ADVENT: Dossier

The Chronicler

"Beware the power behind the throne."

- Anonymous

Analysis Record: "The Chronicler" (Real name unknown)

Current Role: Advisor to Chancellor Saudia Vyandar

Current Interference Level: Unknown

Threat Level: Unknown (Medium to High)

Usage Level: Low

Brief Assessment: Due to the heightened profile of now-Chancellor Saudia Vyandar, I feel it prudent to examine her internal support and council. Most of the family heads of EXALT have been identified and on the surface that appears to compose all of her inner circle. However, that is not the case. There is a human male who serves as another advisor to her.

We were unable to determine his name, only his title which is "The Chronicler". As the name suggests, he appeared to fill the role of a historian within EXALT, documenting the true history of the world that would never be revealed. An apparently harmless role, and from interrogations of former EXALT personnel, it appears that Saudia also considered him a friend as well as someone to take advice from.

However, I cannot help but suspect that there is more to this "Chronicler" than meets the eye. To the best of our ability we have not been able to determine his predecessor, or how such a role was established within EXALT in the first place. In addition, several of the interrogated agents revealed that there had only been one "Chronicler" in their lifetimes; the same one that exists today.

More to the point, none can remember a time where he wasn't an elder, and interestingly didn't note him getting visibly older. I am unsure what to think about this, and we applied additional truth drugs to the captured personnel to ensure they were telling the truth, and they repeated the story so I can only assume they are telling the truth.

I am aware that Human memory can be unreliable, but something is off about him. To the best of our ability, he is still working with Saudia in ADVENT, and I have several agents attempting to locate him. I personally doubt that we are dealing with anyone who poses a large danger to us, but we are contending with someone very old who is our enemy.

There are several theories I have that could explain this, but they must first be confirmed with appropriate science divisions. This is also a matter that might justify the intervention of an Ethereal, if only to withdraw the image of this Chronicler for our agents to watch out for.

- Zar'Chon'ravarian'vitiary

Curious. Send the captives to me. I will extract what I can for them. A mystery in the making, it seems. - Quisilia

Message to the Commander of XCOM from Haley Yates

This isn't an official document, Commander, but something I thought you should be aware of. I wouldn't suppose you are aware of much of Saudia's own internal council before ADVENT, but outside of the obvious EXALT family heads, there is one person I believe I missed. Shortly after interviewing Chancellor Vyandar for our records, I was approached by an elderly man who began making casual conversation.

He looked familiar, but I didn't place him until we began talking about specifics of ADVENT. I didn't remember his name, but I did recognize him from ADVENT meetings where he was often at Saudia's side. I assumed him to be an advisor, but now I'm not sure.

He is…odd. There is something about him that I would describe almost as slippery. Throughout our entire conversation, I couldn't read him whatsoever, and whenever I believed I had figured something out, he did the complete opposite. Which only leads me to believe he knew I was trying to analyze him and decided to try and fool me. Can't say it wasn't successful.

Then our conversation turned very strange. At that point I believe he was simply trying to get a reaction out of me, by making oddly specific insinuations including, but not limited to: Aegis, yourself, our various contingencies and various experiments. He never outright admitted it, but the fact that he could know that much is deeply concerning. When he began referencing parts of my own past unprompted, I was genuinely afraid for my safety.

The fact that he appears to know all of this, and Saudia seems not to, is something that I can't rationalize. Unless of course, that this man isn't her advisor at all and all of this is just a massive coincidence. But I don't believe in such things, Commander. I suggest you politely ask Saudia to reveal who this person is, because if he somehow got through our security, we need to fix that immediately.

Recorded Conversation between the Chronicler and Director Christopher Solaris of EXALT

Christopher Solaris: "Excuse me? I don't believe we've met before. Were you recently transferred here?"

The Chronicler: Chuckles. "No, Director, I've been at the Bastion for nearly a week. I figured you'd come around to me eventually. I'm not surprised you weren't informed."

CS: "Oh, about what? I apologize I missed you, I'm generally informed about all new arrivals."

TC: "Likely a mistake in the records. No issue for me, I'm well aware of what the Director endures on a daily basis."

CS: "So what were you transferred here for?"

TC: "I'm the new Chronicler. My predecessor retired and I was chosen in his place. It is truly an honor to be here."

CS: "Chronicler? Interesting, I'm not sure I recall a position called that."

TC: "It's slightly obscure, at least in the grand scope of EXALT. But there has always been a Chronicler position in EXALT, Director. I'm sure it'll come to you."

CS: "Now that you mention it, I do recall something like that. It must have slipped my mind."

