On the breakday after the top 16 duos were decided, Randidly followed an image trail to find the source of the strange probes that had been sent to test Kharon. He likely would have forgotten all about the issue of the antagonistic agents, mostly due to his busy schedule, if he hadn’t noticed that the same image was lingering around the recently defeated participant in the tournament, Skyler Ross.

And Randidly was finalizing his preparations to leave Earth, so he felt like he had a responsibility to investigate these strange circumstances. The image touch disappeared from Hydie Mordath on its own, but that only made Randidly warier. He needed to make sure such images wouldn’t develop into a threat.

But also it gave him a very good excuse to cancel all the day’s meetings. Due to all the distractions, Randidly felt like he hadn’t made any meaningful progress with his Skills since leaving the Dungeon. It was almost becoming too much to bear.

So Randidly followed that trail of image all the way North to the edge of the Nordawn Mountain range, where Randidly located a small villa sitting on the slope of a mountain. There were no other human buildings in the surrounding area and the only way to arrive at this villa was by following a game trail. This was the home of someone who truly didn’t like being disturbed.

Not quite as effective as a floating island, however. Randidly pursed his lips and then approached the villa directly, knocking boldly on the front door. While Randidly waited for the movement he sensed within the villa, he carefully examined his surroundings; he looked at the rows of mountain laurel and blueberry bushes along the sides of the villa. He saw the mailbox and the small pond that was positively teeming with fish.

This was a well-cultivated area. This was a home.

A short woman opened the door and nodded at him as though Randidly Ghosthound turning up on her doorstep was the most natural thing in the world. “Please, follow me. Mr. Syllo will see you now.”

Randidly was quite perplexed by her reaction to him but inwardly shrugged. There was no point in arguing with the woman. Instead, he simply followed her through a hallway toward an open-air courtyard and then through to another covered area of the house. All the while, Randidly’s senses were tasting the image that flowed through this place.

The image was heavy in the air around the woman. But it was also present in every polished surface and trimmed bush in the courtyard. Whoever this Mr. Syllo was, he did all of the cleaning himself. From Randidly’s interactions with it in the small tests of Kharon, he had expected that the image itself would be insidious or controlling. Perhaps even leaning toward manipulation, like the image of Mrs. Hamilton.

But breathing it in here… none of those were quite correct. The image was a much milder thing that that. It was surprisingly straightforward and open.

But still very powerful, Randidly mused. More powerful than I would have believed. It could even give Alana a run for her money, although the two images are obviously focused on two very different things…

Randidly was rather amused to see that the image was devoured by the Stillborn Phoenix as soon as it dared approaching him. Unwilling to actually damage the image without understanding it, he began to use Yggdrasil to guide this image away from him. But he kept an eye on how it interacted with his aura.

The short woman brought Randidly passed a library and to a closed door. She knocked on the door, opened it for him, then stepped to the side. Unable to resist the stirrings of curiosity in his chest, Randidly walked forward.

The room was dark and a shadowy figure stood on the other side of the room, next to an empty wooden chair. Aside from the man and the chair, no other piece of furniture was present in the room; it was completely bare. Randidly was greeted by a soft voice filled with amusement as he entered. “I hope you will forgive the setting. You took me something by surprise with your visit. And often… people have strange reactions from seeing me for the first time.”

After taking several steps into the room, Randidly stopped and tilted his head to the side. The room was so small that Randidly could feel the warmth wicking off the figure in front of him and spreading to the surrounding air. And with his Grim Intuition, Randidly could easily pierce through the dim lighting to see the details of Mr. Syllo. He began to frown. “You… well, I can understand why you would be hesitant to introduce yourself.”

Mr. Syllo stepped forward. Although his legs and left side of his torso was human, his right arm was a giant red crab claw. Two eyeballs at the end of strange, antenna-like appendages were trained on Randidly. The mandibles of his mouth made a rather consistent clicking noise. “Heh. Certainly, I didn’t expect you to be a petty person. So, why have you come to visit me? I cannot deny I’ve been very curious about you and your city’s aspirations…”

“Before that,” Randidly said with narrowed eyes. “I’d like to ask why you have Father Karman’s image over you. More than you would just have from being a part of his Raid Boss and human experiments.”

“...you have sharp eyes.” Mr. Syllo shrugged. “Thomas and I were friends. Before they called him Father Karmin. We used to talk a lot about philosophy… and I was one of the first people to participate in his experiments. Back then he believed he had made a breakthrough, but his methods were still… rough. And let me assure you that I wouldn’t have agreed if I understood the purpose of his experiments. I just… I believed he was a good man. It seems that I was wrong.”

Randidly’s emerald eyes were bright in the dark room as he scrutinized the crab person in front of him. But gradually, his expression eased; from every detail that his Grim Intuition was able to observe, Mr. Syllo was telling the truth. In addition, Randidly couldn’t detect any significant power in the body in front of him. He was just an experiment gone wrong. “Perhaps you weren’t wrong about him being a good man. Perhaps he just changed after being exposed to power for too long.”

Mr. Syllo shook his head. “Mr. Ghosthound, this might just be my humble opinion, but I don’t believe people can truly change. Now, if you are comfortable with my… aesthetic, we can move to the courtyard. Even though I’ve looked like this for two and a half years, it’s been difficult to get over the vestiges of vanity…”

Nodding slowly, Randidly stepped out fo the room and Mr. Syllo followed him. In the light, the juxtaposition of his body parts was even more striking. His crab claw seemed to bulge suddenly out of his torso in an unnatural fashion. The flesh around the transition was inflamed. But even more than that, Randidly suddenly understood the image of Mr. Syllo.

