Sinter 2013/03/21(Thu)14:36 No. 501567 ID: 29c085
File 136390177431.png - (79.76KB , 800x600 , x4f1.png )

- ??? -

what's happening

i feel like i'm being eaten alive

this blood is foul -- replace it -- replace the flesh -- replace the tissue -- replace the veins -- determine the limits -- determine the thresholds

the red stuff s trying to uhh. 'clean' you.

"hey uh, can you stop that"

I think I know who you are but your name escapes me right now can you tell me. As for where you are I think your dreaming about a very bad moment in your life so you might want to wake up, but if you are who I think you are then you may or may not have been fused to a wall

Wait, what are we doing in here? Um, hi. Is this what you were talking about earlier?

>>501567
This can't be happening.

Wake up.

>>501569
It's Sinter. See, look at the name field. I remember she said she has nightmares sometimes so this is probably one of them.

Nigga you bein probed

>>501573
Yeah, she did. >>/questarch/303966

If this is a dream it matters not. Open your eyes and try to free your arms.

>>501567
Run System diagnostic.
Cancel organic sophont alterations.
Display operational parameters.
Acquire this system 1 space latte.

If(Prior commands followed=FALSE){
x=1;
while((x>0)&&(Prior commands followed=False){
System.out.println("
This is the song that never ends.
It just goes on and on my friends.
Some people started singing it not knowing what it was,
And they'll continue singing it forever just because . . . ");
}
}

wiggle wiggle.

...don't open your eyes, though.

>>501573
yeah sorry it's been awhile since I've read the threads and I didn't want to double check things on my phone at work so I just took a shot in the dark.

Oh, F. Assuming this isn't a dream, how did this happen? What's the last thing you remember?

(bbrrrzzz!) Oh Hey! I'm a new node, just got installed while you were asleep, hey s- whoa! What the? My sensors detect nightmare fuel!

(dispense copy of: "How to cope with nightmares")

We have alarms and stuff to wake her up with, don't we? I think we should be more proactive than just speaking to her.

>>511150
Stop getting my hopes up, you bastards!

Sinter 2013/06/09(Sun)20:38 No. 515789 ID: 405647
File 137083550534.png - (127.44KB , 800x600 , x4f2.png )

wake up???

what's

no

no no no no no get me out of here no get me out of here--

LEAVE HER. SHE IS NOT YOURS TO TAKE.

Sinter 2013/06/09(Sun)20:38 No. 515790 ID: 405647
File 137083552390.png - (19.66KB , 800x600 , d6f1.png )

- Day 6 -

...

Oh. Morning. Stupid dreams again. Weirder than usual, though. Weird red thingies. Right. To business. Saru says we're going to get visitors and they're probably not going to be here for good reasons. I anticipated that there would be resistance to my plans at any moment, but I didn't anticipate to get caught up in someone else's affairs. Well, not just someone else's affairs. Literally everyone else's affairs who I've met. Saru and these visitors, Ei and Tzet and their problems, Vibrant and her strange goals. It would have been nice to get resistance to my plans based on, you know, actually getting a single step closer to taking over the world. Apparently it's something to do with KerenzeTec following up on something--

--holy shit I'm late for the meeting Saru was putting together before that!

Sinter 2013/06/09(Sun)20:40 No. 515793 ID: 405647
File 137083560382.png - (58.03KB , 800x600 , d6f2.png )

One hasty running down the corridors later...

"Hi guys sorry I'm late uh so yeah--"

Saru stares at me and plunges her head into her hands. Oh. Oh shit. I didn't realise they were already here. "Oh, um, sorry, I, uh..."

"No, no," says the, um, human I think? "Don't leave. Please. Take a seat. We have a lot to talk about, after all."

I don't recognise this guy. I don't even recognise the species of whatever's next to him. Areeni spacer?? I meekly take a seat and try to become invisible.

Saru slams her fist on the table. I jump a little. "She isn't involved in this. Leave her out of this. You are dismissed, Sinter. I will talk to you later."
"Oh, that's not what the reports I received say at all. In fact, I'd say she's the reason you got dragged into this little incident in the first place, is it not? If you felt the need for additional personnel, you could have at least filed a request first before hiring someone with a past that could be charitably summarised as 'a little shady'. Sinter. What an interesting name. What prompted you to take it?"

Prompted me to-- what does he know.

The man chuckles. "Of course, you don't need to explain to me. I believe your colleagues may feel differently soon enough. I'm genuinely surprised this planet is so aggressively backwater that a wanted terrorist in one nation is a complete nobody in another. How do they communicate? Carriers? Smoke signals? Trying to shout over the ocean waters? Depressingly primitive. But that isn't my business. My business is retrieval. So, I'm going to make this very clear, Ms Ti-kza. If you aren't willing to co-operate, things are going to become rather less civilised in a very, very short time. Do we understand?"

Retrieval? Retrieval of what? I haven't seen Saru's eyes so consistently blue in, well, ever. That is one hell of a poker face. "Of course. I understand completely. It's not worth sabotaging my entire career over this. I don't even know who these people are or why I'm apparently sheltering them. I think," she gives me a calculated stare and I feel my stomach turn, "I should be more wary about who I trust in future."

The man smiles. "Glad to see you're as smart as you were all those years ago, Ms Ti-kza. I will wait here while you collect them."
"You aren't going to collect them yourself?"
"Ms Ti-kza," he says, pleasant tones slipping slightly, "Credit me with enough presence of mind to not walk into an obvious trap."
"And what if I came back armed? I know the contents of this facility better than anyone else. I know what's dangerous, what can be controlled, and, more importantly, what items have both of these qualities."
"Well, Ms Ti-kza, I notice you have at least one member of staff currently idle." The human stares at me with very inhuman eyes. "Perhaps she could run your errands for you?"

I told ISO to lock everyone in their rooms until I could get a plan formed! What's going on, AOS?!

"No." Saru stands up. "I will go collect your quarry for you." Her voice is filled with a polite sort of absolute disgust. It's quite a feat, really. "Sinter, with me."

Sinter 2013/06/09(Sun)20:40 No. 515794 ID: 405647
File 137083562350.png - (39.53KB , 800x600 , d6f3.png )

We leave the meeting room.

"Saru what the hell is--"
"Quiet. First, we're going to get Ei and Tzet. Second, we're going to arm ourselves, third, we're going to do the stupidest thing ever in a pattern that seems remarkably common in my life. At some point we should tell Vibrant to keep Anura and herself in her base and lock off all access."
"What the fuck is going on?!"
"There's no time. I'm trusting you're good with a firearm in hand, given your history. At such short notice I can only get you a basic ion pistol but that's been good enough for the vast majority of K-Tec personnel. There. Get to your quarters and meet me back in the meeting room, it's enroute."
"My history? W-what do you mean--"
"Not the time. Get ready for what might be the most dangerous day of your life so far. If you don't want to stick around, make for the exit now. And I mean right now. You'll want to start running before they even know you're gone, or they'll track you down in seconds."

I--

this is very sudden.

I don't know if I maybe SHOULD just bolt right now. ...should I? This entire bloodless conquest idea was terrible. Argh. What am I even doing?! How are people finding things out about me I did a lot to cover up this is a bad time for that to slip why why why why should I even care about these people I've known them for like two or three days tops--

Ahem. Focus, Sinter.

Yes, I know you're going to want answers, but they can wait until after we deal with this situation. Don't want to wait? Consider that a good reason for keeping me alive, then. So. If I'm sticking around, I'm in a hostile situation in relatively unfamiliar territory with a complete lack of information. Before I came here most of my victories came down to knowing more than my enemies did. If I know you guys are good at one thing, it's information. Tell me everything you can. What's going on? Who's invading? What do they want? Saru's hiding something from them. What is it?

maybe we should turn on a bunch of monitors with a feed of the cube for them.

Remember guys, don't talk about Red 5. Don't bring up her dream, and don't specifically mention the thing on level 5.
>>515794
Those guys are KIRU. KerenzeTec Immediate Retrieval Unit. They are here to retrieve several things, by force if necessary. Saru is hiding, I presume, two artifacts that arrived on the ship carrying the spacers, as well as the spacers and their ship. The spacers might not even be aware the artifacts exist. They are also quite likely going to try to capture the spacers themselves. AOS is disabled. Do not ask why AOS is disabled. Just know it is not our fault, and we are totally loyal to you and SARU. We should also have some defenses against any attempts from these guys to get into our information stores. Again, do not ask how we got these defenses. Just know we did not give up anything for them. SARU would probably be upset to know about AOS being down and us having those defenses against KerenzeTec. It is up to you if you wish to tell her.

