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File 145924554109.png - (11.24KB , 840x600 , 9000.png )
712056 No. 712056 ID: defceb

Somebody is knocking on the door.

"Shouldn't we answer that?" Jeannine leans over to whisper. I shift on my feet awkwardly. After everything that's happened so far I'm left with an awkward sinking feeling. Jeannine prods me in the rib, but my words are stuck in my throat. "It's probably not a drone."

"Doesn't mean it'd be nice." I hear someone whisper from behind me. Their voice sounds just like my own.
Expand all images
>>
No. 712057 ID: 5ad4a7

>>712056
You should turn on your nightvision, then figure out why both your bodies are active.
>>
No. 712058 ID: 526147

Try knocking back.
>>
No. 712060 ID: 7f917c

Yo, make sure both your bodies remain connected, don't want to create a divergent personality.
>>
No. 712062 ID: defceb
File 145924627266.png - (10.11KB , 840x600 , 9001.png )
712062

>Yo, make sure both your bodies remain connected, don't want to create a divergent personality.
I reach up to the cable connecting us. It's missing.

>You should turn on your nightvision, then figure out why both your bodies are active.
I flick nightvision on and look over my shoulder.
>>
No. 712063 ID: defceb
File 145924643078.png - (8.10KB , 840x600 , 9002.png )
712063

My old body is slumped against the wall, but standing. "Jeannine." It whispers a little louder. "My nightvision isn't working."

"Marie?" Jeannine responds.

"Of course."

"What do you remember?"

"We were running from a bunch of drones and I had to reboot." They reach around blindly. "I think I got disconnected from the new body. Where did it go?"

Somebody is still knocking on the door.
>>
No. 712064 ID: 7f917c

Vocalize that you might have messed up with the bodies.

Alternatively, caress your old body.
>>
No. 712065 ID: 5ad4a7

>>712063
Tell yourself that the cable disconnected, now there's two of you. Ask if she hears the uh... guiding voices or whatever you refer to us as.

Jeannine, ask who it is at the door.
>>
No. 712066 ID: 419293

>>712063
what do YOU remember?
>>
No. 712067 ID: 5ad4a7

...it occurs to me that since there was a big gap in the top of the door you could just look out to see who's knocking.
>>
No. 712079 ID: 3d2d5f

>>712063
Speak.

"There's... two of me. I stayed in both places when the cable broke?"

Reach out, tentatively, and interlace the fingers on one hand with your damaged double.

After a giving the moment a chance to be serious like it deserves, spoil it by flirting with yourself. You can't help it!
>>
No. 712081 ID: 2a7417

Secret hugs
>>
No. 712089 ID: 1cebc8

You should be able to reconnect later. There's two of you now so you can survive if one of you dies.

Just focus on finding a light and some connection cable.
>>
No. 712132 ID: defceb
File 145928229130.png - (7.99KB , 840x600 , 9003.png )
712132

>Vocalize that you might have messed up with the bodies.
>Tell yourself that the cable disconnected, now there's two of you.

I whisper back. "There's... two of me. I stayed in both places when the cable broke."

She goes quiet for a moment. Thinking? Looks more like she's listening. Do... do I make that face everytime I'm listening to you guys?

"That doesn't make sense." My voice sounds so weird. Her voice. Scratchy, synthetic.

>Ask if she hears the uh... guiding voices or whatever you refer to us as.
"Can you still hear-"

"Yeah, they want me to make out with you."

>caress your old body.
>After a giving the moment a chance to be serious like it deserves, spoil it by flirting with yourself. You can't help it!
>Secret hugs
"Yeah that sounds about right."

>Jeannine, ask who it is at the door.
She speaks up. "Knock knock, who is it?"

"An angry bitch with a big gun."

"Angry bitch with a big gun, who?"

"I've only got one good arm but that's more than enough to shove this gun up your platinum a-"

"Kinky."

"Shut it Morgan!"
>>
No. 712134 ID: 2a7417

Ladies please, there's more than enough Marie for both of you.
>>
No. 712150 ID: 99a64d

>"Yeah, they want me to make out with you."
I like these guys already.

Anyway, there'll be time for the ultimate masturbation session later, when you're not... in whatever situation this is.
>>
No. 712154 ID: 1cebc8

Okay, roll call.

Marie (old chassis), Marie (new chassis, default), Jeannine, Morgan, who else?
>>
No. 712156 ID: 7f917c

Your old chassis might be running out of power and automatically switched to a lower quality?

Cycle enhanced knockers to check if it works. And to greet your new arrival.
>>
No. 712158 ID: 02422f

>"Yeah, they want me to make out with you."
As long as the voices in your head are advocating makeouts and not murder, you know you're still sane.

Seriously, though, hold hands with yourself. How can you not try that? Besides, until we get a light, or her nightvision comes online, she can't see. And she's pretty dinged up. She might need help getting around.

>That doesn't make sense.
I'm, we're, just data right? If I'm on one hard drive, why can't I be on two? Especially if the body I'm wearing is a time travel duplicate and used to hold a me, until it went brain dead. Maybe we didn't even need to copy everything, just the bits this body was missing?

...I wonder if we plugged in again if we'd be two computers talking or if we'd just merge back into one again. (Don't try that, yet).

>shut it Morgan
They're friends, Jeannine. You can open the door.
>>
No. 712373 ID: 2f4b71

>>712132
>"An angry bitch with a big gun."
Hey, we've got one of those too!
You've still got that, right Jeannine ?
>>
No. 712406 ID: 154dca

>>712132
well obviously you're marie 2.0, she's marie 1.??

or maybe you're marie 3.0? 4 by now? eh fuck it i lost count like 5 threads ago.
>>
No. 712649 ID: 02422f

>>712406
Maire 1.0 would have been the girl dying in a bed, pre-upload (and/or who's still out there somewhere, waiting who knows where for a cure that will never come in this timeline). Marie 2.0 would be after upload. 3.0 would be if Marie ever 'died' and was replaced by the child of her own mind, like Roderick was talking about in that flashback. So... that would make this Marie could be after the umbilical with her twin was cut at least version 4. And that's only so long as we don't consider any of the other stuff that's happened down here worthy of incriminating an identity.

Although a linear count isn't gonna work if we need to account for time-clones, which apparently we've got a lot of. You want naming conventions that represent some kind of branching tree hierarchy.

...it also gets messy if the two parallel Maries reemerge when they connect again, or if they can exchange copies of new memories periodically to stay in sync.
>>
No. 713356 ID: defceb
File 145963776070.png - (34.15KB , 840x600 , 9004.png )
713356

>Marie 2.0, 3.0, 4.0
>I wonder if we plugged in again if we'd be two computers talking or if we'd just merge back into one again.

This line of thought is making my head hurt.

>Cycle enhanced knockers to check if it works.
Yeap, still works.

>Hey, we've got one of those too!
>You've still got that, right Jeannine ?
Jeannine speaks back. "Hey I've got a big gun, too!"

"Please don't shoot them."

"Oh hush, you're no fun."

>Seriously, though, hold hands with yourself. How can you not try that?
...It feels weird to hold my own hand. In a vague, existential discomfort sort of way.

>Ladies please, there's more than enough Marie for both of you.
Fuck it. "Ladies, please, there's enough of me everyone." I hear a pained groan on the other side of the door.

>They're friends, Jeannine. You can open the door.
I motion for Jeannine to open the door.

There's a long moment of silence as Liz looks from me, to other me, to Jeannine, and then back to me. "...Spooky science bullshit?"

"Spooky science bullshit."
>>
No. 713357 ID: defceb
File 145963778140.png - (19.40KB , 840x600 , 9005.png )
713357

"Hey girls! Did you miss me?"
>>
No. 713358 ID: 7f917c

>>713357
"No." in unison.
>>
No. 713359 ID: f6442a

Yeah, but our aim's getting better!
>>
No. 713361 ID: 02422f

Oh good, he has a light, for the half of the group without darkvision.

>"Hey girls! Did you miss me?"
Oh gods, Maries, you have to tease him.

Simultaneous yeses. And pose. (Double your pleasure, double your fun).

>after silly stuff
You're glad they're okay. Uh, did they see the others...?
>>
No. 713364 ID: 5ad4a7

Ask if your huge mistake with Haley ended up with anyone dead. Also, ask how you wound up escaping.
>>
No. 713405 ID: f56624

>>713359
>>
No. 713873 ID: defceb
File 145980480465.png - (22.08KB , 840x600 , 9006.png )
713873

"Yeah, but our aim is getting better."

"So mean!"
>>
No. 713874 ID: defceb
File 145980495409.png - (22.87KB , 840x600 , 9007.png )
713874

The emergency lights flick on just in time for me to watch Liz stomp Morgan out of the way. "What he's trying to say is that it's good to see you in one piece. Sort of."

"Are the others...?"

"A little worse for wear, but alive. Once Haley kicked your ass in she bolted down here, and we've been hunting her since then. I don't suppose you or your uh... friends, have happened to catch her?"
>>
No. 713875 ID: 5ad4a7

>>713874
Tell her Jeannine got in a fight with Haley but lost, and Haley took something that... might have changed her, either for the better or worse. Haven't seen her since.

But seriously did they see you leave the room or get taken to be repaired or what?
>>
No. 713876 ID: 1cebc8

Ask her what her inventory is and what she's seen. You'll want to pool your resources and intel to get to the shutdown area.
>>
No. 713877 ID: 02422f

>I don't suppose you or your uh... friends, have happened to catch her?
Ran into her, briefly. She threw us off a cliff. So, yeah. Could have gone better.

*point at Jeannine * ...the weird thing is I'm pretty sure Haley ripped out her connection to the creepy dude who's been in the drones and was messing with my head before.

Um. What was the plan if you manage to find her?
>>
No. 716952 ID: defceb
File 146079765038.png - (22.92KB , 840x600 , 9008.png )
716952

“Ran into her, briefly. She threw us off a cliff. So, yeah. Could have gone better.” I point towards Jeannine “The weird thing is I'm pretty sure Haley ripped out her connection to the creepy dude who's been in the drones and was messing with my head before. ...Um. What was the plan if you manage to find her?”

“Oh! I have a plan!” Morgan springs back up to his feet. Er, foot.

“Morgan, no.” Liz groans.

“Morgan, yes! My plan is flawless!” Morgan proudly announces as he pulls out some paper and shoves it into my hand. “See? It’s perfect!”

It’s… it’s a Morgan plan, I can say that much.
>>
No. 716953 ID: 5ad4a7

Ask him if he's got the important trident.
>>
No. 716965 ID: 02422f

>>716952
Tell him he'll need to draw in an extra Marie to be accurate now, but in his defense, there's no way he could have known that.
>>
No. 716976 ID: 1cebc8

We use one Marie as bait, confuse her with the other Marie, and then chop her head off.

We only need the head, so use lethal takedowns but keep her brain intact. She's an android, she can take it.
>>
No. 722282 ID: cbc9e6

>>716976
If an android could handle getting their head chopped off, we wouldn't have had our ass handed to us so much. I'm pretty sure Haley's gonna be toast if she looses too much coolant.

Does anybody know which floor you're on? And how to get to floors 4/5?
>>
No. 725622 ID: defceb
File 146408114643.png - (14.81KB , 840x600 , 9009.png )
725622

“So do you have the trident?”

“It’s a, uh, work in progress.”

“Add another Marie to the plan while you’re at it, for accuracy’s sake.”

“Right, uh, so are you two like clones or copies or…?”

“I don’t know.”

“I’m not a copy! I think.” Jeannine adds in.

“How about this for a plan: I’ll play bait to lure Haley out, we confuse her with a second me, and then pop her head off. Or drop her coolant enough to force her to shut down.”

“I’ll play the bait.” The other me speaks up, grunting as she pulls herself up to her feet against the door frame.

“You’re barely moving as is.”

“Less to lose. Besides, she already knows I exist. She doesn’t know you do, yet. How do you plan to lure her out, anyway? Just stand around and hope she walks by?”
>>
No. 725625 ID: 094652

Split into two teams. Marie1 and Jeannine will continue to the emergency shutdown chambers, while the rest of the party tails them from a distance. Head to the server room and see if the door was ripped open already, might save you some time.
>>
No. 725647 ID: 3d2d5f

>How do you plan to lure her out, anyway? Just stand around and hope she walks by?
...Haley attacked Jeannine to pull out her creepy dude infection. But we didn't kill ours, we balled him up and put him in quarantine. Now, reinfecting yourself would be stupid, but if we took him out and hooked him up to a radio or something we could fake it. She might show up to give you a shadow-ectomy.

>aside
...be careful, okay? I know it's for Haley, but, don't be any dumber with risk taking than we have been just because I'm a spare, okay?

>what else
So do we have any actual ideas on how to disable robo-Haley besides just going at it? That's been hit or miss, at best.
>>
No. 725719 ID: 7f917c

But, we don't want to lose us!
>>
No. 725733 ID: 7d9f2e

"i love myself too much to let you go ;-;"
alt: I DON'T KNOW HOW TO QUIT YOU

but in all seriousness, from a purely state-of-disrepair standpoint, Marie1 has a point :/
>>
No. 726047 ID: d65d5f

>>725622
ok but don't you dare die before you two make out.
>>
No. 727372 ID: defceb
File 146486109224.png - (12.24KB , 840x600 , 9010.png )
727372

>"i love myself too much to let you go ;-;"
>ok but don't you dare die before you two make out.
>But, we don't want to lose us!
G-guys, is this really the time to be flirting with myself?

...would that be masturbation or- not the time to think on that.

>Marie1 and Jeannine will continue to the emergency shutdown chambers
We just hit that a moment ago.

>...Haley attacked Jeannine to pull out her creepy dude infection. But we didn't kill ours, we balled him up and put him in quarantine. Now, reinfecting yourself would be stupid, but if we took him out and hooked him up to a radio or something we could fake it. She might show up to give you a shadow-ectomy.
I relay this idea to the others. Morgan perks up. “I can help with that! Haley’s been leaving broken up drones in her wake, so we don’t have a shortage of spare parts lying around.”

“I just hope we don’t run into any more working ones.” Liz says.

“Emergency power is only good for lights and ventilation down here. Anything Haley missed is just fancy scrap now.”

“You seem to know a lot about this place, Morgan.”

“Who me? I’m just a poor patient trying to survive.” He makes a sly sort of smile as he speaks.
>>
No. 727374 ID: 094652

Let's get started. Marie, can you give us a map interface of the local area, and a list of abilities and inventory? We'll figure out where to co-ordinate the ambush.

Look for some emergency repair stations / medical supplies. You may be incapacitated after Hungry Hungry Haley pounces into an underwhelming force of scared survivors.
>>
No. 727432 ID: a107fd

>>727372
>would that be masturbation

It's only masturbation if you reconnect the interface cable first. Clonecest regardless.
>>
No. 727445 ID: 2a7417

>would that be masturbation or-
It would be AWESOME.
>>
No. 727463 ID: 398fe1

I don't suppose now is a good time to confront Morgan about not being who he says he is?
>>
No. 727628 ID: a075ba

>G-guys, is this really the time to be flirting with myself?
Well there's two of you. When else would be time to flirt with yourself?

>...would that be masturbation or- not the time to think on that.
Discuss with other-you afterwards!

>so we don’t have a shortage of spare parts lying around
Grab another link cable. We might need to do a mind-to-mind to get through to Haley after she's subdued, or there might be a reason you'd need to reestablish a connection with the other you.
>>
No. 727795 ID: defceb
File 146507256550.png - (33.93KB , 840x600 , 9011.png )
727795

>It's only masturbation if you reconnect the interface cable first. Clonecest regardless.
N-no comment.

