Destcember Day 12: Let It Snow

Destcember #1: A New Look

"Should I even ask why you have a screwdriver in you head?"

"Ok, so you know how exos can have the same base body but different colored eyes? Well, I think it might be a setting I can manually adjust and I want a new look."

"Then buy some shaders. All you are going to do is blind yourself."

"No I'm not, and even if I did you could just revive me good as new.

There, I think I got it. Let's see, red, orange, white..."

"Black?"

"No, I blinded myself. I'll just turn it back... and its stuck."

"I told you."

"You did. Now just reset me before I fall off the Tower."

"In a bit. It's funny to watch you stumble. I'll be back one have learned your lesson. In the meantime, enjoy your new look."

"Hilarious Yew...

You still there, Yew?

Well, she's gone."

Destcember Day 7: Say My Name

In my studies, I have come across the bones of a number of ahamkara. They whisper to me when I examine them, offering wealth, power, knowledge, or whatever else I wish for. Every one of them has a slightly different manner of tempting, but they all seem to have one thing in common. They never say my name. It's always "oh bearer mine" or the like. I know they can read minds, at least to some extent, as they always try to offer what I want at that moment. Hell, I've even had one try to offer me a bowl of ramen before. But I have never had one say my name. So, the last time one tried to make me an offer, I made them an offer instead. If they could say my name, I'd take their deal. They must have been silent for a full minute before admitting that they couldn't. I must have made it angry, as it hasn't whispered to me since, so whatever knowledge I could have gleaned from it is lost forever. But it was worth it, because it was both hilarious and reassuring that they don't know everything.

Destcember Day 31: Make A Wish

"Look, it's a shooting star! Make a wish."

"I thought that the Vanguard told us all not to do that anymore, after the Ahamkara kept using it to secretly grant Guardians wishes against their will."

"Don't worry about that. They were all killed in the Great Hunt, remember? It is completely safe now."

"Fine, I suppose you are right. What should I wish for?"

"It really doesn't matter. Just think of a wish and think hard about it."

"Ok.

...There, I made a wish. Is it just me, or are your gauntlets a bit shinier? And do you hear that quite, raspy laughter?"

"Hehe. I'm sure your just imagining things."

_____________________________________________

Wow, that was the last one. Thanks to @destcember for the great prompts and thanks to everyone for reading! Happy New Years.

Destcember Day 27: Voices In My Head

There are a quite a few voices in my head. Most of them are my fault and can be suppressed. The whispers of worms, ahamkara, my conscience. All have easy solutions, but there is one that I can hardly hear. It whispers, quietly but insistently, in the very back part of my mind. I can almost never hear it, like a fly in another room. It gets quiter the further away from the City I get, but I know it's still there. But sometimes, when I die or am in the very center of the City, I can just make out the voice. It whisper so many things. PROTECT THEM. FIGHT FOR ME. GROW STRONGER. DON'T QUESTION. FORGET. OBEY. It isn't like the other voices either. They all seem to come from without, but this one emanates from within. Is it why I can't remember my past? I don't think that I should ask anyone about this.

I have questionable tastes

joker’s wild is here and penumbra is coming and i’m reminded of the Discomfort

Destcember Day 25: Gift

It took me all year, but I've managed to find the perfect Dawning gift for everyone and today is the day I give them all out. I start in the Tower and work outward. For Ikora, I got a new bond. I had an amazing tailor in the City modify one of Cayde's old capes that I found in one of his caches. For Amanda, I got a new set of wrenches and engine that I salvaged from a Fallen skiff. For Banshee, I got a new gun repair kit and several interesting Dark Age guns from the Drifter. I gave the Drifter a few pieces of the Vex's Black Heart that I have been saving to research, since he is so interested in the Darkness, and a few cookies. I just met Ada recently, so all I could think to get her was as many of the pages from her book as I could reclaim from the Scourge Syndicate. I had gotten Eris a new wrap for eyes, but I guess that it will have to wait until I find her.

