And it's working.

Godconcepts, is the only word she has, godconcepts, mixed piecemeal with the mundane horrible, Goatse acausal threats ​█​█​█​█​█​█​█​█​█​█​█​ jury nullification Jesus factory farming continuity of self will she die if she falls asleep here's a toenail peeling off and I'll ​█​█​█​█​█​█​█​█​█​█​█​█​█​█​█ nail your fingers together ​█​█​█​█​█​█​█​█​█​█​█​█​█​█​█ nazism fascism Thor: Love and Thunder communism liberalism genetics computation pain real bad pain evolution moloch why industrial revolutions end in horror chain reactions two girls one cup ​█​█​█​█​█​█​█ nuclear weapons Boltzman brains ​█​█​█​█​█​█​█​█​█​█​█​█​ all the things you think matter don't and I can prove it to you tell me what you love and I will prove it here is what Altronus thinks eight billion people would make if given the chance can Altronus crush her with the weight of it?

Amidst the horror there is - momentous power, which Altronus flings about casually, unthinkingly, but which would catapult her to the greatest heights -

The sane thing to do is to pull herself away, dismiss the spell, sever the connection. Ileosa struggles to find the wherewithal.

In the end she doesn't need to, because Altronus recedes, apologetic.

Quick exercise: try not to think of all the things you shouldn't think of without thinking of them. Doesn't really work, does it? Leastwise, not for Altronus.

Sorry about that.

"What's it like, you wonder? It's like falling face-first into Hell."

I'm blushing. That's without a doubt the nicest thing that anyone has ever said to me.

"What in the Abyss are you?"

A kasatha.

"We should hunt them to extinction."

Make a holiday of it, be home by Christmas.

Altronus is... unthreatened.

Perpetually unthreatened.

Altronus is "that's adorable" directed at other people.

Ileosa is catching up to something that he already knows, which is one of the few things which can stave off his constant low-grade annoyance, but if she doesn't reach the right conclusions he'll write her off entirely.

(This is somewhat problematic, because he is insane, and who knows what insane conclusion he expects from her?)

...But Altronus doesn't think that the other kasatha are like him. He in fact thinks it hilarious that someone might alight on the "his mind is strange because he's a literal alien" explanation because Altronus-the-alien was the only one who failed his saving throw in that circle of four, and doesn't think that Ileosa would attribute his oddness to kasathatude had Choryon had failed her save too. He's more like them than he was his kin in Numeria.

There's no good explanation for that which he knows,

but he thinks it funny to pretend he thinks they're all having information piped into their brains from a different dimension, and thinks it funny to pretend that he wonders whether Ileosa can tell that he's thinking about that, which is a bizarre thing to do because she is reading his mind as he generates those thoughts and can tell he doesn't believe them. This bizarre joke seems in keeping with his general character, though; as ever Altronus is trying to amuse himself, first and foremost.

Also, kasatha are from another planet? Is this something which everyone else already knew?

Look. Altronus is our friend. If you're accusing him of something you should be clear what it is.

So we can get him truthspelled and check it out ourselves.

We've got ways to make him talk.

Yeah, if there's going to be PvP, let's get it done while we've got him disarmed and grappled.

Pff, I'd like to see you try.

Really not helping your case, bub.

If you really are our friend, Altronus, you won't struggle while the megapope ties your wrists to your ankles.

...Alright, sure, that seems reasonable.

No it does not seem reasonable. Altronus, why are you going along with this?

What is wrong with you people? What is your major malfunction?

Eh?

Three of you notice that a spell was cast and sound off about it. And then Altronus says aloud that he did not notice a spell cast - in his mind he was thinking "oh shit" - and what, you all mob him while he stands there and takes it? Why would any you think that was useful, Altronus least of all? If he were under mind control, why would he have told you?? And even if he were enchanted, is that a rational way to react to - mass charm per - no, mass charm monster? Eighth-circle mass charm monster?? I don't think it is? Or, I suppose, mass suggestion? Still probably not?? And do you think you would have noticed if someone were casting sixth or eighth-circle spells on you? Would three of you have saved? And if someone was casting sixth-circle, eighth-circle spells on you, why would... do you think that...