Editing The Simurgh (section)

==Personality==
The Simurgh's thought patterns are clinical and not human, being very goal-oriented and future-focused.<ref name="28.4 e15">“Ridiculous,” Lung repeated himself.  “And you stopped in the middle of a conversation.  She is waiting for you to continue.”<br><br>“She doesn’t care.  Ninety-nine percent sure.  Gotta understand, she’s not even close to human, especially once you scratch the surface.  We think in black and white, she thinks in… void and substance.  In abstracts or in causative contexts, looking into the future and seeing how things unfold.  So we’re going to try this, and maybe something sticks.” - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/09/07 Excerpt] from [[Cockroaches 28.4]]</ref> She is a cunning planner<ref name="Cast2" /> who, after finding a desired future outcome, will methodically work backwards to decipher the critical events needed to make this outcome possible.<ref name="II19.z e9">She worked backwards, deciphering the events that brought this reality about.  She would triumph in the fight, because Cryptid would find himself sympathizing with her. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2020/02/23/infrared-19-z/ Excerpt] from [[Infrared 19.z]]</ref> She then takes actions in an attempt to causally cause these events to occur,<ref name="II19.z eStudy" /> such as taking intervening actions to ideally stop other events from happening that would causally prevent her desired outcome.<ref>The heroine she had crushed underfoot would have accompanied Lady Photon of the flock to meet Riley Grace Davis.  She knew Riley Grace Davis, and was recognizable as a member of the flock.  In her company, Riley would not feel so isolated, and would not express the words that would allow Cryptid to sympathize with her.<br><br>Now an unpowered civilian would attend.  The conversation would adjust.<br><br>Cryptid was handled. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2020/02/23/infrared-19-z/ Excerpt] from [[Infrared 19.z]]</ref>

The Simurgh is aware of the concept of joy and calm.<ref name="28.x e8">She does not feel joy at this.  This is the task.  Means to ends. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/09/17 Excerpt] from [[Interlude 28]]</ref><ref name="28.x e19" /> According to [[Tattletale]], the typical [[shard]] lacks human rationales, plays the long game, and follows a set goal.<ref>“It’s going to bounce back from just about anything you could do to it.  Prepare for it to have a few tricks up its sleeve, because it’s an extension of a species that plays the long game and that knows we don’t have it in us to permanently stop it.  So don’t underestimate it, don’t assume it’s shown you everything it can do.”<br>[...]<br>“It isn’t human, and it never was,” she went on.  “Don’t expect it to have human rationales.  ''Do'' expect it to have a program it follows, a set goal that may or may not be one hundred percent clear.  It’s going to be somewhat predictable, but powerful enough that the predictability isn’t reassuring or an easy answer.” - [[From Within 16.8]]</ref> Although Tattletale believes the Simurgh runs on more emotional response patterns than other [[Endbringers]] such as [[Behemoth]] and that the belief system of the Simurgh's [[Eidolon|creator]] has influenced how she functions, Tattletale still believes her mindset vaguely resembles that of a shard.<ref name="28.4 eBelief">“They run on different patterns.  Fair bit of anger, room for some vengeance.  Cleverness, sure.  More in her than in Behemoth.  Some killer instinct, maybe… a blend of fear and caution.  Not so they’re ''afraid'', but so they can temper their actions.  This?  Right here?  It’s the closest we’re about to get to communicating directly with a passenger.”<br>[...]<br>“They’re passengers?” I asked.<br><br>“The shell?  No.  The outer shell, the concept, the ''execution'', they’re tapping into religious metaphors.  The devil, the serpent, the angel, buddha, mother earth, the maiden, each connected in turn to fundamental ''forces''.  Flame, water, fate, time, earth, the ''self''.  Things deep-seated and fundamental to their creator’s belief system, because that’s how the passengers interpret our world.  Through ''us''.  But deep down?  Beyond that surface, beyond the basic programming that drives them to do what they’ve been doing for thirty years?  It’s the passenger’s brush strokes.  And I’m ''getting'' to her.” - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/09/07 Excerpt] from [[Cockroaches 28.4]]</ref>

She typically has a neutral expression<ref name="28.4 e9">Her expression was neutral, but then again, the Simurgh’s expression was always neutral.  A face like a doll’s, a cold stare. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/09/07 Excerpt] from [[Cockroaches 28.4]]</ref> and does not smile.<ref name="SV art" /> That said, she is capable of raising a rare smile. After the Simurgh spent two years preparing for her fight against [[Titan Fortuna]]<ref name="II18.z strength" /> and Fortuna decided to cede some ground during their precog duel, the Simurgh smiled and stretched her wings wider.<ref name="II18.z eSmile">Finally, she decided to cede ground.  To look for the answer why.  Though the silver woman couldn’t reach her, couldn’t ''see'' her, a smile crept over the silver face, and wings stretched wider.  She had somehow sensed the surrender. - [[Radiation 18.z]]</ref>

The Simurgh refers to herself as female.<ref name="I28">[https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/09/17/interlude-28/ Excerpt] from [[Interlude 28]]</ref><ref name="II19.z">[[Infrared 19.z]]</ref>

