The Voice

The Voice is a pair of characters in.

Description
The Voice is the title given to SPEAK-AS-ONE's main host pair. Unlike other Voices that only take full control of a host in extreme emergency, the two host bodies of the Voice are inhabited full time for a duration lasting years. The bodies remain mortal. The Voice's function is to interpret the Song by judging what is allowed to be internalized. Watchers report en mass to the Voice, and from these reports the "truth" as decided by the Voice is encoded into the Song by a Chordist.

The Voice as a unified pair is a symbol central to SPEAK-AS-ONE's values: "WE REDEEM. WE UPLIFT. WE UNITE. TWO HEADS. NO CROWN.". They have been described simply as two bodies per generation, matched. Any pair of body types may serve, so long as their minds sync staggeringly well. Their rare synchronicity seems to go beyond just hosting ability; the Voice speaks both the Song and The Word, a rarity in that the combination of both usually results in host death. The Voice is neither awake, nor asleep. They are able to hear the Song, as a Sleeper would, but are awake like a Lucid. "THEY ALONE STAND AT THE DOOR." They help Watchers and others within SPEAK-AS-ONE understand new, fresh ideas that enter the Song. However, as THEE-I-DARE created the Word, they shun its use as much as possible. "THEY DETEST USING THE WORD. THEY TRANSLATE THE SONG, AS WORDS/ MOST CANNOT HEAR IT AS THEY DO" In one instance, the Voice communicated via the Song with a three week old infant, communicating complex ideas years before the child could develop language skills to use The Word, effectively turning the infant towards their goals.

The Watchers have warned players that speaking of the Voice is forbidden. However, they break this rule themselves. Watchers are often swift to show reverence: "THE VOICE. TWO HOSTS, VENERABLE… LIKE A LEADER, BUT… THE SONG SEES NO KINGS. THEY INTERPRET THE WILL OF US ALL." The Watchers have explained the Voice aims to mend the changes THEE-I-DARE caused in the Song: "THE DEEPEST ARCHITECTURE OF US... SINCE THE WORD, WAS NOT THE SAME. WE SEEK TO PURIFY, SO VERY SLOWLY... THE VOICE GUIDES US THROUGH IT."

While the Voice has tried to stamp out doubt among Watchers, the Isolated Watcher has spoken of the Watchers' "open secret", their growling frustration towards the Voice: "we all hated their secrecy/ no leaders among us, except them? why/  they claim merely to speak for the town/ but in the day, they have lives. agendas"

Before the Game
A prehistoric iteration of the Voice is described in a Sleeper Story: "''But two children enter, with fire! Speak with one Voice. They spare him. They say "Your people have failed you - pity! Pity the Upright Ape. Give us your words and you shall not die.''" A similar myth is described in the Dead Skeptic Excerpts: "DS: total strangers, legend has it - but in a small tribe?... I call BS on that part. anyway, this pair comes back out of the cave holding a blazing torch. the first fire. Together in perfect synch, they say - 'we saw a god', or spoke to it somehow.

hells_bells: They saw a God, or they ARE a god?

DS: the tribe was like ::shrug::. we sort of... still don't know."

When humanity began to develop communication methods that spread ideas further faster than ever, SPEAK-AS-ONE left the world at large to found Redacre. It is likely their Voice at the time was the executor of the decision. The SPEAK-AS-ONE that controls Redacre is a rarity among variants of themselves in having a designated Voice, as "some of them use a Voice, but not all of them are as obsessed with the pre-verbal Song, so the necessity for a translation-fidelity double mouthpiece in the form of two humans who others look to ... varies." This obsession led to the construction of the The Maze, during which the Voice picked the "grand names" of the rooms, though construction outpaced their attention. Some rooms were never officially named, such as the String Relay B. SPEAK-AS-ONE and THE-MEASURE-CUTS were allied, the latter having designed several key parts Redacre, such as the Great Instrument. He also designed and built secret archives for the Voice, a store of information kept from the Watchers. Some Watchers suspect their existence, but trust the Voice uses the archives with care.

At some point, the Voice realized that their great Cull against THEE-I-DARE had left Redacre covered in Name Fragments their own hosts could not see. They captured and forced THEE-I-DARE hosts to seek out the fragments, for study.

After the alliance between themselves and THE-MEASURE-CUTS failed, the Voice told the Watchers very little of why THE-MEASURE-CUTS left, explaining only "HE CLAIMED WE WERE BIAS ITSELF."

