update from sparkleup

writing/post-self/marsh/016.md

@@ -58,6 +58,24 @@ Jakub shook his head. "We don't think so. They were the only one from Our Bright
 
 Need An Answer, perhaps sensing the tension this inspired, moved smoothly down her list. "The next point that we would like to discuss is the sentiment that has crept into the System based on the news of an attack. I must admit that we found it frustrating to hear just how much phys-side knew in comparison to what we had been told. Günay said, "There is some suspicion of malicious actors, yeah. I say 'suspicion' in earnestness, I promise." Mr. Strzepek stated that certain data were to be withheld from both sys-side and phys-side." A smile, condescending, curled the corner of her mouth. "And here we learn that news of the attack was released almost immediately, phys-side."
 
+Günay wilted in her chair, looking down at her desk, wherever she sat.
+
+Jakub, on the other hand, sat stock still for several long seconds. "Yes," he said at last. "During the briefing prior to our first meeting, we were instructed that anyone who was asked were to say those words specifically. They were displayed in our HUDs."
+
+Answers Will Not Help rolled her eyes. "Tacky."
+
+"I suppose I ought to thank you for telling me the fucking truth after," Jonas Ko said cheerily. "Good on you, Jakub! Perhaps there *is* a bone in your body, even if it isn't your spine."
+
+The admin bristled at the insult, visibly forcing himself back to calmness before he continued. "You'll remember that I also said we were maintaining information hygiene."
+
+"Oh! Of course, you're right. And whose idea was that?"
+
+"Shut up, Jonas," Answers Will Not Help said fondly, preempting any response.
+
+"Needless to say," Need An Answer said, "the response sys-side has been fraught. SERG had to throttle several of the main feeds after complaints that it had become an impossibly dense flow of information. There is grief. There is panic. There are calls for heads, ours *and* yours."
+
+"We've been shaping the sentiment as best we can," Selena said. "But it would've been far easier if this had been a coordinated effort. As it is, we are keeping the anger and panic to tolerable levels and steering cladists towards grief."
+
 
 
 (What the sentiment is now that news of an attack has made its way through from phys-side, confirmed through feeds but with no details)

writing/post-self/marsh/index.md

@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ NB: It's frankly astonishing how few cats there are in this story. Fix that.
     * [ ] [016](016) --- (Discussing list of requests to systech both phys- and sys-side for improvement, incl someone digging into Artemisian archives)
     * [ ] [017](017) --- (It doesn't work, there is only them, no Marsh, Vos gets *very mad*, clade admits it's time to start grieving proper)
 * [ ] Epilogue --- Life after
-    * [ ] [018](018) --- (Weeks later, coming to terms with letting go of the past, conversation 2 with A Finger Pointing (and other Odists) about being a clade without a root)
+    * [ ] [018](018) --- (Months later, a letter from Marsh#Castor or #Pollux expressing grief, coming to terms with letting go of the past, conversation 2 with A Finger Pointing (and other Odists) about being a clade without a root)
 
 ## Questions and notes