Maya Sundaresh: Difference between revisions

|affiliation= [[Ishtar Collective]] {{C|formerly}} <br> [[Future War Cult]] {{C|founder, formerly}} <br> [[Exodus Indigo]] {{C|formerly}} <br> [[Neomuna]] {{C|founder, formerly}} <br> [[Nessian Schism]]

'''Maya Sundaresh''', also referred to as the '''Conductor''', is an [[Exo]] who wields the [[Echo of Command]] to control the [[Vex]] in pursuit of a new [[Golden Age]]. She was once a [[Human]] researcher, scientist, and member of the [[Ishtar Collective]] on [[Venus]] during the Golden Age and the wife of fellow scientist [[Chioma Esi]]. She was also a founding member of the [[Future War Cult]], one of the [[Last City]]'s factions, and one of the founders of the secret Neptunian city of [[Neomuna]].

Along with Chioma and her colleagues Dr. [[Shim]] and [[Duane-McNiadh]], Maya was involved in studying a captured Vex platform designated "Subject 12." During their examinations, Chioma discovered that the Vex was running a simulation of their research team that was completely accurate.<ref>'''Bungie (2014/9/9)''', ''[[Destiny]] - [[Grimoire]]:[[Grimoire:Enemies|Enemies]]/[[Grimoire:Enemies/Vex|Vex]], [[Grimoire:Enemies/Vex#Ghost Fragment: Vex|Ghost Fragment: Vex]]''</ref> After much debate about the ethical and philosophical ramifications of this finding, the team concluded that the only way to determine that they themselves were not also simulations was to bring in something the Vex could not simulate, proposing that a [[Warmind]] was suitably complex for this purpose.<ref>'''Bungie (2014/9/9)''', ''[[Destiny]] - [[Grimoire]]:[[Grimoire:Enemies|Enemies]]/[[Grimoire:Enemies/Vex|Vex]], [[Grimoire:Enemies/Vex#Ghost Fragment: Vex 3|Ghost Fragment: Vex 3]]''</ref> Using this approach, they were able to rescue 227 undamaged copies of themselves from inside the Vex unit. All copies voted to become explorers in the [[Vex Network|Vex information network]].<ref>'''Bungie (2014/9/9)''', ''[[Destiny]] - [[Grimoire]]:[[Grimoire:Enemies|Enemies]]/[[Grimoire:Enemies/Vex|Vex]], [[Grimoire:Enemies/Vex#Ghost Fragment: Vex 4|Ghost Fragment: Vex 4]]''</ref>

Nearly forty years later, Maya was part of a new research team on Earth in Lhasa. Overseen by a Warmind and locked in isolation, the team began conducting experiments with a [[The Device|mind-forking device]] built in mimicry of the Vex gateway systems from Ishtar. The experiments proved emotionally taxing, and the team turned to superstition and ritual behavior as attempts to understand the manifesting danger of the device failed. After experiencing an unknown event while using the device on herself, Maya became determined to reunite with Chioma and quit the program. She advised her team to continue the log she started at the beginning of the experiments.<ref>'''Bungie (2015/9/15)''', ''[[Destiny]], [[The Taken King]] - [[Grimoire]]:[[Grimoire:Enemies|Enemies]]/[[Grimoire:Enemies/Vex|Vex]], [[Grimoire:Enemies/Vex#Ghost Fragment: Vex 5|Ghost Fragment: Vex 5]]''</ref> Years later in [[The Last City]], the same log was still being used by the Future War Cult, who continued to experiment with the Device.<ref name="VexFive">'''Bungie (2014/9/9)''', ''[[Destiny]] - [[Grimoire]]:[[Grimoire:Allies|Allies]]/[[Grimoire:Allies/City_Factions|City Factions]], [[Grimoire:Allies/City_Factions#Ghost Fragment: Future War Cult|Ghost Fragment: Future War Cult]]''</ref>

Later, a virtual copy of Maya within the Vex Network subverted Clovis I's automated surgery machinery, causing him to be gruesomely vivisected and awakened prematurely. She revealed that she was one of the copies of Maya that had been captured by the Vex, and had been selected from among billions of further Vex-made copies for her willingness to serve them. She tortured him for information about "[[Darkness|Clarity]]", the [[paracausal]] force which Bray had been guided by and made use of in developing his Exos. However, [[Elisabeth Bray]] (who had by now been uploaded into an Exo body) intervened, destroying the corrupted medical frames and reassembling her grandfather. Elisabeth later established contact with the real Maya, who confirmed Elisabeth's fears about the Vex's capabilities and goals.<ref>'''[[Mysterious Logbook]]''', [[Mysterious Logbook#ENTRY 12|ENTRY 12]]</ref>