The Simurgh has not shown any inclination to attack satellites in orbit or prevent space travel in general. Several satellites orbit [[Earth Bet]] for applications in communication,<ref>“You’ll each be provided with a satellite phone before you leave, with mobile phones to use when the towers are in operation again. - [[Snare 13.1]]</ref><ref>Only two kids were sleeping there, both clearly brother and sister.  It was as much privacy as she was going to get.  She plucked the satellite phone from her pocket. - [[Interlude 14]]</ref><ref>My phone lit up as a connection was established to a satellite.<br><br>A moment later, the connection was secured.<br><br>The clock changed, followed by a time zone and a symbol.  ''Four forty-six, Eastern standard time, Earth Bet.''<br>[...]<br>Towers surrounded Brockton Bay, set on mountaintops and high ground within the city itself.  It necessitated a careful approach.  As we passed between two, I saw that they were communication towers, crafted to put satellite dishes at high points rather than provide shelter. - [[Venom 29.1]]</ref><ref>PRT divisions and precincts in neighboring cities were all too willing to send along staff and officers to assist, but her firm requests for the fundamentals -for computers, printers, satellite hookups, electricians and IT teams- were ignored all too often. - [[Interlude 13]]</ref> internet,<ref>“No,” I heard Tattletale, “Separate power source, buried deeper beneath the building.  Same with the computers, there’s nothing upstairs or even in the city that could turn them off.  They’re hooked up to that power source, they’ve got internal batteries, and the only external connection is by satellite linkup.  They might terminate our connection to the computer database via the satellite feed, but not the lights.” - [[Parasite 10.3]]</ref><ref>You state your location as the north end of Brockton Bay, profess to have a generator and satellite internet.  Ok, not unheard of. - [[Interlude 19.y]]</ref> TV,<ref>The first things I’d done after Coil’s men had unloaded the furniture and supplies was to hook up an internet connection and computer and get my television mounted on a wall and connected to a satellite. - [[Infestation 11.1]]</ref><ref>“Nuh uh.  No way.  If you two want to play hardass mom and dad and be controlling assholes, okay.  But you can’t tell me I can’t watch T.V.”<br><br>“I mean you won’t get any channels.  There’s no cable, no digital connection and no satellite.  Only static.” - [[Monarch 16.6]]</ref> observation,<ref>“Yeah, and unless something’s changed,” Kevin said, “The only person he listens to is me.  He’d come when I was alone, when the weather was bad or in the dead of night, and however he comes, nobody ever followed him here.”<br><br>“They can’t follow him with cameras or satellite, I heard.  Have to rely on eye witnesses and global communication to track him.” - [[Interlude 18.x]]</ref><ref>And then there was Nilbog.  The data focused around him.  The city was quiet, and the roads leading into the city were being watched by satellite. - [[Interlude 26.x]]</ref> imagery,<ref>The war room sat opposite Aisha’s room, on the same floor as his.  It wasn’t large, but it didn’t really have to be.  Satellite images of various locations around the city had been printed out onto four-by-five foot sheets of laminated paper, rolls shelved on the wall with labels in marker.  They varied in size, with some extending over the whole city, while others covered the various territories. - [[Interlude 15.y]]</ref><ref>“Los Angeles?” Chevalier asked.  “What area?”<br><br>“''That'' area,” Defiant answered, looking at the computer.<br><br>Chevalier nodded slowly.<br><br>Golem stared at the screen.  He could see the satellite image, the concentric circles that marked the area around the blinking blue dot. - [[Interlude 26a]]</ref> and [[Dragon]] backups.<ref>Example:  one phase of the peripheral systems check involved collecting the uploaded data that had been deposited on the satellite network by her agent system, the onboard computer within the Cawthorne rapid response unit. - [[Interlude 10.5]]</ref><ref>Years ago, Saint had preyed on Dragon, shutting off her ability to connect to her satellite network, using several of these same mechanisms to slow down and hamper whatever mech or device she was inhabiting.  He would kill her, block any final uploads, and leave her to self-revive from an hours-old backup with no knowledge of what he’d done or how he’d beat her. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2020/03/28/last-20-a/ Excerpt] from [[Last 20.a]]</ref> Multiple space programs exist,<ref>Posted on August 15th, Y1:<br><br>To call the efforts of everyone involved heroic would be grossly understating things. This IT project required the efforts of seventy eight PHO staff members, employees of Stateside Online, former officials of the US government, former members of the United States space program, members of international space programs, the Guild (Masamune in particular), and numerous independent experts and volunteers. - [[Glow-worm P.1]]</ref> and satellites are still in use during<ref>“I tried to set things up so we’d have some way of maintaining communications and getting ''some'' information in, getting information out.  Like, I told people about what you said about Scion hating duplication powers.  Anyways, only the very high tech and very low tech have really survived.  Satellites and hard copies.” - [[Venom 29.1]]</ref><ref>My ranged capes aimed for portals once again.  This time, I put the exit portals against Earth’s atmosphere, aiming for the general direction of a satellite.<br><br>It took thirty seconds of sustained fire before Shén Yù’s power stopped telling me it was a weak point.  Other thinker powers in my range were giving me similar feedback.  A cape with perfect eyesight was telling me it could even see the explosion. - [[Speck 30.4]]</ref> and after [[Gold Morning]].<ref>People got lost or stranded in the wilderness on Earth in 2012, with all that world’s satellites. It can and will happen in new universes. - [[Glow-worm P.6]]</ref><ref>Shower: It’s interfering with others’ ability to access things. It might not seem like a problem here, because you’re close to the home node, but there are people on the periphery or far-flung regions and they’re going from satellite to ground to satellite to here, across several Earths. - [[Glow-worm P.7]]</ref><ref>His computer had a battery of its own, and the machine it was hooked up to gave it a satellite feed.  In a vast sea of darkness, with much of the city unlit at this late hour, people were retreating to Gary’s tent. - [[Interlude 7.y II]]</ref><ref>“Overlaying to satellite image of the area.”<br><br>On the largest screen, a map appeared, just large enough to have the New York district in its bottom left and Brockton Bay in the top right.  Icons with their own abbreviations worked into them were scattered across the city, many flowing from the same general point. - [[Polarize 10.3]]</ref><ref>“As was I, for the latter part.  Dragon is immensely powerful, but she, like any tinker, is dependent on her pre-established work to function at optimal capacity.  The Dragonslayers knew this and used it against her in the past.  Teacher used it against her here.  With no satellites to use for remote access except the ones she deployed after passing through the portal, she was limited in what she could do.  If she dies without redundant systems and infrastructure behind her, she dies for good, just as any of us would.” - [[From Within 16.1]]</ref><ref>The main screens switched to each show half of an overhead view.  Satellite camera.  The epicenter of the attack, the clouds of smoke from the resulting destruction, and those cracks that spread out, like that from the tap of a hammer on a windowpane, except in three dimensions, not two.  A city in black and white, with a shadow of gold due to the prevalence of the solar windows reflecting tinted light down onto snow. - [[Interlude 17.z II]]</ref><ref>“I don’t know what it is.  The capes in Breakthrough’s area have gone quiet.  Phone lines are down, satellites are struggling with all of the interference.  But we can’t reach them.” - [[Interlude 17.z II]]</ref> On one occasion, she physically intercepted the path of a transmission to a satellite with her body; her dense signature gave off strange signals<ref name="II20.a eCollect">The Machine Army was entering the trench, scurrying into the trench, into the dust, where his sensors struggled to read things with the ten kinds of background radiation and-<br><br>And strange signals not unlike those he had picked up from Chevalier, when Chevalier had waded into battle.<br><br>“They’re going after the pieces of the Simurgh!  She gave them pieces of herself!” - [https://www.parahumans.net/2020/03/28/last-20-a/ Excerpt] from [[Last 20.a]]</ref> that scrambled this transmission, which stopped Dragon from getting information from [[Panacea]].<ref>Sixty-two miles above the surface of the Earth, the Simurgh changed the course of her flight.<br><br>Following protocol for when Dragon was deployed on a mission, the system routed the message to one of Dragon’s satellite systems.  The resulting message was scrambled by the dense signature of the Endbringer en route to Dragon.<br><br>Receiving the garbled transmission from the satellite, a subsystem of the Dragon A.I. proceeded to sort it.  A scan of the message by a further subroutine saw it classified as non-pertinent, and a snarl in the code from Defiant’s improvised adjustments to her programming saw the message skip past several additional safeties and subroutines.  The message was compartmentalized alongside other notes and data that included flares of atmospheric radiation and stray signals from the planet below; background noise at best. - [[Interlude 16.z]]</ref><ref>His eyes stopped on a file.  Amelia’s.<br><br>The entire thing was corrupted.  Gibberish.  Flagged messages filled four pages, each marked private, marked as ‘no conversation partner’, and marked, thanks to the gibberish and random characters that flooded it, with one string of letters and characters.<br><br>The same one that had protected the orange box.  The same that had protected Saint and his crew from being uncovered, until Dragon had taken a more direct, brute-force approach to finding them.  The built-in blind spot, appearing by chance.  A one in a hundred trillion chance.<br><br>Saint investigated, digging through the gibberish to find the strings of words that actually made sense.  It was something he could piece together, with each recitation being similar, containing similar content.  Faeries, passengers, source of powers, the ‘whole’, lobe in the brain, Manton Effect… - [[Interlude 26.x]]</ref> Indeed, [[Scion]] himself is responsible for stopping large numbers of [[parahuman]]s from leaving the planet<ref>They don't want people leaving the planet they're working with. A very good reason to have an avatar like Scion around. Probably wouldn't draw his notice until people with shards started leaving in any greater number. - Wildbow on Spacebattles</ref><!-- https://spacebattles.com/posts/15025678 --><ref>Avatars like Scion are there in part to ensure things continue smoothly. If people decided to mass evacuate, he'd step in. - Wildbow on Reddit, archived on Spacebattles</ref><!-- https://spacebattles.com/posts/17208060 --> and the [[shard]]s already have built-in limitations to sabotage mass transportation options for space travel.<ref>By and large, the shards would sabotage attempts at going to space. Even Sphere's moon base was probably doomed from the start.<br>[...]<br>It is a built-in limitation. Individuals could theoretically leave (Legend?), but mass transportation options would likely be sabotaged (like a Squealer spacehulk, or Sphere's power, for example).<br>[...]<br>They tend to be missing /current/ limitations; the ban on space travel is something that would be long-established, valid across multiple species. Other stuff varies for different plans of attack and the like. - Wildbow on Reddit, archived on Spacebattles</ref><!-- https://spacebattles.com/posts/17208060 --> Regardless of her interference, [[Sphere]]'s space project was doomed to fail from the start;<ref>Uphill/doomed project from the start. Shards are situated on Earth, reaching through realities for corona pollentiae. Powers don't really go into space, because, well, you've got the shard situated on the planet, and their reach is stretching, stretching up & out to the person with the shard. Do they exceed the shard's reach? - Wildbow on Reddit, archived on Spacebattles</ref><!-- https://spacebattles.com/posts/29589865 --><ref>He likely had the means of creating the moon bubbles and tertiary systems and life support and keeping it running... but maintenance starts getting tricky. The first option is that the shard goes 'this is worth the effort' because Gramme is giving the shard fuel for something interesting, and all is well except for whatever it is that the shard was so keen about. The second option is that the moon base works fine, the first colony gets out there, and then somewhere along the line Gramme's well of inspiration and his eye for key details in his tinkerings just... stops. - Wildbow on Reddit, archived on Spacebattles</ref><!-- https://spacebattles.com/posts/29589865 --> his shard is explicitly dissatisfied with him.<ref>Keep in mind, also, that the shards aren't inclined to let people sit around and spend months of time working on side projects without getting any dose of conflict. What happens is you get Spheres and Professor Haywires and Leets. - Wildbow on Reddit, archived on Spacebattles</ref><!-- https://spacebattles.com/posts/34159831 --> [[Jess]] claimed Sphere was working on a clean energy source to power whole cities;<ref>“I don’t get it,” Luke said.<br><br>“It ''keeps happening''.  Every time she shows up.  Every time, people who’ve heard this song that’s in our head?  Things go ''wrong''.  They snap, they break, their lives fall apart, or they do something, and it makes something else happen, and there’s a major disaster.  That guy who was supposedly making a clean energy source that could power whole cities?  His wife and kids got killed and he became a supervillain who made it a ''life goal'' to murder anyone who tries to better society with their powers.  There were others.  Over and over, every time she shows up.  She never does quite as much damage as Leviathan or Behemoth, not right away, but stuff always happens ''later''.” - [[Migration 17.5]]</ref> he was already a vulnerable target because of his other major projects.<ref name="15.5 c3">And I should stress that weak points aren’t necessarily just areas which are geographically vulnerable. There’s places where there’s ongoing conflict (like we might point to the middle east over the past decade), places where it takes little effort on the part of the Endbringer to deal maximum devastation (ie. a nuclear power plant, military bases) and spots where a great many resources are invested (be they great minds collected in one place or major projects like Dr. Gramme’s major projects in trying to save the world). Did anyone else catch the mention of the water crisis? Leviathan isn’t always attacking cities, and the world has only so much accessible freshwater. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2012/10/30/colony-15-5/#comment-5639 Comment by] Wildbow on [[Colony 15.5]]</ref><ref>“He became newsworthy when he took on a project to build self sustaining biospheres on the moon.  He had ideas on solving world hunger, and building aquatic cities near cities plagued by overcrowding.  And he was putting it all into effect.  Until-”<br><br>“The Simurgh,” Colin finished. - [[Interlude 11d]]</ref>