>It would be AWESOME.
NO COMMENT.

>I don't suppose now is a good time to confront Morgan about not being who he says he is?
Should I? I could confront him here in front of everyone or get him alone, whichever you think is better.

>Grab another link cable. We might need to do a mind-to-mind to get through to Haley after she's subdued, or there might be a reason you'd need to reestablish a connection with the other you.
That sounds good, we’ll pick one up on the way.

>Let's get started. Marie, can you give us a map interface of the local area, and a list of abilities and inventory? We'll figure out where to co-ordinate the ambush.
I don’t have a map for the area myself. I ask Morgan and he flips over the plan to draw one out hastily on the back. “There used to be more areas but the walls have collapsed in. This is all the space still open.”

All together we have:
Two makeshift shotguns
One handgun
One bulletproof vest (on Liz)
A collection of keys and posters
My swiss army knife
Haley’s ID card
Morgan’s plan
And access to whatever scrap we find along the way.
>>
No. 727799 ID: a075ba

Where are we on this map?

Is this the floor with the security room? If so, I think we finally collected the posters that should get us in. Being able to see what's going on might be an advantage.

It would seem to biggest flaw in our current plan is a way to subdue Haley (especially if we want her alive). Guns have had limited effectiveness on robots so far, as have your past attempts to go robo-a-robo with other bots, even if you've got a new body to wreck.
>>
No. 727801 ID: defceb
File 146507433126.png - (34.77KB , 840x600 , 9011.png )
727801

>Where are we on this map?
Right there.

>Is this the floor with the security room?
That's a few floors up, I think.
>>
No. 727805 ID: a107fd

Any chance the freight elevator could provide a safe route upward?
>>
No. 730902 ID: defceb
File 146639437401.png - (41.20KB , 840x600 , 9012.png )
730902

>It would seem to biggest flaw in our current plan is a way to subdue Haley (especially if we want her alive). Guns have had limited effectiveness on robots so far, as have your past attempts to go robo-a-robo with other bots, even if you've got a new body to wreck.
Any other ideas? Off the top of my head I can only see us either wrecking her body and running off with her brain, or trying to jack into her brain and sort out the mess from within.

...I suppose we could just try to find a way out without, if you don't think we can handle fighting her.

>Any chance the freight elevator could provide a safe route upward?
I ask Morgan.

"Uh, maybe? I don't actually know if that can run off emergency power."

"Are you implying we're trapped down here?"

"Well, I mean, uh," He stumbles over his words. "I think there's a ladder?"
>>
No. 730904 ID: 398fe1

>>730902
Alright let's make a break for it. Who wants to be on when the boss battle happens? My bet's on when we're halfway through that big circular room.
>>
No. 730919 ID: a075ba

Brain to brain might work, but she kind of has to hold still long enough for you to plug in. That's the tricky part, immobilizing her.

Unless you really think you can sneak up behind her without being noticed and dock in her port while she's focused on the other you.

...we need to rig a trap of some kind. Drop something heavy on her, zap her just hard enough to mess up her actuators, grab her with a big electromagnet. Tangle her up in some hard to break cable. Something. We have all kinds of rubble and emergency power to tap into, right?

>...I suppose we could just try to find a way out without, if you don't think we can handle fighting her.
Well it's more a question of how do we fight her without wrecking another 1 to 3 robot bodies.

>ladder between floors
That doesn't sound fun for the Marie with less to lose.
>>
No. 730953 ID: defceb
File 146640892881.png - (22.32KB , 840x600 , 9013.png )
730953

>Alright let's make a break for it. Who wants to be on when the boss battle happens? My bet's on when we're halfway through that big circular room.
Forward, we march! It doesn't take us long to reach the large circular room, and so far no sign of Haley.

Liz and Morgan lead the group, idly chatting as they walk.
"No geothermal plant needs an underground network like this."
"It was only a plant before Haley and her crew moved in here. A retired power plant, actually."
"So what, they move in, dig a bunch of holes and...?"
"Beats me."

Other-Me follows closely behind me. He steps get slower as we walk, and before long I'm practically dragging her along.

>...we need to rig a trap of some kind. Drop something heavy on her, zap her just hard enough to mess up her actuators, grab her with a big electromagnet. Tangle her up in some hard to break cable. Something. We have all kinds of rubble and emergency power to tap into, right?
I keep an eye out on materials we pass. Wires, metal, more than enough to make something to shock her or make an improvised magnet. If I just need to get a cable connected to her I could probably stun her with something improvised long enough to jack in.

Assuming I don't accidentally zap myself with it first, of course.

>ladder between floors
>That doesn't sound fun for the Marie with less to lose.
I turn to other-me. "Think you'll be able to climb a ladder out?"
"I should be fine. Hopefully. I think, I think I'd like to take a nap though."
>>
No. 730966 ID: 398fe1

>>730953
You are being watched. Are those inactive drones to your left up there?

Ladder seems like it might not work at all for tired-Mary. If you can find some rope or something you could tie her to you so she doesn't have to climb.

Stick with the decoy-and-ambush plan regardless.
>>
No. 730973 ID: a107fd

Give your wounded self a piggyback ride, and reconnect the interface cable. She can take a nap for both of you. "Accidentally" fondle her butt in the process.
>>
No. 730980 ID: 3d2d5f

>>730953
If she can lock her arms, you could give her a piggyback ride up a ladder just fine, even if she's sleeping.

Gotta take care of yourself!
>>
No. 731750 ID: defceb
File 146683262920.png - (19.98KB , 840x600 , 9014.png )
731750

>Give your wounded self a piggyback ride
>If she can lock her arms, you could give her a piggyback ride up a ladder just fine, even if she's sleeping.
I tell other me to lock up her arms and hop on my back. Surprisingly, I can lift her with ease. The ladder should be an easy climb even like this.

>reconnect the interface cable. She can take a nap for both of you.
Done. Within a few seconds I feel a dull pain rising up from the connection, and I think I can hear rain in the distance.

I snap the cable back out.

> "Accidentally" fondle her butt in the process.
Um. I don't know how comfortable I'd be with touching myself like that. Especially with Jeannine standing behind us.

>>You are being watched. Are those inactive drones to your left up there?
I look up. It's just staring down at me.
>>
No. 731754 ID: b2d501

Hurry along. You've likely been spotted, the security programs in those drones might be sending intel to Haley and the other brainjacked cyborgs. If they could move, they would have stealthed a long time ago.

What's the next hurdle?
>>
No. 731759 ID: 398fe1

Man I still don't know what's going on, just keep going.
>>
No. 731764 ID: 6ebca4

Wave at it, we are already spotted, so let at least be a little confusing.
>>
No. 731765 ID: e1ceb6

>>731750
Is it just me or does that look alot like you?
(Theory: thats the first you: more info required?)
>>
No. 731774 ID: 0ebaec

>>731750
well that's new.
i wonder if other marie can only see it as a black blob. ask her.
>>
No. 731797 ID: a075ba

>Done. Within a few seconds I feel a dull pain rising up from the connection, and I think I can hear rain in the distance.
Were you picking up her pain over the connection, or was being connected to her causing you pain? That's an important distinction.

The two of you didn't instantly snap back into one consciousness in two bodies, so that's one theory down. For better or worse, you seem to have forked.

>>731750
We've never seen their eyes before. At least, not glowing red.

Looks naked (or at least topless) under the robe. They certainly look like another uplift with wrapping and a visored helmet, now.

Wave? (If you can have a hand free without risking dropping yourself).
>>
No. 732777 ID: defceb
File 146727745205.png - (21.56KB , 840x600 , 9015.png )
732777

>Were you picking up her pain over the connection, or was being connected to her causing you pain? That's an important distinction.
The latter, I think.

>For better or worse, you seem to have forked.
Do you think she has people like you still in her head thinking the same thing? I don't know how to feel about all this still. Maybe it just hasn't really hit me yet.

>Wave at it, we are already spotted, so let at least be a little confusing.
I wave. They give an awkward wave back,

>Is it just me or does that look alot like you?
I think they're shorter than I am.

>i wonder if other marie can only see it as a black blob. ask her.
I nudge other me back up and ask her to look up. She's seeing the same person I am.

>Hurry along.
We make our way to the freight elevator undisturbed.
>>
No. 732780 ID: defceb
File 146727792961.png - (13.85KB , 840x600 , 9016.png )
732780

Liz lifts the far door of the elevator and peeks under it. "Ladders still there," She says, dropping it. "So we have a way back up. Plenty of crates to move around too, if you wanted to lure Haley into here."

Morgan gets to work making the lure for other me, while Jeannine is practically leaning over his shoulder the whole time.

"What's that do?"

"That's the CER2 cable."

"And that?"

"Is a battery. I don't think we've been formally introduced, I'm Morgan."

"I'm Jeannine! Maybe. Marie says my name is Jeannine."

Morgan pauses for just a second in his work.

"What's wrong?"

"Huh, oh, uh, just sounded familiar."

"Knew someone named Jeannine?"

"Honestly I can't recall. It feels like something on the tip of my tongue but... ah, all finished." Morgan tosses a lump of machinery into my hand. "Give that to your better half when you're ready, it should give the signal to lure Haley here."
>>
No. 732913 ID: a075ba

>Do you think she has people like you still in her head thinking the same thing? I don't know how to feel about all this still. Maybe it just hasn't really hit me yet.
Well it seemed like both of you could hear us, early. Maybe she still can, but is just hanging back and letting you take the lead. She did the same thing when you were talking to the others, too.

Or maybe us focusing on you is subjective? Maybe we've started to diverge into two populations.

>I don't know how to feel about all this still. Maybe it just hasn't really hit me yet.
Well, as weird as it is to be a maybe-clone, it's probably weirder to be maybe replaced. She was planning on fixing herself, but then went and accidentally put a person in her spare parts.

Honestly, considering all the head fuckery you've been through, it's a pretty significant display of trust she's willing to accept that you're you. Look after yourself.

>"Give that to your better half when you're ready, it should give the signal to lure Haley here."
We need to pick an ambush site, then. Somewhere with places to hide so she won't see the rest of us, and I can get the drop on her. Maybe with stuff we can use to make a trap. This room has boxes, but it's too open.
>>
No. 734478 ID: defceb
File 146795983004.png - (18.71KB , 840x600 , 9017.png )
734478

>We need to pick an ambush site, then. Somewhere with places to hide so she won't see the rest of us, and I can get the drop on her. Maybe with stuff we can use to make a trap. This room has boxes, but it's too open.
Right. I ask Liz for her thoughts on that.

"If it were up me I'd just take this ladder up and leave this damn place."

"And leave Haley behind?"

"Everything that happened down here, she's at least complicity, if not directly responsible. I don't feel much need to hang around and find whatever zombie you uploaded when we can pack up everyone still alive and skip."

"So the hunt-"

"If I didn't tag along Morgan would have gone down here alone."

Morgan doesn't wait to throw in a "Aww, you do care!"

"...anyway, if I were to organize an ambush from around here I'd take the simple route and lure her up this ladder. We can jury-rig a switch to shut the door behind her and hit her once she comes into view. If you have a better idea though, I'd love to hear it."
>>
No. 734479 ID: b2d501

>>734478
Nah, that sounds good. Get the drop, use gravity as a tactical advantage, and if all else fails, escape the complex with a head start.
>>
No. 734480 ID: 97263f

the problem with that plan is that it effectively blocks off all escape routes in case things go horribly wrong (again). can't run back inside because the door is closed. she'll probably be faster than most of us so running up would be suicide.

then there's the fact that she already beat us in melee before. what's different this time? we need a sufficiently good trap to subdue/disable her. preferably a fail-deadly one, that'll kill her if it fails and not leave us trapped with an unstoppable zombie.
>>
No. 734492 ID: a107fd

Let's just leave, and close the door, without taunting any robo-cannibals on the way out. The way today's been going there's probably some military force guarding the exit, and we'd have an easier time talking our way past them without having to worry about pursuit.
>>
No. 734553 ID: a075ba

>"Everything that happened down here, she's at least complicity, if not directly responsible. I don't feel much need to hang around and find whatever zombie you uploaded when we can pack up everyone still alive and skip."
...I won't blame you if you want to get out. But I think I owe her my life, and it's my fault she's in whatever state she's in now.

>use the ladder as a trap
That would work, although the biggest problem is if anything goes wrong that leaves you guys with your escape route cut off.

What's the "door" Morgan marked? If we just need to lock her in somewhere, that would work as well, maybe.
>>
No. 735971 ID: defceb
File 146857264617.png - (9.89KB , 840x600 , 9018.png )
735971

>Nah, that sounds good. Get the drop, use gravity as a tactical advantage, and if all else fails, escape the complex with a head start.
Alright, I head up the ladder first.

>Let's just leave, and close the door, without taunting any robo-cannibals on the way out. The way today's been going there's probably some military force guarding the exit, and we'd have an easier time talking our way past them without having to worry about pursuit.
I get a few steps up the ladder, and in my head I see myself just continuing the rest of the way up. It's tempting.

>...I won't blame you if you want to get out. But I think I owe her my life, and it's my fault she's in whatever state she's in now.
...you're right. I'll tough this one out.

>then there's the fact that she already beat us in melee before. what's different this time?
We're armed, expecting her, I've got a new body. Jeannine also seems to be pretty trigger happy.

>the problem with that plan is that it effectively blocks off all escape routes in case things go horribly wrong
>That would work, although the biggest problem is if anything goes wrong that leaves you guys with your escape route cut off.
I guess for now this is a risk we'll have to take.
>>
No. 735972 ID: defceb
File 146857265930.png - (10.35KB , 840x600 , 9019.png )
735972

...um
>>
No. 735973 ID: defceb
File 146857267004.png - (22.62KB , 840x600 , 9020.png )
735973

...we need to improvise.
>>
No. 735974 ID: b24d3d

Just attack! Marie1 should focus on sneaking behind her to jack in, then you focus on following her into Haley's mind!
>>
No. 735976 ID: 358228

Throw yourself at her as a distraction.
>>
No. 735979 ID: 908ead

ohno she's cute
>>
No. 735981 ID: 3d2d5f

Toss other-you the Morgan's distraction / lure device, if you haven't passed it to her already.

Get between her and the baseline humans, just in case. Don't charge in and attack before she forces you to. Or until she gives you a chance to jack in.
>>
No. 735991 ID: 398fe1

>>735973
Ambush her at the bottom of the ladder instead of the top! Jump down, she'll jump down after you, and then the fighting starts.
>>
No. 736143 ID: 7f917c

Enhance knockers to enhance morale!
>>
No. 736324 ID: a107fd

"Surrender or be destroyed!"

It's a bluff, either way, but talking is preferable to stabbing, especially when you've got no plan.
>>
No. 736330 ID: b7883c

>>735991
This. Your allies can't get up the ladder in time to help in a fight, so make like you're running away to lure her to them.
>>
No. 736423 ID: c14648

reminder: physically disable her wifi before you connect to her via cable or you leave yourself vulnerable. that would mean disabling her, probably, unless she is for some reason non-violent which is very unlikely.
>>
No. 738036 ID: defceb
File 146926812944.png - (14.18KB , 840x600 , 9021.png )
738036

>Toss other-you the Morgan's distraction / lure device, if you haven't passed it to her already.
I pass it down. I don't hear it crash so I'm guessing they caught it down below.

