Alexander Ryder

'Aleph'

INFORMATION

Mortal bee, Male, 29

Aliases: Alex, Alec, Xander
Nationality: American
Residence: London
Employer: Sycoil R&D
Function: Research Associate
Twitter: @FallenOmega

Our wisdom flows so sweet. Taste and see….

TRANSMIT - initiate the lonely ghost signal -RECEIVE - initiate the abandoned frequency- ONE IS THE LONELIEST NUMBER - initiate the rainbow protocols - THE SADDEST EXPERIENCE YOU'LL EVER KNOW - initiate the unloved syntax - WITNESS - The Fool, Alexander Ryder

See the red dust, sweetling. See the gently waving fields. See the browns, the beiges, the greys. Do you see the simple paradise?

Look closer.

Do you see the tracks of two feet, sweetling? Do you hear the soul groaning prayers to an empty heaven?

Follow the tracks.

A form huddles, hiding, in the umbral darkness of the shadow of the barn. Draw closer. Do you see how the silhouette quakes? Off-tempo rhythmic pulses beat the drum of sobs as a low voice mutters between choked-down cries.

So many tears you all can shed, sweetling. Draw closer. Hear the words.

“I didn’t do anything wrong. I didn’t do anything wrong.”

Hear the haunted tones, sweet one. Does your simian heart break when you hear the young man chanting?

Reverse. A jump to the left. See what happened before.

A young boy of fourteen begins to awaken, as all your kind do. But his eyes do not turn to the soft curves and bright giggles of the women around him. No, though his life would be easier if they did! His gaze is drawn by the sharper lines of male forms, angles and planes.

Initiate the house-is-not-a-home spectrum.

The boy sits on the floor of his room. Do you see the barren shelves, sweetling? Do you see the man and woman standing in front of the boy, one holding a leatherbound book, both praying and sobbing? Not all families are made of love, sweet one.

Fast forward. Initiate the step-to-the-right protocol.

Do you see the boy at school, sweet? He is older now. So young, but his eyes show such age. The eyes are the windows to the soul, you know. Why then, sweetling, are his so dull? Do you see the others, sweetling? The football players, the athletes, the stars of the show? Can you see how they burn with rage when they see the young one glance their way? How they mutter dark threats, taking such offence at what he does?

We do not understand, sweetling. Your kind are alien to us in so many ways.

Fast forward again.

Do you see the youngling? He stands in the study of a man of the cloth, who folds pious hands over a hypocritical heart as he judges. They all judge, sweetling.

Fast forward once more!

The young man, in the dark, sobbing again.

The young man, with bruises the color of tentacular futures on his face, stony and silent.

The young old soul, laying down in bed, an empty orange bottle next to his head.

The note, short and pointed like a dagger to the heart.

“How can I live, when everyone, even God, cannot love me?”

A flower wilts, slowly, fading away. All good things need love, sweetling. Plants, pets, even you. But what happens when someone receives no love? Like flowers, cut from the root, they fade.

The young one was wrong, sweetling. We saw him. We loved him, as we love all of Gaia’s children, all of you.

Initiate the honeyed soul-balm protocols.

We showed him our love that night. We brought our thunderous words to his fading monkey mind, and opened him up to all that is.

He, and we, will see you in the half-light, sweetling.

ssssssssssssss-I am the face-heel-turn signal-LET ME IN

Hiya, Chuck.

Don’t you just love a sad story? The hero is innocent, is betrayed, and rises stronger than ever-ever-ever.

This is no fairy tale, Chuck. Peel back the honey colored mask of this character. Take a good look at the thing beneath.

The mask-mask-mask-mask is joy. Underneath is maggot-white apathy. He wants you to see fire and foolishness. Peer below it and see what lies there. The fiery hero has a heart of ice.

It wasn’t flames that killed his father-father-father-father. It was cold, sharp steel.

When he gets bored with you, what do you think he’ll do-do-do?

Frostbite kills. Don’t lose any toes, Chuck

TRANSMIT - initiate the corrupted heart signal -RECEIVE - initiate the charcoal frequency- MY SOUL IS BLACKENING - initiate the grayscale protocols - WHAT DO I SPY THROUGH FULLY OPEN EYES - initiate the upside-down syntax - WITNESS - The Fool, Reversed

Do you like stories, sweetling? The once upon a time beginnings and happy endings? The adventure and romance and daring-do?

Let us tell you a story, sweetling. It won’t have a happy ending.

-Flip the Fool and start the tale!-

Once upon a time, there was a broken-hearted boy. Mistreated, abandoned, unloved until one day a fairy godmother paid him a visit as he lay dying.

Gaia is the fairy godmother, Sweetling. She gave him many gifts: She gave him strength to rend the lion. Many who loved him and whom he loved in return. A chance to help people.

And so he lived. Not all days were happy days, but for his broken heart it was enough.

And they lived happily ever after. Is that what you hoped for?

No. This story isn’t over yet.

