Smoke and Mirrors: Smoke Behind the Mirror

An article from W. Tortollini.

Welcome, True Believers! It was Dante Alighieri, who descended into hell and witnessed all of its horrors once said "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here"

If you just found my space for the first time, you should know two things - the first being that I only tell the truth. The second being that the truth is gonna hurt like hell. The truth sometimes tastes more bitter than burnt Turkish coffee.

Do not come after me with complains.

In the good old days of journalism, we learned that the truth can only be obtained by asking. You know that I'm an old-fashioned kind of guy, so let's just start asking the hard questions.

Do you have what it takes to join my search among this filth?

The answer is YES, with all caps. Otherwise you wouldn't have made it this far.

What does a Kawaii Robot, a Werewolf, a Christian fundamentalist, and a mysterious Chinese Illusionist have in common? Why is this group of Aristos so different from the others that battle in the Hexadome? That's where your good friend Wallace comes in. I'm always after the dirt, and I'm here to answer all your questions.

We all remember those series of articles about the Aristos published by Vissiorama under the evocative title "Smoke and Mirrors". Even without trying, the name gave us the key to our first discovery. That's all it is - smoke and mirrors. Nothing is what it seems. The fighters are a façade - just fictional creations by the mass advertising machine of Vissiorama. They are united by the most honey-coated tabloid stories the entire Human Sphere has ever seen.

Now you all must be wondering why I didn't step in and put an end to this ridiculous procession of corporate puppetry. Why is the media and adoring public still heap meaningless praise upon them?

Dammit! I taught you well!!

As Dorothy once did in Oz, I will reveal to you the men behind the masks, and unseat these pitiful demigods.

But I need you to make a small effort and read with me the "official version". Shit is always where it smells the most and this smoke (Smoke) really stinks. So… let's take a look behind the Mirror ("Mirror").

I'm gonna start with Taowú, because our paths have crossed in the past.

They say about him that "he is the expert of all the plans, the surfer of the quantum foam."

Ha!

"Each step in his life has been the best of all the steps that could have been taken."

Ha!

"He doesn't know failure."

And a huge HA!

I tell you that, far from what they try to sell us, Taowú is, and has always been, the individual that suffers the greatest inferiority complex in the Human Sphere.

He has always lived repressed by his own disabilities and traumas until, as he believes, has found his "therapy" -"his escape valve", I would say-. This "treatment" has had brutal side effects: it catapulted him to stardom in Aristeia!

While we were working as data analysts for the tabloid news agency - Splash! (one of the most avant-garde channels in the Sphere), he learned (or rather, we all learned) thousands of ways to manipulate the information received, and to spin it to our audience for corporate gain.

These tricks allow Taowú to keep his friends close and his enemies closer. They give a sense of plausibility to the web of lies and half-truths that he weaves almost every second of his life. All of these talents led him to be where he is today. He no longer knows where he belongs anymore. He struggles with the concept of who he was, and who he wanted to become. He is trapped in the now, and has forgotten how much he despises the pantheon of deities to which he now belongs. During this entire transition, he has become a god in the eyes of his loyal followers, and become the demon of which he now fears.

How are you doing so far? Are you still with me? I know - I can already hear you saying "This is just the tip of the iceberg.” Of course it is - and speaking of courses, get ready for the first course of this banquet of filth.

The exceptionally compensated Vissiorama marketing team tells us that "Noriko Ayase is a brillant graduate from the prestigious university of Tomari". This isn't a lie.

"During this season, it is said that she hand-made her costume with her little sister Yue." I'm willing to believe that. Have you seen it?

Though it is also said that "she is the pilot and designer of Kozmo", and that "she combines the naïveté of a Japanese schoolgirl with the pragmatism of an experienced engineer."

What a load of bullshit.

It's not exactly a secret, and everyone that follows her on her many social media accounts knows it. Noriko is just a pretty face, and she's such a pantywaist that she couldn’t hurt a fly, let alone a trained aristo. A witch “friend” of mine – and also a friend of the unprotected data of the masses – has been monitoring the data-usage of the Ayase household when she apparently leaves for the Vissiorama headquarters, from where she allegedly pilots Kozmo.

And… surprise! In her know words: "I have seen the virtual representation of a black hole. Only the government headquarters and the hyper-corporations swallow bandwidth like that". It consumes cloud computing resources of whole buildings.

Why is that?