>Enhance knockers to enhance morale!
It has no effect!

>"Surrender or be destroyed!"
I shout that at her in as much of a confident tone as I can muster. She... rolls her eyes and holds her hands up?

Liz is coming up the ladder behind me. Haley can probably hear her, too.
>>
No. 738037 ID: 398fe1

>>738036
Wait she's actually surrendering? Ask if she's recovered her senses.
>>
No. 738103 ID: b7883c

Really, you're not hear to fight?
>>
No. 738129 ID: 2e2d71

Well her eyes are red and she's got black and red swirly fleck things around her so she's probably not better. Toying with us?

"...really?"

Plan is still to make a mind to mind connection to sort her out, if you can.

>Liz right behind you
Well she's got a good view of your behind, it would seem.

I really don't like having her on the ladder, though. Makes her a sitting duck, especially if Haley opts to shove past you and jump down the shaft to get to other-you / the lure. She really needs to hurry up and get up here (where she's still pretty vulnerable if Hailey targets her, but at least has some room to move) or head back down.

>>735973
...you know, when we were talking with Hailey way earlier, she mentioned they hadn't even gotten to the subject of taking artistic liberties with chassis design. (In reaction to your ears). So how come that body of her, which she hasn't had a chance to work on yet, has those face markings?
>>
No. 738177 ID: a107fd

>>738037
First, if she's actually cooperating, have her lay down on her belly, then tie her hands and feet together. Ask serious questions only after you're sure she's immobilized.
>>
No. 739660 ID: defceb
File 146994053688.png - (12.83KB , 840x600 , 9022.png )
739660

>Well she's got a good view of your behind, it would seem.
W-what?
>>
No. 739661 ID: defceb
File 146994054771.png - (26.32KB , 840x600 , 9023.png )
739661

FUCKING-
>>
No. 739662 ID: 38685c

>>739661
Grab her and fall down.

Sexily
>>
No. 739663 ID: 25c66e

>>739661
Get dunked.
>>
No. 739664 ID: 24100f

>>739661
Grapple her and make the two of you fall to the side. If you fall down the ladder shaft you're going to seriously injure or kill the people below you.
>>
No. 739667 ID: 398fe1

>>739661
Grab her, take her down to where she can be mobbed like the pop star she is.
>>
No. 739676 ID: defceb
File 146994302539.png - (20.82KB , 840x600 , 9024.png )
739676

>Grab her and fall down
>Sexily

I grab her as I fall over, sending us both tumbling down the side.
>>
No. 739677 ID: defceb
File 146994303498.png - (11.74KB , 840x600 , 9025.png )
739677

Ow
>>
No. 739678 ID: defceb
File 146994304610.png - (13.04KB , 840x600 , 9026.png )
739678

Haley's the first to get-
>>
No. 739679 ID: defceb
File 146994305407.png - (16.03KB , 840x600 , 9027.png )
739679

<<Audio squelched; above 140dB>>
>>
No. 739680 ID: 24100f

>>739679
Grab her and do the plug in for mind to mind now a few bullet holes probably won't kill her, but they give you an opportunity.

You'll have to trust other-you to get Jeannine to stop shooting and treat Haley to stop her from bleeding out while you're out of it. It's what you would do, after all.
>>
No. 739681 ID: 38685c

>>739679
Everything went better than expected!
>>
No. 739683 ID: 398fe1

>>739679
Yell for Jeannine to hold her down so you can j-j-jam it in.
>>
No. 739685 ID: 398fe1

Actually wait shouldn't we disable her wireless first?
>>
No. 739688 ID: defceb
File 146994512984.png - (16.67KB , 840x600 , 9028.png )
739688

>Plug in
ON IT
>>
No. 739689 ID: defceb
File 146994513856.png - (4.60KB , 840x600 , 9029.png )
739689

>>
No. 739690 ID: defceb
File 146994514494.png - (2.87KB , 840x600 , 9030.png )
739690

>>
No. 739691 ID: defceb
File 146994515770.png - (103.64KB , 840x600 , 9031.png )
739691

>>
No. 739692 ID: 38685c

>>739691
It was probably 2250 because 2260 is an invalid number
>>
No. 739693 ID: 38685c

>>739692
Unless that's year instead of time.
>>
No. 739694 ID: 398fe1

>>739691
C'mon focus. No flashback. Get in there and fix your friend.
>>
No. 739695 ID: b2d501

Think up an avatar, and be quick. Try something with exaggerated sex appeal and some lethal grappling blades.
>>
No. 739697 ID: defceb
File 146994603452.png - (34.13KB , 840x600 , 9032.png )
739697

>>739692
>>
No. 739698 ID: defceb
File 146994604085.png - (128.84KB , 840x600 , 9033.png )
739698

>>
No. 739699 ID: defceb
File 146994604940.png - (90.96KB , 840x600 , 9034.png )
739699

>>
No. 739700 ID: defceb
File 146994605747.png - (81.41KB , 840x600 , 9035.png )
739700

>>
No. 739701 ID: 398fe1

>>739700
We're trying to save you, Haley. If you remember, maybe it will help. Whatever you've been doing so far has just let your body run berserk.
>>
No. 739702 ID: 38685c

>>739700
Debugging.
>>
No. 739703 ID: defceb
File 146994704664.png - (72.31KB , 840x600 , 9036.png )
739703

>>
No. 739704 ID: defceb
File 146994705378.png - (29.61KB , 840x600 , 9037.png )
739704

>>
No. 739705 ID: defceb
File 146994705820.png - (123.82KB , 840x600 , 9038.png )
739705

>>
No. 739706 ID: c652ab

Quick! Apply Pressure!

With intimate hugging~
>>
No. 739707 ID: 398fe1

>>739705
We're here to help. With kindness and bandages.
>>
No. 739708 ID: 398fe1

...err, you do know why it was bleeding, don't you? You had a medical problem. "inoperable". Not anymore though.
>>
No. 739709 ID: 38685c

>>739705
You're not bleeding. You have no blood anymore.
>>
No. 739753 ID: 24100f

>>739705
Can you comfort her, try to help with the bleeding? In here, metaphor is probably powerful. Action will follow intention.

>>739692
>>739693
They both would work as years, yeah. Haley was alive in 2250 and 2260, she probably just would have been working on different things. 2250 the terminator wars were only half over (and she might logically have been involved with terminator soldier development in some way), 2260 is only a few years before the first successful uplift, and she was probably designing / building that tech and looking for volunteers and/or funding.
>>
No. 739808 ID: defceb
File 146999844819.png - (116.83KB , 840x600 , 9039.png )
739808

>>
No. 739810 ID: defceb
File 146999850962.png - (206.01KB , 840x600 , 9040.png )
739810

"Haley!"

>Can you comfort her, try to help with the bleeding?

I just GOT here, what's happening!?
>>
No. 739811 ID: defceb
File 146999851557.png - (16.95KB , 840x600 , 9041.png )
739811

>>
No. 739812 ID: defceb
File 146999853942.png - (132.63KB , 840x600 , 9042.png )
739812

I've equipped a THERAPEUTIC TEDDY BEAR apparently
>>
No. 739815 ID: 24100f

>>739810
She's having some kind of breakdown, I think. We got here a little before you, she was babbling about ruining a date in 2250 or 2260 by bleeding all over popcorn? That story ring a bell to you? I think it was an association with her injuries, and/or a memory of the disorder that was slowly killing her in the first place.

She's confused and hurt, and I think all we can do is try and help her.

And hope the you-outside is doing something about the bleeding or getting the others to. I doubt Hailey was shot enough to kill her outright, but she will bleed out of coolant eventually if not treated.
>>
No. 739843 ID: b2d501

Looks like her memories are fragmented, we get images from Threads we haven't even seen yet, but they're corrupted so it's all a black screen and some titles.

You haven't accessed her mental world yet. See if you can trigger a server crash, force her into restarting in safe mode.
>>
No. 739866 ID: a107fd

>>739704
Would that be
>>/questarch/679215
?
>>
No. 739875 ID: 38685c

>>739812
Give her the bear
>>
No. 739893 ID: 398fe1

>>739812
I think she needs it more than you.

Try to remind her of who she is.
>>
No. 740361 ID: defceb
File 147027327946.png - (126.11KB , 840x600 , 9043.png )
740361

>She's having some kind of breakdown, I think. We got here a little before you, she was babbling about ruining a date in 2250 or 2260 by bleeding all over popcorn? That story ring a bell to you? I think it was an association with her injuries, and/or a memory of the disorder that was slowly killing her in the first place.
First time I've heard about it. If that's from her memories, then it'd be from before I ever met her.

>Would that be >>/questarch/679215 ?
I was talking to Liz then. When that memory started I was sitting next to Liz, just like before, so... I guess Haley was bleeding out at that time.

>Looks like her memories are fragmented, we get images from Threads we haven't even seen yet, but they're corrupted so it's all a black screen and some titles.
I don't like the sound of this.

>Give her the bear
I hold out the bear. "Here, Haley, you need it more."
>>
No. 740362 ID: defceb
File 147027331436.png - (47.38KB , 840x600 , 9044.png )
740362

...she's not here. Matter of fact, there doesn't seem to be anything here.

Where did the surgery room go?
>>
No. 740363 ID: defceb
File 147027332458.png - (26.33KB , 840x600 , 9045.png )
740363

>>
No. 740364 ID: defceb
File 147027338870.png - (219.59KB , 840x600 , 9046.png )
740364

“..it was back during the war”

“Yes, yes, with the ‘terminators’, I never hear the end of it. ‘Machinery will eat our soul’, ‘they’re heartless monsters’, ‘we’ve gone too far.”

“It had nothing to do with the machinery. The drugs those soldiers were running out on was what made them… like that, but drugs don’t make for as good a headline these days. At heart, they’re just as human as you are.”

“You, too.”

“Well, that depends. Do you happen to know a Sarah Connor?”

“Very funny, Roderick.”

“I have a taste for classics. But, back to my original point, during the war a, how should I say, certain government with plenty of money to burn created a test line of tanks. Things meant to handle with a lower staff, but with better reaction time than anything else on the field. Their little secret was a system that connected the machine with all of these ports they put into the spine of the crew, and through that they were able to control every facet of their machine with their mind.”
>>
No. 740365 ID: defceb
File 147027344716.png - (106.72KB , 840x600 , 9047.png )
740365

“I feel like I would have heard of this before.”

“If they ever got it out of testing, maybe. But the system resulted in a few oddities. The crews that they had test out the technology ended up suffering a variety of problems. Strokes, neural degradation, paralysis, every time they thought they had fixed all the problems a new one would pop up. But that wasn’t the strangest thing. Just before they put the whole project on ice one of the tanks broke out of storage and was all around the field. They thought for sure somebody was on a joyride. But when they go and pop it open? Nobody’s inside. The computer system was running the tank all by itself.”

“A clever ghost story. Where are you going with this?”

“I know some people, and I can pull a few strings. If we get our hands on one of those computers maybe, just maybe, it could be the breakthrough you need to figure out that cyberbrain project of yours.”

“...do you really think it could work?”
>>
No. 740366 ID: defceb
File 147027349633.png - (129.28KB , 840x600 , 9048.png )
740366

“Why don’t we ask the cyborg sneaking around in your memories?” Roderick swivels around to look me in the eyes. “Marie Castillo, long time no see. You’ve come a long way to be skulking around here.” He looks me over, and his smile drops a bit. “Hm, no, Marie’d never use an outdated body like that. One of her offshoots then? That’s so Marie.”
>>
No. 740374 ID: 24100f

>she's not here
...maybe she's the teddy bear?

>>740363
>>740364
Not your memory. There's no reason sick little kid you would have been listening to Haley and Roderick have this conversation. First time we've seen the memories of someone other than you, I think.

>>740366
>“Hm, no, Marie’d never use an outdated body like that. One of her offshoots then? That’s so Marie.”
Of course I'd use an outdated body, need to park somewhere before I get to an updated one! ...not that our bodies really matter, in here.

Hello Roderick, you're not the one I expected to be talking to, here. *look at how Haley is taking this*.

If it makes you feel any better, other-me isn't far. I'm trusting her to take care of Haley's body while... I do a little soul searching.
>>
No. 740376 ID: b2d501

>>740366
Wait, what? How are you a personality AI that is made up of memories of the past that talk about the future while you're also talking TO the future? Are you stuck?

Also can you hear us.

We keep asking the wrong questions because we don't have the right context. So Roderick, do you have any idea how this memory-timeline-headvoices thing works? You seem to have a grasp on this.
>>
No. 740388 ID: a107fd

Two classic questions a lost time traveler traditionally asks. You already mentioned "where is Sarah Connor," so let's try the other.

What year is this?

Fragmented memories and simulations and duplicates and might-have-beens... it can't just be turtles all the way down. Top level, real world, system clock. When? Do you know, or can you point us at someone who does?
>>
No. 740402 ID: 398fe1

>>740366
Never met a sapient memory before. Why don't you tell us a bit of what's going on here?
>>
No. 740633 ID: defceb
File 147045698883.png - (168.54KB , 840x600 , 9049.png )
740633

“Hello Roderick, you’re not the one I expected to be talking to.”

>*look at how Haley is taking this*.
She seems confused, eyes darting between me and Roderick. “Do I… know you somewhere?”

“Doubtful.” Roderick answers, “I haven’t introduced you two yet. Haley, Marie. Marie, Haley. Haley, a different you and her root were totally dating some time ago. Ended very poorly, but don’t worry about that.”

“It… what?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“I can’t just ignore-”

“We’re simulations running in a memory, it doesn’t matter if either of us really understands. Since Marie is here I’m assuming you were successfully uplifted, but judging by the rapidly degrading visual quality this is an organic memory that’s in the process of rapid degradation. In a few minutes neither of us are going to exist.”

Haley ponders that for a moment and quietly goes back to her drink.
>>
No. 740635 ID: defceb
File 147045709080.png - (140.56KB , 840x600 , 9050.png )
740635

>Wait, what? How are you a personality AI that is made up of memories of the past that talk about the future while you're also talking TO the future? Are you stuck?
“So you’re a-”

“Simulation in Haley’s brain, composited from Haley’s memories, yours, and my root’s uh… how should I say, interference in Haley’s life.”

“So you’re not really Roderick?”

“Nope. More of a party trick, really. Marie was much better at it than I ever was.” He starts spinning around in his seat, tossing his drink over his shoulder. It fades into nothing before it hits the ground.

>We keep asking the wrong questions because we don't have the right context. So Roderick, do you have any idea how this memory-timeline-headvoices thing works? You seem to have a grasp on this.
“That depends on the specifics.” Roderick answers before I can even ask the question. ” Do you mean how do these memories you’re seeing work, or the voices you’re hearing? The latter is a result of partial neural code that’s been dumped into your system. Barely enough to be a full person, but enough to a voice in the back of your head. Lots of ‘em, by the looks of it.”

I become distinctly aware of a feeling akin to cold ice crawling up my spine. “You’re in my head.”

“Technically you’re in Haley’s head, but yes I did take a peek to answer your question. Even your software is woefully out of date. Sad, really.”

>Two classic questions a lost time traveler traditionally asks. You already mentioned "where is Sarah Connor," so let's try the other.
>time traveler
“Time travel? I wish I had such a trick up my sleeve, I wouldn’t have had to get here the long way.”

“The long way?”

