn? Is that what they settled on? Doesn’t matter. Woes of a prior Universe.
Still, he won. That’s what matters, I suppose. A half-success, but a success nonetheless. He killed Fate. He killed an Archon—not just one, either. Three. It reminds me of a story a friend once told me about a mortal who toppled all of Entropy with his death. In that story, the mortal was killed, unleashing mortality upon the Entropic Archons. Here, though? Jean-Marc killed the Archons and almost got rewarded with immortality for it. Thank the Devil that didn’t happen. Well—thank Indrid, really.
The funny thing is, I should have died that day too. But I guess there’s something about me—something that reminds them of him—that makes me worth keeping around. Never look a gift horse in the mouth, right? Still… what a choice of company I keep. Can I even say I’m better than Jean-Marc if I hang around with Gleam and the rest of them? I suppose it’s like poetry. Though for the record—I am not a Nova. Not even sure what the hell I am anymore. Human? No, far from it, even if I wish I were. Archon? I wish. Elder? Maybe, but that feels like a stretch too.
Then again—can I even die? I guess that’s up to Gleam. Sucks to have my fate in his hands, but it’s better than the alternative.
…She’s here too. I just missed her. I can feel it. They’re both here—or they were. This “archival time travel” Jean-Marc cooked up is finicky. Man was full of half-successes. Oh well. All I need is a vector to the present. That’s what Gleam said, anyway. Not that I think they’re in any rush to find one for me. And even if they did—what would it cost?
…We’re at an impasse, aren’t we? He offered me friendship… but I don’t feel like much of a friend to him. Blood is thicker than water, after all.