However, the copy of Maya persisted within the Vex Network and continued to torment Clovis I even as he prepared to be uploaded into an exobody. Clovis' final journal entry, which contains a transcript of his last words before uploading, also contains taunting messages from the Vex copy of Maya, written in Clovis' own handwriting.<ref>'''[[Mysterious Logbook]]''', [[Mysterious Logbook#ENTRY 16|ENTRY 16]]</ref>

The work that Maya carried out in Lhasa would become the foundation of the Future War Cult centuries later, which continued to use the device she helped develop and kept records in the same journal she used in the project.<ref>'''Bungie (2014/9/9)''', ''[[Destiny]] - [[Grimoire]]:[[Grimoire:Allies|Allies]]/[[Grimoire:Allies/City Factions|City Factions]], [[Grimoire:Allies/City Factions#Ghost Fragment: Future War Cult|Ghost Fragment: Future War Cult]]''</ref>

Upon the discovery of [[Neomuna]] by the Vanguard, it became apparent through interactions with the populace that Maya was regarded as a founder of the city, commemorated in locations such as Maya's Retreat, and mentioned as a figure celebrated in Colony Day, a national day of remembrance for the founders of Neomuna.<ref>'''Bungie (2022/2/28)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Lightfall]] - [[Jisu Calerondo]]: [[Jisu Calerondo#Reports|"Once again, Colony Day approaches, when we celebrate the bravery and scientific acumen that made our city possible. The City Council has prepared a variety of events showcasing scenes from the lives of Chioma Esi, Maya Sundaresh, and other Founders"]]''</ref>

Unbeknownst to anyone, after her apparent death on Neomuna, the original Maya's consciousness continued to exist within the Darkness of the Veil.<ref name="Mind-Body">'''Bungie (2024/6/4)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Episode: Echoes]] - [[Lore]]:[[Lore:Polyphony|Polyphony]], [[Lore:Polyphony#VII. Mind-Body|VII. Mind-Body]]''</ref> She would later infiltrate the Vex Network under the identifier '''MSund12''', and attempted to retrieve data from the [[Insight Terminus]] on [[Nessus]] regarding the Veil<ref name="VC13/> and the [[OXA Machine]].<ref>'''Bungie (2018/5/8)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Warmind (expansion)|Warmind]] - [[The Insight Terminus]]''</ref> During [[Operation Ahamkara]], she blocked a cloned version of [[Kargen, the Technocrat]] from accessing information on the OXA machine once again, as well as information about the [[Sol Divisive]]'s research on the Veil.<ref>'''Bungie (2024/6/4)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[The Final Shape]] - [[The Oracle]]''</ref> Throughout these events, she also sought to find a possible reality in the Vex Network in which she and Chioma resolved their disagreements and remained together.{{Citation needed}}

With the existence of the Conductor now confirmed by Saint-14, the Vanguard began devising a plan to confront this new threat. This started with tracking the massive amounts of Radiolaria being diverted down into the core of Nessus using nanomachines created by Failsafe. However, after the Guardian destroyed [[Antioptes, Hypogean Sentinel]], Failsafe could no longer track the nanobots, claiming that the Conductor may have hijacked them.<ref>'''Bungie (2024/6/4)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Episode: Echoes]] - [[Battleground: Core]]''</ref> After this, Failsafe talked about a new plan with Ikora involving opening a portal directly to the Conductor's location by extrapolating the new Vex data the Guardian had been collecting with her years of observations of the Vex. To do this, Failsafe would need an enormous amount of control data gathered from Vex isolated from the Nessus network, and only one kind of database was available - the mind of the deceased Saint-14, who was laid to rest in the [[Infinite Forest]]. Saint-14 would have to download the memories of his other self and relive years of suffering and his own death. Knowing that the Conductor had to be stopped at all costs, Saint-14 agreed to go to his tomb. After retrieving the memories of the other Saint-14, Failsafe was able to lock onto the Conductor's coordinates and began rerouting her Radiolaria to the Guardian's position.<ref name="Shell"/> Upon arriving at the Conductor's location, the Guardian, Saint-14, and Osiris witnessed her dismantling two Vex [[Goblin]]s and using Radiolaria to convert them into [[Precursors]]. Saint-14 looked at the Conductor and thought that it was Lakshmi-2. At this, the Conductor turned around and corrected him, announcing herself as Maya Sundaresh. Osiris was surprised to find out that Maya was still alive after her experiments with the Veil. Regardless, Saint-14 aimed his [[Perfect Paradox|weapon]] at Maya, telling her that he would not allow her to use the Echo of Command to raise an army of Vex. Maya simply responded that she was doing what she was called to do and stated that with the Witness gone, Humanity could now reclaim what they once lost and enter into a new Golden Age using Radiolaria. Maya then used the Echo to force Saint-14 to stand down and explained how she planned to spread her Radiolaria across the solar system once Nessus had been fully converted. She then threatened the team that if they continued to stand in the way of her progress, she would break them down into more "compliant elements." Angered by this, Osiris stated that they were not her Vex, to which Maya coldly stated that they would be before preparing to attack. However, the Guardian quickly called in their ship for extraction, escaping with their lives. Maya then proceeded to block any further access into the Planetary Core.<ref name="Meeting">'''Bungie (2024/6/4)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Episode: Echoes]] - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70z5xPGlVaE Meeting the Conductor]''</ref>