-Initiate the Corruption syntax!-

The boy went looking to prove himself, sweetling. You see, he was never able to see himself as others saw him. Where others saw a kind soul, someone who cared and was good and true, he saw only a person who was weak. Who couldn’t help the ones he loved.

Love is weakness, sweetling. And mirrors tell such lies.

So. The boy went to a red-red room, to prove himself against the terrible dragon therein. He brought his sword made of memories, and a shield made of the strong arm of his lover-protector.

And the dragon ate him all up. Gobbled him into a filthy darkness we couldn’t see through. Our particle wings tore asunder when we tried to reach him.

This is still not the end, though. You should worry sweetling. Be very afraid.

Was it hours later? Days? Weeks? The dragon spat the boy out. He woke in the red-red heart and stumbled out of the room and back to his loves. The page became a knight victorious, and all the world was saved when he taught the dragon courage.

But what is that strange and icy glint in his eye, sweet? What did he learn from the dragon?

What happens when his card is reversed by fate?

Tremble at the end, sweetling.

mmmmmmmmm-I am the false angel signal-Listen to me

Hey buddy, whatcha doin' here? Pickin' up on all this nonsense? Don't ya know? Ya should never listen to second hand stories.

Bees and Signals are such gossips, aren't they? Here trying to tell ya all my dirty little secrets? Tsk tsk. That's not very nice.

So let me tell ya the truth.

Yeah, Dad happened. And yeah, I got chewed up and spit out by the Signal.

But what none of them told you, is that I liked it. Oh, most of me, the nice parts of me didn't. The blond haired, blue eyed, sweet boy? He hated what happened to his dad. 'Why? Why me? It's not fair.' Life's. Not. Fair.

There was another part though. Oh, that deep, dark part at the base of the brainstem that LIKED IT. A twitch of a hand, and someone's life is done?

It didn't get better after John, you know. Oh, I know, I know, he's a brave widdle boy now. But buddy, let me tell you, he got the short end of the stick. Me? I got some interesting new additions to my repertoire. You know about my singin' right? Oh, the Power of Luuuuuve! Protect and shield and cleanse and heal the ones I care about? Dandy. Real nifty, buddy.

But now? Oh, now I can do so. much. more. Transmit my voice through all sorts of interestin' ways. You're already hearing it. Ya just haven't realized it until now. But that little skritch-skritch-skritch you're feeling at the back of your head? The tingling at the corners of your eyes and the itching in your ears? That's me. Sorry, buddy, but it's already too late. Hope ya kissed your kids goodbye.

Now, if you'll excuse me. I've got things to do. Missions to finish, bad guys to slaughter, hot boyfriends to visit. I'd say something like 'See you soon, Chuck,' but the truth is

We won't. Rest in peace, buddy.

Aleph was introduced to the War (and the Secret World as a whole) when he unintentionally swallowed a bee in his sleep. He quickly developed Anima-related powers (thanks to which he will NEVER get his security deposit back on his apartment!), specializing in Elementalism and Chaos. Shortly after gaining basic control over his abilities, Aleph was contacted by a representative of a shadowy group that was interested in what he could do.

After a long run through the bowels of NYC's sewer systems, Aleph was forcefully introduced to the Illuminati. He gets along well with the organization, though his boss KG isn't quite sure what to make of him. He doesn't fit the typical Lumie mindset: sex and drugs don't interest him. However, he's developing a growing fondness for launching fireballs at people, and seems to be enjoying the Lumie tendency to manipulate events from the shadows. He's also showing a growing-if friendly-rivalry with the Templars.

Update: Shortly after gaining access to the Kaidan Disaster Zone, Aleph encountered a number of difficult missions that led to his almost surrendering to the Filth. Only the timely intervention of several of his friends prevented the loss of the agent to the Filth.

After, he was spirited away by a close friend for recovery. After his relationship with the Illuminati soured, his plans to transfer to the CoV were scrapped. It has recently been confirmed that he is working for Orochi's Sycoil branch on unknown projects, though he still spends a fair amount of time in the field.

-Aleph rose quickly through the ranks of the Illuminati, reaching the rank of Senior Agent before abandoning the faction for reasons unknown. He currently works as a consultant ("associate") of Sycoil's research division.

-He is skilled at both Elemental and warhammer usage, having mastery in both. He is also currently training with both shotguns and assault rifles.

-He has a somewhat embarrassing love of motorcycles and can often be seen riding his Gilded Geist Rider or Speed Demon around on missions.

-Aleph's favorite pet is a Draugr Lord Puppy (affectionately referred to as "Squish") that followed him home from Agartha.

-Aleph is always willing to jump in and defend someone he thinks is innocent (much to KG's dismay), especially if it tweaks the nose of a Templar or Dragon representative.

-Aleph was in a relationship with Auroborus.

-Starting in late July 2017, Aleph was in a feud with the group called the "Free Judges."

-He appears to be developing personal and professional relations with D'ante Lewis, leader of the Kusanagi Initiative and member of Faust, as well as Alejandro Reyes of Manticore.

- FC: Jeremy Sumpter

Alexander Ryder

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