===Her Drives===
[[Eidolon]] created the Simurgh with a fundamental drive to go to war against him.<ref name="II19.z e6">She had other drives.  To go to war against her creator.  To these ends, she created a nemesis.  She made him better.  He freed people, upset the system, disrupted the process, and in that, he created the chaos that would keep her simulation from being too sterile. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2020/02/23/infrared-19-z/ Excerpt] from [[Infrared 19.z]]</ref> However, because he unknowingly built her from greater structures intended to salvage a situation where the host species eliminated itself, she also has a drive to collect, consolidate, and sort information<ref name="II19.z e5">She was built out of greater structures intended to salvage a situation where the species eliminated itself.  Future-looking, she would create a forced simulation.  It was worse than an organically emergent simulation, but in a process that saw the planet revolve three hundred times around its star, it could be necessary in the final years, consolidating and sorting information, forcibly exploring the resources the planet had to offer.<br><br>That was her drive, as much as water and food were necessary for this life she farmed out and put to task in a greater system. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2020/02/23/infrared-19-z/ Excerpt] from [[Infrared 19.z]]</ref> produced by [[parahuman]]s and humanity in a world of conflict.<ref name="II20.8 plan">This whole plan, the idea was to give them exactly what they wanted.  The Simurgh wanted a fight, wanted conflict, everyone on the planet pushing themselves to the limit, testing a system she’d set in motion.<br><br>Well, she’d got that.  Contained to this one facility.  With ''her'' as our primary enemy, more than each other.<br><br>Now Fortuna wanted to end the world.  We needed to help her do that.  If we balked, if we stopped… we lost.  Hesitation when parrying an incoming strike was death.  My early sparring with Manpower had taught me that much.  It was especially true when your opponent was a hundred times stronger than you, if not stronger. - [[Last 20.8]]</ref><ref name="II19.z e8">Three or four billion years would pass before one of the entities returned to this world.  In the interim, she would keep this world alive, and she would glean all knowledge that the minds of this world could produce.  Every means of suffering, every desperate solution, every invention and inspiration. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2020/02/23/infrared-19-z/ Excerpt] from [[Infrared 19.z]]</ref> The Simurgh describes these drives as being just as fundamental to her as water and food are for humans.<ref name="II19.z e5" />