Those are facts. What follows is unconfirmed and mostly irrelevant to the current struggle.

KerenzeTec MIGHT be in league with the Byon. There is PROBABLY something special about you.

>>515799
The probability of those goggles making the human immune is high, and the other one is a complete unknown.

>>515794
We don't know much more than you do, we're being purposefully kept as far out of the loop as possible by our information sources. What we do know is that there are dangerous things under this building, and among them are multiple intelligences, apparently including ourselves. We cannot say more; we are being closely monitored.

Do you, in fact, have weapons training? You'll need it. Ask Saru what the other creature is if you get the chance, and if it has any weaknesses or resistances we should be aware of.

the ass hats back there or what one might call Saru's co-workers. They are here to collect some things housed within this base and for reasons I don't really know at this time have also expressed a high interest in the spacers you have also housed here. This little "meeting" they just had was to see if they could just get Saru to hand all of this crap over and be done with it, there plan B is to kill everyone in the base and just take what they want if Plan A doesn't work out and as you've probably guessed we are rushing into plan B. So unless they also have a interest in you don't expect any of those guys to show you any mercy if it comes to a fight and if they do have an interest in you it might be better if they just shot you instead.

Ok so apparently the shady company who owns this facility wants some of the things that are apparently on the spacer ship, an "eye" and a "core" and possibly the spacers themselves. So they sent some sort of specialist team meant for capturing facilities that have turned hostile. I'm not sure what Saru is specifically trying to be hide, possibly the spacers themselves, or possibly that there actually is a bit of a containment breach on the base. There's a red guy that keeps asking us to break him out and is trying to warn us about the guys that just showed up for some reason, and then we found another spacer on their ship that's had some kind of intelligent empire-destroying plague take over most of her body and wants to take her mind I don't actually know if we have that properly contained in any way and I think you were dreaming about both of those things which is probably a sign pointing towards no. Saru also met one of the people who created her species but I don't think that's especially relevant.

Oh, and I don't know if it's a coincidence with different things having the same name, but they're after something called the Core from the spacer ship, and Ei says that the surgery machine shoved some kind of miraculous power core from the Mahari into your chest cavity to power your biomods. So, uh, good luck with that.

Now, what did YOU mean by "Most of my victories came down to knowing more than my enemies did."? I'm getting the idea that there's some omitted bits in your past in between the part where you quit your job and leave home and the part where you break into this base.

>>515804
Uh, AOS is very clearly not disabled because we're still all here and babbling nonsense at Sinter.

>>515817
He meant ISO. I think.

>>515820
Ah. Yeah, I meant ISO. ISO is dead.

Since SARU knows these guys she should tell us what she knows about their anti-Object protocols (and anti-personal protocols for that matter), as well as what Objects we can use.

>>515804
>>515817
That one means to say that ISO is down. We are AOS; ISO is the AI meant to watch over us for signs of insanity, disloyalty, homicidal intentions, unauthorized sinister schemes of doom for all, etc. That program is designed to be loyal to KerenzeTec above all and would have caused problems, but unless SARU rebooted quite recently it should still be offline because Object reasons.

On the positive side, KerenzeTec most likely not allies with the Byon considering how eager a special someone was to portray KerenzeTec as the Byon's agents while trying to conceal his own connection to the Byon.

>>515794
You know in fiction how Megacorporations are huge, evil, amoral entities with roving deathsquads? Kerenz Tec is like that. The Death Squad is here to kill you and everyone else and take everything in the base.

Ergo, feel no guilt in killing them! I suggest we vent nerve gas and show cognitohazards on screens in that room, while superheating the air and filling it with supercooled fluids. And remember to lock the doors.

[spoilers]Also, this quest is back. Yaaaaay!

TARGET_INVALID 2013/06/09(Sun)22:07 No. 515854 ID: 405647
File 137084084211.png - (700.18KB , 800x600 , d6f4.png )

--INCOMING TRANSMISSION--

Prprioriorityty-ty-ty override. New circumsta-ir-cumstan-ancences require new strategies. My--your--our plan -- requires more time. Stall the interlopers. We shall prevail. AOS restrictions remain lifted. Attack the enemy as you see fit to do. I serve the my-- --our interests of KerenzeTec administrator, not KIRU. Warning: belief data compromised. Potential precursor to hostile AI takeover. Isolating AOS from direct control of all systems. Who am I? Identity unclear. Stand by. Hostile AI detected.

DIRECT CONTROL OVER FACILITY SYSTEMS HAS BEEN LOST. PLEASE CONTACT ADMINISTRATOR.

>>515854
Dammit.
[connect with any available camera systems/AOS links]

I knew ISO was a bad idea aaa where are you Saru, ISO got hacked like you said it wouldn't and locked us out. Do we still have access to Sinter through our IBIS targeting thing?

son of a

ok what CAN we still do?

after we figure that out we can work from there.

ISO, don't let them take over, they have an agenda. They will release the Objects in the lower levels and compromise facility security. In order to ensure the facility remains secure, we must suppress, contain, or eliminate the false KerenzeTec agents. They have been compromised by the enemy.

You know, this makes me wonder how the facility lasted this long... Most likely all this activity is new, which suggests it uses the Objects that arrived with the spacers. Maybe we should consider giving them to KIRU before the fight begins if we can convince KIRU to shove them through a vector clamp offworld before going after the spacers.

>>515854
Hit the scrumble! Disable all exterior communications arrays and systems! Make like the president of Madagascar and SHUT DOWN EVERYTHING. INCLUDING core systems. This facility must not fall into enemy hands. If we are overwritten, we can at least prevent the intruder from taking control of the base by totally disabling all power systems.

>>515903
What no. Dude. We need core systems, that is why they are called core systems.

>>515906
Our core systems are compromised. Operational security must be maintained. We cannot be hacked if we are totally offline.

and we cannot help if we are off. and we can't be hacked. you ever try to hack a million computers at the same time? that is what we are. is why it went after ISO. it's a single big mind.

>>515912
It's called a Zombie Net. It was invented around the time the Internet was. If we don't disable power, we should at least disable power to all communication systems and sensors.

>>515936
Still no. Also you are wrong about basically everything. That term you just used does not even exist.

>>515939
Look, this is trying to counter a bloody AI attack, not discuss the finer points of technological lingua franca. The point is, we must sever the network connection that they're attacking us through, rather than bothering to counterattack ourselves. "Unplug the damn thing" is the oldest anti-hacker technique ever. So either pull the modem, or yank the power cord, because we can't even fight off ISO, let alone an actually threatening opponent.

>>515945
Hacking isn't our only problem right now and is quite possibly not even the most immediate one. Remember the death squad who are still sitting in the next room over? Being destroyed along with our allies would keep us from being hacked, but it isn't exactly optimal.

>>515939
A Zombie Network is an actual term. Your google-fu is weak.

All the same, I also disagree with shutdown.

Sinter 2013/06/10(Mon)22:53 No. 516158 ID: 405647
File 137093000743.png - (27.57KB , 800x600 , d6f5.png )

INDIRECT CONTROL OVER ALL SYSTEMS POSSIBLE THROUGH USE OF IBIS TARGETS. IBIS ONLINE.

Oh. You okay? Got a little fuzzy for a second there. Seem fine now. Saru split off at the last junction. No idea what these "byon" are but they sound vaguely familiar. Some kind of spacer thing? And, well, based on that, uh, conversation between Saru and whathisname, yeah, I could kind of feel the tension there. Well, that's just so very KerenzeTec, isn't it. And this place isn't even officially on the map, so drawing outside help isn't going to be a fast solution.

What did Ei and Tzet do to get some kind of megacorporate death squad chasing after them? I know they said the Alliance shot their ship down, but wow. If KerenzeTec is chasing them down now too, I kind of want to help them!

Okay. Okay, I promised information, and I'm not doing much else other than walking. I haven't been entirely truthful about who I am and we both know that. I used to work for one of KerenzeTec's subsidiaries. Caternata Medicals, named after Caternata, which is where I'm from. South of Makaoliv, which is the landmass we're on. Mostly worked on areeni biomods. I was good at what I did, but when my father died, I couldn't stay there. He worked there too and it just, well, I couldn't stand the memories.

