The Sylph Report

[Anonymous]

Residents of Haviah and other cities under Aedolian control are advised that this VCN site has been blocked to the terminals of your home country. If you are an Aedolian citizen, keep in mind that it is illegal for you to view this site from any location, punishable to the fullest extent of the law.

Let me tell you a story. It's fictional.

It begins with a few isolated incidents. Maybe the power will cut out for a few seconds, or a scheduled food delivery won't arrive. Perhaps supervisors assigned the lowest depths of our capital city begin to show up dead in the streets outside their factories. Police teams sent to the lower level are never heard from again. A few influential individuals down there decide to cut power to the elevators, which means that military patrols can't get down anymore. It's too sudden and nobody has any time to respond - an organized lower caste has rebelled, taking with them their factories, their generators, a city unto itself.

In a matter of days, the middle tier wakes up to a bleak new reality. Government backup plans are initiated, and a few buildings in the middle tier are converted to serve the needs of a far greater demand. It isn't enough. Hyperinflation spirals ever upwards, and credits are next to worthless. Nobody in their right mind accepts them.

"Only gold, silver, jewelry; just what we can carry," repeats a store clerk on the middle level, turning away disappointed caste workers who are still so naive as to think they can pay for a can of mushrooms in credits. The only other employee in the store rolls his eyes and slings the steel pipe he's holding over one shoulder. Together they've laid claim to the small market, but they know they may have to move quickly if better-armed profiteers arrive.

A few more weeks pass, and food riots in front of the Citadel are met with lethal force. Most citizens from the middle level are terrified of what awaits above them, but the upper caste also represents their only source of resources. In uncharacteristic alliance, "tier teams" of white-collar workers storm checkpoints and upper-caste houses. Sometimes they succeed. Warlords emerge. Their followers vie for control of elevators. Taxes are imposed on mid-to-upper-tier elevator use, payable in consumables.

Any police units still in the middle tier are killed on sight, just for their weapons. Many choose to go rogue, and some end up becoming warlords themselves... it's safer than active deployment. Most of the military has been ordered to secure upper-caste rationing stations. As water stockpiles dwindle, supply to the middle level of Haviah gets cut off entirely.

Vending machines still work, and they still dispense palatable and occasionally nutritious food. Automated pharmacies are still run by the Citadel, but they are few and far between. Prices are almost fourteen times what they were a month ago. Anyone who is even a little wise to the situation and has access to an automated dispenser will stock up on whatever's still available through traditional lines of credit, before account balances are frozen. But whether food or medicine, the middle caste eventually runs out of it. They aren't being issued paychecks, so when the pills are gone, the more convicted among our number get creative. There are still more pills in the machines, they're just too expensive. It's common knowledge that all they do is check your right handprint against your account details. We soon realize that someone else's hand works just as well.

Chop. Simple as that.

Meanwhile, the lower caste revels in the abundance of resources. Sure, traditional electronic money and the VCN don't work anymore, but it doesn't matter... they have the food, they have the infrastructure. Those who are dissatisfied search for ways out of the city - most of the security cameras have been smashed by now. Desert towns are quickly populated by liberated and well-supplied lower caste emigrants. There's a new future out there for them, and they're all too willing to take it.

Oh, and... uh, Marshal? I lied about the fiction. Opposite Day's coming.

Peace and love,
Sylph

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[Anonymous]

Ahahaha.

You do make me laugh Sylph.

I skimmed most of that, because of course I trust you wouldn't be stupid enough to publish your master plan like that. You can't lure me in so easily gospel.

Hahaha...ah....it almost seems a shame to kill you. I'll be sure to make it slow, how does that sound?

-M.Richards

[Anonymous]

I skimmed most of that, because of course I trust you wouldn't be stupid enough to publish your master plan like that. You can't lure me in so easily gospel.

-M.Richards

If you're right, you are intelligent not to send Pilots down there. It would be foolish to waste our most valuable psychics on crushing a mythical rebellion. You'll be hailed as a brilliant Seeker for staying home and eating pie with the others.

I won't send a cardboard box containing thousands of copies of this story to the lower tier, but I wanted you to know it's feasible.

~ Sylph

[Anonymous]

It's impossible. We are law on this planet, defiance is useless. More and more I slow you, force you deeper and deeper until you will become nothing more than an idea, innefective and powerless.

Run little rabbit, run and hide.

-M.Richards

[Anonymous]

The readership of the Sylph Report might be better served by a balanced perspective.  I invite everyone who wishes to engage in true, reasoned discourse to visit The Citizen, which has, moreover, the benefit of legality.

And remember this, 'Gospel' pilots: do we know who this report's author is, or his/her/its motivation?  Take a closer look.

-Alesku Macario

[Anonymous]

Residents of Haviah and other cities under Aedolian control are advised that this VCN site has been blocked to the terminals of your home country. If you are an Aedolian citizen, keep in mind that it is illegal for you to view this site from any location, punishable to the fullest extent of the law.

