Zoom with Andre Levesque

Just a reminder this is from Andre. He may or may not have ever detail correct.

In the 1400s Basileus proposed a mechanical mechanism based in part on alchemy that could open a portal into the “netherworlds,” from which vast ancient knowledge could be drawn out. He originally called this device the Fovea inferni, or Pit of Hell. He was unable to ever get it to work.
Pope Sixtus IV had him executed. There is no evidence Basileus was against the church. What is known shows him to be quite devout. He seems to have come to a conclusion that satan kept certain knowledge but it could be shared and that if mortals could access it, they could use it for good and in fact become closer to god. He seems to have set out to “use” or trick the devil. Unfortunately Sixtus did not see it that way. His invention became known as the Basileus machine.

After coming across the plans and working on it for some time, in1859 William Vandermeer is thought to have “perfected” the Basileus Machine. His major alteration to the device was to harness “spiritual” energy and trap it in six boxes. These boxes would be aligned on the outer edges of the machine, focus their power across the machine, and empower the Basileus machine.
To create these boxes Vandermeer believed one needed to “catch” specific energies from people which represented different elements of life. He saw these elemental energies as things like anxiety, grief, guilt, depression, fear, and what he called “corruption.” To try to capture these energies he is thought to have tortured his family.

Vandermeer is thought to have traveled to Russia or tried to sometime after 1859 and taken the boxes with him. Vandermeer’s successes or failures isn’t really known.

1919ish - First gulags and the first number stations started appearing. FL- “Tour Eiffel” from Paris; ICI from Cotona, Italy; MSK from Moscow. 

Around this time and into the 1920s Russia is thought to have experimented with a Basileus machine either built by Vandermeer, or just powered by his boxes in a secret location in the Ural Mountains.
Later William Chamber is thought to have gotten ahold of Vandermeer’s notes and either recreated the boxes, or more likely procured and used them.
The US government is thought to have tried and produced at least one box themselves.

Something goes terribly wrong. At some point between 1920 and 1939/41, something is thought to have gone wrong. Exactly when this took place is unknown but it is speculated that Russia managed to cover up much of the incident until it got out of hand. Other’s speculate in preparation, perhaps foreseeing WW2, they began trying again to use the Basileus machine to seek out a new definitive weapon. Regardless, though they don’t talk about it, there are several small and one large “no go” or restricted area in Russia. Various covers have been used over the years when needed, from top secret facility being there to contamination closing the area off, but it is thought Russia fought a secret war internally at first using surplus equipment and prisoners, and later simply blowing everything up with atomic weapons under the guise of testing.
Andre compares it to attempts to cover up Chernobyl. (Not implying Chernobyl is connected to it though.)

Andre says that during the mid 20s seems to be when “things, practitioners of summoning” started to emerge and it corresponds to “The Great Awakening” when occult and “magic” were in their golden age. Around this same time their Council started to emerge but not in an official capacity but this seems to be about when their founders started finding each other.

The council would not hold their first fully official meeting until about 1935. The meeting is believed to have been in complete secret. He believes it was in France, but admits there is no actual recording of the location or exact date. Their notes on it show Polkdot was not present but they were aware of him. He was reluctant to join them.
Their second official meeting, which was held after an unofficial meeting, Polk attended. This meeting they began to iron out details of behavior and agreed to a “regional split,” whereby each would take control over an area. Originally they had at least a dozen in attendance and seven was set as the minimum for the council to operate as. For a brief moment their regional split aligned to the seven continents but this quickly proved to be ridiculous. Territories would be revisited and revised on multiple occasions but seven remained as their quorum.
The council had no specific leader assigned to it but ran as an unanimous democracy, or that was the plan. Polk began almost immediately aggressively asserting control. He’d go on belligerent tirades sometimes for hours, talked over, shouted down members, and on more than one occasion threatened to disband the whole council.

Polk, despite the fact he’d do performances and was in his spare time constantly practicing and summoning insisted that they not rely on using magic.
He insisted they should not share, spread, or advertise their powers.
He argued technology would eventually see an end to it and until then they were the gatekeepers.
He claimed he was from a time when magic was so wide spread practitioners fumbled over each other and “schools” lost their way as “professors” vied more for recognition among a crowded field rather than focus on truly understanding what they were dealing with.
They agreed to not use their powers to directly influence events. IE: they would not take sides during wars or unrest to dramatically alter the possible outcomes. They viewed themselves a bit like nature photographers. They agreed that “nudging” or doing minor things was ok. IE: it would be fine to save one or two people, but not thousands. (A lot of this was being decided in the lead up to ww2, ww1 was still memorable, and they were viewing a lot of decisions through a war lens.)
They agreed not all practitioners, if more were found, would be invited to the council, or contacted.
If an understudy was taken on, they’d be a nonpractioner. (They believed that this would help keep their numbers low and that if anyone else did stumbled their way into it, they would only be able to go so far and most likely make a fatal mistake soon. It also meant anyone they shared their knowledge with was likely to have a little less and so things would sort of naturally fade out. A nonpractioner was thought to probably be easier to instill their ideals into rather than one who was already meddling with it.)