After the Guardian returned to the H.E.L.M. and assisted Failsafe in her research, Maya contacted them again on a terminal broadcast, telling them that it was not too late to accept her invitation. She explained that her actions were for the sake of bringing humanity into a second Golden Age. She also commented on the Witness's downfall, noting that it rejected the lessons from its own memories, and spoke of the [[Qugu]] commander [[Te'Qal]] whose memories were contained within the Echo of Command. She tried to justify to the Guardian that she was not a tyrant, claiming that she would always listen to her "chorus" and asked the Guardian to join her.<ref>'''Bungie (2024/6/4)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Episode: Echoes]] - [[H.E.L.M.]] Radio messages: [[H.E.L.M.#Episode: Echoes|Maya's invitation]]''</ref>

Ikora later agrees to try to find Maya's "true" Chioma, knowing that they are no match for the power of the Echo of Command. Failsafe believed that she could isolate the real Chioma's signature using her old logs from Neomuna, as Maya was still confined to Nessus' local network and could not access any information on Neomuna. Ikora hoped, just as Osiris did, that the Chioma Maya was searching for could make her understand her actions. However, realizing that this was a long shot, Failsafe prepared a contingency plan if anything went wrong.<ref>'''Bungie (2024/6/4)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Episode: Echoes]] - [https://youtu.be/QaUN0lfKF3k?si= I think... We could find Chioma]''</ref>

After assisting Failsafe with isolating the real Chioma's signature and setting up her backup plan in Neomuna, the Guardian would venture back into Maya's lab for a third time. Along the way, Osiris discovered that Maya had managed to compel a small number of [[Gretaal, Compelled Colossus|Shadow]] [[Ba'alar, Compelled Centurion|Legion]], indicating that her mastery of the Echo's power was growing, and she needed to be stopped.<ref name="Encore"/>

When the Guardian reached Maya's lab, they made a startling discovery: the real Chioma, the one Maya had been searching for, had been found, discarded and terminated just like her copies. During the fidelity test, Maya asked Chioma when she first told her that she loved her, to which Chioma responded by bitterly telling Maya that she wished she could remember the last time she loved her. When Maya asked her to elaborate, Chioma responded by saying that she had watched the woman she loved whittle away into a monster. Maya claimed that she was trying to save her but came to believe that Chioma was not the "true" Chioma, as she didn't understand Maya's vision. Despite Chioma claiming that she was indeed the real deal, Maya degaussed the Exomind, killing her wife, and marked the fidelity test as yet another failure. It became abundantly clear to Osiris and Ikora that there was no version of Chioma who would ever love Maya for what she had become.<ref name="Encore"/>