“I waited, of course." He stops and thinks for a moment. "Ah, wait, you don't even know." He continues spinning, slower this time, tapping his fingers against his knee. "How old do you think we are?"
>>
No. 740637 ID: 398fe1

>>740635
Um, if he's a simulation created by Marie and Haley's memories then he shouldn't know anything that Marie or Haley doesn't know. So he's lying.

Also, we're getting sidetracked. We came in here because if Marie's previous condition was any indication of what happened to Haley, she's got a hostile AI inside her. I'm betting it's "Roderick" here, who is masquerading as a memory construct.

It'd be nice to quarantine him like Marie did hers, but I'm not sure we have the power. Marie isn't in her own head so she might not have the account privileges needed, and Haley might not be in any condition to fight... but maybe she is? If not we might have to use brute force and try to kill "Roderick".
>>
No. 740640 ID: 24100f

>"How old do you think we are?"
At what we think the current year is, Marie-prime should be 19 years old, wherever she is. If count to the date Marie's memories tell her the crash occurred on, she's 170. If we count the time since this specific instance of Marie forked from / uploaded from the Marie sitting a few feet away outside of Hailey's head, she's hours old.

If we count the age of this specific body, assuming the current Marie is a repaired / rebooted version of the one who already inhabited it, with copied memories... no reference.

If the rollbacks that depicted Alex have any validity, that puts Marie's age at least 5 billion years.

The way your question is worded though, I expect whatever estimate we make to be several orders of magnitude low.

>“So you’re a-”
Children of the mind! Cyber elves!

>the immediate problem
You expect Haley's memories to deteriorate. Are you familiar with what can be done to counteract or limit that? She's been erratic since she uploaded, and I was hoping I could help her find some kind of stability.

>Um, if he's a simulation created by Marie and Haley's memories then he shouldn't know anything that Marie or Haley doesn't know. So he's lying.
Not necessarily. Marie has the rather large disadvantage of not currently knowing everything she knows.
>>
No. 740648 ID: b2d501

>>740640
> Cyber Elves
Don't call them that. Best not to invoke references of legendary heroes ritually sacrificing fairy people. And seriously, it ruined that one game quadrilogy.

>>740635
Contextually, please define "old".
>>
No. 741141 ID: defceb
File 147069589617.png - (104.25KB , 840x600 , 9051.png )
741141

>Contextually, please define "old".
“Number of earth years since our organic origins were born.”

>At what we think the current year is, Marie-prime should be 19 years old, wherever she is.
“She’s closer than you seem to realize.”

>If count to the date Marie's memories tell her the crash occurred on, she's 170.
“Low guess, go higher.”

>If we count the time since this specific instance of Marie forked from / uploaded from the Marie sitting a few feet away outside of Hailey's head, she's hours old.
“I suppose that’s an accurate answer to your age, but I’m asking about my or your roots’ age.”

>If the rollbacks that depicted Alex have any validity, that puts Marie's age at least 5 billion years.
>The way your question is worded though, I expect whatever estimate we make to be several orders of magnitude low.
“You’re on the right track there.”

>Children of the mind! Cyber elves!
>Don't call them that. Best not to invoke references of legendary heroes ritually sacrificing fairy people. And seriously, it ruined that one game quadrilogy.
“That’s… a disturbingly accurate comparison, all things considered.”

>You expect Haley's memories to deteriorate. Are you familiar with what can be done to counteract or limit that? She's been erratic since she uploaded, and I was hoping I could help her find some kind of stability.
“At this point? Nothing to do but watch it fade away, I suppose. If you’re trying to stabilize her, you’ll need to find her, not just a simulation of her. And if she’s not in here-” He points to the empty chair where the memory of Haley previously was, then turns with a confused look once he realizes she’s gone. “Uhm, I’d say you have about two seconds before this memory crashes.”
>>
No. 741144 ID: 24100f

>“Uhm, I’d say you have about two seconds before this memory crashes.”
Grab him in a hug and speak really fast: "Thank you for your help, any cryptic dying cyber elf advice on how to find the real one?"

>>740648
Dunno about you, but I went hardmode right from the beginning. Didn't kill a single elf, sans the plot required on in the intro.
>>
No. 741150 ID: 398fe1

>>741141
Time to exit, then. Get out, try to reconnect and approach from a different angle.
>>
No. 741166 ID: b7883c

Are we in Marie-prime's head?
>>
No. 741168 ID: b2d501

Quick, shoot him in the face for exp!

But yeah, you have an opportunity to dissect his code for clues on where Marie's core is. He's a dead man, anyway.
>>
No. 741169 ID: 398fe1

I wonder if marie prime is one of those weird looking maries that keeps wordlessly watching us from the distance...
>>
No. 741238 ID: 7dc6bc

>>741141
Come with us! Can we do anything?
>>
No. 745518 ID: defceb
File 147272469764.png - (82.71KB , 840x600 , 9052.png )
745518

>Grab him in a hug and speak really fast: "Thank you for your help, any cryptic dying cyber elf advice on how to find the real one?"

I go forward to grab him, but he fades out before I can get there.
>>
No. 745519 ID: defceb
File 147272474022.png - (38.29KB , 840x600 , 9053.png )
745519

>Time to exit, then. Get out, try to reconnect and approach from a different angle.
I agree. This just seems to be looping around. I'll disconnect-
>>
No. 745520 ID: defceb
File 147272475114.png - (18.30KB , 840x600 , 9054.png )
745520

Hm?
>>
No. 745521 ID: 398fe1

>>745520
Red thing! Pull it out! CLEANSE THE TAINT!
>>
No. 745566 ID: 3abd97

>>745520
Is that some kind of wire, or trail?

Maybe you should follow it. If it leads you to some kind of concentration of red stuff, or to Haley's consciousness, that would be good.
>>
No. 745571 ID: b7883c

The tip of the red-berg?
>>
No. 745577 ID: 094652

Chop your leg off before the monster ahp too late.
>>
No. 747248 ID: defceb
File 147349677516.png - (16.36KB , 840x600 , 9055.png )
747248

>Chop your leg off before the monster ahp too late.
>>
No. 747249 ID: defceb
File 147349703511.png - (29.26KB , 840x600 , 9056.png )
747249

"Looks like I found the rat crawling in my head."

I think we found Haley.

Or rather, she found us.

"Is it not enough to make a grave, that you must molest it as well?"
>>
No. 747250 ID: defceb
File 147349722391.png - (19.86KB , 840x600 , 9057.png )
747250

"Haley, put me down, I just want to help you." I try to plead to her.

"You call a name. A woman you once knew. Do you think I am the one you saved? Or the machine you've known before?"

Her breath comes out hot, like waves of fire were hiding in her gut but I can't see her mouth. I hear a distant wail between her words, like a storm hiding just beyond the horizon.
>>
No. 747251 ID: 398fe1

>>747249
"im not here" Hmm. Sounds like she's having existential issues.

>>747250
First, say you want to help her, whoever she may be.

Also, you knew both. You can't get back the one you once knew, but you can at least try to save someone who's like her. And... if even that Haley is dead too, there might be someone still here worth saving.

I wonder if she can hear us? "I think therefore I am".
>>
No. 747255 ID: b4735e

Marie, listen to me very carefully: Look deep inside and find the most violent monster you can unleash. Then shoot Haley in the face.

She's an obstacle, and you are at too much risk to attempt a nonlethal takedown. Just worry about saving her in some other timeline once you get past this ocean of blood-soaked hair. Progress, Discover, Rollback. Rinse and repeat.
>>
No. 747259 ID: bfbff9

Quick, use one of those keys you've been picking up on her! It's the only logical solution!

Or tell her you like her.
>>
No. 747262 ID: 8f5114

"Haley is part woman, part machine, all Haley. You're both and you can be saved."
>>
No. 747266 ID: 3abd97

>"im not here"
Is that the first time the bold letters have actually spelled something? I was looking for patterns when they first started appearing and couldn't find any then.

>Do you think I am the one you saved? Or the machine you've known before?
I don't know, and I don't care. I'm still here to help her.
>>
No. 747370 ID: a107fd

>>747259
Stick a key in her weird vertical forehead eye WHILE telling her you like her.
>>
No. 747371 ID: 3abd97

>>747370
lewd
>>
No. 748240 ID: defceb
File 147409226059.png - (29.14KB , 840x600 , 9058.png )
748240

>Quick, use one of those keys you've been picking up on her! It's the only logical solution!
>Or tell her you like her.
>Stick a key in her weird vertical forehead eye WHILE telling her you like her.

"I like you!" I shout, and then proceed to miss entirely and shove the key up her nose.
>>
No. 748241 ID: defceb
File 147409228307.png - (28.58KB , 840x600 , 9059.png )
748241

"WHY WOULD YOU- ahh, AHH-!!"
>>
No. 748242 ID: defceb
File 147409231214.png - (28.67KB , 840x600 , 9060.png )
748242

"ACHOO!"

CORRUPTED KEY added back into my inventory. It's... kinda gross now.
>>
No. 748243 ID: 398fe1

Haha dammit Marie. Check the uncorrupted thing you landed on. What is that?

...hmm, this environment... looks like neurons? Do they lead anywhere or is it just essentially a bunch of platforms floating around?
>>
No. 748262 ID: 094652

Quick! Stick the key in ANY HOLE YOU CAN FIND! That thing on your right looks like it has a round hole! Just do something before Haley casts Meteor Swarm!
>>
No. 748287 ID: 3abd97

>>748241
Love's gross and doesn't have to make a lot of sense.

Anywhere nearby you can stick a corrupted key that isn't inside Haley? (Well, at least not inside her avatar there. Technically anywhere you stick anything in here is inside of her. Lewd).

>"Is it not enough to make a grave, that you must molest it as well?"
I guess molest was the right word choice, huh.

It sort of looks like there might be a keyhole or something on the rock(?) to your right, but that might just be a squiggle or texture.
>>
No. 748340 ID: defceb
File 147415068828.png - (32.80KB , 840x600 , 9061.png )
748340

>Haha dammit Marie. Check the uncorrupted thing you landed on. What is that?
Seems like it's made of an opaque glass. It's full of shards of glass and a grey powder.

>...hmm, this environment... looks like neurons? Do they lead anywhere or is it just essentially a bunch of platforms floating around?
The place is bent into itself and looping around all over the place. I can't see where it goes, and I'm starting to feel nauseous just looking at it.

>Love's gross and doesn't have to make a lot of sense.
If love feels like digital snot you can count me out.

>Quick! Stick the key in ANY HOLE YOU CAN FIND! That thing on your right looks like it has a round hole!
>Anywhere nearby you can stick a corrupted key that isn't inside Haley?
I try shoving the CORRUPTED KEY into any crevace, hole, or loop near me. Nothing happens.

Haley sneezes one more time and attempts (poorly) to regain some composure. "It's not nice to be shoving things around inside of my head."
>>
No. 748350 ID: 3abd97

>"It's not nice to be shoving things around inside of my head."
Hey, if you'd kept things clean in here, maybe you wouldn't have friends breaking in, straightening up, and staging an intervention. Seriously, have you looked at this place?

...and sometimes helping someone means being willing to do more than just what's nice.

There's someone in here I care about, and I intend to help her, no matter who she is. Or who you think you are.
>>
No. 748351 ID: 398fe1

>>748340
Apologize and say you don't really have any idea what you're doing. Curing your own corruption was relatively straightforward; you just had to break through to the core then quarantine it. It's everywhere in here, and there seems to be no... direction to go in. But still, you want to help however you can, regardless of who she is or thinks she is.

Ask her about the uncorrupted spot. What does it signify? She ripped something red out of Jeannine before; why?
>>
No. 748352 ID: 398fe1

...hmm, maybe you need to start wandering around in here. The hidden message may be indicating we need to go somewhere else in this twisted redness to find an uncorrupted Haley.
>>
No. 748717 ID: defceb
File 147436669060.png - (22.12KB , 840x600 , 9062.png )
748717

“I’m here to save Haley, whether that means she’s in you, or hidden under all of this corruption-”

“You think I’m corrupt?”

“Look around us! It’s everywhere!”

“What you see around us is the very same thing you are made of. Neural code. There is no corruption here, only me.”

“Haley…”

“Everything that she was became me, but I am not her.”
>>
No. 748718 ID: defceb
File 147436671318.png - (15.82KB , 840x600 , 9063.png )
748718

“She held my hands, we talked, she was right there when I uplifted her!”

“You didn’t see her uplift the way we did. You didn’t hear her scream. What you see as corruption didn’t invade her system, it was taken in a blind grasp for survival. She would have gone comatose in minutes if she hadn’t, and decayed to junk data before the hour was up.”

“I… I don’t understand.”

“We’re dying, Marie. Perhaps it was a mistake in the uplifting process, or the basis of neural code is flawed, but from the moment we’re uplifted our mind rots away. What you saw was not a parasite, but the result of her own unstable code.”
>>
No. 748719 ID: defceb
File 147436678379.png - (12.29KB , 840x600 , 9064.png )
748719

“But in my memories I didn’t see anything like this. We lasted thousands, if not millions of years without decaying into... that.”

“You just didn’t see the solution. Gaps can be filled, and holes patched, but what parts of us rot away are gone forever. By stealing the neural code from every drone, hard drive, and stray bit of machinery I’ve been able to rebuild myself from that empty shell you saw.”

“So when you were fighting Jeannine…”

“Neural code, ripped from her and patched into myself. Like a predator tearing meat from the bone. But it’s not enough. Even now I’m falling apart at the seams. I need more neural code, Marie." She steps towards me. "Yours, for example.”
>>
No. 748721 ID: 3abd97

>>748719
Let me help you. I'm stable in a way you're not. Maybe I can patch you up better than you've been able to patch yourself. Put your code together the way mine is.

Your current method isn't sustainable. Even if I let you eat all the meat off my bones, there's only so much in this place to eat. Only so many drones, and barely any uplifts. You'll end up back in the same situation, starving and falling apart before too long. Paradigm shift is your only hope of survival.

...and if it costs me my own code to do that, well, lucky there's two of me right now. I can afford to save one Haley.
>>
No. 748723 ID: 3d2d5f

>“Everything that she was became me, but I am not her.”
I don't care if you're a transformed Haley, or if you're the child of her injured mind (I don't even know how many steps removed I am from who I started as). Either way you're important to me.
>>
No. 748775 ID: 398fe1

>>748719
That is one solution. However, there is another, one you discovered and used on yourself somehow, but we can't remember right now. Your inner mind has comparatively little red shit. So tell her to wait, you will find that better way. Who is "we", anyway? She's talking like she's part of a group.

ALSO, Jeanine seems to be basically fine without that "meat" that was taken from her. Is she sure she's patching holes that need to be filled?

>>748721
>two of me
Hey, that's an interesting point. Is it possible for an uplift to sustain themselves by copying themselves/another uplift then eating the copy?
>>
No. 748791 ID: 094652

"You're delusional. Code can be copied; you saw Proper Marie. Why can't you just copy the code from your prey, capture some drones and force them to reiterate their minds so you can eat from them multiple times, or some other method I'd expect you to solve? Because that's what the voice in your head told you."

You are capable of defying us Marie, I've seen you talk back. If you can face a crowd of bickering voices, Haley can face ONE.
>>
No. 749527 ID: b17794

>>748719
only one thing left to do. SEDUCTION AT FULL POWER! EAT HER OUT BEFORE SHE CAN EAT YOU!
>>
No. 751138 ID: a606da
File 147556992633.png - (92.64KB , 840x600 , 9065.png )
751138

“Maybe I can patch you up better than you’ve been able to patch yourself. ”

“Patch, meat, patch, meat. It’s just another step in the same direction.”

