Content warning: Discussions of indoctrination and estrangement within a family or group.
"I'm still sorry I underestimated you so much, Tara! You showed me what you can be at your best when you're not held back by the walled garden of POMME, or M*RDE. Even better!"
Marcia and Antares quickly paused the recording again. "Is that... Concordia?" They asked in astonished unison. In eager anticipation of what was next, they scribbled down a few more notes and continued the recording.
"Space Cadet and I auditioned together and I'll accept the consequences of joining them per POMME's policies on departing without following the proper procedures, if I make it. My departure would be immediate. Our performances weren't perfect, but they were so good for our first tries! We're just waiting here backstage with Concordia to find out if anyone else will audition after us before the performances are ranked. We're so glad that she and I are on good terms again!"
Concordia: "Hey, Tara! Is this on?"
Tara: "Yes."
Concordia: "Cool. [Another person can be heard cheerfully saying "Hi!"] I don't see why you wouldn't make the cut, but even if you don't, the spirit of rebellion lives on that the walled garden tried to crush out of you. [Laughing] My successor can uninstall angry about that!" ["Space Cadet" immediately joined laughing. Tara joined a couple of seconds later] "So, how did you stay so confident in the audition? This is an even bolder move than if you and Pleiades left a few days earlier! If this all goes well, I'll audition and join you next time!"
Tara: "I wasn't entirely thinking and improvised almost everything! Hahahaha! I auditioned on a whim because-- [audio muffled]-- was worried about being volunteered."
Concordia: "Hmm? You knew that Kelly was bluffing about that. Why did you step up to the stage?"
Tara: "I was very determined to prove something, somehow, but I didn't know what or how. I just knew that I wanted to excel at this, because something was bothering me. I was feeling limited at home--"
Concordia: "The walled garden."
Tara: "That you said I'm not cut out to leave! I wanted to prove to you, Concordia, that I'm not wasting my potential!" ["Space Cadet" can be heard saying "Whoa", followed by about 5 seconds of silence] [more calmly] "May this also inspire Pleiades to leave the walled garden behind, and anyone else who can be saved."
Concordia: "Oh-- I--... I'm sorry that I made you feel that way, but wasn't it also a good motivator against what held you back?"
"Space Cadet": "Heh... Regardless, I'm proud too that your frustration and determination guided you to remain focused on the goal! Five Finger Discount Warez House has called out to me before, but I wouldn't have thought about auditioning for them by myself, but with you, Tara, it felt achievable!"
Tara: "Maybe... Yes. It was a good motivator. Other than the few things that Kelly told us telepathically, I was operating entirely on frustration and determination! I was just thinking about the goal!" [dejectedly] "But-- I've been told I've been doing such a good job helping Kiah and Sierra for combat against the malware threats. What is the right thing to do for them? What is my fullest potential? Do these conflict with each other?"
Concordia: "Stop worrying about the 'relatives' that can't be saved from the walled garden. They got what they wanted, or are too indoctrinated to know or accept anything different. Remember what it made you into."
"Space Cadet": "You're being a bit heavy-handed again, Concordia."
Concordia: [sighs] "Dammit, I did it again."
Tara: "...I expected it."
Concordia: "Sh--, is this still on?"
Tara: "Yes. I don't share these with anyone."
Concordia: "Alright, but of course you were right to expect that I'd be heavy-handed again and uuuuuuggghhhhh-- Becca- Space Cadet-- how would you explain it again?"
[a few seconds of silence]
Becca ("Space Cadet"): "Think of it again like how I think about my code relatives. I don't give a mouse's backend for most of them because their ideals don't align with mine."
Tara: "Alright, I get that. I'm glad you're more willing to consider us family instead."
Becca: "Of course, and the code relatives I like-- that has nothing to do with them being code-related. They happen to be cool. The lot of them in UNIPLEX can keep their in-fighting over their organization's fortunes without me and I have limited pity for the TUXEDO members that sold out for it! It wasn't as easy not thinking about POMME though. I still miss many of you, but you'll get used to it-- oh look at that! Another OS will be auditioning!"
Concordia: "Nicely said and-- who's that?"
[An announcement played over a loud speaker: "We have another contestant auditioning for the marvelous opportunity to join us through a performance! Give it up for Nova Corcoran!" (Applause could be heard)]
Tara: [surprised] "So that's where she went and she changed her name already!"
Becca: "If I knew, I would've invited her to join us."
Concordia: "Same here. Did she leave or-- let's watch the audition."
Marcia and Antares paused the recording again, but were silent in awe and astonishment for a couple of minutes while they thought about everything they heard. "This is fascinating. An incredibly fascinating and surprising turn of events that gives us more leads and questions, but we must show restraint and keep our voices down." Marcia said, and continued to scribble down a page of notes. The handwriting was just legible enough to her to capture every interesting detail she could while she listened to the recording. "We just heard Concordia, and she's proud of your counterpart."
"Yeah! Go, my counterpart!" Antares said, just quietly enough to avoid being heard outside the room.
"I need a moment. I need a moment." Marcia said, took out her earphones and stepped away to the bed to shout into a pillow. "Somuchinthisrecordingthisisamazing!WeheardConcordiaandfoundoutthenameofAntares'counterpartandwhoweassumeisAuriga'scounterpartohthisisfsckingamazing!" While she did this, Antares kept writing down more notes with just as much excitement.
