Mega Gold and the Lair
Last updated
Last updated
Mega Gold
Hello @everyone. I’ve missed talking to you all on here; needless to say, I’ve been extremely busy.
@Doc Gibbons and I thought it would be a good idea for me to share some information about some of what we discovered in the Obsidian Sanctorum, Mega Demon’s secret command center inside the Path’s headquarters. I recorded this voice memo when I was looking around in there last week.
Give it a listen - maybe it’ll help you unravel some mysteries, or perhaps you’ll just get a better sense of what it was like to be entrenched in the Path’s inner circle.
Stay vigilant, my friends.
Audio Transcript
Mega Gold
June 13, 2024 08:56 a.m.
I am currently sitting in the room that was once my old comrade Demon's secret headquarters, but now appears to have been abandoned. Doc went back to the lab to analyze some samples he found here, but he asked me to record a memo with my knowledge of this location that is a new discovery for him, but quite familiar to me.
I spent significant time here during the height of my involvement with the Simian Path. It feels different though now, almost hard to believe it's the same place. Not because of the way it looks. It appears almost exactly as it was the last time I was here, albeit a bit more dusty and disheveled.
No, the energy is what has changed. We all have changed, too. When Demon and I would meet here to study alchemy or strategize about sharing the benefits of Mega Mutation with all Ape Kind, the air in the room buzzed with a palpable sense of excitement, of hope for the future. A groundbreaking future in which every ape could realize their fullest potential. The world we were always meant to live in was finally on the brink of becoming reality.
That was how Demon made it sound when he first approached me about turning his unconventional research into a movement. I knew that his interest in the fringe side of Mandrill's teachings continued after our PhD program ended. But I did not quite understand the practical, real world implications of it until...
Aha. The tome! I knew I saw it in the picture Doc took the other day. This book was one of Mandrill's most valued possessions before he gave it to Demon, though it had many, many owners prior to the two of them. I'm not certain of its exact age or provenance, but I do know that it's old enough that calling it ancient would in no way be an exaggeration.
It is essentially a comprehensive overview of alchemy and some other age old supernatural practices that fall in the nebulous liminal space between art and science. Demon took me through it, deciphered much of the archaic language within its pages, and explained in detail how, if we were able to procure the proper ingredients, we could use this information for an innovation that would usher in a new era for ape kind. We would truly change the world like we dreamed of back in school. I was hooked. Especially after I witnessed the effects of Demon's somewhat accidental mega mutation. I was thrilled, it actually worked. I saw firsthand how powerful he became upon his transformation, and it filled me with a longing to achieve the same results. A lust for power unlike anything I had felt before.
Eventually, I think he became concerned that I was getting too obsessed. My enthusiasm escalated to its peak after my Mega Mutation. This area over here where the wall is all carved up, that was me. Eager to explore and test my newfound powers every chance I possibly could. Late one night, in a frenzy, I etched the entire table of alchemical symbols into this wall. A steel wall, with one finger. Mega gold is stronger than any other metal known to Ape Kind, after all.
When Demon saw it the following morning, he made it clear to me that he found my actions absolutely unhinged, even though it seemed like he saw something in those symbols that he hadn't noticed before. And sure, I admit, carving a wall sized mural with ones bare hands isn't exactly a normal thing to do, regardless of what they're made of. But can you blame me for being excited about my new abilities? He began to distance himself from me and the whole Simian Path movement, which seemed unfair since he had initiated me into this way of thinking in the first place.
Oh, there's something on the floor here. Looks like a little piece of notepaper. Oh. Can't tell if it fell off of his bulletin board or somewhere on his desk. It's in Demons handwriting. It says "no one can know about Veil, especially not her."
Wow. Wow. Im not quite sure what to make of that. It sounds familiar, though. I remember Demon saying something about a veil. He had a tendency to mutter to himself while deep in thought, and he was also known to sleep talk occasionally while snoozing at his desk. After he said the word veil a few times in those contexts, I asked him about it. His answer was simply, "I can't talk about that. But don't worry, I can handle it". He seemed more upset every time I brought it up, so eventually I dropped it. But this makes me think that whatever it was, maybe he couldn't handle it.
Well, that is everything I can think of at the moment. But now that we found what we were searching for, I should head back to the lab.