Fuck this i'm too 30+ year old balding ojiisan for this I'll just give my public, schizophrenic theory that doesn't strictly need spoilers but i'll try to apply them. I swear I'm not schizophrenic and paranoid like the Fisalias, stop looking at me. The theory is:
**Cristoforo isn't a 'true' member of the Fractsidus, he's only wearing their colors. His loyalty is his own. I don't believe he's a "normal" resonator either. What we're dealing with Septimont isn't a Fractsidus Overseer plotline it's a continuation of the Leviathan plotline. Remember Leviathan's canonical powers is to MEEEEEERGE AAAAH I"M MEEEERGING. Pretty weird huh? What if he's OOOH I'M ABOUT TO MEEEERGE with something non-physical, like timelines n' shieeet? Also da Chi is underwater, boss. Rewatching a playthrough I should've known from the get go Abby lack of presence and the weird casual wingray means of transporation to the new zone was a flag, but in my normal playthrough I only started to suspect wacky reality things are afoot once I met Bu-Ling. It was too random to just happen upon a Taoist of the mystic variety for no reason. I also got Jianxin in rolls shortly beforehand, the sea is a mirror it reflects the shape of your soul in its tides??? from there on were several other uncanny moments that made me question if what i'm seeing is real (besides the visual glitches). For those reasons and more I think (and hope) Cristoforo isn't going to be a permanent member of the Fractsidus cast. He just smells of FISH to me. His Forte would allow someone's SLIMY MOIST FISH FINS to make the Dark Tide script (alleged future) into reality (real dimension) by MEEERGING it with a past event from 20 years ago (Mya). Ragunna is protected by the Fenrico pact for now but Rome is "supposed" to fall the the Dark Tide so things aren't looking good boss, no luck, bad sign.*/*
We need the full story however, the rest of 2.4 ATLEAST most likely wont be finished until 2.6+