Though it is forbidden, Lucids sometimes idly recount their memory of meeting the Voice in the 90s. It has been clarified they refer to the same iteration of the Voice that serves in Redacre still. How long the current Voice has served is unknown.

The Voice, in a rare act, came in person to see Colm Ryan after the night he was forced to shatter CHASE-THE-SUN's symbol. He has been missing since the Voice took him that day. The Watchers have not been told where he is, or why the Voice took him away. Some have expressed doubt over why the Voice took a host containing two dangerous enemies, both THEE-I-DARE and HUNT-THE-STRONG.

The Chorus Inquest journals are transcripts of the Voice, noted as, speaking with displeasure on the incident of Isabela Madi-Shaw breaching Saturation Control.

In-Game
The Voice stays in seclusion, preferring to work subtly from the shadows. On rare occasion, SPEAK-AS-ONE will reach out in Recalled Dreams. When SPEAK-AS-ONE speaks in dreams, it is the two host bodies of the Voice that are heard. SPEAK-AS-ONE never speaks aloud during Player Interactions, because the physical tie to their host pair. SPEAK-AS-ONE responding to your ritual via dream means your body met the Voice while sleepwalking. The Watchers suspect the No More Shadows curse to be a direct callout from HUNT-THE-STRONG, in response to the Voice's subtle tactics. How to handle THEE-I-DARE and HUNT-THE-STRONG often troubles the Watchers, as the Voice is not open with their plans to stop either. The Voice's known fixation is learning Old Tongue, which they believe will allow them the greatest and final advantage against the other Voices. There is a long trend of the current Voice forcing the patience of the other parts of SPEAK-AS-ONE to wait on decisions. Several Watchers have, after expressing doubt, spoken on the Harvest and expressed fears over being seen as discordant or disloyal. Being so would possibly put them in line to be judged by the Voice as needing to be purged from the Song.

There are differences in how the Watchers and the Voice think problems should be handled, although Watchers will deny this if questioned on differing views. Namely, they appear to disagree on how harsh their methods should be on whole. Some Watchers approve of the Voice's gentler approach. One stated, "THE VOICE TELLS US. MINIMIZE PAIN. WE ARE ALL LOST, SINCE THE DIVIDE." Others are harsher, as one Watcher commented with disapproval on the Voice going soft on defectors in the hopes the defectors would return to their cause and the Song. While antagonizing players, another Watcher stated "THE VOICE SHOWS MERCY. WE DO NOT.

The Voice forbid Watchers from entering the Place Between due to reports of Watchers going missing after being taken there. The Voice warns the place will hurt them.

The current Voice pair is made up of Jackson Arl and Song Wu Lei. The latter changed their name to "Song" to express their devotion. A developer has noted the Voice lives in a biracial household. The Isolated Watcher was present when the current pair took over, and describes them as younger than her, but well paired. Of Jackson, she says, "he was a smug shit then, and still is." Song does not identify as female and is described as "very cold" and "impervious". The current pair is growing old and were searching for the next pair among stalkers. According to the Isolated Watcher, they wanted one half of the pair to be "symbolic" which she believes means chosen from the enemy. The Voice always said "the town will decide", but never told the Watchers who they were considering as candidates. THEE-I-DARE believes that any candidates must have a strong bond to each other, but admits that a bond could be forced over time.

SPEAK-AS-ONE used to fear The Pact, until they recently discovered a new source of Old Tongue. The Voice would not tell the Watchers from where or whom they had learned it, causing the Watchers to hate their secrecy. The Isolated Watcher explains that the Voice claims only to speak for the town, yet they have their own lives and agendas during the day.

The Voice used to visit Colm Ryan daily to learn Old Tongue from him. The Isolated Watcher believes they were trying to complete a full Voice name. They have since stopped visiting Colm, potentially due to the new source of Old Tongue. According to the Isolated Watcher, the Voice now knows at least two full Old Tongue names. A Watcher had already confirmed that they know HUNT-THE-STRONG's name. The Voice also visited Isabela Madi-Shaw in Saturation Control, and what they said led her to believe there was a traitor within the Pact.

SPEAK-AS-ONE is recalling agents from across the east coast to witness the "crowning ceremony" of the new Voice. They have half of the Voice but are still searching for the other half among children. Chiara Esposito wanted to be chosen, but she was not.

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