September spoiler QnA (Patreon)

Well, here we go with the questions that have too many spoilers for the closed Beta to answer more openly. Please understand the lack of detail in some answers, I can't spoil too big storybeats.

How did Steel get red-threaded by Hollow Ground?

At a function Steel had to attend. It was a crowded room, someone brushing against him, touching his neck. A bit creepy, awkward, Steel felt weirded out but then thought nothing of it. It was annoying for HG not to be able to solve it with a handshake. 

Does Ortega know about Hollow Ground's red-thread ability?

Nope. But they suspect something weird is going on.

How does Sidestep's age work?

In general, people assume that Sidestep was born in the late eighties, and thus are around 30 years old.

But in practice it is more complicated than that.

Sidestep was decanted in the year 2000, the sole survivor of their batch. Like all ReGenes, they were decanted when their body was in its early teens, and had spent between 2-4 years in the tank, developing. During the time in the tank, they were fed a basic obedience/training program which meant that at the time of decanting, they had basically the same skills as a high school graduate. 

Once they were decanted and processed, they went under for a shorter while and programmed with skills relevant to their chosen role before real training begun to set the memories and make them physical. There were contextual memories in these programs, mostly taken from suitable soldiers and agents, and remixed in order to try to create suitably malleable minds that could be trained. Most ReGenes shed those memories fast once they started making ones of their own, but now and again, a ReGene clings so hard to them that they need to be scrubbed and reset in order not to get any delusions about what they are.

So physically Sidestep is in their thirties, time-wise a lot younger, but experience and training wise, a lot older.

What are the gates that open during specific events with Sidestep?

The gates are a way for me to keep track of certain, let's call them traumatic, telepathic events that Sidestep experiences or causes. This is a stat that is only visible now for playtesting purposes, be happy that you get a peek. Otherwise you would have had no idea they were there. What will I use it for? Only time will tell, just make sure you don't get to nine...

WHO took control of the puppet??

That will be one of the big mysteries of book three, there are many possible culprits.