I was sat contemplating my onion on Ace and The Queen in relation to Cayde-6 and who they are to him. Cayde-6 himself in 'The man they called Cayde' depicts them as a lie, a fabrication that he uses to cope with his issues, an anchor for him to lean on to keep himself a 'good man.' The truth of the matter is Cayde himself has no idea what is real and what is false, that been product of the Travler's 'gift' to be reborn in a new light with no knowledge of whom you were beforehand. Cayde uses Ace and The Queen as a way for him to have someone to fight for. But, I don't think that's the case, from my research and time contemplating this, I've come to the conclusion that [b]YES[/b] Ace and in a form The Queen were indeed real people in the life that Cayde once had. Cayde mentions that he has small flashes of his life and also sees people every time he is rezed. People he knew, people he desires to know. They are all that he knows and in a way he knows nothing becuase of that. I would also like to draw attention to the first journal document found in Cayde's stash (Or its actually shown to you when Cayde arrives at the farm if you start a new character) '—so there you have it, Ace, that's why I did what I did. I had no choice, really. It was that or the great beyond. Just know your dad did what he had to do if I ever wanted to see you and your mother again. You probably won't recognise me, since I'll be, well, a robot and all, but I'll find you, I promise—' Cayde-6 One, has to ask the question of why Cayde-0 or human Cayde would chose to write to someone who was not real. Cayde as human so far as we know was different from Cayde-6 in that his actions weren't always moral and those actions landed him in his overwhelming dept to Clovis Bray as its described in another document that he had to let his guns do the talking resulting in a death of an unknown individual although its suggested this unknown person was trying to uncover the corruption Bray was a part of. Cayde back then would probably have not flat out made up an individual to stay moral, because well he wasn't moral in his own right. He also describes that he will him Ace and the mother (Not identified as the Queen) why would he seek them out if their fiction? Also Cayde addresses himself as 'Dad' I find it hard that someone like Cayde would actively give themselves that title unless it was true, he just isn't the type to do that. This also draws attention to presumably the second part of the letter to Ace, '—what can I say, I was just in too deep, Ace. I had to do something. For your sake, above all. I had lost any hope of cashing in, and to be honest, that big payday wasn't coming, not with the jobs I was finding, so when I got word of what was going on out there—' Cayde-6 Cayde explains his actions to Ace and says 'For your sake' and the only way for him to actually pay off his debt and keep his son safe was to take Bray's offer to convert to an Exo to protect his family as there was a risk Bray or others he owed too would go through the family to get to him. So Cayde did what he did to save the only good thing he had. Moving after Cayde's conversion we are given this: '—This has been fun, I guess. But it will all be gone tomorrow. I have been what they call "compromised," which is funny because I feel fine. Could use a few upgrades, but what Exo couldn't. But "compromised" means they are going inside my brain to wipe it from my memory. Met an interesting fellow Exo who leaves letters like this in caches, so whatever she gets saddled with next, she might come across one and take a trip down "lost memory lane." Ace, know that when I find you, I will never let them find me—' Cayde-6 This is presumable the first mind wipe Cayde was subject too. The first time Bray wipes his memory from using Cayde for more hush, hush assignments. Cayde never questions Ace at this time and just accepts that he knows he will find his son and presumably his wife. Been certain of this face leads me to think that the child was real at one point and he was determined to find him. As a desperate attempt to keep his son in his memory he stores messages containing Ace away to remind himself that he has somebody to find. This leads onto the true tragedy to Cayde as a character as, '—Whatever's going on down there, Ace, they don't want folks to know about it. But that's the job, so I'll do whatever it takes to find out. Might need a disguise. Hmm? Any ideas, Ace? Ooh! I know! How about a mustache?—' (I would just like to point out that this part really makes me think Cayde was a real father at one point, his notes and even his disposition when talking to him are extremely paternal something that only comes a long when you are indeed a father to a child. That identity is shown in many fathers and Cayde is no exception) '—Things are even weirder now, Ace. This is my fourth assignment, and I am kind of losing touch with what came before this whole Exo thing and what's a leftover fragment from another tour. I knew this would have had its kinks; I guess this is one of them. You know me, I didn't bother reading the fine print, or anything. At least I know, you're real, right?—' Cayde-6 This is where Cayde begins to fall apart, each wipe Cayde loses a part of himself, each time Bray takes more an more away from him even so much that he questions Ace as real. But the documentation listed supports Ace as been real at one point. But Cayde is not sure, he can never know what's real and what isn't his life is played and toyed with on the whim of turning him into a weapon, each time more and more of him is stripped away to create a machine so much so that Cayde himself can't tell what the truth is. After an unknown amount of time, Cayde is rezed and becomes a guardian scumming to the Traveler's 'gift'. '—Here's the truth, Ace. I don't remember you. Found your name in a journal I had on me when my Ghost rezzed me. I guess I used to write to you? And I kept doing it. Even though you're long dead, if you ever really existed. Just liked having someone to write to, I guess. So there you have it. Now, you'll never guess what happened today, Ace—' Cayde-6 This is the Ace who is a lie, the one Cayde fabricates and writes to not knowing who Ace really was. This is the version of Ace, Cayde thinks isn't true and its a mean of therapy for Cayde as he has someone to listen to understand and to help him through a lonely life as both a hunter and Guardian. Cayde is the type to put on a confident front to fool those around him, to let them see him as something he's not. When in reality all Cayde had was 4 walls around him that echoed his thoughts. He saught solice in the idea of Ace been real and having someone to fight for. But I believe Ace at one point was real its just not the Ace that Cayde wrote to as a Guardian. But the lie is biased upon a truth from long ago. I could go on to evaluate the idea of the 'Queen' and who she is but in truth I think she is a combination of the 2 women Cayde ever loved, his un-named wife and Sunderesh but I think both the reboots and the reboot combined the two leading to one entity one coalescing existence in The Queen, a fiction of both women. He mentioned he loves her, and in that love was the affection for both the women he knew, both his wife in flesh, and Sunderesh after an unknown amount of reboots. To conclude, from the evidence given and Cayde's behaviours, I do believe that Ace was a real individual in the life of Cayde-0. His son who he sought to protect thus signing up to the Exo program with the hopes of been reunited, alas that never came with Bray's constant reboots and the desire to turn Cayde the man into Cayde the weapon. As Cayde was reformed into a Guardian he lost everything from his past including the memory of his child and his only idea of who he was was a journal and flashes of a life he in a way wanted to regain. But the only way to do that was to create a version of Ace and The Queen (the combination of the two women) as a means to seek silos in a lonely life bound to a cosmic 'god.' This was how Cayde was able to be truly at peace with who he was and how he wanted to be a good man. I believe that the lie was biased upon truth from the documentation found, Cayde was a father once and Cayde constructed a lie biased upon a truth he could never know. To finish up all I have to say is, I do hope that his son and wife were real. Watching and whispering over his shoulder keeping him on the straight and narrow until the day Cayde's death came and he could be reunited finally at peace with the good man he did ultimately become. If there is another side in the Destiny universe, I'd like to think they were waiting for him so he could one day see them again and know he had the right to love someone who was once real. The line "I'm Coming home Ace." -Cayde-6 Has so much more meaning if in truth he did see his son once more in that 'Great Beyond' Thank you for reading and take care. -Steam https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13069809/1/Cayde-6-I-m-coming-home-Ace