"Taken with Entelechy, the Unveiling can be used to decipher and dissect the Witness' psyche in its entirety". How? "Taken with Entelechy...." [b]You should read it. It starts with this per Eido's notes:[/b] [i]"SCRIBE OBSERVATIONS I began my search with the familiar. During the Long Drift, peaceful encounters between Ketches were rare, even when they hailed from the same house. But when such meetings did occur, they would exchange valuable resources, even data. This practice helped the Eliksni navigate that vast and dangerous void, to know who might open fire or which areas had already been stripped of resources. These data exchanges leave traces, and even if the relevant entries are later overwritten, a Scribe can track these traces to their source. Especially a Scribe who grew up with the Hum of a Servitor! I combed the databanks of our Lightships for any mention of the Witness, and followed those paths as they forked through dozens of Ketches. Based on a single mention of records recovered from a “tetrahedral ship”, I was able to track down these transcripts. They were buried in the databanks of a decommissioned House Winter Ketch, the Simiks-Fel, repairing the ship’s generator was quite an adventure - I shall have to tell you about it another time! According to the Simiks-Fel’s collection log, the transcribed records were originally found aboard a derelict ship encountered during the Long Drift. Associated telemetry suggests that this derelict was smaller, but not identical, to the Witness’s fleet of Pyramid ships. An older design, perhaps? The ship was ancient beyond reckoning, and though it was badly damaged and abandoned, some of the data crystals were intact enough to be decrypted. It's a shame that the Simiks-Fel did not bring along any of the physical crystals - I’m sure the Cryptarchy would have liked to have a look! These are the oldest of all the records I have found, by an order of magnitude. When they were originally penned, the species that would go on to become the Ecumene had not even emerged from the primordial ooze. Though my findings are not conclusive, I believe these documents were created by the Witness’s precursors, which revered the Great Machine as the Gardener (see REP # 776-ASHA-WTN). Though they were hardly the only civilization to use a similar title, other elements suggest a possible connection: the tetrahedral structure of the derelict where this record was recovered, and a repeated mention of a concept roughly translated as ‘final shape’".[/i] Via a singular source that were not the original data crystals on the Simiks-Fel. [b]Then notes after the Spider info:[/b] [i]"The contents of this beacon proved quite challenging to transcribe. It seems to operate on a similar principle to your sensoriums, but it directly transmits concepts, rather than inducing sensory hallucinations. Some of the concepts showed significant semantic overlap, though whether due to the nature of the data, age-related degradation, or the recorder's emotional state, I cannot say. Now, from the content of this record, I believe we may draw a few conclusions about the Witness's methodology. It is capable of disassembling mind and body, then somehow reassembling them. It did not destroy the Noesis, but unmade and then 'finalized' them".[/i] [b]Then the notes after records from the Cloud Ark respective Rasputin:[/b] [i]"Rasputin seems to have enjoyed abstruse terminology - useful for masking intent, but quite difficult to parse. How do I pronounce CARRHAE? Is it easier without mandibles? Perhaps I should start a dictionary. It would be easiest to ask Ana Bray directly, as she knew the most about Rasputin, but I thought it might be... discourteous, to ask so soon after his passing. According to all the documentation of Rasputin's defense of Sol, even with such extraordinary circumstances allowing him to act beyond his normal limits, Rasputin could not stop the Black Fleet. Had the Great Machine not acted, the Black Fleet would have ground all of Sol into dust. Still, I cannot understand why the Black Fleet would choose to deploy gravitational weapons. If they were totally unharmed by humanity's greatest weapons - if the Witness could disassemble entire fleets with a wave of its hand - why would they need to use such comparatively slow weaponry? Perhaps this was not done out of necessity. But why, then? I feel that I am still missing something".[/i] [b]Then from Ada-1:[/b] [i]"More clues. More pieces of the puzzle. Fire and smoke, poisonous air, earthquakes, cyclones. Why do these things? Why did the Witness cause great tidal waves on Titan (see REP # 904-TITAN-NPA), if it could simply Take the entire planet, as it did later? Neither the Eliksni, nor humanity, were as advanced as the Ecumene or countless other fallen civilizations. It could have overrun either of us without all the... theatrics. Theatrics. As though all of this was mere performance, like those Ghosts who put on masks during the Festival of the Lost and pretend to chase the children of the City. But I cannot think of any other word for it. It appears the Witness has staged a show, but for the Eliksni of Riis and the Humans of Sol as its audiences - even though we should be so far beneath its notice, never mind its concern, that it shouldn't even care about what frightens us… That's it! The Witness is not indifferent to us. It cares about what we think of its performance, though, of course, it does not seek to delight or provoke. No, the Witness has done all it can to spread fear and despair among the people of Sol, as it did the people of Riis. It has chosen the approach that would cause the maximum possible amount of suffering and continued doing so until the very moment it went through that awful portal. I doubt that this is some brilliant tactical ploy to demoralize its enemies. It would have defeated both Humans and Eliksni, with or without its campaign of terror. Indeed, such actions appear to have drawn out its attack on Sol and were a deeply inefficient use of its power. If the Witness's only goal was to corner the Great Machine and to use it to further its plans (whatever those are), then why bother doing anything else? If this performance has affected the Great Machine at all, there is no evidence of such - and, anyways, the worst atrocities of the Whirlwind occurred after the Great Machine left us and could not see its effects. No, I believe this display of cruelty was meant for us. It was done to maximize our torment. I cannot think of any motivation to ascribe to this except malice".[/i] [b]The "keystone" notes reflecting on the Cayde entry:[/b] [i]"I must admit, I almost didn't include this transcript. I am no stranger to the disturbing and distressing; as a Scribe, it is my duty to record and pass on history. Even a history written by the survivors will have its dark corners. Nevertheless, I found this recording difficult to listen to. It echoes the bitter words I've heard countless times before. From Eliksni who suffered the Whirlwind. Who saw the Great Machine leave us and cursed it for abandoning us. But when studying history, discomfort often accompanies the information that is most crucial to understanding. That was what I needed! That discomfort, that echo of Eliksni lamentation. The Witness does not need cruelty to win. It does not need to mutilate the Great Machine's creations. To inspire fear and despair. It does not even need to tempt you to use the Darkness, which it has claimed to be - though we know, from your experiences on Neptune, that the Witness does not hold as complete a dominion as it wishes us to believe. In fact, its cruelty has actively slowed and hindered its purpose. Had the Witness simply overwhelmed humanity and crushed all resistance, there would have been nobody left for the Great Machine to uplift. No Ghosts or Guardians to defy it".[/i] [b]Theatrics that actively worked against the Witness's goals.... "slowed and hindered its purpose".[/b] So why? This is why: [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oO_bWEakKM&list=PLS2hBTtCDufRbR1GpuH5Za7CIVh2IVqTl&index=4]"I built this place", Savathun.[/url]