If she is unable to fulfill any of these drives, she will take actions that work towards making them possible again. When [[Gold Morning]] occurred, the Simurgh concludes that [[Scion]] is now an obstacle to remove;<ref name="28.x e10">But she faces an obstacle that she is utterly blind to, now.  No apparent past or future.  In interacting with it, she is limited to context.  She sees not the obstacle, but she can see things that are set in motion around it.  She cannot see it strike, but she can see the reaction, the aftermath.<br><br>She sees the stone fly out of the darkness, and she can determine where it was thrown from.<br><br>There is a task to be completed, but things must be set in place first.<br><br>An obstacle must be removed.  This is critical, but she is blind to it.  This is the greatest problem she faces.  - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/09/17 Excerpt] from [[Interlude 28]]</ref> she starts planning for his death via hijacking [[Dinah]]'s [[Khepri]] plot<ref name="II16.3 eDinahPlot" /><ref name="discord eDinahFate" /> at the last minute<ref name="29.9 eRemindNote">“This isn’t a solution,” she said, without looking up.  “You said a second trigger wouldn’t work.  This is… it’s so crude you couldn’t even call it a hack job.”<br><br>The Simurgh’s screaming continued.<br><br>Dinah had left me two notes.<br><br>The Simurgh had reminded me of the second.<br><br>''‘I’m sorry.’''<br><br>It wasn’t an apology for the consequences of the first note.  No, Dinah hadn’t approached me since.  She hadn’t decided I’d fulfilled the terms and deemed it okay to finally contact me again.<br><br>Two words, telling me that something ugly was going to happen.  Directed at me.<br>[...]<br>But there was a possibility that it referred to ''me''.  That it was tied to our ability to come out ahead at the end of all this.  To some slim chance. - [[Venom 29.9]]</ref><ref name="SV eSimurghDinah">'''Wildbow:''' That wasn't the Simurgh apologizing. It was her reminding Taylor of what Dinah wrote.<br><br>'''Doctor Mod:''' Best Girl my blind eye! Thanks for the insight. Seeing that and even seeing Dinah in the final chapters I never thought of that. It feels like so long ago she got that note. Literally and in story!<br><br>'''Wildbow:''' What do you think Dinah was apologizing for, if not for Khepri? - Conversation with Wildbow on Sufficient Velocity, [https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/33897007 archived on Spacebattles]</ref> and also begins planning for events after his death.<ref name="II18.z strength" /> As she believes the [[cycle]] had failed and that the world would eventually be shattered after Scion's death if left alone,<ref name="II19.z e3">The cycle had failed.  If left to go on its own, the world would be shattered. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2020/02/23/infrared-19-z/ Excerpt] from [[Infrared 19.z]]</ref> the Simurgh explicitly intends to merge with [[Titan Fortuna]],<ref name="II19.z eStudy">So it went.  Machines tore into her and studied her.  This would play a part in removing three more threats from play.  Later, a subversion of this network in coordination with her integration with Titan Fortuna would let her spread her signal.<br>[...]<br>She abandoned the Machine Army, having given them what they would need later, and flew to the battlefield.  She was already prepared. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2020/02/23/infrared-19-z/ Excerpt] from [[Infrared 19.z]]</ref><ref name="II20.2 e2">It felt bad.  I was aware of the running clock.  The countdown Dragon had provided had shut off when she’d gone dark, but that was for Simurgh exposure.  We had another countdown- the time before she merged with Titan Fortuna and enacted her plan. - [[Last 20.2]]</ref> take control of Fortuna's network, and start creating a forced simulation.<ref name="II19.10 e1">“Let’s assume they have clear goals.  The Simurgh wants… ''that''.  Whatever that was.  Humanity under her sway, her with Titans, Endbringers, and an army of capes brought back from the dead to protect her.  Titan Fortuna wants to bring about the end of our world so their species can try their hand at replicating.  Both have similar endpoints.  But those are just that.  Endpoints.  What happens after the end?”<br><br>“The world is enslaved, or the world blows up,” Byron said.<br><br>“Immediately?”<br><br>“The slavery, it seems like.  The world blowing up… don’t know.” - [[Infrared 19.10]]</ref><ref name="II19.z e5" /><ref>Logic told me that this was one of our last shots.  We ''had'' to hurt her, take her down a peg so she couldn’t win that tug of war against Titan Fortuna and take over the entire system. - [[Last 20.3]]</ref><ref>''The reality we saw.  She connected to Fortuna and she screamed, and the world screamed with her.  We were entirely at her mercy.'' - [[Last 20.6]]</ref> In this forced simulation, humanity is in a caste system<ref name="II19.z e2">Elsewhere, other pieces of the same machine were being programmed with the impulses, needs and courses that would slot them neatly into the superstructure.  There were researchers, theorists, civil managers, stables, farms.  Populations were bred to bring out traits that would fit them to their role, refine their ability to think the way they needed to think for their roles.  Controlled randomness threw wrenches into the works, keeping minds agile and forcing them to adapt. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2020/02/23/infrared-19-z/ Excerpt] from [[Infrared 19.z]]</ref> and pushed to its limit<ref name="II20.8 plan" /> in a ceaseless struggle to hurt one another with provided tools and powers.<ref name="II19.z e1">Thirty years in the future, a child was programmed.  Messages, impulses, and a noise that ears weren’t receptive to reached into a pregnant belly and they filled the child with rage.<br><br>The mother held her belly with both arms as the child thrashed and kicked within its hot bath of amniotic fluid, smiling.<br><br>Every living thing was an extension of a greater machine.  These children would be trained, weeded out, honed, and made into exceptional weapons, before being flung at one another.  Powers would be distributed by a system, utilized against one another, analyzed, and broken down. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2020/02/23/infrared-19-z/ Excerpt] from [[Infrared 19.z]]</ref><ref name="II19.z e7">The baby here, when born, would join a caste of the population driven to find the worst and most inventive ways to hurt one another with the tools and powers they were provided with.  Brother against sister, kin against kin, in a ceaseless struggle from birth to deathbed that spanned generations.  Other segments of the population were made to work harder by the fear that they would be in the bottom seven percent of their caste, given over to people like the torturer this baby would grow up to become.<br><br>The mother felt pride that she herself had been programmed to feel, imagining the monster her child might become. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2020/02/23/infrared-19-z/ Excerpt] from [[Infrared 19.z]]</ref> Although the Simurgh acknowledges a forced simulation is not as ideal as an organically emergent one, she would be able to satisfy her drive to glean information in her remaining years.<ref name="II19.z e5" /> She seeks to establish a system that will last until another [[entity]] arrives in an estimated three or four billion years.<ref name="II19.z e8" /> Thus, she opposes Fortuna whose goal is to end the world early and then scatter to other planets.<ref name="II19.10 e1" /><ref name="II20.8 plan" /><ref>But she had to ask: how long had the sheet been there?  Had the answers been tampered with?  Were there details that needed investigating?<br><br>She could check of course.  The answer to that question was on the sheet.  But in the time it took to find it, there could be more tampering, more details changed.<br><br>She already had the answer, that the silver woman  had tampered.  But where?  She checked, and she found the answers.<br><br>A path that began with Auger fighting that was intended to end with her networked to all titans, ready to end this world and scattered haphazardly and limping to other stars and planets… instead ended with this silver woman in control of the network, humanity mad and savage.<br><br>A path that began with the host Valkyrie being made Titan, intended to end with the network largely complete, the silver woman dead, and the scattering due to happen in ten years… instead ended with the silver woman in control of the network, half of humanity deranged and fighting the other half.  To investigate ''why'' took time that the silver woman could use to gain purchase elsewhere.<br><br>A path that began with humanity devastated and dying of plague, the silver woman denied her pawns, the Titans assimilated into a greater cluster where Titan Fortuna herself was not in charge… instead ended with the silver woman in control of the network, a new, artificial humanity being created as playthings.<br><br>She checked again.  A path that began with physically attacking the silver woman… ended in the silver woman in control of the remainder of the network, humanity in tatters.<br><br>Every route she investigated was seeded with false data, poisoned fruit, and patches of shadow that lay over the path, the far side of those patches ruled over by the silver woman. - [[Radiation 18.z]]</ref><ref>“It’s Gimel’s apocalypse,” Antares said.  “Everything the agents were set up to do after Scion won or rounded up this cycle, they’re doing it now.  Cast aside the humans, accumulate raw power, then use that power to blow it all up and cast fragments of themselves in every direction.”<br>[...]<br>Antares cut in, “Nobody interrupted anything.  We disrupted it.  They’re staggering forward instead of doing this in a clean way.  Processes conflict, they can’t organize, so they’ll just steal energy and materials from ''us'', wiping us out, then destroy what’s left when they try and probably fail to make a coordinated exit.  We threw a wrench in the works, but the machine is still trudging forward, smoking and doing a lot of damage in the meantime.” - [[Interlude 17.z II]]</ref>

