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Aberrant: The Long March - Michael's manipulation of the Cabal


Mr Fox

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Below was a PM exchange between myself and Sky regarding how Michael played Cody and the Cabal that I thought you guys might find amusing. I couldn't reveal this at the time to anyone lest it spoil the suprise. Enjoy. smile

Leaving the timeline

Mr Fox:

Actually, you will find that Cody doesn't really want to press the issue about exposing their role in history...

Leaving feels like the right thing to do, but now that Ulric has questioned exposing the group, it seems entirely reasonable to Cody to heed his advice.

(This is not Ulric's doing, he's not pitting mega against mega here. Nor is anyone manipulating Cody, nor does he in any way feel manipulated, it just seems like the natural way things should be.)

SkyLion:

Why? Tell me more? Whats wrong with letting this world know the truth and allow them to make their own decisions???

Mr Fox:

Well, there would be consequences to that action, but that's not what I'm saying.

I'm saying that Cody simply loses the desire to pursue that option as though he has been thoroughly convinced, even though Ulric made only the barest of arguments. Nor does it occur to Cody to think anything odd about that.

The manipulator has been manipulated.

SkyLion:

Uhhhhh....I spend a willpower power point to throw off the manipulation. If its Ulric he can piss off. Charisma just makes one likeable. Its manipulation that makes people do what you want. And there is NO way Ulric just beat Cody in a competition of Mega Manipulation...or anyone else on the ship for that matter. And if its TP, then COdy would know...he has psychic awareness, plus his Mental Invulnerability and the extra protection of our (very strong) at this point link.

Unless you can give me a valid OOC reason why I should go along with what you say I am going to be miffed...

Mr Fox:

Before I explain, let me say that I don't take things out of the control of a PC lightly. I know that such manipulations piss off the player. With that in mind, let me explain, but keep in mind that this is all OOC knowledge and Cody wouldn't have any clue whatsoever.

First of all, Cody can't throw off something that he is not even aware of.

Second, You are almost right.

Almost no one on the ship has the ability to do this to Cody. There is one person though, although he is incapacitated at the moment. Even he wouldn't have an easy time forcing something like this on Cody, however... since you invited him into your mind, and have done so repeatedly for the last 60 years, he's had plenty of time to arrange things. Michael as benign as he is on this timeline is still the seed from which Divis Mal sprung on the original timeline. And he plans to be here long after the rest of you are gone. Worse, he couldn't have you guys going off and spoiling things for him at your departure. He has planned this since before Caroline. In fact the whole Caroline incident was actually instigated by him for the dual purpose of testing the group and getting access to Cody's mind. Tada!!! I've been waiting to spring this on you guys for a long time now. Remember though, that Cody doesn't have a clue. When you guys made that first gestalt I rolled dice for the both of you and he got the successes necessary to set his hook in Cody without him noticing. I saved the roll, but unfortunately, I had to rebuild my computer since then and don't have the numbers anymore, but if I remember right he got like 5 successes over Cody.

So with all that being said. I really hope you are not irked by having a decision taken out of Cody's hands, but like I said, it was not something I did lightly and it was very much part of the plot as you can see, and it was a very long time in the making.

Oh, and so you know, Michael's plan was to wave goodbye to you all when you left and part as good friends, but after you were gone to rule this timeline as a benevolent ruler. He set the hooks in Cody to accomplish two things. One, to ensure that you guys left in such a way that it would not disrupt his plans, and two, to ensure that when you did go that all the contacts, and manipulations and strings would be in his hands, and his alone. He didn't want you bringing others into the secret, or his own position would be compromised. Had he not been in a coma, he would have asked you out of friendship to consider not revealing the secret of the cabal since he would be staying behind and out of friendship you would have said yes and thought nothing of it.

SkyLion:

That Bastard!

Well Played...

Mr Fox:

Thanks. I hope you don't mind playing that out. There is a small chance that the others might catch on, but Michael has worked very hard to ensure his position.

SkyLion:

What sucks is that you did something so crafty you cant even tell us. I can keep the OOC knowledge to myself but it must suck for you!

And just so you know I was going to have Cody Scan Micahel way back and you got dodgy so now I know why.

Also what would you have done if I had used my xp to buy more levels of invuln?

Mr Fox:

Oh, man you don't know how many times I've just been itching to spill the beans.

Invuln wouldn't have mattered. You willingly let him into your mind. You opened the front door and made him feel right at home. It wasn't a matter of him doing what he wanted to do, it was only a matter of whether you realized he was doing it. That is the downside to the gestalt, btw. By allowing yourself to be so open to the other, you are making yourself vulnerable. If you hold back and shield the gestalt won't work. Michael was just crafty because he set guards in your mind against you getting tempted to scan or plant suggestions of your own in him.

Mr Fox:

Oh, and only you and Ulric have been told yet. It will still be a surprise to the others.

If you hadn't forced the issue, it might have remained a secret either until after you left if I didn't think you were coming back to the timeline, or it would have been discovered if you ever returned.

SkyLion:

Us players are a crafty lot...obviously not as crafty as STs though... <_<

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Personally I agree with Mike. Revealing the conspiracy right before sailing off into the sunset is leaving this big heap of dung for someone else (i.e. Mike) to deal with.

On the other hand it was pretty low of Mike to set that up too.

And btw, very well played Fox.

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