His was an image that believed that people could never change.

His was an image that said ‘this is what we are’. It was an image of acceptance and encouragement, of a very particular sort.

Randidly’s mind was tracing the newly understood shape of this image as they moved to the middle portion of the house. They sat on adirondack chairs in the courtyard and Randidly refused the offered refreshment. Mr. Syllo calmly waited for him to bring up the reason for his visit while Randidly considered the image around him. The reason the image was so powerful was that it was so simple and stable. It encouraged people to simply accept themselves as who they were.

To put it another way, it would tell people not to deny or ignore their thoughts or desires, even if they were negative.

To some, this message would be encouraging and reassuring. The image would function as a salve to heal wounds and strengthen their Willpower. In others… it would lead to dangerous self-indulgence and a downward spiral of negative behaviors. Overall, it was a neutral image. It was a powerful, but a blunt tool.

Although Randidly knew the act would always end in disappointment, he still methodically cracked the knuckles of his right hand and then tried to crack the knuckles of his left. The motions were just so familiar that it was easy to thoughtlessly mirror them. “Several people that have interacted with your image have come to Kharon. I wanted to make sure that my city wasn’t being targeted.”

“Well, I didn’t deliberately target you… it’s more like your city is too dominant in the minds of most people. In a way, congratulations.” Mr. Syllo brought a straw up to mandible-filled mouth and slurped noisily. “I actually imitated you, Mr. Ghosthound, in my company. In placing the image at the center of everything that we do.

“I run a number of banks and lending institutions across the Zones; that’s how I encounter so many people. And it is my company’s policy to judge people’s future productivity by their current actions. Obviously there are some special circumstances that can be considered, but I believe that actions are what ultimately what displays a person's true character. I watch the way individuals behave and see the truth. Thoughts and emotions are just facades.”

Randidly tilted his head to the side. Then he chuckled. “Honestly, I’m not really one for philosophical debate. I just wanted to warn you: I don’t mind your ideology. And I have seen proof that your image increases the power of the people around you, regardless of other side effects. That’s good for Earth.

“But I’ll say this: Kharon right now is confident because I am present on Earth. That means they don’t feel threatened by these people that have felt empowered by your ideology to pursue their small grudges and give in to impulses. But after I leave… I don’t think Kharon will play as nicely.”

As Randidly spoke, he was imagining the confrontation between this image and Kharon’s. He saw in Mr. Syllo a new shape for the old privilege of the elites of Earth. Even after being warped by Father Karmin’s experiments, this man still came back and was able to manage quite a few ‘banks and lending institutions’. And to the weakness that he found in himself and others during the difficult transition to the System, he said this: “It’s not your fault. People cannot change.”

Honestly, Kharon could level this type of foe in its sleep. But Randidly was also aware that he didn’t need to be the only image in the world. As with this duos tournament, hurdles give rise to improvement.

It was hard to read Mr. Syllo’s expression, considering his features, but he currently seemed to exude amusement. “Are you expecting me to control people? Restrict the actions that they wish to take on their own?”

“...of course not, that’s against your code, right?” Randidly grinned like a wolf. “You believe that people will do what they will. People cannot change. They will ultimately follow their nature. But what is missing from your outlook is a recognition of perspective; these people that drifted into Kharon were not in the position to do anything about their emotions. In fact, indulging in them recklessly could be very dangerous, if one of our police officers lost his or her temper. Humanity must know patience. You should address that oversight in your creed.”

“And yet you claim not to be a philosopher,” Mr. Syllo observed.

Randidly shrugged. “I’m a realist.”

“Well, thank you for the warning. I will consider this.” The crab man said with a small bow. “As thanks… would you like me to tell you a secret about yourself?”

Randidly arched his eyebrow. Mr. Syllo spread his arms, one human and one crab. His image tried to approach Randidly again, only to be devoured by the Stillborn Phoenix. Randidly’s image whined, hungry for more.

After gathering his thoughts, Mr. Syllo spoke. “You are quite interesting to talk to, Mr. Ghosthound. I can feel your three images and the three desires that drive them quite clearly. But you know, I consider myself a study of human character. And all three of your desires… well, it is a bit like the guardian of hell, Cerberus. They appear to be separate, but they grow from one true core.”

“Oh?” Randidly said.

“Dominance. That is what you crave, Randidly Ghosthound. You wrap it in pretty justifications… but that is the true longing in your heart.” Mr. Syllo brought the straw to his mouth and took another slurping drink. “Is that not why you are planning to leave this planet? Because there is no more for you to dominate here on Earth? You cannot and should not contain your nature.”

Ha! The difference between what I am and what you think I am is exactly what I told you earlier. Perspective. A perspective that gives me a true understanding of my capability in the Nexus. Randidly glanced at Mr. Syllo. Then he smiled mildly. “...well, everyone can have their own opinion. Just… be glad we didn’t end up being enemies, Mr. Syllo. Don’t lose your sense of perspective in the future.”

Then Randidly left. Before too much of the day was lost, he wanted to reach out and heal Vualla.