Black Queen Hub

To Alison Chao (Theta), Known to her world as The Black Queen,

I hope this letter finds you well. I want to apologize for our behavior the other day. Although you're a strong person, discovering your true nature, as well as that of the Serpent's Hand, can be disorienting. It's been so long since I was first introduced to the other Little Sisters that I've forgotten what it's like. Feeling helpless is never a pleasant sensation, particularly when you're used to the feeling of being five steps ahead of everyone else in your world. Lashing out in the way that you did was understandable, if unfortunate. I hope that you will find it in yourself to rejoin us in the Library at some point in the future.

Hopefully this letter will help with some of the questions that were supposed to be answered at the Library. First, there is always a Gears. He always leaves his wife for some extranormal organization. He always loses his capacity to feel. Sometimes this can be fixed, sometimes it can't. Sometimes Gears will get caught up in something that ultimately destroys his universe.

Second, this Gears will frequently have a daughter. She is always shaped by his leaving. After a certain number of years, she begins to seek out her father. Sometimes she becomes a monster, human only in the loosest sense. Other times, she retains something of a conscience. Sometimes she succeeds and rescues her father, only to find him a broken shell. Other times, she saves him and rebuilds her family as it once was. Many times she remains an utterly unremarkable, if damaged woman. Other times she dies before she can even lay down her plans. And sometimes, a very few times, she learns about the Library.

Knowing that your circumstances are not unique, that your suffering is just one iteration of an infinite amount of identical suffering, or that the control you thought you had is non-existent, isn't pleasant to hear. Don't despair. Your influence over the worlds (not world. Worlds.) is far greater than you can ever know. Some of the daughters have limited themselves to their own worlds, using the Library as a safehouse and resource. Others have walked the ways, seeking out ancient and obscure worlds. Some ignore Gears, some obsessively seek him out. A few have decided that all of this convergence is the work of a god or gods. Sometimes people come into conflict.

To call it a group is probably too charitable. More like a collection of individuals with similar experiences.

Whatever ultimately becomes of your plans, I hope you will try and find us again. You're scared and confused, and probably angry. At one point, I was too. But we know you better than anyone else ever can. If you choose to stay, there is no limit to what we can do.

Your Little Sister, Alison Chao (Epsilon) Known also to her world as the Black Queen