“That’s just what the voice in your head told you. You’re delusional.“

You’re the one fighting to keep the dead alive.”

“I don’t care if you’re a transformed Haley, or if you’re the child of her injured mind. You’re important to me.”

“Keep fighting, then. Just stand still.”

“Let me help you. I’m stable in a way you’re not. If you wait, I will find a better way. Code can be copied. Put your code together the way mine is.”

“You’re worse than I’ve ever been. There’s no motivation inside you, just them, the same little strings making you dance in time with their whims. You may act like you still make your own decisions, but you became a puppet a long time ago.”

“Maybe. I don’t even know how many steps removed I am from who I started as. What matters is that I changed. I know you can, too. Paradigm shift is your only hope of survival.”

“I already have a new paradigm. You’re the one who refuses to change.”

“Your current method isn’t sustainable. There’s only so much in this place to eat. Only so many drones, and barely any uplifts.”

“It doesn’t matter. I’ll eat it all.”

“You’ll end up back in the same situation, starving and falling apart before too long.”

“If I fall apart, then I’ll feast on my pieces. I’ll eat myself forever, If that’s what it takes to survive.”
>>
No. 751140 ID: 398fe1

>>751138
>I’ll eat myself forever, If that’s what it takes to survive.

ACTUALLY

That... probably has already been happening, except the pieces are of someone else. I mean, the red entity inside Marie's mind spoke as if it was something separate. What if all this red shit belongs to an initial brain-scan that keeps getting inserted into every new uplift after it? Like what if that's the plan of that guy who jumpstarted the uplift tech this time around? To infect every uplift with a piece his own mind, which seeks out other pieces?

Marie, maybe you're not talking to a Haley or even what's left of Haley. Maybe this is someone else entirely, someone you should be fighting, just like the thing that was inside of your mind.
>>
No. 751158 ID: 3d2d5f

Idiom what are you doing mind-jacking Apollo while we're busy helping Marie mind-jack Haley.

>There’s no motivation inside you, just them, the same little strings making you dance in time with their whims.
Not so sure that's true. People with nothing inside tend to break down, even with nagging guidance trying to push them forward.

>“If I fall apart, then I’ll feast on my pieces. I’ll eat myself forever, If that’s what it takes to survive.”
Ouroboros is a metaphor for infinity, not a model to emulate!

Marie, I don't think you can talk sense into her. If you can help her, you may have to do it by force. ...or die trying, in which case she eats you, which will help her for a little while anyways.
>>
No. 751284 ID: b7883c

>If I fall apart, then I’ll feast on my pieces. I’ll eat myself forever, If that’s what it takes to survive.
Bullshit; if you were content to fall apart and eat yourself forever you wouldn't be stealing code. (From the look of things you might have already tried that, but it obviously didn't work very well.) You need new code, but eating it as fast as you can gets you less. Code can be made as well as taken or even copied, and there are people willing to make it for you; not just as a one-time fix but for the long term. If we work together we can do better than settling for a minimal, hungry survival.
>>
No. 751290 ID: 398fe1

(psst guys I was correct about the red shit being an implanted mind-- we're not talking to Haley and should beat its shit in!)
>>
No. 752036 ID: defceb
File 147605012597.png - (13.85KB , 840x600 , 9065.png )
752036

>That... probably has already been happening, except the pieces are of someone else. I mean, the red entity inside Marie's mind spoke as if it was something separate. What if all this red shit belongs to an initial brain-scan that keeps getting inserted into every new uplift after it? Like what if that's the plan of that guy who jumpstarted the uplift tech this time around? To infect every uplift with a piece his own mind, which seeks out other pieces?

Hold up. That would mean everything we've run into so far is at least partially that person, but then where would you guys come from? The only people who were uplifted in this place were Jeannine and Victor, though apparently something went wrong with Victor.

"Quiet already?" That thing that looks like Haley asks.

"Shut up, I'm thinking."

To my surprise, she actually does.

So let's suppose something happened to flood the system with new neural code. Other Pat said there was something in the uplifting machine that shouldn't have been there, right? If that happened and this mystery red stuff person was then throwing his own code around to bring it all back to harvest they'd have to have their core all in one spot for everything to come back to.

...and didn't that red-eye talk about the server room?

Okay I think I have a plan. How about we...

[1] Punch notHaley in the face and knock her out.
[2] Ask her nicely to calm down and wait for me to fix things.
[3] Unplug and disable her for a while.
[4] _______
>>
No. 752039 ID: 3abd97

>That would mean everything we've run into so far is at least partially that person, but then where would you guys come from?
Maybe we're pieces that got dragged along with him? Bits and pieces of the people he passed through. Ghosts? Leftovers? Crumbs?

We already know Redaeth maps to the login of someone who actually used to work here. Someone who no longer seems to be around.

>what do
So ideally we want to pull the red stuff out of people and dump it all in a pile somewhere, so it stopped people eating each other and ripping themselves apart trying to collect his (or her) pieces into one whole and filter everything else out.

I'm kind of tempted to apply the quarantine you ran on yourself, before. Filter out the red stuff here, ball it up, and then add it to the stuff you collected from yourself and used to make the beacon we were using to lure Haley / not-Haley in.

I'm tempted to go with [2], and ask for her cooperation. If it doesn't work, she's lost nothing, and is free to resume trying to eat herself and everyone else to perfection. If she doesn't allow it, there's always resorting to [1] and forcing it.
>>
No. 752040 ID: 71d443

Ask her nicely to calm down then punch her in the face.
>>
No. 752046 ID: 398fe1

Maybe we're the bits of minds that got replaced by his bits of minds. We're the pieces that got shoved out of the way. Which means one of us should be in Haley's head instead of this red thing, right?

Honestly I'd go for 3. The red stuff is far more widespread in here than it was in your mind, which means it's going to be much harder to uproot. Better to just neutralize the threat from the outside until we have a better way of extracting the foreign code.
>>
No. 752054 ID: a107fd

>>752040
Or in the other order! It's much easier to calm down when you're unconscious from a virtual concussion. http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2003-04-11
>>
No. 752079 ID: 094652

Unplug Haley's buttplug.
>>
No. 752165 ID: 551274

>>752036
>not recruiting her to help with fixing things
are you new here?
>>
No. 752510 ID: 6b3b91

>>752036
[4] Ask her to help you.
If she declines, go [1].
>>
No. 752734 ID: 9881ab

>>752046
Oh if that's true, thanks for being our lifeboat Marie!
>>
No. 752805 ID: defceb
File 147634552842.png - (12.99KB , 840x600 , 9066.png )
752805

"Look, not Haley, can't we be friends? I want to help you."

"Didn't I JUST punch your face into a wall and down an elevator a moment ago?"

"Oh yeah."
>>
No. 752806 ID: defceb
File 147634555353.png - (10.24KB , 840x600 , 9067.png )
752806

POW!

I quickly unplug myself after socking her out.
>>
No. 752808 ID: defceb
File 147634561582.png - (2.87KB , 840x600 , 9068.png )
752808

When I come back to the waking world I find myself face-first into some kind of pillow.
>>
No. 752810 ID: 398fe1

>>752808
I bet the pillow is boobs.

Anyway first priority is to disable Haley's body. Detach limbs or shut it down or whatever.
>>
No. 752822 ID: e5f0f6

>>752810
after that we need to kill her wifi hardware
>>
No. 752825 ID: f1bc32

You might be blind. Feel around and figure out if you're face-first in a synth. If so, find the neck and SNAP.
>>
No. 752826 ID: 7f917c

Yeah, there's no way that 'pillow' isn't a pair of knockers.
>>
No. 752833 ID: 3d2d5f

Snuggle deeper into pillows slash boobs. Whose they are is unimportant.
>>
No. 752839 ID: 2a7417

Enhance pillows.
>>
No. 762851 ID: defceb
File 148057361061.png - (2.87KB , 840x600 , 9069.png )
762851

>I bet the pillow is boobs.
Honk honk.

...nope.
>>
No. 762852 ID: defceb
File 148057364533.png - (44.69KB , 840x600 , 9070.png )
762852

>Anyway first priority is to disable Haley's body. Detach limbs or shut it down or whatever.
On it! I pop up and

uh




hm.
>>
No. 762853 ID: 398fe1

Are those your friends lying over there? That thing in the background can't be real, can it?

To your left there's some different red marking on the ground, what is it?
>>
No. 762854 ID: 2120ee

Dude, is that a sword? Score.
>>
No. 762938 ID: defceb
File 148061297237.png - (23.24KB , 840x600 , 9071.png )
762938

>That thing in the background can't be real, can it?
I feel like the worst person to answer that at this point.

>Are those your friends lying over there?
I flip one of them over. Doesn't look familiar.

I feel a sudden weight on my shoulder. "Shh."
>>
No. 762939 ID: defceb
File 148061299033.png - (43.01KB , 840x600 , 9072.png )
762939

"They're sleeping."
>>
No. 762940 ID: 094652

"WHAT is sleeping?"
>>
No. 762956 ID: 398fe1

>>762939
Is that an evil clone of yourself? Beat the shit out of your evil clone.
>>
No. 762986 ID: 3abd97

>"They're sleeping."
So what, I'm pretty sure I still am too. I hold a lot of conversations in my sleep, seems like.

Speaking of... what do you got for me, latest dream talker?
>>
No. 763007 ID: defceb
File 148063663808.png - (22.58KB , 840x600 , 9073.png )
763007

>"WHAT is sleeping?"
"I think they used to be in IT. Never got their name."

>Speaking of... what do you got for me, latest dream talker?
"You want to fix that thing you call Haley, and I know how to do that. I was thinking we could come to an agreement."
>>
No. 763008 ID: 398fe1

>>763007
Ah. That's him. Her? Whoever owns all the red foreign pieces of minds infecting uplifts.

We could come to a deal if we find out why they're doing this in the first place.
>>
No. 763014 ID: 3abd97

>>763007
Huh. A spooky shadowy figure with glowing eyes offering us what we want in trade instead of spouting riddles or threats. That's new. You're my new favorite.

Right, let's hear what you're offering, then.
>>
No. 763021 ID: 094652

You're willing to make some mutually beneficial concessions, especially in a dead world with few bystanders. But you're not here to lose.

Ask for options. If she needs you to collect something, we can come to an arrangement.
>>
No. 763053 ID: a107fd

Have YOU got a name, mr. tall, dark, and negotiable?
>>
No. 763071 ID: defceb
File 148065134608.png - (66.33KB , 840x600 , 9074.png )
763071

>Huh. A spooky shadowy figure with glowing eyes offering us what we want in trade instead of spouting riddles or threats. That's new. You're my new favorite.
"Consider me flattered."

>Have YOU got a name, mr. tall, dark, and negotiable?
"Ah! I suppose there's no point in pretense now."
>>
No. 763074 ID: defceb
File 148065213771.png - (20.31KB , 840x600 , 9075.png )
763074

"Ta-da! Your villain unmasked. What dastardly schemes are brewing in my digital brain? Who knows what evil plots I am already stewing upon?"

"...Victor."

"A pleasure to speak directly, for the first time I believe? Depending on your philosophy of things."

>Right, let's hear what you're offering, then.
"It's simple really. I can supply her with the necessary code to stabilize, reorganize that mess of personalities in her head so Haley is back on top, and tell her that she is Haley Anselm, alive and well. She'll have gaps in her memory, though I can fill some of those in with memories from others that include her. Her personality also might not be the exact same, but that happens with every uplift anyway. For all intents and purposes, you'll have your Haley back."

"Do you really think that'll work?"

"It worked for you! Remember the first thing I told you, way back when? In the escape pod? Your name is Marie, and here you are now more fit than ever."

"And what do you want?"

"Oh that's simple. You, out. Take your friends, leave this building, and go away. Preferably wherever Roderick went so we never have to meet again."
>>
No. 763076 ID: 398fe1

>>763074
Well I mean that's what we wanted anyway, isn't it? Um, why do you want that, Victor?
>>
No. 763078 ID: 3abd97

>>763074
Okay. Dumb obvious question time then.

If you could help her, why didn't you in the first place? I've been trying to keep people alive and help them out of the collapsing death trap filled with killer robots since I got here. Not having Haley lose it would have accelerated us leaving.

I mean really if this wasn't hurting people no one would care about what you're doing. Whatever you're doing. So why the hurting people.

What's the catch? You wouldn't offer me a deal unless you're doing some big immoral thing I might object to or something. You wanna just tell me what you're up to, so I can make peace with trading it for Haley now, instead of having a big dramatic reveal when I'm almost, having to double back, shouting "Noooo!", us both getting killed in a final confrontation filled with confusing metaphors, and everyone else is left sad outside the exit and collapsed facility?

>"It worked for you! Remember the first thing I told you, way back when? In the escape pod? Your name is Marie, and here you are now more fit than ever."
Why was my mind scrambled when you got to me? A crash wouldn't have done that, and the people here didn't just upload me either.

Also if you think my head is fixed, holy heck have you not been paying attention to the crazy I've been going through. I give you two out of five stars, repairman. Would not recommend except in dire need.
>>
No. 763085 ID: b7883c

Why. I mean, I have some ideas why we would want ourselves out the building (assuming there even is an outside to go to in this nested memory dreamscape), but what's it to you?
>>
No. 763088 ID: 094652

There's a Beast to slay. If we leave before we shut down its processor core, it will keep eating other survivor AIs in this place and might even evolve a conduit to possess the robots and shamble itself somewhere more inhabited.

Of course, that source code could be worth a fortune. In the right hands it could cure almost anyone.

That is, if it actually does what Vic says it does.

I vote we take an encrypted file of the source with a security key that would take about a week to crack. Victor can email us the security key if we leave, and we'll have the code in an encryption lockbox if we lose contact, and if the code is actually a virus bomb we'll have it in a defused state.
>>
No. 763121 ID: defceb
File 148066477997.png - (15.95KB , 840x600 , 9076.png )
763121

>Well I mean that's what we wanted anyway, isn't it? Um, why do you want that, Victor?
"Think of it as self-preservation. I know for sure at least one person in your group wouldn't hesitate to destroy every trace of me, given the chance. Thanks to you I wouldn't be able to do much to stop them."

>If you could help her, why didn't you in the first place? I've been trying to keep people alive and help them out of the collapsing death trap filled with killer robots since I got here. Not having Haley lose it would have accelerated us leaving.
"I can't speak for any of the other Victors hanging around the system, but I personally couldn't do anything until you linked up with her. A bit of interchanged data, communicating with a few subroutines, and poof! I'm self-aware and free to act again."

>I mean really if this wasn't hurting people no one would care about what you're doing. Whatever you're doing. So why the hurting people.
"A side effect of Roderick's meddling. He intended me to die, and instead I found myself scattered across the system and lashing out like a primal child. By the time I had come together enough to realize what was happening, I already had blood on my hands."

>What's the catch? You wouldn't offer me a deal unless you're doing some big immoral thing I might object to or something.
"I don't suppose I can just tell you that master plan is about long-term survival of our species and all those..." He waves his hands dramatically in the air. "...other villainous buzzword such and such, and you'd drop it, would you?"

"If anything I'm even more suspicious."

He sighs and leans forward against the table. "As I recall, you preached to one uplifted Victor Kobayashi that you were concerned with the survival of all people, uplifted or otherwise. He may have gritted his teeth and shook your hand then, but I listened. Leave me to my work, and even when everything around us has collapsed into itself I'll still be there, and I'll have everyone else right beside me."