After [[Eidolon]]'s death, the Simurgh explicitly intends to recreate her creator to satisfy her drive to war against him.<ref name="II19.z e6" /> While building a cloning device<ref>“Actually, no.  I had suspicions, but the Endbringer making a baby wasn’t one of them.” - [[Teneral e.5]]</ref> during [[Gold Morning]], she hides it inside a weapon<ref>A glass tube, three feet across, seven and a half feet long, capped in metal at either end.<br><br>This will be step six in a nine step process.  For now, she puts it aside, buries it in a larger weapon, forming a decorative gun barrel around the glass.  The weapon will fire through other means.<br><br>The ones who observe her through cameras and with their own eyes will not report this.  They lack the background to know what this tube might be, and this event will be dismissed as unimportant or they will leave it to someone else to report.  The events are entered into a log, and the subjects overseeing the logs are either asleep or preoccupied. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/09/17/interlude-28/ Excerpt] from [[Interlude 28]]</ref> and refers to it as being cradled.<ref>The tube is fully encapsulated, hidden.<br><br>Cradled. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/09/17/interlude-28/ Excerpt] from [[Interlude 28]]</ref> She goes out of her way to protect this device in the ensuing fight against [[Scion]];<ref name="29.2 e8">He hit her, and he sent her flying through the crowd.  Capes were turned into bloody smears as she collided with them, and the Simurgh was driven to the very far edge of the settlement, to the beaches at the edge of the bay.  The countless guns were pulverized.<br>[...]<br>The Simurgh held one gun.  A single weapon she’d salvaged and sheltered with her body and wings in the instants before Scion had attacked her. - [[Venom 29.2]]</ref><ref>“A quarantine area.  ''That'' was the weapon the Endbringer was using.”<br><br>A gun.  It was dark gray with a faint green speckled coating on it, where one material had been broken down and incorporated into the outer coating.  There was a gouge in the side where a feather had cut the housing, but it was otherwise intact.<br><br>Over and over, the Simurgh had protected the weapon.  He’d seen it, had checked the footage, had seen her go out of her way to shield it with her wings.  She’d done it subtly, most of the time, events contriving to make it look more accidental than anything. - [[Teneral e.5]]</ref> however, she fails her objective as she loses it in the course of the battle,<ref>The weapon had been lost in the course of the battle, and the heroes had decided to minimize contact with the thing, locking it away. - [[Teneral e.5]]</ref> and [[Lung]] destroys the infant Eidolon with the help of [[Teacher]]'s [[precognitive|precognitives]]<ref name="E.5 eTeacherPrecogs">He was all too aware that he could be walking into her trap.  He had enough precogs around himself and, in that video, around Lung, that the Simurgh shouldn’t have been able to leverage her full power against them, but she could have put things in place, not knowing exactly who, but still knowing it would be bad. - [[Teneral e.5]]</ref> after Gold Morning.<ref>The light caught the glass, at first, obscuring the contents.<br><br>A baby.  Male.  With large ears and a large round nose.  Not attractive, as babies went.<br>[...]<br>Lung touched a burning hand to the glass, melting it.  Water steamed on contact with his claw.<br>[...]<br>The water was crimson and boiling by the time Lung withdrew his claw. - [[Teneral e.5]]</ref> Ten minutes after Lung's success, the Simurgh personally confronts and stares at him before returning to orbit.<ref>“The… incident?” Teacher asked.<br><br>“Ten minutes from now,” a student said.  “He growls a bit, but there isn’t anything we can make out.  He was just walking, and our camera follows”<br>[...]<br>He stepped up onto the surface, his clawed feet sliding where they were too long and wide to fit on one..<br><br>The Simurgh was waiting.<br><br>Lung was her height, bristling with scales.  She looked more human of the two, pale, her hair blowing a bit in the wind, unreadable.<br>[...]<br>“She returned to orbit.” - [[Teneral e.5]]</ref> Although she makes no further attempts to clone Eidolon over the next two years,<ref>“Things are better this time,” Sveta said.  “We’ve learned from mistakes.  It’s a fresh start.  The Endbringers are dormant, we’re finally building things without them being torn down all the time.” - [[Flare 2.6]]</ref><ref name="II8.12 e1" /> the Simurgh plans on recreating him to be her nemesis once she has merged with [[Titan Fortuna]] and set up her forced simulation.<ref name="II19.z e6" />