From there, I went out into the rest of the system. For Devrim, I got an assortment of rare teas from the City and the Reef. For Asher, I got him a sleeve for his human arm and metal polish mixed with a slight anaesthetic for his Vex arm. I also got him the core of Panoptes, which I managed to take before the simulation collapsed. Hopefully it will help with his research on a cure for his corruption. For the Spider, I found a number of the most ancient and interesting human artifacts that I could find and an intact ghost shell that I bought off the black market in the City. For Mithrax, I got the mantle of a Kell, in hopes that he will grow into it. I got Petra a fance eyepatch, a brand new knife, and panoramic picture of Mara's throne world. For Mara, and as a favor to Lord Shaxx, I brought her the bow that Shaxx bought her and his note, I found her several books of Shakespeare, including a new copy of the Tempest, and gave her my personal promise to do everything within my power to protect her reborn brother.

Finally, and most importantly, I made a brand new shell for Yew. That one was probably the most difficult one of all. To make sure that it would be a surprise, I convinced her to go on several tedious errands, taking messages for me all across the City and Tower. While she was gone, I payed Ada a small fortune in Glimmer, Shards, and favors in order to forge a nearly indistructable shell shielded by fine Black Armory metal. Then, I convinced Tess to help me make the shell aesthetically perfect and suited to Yew's tastes. It was more than worth all of the effort and cost to see her expression and happiness when I gave it to her.

I love the Dawning.

If Mara Sov's shade of morality had a hexadecimal code, I'd say it would be around #383838. Not evil, but definitely not good. Mara Sov: committing pretty evil acts for the Greater Good*

*Terms and restrictions may apply

Destcember Day 8: Legacy of the Golden Age

In a way, I'm a relic of the Golden Age. A machine, once human, freed from their mortal coil by the technology of a better time. I don't have anything left from back then but myself. Luckily, my old self had the foresight to think about what would happen if their memory was ever wiped, as tends to happen to exos. Soon after I was revived, I found that I had name and a phrase ingraved into my arm, apparently in my own handwriting. It said "Keep your name and keep your tally" above which was written Adar-I. I've since added another line to my tally, because losing my memory to a death is just as bad as to a reset, I suppose. So, I have my true name and my count, Ash-2. It's not not much, but it's more than most other guardians have managed to hold on to from their past life and I'm thankful for it.

Destcember Day 29: Curse

Honestly, I think that humanity is cursed. Not the kind of curse that the Dreaming City is facing, mind you. No, I am referring to something much more subtle and intangible. At least in the Dreaming City, we know its source and can eventually find a solution. The curse that I'm talking about is more of a string of bad luck. A sort of twisting of fate that has landed us all in an almost impossibly bad situation. Just think about it. In only a few centuries, we went from several billion to just a few million people. We went from fully covering our planet and beginning to extend outward to a single city. We are now fighting at least four wars, depending on how you count, and are at war with every single alien species that we have encountered. The only being that has not tried to kill us is the Traveler, and it is currently more or less in a coma and it was the one that attracted most of our problems. In addition to all of the perpetual wars that we are fighting, a new, potentially world ending catastrophe pops up every every few months. One of our enemies suddenly has a new, stronger, more ruthless leader; or gains a new source of power; or one of their previously unknown plans, years in the making, is about to come to fruition. It has happened at least half a dozen times just since I was revived a few years ago and I assume it will keep happening indefinitely. Despite everything, I am still hopeful. I believe that we will break the curse on the Dreaming City, and then we will break the curse on humanity. And if we fail, then at least we can die trying.

Destcember Day 13: Enemies of Humanity

Humanity has more enemies than it should. If at all possible, we should try to negotiate with them. This isn't an option for all of our enemies, of course. The Vex have no place for us in their Pattern. To the Hive and Taken, the very idea of peace would be blasphemous. The Scorn have been corrupted by the Darkness, and even if they hadn't been, killing all of their leaders in a quest for revenge has probably made us permanent enemies. Some of our enemies, though, I think that we can reason with. Under Calus, we would be able to join the Cabal in their empire, or, since I doubt most of humanity would be on board for that, at least ally with them against the Darkness. The Eliksni are our best bet for an alliance. Everything they they want is reasonable. They want a new home on Earth and their Great Machine back, both of which we could share. We even have an alliance with some of them already, such as Veriks and the Spider. They are quite good people once you get to know them and they hate the Darkness as much as us. If we could have any of our enemies as a friend, I think it would be them.