To: Fey Arius From: Boris Derrota Subject: Grafts.
Greetings. Please pardon my delayed response to the queries we previously discussed, but there have been several changes in and around Arcadia recently, and I needed some time to consider it all.
Bullet-Train and Finesse are getting along well. They decided to stay in Arcadia until they found the person responsible for the grafts, and together they did in fact track down the android Butler and gain audience with the individual who was the face for that group. It has been said before that one can never fall too far into self-delusion and immoral behavior to crawl back, and she has proven this admirably.
Now it is my turn.
I apologize for deceiving you. These apologies are extended to the rest of your crew as well, but primarily to you.
No secret has been better kept, since Arcadia’s inception, than the necrophagic grafts and those who administer them.
You had a profound effect on Finesse. She has tried very hard to make up for her misdeeds, and she, with the aid of her brother, has managed to do something her father could never have managed. They uncovered the truth of the grafts, as I had to an extent hoped they would, and they discerned my involvement before I arrived on the scene to ensure they were not killed.
A long time ago now, I spoke in depth to the caretaker. In those times there was another powerful Necrophage, a doctor capable of taking gaians and performing the grafts which enabled a good number of soldiers to be magically augmented at the cost of your people. I and my brother killed this man, but I was able to discover the secrets of the art, which would otherwise have been lost. At the time, it was idle curiosity, and I had no intention of using it save to have an extra ace up my sleeve if for whatever reason things did not work out and it was necessary to battle the gaians.
I am, and have been for over two centuries now, the only person capable of performing these grafts perfectly. In the beginning it was a means of augmenting my wealth and amassing a source of power capable of allowing me to stand against the Syndicate, should it have come down to that. Later, when the Syndicate and I had hashed out our differences, it became a more available, but still specialized, service.
More recently, it was a service performed only for money, most of which came from agents of Pandora’s Children. I had intended for the grafts to serve only to benefit myself and those who worked directly for me, and things have clearly gone well beyond that. I cannot really remember exactly what it was that made me decide that I no longer needed to worry about the ethical ramifications of necrophagia. Between the technological defenses at my disposal, my own magic, and the alchemical studies I have performed over the centuries, I hardly needed it anymore. It was more of a habit, I suppose.
I would like to offer some explanation for actions I understand are entirely anathema to you. I very nearly wish I had some sinister grand design, or some bizarre disorder, even megalomania, with which I could dismiss my own actions, but I do not.
That, however, is in the past. For now, let me simply say this:
The doctors who have performed the lesser procedures have been informed in no uncertain terms that they will not do so any longer. The gaian parts that had not already been handed to the Gaian Order are on their way. A new law has been added to Arcadia’s brief list stating that from this day forward, no surgeries may be performed that allow the grafting of gaian body parts, and any gaian body parts discovered on Arcadia will be subject to seizure without compensation, along with… other penalties. And after I complete this letter to you, I will be traveling to the Boneyard to ensure that the pirates there are unable to find safe haven anywhere so long as they continue their trade.
Attached is a file documenting the entirety, to the best of my knowledge, of the organization known as Pandora’s Children. You will find them all over the known galaxy, even up to the highest levels of the Gaian Order. I do not understate the danger here when I say that you will need to be exceedingly careful in order to bring them down.
With the information and armaments at my disposal, I believe it will be possible for a force of Gaians bolstered by Arcadia and its fleet to clear out every pirate stronghold in the asteroid belt that is related to Pandora’s Children. That will be the end of gaian harvesting, at least on a large scale. There will be some who escape, and there will be some who accidentally uncover one of the means to gain power at the expense of gaians, but this is, I think, unavoidable. All we can do is catch them as they crop up and make certain they don’t cause too much harm.
The actions taken by Bullet-Train, Finesse, and yourself have prompted me to make the decisions I have made, and while they may be of little comfort given how much harm has been done, they are the best I can offer at this time.
Should you or your crew wish to return to Arcadia, you will be given docking space and any other reasonable accommodations. Should you require anything of us that will aid in the destruction of Pandora’s Children or their agents, ask and I shall bend my efforts toward ensuring your success. Instructions have been left, and they will be carried out if I do not return. For the moment, I can only offer you my apologies, the information I have about your enemies, and the hope that you have no need to count me among them.
Oh. Ponce Dorian will be kept on Arcadia for now. I will keep him safe for you.
Boris