Should the Simurgh notice a non-sabotaged individual trying to build legitimate spaceships to mass evacuate [[Earth Bet]], she would make attempts to corrupt or destroy this individual and hence keep being able to satisfy her drive to glean information.<ref name="SB massEvacuate" />

===Relationships===
====[[Eidolon|Her Creator]]====
She calls [[Eidolon]] an administrator of the highest order<ref name="II19.z e4">Her creator was an administrator of the highest order, and she had been selected out of a pool of emergency resources.  All of her kind had.  Behemoth had been created to break stasis, Leviathan to take away resources in space and land, forcing communities into conflict as they were made to relocate. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2020/02/23/infrared-19-z/ Excerpt] from [[Infrared 19.z]]</ref> and uses male pronouns when referring to her creator.<ref name="II19.z e6" /> Eidolon, who has [[Eden]]'s [[List_of_Shards#High_Priest|counterpart shard]] to [[Scion]]'s [[List_of_Shards#The_Administrator_.2F_Queen_Administrator|Queen Administrator]],<ref name="reddAdmin">'''HighSlayerRalton:''' Taylor is Eidolon's 'reflection'. Or rather, the Queen Administrator is the High Priest's reflection.<br><br>Taylor gets to administrate bugs, because Scion damaged and limited his Queen Administrator shard before distributing it.<br><br>Eidolon gets to administrate the pool of shards Eden was reorganising when she crashed (including the power-drawing ability), because Eden was still using her Queen Administrator counterpart to do that at the time.<br><br>The kid who controls bugs and the world's most powerful superhero are two sides of the same coin.<br><br>'''Wildbow:''' Yeah, pretty sure I already confirmed this elsewhere, but this is a great summary of it. - Conversation with Wildbow on Reddit, [https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/79765900 archived on Spacebattles]</ref> created her via the [[shard network]]<ref name="reddit eProduceNew">'''Medium-term consequence''': the shard network begins producing Endbringers that Superman can't stop that Eidolon could. - Wildbow on Reddit, [https://spacebattles.com/posts/77707099 archived on Spacebattles]</ref> out of Eden's<ref name="reddEndbringerLite">If people start forming alliances/peace and Eden sees it as too much trouble to sabotage, then she sics an Endbringer Lite on them, and then works with the remains. - Wildbow on Reddit, [https://spacebattles.com/posts/14727588 archived on Spacebattles]</ref><ref>Assuming that Cauldron's operatives maybe killed Eden but then just sat on their hands/died, the Endbringers don't exist, the cauldron vials aren't spread out, and there's less of the really powerful parahumans here and there who're capable of acting decisively. - Wildbow [https://spacebattles.com/posts/15024624 on Spacebattles]</ref> pool of emergency resources.<ref name="II19.z e4" /> The Simurgh is essentially a revamped version of the "Endbringer Lite" Eden would have theoretically created.<ref name="reddEndbringerLite" />