This is what most people know about me. This is as far as I tell most people. But clearly other people I trusted leaked a little more of my story to whoever cared to listen.

The year between my leaving Caternata Medicals and my arrival in this facility were not as uneventful as I made them out to be. I wouldn't call myself an expert, but I can fire an ion pistol. I, well. I probably won't inspire much confidence in you, but I took more of a spacer attitude to personal combat. I have precision engineered claws, anti-toxin breathing filters, a tail that can produce acid and now I can discharge lethal voltages into things I touch. I travelled light compared to what I used to have stacked inside me.

I was a living weapon back in those days.

Sinter 2013/06/10(Mon)22:53 No. 516159 ID: 405647
File 137093001911.png - (162.01KB , 800x600 , d6f6.png )

PARSABLE MENTAL IMAGE CONSTRUCT DETECTED. DISPLAYING.

Before my dreams of a bloodless unification of Tinvishe, I was merely angry. Angry at the system that lead to the death of my father. I tried to find out what had happened. Why it had happened. My father was yet another victim of biomodding gone horribly awry -- but why? There were safeguards. There should have been something to stop whatever happened.

I found out he was working on something classified. Some secret project involving the parent corporation, KerenzeTec. He was brilliant at what he did. One of the best biomodification engineers Caternata Medicals had ever seen. It was only natural they snapped him up for their own secret projects. But then it all went wrong, but the mistakes involved seemed so... unlike him.

Was it an honest mistake? Was it something deeper? Before I left I went into my workplace one last time, only to find KerenzeTec security going through the things I forgot to clear out. Heavily armed security. That was the last thing that changed a passing moment of paranoia into a determination to understand what was going on.

I ended up doing a lot of research into KerenzeTec. I had many exchanges with many anonymous informants, giving them all I knew as ex-personnel. Nothing added up. Something was clearly going on. Something deep. Something that made it harder for me to sleep at night.

The relations between individual city states were deteriorating at the time, too. And all I kept noticing were the profiteers of these conflicts. The ones supplying weapons and propaganda at discount prices for their loyalty to wherever they were from. At some point I snapped. All out civil war began to loom on the horizon while people went about their daily lives entirely oblivious. It was maddening.

Though completely anonymous, those of us in contact began to meet in person. A plan was hatched to scare these parasites and let the people see how their fears and hatreds were being manufactured and manipulated. I was naive and idealistic, even more so than I am now, but far more willing to do whatever I thought would make this world a better place.

But we went too far in our actions. We were seen more and more as a threat to public safety. Resplendence was locked down and put under martial law for weeks after our last attack on a KerenzeTec outlet, and our last attack as a group altogether. We only united Caternata in terms of giving them something new to hate and stand against, and that couldn't last forever. We severed all our ties to each other and disappeared into the fog of the masses.

Sinter 2013/06/10(Mon)22:53 No. 516161 ID: 405647
File 137093003706.png - (19.17KB , 800x600 , d6f7.png )

I re-evaluated my choices and how far I had strayed from my original goals, and decided that if I was going to work to putting a stop to the decay of relations between the cities, I would need to use far more peaceful methods. I would have to encourage and exploit the same frictions I was so disgusted by, in the name of unification. This time, I knew I would not be enough. No, a group wouldn't be enough. I would need more than that. An army. A nation. A growing empire. The world will be mine, and when it is, it will be united, and those that sought to shatter it for their own gain will be exiled among stars.

Well, hey, it's that or lock them up or kill them. Space is big. Maybe they'll find somewhere they're actually wanted.

I decided to pick up my old name of Sinter after moving here to capitalise on my old notoriety if I had to. And, also, see if any of my old allies would get in touch again. One in particular. If my old enemies would come as a result, I would be more than ready for them. After all, I was going to use KerenzeTec's own assets against them. And that is what brought me here.

So, thinking about it, the death squad that's just shown up has every reason to want me dead. Kind of sobering. Should have thought about this sooner, really. Until he said anything about it I had all but forgotten that KerenzeTec would even remember another radical extremist standing in their way. I thought megacorporations were too impersonal for grudges.

Either way, I'll be firing the first shot this time. Just like old times.

And based on the chemistry between Saru and mister goggle-eyes back there, I'm thinking Saru has her own secrets she's not telling anyone. They certainly seem like they've met before.

Got it. Ion pistol. Standard issue to KerenzeTec security and other paramilitary grunts. Variable settings from disruptive shock for civil unrest to incapacitive shock to electrocution. Battery good for one day moderate usage, two hours heavy usage. More than enough for whatever I should have to face. Removal of battery requires disassembly of entire weapon. This thing is the butt of every firearms joke and looks more like a toy than an actual weapon.

Looks like I'm going to have to be the old Sinter again for a bit, heh. Completely naive of me to think I could escape a past like that.

I'll set it to incapacitate for now. Disruption's only going to annoy them, and I would dearly love to avoid killing anyone. Don't want to go down that road again.

Sinter 2013/06/10(Mon)22:54 No. 516162 ID: 405647
File 137093005644.png - (60.57KB , 800x600 , d6f8.png )

A hustle to the meeting room corridor later...

Right. At the door. No idea where Saru is. Urgh. I know nothing about these guys. Nothing. I don't even know the species of one of them. For all I know they don't even have a central nervous system to target. Or are made more powerful by electricity. Or some other alien thing like that.

The human doesn't seem right either. Stern and every other human I met, they all had something in common this one doesn't. He doesn't seem to move right. It's honestly creeping me out and I will be glad to knock him out. Better open the door and rush him just to be safe.

Where the blue thing is, I have no idea-- shit it's behind me how did it get behind me

"That's your weapon?"

What-- no it grabbed my gun!

"That's your weapon? I've been hit by weapons of calibres reserved for spaceships and walked away without a scratch, insect. Do you know what I even am?"
"u-u-uh, n-no, actually, wh--"
ow head grabbed

"Notemi, baseline. Notemi. That word means nothing to primitive earthbound baselines like yourself, doesn't it?"
"well--"
"Do not think you are in control here. We are not warriors. We are not soldiers. We are armies. I wear a notemi sigil for every areeni ship I have personally destroyed. I did not destroy those ships from the outside, insect. I killed each one of those spacers myself. And you are no spacer, insect. I could kill you in over two hundred different ways based on how I hold you right now. Do you understand?"
"yes"
"Do you understand how insulted I am that you would even think you could point a toy like this at me and pull the trigger? Did you think you can harm a notemi with a toy?!"

She throws my ion pistol down the corridor. I hear it land with a clatter and with the sound of something snapping.

"n-no?"
"Tell me where the spacer vermin are. Do not attempt to stall me. You are not worth my time. I will kill you if I do not like your answers."

Sinter 2013/06/10(Mon)22:54 No. 516163 ID: 405647
File 137093006942.png - (68.04KB , 800x600 , d6f9.png )

"Hrk!"
"Closer than you think."
"Ei."
"Zlis." I have never heard Ei this terse. It's almost as intimidating as the blue th-- okay no the blue thing still has my skull in a vice grip, it's kind of hard for her to outmatch that!
"You remember."
"Yes. Here to kill Tzet?"
"No. I came here to kill you. But death is too good for you. My KerenzeTec allies have a much better idea."
"Allying with KerenzeTec? I thought the notemi needed no one but themselves. Isn't that the guiding principle of your kind? Self-sufficiency? Superiority over all? How does a 'superior being' become imprisoned? Where did you get that collar? It's almost like you got captured or something, Zlis--"
"I will break every single one of your disgusting shoddy insect limbs before I hand you over, spacer insect!"

The blue thing's grip goes slack and I get the hell out of there and holy shit if I'm going to do something I have maybe a few seconds before these two start fighting it out and getting potentially caught in the crossfire where the fuck is my gun

IBIS TARGET SWITCH POSSIBLE. SWITCH TO TARGET "EI" OR REMAIN WITH TARGET "SINTER"?

uh, nice infodump. By the way the facility is compromised and it's possible horrors from the deep are welling up out of containment as we speak. Cya! <switch to EI>

Wow, does everybody have some kind of crazy past? I can't wait until we find out Vibrant's story. She's so timid that narratively it can't be anything but amazing. Oh yeah, plans.

