expiationnet | 001 | text (so sorry)

Afternoon everyone.

Now that we've had time to recover and collect ourselves after the recent expedition I believe we ought to breakdown the events and our discoveries. Sharing our information might as well be the essential for us to figure out the true nature of this world and uncover the truth behind the events occurring here.

For those who decided to stay behind: during the expedition with the fairies we came across two types of 'creatures.' Let's call them group A and group B for time being. The group A were clearly humanoid and harmless at first. That being said, they did seem to be covered with set of markings, similarly to 'brands' that appeared among us 'The Chosen.' Group B were more mutated and only vaguely reminded human. They appeared from the shadows. They were actively hostile and aggressive towards the fairies -- and by the extension us. They also seemed to have some level of control over group A.

Some of us were able to 'save' them through either selfless acts or reuniting them with items from the deserted apartments. Group A seems to have returned back to their previous forms, even if their minds don't seem to be quite there yet. But group B simply faded away.

Now, what makes this interesting is the language fairies used to when addressing these creatures. At first, their leader called them 'people' before correcting himself and later used a word 'the infected' to describe group A. Honestly, this leads me to a following hypothesis:

The group B were once humans just like group A. They both were 'infected' with a similar if not the same ailment as the ones with the Brands did. If this is correct it seems like there are at least three stages to infection:
1. A contamination. This is where the brands/markings appear
2. Activation of the ailment. I believe that in this stage the infection has spread to a person's brain, causing them to act hostile.
3. Mutation. Rather self-explanatory. This is the last stage of the infection and the point where the person is beyond salvation.

If my hypothesis is correct it leaves the following questions: what is this 'infection' and where did it originate from? why were the shape of the brand extremely personal to its bearer? why is it the act of the kindness that seem to lift the ailments? are the other variations of the 'infection'?

The last question makes me think of the reported odd behavior of the locals living in Aldrip. If they are beginning to act strangely and similarly lose memories and traces of self we can't overlook the possibility of the whole branding-event occurring again.

That is all I have at the moment. If you have anything to do add I'm all ears.

Goro Akechi.