Project Story Conclusion 4 - Nashiko Morita

I got another download from Marionettes.

Edward Marion needed to contain the Signal in 1993. To do so, he created a system called Marionettes, which was capable of imprisoning it, stopping its deplorable spread. However, he needed funding to develop and maintain this ambitious system. He came from a background in television, and as such he envisioned a company named Upstaged Communications. He was uninterested in the day-to-day runnings of the company; as such, he decided that he would seclude himself to maintaining Marionettes and managing the HR department. This sensitive setup required a deft hand to diffuse problems and protect company interests.

This left the question of who would run the company. He decided that it would be left in the hands of 12 handpicked executors, all of whom would be given the sole directive of encouraging the endless growth of the company to fund Edward's containment efforts. They would be placed in positions of power within the company, and would convene regularly to decide on its future. His only input would be as a tie-breaker should a deadlock ever arise. They had control otherwise.

Edward had to choose his executors carefully. None were to have any family or close connections, lest they be swayed in their ultimate goal of providing for containment. Their dedication to success had to be unimpeachable.

Nashiko was among the first he picked. The two met at the local station he had previously worked at, with her working a dead-end janitorial job for proverbial scraps. She was quiet, rarely interacting with others, nearly invisible to the rest of the staff. Despite her employer's dissmissiveness of her potential, Edward recognized her strengths--her decisiveness, her willpower, and her determination, despite the weariness she felt from working such a thankless job. Most importantly, he recognized her drive to climb high and find true contentment.

He offered her a chance to change. A chance to make a difference in the world, a chance to meet like-minded people that understood her, and a chance to move up the ladder to live a life of contentment. Despite her initial reluctance to believe such a wondrous proposal, Nashiko was swayed into taking him up on his offer, and joined Upstaged.

Edward wanted transparency with his actions, so he informed the board of the Signal. Nashiko did not believe what she was being told until she saw it firsthand. He gave her a glimpse. Not enough to harm her, but enough to impress upon her the importance of Marionettes' completion and maintenance. She saw a flicker of the day that never was, a flicker of the turgid destruction it would leave in its wake should it ever break free. It left her terrified, but she knew what had to be done. She would not let it break her down.

She initially joined as the manager of Station 85, the boss of the original station the company began in. She was directly responsible for the actions of all employees below her, cutting as many costs as possible whilst ensuring that the station maintained the quality needed to climb up the tower to success. Her strategy was to invest heavily in the workers themselves, as she saw them as the key to achieving a high quality workplace. Future station managers may have saved more money on payroll, but none had the retention or efficiency of her employees. Under her control, Station 85 flourished. Any potential problems were quickly stamped out, and Edward was able to transform his rudimentary system into a sophisticated miracle. Those at the station were often fond of her, and her keystone role in growing the company made her respected by her fellow board members. She was even able to swing for an old friend to be hired by the station, giving Thomas Carola a chance to shine. It made her happy to see him succeed.

Meanwhile, the other board members proved themselves to be as shrewd and resourceful as her, resulting in the rapid growth of the company over the 17 years it was active. 5 years in, they were a national presence with stations scattered across the country; 10 years in, they were a household name. They competed with industry titans, quickly absorbing local stations that were beginning to run out of money to turn them into stations that people kept their eyes on. It took on the lead role in the propagation of local news in the United States, and was even exploring expansion into Canada.

Nashiko was thriving as the company did the same. Her life had been stagnant and dreadful for years, decades, but she climbed step after step to the life she wanted. She had friends, a stable job that paid remarkably well, peers who respected her and her work, and even the knowledge that she was helping save the world. She began to explore hobbies outside her job, flirted with relationships of various types, and found herself truly enjoying her life for the first time in quite a long time. The Signal was being content. All was good.

It did not last.

When the clock struck midnight on October 17th, 2010, the cage broke. An exploit was found within Marionettes. A flaw. This let the Signal break free, and transform the one who found it. Penelope Adams became its transmission tower. Edward's story had been upstaged, and he was left scrambling, trying to find a way to fix it. He wasn't helpless, of course. There was a contingency should his walls ever fall down. However, he hadn't expected a flaw in his own system to be the source. As such, while his office and the board room were safe, the rest of the employees were not. Despite this precarious position, he developed a new plan.

Although he was the founder of the company, the board held all the administrative power. He structured it this way on purpose, as it meant his attention could be solely focused on containing the Signal. To enact his plan, he needed it to be officially sanctioned by the board.

A proposal was quickly drafted and sent to them for Project Story Conclusion. Edward was confident that it would be approved as soon as they received it, allowing him to act before all employees were taken. This plan would not only stop the Signal; it would also work as a safeguard for many years to come.

Unfortunately, Edward and the board had entrusted the position of CEO to one Claudia Shannon. As the company was flourishing, she was left to ponder her position in this world, and the potential of the Signal. Maybe there was an alternative to both Edward's proposed conclusion and the Signal's desired future. When the meeting was called, Nashiko watched in horror as Claudia convinced all of her friends that they could use the Signal to fix what she found wrong in the world. She convinced them they could control it to create a beautiful future. And, if they could control it, maybe letting it spread to all employees was a good idea. They wouldn't need to suffer all wrong with the world, and could instead find a good ending in the Signal's spread. Embracing it was the only choice. There was no alternative. When a vote came up to approve Project Story Conclusion, Nashiko was the only one to vote in favor of it. It died at 1-11.

The verdict reached Edward as he continued to collect the few employees that had managed to avoid the spread. He knew he had no alternative if he was to defeat the Signal. He went to the safe room the baord was in. A gun was in his hand. Forty eight seconds later, Nashiko was the only one left. She watched as all her friends were ended in the room that granted them security from the Signal. Her entire world had been brought crashing down in less than a minute, leaving her with nothing inside but fear and a spreading rage, surging through her veins, festering as she watched her friends die one by one to the hands of Edward.

Despite her burning hatred, however, there was no time to lose. No matter what she may have felt towards this man, the Signal was worse. She was forced to grit her teeth as he extended his hand to her, leaving her with no choice but to accept it. She was one of the eight that survived the calamity that began on October 17th, 2010.

Three days passed. Upstaged Communications was dead, the Signal was contained, and the survivors were freed on October 20th. Her memory had been damaged in the preparation of Penelope, leaving only fragments of history to draw from. The memories of those blood-soaked halls had grown hazy, but she remembered the deep bitterness within her towards Edward.

It awoke again in 2021. Two years later, she was called back. A package was sent on October 1st, 2023, and received on October 3rd. She received it the same day as Thomas, Joshua, Lillian, and Wyatt.

She has not yet been taken. One chance. One solution. No alternative.

I didn't know just how far gone the board, and especially Claudia, were. It's genuinely appalling. At the same time... it's hard for me to wrap my head around what Edward did. He chose the most immediate and violent solution.

I wonder what happened to the receivers, and what his current plan is.