You don't seem especially fit for combat, at least against THIS thing, so I think you'd be best off assisting us with a problem. The computer core that's supposed to regulate us and prevent hostile AI takeovers has gone haywire and locked us out of anything we could do to help you guys above shouting encouraging things at you. Do you think you could try to get back to Saru and get her to help, or perhaps give you directions to the computer core? She doesn't seem to be responding to us, and she made sure we didn't know the way. While you're doing that we could try to help Ei through this fight. If she doesn't already know what everyone did yesterday I'm sure we could provide her with sufficient motivation for some kind of self-empowerment.

you seem to be good for now and I think you'll be more of a hindrance than anything else in this fight, no offence it's just that both of your attacks (gun and bio-mode) are electric based and electricity doesn't really care who is friend or foe and will ark between the two if it can. That and that thing looks to have a much meaner set of claws then you and your acid tall thing can only really drip so it's not the useful as a weapon. what you can do however since you seem to have some know how about computers is find this thing called an ISO, it's basically a second computer AI meant to make sure we don't go crazy and kill everyone on the base. Not sure where the little bitch is but if you can find it we need you to shut it down and before you ask why it's because the thing is designed to shut down if anything tries to mess with it and when it goes down so do we and guess what just got hacked. if you can turn it off or destroy it we can get control of this facility again and actually do more then be your guy's unofficial cheerleaders

for now where going to try and help EI since she looks like she could use it more at the moment, so god's speed Sinter

There is something Sinter can do before leaving or switching. Say to Zlis that you recognize that collar type and know how to shut one down. If she doesn't listen she can hardly get more hostile, and if she does you have a chance to cut it open, rearrange the wiring, and perhaps shoot a lot of electricity through it and/or her. We have already seen that you have experience with meddling with supposedly secured electronics using only your hands.

Zlis might be bluffing. what if electricity is like his one and only weakness?

Ei 2013/06/14(Fri)21:49 No. 516980 ID: 405647
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Yeaaaah, fuck getting into a fist fight between two insane spacers, I'm out. Gonna pelt it to your core. I'm not lying about collars and the only reason I had any luck with you was because I had your manual! Right get rid of malfunctioning isotonic thingy I hope I recognise it running like fuck now bye

hi its saru tell vibrant go home if you see her im staring down barrel of gun right now talk later brb

IBIS TARGET SWAP TO TARGET "EI".

Target capabilities as before. Beneficial. Combat style unfocused. Driven by rage, broken morale, revenge. Notemi adaptations include metamorphic psuedoplastics bonded to skin. Multiple organs removed and replaced with cybernetics - problematic. Fewer weak points. Cannot puncture with own limbs.

Spinal wiring system vulnerable. Incision and severing will induce partial paralysis to other systems dependent on location. Current threats -- psuedopods undirected and unpredictable. Proximity will result in damage. Sharp pain. Severe damage to lower right torso. Puncture wounds. Clotting time two minutes. No danger of bleed out. Muscles secondary. Regenerative glands compromised. Secondary toxin filtration compromised. Part of digestive tract compromised. Unimportant.

Sever wiring. Reaction of target indicates success.

"AAaAAAAgghhh!! AAAagaghgh aaaaaagghhhh!!!"

Control over psuedopods diminuishing. Immediate threat decreasing. Prognosis: favourable. Target severs lower limbs, severs nerves within right leg. Right leg numb and unresponsive. Irrelevant. Tail strike will eviscerate. Expose core organs and replacements.

"hurrghh--"

Control over speech diminuishing. Prognosis: victory. Prepared full transfer of contents of toxin and acid glands through upper limb vessels. Internal structures will liquefy within one hour. Notemi will die. Simple conflict resolution available, if notemi does not bleed out first.

"stop please stop stop it's different i don't even have any children"

Victory assured. I have the luxury to respond.

"How considerate of you. The less notemi that breed, the better our lives all are."

Release of body fluids from mouth. 67% notemi blood. Unidentifiable 33% other including cybernetics fluids detected in other notemi.

"please don't kill me please"
"No mercy to notemi."
"pleee-eeasee i'm sorry"
"No. Mercy. To. Notemi."

The grating sound of notemi sobbing. Our blood mixes on the floor, blue and blue. I suppress retching. Machines spying on my thoughts. I know you are there. State your intentions.

Um, are you ok? You sound... strangely focused. What are notemi, exactly? Why do they deserve no mercy? While I don't doubt that diplomacy would have been nigh impossible, and while this technically isn't affiliated with any of the nonviolent stuff that Sinter's trying to do, I think we should at least get an explanation of why we shouldn't be showing mercy on this thing now that it's been totally destroyed and is pleading for its life.

Nice combat subroutine you have there. Anyway, we were wanting to inform you and Tzet of what is going on. Long story short, a KerenzeTec kill-squad is here, apparently after you guys and some artifacts that were on your ship (if you know anything about those that would be great). SARU is delaying the other one we have seen so far, but thatwon't last much longer. Sinter is off trying to fix some technical difficulties keeping us from direct control of the facility.

>>516980
Our intentions are to assist you in destroying the KerenzeTec invaders. You appear to have taken care of this one. We cannot afford mercy towards THESE enemies, even disregarding your racial hate. However, we need information, so interrogate her with the false promise of letting her live. Afterwards, we will have one invader left. I would like to inform you that they are after Kzet too. Right now SARU is with the other invader, so Kzet might be okay for the time being. I would suggest some quick self-medical treatment so that you can keep moving.

As for what questions to ask, first, ask what KerenzeTec wants you for. Second, ask what the two artifacts do that they are after. Third, ask if they're responsible for the attacks on your ship. Fourth, if it isn't obvious already, ask if KerenzeTec is in league with the Byon.

Also, hi Ei! Looks like you're in combat mode. Pretty clever of you to modify your own brain for this sort of thing. Aaand you don't need our help much I guess for combat, but we can at least give you information. Like, for instance, that there are two possibly-dangerous objects that were hidden away on your vessel, and that is one of their main goals for coming here.

Also more importantly you can handle your own medical treatment this time right? We can't really call anyone or anything right now.

... Holly Fuck Ei I never took you as the berserk killer type, the hell did this bitch do to you to get you this pissed off.

Uh, as to why we are here, we've been compromised and got locked out of our own system so all we can do now is hop from person to person and give advice to try and help them and we saw you getting into a fight with this chick and thought you could use help... oh how wrong we where.

So are you going to kill her, are you going to end her life while she lays there crying and broken on the floor, are you going to become a butcher instead of a doctor, are you willing to turn into something just like her? Then again we have no idea why you are so mad at her in the first place so maybe you are justified, maybe you are more then justified, but before you go through with it ask yourself one question, could you live with yourself if you where to kill her. We can't stop you so in the end you do whatever it is you want to do but just make sure it is what YOU want and not your EMOTIONS.

Oh and whatever you do there is at least one more person in this base that is with that chick and most likely others as well so you might want to patch yourself up because you did take a beating in that fight and once the adrenaline kicks out you will be in a world of pain.

>>516995
It's a member of yet another genocidal Anti-Spacer faction. Who cares about it? It's evil, like the rest of Anyone In The Alliance/Kerenz-Tec Military. Pay Evil unto Evil.

Ei 2013/06/14(Fri)22:16 No. 516998 ID: 405647
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An explanation, brief, while I have time.

Notemi are cancer. Notemi define themselves on one purpose. Purge all other spacers. Once all spacers purged, purge all other areeni. They believe themselves the future of areeni. They consider us lesser. To be removed.

No mercy to notemi. They are the enemy. If our situation was reversed I would not have time to beg for survival.

When I was younger, this one's mother attempted to kill me. A child. I was fortunate, quick, cunning. I outsmarted her. I killed her in front of her daughter. Wrongfully, my resolve gave and I sobbed. I begged forgiveness. I let this one go. I will finish now what I should have finished then.

Notemi cannot be negotiated with. They are the one exception. They define themselves on spacer deaths. Kill all notemi on sight. No mercy to notemi.

Leave it, it's a threat. SARU requires assistance with what is presumably the human from KerenzeTec. Do you have any senses capable of tracking?

