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Priestess
WARNING!
This article contains spoilers for Episode 15 and The Masses' Travels, both of which are not yet released in the Global server.
Priestess is an NPC in Arknights. She first appears in a flashback in Episode 08 and makes brief and prominent appearances throughout other stories before personally appearing in Episode 15 as the main antagonist of the Main Theme's Act III: Nexus Point of Future arc.
Overview[edit]
| “ | My name is Priestess, a linguist. I am researching the final sound waves emitted by planets as they die. I like quietly spending my time alone, but I also wanted to find someone to explore the universe with. | ” |
Closely resembling that of a mature Amiya without Cautus features, Priestess is a "Predecessor" scientist who had a deep connection with the Doctor, saying that the term "intimate" would belittle their relationship and experiences, and claiming that they frequently held hands in "different ways", most not requiring a part of the body. The two of them met when the Doctor, knowing she was likely not at any risk, decided to salvage her consciousness beacon while Priestess was anchored to a dying star, researching the sounds emitted by the death of an oceanic planet. After this they traveled the universe together, leaping across time and space to explore the cosmos with the Rhodes Island or through consciousness projection. During this time, the two created AMa-10 aka. Kal'tsit.
At some point during an "inevitable end", when all chances for salvation were futile and all resistance failed, they concluded that any lifeform of ordinary matter could not escape their situation, and after countless iterations they surpassed their peers and created Originium. Priestess was considered the creator and likened to a god, but she considered Doctor to be the genius behind its creation. Despite this, some form of attack on the Predecessors came too suddenly, decimating their defenses and forcing Priestess to place the Doctor inside a Sarcophagus deep within Rhodes Island for their safety. After their other colleagues left to treasure the time they had "before the stars fell", Priestess was left alone on Rhodes Island with a lively AMa-10.
Story[edit]
Babel[edit]
At some point during the Predecessors' prime, Priestess approaches the Oracle with a special gift; the electromagnetic polarization formed as a byproduct of AMa-10's creation. Based on the Oracle's discovery of a particular rhythm within its waveform, Priestess modified it by adjusting the planetary track's array's direction to capture echoes produced by the lingering neutrinos of extinguishing stars, thus creating new melodies. She also used the gravitational fields left when the Rhodes Island sailed through the "stargate" for the orchestrator.
Although the Oracle liked her gift, they state that the polarization "violates the norms they imposed", and how the ship's facilities should've kept operating on the preset path, to which Priestess replies that the stars are losing their colors, and soon "this place" — likely referring to Terra — will fall silent. Priestess then invites the Oracle to walk with her before the silence comes, hoping that one day they'll see the world's future together.[1]
Episode 08[edit]
After pacifying the transformed Mephisto in the Sarcophagus, the Doctor has a flashback to the time Priestess placed them inside the Sarcophagus. Due to not remembering her out of their amnesia, a confused Doctor asks Kal'tsit who Priestess is.[2]
Vigilo[edit]
At one point the Doctor asks PRTS whether the A.I. knows anything about Priestess, but it cannot answer the question as such information requires a specific clearance level that no one in R.I., including the Doctor, has. However, after the Doctor leaves, PRTS starts up a self-diagnostic process that verifies the special permissions needed to access a video. Said video was taken long in the past, during PRTS' first test run, where it records the Doctor standing beside Priestess on the Rhodes Island landship's upper deck.[3]
Episode 14[edit]
After Theresa made contact with Amnannam and the Doctor entered the Assimilated Universe, they were greeted by Priestess upon waking up. Due to their amnesia, she recounted their past and story together, and asked to work together again, but the Doctor declined as they had more pressing matters. Respecting Doctors decision, she reassured them that she will be here for the Doctor, and that in the end they will return to her side, before disappearing.[4]
Before the battle with Theresa, she shows the Doctor a symbol, a rhombus, telling them they recognize it. The Doctor begins to recollect a familiarity with the symbol, noting that it exists everywhere within the Assimilated Universe, calling it the "symbol of Originium". A concerned Kal'tsit interrupts them saying that recalling any more is very dangerous and that the Doctor can't let the rhombuses notice them.[5]
Lone Trail[edit]
In the Hall of Stasis, to evaluate them and their qualifications, the Preserver enters a "debate" with the Doctor in a dreamlike mindscape. During this the questioner takes many forms such as Talulah, Theresa, and Priestess herself. She describes herself as her own cognitive resonance, a technology used to check on the vital signs of people sleeping in sarcophagi. It is unclear whether this is the real Priestess, a form of the questioner, or something else.[6]
When asked by the Doctor who Priestess is, and what Originium is, the Preserver says the current Originium has exceeded his understanding, and that it was not carefully planned or produced. He does not know what decisions Priestess made in the end but believes Terra cannot peacefully co-exist with Originium, as although it can benefit humanity it can also destroy it. He tells the Doctor that Kal'tsit has answers to their questions but she cannot tell them—as for reasons unknown, Priestess has placed restraints on Kal'tsit's consciousness that prevents her from disclosing certain information.[7]
Episode 15[edit]
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The Masses' Travels[edit]
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Trivia[edit]
- Priestess has an unclear connection to the Rhodes Island A.I. PRTS, which was made by fellow Predecessor Trevor Friston.