Context: While researching and pondering the murder mystery, I've sent intermittent lights to TID to keep him updated on progress. There are more, but these are the two I reference in this convo:
Thee-I-Dare, you said that, when Colm broke the symbol, he was your host alone. So why did he break it? I don't want to believe that you've led us on a wild goose chase, and forgive me for doubting, but I don't understand. Did you break it, with the intent to repel the gods? Or... did Colm, trying to get rid of you? Or did you do it, through Colm, out of distress? I know you might not remember, but even your lack of memory would be helpful, because it means that information, too, is under the memory blackout all the gods are experiencing. Any information is good information. [SENT: sometime between 10/25 and 11/1]
Thee-I-Dare - I think I understand now. You, alone, were with Colm when he broke his art. You wouldn't have taken her name, you can't hardly remember her. But Sophie pointed out that the symbol has something on it - hands, holding the legs, as if keeping them from moving forward. The Nameless's symbol on the moon doesn't have those hands, just the legs. Thee-I-Dare, what if the breaking didn't kill her - what if it was an attempt to free her? What if you tried to give her a fighting chance, after the Hunter bound her? [SENT: 11/2/19]
TID: MANY LIGHTS. MANY IDEAS.
Astro: [Cursing] Yeah, yeah, yeah.
TID: I CAN RETURN IF IT HELPS.
Astro: Yes, please do, this is the worst night possible. We'll be out here again soon, but - [As the Shape approaches, jumps to another rooftop] I think they know, so let's skedaddle.
TID: SO BE IT. I WILL FIND YOU AGAIN
[We leave the mission, return, buy supplies, and then head to the clown room, where we belong. I brief the team on the fact that I've been deep-diving into the murder mystery, so that's likely what I'll be talking about. Novocaine, Cassowary and AN-UNSTOPPABLE-SLUG roost on the loft bed while we talk. This part starts around 5:00 in the video.]
TID: YOUR MIND IS CLEARER NOW. MORESO
Astro: Yeah, it is, and now I feel a little more safe to talk to you. Uh... hi. Long time no talk? Well, no, it's been a short time, really. Yeah, I have many ideas, and I'm not sure which ones you wanted to talk about? You said the rituals clarify your mind, and I was hoping maybe something about that could give us clues.
TID: WHICH SHOULD WE TOUCH ON FIRST?
Astro: The Hunter is out and about, and so I feel like anything related to that might be more pertinent? Mostly, I wanted to talk about the symbol and how it broke. Do you remember what I said?
[I end up reading off my second prayer (above, about "an attempt to free her") for the team, since they weren't there when I sent it and I didn't want them to be completely lost. TID lets me finish this before responding again.]
Astro: I was thinking about how you said it was just you, and it doesn't make sense. If the name-stealing happened with the breaking, you wouldn't have done that... right?
TID: SHE DOES NOT SEEM FREE TO ME.
Astro: No, she's not totally free, but she's present and here as opposed to... completely gone. And I started thinking, maybe it was an opportunity cost? But - I mean, of course if you were there, you might know something.
TID: I WAS, BUT AS YOU KNOW...
TID: THERE IS A VAST GAP IN MY PAST.
Astro: It's the strangest thing, because you're not the only one experiencing that. They can't remember...
TID: I KNOW THAT AMONG OUR KIND...
TID: RITUAL ACT IS NEVER AN ACCIDENT.
TID: I DO NOT THINK WHAT HAPPENED...
TID: THEREFORE, WAS AN ATTEMPT TO HELP.
Astro: Okay, then, here's another idea, which I sent to your sister, but I'm not sure if I sent to you. She said the Caller was under her protection, and you said someone wanted him [cut out: to break it]. If you were the only one he was hosting when it was broken - and you wouldn't want to break her, right? - Then it must be someone "outside the house," as it were. Someone who wasn't you, wasn't Colm... and I almost want to say maybe it was her? I don't know why, it's [cut out: strange]. ... I don't understand why the caller knew about the logs, knew where to get them and knew they were there, or why it seems they got logs of this specific [cut out: incident]. It's so suspicious.
TID: I AGREE THEY SEEM GUIDED
Astro: [after a pause] [cut out: We] know someone else was there. We don't know who, but someone else had to be.
TID: YOU SPOKE OF HOW I WAS ALONE
Astro: Yes, in that, you said Colm was only hosting you at the time.
TID: I BELIEVE...
TID: WHAT THEY SAY OF THE RECORD
TID: WHEN IT WAS MADE, I WAS NOT ALONE
Astro: Yes, that's right, it was... well, I believe it was you talking to someone else, potentially the Hunter... but did that change by the time it was broken? Had he already gotten what he wanted?
TID: ENOUGH CHILDREN HAVE TOLD ME (paraphrased)
TID: I NOW BELIEVE I WAS MADE TO FORGET
Astro: Yes! Okay, that tracks, that tracks - because like I said, your parents also forget, and everyone else seems to have this strange memory blackout, as if someone's trying to prevent them from remembering - but then again, the question is who?
TID: TO BELIEVE I WAS ALONE, IN THAT
Astro: Oh! So you weren't! So maybe that was the method after all, the murder weapon, if you will, the smoking gun. Um - okay. Fascinating! A smokescreen of some sort... Strange. Your parents have talked about memory modifications -
TID: IT SEEMS MOST LIKELY. ALSO...
TID: OUR KIND STOLE THE TRIPLE LEG SIGN
Astro: Yes! ... They did? From her, or for her?
TID: FOR. I THINK.
Astro: I understand. Obviously, as you said, you've been made to forget.
TID: AS SO NOW, LIKE THE SIMPLE STAR...
TID: THAT PART OF THE SIGN IS FREE.