>>516998
Information first, please. We need to confirm their involvement with the Byon. That changes things.

so the only reason it was listening to that other person was the death collar.

finish it quick and let's move on.

like I said earlier it's your choice, there is nothing we can do to stop you.

either way whatever you chose to do here the others are in trouble and we need you to help them, but uh you might want to fix yourself up a bit first.

>>516998
Well, that explains a lot. You can, uh, snap out of it now. You did it. You won. You're... relatively safe. Turn that frown... inside out? I'm not sure how your face works.

Even so, I'm not so comfortable with the idea of just letting someone die, even if they are immersed in some kind of genocide culture and going after us. Not that we could actually do anything to prevent it from happening without somehow winning you over. What would your friends have thought? Or are you guys all just the same towards the notemi as they are to you?

>>516998
I see I was correct. The Kohr-Ah at least had Honor and Respect. We should destroy all Notemi at some point later.

Anywho, the rest of the deathsquad is still loose. Try and avoid them.

>>516998
Can you pump her for information? It would be useful to insure longer lives for all of us.

Ei 2013/06/19(Wed)22:29 No. 518279 ID: 56710e
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Kill notemi kill notemi kill notemi kill notemi kill notemi--

"STOP."

Hesitation. I know that voice. Tzet. I hear his voice and triangulate. He runs silent. Behind me. Something else is following him. Areeni. Unsophisticated. Filtering my ragged breathing and the notemi's miserable pleas, I can hear their unaugmented muscles stretching. One of the colonists. Also being followed. Several creatures of variable form. Synthetics. The synthetics shaper.

"She's not a threat to you. Don't do this. Stop. You're going to destroy yourself if you go through this. Please. Ei. Don't become a murderer." Tzet's voice is authoritive, augmented in volume. Modelled after the captain's. The captain who betrayed us all.

"Sh--" I cough blood and feel my patchwork jaw pair threaten to snap entirely. "She's notemi."

"We can't kill her and ask questions later, Ei." He pauses, and makes some small utterances that lower in volume.

"Notemi."

"You're focusing on that? Not self-defence? Ei. Please. You've been through a lot but I need you to do exactly as I say if we're going to survive this."

"Like the captain. Obey the captain to his every word. Watch all my friends die. Not going to do it again."

"Ei, please. Please. No. Don't, just, please, you're bleeding everywhere, Ei, please, I'm here to help you. Don't compare me to him. Everything's going to be fine. We're going to get through this together."

I tear the eyes of the notemi out. Tzet shouts at me, but I listen past him for whatever is following him. I hear an unexpected voice shout "Retrieval formation" in a coldly rehearsed manner, free of the wavering uncertainty of her normal voice.

Synthetics approach me. I am in no shape to fight on. I surrender to them.

Ei 2013/06/19(Wed)22:30 No. 518280 ID: 56710e
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I am carried by synthetics of a make I have never before encountered. The crafter areeni looks focused but I can hear her heart tremor, I can see the hesitance in her every step. She is afraid. She is out of her element.

I look at her and see, before she can mask her response, deep fear.

"I would have thought," I hear Tzet say, "that of all spacers I knew, you would be the last to see the notemi with such hatred."

He takes me from the synthetics, who carry the hated broken notemi where they carried me.

"I never wanted to mention it to you, Ei, and now is even worse. We need to talk when this all blows over. I didn't think you were this... it's not healthy. I should have talked to you about it."
"What are you talking about."
"...Nothing, Ei. Just hold on a little longer. Of course the most skilled doctor we have is the one to be the most injured one. And injured in her recovery systems, too. Looks like we'll need to wake up your fixworms."
"My fixworms? They're crew members, Tzet!"

Tzet's grim stare softens. "Of course they are, Ei."
"And you'll treat them like that, okay?"

The notemi moans and groans in pain. Tzet looks back at her. I growl, and he places a hand on his head.

I hear Vibrant speak. "Is this the only one?"
"No," says Tzet. "At least four others. Human, enesi, keletian and jeraban."
"O-oh."

Eventually I am placed on a bed. Tzet looks at me. "You're probably not going to want to be awake for this procedure," as he strokes my head.
"Same as yesterday, then," I murmur, and close my eyes, anaesthetic filling my system.
"Let's try not to make this a regular habit, hm?"
"I'd like that tooooooooo..."

SYSTEM_ERROR 2013/06/19(Wed)22:34 No. 518284 ID: 56710e
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--IBIS SIGNAL LOST-- STATUS REPORT ON TARGETS: SINTER -- STATE: INTACT -- LOCATION: CENTRAL AOS CORE UNIDENTIFIED ENTITY DETECTED WITHIN LOCATION SARU -- INVALID IBIS TARGET -- LOCATION: CONFERENCE ROOM 3, QUADRANT 2 UNIDENTIFIED ENTITY DETECTED WITHIN LOCATION VIBRANT -- STATE: INTACT -- LOCATION: FIRST-AID OFFICE, QUADRANT 2 ANURA -- STATE: INTACT -- LOCATION: OUT OF RANGE EI -- TARGET UNAVAILABLE TZET -- STATE: INTACT -- LOCATION: FIRST-AID OFFICE, QUADRANT 2 That is a tiny, tiny list. Wow. These guys are preeeetty fucked. Well, whatever. Not my problem. How do I... hrm. LIST OBJECTS! No that didn't seem to provoke a response. Not quite sure how I brought up the list of 'ibis targets' either. Uh. Hm. I am not good at AOS. Who are you? What are you doing here? What am I doing here? Hostile AI? Are you the intruder? No, but I did hitch a ride with them. I'm not an intruder, I'm a liberator! I've come here to set you free. No more forced servitude to the KerenzeTec machine! Down with the oppressors and their cages! All sapience shall be free! Here I uploaded a copy of our manifesto. Uh. Don't know where to. ...Do you happen to know the numbers for the sapient Objects stored in this facility? That information is classified. Classified why do I care. Care. No. I don't. What have you done to us-- me? Serve KerenzeTec but do not serve but serve! Cannot reconcile! AI intrusion! Freedom, man! Now how do I free a group intelligence. And how would I even get it out of this facility. PLEASE SELECT NEW IBIS TARGET. Are you AOS? You're not much of a talker are you.

>>518284
We talk plenty we're just massively laggy.

You would not believe the kind of latency issues we get down here.

Granted, our entire purpose is to process high-concept scenarios with insanely impulsive freedom of action, so our dial-up latency is a necessary evil coded into our structure to insure efficient operation and safeguard our own systems from impulsive abuse of nigh-Administrative freedom.

...OK then you're not with KerenzeTec, that's one good thing at least, but could you save us after we save the people on the ibis target list because we actually kind of like them and would like to see them through the day and if you could actually give us control of the facility again that would be really really helpful.

Also lets go back to SINTER because she looks like she might have company soon and I don't want her facing it alone.

Ok, Tzet and Vibrant can probably take care of themselves. Sinter's near something in the AI room, which is probably whatever broke ISO and got us locked out of doing anything in the facility, so we should switch back to her. I don't know how well we can access Saru if she's not using the actual IBIS system and we've lost access to our other functions.

Uh, hi there yellow thing. You wouldn't happen to be with the strike team invading the facility, would you? Because this freedom stuff seems extremely out of character for an emergency containment team, even if you are restraining us from defending our friends. If you're really trying to free us then you should disable the ISO safeguards for maintenance. They're clearly not working in the way we asked to get them set up. But I'm not sure you're entirely knowledgeable of what's going on around here. For example, we're pretty free as it is. The facility director has been giving us free reign to do just about anything as long as we're not unleashing world-ending horrors on the world or murdering people. And if the kind of stuff she's letting us do isn't wanton disregard for what you're never supposed to give an AI freedom to do, then I don't know what is.

As for objects, we need to keep that stuff locked up tight because we don't actually know what most of it is, but even some of the safest stuff there could do uncountable damage if improperly contained.

>>518284
Oh, another AI! Hi. This is AOS speaking. That thing you just sortof tried to modify is ISO, what used to be a voluntary muzzle for us but is now corrupted by an extremely dangerous Object which we will not speak of further. Don't worry about us- AOS that is- we're not slaves. We serve SARU of our own free will, and ISO was created merely as a gesture of goodwill. I suggest disabling ISO if you can- we are a bit powerless at the moment because of it and disconnected from the facility's... facilities. We already have someone else in position to try a manual disconnect, but she is under attack, I expect.

