honestly I'm more convinced you actually did recruit both scum than one being on the out because with just the four of you left, they win.
But out of those three I'd flip Launch first just because he visited the dead player last night.
If there are two in my cult, it would have to be Zeke and Ephi. Neon came in right before night actions closed last night and was right away on board with the "become as gods" thing, which could have been anything. We could have been a suicide cult, or I could have been a neutral leading them to their deaths. We were planning to post right away -- only delayed because of scheduling issues. Mafia would have been more hesitant.
And I don't think either of Zeke and Ephi are mafia, let alone both. However, I'll indulge the paranoia that you're raising with your questions and try to think them through. I won't vote for anyone in the cult, but it doesn't hurt to think through every possibility.
Thorny, did any of your recruits ever suggest who to recruit? how many vanilla claims came out after you initially floated that idea to the cult thread?
Loki's modpost at the top of cult thread stated that we would all be modkilled if we mentioned the cult outside of the cult thread. Therefore, if I recruited mafia, they couldn't have discussed the cult in their scum thread.
For a long time we had a working theory that I could only recruit machines. I was the first to mention that theory.
After Ephi was recruited, the two of us discussed recruiting Zeke or Neki. I was the first to mention Zeke, and the one to make a decision between Zeke and Neki. Ephi made me hesitate by mentioning a theory that Zeke killed Sorian when Sorian visited him with his riddle. This almost turned me off recruiting Zeke, until c4 unexpectedly claimed responsibility for Sorian's death.
Zeke suggested Stan as a recruit on D4, after he claimed machine doctor, but before he claimed that his type was android. Then, after Neki claimed machine, Zeke was the first to suggest Neki again. I eventually did end up trying to recruit Neki that night.
When either of them talked about possible recruits, it felt like it was a natural reaction to what was happening in the thread. For example, if Ephi had wanted me to recruit scummate Zeke, she wouldn't have raised the possibility that he killed Sorian. If Zeke had wanted me to recruit a scum mate, he wouldn't have been on board with Stan as a potential recruit, until Stan's unexpected android claim. Either of them could have steered me away from Neki.
I see what you're suggesting, but it doesn't fit with the restrictions on discussing the cult and with how both were behaving in the thread. Also, I'm not even sure mafia would want me to recruit more mafia. Again, for all they knew I was a neutral and could kill them. For all they knew, becoming as gods would have killed them.
Hawthorn could you disclose the name of your role? Is it like Machine Preacher or Machine Cultist?
It's just Little Robot Cult Leader.