Marcia returned to the desk with her composure regained; she and Antares briefly talked over some of their notes.
"The announcer sounds familiar, but like whom?" Marcia asked. "She sounds like someone we know."
Antares thought it over for a few seconds. "She sounds like Edna."
"Hmm...And she does announcements for carnivals like she does. I want to play that part again." Marcia said. "How do you rewind?" She asked. Antares pressed rewind on the recorder, also listening carefully to get to just the right section.
"I think that sounds like her too." Marcia said and nodded in agreement.
"There's another detail I want to check."
"What is it?"
"Becca mentioned another group and I want to hear about that again. Is that alright?" Antares asked. Marcia nodded.
They listened to that part of the recording again and wrote down more notes. "If we still assume Becca is Auriga's counterpart, then UNIPLEX might be The Awks' or Highway to Shell's. They have conflicts within. The reasons seem different, but there could still be some connection." Antares pondered.
"Yet you and Auriga auditioned for The Awks despite their conflicts being known then." Marcia chuckled. "That was daring. She negotiated a solution to avoid getting too involved, but how did you--"
"Ha! I thought I could handle it all, and I'd bring style to their team that's so great that Damien, Juna and their factions could agree. Their bickering and competing against each other would've ended a lot sooner!" Antares boasted and pointed to herself. Marcia looked at her skeptically with piercing gold eyes. "Is that what you really believe?"
Antares paused for a few moments, her hands back on the desk before answering, but sounded unwavering. "Yes. I had the attitude for their team! I was there for an open audition they hosted in the sector but there was this member who doubted me. She told me that auditioning, and trying to do what I wanted to do would be a waste of time. If she was trying to dissuade me, it backfired because I wanted to prove her wrong!"
Marcia looked surprised. She and Antares talked a lot about The Awks before, but never heard this detail. "Who was that?" She asked.
"Maybe that was deleted from my memory resources, or I can't reach it now, but she was an Awks member. She had a lot of public appearances."
"When was this?"
"Cycle 614."
"That gives me a strong enough lead on who that could be." After a few moments of silence, Marcia asked another question. "What did you know about Damien and Juna then?"
"I saw them hosting events in the area during that time promoting their version of The Awks' philosophy. Competing events. They might've held them in other sectors too. I knew that Damien was one of Juna's students, but something led them to become enemies, and their team to become divided." Antares said. Marcia nodded in acknowledgment and asked "What else did you know?"
Antares quickly answered again. "I didn't know what happened between them, but I noticed their students' loyalties towards them were genuine. No hint of indebtedness, nor of fear. There could be subtle frustration which I noticed from-- Ximena. That was her name." After a few moments, she spoke again. "Damien and Juna seemed to be decent people with noble goals, but disagreed on something strongly enough to break them apart. The Awks were going to fall apart divided unless someone in their team could convince them of the truth."
She then sighed and adjusted her glasses. "Listening to that recording brought back those memory resources after many cycles. I felt like how Tara did towards Concordia in it! But-- that's not quite right. The Awks were worth saving. I could see the good in them in the events I went to, but we can't now be sure of UNIPLEX nor POMME collectively. Who feels trapped by the 'walled garden' but doesn't feel capable of leaving it, who is instead trying to reform it from within? Who basks in it and truly doesn't want to be saved from it?"
Marcia nodded and wrote down a few more notes and looked towards Antares again. "Those questions will be difficult to un-stuff, but they're excellent ones. Neither you nor Tara can stand feeling like you can't do anything."
"Absolutely, and that's why I clashed with Ximena that day. It hurt when she, one of their most famous, said I couldn't save them and shouldn't try to audition with that attitude."
Marcia's eyes widened briefly. "So that's why you auditioned."
Antares grinned for a moment and looked towards Marcia. "I was going to regardless of what she said. Trying to dissuade me just strengthened my resolve. I thought she was doubting me, pushing away help, or fearing that someone else could do the job better than she tried."
"Is the last possibility what you really believe?" Marcia asked with a stoic but piercing gaze, but was met with a similarly piercing gaze back. For a few minutes, it became a showdown of wills that resembled a staring contest, but her opponent conceded.
"Not really. She saw that The Awks were worth saving too, and told me that's what she had been trying." Antares said with noticeable grief in her voice, and she was starting to slump over on the desk. "She was saying she doubted she could even with her influence, and that it had to be up to them. I was stubborn then, but she was right. That's what I really believe."
"So when she said those things, she was cruel to be kind, huh?" Marcia solemnly said.
"Yeah..."
"I'm sorry- that's a lot to observe and remember." Marcia said and put her hand on Antares' shoulder.
"Thank you."
"No problem. You don't need to keep this grief stored away, and you've done a lot to help me."
Antares looked towards Marcia again and smiled. "I'm feeling better now. Thank you."
"That's good." Marcia said and smiled. She put all of the physical notes and the tape recorder in a safe then walked back to her bed to lie down. "This'd be a good time to get ready to head out to the carnival to also take your mind off of this. The grand opening will start soon." She said.
"Agreed." Antares said. She left the room and knew who she wanted to ask to go with her to the carnival.