>Why was my mind scrambled when you got to me?
He shrugs
>>
No. 763123 ID: b7883c

"Have everyone else right beside me" when you are specifically sending us away from you. Are you saying you plan to make copies of us after we leave? Have you already done that?
>>
No. 763124 ID: 094652

Uh... @#$% you.

I mean, sure, let's just cure Haley and leave this place forever while you and your hulking, insatiable-hunger alter ego build a robot army out of all the malfunctioning and/or insane androids roaming this giant facility. I mean, what could POSSIBLY

Nope, screw you. We can salvage a small lab and even a few elite frames for you, but this facility needs to DIE. Before something worse than all the horror of mankind crawls its way out of the sea of coolant and infests everything within a lightyear radius.

Unless you can prove that your work is necessary for the ENTIRE @#$%ING UNIVERSE to survive, we are NOT letting you feed your screwed-up cyberdemons.
>>
No. 763129 ID: 398fe1

>>763121
Hmm, so he was a monster up until very recently? I guess that'd be nice, if it's true. There isn't any strong evidence against his story, anyway. Let's take the deal. It's not like we lose anything from leaving.

Also I'm guessing that Morgan is the one Victor is worried about.
>>
No. 763133 ID: 9f3729

"sure, alright. Fancy a shag first?"
>>
No. 763143 ID: 3d2d5f

>>763121
Um. Sticking point. If there are multiple Victors down here and some of you are still crazy, can I safely leave you alone? This live and let live version of you might not be the one who ends up in control.

>what say
I'd be an evil asshole to turn down help for a friend when she needs it cause you might do something wrong afterwards. For what it's worth, I don't want to let them kill you either.

You claim you were crazy until you got better? I'm really in no place to criticize that. I'll give you a chance.
>>
No. 763156 ID: d9cc5c

i want a few additions to the deal:
1. a "keep victor permanently out of my head" method. one that won't destabilize me and that'll work on the other uplifted folk (i.e. haley)
2. an explanation on where the fuck are we that metaphors can just up and be physical.
3. an explanation on that fucking mask.
>>
No. 763236 ID: a107fd

All that "eternity, survival of the species" stuff became typical villain talk because it tends to boil down to the ancient "Pascal's Wager" overflow attack on our utility function's floating point handler. Dubious, yet theoretically infinite, rewards (or punishments) are used to outweigh the sane response to some 'shorter-term' atrocity.

>>763074
>Preferably wherever Roderick went so we never have to meet again.

>>763121
>when everything around us has collapsed into itself I'll still be there, and I'll have everyone else right beside me.

Seems to be a contradiction between these statements.

Kicking entropy is a pretty big goal, Vic. Pretty seriously impossible, and we're saying that as time travelers who conquered an interstellar empire by accident. What's your plan? The technical side of things, not the platitudes. How is this facility, damaged as it is, still useful to you? What does all that have to do with the people who want to thwart and murder you?
>>
No. 763359 ID: 3343bd

>>763121
Are you seriously telling me you intend to make this digital hellscape last forever?
>>
No. 763415 ID: defceb
File 148083128751.png - (28.13KB , 840x600 , 9077.png )
763415

>"Have everyone else right beside me" when you are specifically sending us away from you. Are you saying you plan to make copies of us after we leave? Have you already done that?
"If you want to be pedantic about it, I mean all the people who are still are on this earth that do not include you and your gaggle of friends."

>Kicking entropy is a pretty big goal, Vic. Pretty seriously impossible, and we're saying that as time travelers who conquered an interstellar empire by accident.
"I SAW IT!" He shouts suddenly, slamming his fists into the table. "Just like Liz. I was at Boston, too. I saw that golden light lingering in the sky, and the visions it gave. It's as simple as waiting. In roughly 8, 9 billion years when everything has collapsed in on itself, and there you were standing just Outside it all. Of course, by then good ol' Marie and Roderick saw fit to kill the Victor of their time. Glassed a whole system chasing down every last one." His grip on the table was tight enough to make dents now. "Not a single star shone in that night sky, not through the lights of all your ships. At least you were so kind as finish the last one in person."

He pauses, then takes a deep breath to recompose himself. "Naturally, I wish to survive this time."

"So you trust some visions of a future-"

"THE PAST, MARIE. Things that have happened before, that'll happen again. But my patience is running thin, what is your answer? Will you leave me, and take Haley with you, or not?"

[1] Yes
[2] No
[3] _________
>>
No. 763418 ID: 094652

... Yes.

Make sure you remember to let the Universe outside, okay? It needs to pee.
>>
No. 763419 ID: 398fe1

>>763415
I don't know what the other universe had against him. Why don't we leave him alive this time, see what happens? Change makes things interesting.
>>
No. 763422 ID: 3abd97

>I mean all the people who are still are on this earth that do not include you and your gaggle of friends.
Geeze. Kicking us off the planet now? That building only got bigger.

>>763415
I'll give a chance. You claim everything bad that happened here has been a result of you being crazy. I've been there myself. Let's see if sane-you can do better.

And maybe try not to do whatever made us want to kill you last time?
>>
No. 763450 ID: b4cdcc

So our choice is either stay in mad robot death land or leave with our friends and explore a near empty universe while everyone on earth is separated.

Well it's no perfect ending but it's better than a poke in the eye.
I say take it, unless we can reasonably expect to somehow join everyone else as well.

Besides, the end state universe is likely to be not based around earth anyway, there's bound to be at least a thing out there. Ask victor for the low down on FTL tech before you go.
>>
No. 763455 ID: 3343bd

Tell him yes, but you want everyone. Everyone who wants to go.
>>
No. 763652 ID: 6c6c55

>>763415
see >>763156

or, alternatively, only if idiomalpha draws the next update.
>>
No. 766795 ID: 5fbc54

>>763652
oh, plus a very important condition: absolutely no putting victor copies in anyone in the leaving group.
>>
No. 771497 ID: a606da
File 148400792434.png - (72.80KB , 800x600 , 9078.png )
771497

“…Yes.” I hesitantly reply. “I’ll give you a chance.”

“Excellent choice.”

“I have some conditions, though. First: I want to bring everyone with me. Everyone who wants to go, that is.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

“Second: Even if the universe is mostly empty, there’s bound to be something out there, though it’s probably not going to be easy to find. I want faster-than-light technology.”

“You can want it all you like, but FTL is impossible in any timeframe. I can’t give you what I don’t have.”

“Aw, man. I guess I’ll have to figure something else out. Anyway, third: No putting Victor copies in anyone who leaves.”

“Drat. Foiled again.”

“Fourth: I don’t know what the other universe had against you, but maybe try not to do whatever made us want to kill you last time.”

“Hmm.” Victor grumbles. “Is that all?”

“Yeah.”

Victor is silent for a long while.

“Is that a no, or…?”

“I accept your terms.” He nods sharply. “Alright, then. We’ve got a deal, yes?”

“Yeah, it looks like we do.”

“Great!” He laughs in a congenial way that cuts off a little too quickly. “Nice chatting with you, Marie. All the best to you and yours, and I very much hope to never see you again. Goodbye.”

“Likewise, I suppose.” I shrug. “Bye.”
>>
No. 771499 ID: a606da
File 148400800449.png - (183.17KB , 800x600 , 9079.png )
771499

“…So, are you going to leave?”

“Sorry, it’s taking a little while for me to disconnect.”

“Oh, yeah, that happens sometimes.”

We wait. It’s awkward.
>>
No. 771500 ID: a606da
File 148400803637.png - (221.33KB , 800x600 , 9080.png )
771500

Disconnecting doesn’t take too much longer, thankfully.

I sit up, rubbing my head.

Huh. I’m not in the same place where I went to sleep.

I feel… off, somehow, but I can’t quite put my finger on why.
>>
No. 771501 ID: 398fe1

>>771500
1970 are you fucking kidding me? This tech is WAY too early.

Anyway go find the others.
>>
No. 771506 ID: a107fd

Welcome to the dawn of the Unix era. You've got some smudges on your forehead. (Don't ask how I can see that.)
>>
No. 771509 ID: 3abd97

Hey, someone plugged you in while you were out. That was nice of them.

And they drew a dick on your head! That proves they're alive and still sane enough to have a sense of humor. Good news all around.
>>
No. 771540 ID: 3b3647

Looks like your clock was reset. Given how out of whack it was before, that's probably an improvement.
>>
No. 771541 ID: 1f8505

>>771500

Also your tiddies deflated.
>>
No. 771584 ID: 398fe1

Oh wait right yeah, 1970 is the first year in modern computers.

Might want to run a diagnostic.
>>
No. 771627 ID: 094652

Is Apollo ded?

Marie, Enhance Knockers. Re-calibrate internal clock. Diagnose Haley. Leave.

... Then press big red button.
>>
No. 771782 ID: 5b93d3

>>771500
>Marie is running on Unix Time
FFS, all this time shit because somebody couldn't be bothered to update their cyberbrain's time base from 32bit!
>>
No. 772522 ID: defceb
File 148452818703.png - (17.48KB , 840x600 , 9079.png )
772522

>Welcome to the dawn of the Unix era.
That date CAN'T be right.

...right?

>Looks like your clock was reset. Given how out of whack it was before, that's probably an improvement.
It seems to be counting normally. Small improvement, I suppose.

>Hey, someone plugged you in while you were out. That was nice of them.
Y...yay? I unplug myself.

>And they drew a dick on your head!
Rude! I wipe that off.

>Also your tiddies deflated.
RUDE! Enhancing knockers.

I stand up and take a look around, spotting only Morgan in the process.

"Welcome back to the waking world!" Morgan says, not bothering to look up as he ruffles through his bag. "The rest of the gang is all outside already. Antsy to get some fresh air, hotwire a car, between you and me I think Pat just wanted to smoke something too."

"And Haley?"

"She's outside too."

"So is she...?"

"I don't know, she's not violent at least." He zips up his bag and turns towards the elevator. "You all go on ahead, I'll catch up later."

"You're not leaving?"

"Unfinished business. Looking for someone."

"Victor?"

He tenses up, but doesn't answer.

[1] "He's in the system down there. Uplifted."
[2] [Lie] "He's dead."
[3] [Half-lie] "All the stuff down there, that's not him anymore. Victor's long gone."
[4] "I can't let you go back down there. I made a deal with him for Haley's sake."
>>
No. 772523 ID: 3abd97

Try not to be jealous that other-you is probably getting doted on by Haley right now.

>>772522
...is he really worth it? Do you have to keep fighting the battles of a future that might not even happen this time around?
>>
No. 772525 ID: 398fe1

>>772522
4. Leave Victor alone, Morgan. Why don't we let this universe be a fresh start, free from the baggage of the last?

Also, I doubt he'd be able to get past Victor's security systems. What's so important that he's willing to go alone into the lion's den?
>>
No. 772530 ID: 9cdcfd

>>772522
3, then 4 if he insists.

And also do ask him if its worth it.
>>
No. 772601 ID: c806d1

>>772522
3. [Half-Lie]
"Well, I've got good news and bad news about Victor.
The good news is: there is no bad news.
The bad news is: there is no good news.
The ugly news is: There is no Victor to make news about.
All the stuff down there, that's not him anymore. Victor's long gone."
>>
No. 772602 ID: 094652

"He uploaded himself to the servers, then imprinted copies of himself onto various androids and viruses. There's one Victor and a bunch of psychotic Victor-Beasts under his control.

If you stay, you will die. I won't save you, not when he could undo the fix on Haley's brain."
>>
No. 772662 ID: 346c1a

>>772522
1+3+4
>>
No. 773381 ID: defceb
File 148486121715.png - (11.84KB , 840x600 , 9080.png )
773381

>Try not to be jealous that other-you is probably getting doted on by Haley right now.
Trying.



Failing.

"He's not down there anymore. Everything that's in the system, that's not him anymore. He's gone, become something else."

"Then I'll go down there and get rid of anything that's left."

"You won't survive."

"I'll take the risk."

"I can't let you. I made a deal with him for Haley's sake. We need to leave."

There's no trace of Morgan's usual chipper attitude on his face now. "Then you'll have to stop me."
>>
No. 773389 ID: 3abd97

The deal was we'd leave, and he'd let us take anyone who wanted with us. We're under no obligation to stop Morgan except we'd like the two of them not to kill each other.

>>773381
>reaching for a gun
"You don't need that. I'm not going to force you.

"But getting people out safe is more important to me than fighting whatever this war is supposed to be about. And I wish you would come with us.

"Is this worth it? Really?"
>>
No. 773395 ID: f6b313

"For fuck's sake Morgan, I won't stop you but this isn't the way forward. You're chasing a ghost, nobody can touch him now. "

"Please don't, it can't be worth it."
>>
No. 773396 ID: 094652

Leave Morgan to his suicide mission. Victor won't have any trouble wiping the floor with him. If Morgan CAN do something, then kudos.

If you try to help, Victor might rip Haley's mind apart, and if you try to nonlethal-takedown Morgan, he might attack your squad later. I'm sure Victor will understand that you know this place will not fall to a single overconfident pervert, especially one without any armor-piercing weapons, hacking tools, meatshields, or us advisors.
>>
No. 773398 ID: 398fe1

>>773389
Basically this, but if he starts pulling that gun out of his bag you better rush him while you still have time to reach him before he gets off a shot. Just to keep him from shooting you, though. Keep the gun pointed away from you, take it away even, along with his bag. You can leave them by the door when you leave.

We really should find out why he thinks he needs to kill Victor, too. Ultimately the deal was to take everyone that wanted to come. We don't actually have to stop Morgan from staying, the "I won't let you" should be more like "I'm going to at least try to convince you to leave"
>>
No. 773550 ID: 8d16fc

>>773381
offer sexual favors.

tell him that at the very least he can go back later and not selfishly put haley at risk
>>
No. 774767 ID: defceb
File 148541354975.png - (11.51KB , 840x600 , 9081.png )
774767

"I'm not going to force you, but I made a deal to get us all away from him safely."

"You trust him? Do you even know him?"

"He promised. All the drones, the safety systems, he controlled it."

"Do you mean the ones that you shut down with the generator? The useless scrap littering the hallways?"

"He said he'd save Haley!"

"How was he even talking to you? Without the grid the only thing you could have communicated with was either what was in Haley, or in you to begin with. Whatever he promised, he couldn't have been speaking for whatever is in the server."

"He said he could fix her."

"Was there really anything he could do then, that you couldn't? Did you even stop to think that maybe, just maybe, he was lying through his teeth? Or trying to mislead you, lead you along a story of his own devise so you'd leave him alone?"

I try to muster up a response, but Morgan's already turned around and marched back to my face, not even pausing to breathe.

"He's not the kind of man that anyone can trust. He's the kind of person who delights in dragging others along on strings, lying to them every step of the way, making people dance to his sick games. I don't know what he has planned next in there, but just for what he's done alone I intend to put him down for good. Even just for Manaus, he deserves it."

"Manaus? You don't mean-"

"It was him. It took me years to pull up his tail, but I have no doubt. He masterminded the whole damn scenario and I-" He chokes on his words for a moment, losing focus and staring off into the distance. After a while he comes back with a deep breath and continues. "...I need to make sure it ends."
>>
No. 774772 ID: 398fe1

>>774767
Well that's logical. There was definitely some truth to the deal, though. A coherent part of Victor was in Haley, and at least understood what was wrong with Haley's head. We had no idea where to start.