Astro: So it's like a mix-and-match on the moon, you have all of these symbols that can go together in different combinations, things that can be borrowed. Interesting. ... Weird. Strange. I don't know what to make of this, I'll be honest -
TID: YES. BUT WHAT THEY SAY OF THE MOON
TID: IT APPEARED WHEN SHE FELL SILENT
Astro: Well that's no good. [laughing, nervous] That's no good at all. It's red, too, the others are blue. I don't know if that means anything, it's just of note.
TID: THERE, I [??? this was something like "have no power" or "knowledge", he was saying he didn't know what it meant]
Astro: [sighs, cut out: One of] these days maybe I'll [cut out: see the moon.] I was thinking a while ago about how, often in legends, there are stories of equilibrium, something that balances out great power. There seems to be a lack of that here, would you say? Is it possible that the Hunter is that counterbalance for all of you?
TID: IF IT IS NEW, PERHAPS IT COULD BE
TID: I DO NOT THINK IT IS NEW
Astro: [confused by the usage of "it"] The Hunter? No... I mean, if the Hunter wasn't new, you might not know? Again, the memory modification, if that is indeed something he can [cut off: do]. Is it... uncommon, for daimons to be able to have their memories altered? Or, I don't know - 'cause your parents altered human memories, I think. I don't know where the line is.
TID: I BELIEVE THAT WHAT HE FOUND OF ME...
TID: WAS LIKE WHAT ISABELLA FOUND
TID: A DIMINISHED, SAD FRACTION OF ME
TID: MORE MALLEABLE (paraphrased?)
Astro: And a fully-formed daimon wouldn't be [cut out: controlled] so easy, yes?
TID: THE CULL WAS LONG IN EFFECT
TID: THERE WAS NOT MUCH LEFT OF ME
TID: SOME OF YOU CHILDREN FOUND ME
TID: AS A SINGLE WISP OR SHADOW. YES?
Astro: Yeah, a lot of us have found fragments, Novo's found a lot, Cass just found a bunch, I don't know about you, Slug. I found a couple.
TID: THAT IS HOW WE BEGAN TO SPEAK
Astro: Right, yeah. I'm trying to puzzle this [cut out: out]. It's strange, it's like the pieces are almost adding together but not quite.
TID: I UNDERSTAND.
Astro: Yeah, I'm sure this is very - [laughs] - a feeling you are quite familiar with, literally.
TID: SOME OF YOUR WORDS ARE FADING.
Astro: [fixes mic, loses train of thought] I don't remember - oh, no, I do. The Hunter! I'm sorry, I keep going back to this. The Hunter - the Caller was looking for people who he had contacted before, not just in dreams like the rest of us, but directly spoke to him. I feel like... what if it's possible that exposure to him, like a vaccine, innoculates someone to his memory effects - if, again, assuming this is something he can do, there's a lot of assumptions here.
TID: EXPOSURE TO THE HUNTER?
Astro: Yeah! Like talking to him, or... I don't know how it would work for daimons, but the Caller needed people who had spoken to him to be able to understand those specific recordings. Or at least, I think that's why. I don't know why else.
TID: WHAT I AM TOLD IS...
TID: THE CALLER SPOKE TO CHILDREN WHO
TID: WHETHER THEY WERE AWAKE OR NOT
TID: HAD FOUND PART OF ME OR HEARD ME
Astro: Yes! ... No. ... Yes, I'm sure that's right, because many of your followers seem to have gotten those recording... for a specific reason - someone back me up here, I'm afraid I'm losing my memory too - They did, like, want someone who talked to the Hunter, right?
[Novo nods, Slug confirms out loud]
TID: THEN THEY SPOKE TO A FEW OTHERS
TID: WHO, AS YOU SAY, HAD HEARD IT
Astro: They're kind of starting to sound desperate, and even if they don't like you or the other daimons, the Hunter seems like the opposite direction they would wanna go in. They seem very scared of the daimons, and he's a very scary daimon. I'm just wondering what the correlation is. Do they just recognize the voice? Or is there something more there.
TID: OUR TIME BURNS VERY LOW NOW, BUT...
TID: WE CANNOT BE RECORDED
TID: NOT AS WORDS.
Astro: Some of the kids talked about the singing.
TID: TO HEAR A VOICE IN THAT SINGING...
TID: TO DECODE, THAT IS THE TERM, YES?
Astro: Yeah, that sounds right, sounds like a good word for it. So to [cut out: decode] we'd have to [cut out: know the] Voice, yes?
TID: THE CHILD'S MIND NEEDS EXPOSURE
Astro: Alright. Another dead end, many new leads... That's fine, that's fine. All info is good info.
TID: WHAT CONCERNS ME IS...
TID: IF THE CHILDREN HAVE HIS ATTENTION
TID: OR ATTRACT HIM IN SOME WAY...
TID: THE SCULPTOR. WHY DID IT WANT HIM?
Astro: Maybe because he was vulnerable somehow, or maybe simply because he was her only host? Wipe out the hosts, weaken the Voice? I don't know. If that's something you think needs to be explored more, I can work on it.
TID: THAT...
TID: THAT COULD BE. HUNTING HER.
Astro: He's a wily one, isn't he.
TID: WHAT DID I DO? WHY WAS I THERE?
Astro: I can't answer that yet, but I hope we can eventually. Soon, I hope.
TID: I AM SORRY, ASTRO, I MUST NOW REST.
Astro: Of course. Don't worry about it. Thank you for coming to see us, we'll find you some more answers soon.
TID: PLEASE THANK THESE OTHERS...
[video ends here]
Astro: Hey, uh, [trying to be funny] Thee-I-Dare says thanks, you heard the man.
TID: FOR LISTENING AS WE... FLAIL
Astro [laughing] Yeah, seriously, thank you guys.
TID: SURVIVE