I find Alesku's words impressive, but they are the tools of a sophist no matter how you frame them. His appeal to xenophobia hasn't gone unnoticed by the Report. How can we ever hope to acheive peace with Edanith and Seruna if publications like The Citizen claim to be reasonable and diplomatic? It is an unfortunate truth that people are susceptible to things they read (to use his words), so why should the only channels legally available depict Edanith as a nation of backwards slavemasters and actively encourage a war motivated by greed?

Alesku claims that Aedolis was noble enough not to keep mages as slaves - this remark refers, of course, to our current villain of choice. The Edanis have their own flaws, make no mistake, but keep in mind that Edanith's magic was checked to avoid the vast ecological destruction we observe today from the glass walls of our cities. The Edanis had no desire to be trapped in a cage of their own construction, and to some degree their decision was wise.

I offer no illusions. Mages in Edanith are allowed no self-determination... they will be under watch by a Mordecai at all times, and often called upon to perform controlled magic to further the aims of the Edani government. On the other hand, they live well. In many respects, they are like the Pilots of Aedolis - Edani mages have all their needs met in exchange for an admittedly railroaded lifestyle. We're born into it, we serve as valuable resources, and eventually we die.

Should the mages be bonded forever to their Mordecai? Should the Pilots be bonded forever to their dragons? Should you clock in tomorrow morning and serve your shift? I leave it to the reader to make a moral judgment, but I suspect the answer to these three questions will be the same. We're all complicit in a human travesty like this one.

I hate to promote my newfound image as an Edani sympathizer, but note that every citizen there is protected under a constitution which permits them to speak their mind. If they're discontented with an employer, they simply switch. Edani citizens are free on a fundamental level. If something goes wrong in the vast political machine, there will be a voice to call attention to it.

Alesku admits that the Aedolisian caste system has its flaws, but censorship is nothing if not counterproductive. By doing so, the government simply silences those who are playing an active role in identifying issues and solving them. Edanith quite frankly embarasses us in terms of logistical efficiency - and if the words freedom of speech mean nothing to you, Alesku, maybe that will.

If you believe my posts are too lined with partisan intent to be reasonable, you clearly need to consider the motives of a Seeker as well. In fact, consider everyone's motives. Read all the blogs, not just the legal ones. Make up your own mind. Hey, it's what the Edanis do, and it's working for them.

To send a news tip to The Sylph Report, click the button labeled "PM" below. Publication anonymity is guaranteed.

[Anonymous]

Residents of Haviah and other cities under Aedolian control are advised that this VCN site has been blocked to the terminals of your home country. If you are an Aedolian citizen, keep in mind that it is illegal for you to view this site from any location, punishable to the fullest extent of the law.

Abstract: Addressing the Emergence of Modern Anti-Magic Collectives
Rory Mansker,  Senior HR Advisor -- EcoCorp Holdings Group.

Background: This project began immediately following the death of Jarn Garrat, the infamous radical who attempted to build an agricultural pipe dream on EcoCorp money almost 25 years ago. We were aware of his followers, a group known as Arteia, and conducted only brief studies at first. As it turned out, while the Tynova cell no longer met regularly or attempted to make progress on Garrat's vision, the street performances and publications continued as normal. Our field researchers were left with only one reasonable conclusion: the Arteian collective had dispersed and formed new cells. Drawing upon the discretionary budget for field research, Human Resources conducted an in-depth, quantitative study of Arteian influence on the effectiveness of our Mordecai during the course of terraforming and construction initiatives.

Results: EcoCorp staff mapped the location, methods, and intensity of Edani Arteian activity over the course of a decade, as well as incidents of low productivity and desertion among magically-sensitive staff. We observed a direct correlation between turnover and major projects in areas frequented by Arteian performers and other anti-magic collectivists. Two incidents in particular (a week-long strike at CON430 the complete abandonment of TER481-B) stood out to members of our analysis team.

Conclusions: HR stands behind any attempt to end Arteian activity in areas designated for terraforming as a preventative measure. The primary issue of concern will not be the number of people involved in this movement, but their location. The Mordecai are a crucial asset, and HR plans to implement a harm reduction course to avoid the ideals of anti-magic collectives from taking hold among members of our own staff.

Analyst's Note: While the primary goal of the study was to map the spread of counter-Mordecai activity, I would like to urge the Board of Directors on behalf of HR to consider withdrawing support from certain political figures and devote additional resources to determining which parties are in our best interest. Rec. a policy review of Senator Siraz Artegna (rel. Ari Gasna, R&D - consider possible actions here).

I'm tired and can't comment on this right now, but someone in Edanith just sent me an excerpt from the HR archives at EcoCorp. He said it was relevant to my personal beliefs, but any metaphysical abolitionist's going to want to see this -- it seems to be standard policy in the Citadel to crack down on the revolutionaries, so it's only fair that the corporations running the show in Edanith should throw their political weight around a bit too.

Ugh. I'm disgusted. Bedtime.

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