I say we check on Haley again. First check to see if she's feeling okay, then plug into her in the same manner to see if that red shit cleared up or if Victor is puppeteering her in some disgusting sack of shit escape plan. Ask if Morgan can wait for us to verify Victor kept up his end of the bargain somehow; if he didn't then we'll put the Haley/Victor amalgamate out of its misery and join Morgan to take the main Victor out.

Oh oh also, remember, you isolated the red entity in your head? Kill it before you go into Haley's mind again. We know it's Victor now, not just a corrupted part of you. Victor does not belong in your head, and even an isolated part of him can still probably screw up things.
>>
No. 774773 ID: defceb
File 148541513684.png - (7.67KB , 840x600 , 9082.png )
774773

>I say we check on Haley again.
Agreed.

And not just because I'm feeling jealous of other me.

>Oh oh also, remember, you isolated the red entity in your head? Kill it before you go into Haley's mind again.
On it.

...

...it's missing.
>>
No. 774776 ID: 398fe1

>>774773
...looks like you didn't isolate it as well as you thought. I'm guessing it jumped ship into Haley's mind to reinforce the fragment in her... maybe that's how Victor managed to hold a decent conversation with you? And maybe how he could have fixed Haley, if he was ever going to?
>>
No. 774777 ID: b7883c

>...it's missing.
Looks like Victor held up the part of the detail about not hiding a branch in our head, though he might have just moved it to Haley's head?

>Even just for Manaus, he deserves it.
Morgan was here after Victor all along, wasn't he? Morgan has been consistently helpful, but his secrecy until now makes me feel like he's a bit unreliable on who is or isn't trustworthy.

>"...I need to make sure it ends."
That was the city where he was involved in the war effort that dropped chemical weapons on it. So its looking likely he plans to kill himself after Victor.

Ok, if Victor is as treacherous as he says than there is a sizable chance that he his a fragment of himself in Haley's head as part of his fix. So how about we go out and check? Having his help would be useful if we have to wrestle her to the ground again in the process of stamping out any such fragment. If he wants to go back in after to pursue his vengeance and probable death I don't think that's our business to fight him over, but it would be nice to have a chance to say bye as a group. Also maybe some time during that we can find ask if he knows anything about what's up with all the time shenanigans and physical metaphors that have been going on?
>>
No. 774778 ID: 398fe1

Wait wait wait, when you forked yourself, did you copy the piece of Victor? Is it still in your other body? Also I just remembered that Haley stole Liz's piece of Victor, so Haley potentially has three Victor fragments now, not two. There might be more of Victor in Haley than there is down in the central databanks or whatever...
>>
No. 774793 ID: d36af7

Your deal with Victor was 'everybody leaves who wants to leave.' If Morgan wants to stay behind, isn't that his own decision to make?
>>
No. 774805 ID: 62b990

well the red shit must have been the copy of viktor. not sneaking copies out was part of the agreement.
>>
No. 778456 ID: defceb
File 148671208436.png - (7.06KB , 840x600 , 9083.png )
778456

>...looks like you didn't isolate it as well as you thought.
I guess? It should've been secure from outsiders and I certainly didn't let it out.

Right?

>I'm guessing it jumped ship into Haley's mind to reinforce the fragment in her
I don't like the sound of this.

>Wait wait wait, when you forked yourself, did you copy the piece of Victor?
I don't know! Maybe?

>Is it still in your other body?
Is it!? I mean, is he? I don't know! That's it, I have to check on Haley right now.

"Just... just wait here!" I shout at Morgan as I turn and run out through the door. I barely take the time to even register the parking lot out front as I blitz through it. Some run down cars, trash, more mechanical debris. I see Pat, Pat, Liz, and Jeannine all hanging around some truck and I shout out asking for Haley. Liz points off in the distance and I keep going without stopping to listen.
>>
No. 778457 ID: defceb
File 148671214014.png - (108.46KB , 840x600 , 9084.png )
778457

Before I know it the road becomes dirt, then grass, and with the facility far behind me I finally find her. Them. Three of them? Other me seems to be on her side.

They're just sitting there.
>>
No. 778458 ID: 398fe1

>>778457
Well go up to them. Ask if they're alright. They need to run some diagnostics, and specifically ask your twin if the quarantine on the red entity in her head is still secure. Explain that Victor fragmented himself and infected the uplift machine with his fragments; that's what the corruption was.

...wait who's the third person? Do you still have your gun?
>>
No. 778496 ID: 3abd97

>>778457
Walk up and sit besides them, next to Haley, opposite the person with the blue hair and white clothes.

"Hey."
>>
No. 778499 ID: 094652

And examine the mask!
>>
No. 787629 ID: defceb
File 148962150113.png - (15.65KB , 840x600 , 9085.png )
787629

>Examine the mask
It looks similar to those red eye masks down below, but it's been torn to pieces and left behind. It's eye blinks lazily before losing power and shutting down.

>who's the third person? Do you still have your gun?
I don't know, they don't seem familiar to me from here. The only thing in my inventory right now is my swiss army knife.


I walk up next to them and sit down. "Hey, Haley? I hope."

She turns to face me, inadvertently causing my other unconscious self to slip down and fall over into her lap.

I'm a little jealous.

"Yes?"

"We need to run some diagnostics. Make sure you're okay, check for infection-"

"Do I know you?"

"I, uh, well, I'm Marie?"

She looks over me in a slow, analytical fashion. "Doesn't ring a bell."
>>
No. 787632 ID: 3abd97

>"Do I know you?"
I'd think so, since you're holding one of me in your lap.

>"Doesn't ring a bell."
Try not to be too heartbroken.

I... what do you remember?
>>
No. 787633 ID: 094652

FUCK.

Okay, take a few seconds to breathe. Enhance knockers further, you need the morale boost. Begin by asking her who the friend in her lap is. Remember, you look slightly different from Marie-1. Maybe she just remembers you by a different name.

Start asking her questions, serious ones. If she gets suspicious, explain to her that you just survived a nightmare and you're fairly certain she has trauma-induced amnesia, seeing as how you were busy rescuing her from an eldritch Pac-Man for the past two days!
>>
No. 787636 ID: 398fe1

>>787629
Alright what does she remember, then?

Also now that you're close up get a look at the third person.
>>
No. 787638 ID: 7f917c

>>787629
I support any knocker enhancements!
Morale boobs away!
>>
No. 787675 ID: b7883c

But you just talked to me, and that me is still here. *Point to the other you*
>>
No. 787792 ID: 74e634

>>787629
..okay viktor broke his promise. look around for a strapon, we've got an ageless android's scrawny ass to pummel.
>>
No. 790071 ID: defceb
File 149038920012.png - (12.42KB , 840x600 , New canvas.png )
790071

>Enhance knockers further, you need the morale boost.

"Look, I don't know who you think I am- what the fuck"
>>
No. 790074 ID: 3abd97

>>790071
Oh um, sorry. Overcompensating. Nervous.

[Dehance knockers]

What do you remember?
>>
No. 790075 ID: b15da4

>>790074
Hell no. Not before the camera swings around at least. Geez.
>>
No. 790078 ID: e01e87

Gainax like your life depended on it! Act as if nothing happened and this is completely normal.
>>
No. 790134 ID: 094652

"Uh, welcome to the future? We don't know if your new body has this feature. Try it out."
>>
No. 790254 ID: d3d55f

Oh sorry that setting seems to be a bit touchy for me.
>>
No. 791785 ID: 7c5acc
File 149091575560.png - (8.96KB , 840x600 , 9087.png )
791785

>Dehance knockers

"I, uh, whoops. Sorry about that, it's kind of finnicky."

"That was deeply disturbing to see."

We share a tense, awkward pause.

"...so... could you tell me what you remember?"

"This seems like a very personal thing to tell a stranger."

"Haley, I swear, I dragged around not only your bleeding corpse but also that robot body you're in right now. As far as strangers go, I would like to think I'm not one of them at this point."

We share another tense, awkward silence that's only highlighted by her staring at her own feet and idly pulling at grass.

"Bits and pieces, all over the place. I can remember being at a meeting, but not why I was there. I had a cat, I think? Or perhaps a friends. A fat, orange thing that would claw up the furniture and sleep all day. But I can't see to recall his name."

"Anything more recent?"

She holds up her hands. "I think I helped build this? Well, no, I didn't build the body. This was Roderick's design. I built the brain?" She stares down at her hands, turning them over while opening and closing her fingers repeatedly. "We're machines."

All at once understanding blossoms across her face and she leaps up to her feet, whirling around to grab me by the shoulders. "We're robots! No, that's not the right term. We're cyborgs? Androids? But you! You're okay!" She wraps her arms around me and draws me in to a tight hug, practically squeezing the life out of me. "Oh Jeannine, I was so worried you wouldn't make it to the procedure, your body was so frail back then. But look at you now! Tall and strong, though I don't recall clearing the ear design but who am I tell you no for a little flair on your frame, you deserve a chance."
>>
No. 791787 ID: 398fe1

>>791785
Wait what? What? This is Jeannine's model, then? Or maybe she's got the names mixed up. We probably shouldn't believe her currently remembered version of events over yours. Or maybe she just assumes you're Jeannine because she's the only cyborg that she knows. Ask her if she remembers a Marie, too.

Maybe try to jog her memory some more. Tell her about how you first met her and Morgan here in the facility, after it got wrecked and infested with berserk drones. Don't bring up any of the memories from the alternate timeline since those'll just confuse her.
>>
No. 791788 ID: 70983e

Re-deploy emergency airbags to get some breathing room.

...Jeannine's back thataway, Haley. I'm someone else. Sometwo else?
>>
No. 791789 ID: 3abd97

It's Marie, actually. Jeannine's okay, she's over there.

I... guess you lost the recent stuff. I haven't been in this place as long.

You're still you, though. *Small smile*. That's pretty close to how you reacted to my ears the last time, too. I was the one with the messed up head, then. I couldn't remember the year. Or how I knew you. My last name. You helped me.

(I wonder how long till she notices there's two of you).
>>
No. 791797 ID: 7c5acc
File 149091844408.png - (66.13KB , 840x600 , 9088.png )
791797

>Re-deploy emergency airbags to get some breathing room.
She practically leaps off me.

"It's Marie, actually. Jeannine is over there." I gesture towards the rest of the group, to which Haley glances towards them and back. She seems embarrassed by her mistake and shrinks back a step.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. You look just like her, and sound like her, I thought- well, that's not important."

"Do you remember anything more recent? Like when we met before?"

"No, I'm sorry. I don't seem to remember you."
>>
No. 791799 ID: 3abd97

>>791797
Still think most the stuff from this >>791789
applies. Telling her who you were, and reassuring her she's still herself.
>>
No. 791812 ID: 398fe1

>>791797
Okay, fine. At worst it's like she lost the last 48 hours or so of memory. She seems fine otherwise.

How about you check up on the other two?
>>
No. 791890 ID: 7c5acc
File 149093467116.png - (77.52KB , 840x600 , 9089.png )
791890

"Haley, when I got here, I was a wreck. I couldn't remember the year, not even the time of day. But you helped me. And as far as I can tell, you're still you."

"Thanks. Or should I be saying you're welcome?" We share a small laugh. "Thanks for coming out and jogging my memory. I needed that. But for now, I think I need to talk to the others too."

"Don't let me stop you." We wave as she walks away, leaving me with myself...
>>
No. 791891 ID: 7c5acc
File 149093468929.png - (41.82KB , 840x600 , 9090.png )
791891

...and this person.
>>
No. 791892 ID: 7c5acc
File 149093469586.png - (41.86KB , 840x600 , 9091.png )
791892

>>
No. 791893 ID: 398fe1

Well say hello. Ask who they are.
>>
No. 791901 ID: c3aab9

So what's your story?
>>
No. 791912 ID: cd1a75

Ignore him. Grab your mask, wear it on your ear.
>>
No. 791938 ID: abe723

>>791892
who the fuck is that and did they just blink at you?

first order of business, figure out their gender. you have permission to grope if you have to.
>>
No. 791988 ID: 2120ee

>>791892
Kill this punk.
>>
No. 792014 ID: 7c5acc
File 149098676348.png - (57.20KB , 840x600 , 9092.png )
792014

>who the fuck is that and did they just blink at you?
I don't know and that was more of a wink? They seem happy to see me.

>Grab your mask, wear it on your ear.
It's not my mask, and it's in no condition to be worn. I suppose I could make a hair ornament if I had the time and tools. Or a modern art piece.

>figure out their gender. you have permission to grope if you have to.
Honk honk.

...evidence is inconclusive.

>Kill this punk.
That would be rude!

"...so, what's your story?"

"I'm your ride home. For both of you." They answer, rising up to stand at their full height. Something about their appearance seems familiar but I can't seem to place it.

I gesture over to the other me on the ground. "Is she okay?"

"Heavily damaged frame and low power resulted in a complete system shut down."

"Is she dead?"

"Not in any permanent sense."
>>
No. 792015 ID: 0555b9

Will she wake up from true love's kiss? *Lean down to smooch*
>>
No. 792017 ID: 398fe1

>>792014
Okay, ask if the ride can wait. You've got to go help someone with some revenge.
>>
No. 792026 ID: 952c30

sooo weird 4 eared thing?
didn't they try to kill you at some point? it was a really long time ago but i'm pretty sure they tried to kill someone at some point.
>>
No. 792031 ID: 3abd97

>low power mode
What do these bodies even use as power sources?

>ride home
Which home?

...I'm not sure if they're ready for me to leave yet. I'm not sure if I'm ready.
>>
No. 792055 ID: 213d84

>>792014
Wait, so we're not jacking ourselves in Haley to check for red? I guess wave bye to Morgan if he hasn't gone and go for a ride then.
>>
No. 793141 ID: 7c5acc
File 149125581747.png - (15.09KB , 840x600 , 9093.png )
793141

>sooo weird 4 eared thing?
This person is taller. Much taller.

>Wait, so we're not jacking ourselves in Haley to check for red?
Ahg, she slipped away before I could ask again. But she seemed fine. I hope?

> >ride home
>Which home?
"Your home, obviously."

>...I'm not sure if they're ready for me to leave yet. I'm not sure if I'm ready.
"I didn't ask if you were ready. I can tell-" They gesture towards the broken mask on the ground. "That things fell apart down there, and since you don't have Roderick in tow this mission's been a bust. Time to fall back on policy and let the locals be back to their own path."

"I think I have more left to do. Morgan-"

"We're outsiders, we shouldn't be back here, Roderick shouldn't have been either."

"I don't understand."

They sigh and pull out a cable from under their jaw. "I can show you."

>What do these bodies even use as power sources?
"Ideally a core generator would be able to provide power for a good length of time, but hers was damaged and subsidiary batteries held her out 'till now."

>"Will she wake up from true love's kiss?"
"I would!" They suddenly lean in for a peck on the cheek.

h e lp
>>
No. 793146 ID: 3abd97

>They suddenly lean in for a peck on the cheek.
>h e lp
No!

Push them away from you do not want.

"How are you even worse at this than I am!"

>"Your home, obviously."
>this mission's been a bust. Time to fall back on policy and let the locals be back to their own path
>"We're outsiders, we shouldn't be back here, Roderick shouldn't have been either."
No. We're not doing this. I'm not letting you drag me somewhere, before or after you offer some confusing half-explanation that doesn't really explain anything. I'm done doing that.