Percival will listen. He starts to say something, then juts says “Nevermind, I’m not exactly sure what to ask at this time.” (IE I read this had some questions, didn’t make a post quick enough and forgot them lol)

Percival will sit there quite for a bit. “Ahh… so these boxes made by Vandemeer, what happens if they are destroyed? Will it upset this machine?” As Percival asks this question he will get up and grab the box with the broken puzzle box we obtained from the man that came to steal the one Percival had obtained, and shows it to Andre.  “We unfortunately destroyed this one when the man possessing it attacked us to steal another item we had had in out possession at the time. Do all six of these boxes need to remain whole for this machine to work properly or were they only used in its creation?”

Andre: After looking through some things off screen, "I guess it depends on how you interpret it. What I have says, "blah blah...when aligned..blah blah...starts the machine."

....but if one is broken...I wonder what that does mean...or ...well it won't restart the Basileus machine without it unless there is some other means but I wonder if Chamber can tell, or knows, or are effected. Though I can't see why, it's not like it continuously does something.

“Okay… then what does the machine actually do?”

Andre: "Exactly...I don't know, and my understanding is it has configurations, but generally, it opens a portal. The boxes, when placed correctly, start it, or charge it...maybe both...maybe it is the same thing. Then it opens. If the rumors are believed, to something or somethings horrible. Or maybe it is both, good and bad.
There are rumors your government too would pull things out of these other worlds.

So then what exactly is Mr Owl, errr Chamber, doing with this machine?

Andre: "No, I think you misunderstand. This "machine" is I believe in one of these restricted areas in Russia. Chambers' group is...in the Netherlands I believe. ...He obtained the boxes, not the machine. I'd highly doubt it is even something moveable.
But I'm afraid we are not very sure...Chambers' group either took on the personas of these boxes, or they became the personas...or there is another option, they took on these personas, like one might put on a Batman suit and pretend to be Batman, but in the process created an alter ego of sorts which is the living embodiment of the personas. Such as if, you pretending to be Batman, and having...the analogy falls apart here forgive me, having and using a Batman box, creates Batman alongside you pretending to be.
It's very confusing and we don't know.
We've heard descriptions of them in cases where they are obviously wearing masks, but I've heard stories of people...or not people...human figures with actual deer heads. If they are one and the same or two separate things I don't know.
The boxes change people that use them. Very slowly, but it changes them. Vandermeer's notes talk of something called "total corruption," an eventual evolution to a "final corrupt form." Now if this is, a person becoming something, or eventually being inhabited, or ...we just don't know.

I think...well, you mentioned Polkdot referring to things as fragments and I'm not disputing that but I'd postulate that, it isn't the fragments being ghosts, or the dead making ghosts, but, the living empowering these fragments either intentionally or unintentionally. Most likely, unintentionally in 99% of the cases. I think it was Brion Gysin* that said, "we are a bad animal," perhaps then it is just in our nature to do things that empower these fragments.

* (Percival would likely know from the bookshop Brion Gysin was an artist/poet/writer.)

It's like there are two of...well there is the energy which we carry like a thread that runs and tangles itself, that we learn to empower runes with. Then there is, people would probably call it the soul. We die and this energy we or part of us, we follow it back. But passions, angers...we leave bits floating here and between worlds behind and I think, things we living do empowers those bits. Sort of like a breeder reactor, splits and produces some waste, but feeds back on itself too and grows.

I know Polkdot was, is, very focused on the planes and the hells, mantras, runes, but Vandermeer I think when he built his boxes, he tapped into this other thing. I understand why Polkdot says stay away from it, it isn't predictable but there is something there. It's passion. This true self of ours that is carried off to the hells, it is only a part of it I think. If that is the, our thread, then, it doesn't matter where we are there, it is feeding this place. But our passion, leaves behind these parts of us, or maybe it is just a....like a mark in rock.

Oh I'm sorry, I keep rambling, it's been awhile since I could talk about these ideas.

“So the nexus, the energy cube, of this machine is in Russia? Not in Arizona?”

Andre: I am not sure what you mean by "nexus." Any nexus would not be located in an actual place here but within the cube itself or maybe it isn't in the cube but the cube contains it from somewhere else."