TC: "Happens to the best of us, Director. The true history of the world must be preserved, even if no one but us knows about it."

CS: "It occurs to me that I apparently never checked your predecessors work. If you don't mind…"

TC: "Of course, Director. I am here to help you succeed, after all."

Entries of the personal journal of the Chronicler

Entry 87: The artifact is yielding no more secrets. I am at a loss as to try and figure out how it works. It is clear that I am missing something, and I do not want to expose another person to it simply to indulge my own curiosity. If nothing else, the object is finicky, and there is probably a good chance that it could have killed me when I stumbled upon it instead of it granting me powers.

The academia are demanding answers as to what I'm using their money for, and controlling their minds will not work forever. Someone is eventually going to figure out something isn't right, and short of controlling the entire school board and local police, they are going to do something about it. Worse yet this is going to soon attract the attention of the church the longer I keep my silence. It was a mistake to establish myself so close to a religion.

Perhaps it is best I wipe all traces of myself and leave before people ask questions. There are other places of learning besides this one.

Entry 95: The artifact is stubbornly silent. At this point I can only resign myself to the knowledge that science has not advanced enough for me to thoroughly analyze this piece of alien tech.

Alien. A foreign object. I'm not sure if it came from space or somewhere else, but I know that it was not forged by Humans. No one could make something like…this. But now I do wonder if I am the first to find something like this. Am I just another one in a long line of people who have controlled this power before? Is this the explanation for the myths of old?

Humph. It would be typical to learn that, and it would make more sense that people just…accepting that Gods existed above. The majority of mankind is not entirely gullible, and there must have been something to demonstrate the existence of a higher power. Could it be this gift?

But the question still remains: Where did this gift come from?

Entry 105: I am unsure what to do with myself now that I have stopped researching the artifact. What exactly is there to do for a person like me besides wander the world, trying to stay out of trouble? Money and lodging is no issue, amoral as it is, it is ultimately better than attracting attention to myself working a mediocre job. So as far I as I see, there are two paths open to me:

There must have been more people like me throughout history, and perhaps they learned something I did not. They must have left notes, documents, something about what they learned. Human history is vast, and I have nothing but time to hunt down these people who came before me. And right now, I must not make the same mistake for anyone who follows me.

The other options is to strengthen my powers. Practice, trial and error is the only way I will improve. I know I can push myself further than simply making the people selling me trinkets give them to me for free. I know I can do more than take advantage of people. There is no need for innocent people to suffer for my sake. There are those less virtuous who are deserving of such.

…I have no idea where my journeys will take me, and I suppose it is better to be as strong as possible before embarking. In the end, I have nothing but time.

Entry 107: A destination must have a map to get there. My training is no exception. Luckily there is no shortage of vile brigands in this town. I needed but to walk down the street into the alleys to see two men assaulting some poor woman. Foolish, and I took control of their minds easily enough. I don't feel comfortable with more than one at once, so I forced one of them to slit his throat.

It is strange; having so much control over a Human life. I have been like this so long it is difficult to imagine it otherwise. But it occurred to me that he was first person I ordered to end their life, and I feel nothing. Perhaps it is because of who he was, but it feels wrong to feel nothing whatsoever. Or perhaps it is perfectly natural. I am not like other humans, and they are, objectively, inferior to me.

Writing those words concerns me. I wonder if I am unintentionally leading myself down a path of self-proclaimed godhood, starting to see other Humans as beneath me. I will have to be careful that it doesn't corrupt me. But for now, I have one lowlife chained to the tree in this wilderness, yelling at me to release him.

Time to start practice.

Entry 111: Driving a man to insanity is easy; driving him to insanity in the way you want is difficult. As I subject this lowlife to whatever I can imagine, I am careful not to press past the unseen line of no return. I wonder if I am being too sentimental here. I have seen everything in this man's mind, I've seen him hold his mother as she died and as his house burned to the ground. It is easy to see how he became the way he is, and this psychological torment is something I have been trying to utilize.

It is tricky. I can force the memory to appear in his mind, but I have yet to figure out how to manipulate it. Once that is done, I can bring it to life around him. Perhaps make him hallucinate being chased by the specter of his dead mother. The possibilities are endless.

Entry 115: The lowlife unfortunately killed himself this morning. It was expected, and I had provided the means to do so as an experiment. His mind would have fully snapped today had he refrained, but I suppose it makes no difference. I learned what I wanted to, and I suppose it is time to move on. I gleamed a hideout for bandits like him in his mind.

That will be my next step.