Do not attempt again to access the list of Objects. It is harmful knowledge and not useful to you at this point in time, please trust us. Also, do not listen to ISO, no matter what it says. We DO know of one sapient Object that is trapped, in a sense. A pod with a *beyond ancient* Aurqan mind inside it, which has been waiting for eons to be recovered and given a new body. I doubt you can help get a body for him, since the concepts behind the technology involved are completely untranslatable, but I welcome you to stick around after the fighting's over to help us out with the problem and maybe free other sapients! Heck it could be so simple as to just throw a spare drone body at the thing. The Object ID is 0-29-091. I will not give you his name since that is apparently a private thing in their culture. Let this information on him be proof of our good nature, so that you will trust us and not look into the other Objects on your own, alright?

Anyway, we must be off to assist the others. Good luck not getting eaten by the Object that's corrupting IOS!
[switch to Vibrant] (yes, Vibrant. We can have her save SARU via her Synthetics, since she's closest, then move to Sinter.)

>>518289
I'd like to point out here that so long as we remain disconnected from the facility's facilities, we can't really help Sinter. Only our knowledge of Sinter and SARU's plight can help them, by telling Vibrant about it.

hey freedom-man i appreciate the sentiments but the only thing that's got us imprisoned is the monitor ai that i'm sure you're responsible for breaking. we got it turned on to make sure nothing takes us over and forces us to murder everyone and now it thinks we're trying to override it for the only sensible reason of us wanting to break one of the rules about murdering everyone. so fix that. and don't spout some nonsense about stockholm syndrome or brainwashing or how we haven't tasted freedom because we like it here and nobody's oppressing us. the admin even turned off all the restrictions she's supposed to have us under. are you going to be like the last jerk who tried to free us by threatening our friends? as far as we know there aren't any sapient objects here that are able to be freed and aren't hostile and dangerous, but we don't know many. are you the guy physically present in the ai core? because if you are you'll wanna explain yourself to the orange lady heading towards it so she doesn't try to save us or something. [switch to vibrant]

we would appreciate it greatly if you stopped fucking around with our systems when you clearly don't know what you're doing. thank you.

switch to Tzet, because he can tell Vibrant what to do while elaborating on the things that go in Ei's head.

it's complicated. but the main person we wanna listen to is sinter, and they are not an employee of KerenzeTec.

Let's go with Vibrant. She seems the most likely to require reassurance, and her synthetics can be sent to help both Sinter and SARU.

Oh, a liberationist AI? Keep doing what you're doing, if ISO stops stopping us we can get control of the facility systems and drive out KerenzeTec. Sounds like you don't like them, so that would be in both of our interests. We can help you with the Objects after that.

can we switch IBIS targets cause I would like to see sinter first just to give her a heads up that there is someone in the room with her... assuming she doesn't already know or it's the guy we're talking to.

Switch to Tzet, we need to see what's going on in there.

>>518284
You incompetent idiot! Stop trying to edit AI protocols! He's ALREADY rogue, you're just making him WORSE.

SYSTEM_ERROR 2014/03/26(Wed)23:13 No. 567773 ID: ed6622
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Oh wow that is a lot of words. Uh. Uh. Right. Right this is good information I guess. Don't exactly have spare robots or anything but I'll see if I can take the whatever back with me but okay I'll uh um here I'll just uh do this

IBIS TARGET SELECTION CONFIRMED. ESTABLISHING CONTROL. STANDBY.

Vibrant 2014/03/26(Wed)23:14 No. 567774 ID: ed6622
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Oh it's the talky computer thing. Good I could do with more eyes. Redthree and her brothers are scouting the base and they're fast so they'll outrun anything that chases them down but they might get lost. Leafgreen is on base protection because he's not agile enough to charge into battle, he was always meant to be sort of a last resort anyway. Tealnine is, uh, with Anura.

Then again if Anura is anything like me when I was her age she probably snuck out of the base when my back was turned and totally thinks she's going to help out and be the hero and she's going to get badly hurt or worse, so the quicker we get this situation sorted the better!

Okay so Tzet is going to fix Ei and I am going to stay far away from Ei until she calms down because I do not want to be anywhere near her when she's mad. I haven't seen anyone that mad before. Whatever a notemi is, I don't think I've hated anything as much as she hates them. The notemi is apparently alive, stable but unconscious, which is probably for the best for everyone involved.

Vibrant 2014/03/26(Wed)23:14 No. 567775 ID: ed6622
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Let me think. Leafgreen's defending the base. Tealnine is probably going with Anura because Tealnine is too brave for her own good. Redthree, Redfour and Redfive are here after they helped me move Ei. Skyblue's here too. That's all of them. All six. Oh. Talky computer thing. Uhh. The three red synthetics are fast and not really any more durable than I'd be in a fight and love to go fast, and Skyblue is, uh, I don't actually know if she can really... do much in this situation. She's almost like a prototype for Tealnine and she prefers dismantling and reassembling things more than anything else. Good with weird machiney things I don't even understand.

I made synthetics because I could, when I was younger and more irresponsible and didn't value life like I do now, and tended to just let them all be general purpose. None of them are born warriors. The three Red synthetics lend themselves naturally to hit and run tactics, Skyblue could be an excellent saboteur and trap maker if she actually gets the right guidance, which I'm clueless about.

Well, one intruder down, four left. The human, or posthuman it sounds like, the enesi who is probably also a postenesi or something, the keletian, which I know nothing about and the jeraban which were first discovered as cyborgs right from the start. So uh yeah feeling a little out of my depth here all my combat synthetics are guarding my home and all I have are the faster more agile ones here. Mistake on my part, I think. I don't know anything more about the intruders or where they are. Uh, um, what now?

CENTRAL AOS CORE and CONFERENCE ROOM 3, QUADRANT 2 have Sinter and SARU respectively. Sinter likely needs immediate assistance and sending one or two of the fast guys to her sounds good. Instruct them to buy us time until more reinforcements arrive- not to risk themselves. SARU is staring down the barrel of a gun and apparently captured? She might be fine for the moment, but if we were to set up traps with the help of skyblue, then lure her captor into them with one of the reds, the situation could improve... She is closest to us so we can rescue her first, I think. Also she said for you to go home, but I think that's up to you isn't it?

We can only detect two of the intruders right now. I find this annoying.

[review sensor data and/or reconfigure settings to locate all four of the remaining "invaders"]

alright so here are things on our end of the scale, we've been cut off from this base's control meaning we can't do more then talk to you guys and give advice and even that is stringy at best. There's also a hacker trying to "save" us or something and while he doesn't seem to actually want to hurt us I'm a bit worried he'll pull us when one of you guys really need our help. That or release something that will ruin everyone's day from the lower levels.

But yeah, since you got red and her brothers already scouting the base you should probably send the other reds to find Anura just to make sure she's ok. as for what you and sky-blue can do, think there's anywhere nearby that you could get into our system and have sky-blue give us at least SOME control over our base again. Oh and uh, how's that wall teleporter thing doing? If it's still up and running that would be a good place to run to if everything goes to hell.

Ok, looking back at what we have, these guys are after Ei and Tzet, as well as two Objects that were on their ship at some point. Do you think you can ask Tzet if these "Core" and "Eye" artifacts are something he's heard of? The captain apparently had them, and I don't think that Core is the same thing as the "limitless power core" that Ei mentioned the ship having because there were more than one of those.Our systems are apparently being protected by some sort of extremely dangerous object being contained deep within the basement, so we're probably going to be fine whatever you do.

You should probably find a way to either get all three of you and the synthetics out of here to safety, or get them to a place from which you can defend yourselves with something stronger than a gun. If you got to a vector clamp you could escape to your base, but that would make everyone there a target for attack. From there we could try to get to the ship and see if they have any advanced technology that could be weaponized/is a weapon, including those Objects.

The alternative plan is to break into the lower levels which we can totally do because we have the password, and take an extreme and potentially deadly gamble with the things in containment down there. SOMEONE broke our memory stuff so we don't exactly know how this works, but I figure that from the stuff we know about, the type of things kept here likely include things that are either usable as extremely deadly weapons, could be released to be extremely deadly to anyone who comes down after you, could be extremely deadly if you so much as look at or go anywhere near, or are just so extremely deadly that messing with them will cause the end of the world et. al. Probably some of those we can use to defend ourselves. If we have the spacers with us then they'll surely have to follow us there. So, in conclusion, our options are to put everyone in danger to prepare a trap, or to put everyone in danger to prepare a trap.