Andre will share a screen shot. These are the only two images we have of this machine. (In reality they'd be far more grainy.)
The first image we know was taken early, before two more circles and the pedestals were installed.
The facility, is suppose to be a large concrete encasement...block. There had been barracks constructed nearby, and there was apparently an old church nearby where they installed testing or monitoring equipment.

Other than that we only have one other text, or note, taken from some communique when I think workers were sent in to assess, that mentions the facility collapsing. This was after it was shelled but we don't know if it collapsed on it's own or due to being bombed. It also notes the church still standing with the doors and windows being blown out, broken.

But...why all this interest in these boxes?

Percival will press the mute button on his mic “Lucien dose this look like what you saw after you exited the cube?)

Lucien will answer.

"When I exited the cube, I think we were somewhere else in the TV station, but there was a "Cube Room".

(Doug, is this basically what I saw?)

Doug - Yes.

Andre: "You...entered...and exited a cube? I...I didn't know that was possible but if so, that explains maybe how no one has ever found where Mr. Owl broadcasts from. But...that would mean...stabilizing...I'm afraid I don't know enough about the cubes or how they work, this certainly brings up....
I've heard...I mean, Chambers is in the Netherlands, but...how does one say..."Netherlands." I mean, it's where he is but I've heard, it isn't actually there, but accessible there.
We, that I know of, have never concerned ourselves much with Chambers, Mr. Owl. We seldom cross paths and have been content to keep things that way. I can't say we have a truce, but...an unspoken understanding I suppose on both our parts. Similarly with the witches. Polkdot, he, killed many of them. I'm not sure if he told you this. He beat them into submission to limit their numbers. But I feel they have been quietly recruiting. Of course they have always had a few students, and graduated them in to be successors, but I feel.
....This is going to sound strange but awhile back I drove past a, not a store, a business. One that was closed down. There were maybe a dozen girls outside, practicing ballet, and I felt they were all looking at me. We had a connection on, like when you lock eyes with a woman in a bar and feel that connection, but it was the opposite. That way they have of telling you they know."

I muted my end, so he should not have been able to hear us.

Oh I misread, or skipped a message and thought Lucien was talking to Andre.

Talking to Percival, but it is fine to let Andre know.

To Percival on mute covering his mouth, "We should ask him the name of the ballet business. I've had a sneaking suspicion that Polkdot was testing us by teleporting the girl in front of us to see what we would do."

Percival looks at Lucien oddly, “I mean you can ask him, but do you think Polk would do such?”

"I wasn't going to ask him, but I do think it is possible. Especially if it is a witch.

Percival will unmute the mic, “what makes you think the ballet women were witches?”

---He technically wouldn't have mentioned the ballet girls without the box bit as he rambled into it. I'm going to just chalk it all up to Percival not having muted, maybe he miss-clicked. I know it's not great, but the cube info (having entered and exited one) doesn't really "give him anything" that alters anything, but you gain from it. Hope thats ok.---

Andre: "I don't think they were "witches," at least not yet, just recruits. They tend to pull from groups like that. I think in there in the US you used to have something called tupperware parties, it was a similar tactic. 8 in 10 dancers have injuries each year, thirty-two to fifty-one percent of the pre-professional ballet dancers are injured each year. It is a more conducive atmosphere than a tupperware party though. There is...not sure how you say it, like the military, breaks you down, builds you back up, conditioning, dedication. It's rigorous, these girls learn to starve themselves. It's like, control over yourself, someone willing to put themselves through such a thing, maybe they go a step or two further? It's...self destructive.
It is a cult like power dynamic. Throughout the 19th century the Paris Opera Ballet served as a clearing house, the girls were prostituted, the ones that were rejected, and the performances, these uh funded the schools.
I'm...surprised you haven't learned these things.
Sometimes, sometimes, I think I'm crazy, like the world is just one cover for something after another. I don't understand you americans either, with your privacy, but you tell your post office exactly where to find you, your social security numbers, automatic withdrawals. But...." He waves it away, "that is something else for some other time."

From Andre:
Current Council Members:
1. Mahamat Abakar - Chad Africa
2. Andre Levesque - France
3. Eligio Tocci - Italian
4. Beren Orbay - Turkish Female
5. Roy Hum - English
6. Sumit Thaman - Hindi
7. Saad Murad

Original Council:
E. K’lani
August Murena
Nael Friezl - is who taught - Andre Levesque
Sumit Thaman
Viola Watson
Briefly there was a man named Arthur Hickman who went on and taught - Charles Sliger, Nail Galloway, & Cora Bates - All are dead now.
John Franklin - He learned while on a trip across Africa, and traveled there with the head of the hunters club