Quoted By:
"So! I saw you gave me some little treats like this, mmmh?" He gestures towards the fish you gave him. "Well, well, I'm not one to smack a gift like that away. What secrets do you wish to know?"
"How about about the Mines and W-Corp?"
One of his eyes twitches. "Oh, mines, mines, MINES. Nothing good down there, no no, nothing worth the infinite risk down there anymore, no. So many untapped moon, sun, dwarfstones, and eclipse silk but no no. The fumes there, the gas infinitely leaking from those things, we dug too deep, yes yes." Oh god, it's like you triggered some sort of psychoactive break in him.
"Equivalent exchange you see. The moons require you to shatter into glass, glass. Fragments. One mind is not good enough, no no, not for W-Company. Shatter, shatter, five isn't good enough. Pull the glass OUTSIDE of your head and STUFF it into another, patches up one mirror but you see, the other mirror is broken. Can't see a reflection anymore. The you there doesn't exist. That's why we had to close the mines, yes."
"Wait." You try your best to get some clarification. "Are you saying that going in there...breaks your mind? The fumes in there? How deep do you have to go for it to happen?"
Devin leans over the counter, his hands gripping tightly on the rusted metal checkout counter. "Below a thousand feet, nothing but the Lack. Pure oblivion. Oh, but they don't mind that. They don't mind when you can't even see your own reflection. Shatter, shatter, shatter. That's what they want. There's nothing of value in you for them unless you saw the Lack. Total oblivion. See, that's why we're good, Nicole-" Wait, how does he know your name?
[ANOMALOUS ABILITIES] You assume the 'Lack" is metaphorical. Probably just when the concentration of gas is lethal.
"2+2 doesn't equal 4 anymore. We can see the logical gaps that the others can't. That's why W-Company likes us, yes, yes. When the stones of doubt holding you back are shattered like the mirror, yes, that's when you're free. I know some people who wanted to go back to the mine. To huff in those sweet, delicious fumes. So much, much. I want to go back too. To see the Lack. They had to close it, close it, otherwise we would wander back there."
"Been like that for two weeks now. Levels too high. Too unsafe. Feh."
A weird look crosses Benjamin's face as he processes Devin's ramblings. <<span class="mu-b">"...That doesn't sound half bad. To not have to worry about 'you'..."</span>>
[PERSON OF INTEREST] The only reason someone would go down there is if they were trying to hide from something or someone.
[SEEKER OF THE CITY] If she had any interest in this place, she had to know about the properties of the gasses down there beforehand...
[ANOMALOUS ABILITIES] The complete oblivion of the soul. Obliteration of the self. Ultimate freedom from the world around you.
[UNSTABLE] Valentina disappeared a week ago, right? Maybe she wants to obliterate herself? Or to become like us?
<span class="mu-r">This complicates things severely.</span>