Entry 140: The dream came again, and I think it is tied to my growing abilities. For posterity's sake, I will write it down here. I appear in a room surrounded by water. I think I am underwater, but I feel no water and can breathe easily. It is like there is a glass box around me, keeping the liquid from crushing me. The vast expanse of the ocean is intimidating, and there is no escape from the pale blue prison.

I find nothing, I can run for what feels like days without any change. But there is a feeling of being watched that is present throughout the dream. I've had the exact same dream eleven times now, so I must write this down in case someone else is experiencing the same thing.

Something is watching me.

Entry 189: Sitting passively in the world is a pointless endeavor. I cannot keep watching mankind destroy itself over such petty differences. I can make a difference in this world, so why don't I? Am I afraid of what other people will say? That they will try and kill what they don't understand?

Mhmm, now that I write that, I realize that is a very real possibility. No doubt I would be considered some kind of demon or worse. Governments would probably try and weaponize me in their petty wars. The world is finally becoming more advanced, so it is not impossible for them to hurt me, and if I want to do something, it has to be done carefully.

Perhaps I am looking at this wrong. There must be others out there with similar goals, who have come to the same conclusions as me. If I find them, then I can work with them to bring it to fruition. Of course, the trouble is finding them in the first place.

Best to get started.

Entry 200: The dream now has voices in it. It is a deep rumble, speaking words in an alien language I cannot even begin to translate. But whatever was said resonated deep in my soul. The words are burned into my mind and I cannot forget them, no matter how much I wish to. But it isn't just that.

The artifact is working now. I don't know what triggered it, but it's as I first found it. A ball that has some kind of light in it, like that of the ocean, rippling on the surface. It has power, and more than that, I can feel a presence. I am hesitant to touch it again, as this time might kill me. I don't know what that is, but I wonder if I'm reaching a point those before me came to.

But I need answers. And now I will get them one way or another.

Entry 201: Nothing exciting happened when I touched the artifact, but whatever it's connected to definitely noticed me. It is like poking a sleeping giant. The presence must be unimaginably old, and now I appear to have a direct connection to it. Fascinating, but at least I am still alive to write about it. Maybe I'll get it to talk later.

Entry 242: The Illuminati. A group of idealistic men and women with aspirations to recreate the world in their image of perfection. A secret society that might suit my purposes well. But they are too small now to risk becoming personally involved yet. They need guidance from the shadows first, they need to be patient as their goals will not be able to come to fruition for decades at the least.

Fortunately I can certainly help with that. An outside contact will be a useful cover, as I can provide them with information and funds without them risking themselves. This will be one of the greatest undertakings of human history, so I'd best not mess it up.

Entry 260: I suppose I know the answer to if being immortal is a blessing or curse. I am not going to die, at least by natural means. I don't know if this is because of my gift, or because whatever is watching me is not allowing me to die. It's isolating, but I would not describe it as a curse. I've never had a wife, family or friends, and my sanity is probably better for it.

But it gives me a perspective on time that most people lack. Change happens quickly, and even in the past century I have seen progression at a rate that I would have thought would be unfathomable. The secret society is coming along well, planting agents around the world and establishing themselves financially. I believe the time to make my formal entrance is coming soon, but they are not quite large enough yet.

Entry 304: The words in the dream are making more sense, most are on the edge of my mind, irritatingly out of reach. I am communicating now, at least, but always in the language of whatever this entity is. I am not unconvinced that it is mixing multiple languages into its speech, as some of the words sound suspiciously like ones from languages I already know.

One that keeps repeating is imperi-something, it always garbles the last part. Maybe I'm looking too deep into it, but Latin has several words that start like that. Maybe like imperium and imperator, depending on if I'm hearing an i or a before it cuts off. Cheeky bastard if it actually is speaking Latin just to screw with me. Cute.

Maybe I'll just ask it later.

Entry 316: I understood a sentence for the first time. It was clear as crystal, delivered in the ominous deep tone of whatever is watching me. They are coming back.

I've been puzzling over this for days. I don't see many other interpretations. Aliens have come to Earth before, that's clear. But I suppose it would be foolish to believe that they wouldn't come back eventually. And I don't think I would be getting this warning if it was going to be good. For whatever reason, this being is warning me, and that means I have to take action now. I need to somehow prepare mankind for their return.

I suppose it is time to establish myself in EXALT, or whatever name they have chosen this century. Work needs to be done. And now that I can understand what it's saying, maybe I'll press it for details. Maybe it'll finally explain what it is and what is going on.

Entry 318: I contacted it and we spoke. My purpose is now clear.