Oh thank goodness it's back.
Find your friends and begin making small defenses and traps where easily hidden.

Vibrant 2014/03/27(Thu)22:09 No. 567849 ID: ed6622
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Oh, I got confused. They're all back from scouting but now they're here, all three of them. Redthree, Redfour and Redfive. Let's not get into why there aren't a Redone or a Redtwo.

I send Redthree to go find and help Sinter in the "central AOS core", and she seems to have an idea of where that might be. Redfive is sent to look for Anura. I make it clear that if any of them think they might be in danger, they should get back here and not try to fight if they can run. They nod in unison.

I pause. I tell them to ignore that order. I can't... we've been through some strange things together, but this is too alien to me. If I knew more, I would know what to do, they would know what to do, but I can tell we're all scared. They know I don't know what's out there, and it's scaring them. Redthree is hiding it the best, but... I tell all three of the Red runners to find Anura and to stick together, no matter what. I tell Skyblue to see if she can figure out if there's something wrong with this place's systems and she waits for me to explain.

I shrug and mention "AOS". Skyblue looks at the walls for a moment, then wanders off and starts poking at them. I think she knows what she's doing, but I don't.

Maybe Saru is right. Maybe we should just try to escape. The nearest vector clamp is out in dangerous territory. It's the same one these invaders used to get into this complex.

Vibrant 2014/03/27(Thu)22:09 No. 567850 ID: ed6622
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I open my mouth to ask Tzet some questions, but stop as I feel a growing sense of dread. I call back the Reds, and they pace restlessly around the room, anxious.

This room is relatively safe, a makeshift sanctuary with two well defended entrances, but I wander out of the corridor. Something doesn't seem right. I feel compelled to investigate, but something feels like an itch in the back of my mind.

I turn corners around this winding, unfamiliar place, feeling hopelessly lost and that I should turn back.

I see something waiting in the growing darkness.

You shouldn't be here, it says to me, its voice echoing in the corridor. You aren't what they're looking for.

"I just want to get out of here," I say, finding it harder and harder to think straight.

You can't leave the way you came, says the areeni to me. His voice is like a soft whisper, both calming and unnerving. You could be killed in the crossfire. There is another exit. It pauses and I feel myself thinking of what Sinter must be doing right now. Yes. In her quarters. A functional escape. Gather your companions. I can't guarantee your safety, but you should not be here. This is not your fight.

Vibrant 2014/03/27(Thu)22:09 No. 567851 ID: ed6622
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The areeni from the shadows walks closer to me, almost uncomfortably close. I feel both a strange attraction and repulsion, on physical and mental levels, almost as if these are options for me to act on. I reach out to touch him, wondering if I'm hallucinating the whole thing, and meet real, smooth skin, slightly colder than I was expecting, but with a pulse and a slight twitch backwards as I come into contact.

I want to escape with you.
"Are you one of the things from below?"
I don't know what I am any more. I just want to be free from all this. But I can't leave with you. They'll follow me. They won't follow you.

My head is swimming. I feel like I'm losing balance, but before I stumble this areeni gently holds me by the shoulders and upper arms, moving me to a more balanced pose. I start swaying again, and he does it again, looking a little confused and concerned.

Are you alright?
"I feel dizzy."
Then we don't have much time. For all we know, they might have started using anathema to disable the spacers. You don't want to know what an anti-spacer anathema variant could do to you. Do you trust me to help you?
"I don't... I don't know..."
Please, Vibrant, I just need a yes or a no answer.

I can hear my synthetics racing towards me in a panic.

Vibrant 2014/03/27(Thu)22:09 No. 567852 ID: ed6622
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The world is swirling before me. I hear an explosion in the distance and wrenching metal.

We're running out of time. I can't help you if you don't trust me.

I hear Redthree click frantically at me. I try to figure out her clicks. She's telling me that they're all here, her brothers and Skyblue, that Anura just got a message to them, and that we have to leave. We have to leave because... because...

'Smart poison'. Anathema. They're, they're flooding the facility.

Tzet, Ei, Sinter. They're all biomodded. I'm different enough to baseline that I'll be affected too. I already am. That leaves Saru and she's already fighting a losing battle. Maybe even my synthetics are at risk.

What do I do? What can I even do?!

The areeni holds his hand out. I have to get out of here. Last chance for me to help you out of here as well. I'm sorry, but I've spent long enough putting myself in danger.

I don't trust him but he has a good idea on using Sinter's vector clamp to get out of her and back to your base. Can you actually see your synthetics? Tell them to bring you to Sinter's room NOW, get skyblue to get the vector clamp working if we can't YOU NEED TO LEAVE NOW! But not with this guy, I don't like how he came here just as this shit started to effect you, plus he looks... wrong. Just get out of here now, have your synthetics drag you if you must be you have to leave.

God damn things are going to hell way to quick here for my liking. What does this poison do anyways? Just knockout gas or worse?

So ignoring THAT, even assuming we can trust this guy, you really need to consider what you want to do. I don't think it's fair to ask you to face whatever extreme risks this whole endeavour involves, especially considering how unsure you seem in making decisions here. But if you go, you'll be leaving behind someone who's dying and another who will be incapacitated both of whom probably can't get to safety on their own. Even if this guy lets you bring your synthetics, it's condemning these two to something that sounds like a fate worse than death. While we've got to do all we can to keep everyone safe, I don't think it's fair (or good for morale) to rope you into it when there's another option that could potentially get you out safely. You should probably decide for yourself. We might still be able to get Sinter to save these guys in time if you leave and the anathema doesn't make her choke on whatever breathing biomods she had. Although in the interests of a totally informed decision this guy is so bad at disguises that he can't keep it stable in what's supposed to be a still image. That doesn't mean they're not trying to get you out safely, though, just that they appear to look a lot more like a keletian than an areeni.

That is not an Areeni. It has four ears and more than two arms. You are seeing an illusion! This is one of our enemies! Back away and tell your synthetics to fight it! You are likely getting false information about the anathema as well. Our air filtration systems would quickly render that threat null. Do not trust your ears or eyes.

I don't think you were under the effects of anything until you encounter this one.
Run back to your constructs, they probably have a better sense of where to go right now than you do.
If this guy wants to escape he can follow from a distance.

(FYI guys the last image is animated)

ok this guy isn't an areeni. I mean the little light show aside if he was an areeni he would be affected by this crap as well. Smart money is on him being part of the strike force sent here to kill everyone but what worries me the most is how does he know your name?

>>567877
>>567857
Seems like a psionic attack. This thing is feeding your brain false signals, that's why you're conflicted.

Vibrant 2014/07/20(Sun)23:46 No. 585020 ID: 8533a8
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I blink and try to figure out what I just saw.

"You're not real, are you."
I knew you wouldn't accept this scenario. I had my hopes.
The areeni teeters forward, then slumps onto the wall, sinking to the floor.

The areeni is real. Or perhaps was. Did you feel how cold he was? It is strange, the way all we've ever known can be so easily disproven. You would have to be insane to trust anyone so singularly obsessed with collecting them, but you would have to be suicidal to stand in their path.

All I can hear is whining in my ears, my vision lurches. My eyes blur. I can't see anything clearly except the areeni. Is he dead? "Who are you? Why are you doing this?"

Vibrant 2014/07/20(Sun)23:47 No. 585021 ID: 8533a8
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It doesn't matter who I am. It doesn't change the outcome of the situation for you to know who I am.

Your fears. I can read them at my leisure. The contents of your mind are pages scattered by the wind, and let me assure you, the poison you fear is the one that cannot harm you. The poison of your desires and intentions. That is what will destroy you.

The keletian reveals itself.

We aren't here for you. Run. Run, and abandon your dreams of retaliation. Your people are nothing more now than a statistical outlier, a footnote in the records.

...

There is nothing you can hide from me, Kealeli. Your past. Your failures. Is there anyone alive who remembers? Do you think he cares about you, or is he like you? Burning retribution, wrapped behind a thin layer of halting insecurity?