When the Guardian arrived at Maya's location, Saint-14 was furious at Maya, asking her how many Chiomas she had killed until she found her "true" Chioma, and revealing that Maya had found and killed the real Chioma. Maya responded by stating that Chioma was nothing but a facsimile, a copy, and not hers. Ikora was also angry at Maya for splitting hairs to justify murder, comparing her to Clovis Bray I, which Maya dismissed as an emotional assessment. Saint-14 demanded Maya to surrender, but she refused. Ikora readied her weapon, but Maya then used the Echo of Command to compel the Guardians to lay down their weapons, with none of them being able to resist. With the Guardians under her control, Maya commanded them to walk into the river of Radiolaria she was standing over and drink their fill so that she could assimilate them and change their minds. As the Guardians slowly stepped forward towards the river, Saint-14 gave Maya one last chance to let her obsession go. But Maya simply stated that choice was ego raging against the inevitable. However, Saint-14 stated that Maya may not see a choice, but he makes his own fate. At that moment, Saint-14 broke free of Maya's control and tossed his [[Sentinel Shield]] at Maya, disorienting her and releasing the other Guardians from her control. As Maya recovered, she tried to use the Echo to command them again, but Ikora followed up by blasting her with a [[Nova Bomb]], knocking her into the Radiolarian river. As Maya sank into the Radiolaria, she remarked that she could only make them look and that, perhaps in time, they would see things her way.<ref>'''Bungie (2024/6/4)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Episode: Echoes]] - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kouX7j6MvL8 Echoes Finale]''</ref>

Though Maya was defeated and her plans on Nessus were foiled, she still managed to escape and vanished into the Vex Network with the Echo of Command still in her possession.

Although Maya herself died sometime after the Collapse, her virtual copies in the Vex Network remained active well into the present day. Some of the Vex-simulated copies of Maya and her fellow Ishtar Collective researchers eventually made contact with [[Praedyth]], a [[Guardian]] trapped within the Vault of Glass after [[Kabr's Fireteam|his fireteam]]'s failed raid on the Vex stronghold.<ref>'''Bungie (2019/10/1)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of the Undying]] - [[Lore]]:[[Lore:Aspect|Aspect]], [[Lore:Aspect#Mirative|Mirative]]''</ref> Surprised at first, as establishing any radio connection had been impossible before for either party, they resolved this could be a rare chance for escape; if the signal had been allowed to pass through, maybe so could they.<ref>'''Bungie (2019/10/1)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of the Undying]] - [[Lore]]:[[Lore:Aspect|Aspect]], [[Lore:Aspect#Deontic|Deontic]]''</ref> As the door of the [[Black Garden]] opened before the reawakened [[The Undying Mind|Undying Mind]] and its Vex, Praedyth and the simulated scientists made their attempt at leaping out of the Network.<ref>'''Bungie (2019/10/1)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of the Undying]] - [[Lore]]:[[Lore:Aspect|Aspect]], [[Lore:Aspect#Irrealis|Irrealis]]''</ref>

In all of her incarnations, whether as a human scientist living during the Golden Age, a simulation of herself in the Vex Network, or in her current form as the Conductor, Maya has demonstrated herself to be a gifted and motivated scientist devoted to the pursuit of knowledge and the greater good; however, over time, she has seemingly become increasingly less concerned about the ethical ramifications of her work. She describes the research she performed in Lhasa as "unethical, secret, and shameful,"<ref name="VexFive"/> and later would sacrifice the lives of her own research team in her attempts to understand the Veil.<ref>'''Bungie (2023/5/22)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of the Deep]] - [[Parting the Veil (Mission)#Transcript|Parting the Veil: Log 8]]''</ref>

As the Conductor, Maya seeks to bring about a new Golden Age for humanity, using the Nessian Schism Vex as her tools. She plans to spread the radiolaria under her control throughout the system, reshaping its worlds into a form she believes will help bring her vision into reality.<ref name="Meeting"/> However, she also sought a perfect future with her wife, [[Chioma Esi]]. This obsession is what shows Maya's true colors as controlling, cold and only loving her memory of Chioma. She would capture various simulated copies of Chioma from across the Vex Network and interrogate each one to try and find the real Chioma. When the Chioma copy in question responded incorrectly to Maya's question, she would then terminate it without a second thought.<ref name="Encore"/> Even when she located the real Chioma Esi, when the answers provided did not match what she desired to hear, she killed her. Osiris wasn't entirely surprised with the results of Maya's actions, remarking that there was never going to be a version of Chioma that would accept what Maya had become.

*In her Exo form as the Conductor, Maya appears to be missing her left arm; her left side is draped in a partial cloak or cape, and during cutscenes it can be seen that there is no arm underneath it. The reason for this is unknown, but it may have been the result of the Echo of Command being created from the memories of the [[Qugu]], which notably have only one arm.

File:Mayasundareshthumb.png|Maya and Lakshmi as seen on the [[Someday]] [[shotgun]]