Arlo is a mysterious figure introduced in Nightwave: Series 2 – The Emissary. Known as the Emissary of Eris, Arlo is a survivor of the Infestation with an unusual healing ability.
Lore[]
Arlo is a young mute boy who is a survivor of the Infestation and was thought to have died three years before his discovery by Kenga on the desolate Infested planet of Eris. He has the ability to cure others of a seemingly unending variety of sicknesses by his touch and thus gained a group of loyal followers who are devoted to spread his healing word. Kenga joined Arlo's cause as his speaker and right-hand man, amassing Zealots for an assembly where Arlo will "break his silence."
During the assembly, Kenga laughed at the devoted, like a maniacal madman as Arlo opened his mouth, revealing a disturbing sight: a mass of pointed, black infested tongue-like tendrils.
Nora Night concludes the Series with a notion that "Arlo" is probably an evolved strain of the Infestation, used as a lure under the guise of healing which was actually a virus that would secretly assimilate his "cured" to the Infested. The "healed" Kenga had all along been part of the Infested hive mind, and was working to amass more victims to Arlo's cause, building an army for the Infested as they would go on to raid the entire Origin System via Orokin Derelicts, but made Warframes and Tenno the prime target of Arlo's Zealots due to their immunity to the Infestation. Meanwhile, perhaps due to Arlo's and Kenga's actions, an Infested mass on Eris begins to stir.
Nightwave Entries[]
The Emissary Introduction[]
- "Dreamers, you know 'bout the Infestation, right? Spreads like a month-old salad with genocidal intent. Swallows everything it touches... makin' monsters from meat, or metal, or both. Well, these days it's mostly contained. Spores as old as stone. Derelicts drifting in forgotten orbits. So it was with old Kenga. Somehow exposed and promptly cast out. Woke up on a blessed cage-drop down to Eris. But, should some sad soul catch the grey-vein, well... every culture has its plague dogma. But maybe there's something more to this 'Infestation', something we all missed. Turns out... Kenga didn't find Void in that hell-nest, no. He found a survivor! Little boy. Arlo. Died three years ago, yet there he was. Lost his voice but gained his life... and somehow... saved old Kenga with the slightest touch of his slender hand."
- With SFX
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The Emissary Second Diorama[]
- "My mother was a cynical woman. Smart as she was cruel. Nora, she said, no disease spreads faster or further than the ones in our head. She was talkin' about ideas. Mine was that old Kenga and his wonder boy would've been splayed out in some bio-trader's lab by now. Or blood-studies for the Grineer command. Dreamers, I was wrong. Kenga's grey-vein was just the beginning. White lung, parasitic liver, clone rot, even bone spurs. Turns out this kid, Arlo, is a healer. So many questions... an idea like that is like a flare dropped in vol-gas. Now the sick and curious are flocking the Rails to see this 'Emissary of Eris'. And who speaks for Arlo the mute? Why old Kenga, of course. No more the outcast, it is he who is spreading the word of Arlo's gift. Even you, Dreamers, may soon hear it."
- With SFX
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The Emissary Third Diorama[]
- "Whether you're 'bad news first', or 'bad news last', tonight I got you covered 'cuz bad news is all we got. This Emissary's word is spreading fast. A hot fever. Some are going to extremes to prove their devotion. Trying the spores for themselves. And they're finding it too. Some lunatic spikers jacked the Solar-Nav and flagged the Derelict zones for all to see. Old haulers and new hopefuls out there are proving just how smart most people aren't. Yet Kenga's ranks are growing. Arming themselves for the safety and security of our Emissary. Setting the stage for a great assembly to come. Buzz is... buzz is... Arlo will break his silence. 'Til then, Dreamers, check under the bed. A fresh brood is sprouting up along the Rails. And it seems they have the scent of those blessed by the Emissary's touch..."
- With SFX
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The Emissary Fourth Diorama[]
- "Y'all did see this coming, right, Dreamers? Surely did... but not like this. A grand gathering before the Emissary and his speaker. Standing room only. Bodies pressed to bodies, a great, overheated mass breathing as one. Waiting for their beloved healer-mute to speak. Kenga hushed the crowd. He shed his mask and... there he was. Laughing at them. Sick as the day he was banished. More. His retribution was at hand, born of a virus spreading further and faster than spore and space ever could have. Arlo. And in that stunned silence, Arlo himself made a sound! Not a word, but a stifled gag. A swollen choke, as he opened his mouth. And there it was. Pointed. Black. A tongue... but not. Snaking and bulging and splitting him apart. I looked away then. I had to. But that sound stays with me. Not the sound of human terror, bad as it was, but what came after. The grinding wet, the rattling flutter... the congregation converted in the truest sense. I... Dreamers, you all got your work cut out for you. Though this 'movement' has lost its head, the body still lingers."
- With SFX
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The Emissary Fifth Diorama[]
- "It's a bad cycle, Dreamers. Arlo's devoted had a party, and you're on cleanup detail. Derelicts are threatening every settlement from Mercury to Eris, and my sources say you're uniquely qualified to contain them. Meanwhile, I've been thinking. Not about Kenga, but about what he actually found down there. Arlo, whatever he was. Some kind of lure? An evolution to bait us in? Is there more to this Infestation than fangs and acid? I know what my mother would say. The people saw what they wanted, heard what they had hoped... and human nature did the rest. Still, I'm hearing rumors. The mass on Eris is in turmoil, and nobody, but nobody wants to check it out. It's seething. And if it's not thinking about this whole ordeal, baby, it's feeling it. This is Nora Night, saying for now... Dreamers... so long and hold on! And listen... Should you happen upon some vacant-eyed little kid someday... whatever you do, don't take 'em home."
- With SFX
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Trivia[]
- Arlo bears resemblance to Solaris people, particularly his head being attached to his body via mechanical joints and his legs featuring markings similar to the Ventkids.
- Arlo possesses glowing eyes, similar to one of Neewa's eyes. They both have some connections to the Infestation.
- Arlo's ingrown infestation could be a reference to John Carpenter's "The Thing", in which the Thing assimilates other life forms and begins imitating them to create a false sense of security, before infecting the next victim.
Gallery[]
See Also[]
Patch History[]
Update 25.2 (2019-06-19)
- Introduced.