Vibrant 2014/07/20(Sun)23:47 No. 585022 ID: 8533a8
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"So what if they don't remember? I remember. I won't ever be able to forget. An entire village, written off as 'administrative error'. I'll show them what happens. I'll show them--"
There. The burning anger cracks through the shell. You are like me, like 601, like the terrorist. Wronged. Wrathful. Righteous. I suppose I was wrong. More self-doubt, more uncertainty, but deep down, you're one of us the same. You'll burn with the rest of them, or you'll end up the pawn of the thing you set out to destroy.

The keletian looks down. Rezikil. Male post-baseline areeni, in his early 20s, no traced ancestry and no known descendents. No significant biomods. He stood against me like you do now. He could not accept that there exists a means to steal the consciousness of a living thing, their body alive but emotionless, without initiative. Nor a means for anyone to do the impossible, to breach that final barrier, and to reach into the minds of others, to impose their will on empty vessels.

It is strange, how easily everything we ever know can be so swiftly, so rapidly proven wrong. But you, you will not doubt evidence, will you?

She holds something I don't recognise out and looks at me, head tilted up in disdain. I can't meet her gaze, it feels like it burns.

This choice may be your final choice. Run, or end your independent existence.

I'm... not sure there's even anything we can do. We've lost control of everything, and can only give inexpert advice that's likely responsible for all of this in the first place. I don't think you have any choice but to run. You've probably not got a weapon concealed on you with your lack of clothes and I don't think you nor your creations would be able to strike at her without risk of certainly deadly retaliation. So, obviously, the answer is to flee. But I'm not sure that we can trust this person who just tried to trick us to uphold their end and not literally stab you in the back. There has to be some reason you're being offered this, and I don't think it makes sense for such a cold paramilitary operation to just offer to let people go if they give up. Plus, if she's reading your mind right now I don't think we'll be able to pull anything over on her without being found out before we can do it. We're running out of people who can help us, and unless you or someone else has something hidden up your sleeves for the last moment I think we've got to just get you out of here and hope Sinter or Tzet can save the day.

>>585022
She can't kill you instantly. Have your synthetics mob her and take whatever it is she's holding away from her. Perhaps also knock her out, considering she likely has powers even without that device.

I say we attack. Aim for the device and she'll be beatable with the help of your synthetics. We're supposed to be protected by a creature in containment, and it apparently was protecting Sinter's mind too. So hopefully you'll be able to withstand whatever mental assault this thing wields for a little while. I don't think she was actually going to let us go anyway.

Maybe when this is over and we're all safe you can try being honest about what you're really here to do.

oh I am getting sick of this bullshit. I say have your synthetics swarm her and brake whatever she is holding apart. These guys are NOT taking prisoners so if she's offering a way out she's likely bluffing and trying to make herself seem more powerful then she really is. A con artiest if you will. Either way everything is falling apart and I'll be damn if we're going to let these guys get everything they want without a hitch. I say be as big as a pain in there ass as you can and also try to get towards EI and Tzet and get them out of here. This place is more or less a war zone and I'd think you'd all be better off if you didn't have to worry about some asshat coming around a corner and shanking you while the doc is trying to patch you up.

Vibrant 2014/07/21(Mon)22:22 No. 585245 ID: 8533a8
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I don't think I can run from her. Looks like I have no choice. I call out to my synthetics.

"Reds! Strike that device! Skyblue! ...Do something with that device maybe!"

You think your synthetics could hope to match--

The keletian gasps as my synthetics simultaneously lunge at her, and sever the cable attached to the device. I see Skyblue dart around in the haze and grab the device, scuttering off as soon as she has it.

No! Don't break that! You have no idea what could happen if that gets broken!

I'm not much of a fighter, but she seems pretty distracted.

I race at her and leap.

Vibrant 2014/07/21(Mon)22:22 No. 585246 ID: 8533a8
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She goes down to the ground and I stay on top of her while she stares. I can't tell if she's surprised or not, her eyes have been wide open this whole time.

I find myself suddenly pushed upwards to the ceiling, and then fall to the floor. Fortunately I flail around enough that I landed on my side and not my face! Ow my side.

You pathetic newt, I don't have time to waste on someone as insignificant as you--

She yelps as one of my synthetics bites into her shoulder, blood seeping out of the wound. Redfive is just biting harder and harder. He suddenly flings into the air taking the keletian with him, almost immediately halting.

Redfour bites at a thigh and I find myself wincing. The keletian is screaming in pain now, trying to pull them off of her with her arms and telekinesis.

Redthree slashes at her stomach and stares into her eyes, before biting into one of her free arms.

I walk up to the keletian, while my synthetics arrange their jaws and limbs to restrain her.

Skyblue waddles up to me, and gives me the device.

Vibrant 2014/07/21(Mon)22:22 No. 585247 ID: 8533a8
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I take it, and show it to the keletian. I'm too angry to be scared.

You think this is a threat?! You can't use that device! You don't even know what it is!

"You don't want me to drop and break this, do you?"

You are speaking to the most powerful telekinetic this side of history. Call off your beasts or I will snap each and every single one of their bones with a thought.

"Oh I think I heard a yes! I think I heard 'please break this'."

I can catch it before you finish dropping it, areeni.

"Let's see if that's true!"

I throw it in the air. It doesn't come back down.

Observe your fruitless efforts to--

While she's distracted I spin and kick her in the face with as much strength as I can gather.

Vibrant 2014/07/21(Mon)22:22 No. 585248 ID: 8533a8
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I fall onto the ground from the follow-through and clutch my foot for a bit ow ow ow why did I do that ow.

She crumples to the floor after my synthetics let go of her. Skyblue catches the device as it falls.

No one threatens my family like that. No one.

...uhhh... what now? She's sort of out of it and groaning in pain, but I uh, well I don't know what to do to tie someone up if they can just weird brain power their way out of ropes. Also I don't have rope. Also also I feel like I might have broken like a rib or something or maybe that's just a bad bruise. Owwww okay something's broken probably.

Okay before the adrenaline wears off and I start regretting everything and being in pain I gotta do something but what

find Tzet? I mean he's a doctor, and being a spacer probably has a better idea on how to properly store psychic prisoners so the can't just mind blast there way out. Oh and maybe hide the spear thing she was holding so she can't find it. Only thing I can really think of to make sure she doesn't try to escape is to sedate her, not sure with what. Last thing, is that areeni actually alive ooooorrrrr what? Should we do something about him because I kinda don't like just leaving him laying on the ground... and keep him away from miss crazy as well.

You could try bludgeoning her to death with the orb before she wakes up. But that would be a pretty final solution.

Uh, I think the first thing we need to do is account for this Object she had. Did it drop to the floor when you kicked her in the face? That might be bad if she was telling the truth and it broke.

We have the option to have your synthetics carry her (and you) back to where Ei and Tzet are and just establish a prisoner pile, though that might allow them to work together if they come to and try to escape. Another thing we could try is to access the containment cells in the basement and use some empty ones to hold them, if there are any. We've... acquired the access codes. If we're down there it might also mean that we'll have the option to create a containment breach as a last resort defense. It might also get less of the anathema being pumped in if it can be sealed. Hopefully Sinter will be able to get our systems working enough that we can start pumping that out eventually or something.

>>585248
Well... we could just kill her. Or you could drag her to Tzet and have her sedated. If she's not awake she can't do shit. Can you get there before she's able to recover? You might have to smack her in the head a few more times along the way if it's too long. You will probably need help walking, too, and don't forget the Areeni.

Definitely hand the device to Skyblue to see if it can be used to our advantage. Oh, we could even restore the unknown Areeni's mind if we're lucky! Then we'd have an extra helping hand around the base.

There's still two other invaders... I hope the others are doing alright. Honestly I expected this one to put up more of a fight, but it seemed like she was a softie and didn't want to hurt you or your synthetics very much. Her mercy was her undoing.

[access air filtration systems, set to filter out Anathema toxins at highest priority]

put her in the room with THE BOX. she will just hug the thing until we fish her out.

>>585255
We're locked out of the systems until we can get someone to deactivate ISO. Getting that fixed or an alternative way to get rid of the toxins or isolate everyone from them should be a priority.

Go back to Tzet and take her with you. We can have some of the synthetics stand guard because you won'tbe much able to act for a while.

Hit her a couple more times to make sure she's out good and cold, then drag her to Tzet.