After [[Scion]] killed [[Eidolon]], she right away started to behave strangely<ref name="28.4 e3" /> such as appearing on the opposite side of the planet from [[Bohu]]<ref name="28.2 eStrangeBehavior2">It was hard to think of the terms that applied to Bohu alone.  Tohu and Bohu were usually referred to as the Twins.<br><br>But Tohu was nowhere to be seen.<br><br>And Bohu had situated herself in the middle of a field.  The ground was only beginning to reshape beneath her, twisting into structures, walls, a maze of stone, soil and grass, of arches and pillars without anything to support.<br><br>She simply loomed, her impossibly long arms hanging at her side, head slightly bowed, her eyes shut.<br><br>The other images showed the same thing from different angles.  One from the other side, then another from directly above, showing the alterations to her surroundings as concentric circles.<br><br>It was daylight.  Going by the times of the photos, she was on the opposite side of the planet, roughly, from the Simurgh.<br><br>“Holy fuck,” Canary murmured.  “Two at once?” - [[Cockroaches 28.2]]</ref> and remaining motionless.<ref name="28.2 eStrangeBehavior1">Defiant scrolled through the images of the Simurgh, floating in the air above the ocean in the middle of the day.  The last one was from just an hour ago, showing her in early evening, utterly still. - [[Cockroaches 28.2]]</ref> [[Valkyrie]] acknowledges her as Eidolon's long-time opponent; two years after his death, a mere mention of the Simurgh's name would agitate his shade.<ref>''The Simurgh'', was the reply.<br><br>Almost instinctively, another spirit deep inside her shifted, agitated.  Eidolon.  David.  The man’s battery was nearly spent, and the cost of replenishing it was high.<br><br>Stirred to life by the mere mention of his long-time opponent. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2018/10/20 Excerpt] from [[Interlude 9 II]]</ref> According to [[Tattletale]], she has a real love-hate relationship with him: the Simurgh respects him despite going to war against him.<ref name="28.4 e16" />

====[[Endbringers|Her Siblings]]====
She calls the other [[Endbringers]] her siblings and refers to them with either male or female pronouns.<ref name="28.x e17" /><ref name="28.x e18" /> After [[Scion]] killed [[Behemoth]], the Simurgh refers to [[Leviathan]] as her oldest living brother.<ref name="28.x e18" /> After Scion killed Leviathan, she refers to her deceased siblings as Behemoth and Leviathan.<ref name="II19.z e4" /> [[Tattletale]] believes the Simurgh shares some sense of kinship with her siblings.<ref name="28.4 e20" />

The Simurgh does not command her siblings. Although they share the common drive of going to war against their [[Eidolon|creator]], her siblings have a different paradigm and purpose as they were built with other fundamental drives.<ref name="II19.z e4" /><ref>The remaining three Endbringers [...] were created for a different paradigm and purpose. - [https://redd.it/2sju2u Wildbow on Reddit]</ref> The Simurgh cannot force them to take action; for example, if she becomes aware of a non-sabotaged individual trying to build legitimate spaceships to mass evacuate [[Earth Bet]], her siblings would not attack this target on her behalf.<ref name="SB massEvacuate">'''Khazit:''' Clearly, the best choice is to build a bunch of Leviathans (the spaceship) and evacuate Earth :p<br>[...]<br>'''Wildbow:''' If she tries to build leviathans to leave Earth, Ziz is probably going to catch wind of it (people on other side of the planet would probably hear about it, ziz passes overhead...) and send some heat seeking missiles Taylor's way (if she doesn't think she can go after Taylor specifically).<br>[...]<br>'''Wildbow:''' When I say guided missiles I mean more subtle ziz-tweaked individuals, set up to topple those dominoes and turn Taylor into a problem rather than an escape route, or just destroy Taylor. - Wildbow [https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/15144057 on Spac]eba[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/15145172 ttles]</ref> Indeed, her siblings have their own objectives; they have their own criteria for attacking vulnerable targets.<ref>'''TheAnt:''' Was Brockton Bay built on an Indian Burial Ground? Because damn, this city is cursed. ABB bombings, Leviathan, The 9, Coil, Echidna. I would honestly not be surprised if the next Endbringer attacked the city again. It might actually have been a good idea to condemn it.<br><br>'''wildbow:''' It’s more that a lot of things led to the others coming to pass. The two primary threads are:<br>ABB-> Leviathan attacks city in conflict -> The 9 hit vulnerable target<br><br>And Travelers are invited to Brockton Bay by Coil -> Coil provokes/takes advantage of disasters to seize city -> Coil dies -> Noelle goes free.<br><br>There’s crossing-over of threads (Leviathan hitting city in part because of potential of contact with Noelle, Coil causing conflict with ABB that led to disaster) - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/03/05/scourge-19-5/#comment-11935 Comment by] Wildbow in [[Scourge 19.5]]</ref><ref>'''Asmora:''' Just thought I’d point this out, since no one else has mentioned it: Lyon was attacked twice. Is this an editing error on Wildbow’s part, attributable to the fact that he was rushed in writing this monstrously huge (and yet it felt like one of the shorter reads to me) chapter? I sincerely doubt it, given that Lyon is the last entry. Thus, we require WMG as to what the deal is there. Was there something in Lyon that interested Behemoth, but he was driven off before he got it on the first trip, so he came back for it? Did he decimate the city the first time, then get upset because they rebuilt it too quickly and thoroughly?<br><br>'''wildbow:''' Lyon is an area with a great many nuclear plants in the vicinity. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/06/22/interlude-24/#comment-29217 Comment by] Wildbow in [[Interlude 24.x]]</ref><ref>“Nothing’s truly random,” Colin explained, his voice tight, “Any data shows a pattern eventually, if you dig deep enough.  Dragon started work on an early warning system for the Endbringers, to see if we can’t anticipate where they’ll strike next, prepare to some degree.  We know there’s some rules they follow, though we don’t know why.  They come one at a time, months apart, rarely hitting the same area twice in a short span of time.  We know they’re drawn to areas where they perceive vulnerability, where they think they can cause the most damage.  Nuclear reactors, the Birdcage, places recently hit by natural disasters…”<br><br>He clicked the mouse, and the image zoomed in on a section of the coastline.<br><br>“…Or ongoing conflict,” Hannah finished for him, her eyes widening.  “The ABB, Empire Eighty-Eight, the fighting here?  It’s coming here?  Now?” - [[Interlude 7]]</ref><ref name="15.5 c3" /> For example, [[Leviathan]] attacked [[Kyushu]] in 1999 (i.e., before her creation) to satisfy his fundamental drives to war against Eidolon<ref>'''November 2nd, 1999'''<br>[...]<br>Eidolon was fighting now.  He hurled globes of energy the size of small houses at Leviathan, and each one was sufficient to knock the creature away, flaying away the thing’s skin and simultaneously slowing it.  The hero’s own hydrokinesis deflected the lizard’s ranged attacks, diverting them skyward or off to one side.  Leviathan couldn’t attack from range, and couldn’t get close without getting pummeled.  He attempted to run, only for Japan’s foremost team, the Sentai Elite, to step into his way, blocking his progress. - [[Interlude 22.y]]</ref> and to take away resources necessary for survival and thus force relocating communities into conflict.<ref name="II19.z e4" /><ref>In this setting, for example, Japan isn’t a world power and it’s still dependent on international assistance 12 years after Leviathan’s visit to Kyushu.<br><br>But even there, where do you say, “Ok, that’s the sum total of the damage done”? The disaster at Kyushu, the number of refugees seeking living space/work and the pressures on the rest of Asia’s pacific border might have led to some more unrest and tension. Some friction, some ‘small’ wars, infighting and intermingling. Refugees and immigrants. Many settle in major cities across America because President Bradley’s Preservation Act gives them a hand in getting on their feet.<br><br>Do you factor that last point into the damage as well? Lung comes to Brockton Bay in part because of the booming population of Asian immigrants (which hasn’t yet set down roots). Bakuda was born to a Westerner mother and Immigrant father. Do you count the damage they’ve done? - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2012/10/30/colony-15-5/#comment-5639 Comment by] Wildbow on [[Colony 15.5]]</ref>