Isn't it suspicious that despite Noriko's income, Mom and Dad Ayase also enjoy suspiciously large bank accounts?

I'll gonna tell you. The answer is very simple. Yue, little 11-year-old sister of Noriko, is the one that actually pilots the emerald robot. The smallest of the Ayase suffers a rare psychopathy that would make Jack The Ripper look as the most laid-back person at her side. And while their daughters expose and pervert themselves, the Ayase keep filling their pockets.

I hope you still have room in your stomach. Hold your nose and whet your palate, because the main course is on it’s way – Carpaccio de Lupino.

The official story is that “Duncan Brewster has been nicknamed Murtair, which roughly translates to assassin in Gaelic.

Yeah!

“He was the shining star in the National Caledonian Dog Bowl League – the most brutal sport in Ariadna.” Surprisingly, Vissiorama stuck to the facts.

“Thanks to Aura Biochemicals, Murtair’s biggest sponsor, he has climbed a metaphorical Mount Olympus and joined the pantheon of gods that rule over the hexadome. Duncan Brewster has achieved what no other of his kind has - fame and fortune.” What can I say? This man truly is a phenomenon. The marketing team at Vissiorama didn’t need to do much work, as his history speaks for itself - but it is said that the brightest and hottest stars cast the longest shadows.

Duncan lives trapped in a mixed form. Unlike many of his peers, he is unable to become human and knows too well that, genetically, it's a dead end.

He won't have offspring.

His quantronic-trash band, Full Moon´s Dead, gives him that outlet to vent that rage. It allows him to let loose in a way that the ultra-violent acts he inflicts on others can not. Ultimately, though, it is not enough.

It has come to my attention recently by way of an illicit agreement with an outside source that shows Murtair has another deal with Aura Biochemicals that transcends the hexadome. These documents confirm that he is submitting to an aggressive and very illegal gene therapy to achieve fertility, all behind his managers’ backs.

All of this would be considered gossip, and I’m not GoGo Marlene. If you go back to the beginning of this story - he’s a god damned murderer. This isn’t trivial. He is a dangerous criminal bought and paid for by a corrupt corporation. These “fertility” drugs that Aura Biochemical are feeding him are in fact extremely addictive, and make him incredibly aggressive. This explains his actions within the Hexadome - and without a doubt, also explains his increasingly bad relationship with the public and his fans.

With the entree over with, it is time for dessert. Close your eyes, hold your nose, and prepare yourself for the final course.

“Juan Diaz Mendoza - Father-Inquisitor.”

Nuff said!

“His legend has been cooked, slowly, in the most fierce battlegrounds of the Emerald Hell - Paradiso.”

Is that really believable?

“Even when he surrendered, his faith was unshaken and always held true.”

I left Mendoza for last, because his fraudulent activities are strongly related to my next segment. I’m getting ahead of myself, though - let’s just take this one step at a time. Father-Inquisitor Juan Diaz Mendoza is an arrogant piece of propaganda. He is not a soldier from the most dangerous front in the Human Sphere. I’ll prove it.

He put boots on the ground just for the sets of “Escape from Paradiso” and the two sequels. His production team was a lot more scrupulous than some of the “intelligence” agencies that were busy cleaning up any trace of their operations in Paradiso.

Through thorough research and the expenditure of vast swaths of time, I managed to find some of his Mayafilms hidden within the depths of Maya, the network of networks. These place him at locations other than Paradiso during the time of the war, and he was extensively involved in the filming.

After reviewing the films, I can say that Mendoza isn’t just a good actor - he is a consummate thespian. His life, after all, is a complete farce.

Juan Diaz Mendoza’s actual dream career lies outside of the HexaDome, where he can give life to the characters that nest within his soul - not pigeonholed into the role of an action hero. A silent facade of a warrior-priest.

I can’t continue with this. It makes me sick to my stomach that the masses are being lied to like this. I’ve tried to unmask all of these stars, but ultimately, they are characters enshrouded in an epic tragedy. They don’t own their lives - but the ultimate irony is that the “mirror” in this story casts our own reflection - the everyman like yourself. Like these aristos, we also are not true owners of our own destinies.

So, in parting, all I can say is let your nose guide you if you want to find me. Nothing says more about someone than the things they throw away, and that truth always lives underneath a pile of shit. If you can find it, you can rest assured I will also be there with you to expose their secrets. I’ll see you in my next report - “Shona Carano - the lie that redefined Aristeia!