I think the Absolute is a trick of the parasites, as Lae'zal suggests and based on Priestess Gut's dialogue about not even knowing she has a parasite.
The tadpoles are under control by magic, there are a few NPCs in the EA that can tell you that. They aren't the ones controlling things.
The amulet of the Absolute is the biggest redflag about who is in control of the cult or whom they are trying to piss off, as I don't think gods like to have their (un)holy symbols usurped.
Agreed, the illithid option changes to this when you use the dialogue enough times.
I think the absolute is actually a minor god/person, trying to become greater. She's gaining a following, she has clerics to empower etc, plus there is netherese magic involved with our tadpoles, they've been tampered with. The friendly Illithid in the underdark tells you if the magic goes away you would turn into a mind flayer instantly without the seven day process. So the dream lady/guy is not the tadpole, the tadpole actually doesn't like the entity. I don't think we are dealing with a mind flayer plot here. I suspect part of the plot is stopping her/ taking over the faith yourself/joining the absolute or the bad ending where you just become a plain old mindflayer.