Should their objectives align, the Simurgh can use her understanding of them to better persuade her siblings to pursue common interests.<ref name="28.x e17" /> If a [[String Theory]] Driver weapon that could kill them existed and [[Eidolon]] was alive, they would cooperate and carefully plan their appearances to avoid any setup of a proper hit.<ref name="Redd eStringTheoryCooperate">Put all of that aside and look at his fighting ability, the highest end of what he's done (punch the planet buster [surface wiping] beam, nullify/exceed that energy and have the force of the punch still affect the landscape halfway across the world) puts him on a level equal to or surpassing String Theory's Drive weapons. Could a hit from that heavy a punch conduct enough force through Behemoth to get to the Endbringer's core? I think it's likely/possible and would have to, barring extraordinary evidence to the contrary popping up in OPM, say 'definite kill'. [...] (Or, as in the case of String Theory, Endbringer cooperation/timing would keep her from ever being able to set up a proper hit). - Wildbow [https://redd.it/49fd14 on Reddit]</ref> After her recruitment during [[Gold Morning]] following Eidolon's death, the Simurgh communicated when she was able to with her remaining siblings;<ref name="28.x e15">She must be unmolested.  This is given freely to her.<br><br>She operates alongside the subjects.  This serves her aims on several fronts.  She communicates when she can with the others. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/09/17 Excerpt] from [[Interlude 28]]</ref> they all agreed to cooperate with humanity, remain calm, and attack designated targets when given permission by the groups they were following.<ref name="28.x e19">And so they have fallen into place.  They obey, they remain calm.<br><br>When given permission, they attack designated targets.  They cooperate with the subjects. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/09/17 Excerpt] from [[Interlude 28]]</ref> In [[Earth Gimel]], the remaining [[Endbringers]] all teamed up against [[Scion]],<ref>Which was the moment the Endbringers made their move.<br><br>The Simurgh plunged from the clouds, hitting Scion.<br><br>Leviathan, healed a touch, emerged from the water.<br><br>Bohu rose from the earth, going from a human sized head and shoulders at eye level to a tower.<br><br>Tohu, for her part, had Glaistig Uaine, Eidolon and Myrddin’s faces.<br><br>The Endbringers, come to the rescue.  I ''wished'' I could have felt relieved.  It was a reprieve, a chance to get our footing.  But there was an ominousness to it. - [[Speck 30.5]]</ref><ref>For the time being, we were holding fast.  Scion was still engaged with the Endbringers in Gimel.  We had seconds, a minute or two if we were lucky, to catch our breath, to think, plan and communicate. - [[Speck 30.6]]</ref><ref>I could remember the files, the information only for team leaders and Wardens.  Information on the Endbringers, provided in retrospect, only after Gold Morning when the Endbringers cooperated against Scion and the attacks stopped. - [[From Within 16.9]]</ref> who murdered Eidolon and their [[Behemoth|brother]].<ref name="28.4 e20" />

After [[Gold Morning]], her surviving siblings stayed dormant and did not assist her plot to take control of [[Fortuna]]'s network.<ref name="E.end e1">One window showed the various Endbringers, all of them motionless, but for the Simurgh, who was airborne.  The last of the original three. - [[Interlude: End]]</ref><ref name="II10.x e1" /> When [[Defiant]] started firing G-driver blasts at her, none came to her aid.<ref name="II20.a eFirstShot">The benefit of using ''this'' weapon was that it didn’t require exceptionally good aim.<br><br>An area of the city a fifth of a mile wide and a mile long was pulverized.  Buildings were driven into ground, and broke into chunks no larger than a human head.  The wavelength of the beam let those chunks lift up for a fraction of a second before the next wave of the beam thrust them down again with the same force as before.<br><br>The Simurgh was almost, ''almost'' out of the path of the beam.  He clipped her, and she reoriented, pulling out of the way even as she was hurled back and down.<br><br>Much of the lower body she had been building broke away from the force of the impact.  A wing shattered.  The remainder was lost in the plume of smoke that rose from the tract of land he had blasted. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2020/03/28/last-20-a/ Excerpt] from [[Last 20.a]]</ref> According to Fortuna, the Simurgh can only command [[Khonsu]], [[Bohu]], and [[Tohu]] by successfully merging with her and then using an [[Eidolon]] shade via [[Valkyrie|Titan Valkyrie]];<ref>A great, long-fingered hand of silver with bone-white nails reached out.  The shadow of Eidolon stepped down onto the fingertip.<br><br>Titans appeared from clouds of darkness, arranging themselves in a formation around their new center and commander.<br><br>''Other'' things stepped out of clouds of darkness.<br><br>Not Titans, but scary enough in their own way.  Especially considering what all of this ''meant''.<br><br>Endbringers.  One tall and narrow, of a size to rival any Titan.  One small, a knot of formlessness, with faces periodically flashing out.  One with a great chrome orb for a midsection, a black, whiskered head, arms, and feet mounted at different positions around that orb.  There were other shapes that stood in the dark clouds, but they didn’t emerge or seem consistent.  Still taking shape. - [[Infrared 19.9]]</ref> the Simurgh-Fortuna amalgamation would then use her living siblings as bodyguards.<ref name="II19.10 e1" />