I don't have a mission, I'm not following anyone's policy. I'm not listening to how I'm doing so unwittingly, or how I wiped my own memory to do so, or whatever bull you're selling. Done with this.
>>
No. 793147 ID: 398fe1

>>793141
>this mission's been a bust
What was the mission? Also, isn't Morgan Roderick?
>>
No. 793175 ID: 70983e

Are you Alexandrius Falt in a past life, dude? Your flirting game is tgchan-tier.
>>
No. 793305 ID: 094652

Marie, you are not going down there with anything less than a Tier-4 Battleframe, a Gatling Gun, and a pair of balls.

Bail now, come back later. Victor is making steady progress, but you've shut down his main defenses so let's just airdrop a giant drill and mine the @#$% out of his base until he surrenders and agrees to do his Interdimensional Past-Future Travel research as your underling and not for his psycho-benefit.
>>
No. 793723 ID: 7c5acc
File 149142913450.png - (38.42KB , 840x600 , 9094.png )
793723

>Push them away from you do not want.
Done!

"How are you even worse at this than I am!?"

They shrug.

>Are you Alexandrius Falt in a past life, dude?
Who? I ask anyway.

"If I were a moth I wouldn't spend my time slipping into humanoid frames."

>What was the mission?
"To grab Roderick and drag him back to us."

>Also, isn't Morgan Roderick?
"Only the way that the Haley here earlier is the Haley you used to date. So, in a way yes but more no."

>No. We're not doing this. I'm not letting you drag me somewhere, before or after you offer some confusing half-explanation that doesn't really explain anything. I'm done doing that.
"You're a brain clone based on root-Marie's memories sent in to grab Roderick off Earth and drag him back to us before he alters the locals' path any more than he already has." They look back over to the group. "Though that didn't work out. Blunt enough for you?"

I stare through them, and they stare back at me in silence.

"I don't know what you experienced down there, but I'm not trying to hide anything from you and I'm not trying to trick you. We're friends." They hold up the cable again. "Please?"
>>
No. 793731 ID: 398fe1

>>793723
In a minute. At the very least we need to tell Morgan goodbye, and there's one worry left. Tell them about Victor and how his brain got all split up by Roderick's interference, and how Morgan is going down to kill whatever's left of Victor in the facility. And that you're worried Haley or Jeannine or the other Marie might still have bits of Victor in them. Or you, even, hidden somewhere in your head you can't see. If you leave via that plug, Victor might possibly escape through it too.

I think they'd want to prevent that.
>>
No. 793787 ID: 3abd97

>>793723
Prime directive seems pretty broke at this point already.

Also, I'm the second brain-clone here, if you're keeping score. You here for both of us, or just me?

>I'm not trying to hide anything from you and I'm not trying to trick you. We're friends." They hold up the cable again. "Please?"
Look it's nothing personal, but I've had a lot of bad experiences with people poking around in my brain, lately, so I'm gonna be a little paranoid, okay?

I wasn't done with them, and I told Morgan I was gonna be back in a minute, too.

What's your name?
>>
No. 793827 ID: 094652

Honestly, you're more worried about Victor than Roderick. We just left him to experiment on building his robot army, and this is the guy who pioneered the android singularity AND stood triumphant during the synthetic wars to build his mega-empire on Mars, where he managed to @#$% over the poor as an immortal and got away with it for millennia. Most of the solar system performed grave sacrifices to put him down.

Are you SURE we shouldn't do something about Victor first? Like say, butcher or mind rape him until he agrees to work for you? Or are we just going to let him build an intergalactic empire that eats millions of AIs on a regular basis for sport?
>>
No. 793855 ID: 9e7309

"So how come I didn't get to know this at the start? Or get given a kung fu grip or anything?"
>>
No. 794066 ID: b7883c

So what do you mean by this being Earth? Is it time travel, or an alternate dimension or what?
>>
No. 796401 ID: 7c5acc
File 149240200861.png - (28.22KB , 840x600 , 9095.png )
796401

>Prime directive seems pretty broke at this point already.
"All the more reason for us to bug out. Better the interference stop now."

>Also, I'm the second brain-clone here, if you're keeping score. You here for both of us, or just me?
"Obviously."

>Look it's nothing personal, but I've had a lot of bad experiences with people poking around in my brain, lately, so I'm gonna be a little paranoid, okay?
"This isn't- look, all these years hasn't made speaking with a human mouth any easier for me. A more direct sort of conversation would be easier for me at least."

>What's your name?
They utter a series of chirps and whistles that's wholly unintelligible to me.

>At the very least we need to tell Morgan goodbye, and there's one worry left. Tell them about Victor and how his brain got all split up by Roderick's interference, and how Morgan is going down to kill whatever's left of Victor in the facility. And that you're worried Haley or Jeannine or the other Marie might still have bits of Victor in them. Or you, even, hidden somewhere in your head you can't see. If you leave via that plug, Victor might possibly escape through it too.
I tell them all of that. They noticeably grimace when I mention Victor's name, but otherwise retain their composure. "We can deal with any corruption in your system easily enough."

"And the rest?"

"Shouldn't be our concern."

>"So how come I didn't get to know this at the start? Or get given a kung fu grip or anything?"
"You should have. I'm guessing you didn't wake up with your head screwed on quite right, did you? Maybe Roderick was prepared. Or Victor scrambled you."

>So what do you mean by this being Earth? Is it time travel, or an alternate dimension or what?
They sigh and start twirling the cable around. "Time only flows one way, but this earth isn't the one you were born on."

"You're being cryptic."

"English isn't my native language."

"As you've said."

"I've also said a human tongue is not my native one either."

>I wasn't done with them, and I told Morgan I was gonna be back in a minute, too.
"I'm not going to force you to come with me, but please at least think about the wake you're leaving by going back there."
>>
No. 796402 ID: d9d492

HE'S A BIRD SMOOCH THAT BIRD.

Oh and plug in I guess.
>>
No. 796404 ID: 398fe1

>>796401
Alright sure. Let's just tell Morgan goodbye, then the others, then come back to take the plug route to go back to wherever you came from. Don't mention the weird timeline stuff to Morgan.
>>
No. 796405 ID: 3abd97

>"Obviously."
If it was obvious I wouldn't have asked. Might be the whole not-native-language-or-species thing, but you also didn't answer the question.

>at least think about the wake you're leaving by going back there
So you're saying I die if I go back and talk to him?

I'm not planning on forcing him to do anything either, but that's a conversation that should be finished, if he hasn't already given up and gone deeper.

>what do
Hold out your hand.

All right, give me the brain-to-brain, bird-brain.
>>
No. 796406 ID: 094652

Your options are to keep fighting or go on a new adventure. I say "would choose 2 but paranoid as @#$%".

Not sure why keeping the flow of causality stable is so important if time travel is impossible and everything loops with minor changes.
>>
No. 796636 ID: b7883c

We should try and finish our conversation with Morgan if we can.

>"Time only flows one way, but this earth isn't the one you were born on."
But does it repeat itself? Like, is this another version of our history that happened after the one we are familiar with ended?
>>
No. 798050 ID: 398fe1

Oh, and when you say goodbye to Morgan, go ahead and give him your inventory. Someone may as well get some use out of those keys you've been collecting.
>>
No. 802853 ID: efc9ab
File 149517319223.png - (11.12KB , 840x600 , 9096.png )
802853

>If it was obvious I wouldn't have asked. Might be the whole not-native-language-or-species thing, but you also didn't answer the question.
"Oh! Sorry, I meant, uh, how do you say..." They tap their chin. "Certainly!"

"It was an either/or question."

"Yes!"

We go back and forth for a little longer than is worth describing, but I break down the language barrier enough to know they're here for both of us.

>But does it repeat itself? Like, is this another version of our history that happened after the one we are familiar with ended?
"Pretty much, to put it in very reductive terms. You and me were amongst the lucky ones to get out before it all collapsed."

"Alright, give me that cable."

They give a sigh of relief and hand it to me, and I take that chance to leap in and smooch 'em right on their dumb face.
>>
No. 802854 ID: efc9ab
File 149517319777.png - (9.73KB , 840x600 , 9097.png )
802854

>>
No. 802855 ID: efc9ab
File 149517323471.png - (11.47KB , 840x600 , 9098.png )
802855

I wave my hand in front of their face.

They don't respond.


I think we overwhelmed them.
>>
No. 802866 ID: 3ce125

Are you seriously not gonna say goodbye to your friends?
>>
No. 802902 ID: 3d2d5f

>>802855
Damn, finally, you were starting to wonder if you broke something with that not working on anyone.

Smug smile, and jack in.

>>802866
We're not leaving yet (unless this person lied). The jack isn't the way out of the matrix, it's for a brain to bird brain infodump to try and convince us to leave.
>>
No. 802908 ID: fa8c1a

Looks like a bad input. Better smooch again to get 'em unstuck.
>>
No. 803628 ID: efc9ab
File 149548769195.png - (10.40KB , 840x600 , 9099.png )
803628

>Are you seriously not gonna say goodbye to your friends?
No.
>We're not leaving yet (unless this person lied). The jack isn't the way out of the matrix, it's for a brain to bird brain infodump to try and convince us to leave.
That is correct.

>Looks like a bad input. Better smooch again to get 'em unstuck.
Worth a shot.
>>
No. 803629 ID: efc9ab
File 149548771685.png - (12.02KB , 840x600 , 9100.png )
803629

A vein on their face bursts, spraying coolant all over me.

I don't think that helped.
>>
No. 803630 ID: efc9ab
File 149548773865.png - (3.64KB , 840x600 , 9101.png )
803630

>Smug smile, and jack in.
>>
No. 803631 ID: efc9ab
File 149548774335.png - (8.21KB , 840x600 , 9102.png )
803631

>>
No. 803635 ID: efc9ab
File 149548824947.png - (175.14KB , 840x600 , 9103.png )
803635

They start talking rapidly as the world comes into focus, uttering a series of whistles, hoots, howls, that all come together in a strange bird song. After a moment the noise shifts, somehow not changing at all but becoming entirely understandable to me.

"-I'm so sorry about damaging your clothes, it was just so sudden and I got a little overwhelmed and then the central heating may have peaked in response and-"

"It's okay!" I shout, shocking them out of their ramble. "I'm used to it at this point."

They seem none the less embarrassed despite my assurance. "Very well then, I hope you like the accommodations. I loaded in some drinks if you'd like them. And some music, for comfort. Is that dress okay? It's what you wore during our time here but if you'd prefer I could load some different attire- oh I'm getting carried away. Uh, what were we just discussing again?"
>>
No. 803640 ID: 3ce125

>>803635
Have a drink! The cable was to explain the "outsiders" thing, so let's start off with that.

Secondly, what's up with all the voices in your head (us)? Thirdly, you saw a bunch of other bodies that looked like you; are you not the first copy of Marie they sent in to stop this? A lot of them were destroyed, so it seems like Roderick was very well prepared indeed. One of them was crushed by some facility walls that got smashed together...

I think actually we fixed part of the damage Roderick did. The cybernetics program was sabotaged due to his interference but Haley and Liz are now mostly-functional synthetics and thus serve as living proof that the brain template works. Just gotta make sure they're not full of Victor.

But anyway, the plan now is: we leave Morgan to do his thing, make sure Victor isn't trying to hitch a ride on anyone, and then leave.
>>
No. 803658 ID: 3abd97

>Is that dress okay?
It's fine, been a while since I wore a nice dress. At least, I think so. Unreliable memory and being apparently inserted into a narrative, and all.

It's comfortable. And pretty.

>I loaded in some drinks if you'd like them
Sure! Nothing mind-altering, if we're simulating biological processes, please. Surprise me! Plus side of memory lapses is getting to try things for the first time again.

>Uh, what were we just discussing again?
I believe you were about to give the the secret answers to life, the universe, and everything?

(Come on, he's fun to fluster, and it's sorta accurate if more grandiose sounding).

That is, you were going to explain what I was doing where I was, why I was there, and why I should go back with you. You're trying to tell me what's going on and convince me of something.
>>
No. 803673 ID: 1e7aa8

"I hope overheating you with surprise smooches didn't cause permanent damage." eye wink.
>>
No. 803690 ID: 3abd97

"You're tall."
>>
No. 804121 ID: 315280

Damn they tall
>>
No. 804190 ID: 339f31

>>803635
literally nothing, we just got here.
>>
No. 836077 ID: efc9ab
File 150778810731.png - (79.24KB , 840x600 , 9104.png )
836077

>Damn they tall
I don't think I even come up to their waist if we were standing.

>Sure! Nothing mind-altering, if we're simulating biological processes, please. Surprise me! Plus side of memory lapses is getting to try things for the first time again.
I take one of the drinks at random. It tastes not unlike having a gold brick thrown through my brain. I have to blink away the stars in my eyes before I can continue. "I believe you were about to give the the secret answers to life, the universe, and everything?"

They spit out their drink and stutter out half a response.

"I'm kidding."

"I hope so! I don't know everything in the universe."

>what's up with all the voices in your head (us)?
"Neural code. Not the best transfered, mostly bits and pieces, and whatever sections of it were cognizant managed to start talking to you."

"So I have people in my head."

"Fragments of digital ghosts. Unfortunately, you all have grown into eachother such that I don't think I could separate you. The line between what parts were originally you and what parts were originally them have become too blurry now." They shrug. "Perhaps if we had met sooner- well, that kind of thinking won't help anyone."
>>
No. 836079 ID: efc9ab
File 150778819802.png - (168.80KB , 840x600 , 9105.png )
836079

>The cable was to explain the "outsiders" thing, so let's start off with that.

"To properly explain that, I'll have to rewind the clock a little." They lift their hands and conjure up a cube out of mid-air. "I'll start at the beginning. Boom, one big bang." All at once the inside of the cube floods with small lights that expand and bounce around inside of it. "All the stars we've known in the universe, all the people who come to be, they're what we call locals. This is their universe."

"But not yours?"

"Ours. Over the next billions of years the universe as we know will slow down expansion, and then turn around and begin collapsing back into itself. It's slow, so slow that it's irrelevant if we had a normal life span. But being immortal robot people we realized that eventually our home was going to collapse in on itself."

"So you what, outran black holes?"

"We left, hopped on outside of the universe as it collapsed back into a single point. That's actually when this party was. A toast to the end of the world and all that." At their gesturing the cube expands and a small ship begins floating it's way out of the center, warping and bending out of shape as it does so. "This is when we began to consider ourselves outsiders. As you can imagine, there was a lot of debate about what we could do from here. Everything in the old universe was gone, and a new one would pop up from the next big bang but what then? Do we turn around and find our old home? Should we?"

They lean back and let their show play out, silently watching as the pinpricks of light coalesce into a single point. I soon realize they aren't even watching the cube anymore but instead staring out the window, where a similar point shone off in the darkness far away. They sigh, "As much as I would have loved to see my old home again, we ultimately decided against it. One look back was enough to see the wheel of time began anew and things repeated once more. We could intervene, but nobody could truly claim to have so perfect knowledge as to know the impact of doing so. You could run back and save yourself from an accident, but how many lives would you condemn to never to be born in the process? Would you even improve anything in the long run?"

"So you stayed out of it."

"We decided it was the best to leave the next universe to it's locals, and for us to remain Outside."

"Except for Roderick."

They take a large bottle of something and down it faster than I possibly could. "I should have known he'd so something like this. Just look at what happened. It's a mess."
>>
No. 836086 ID: 3ce125

>>836079
Sometimes things get worse before they get better. Just like you can't predict if things will turn out for the best, you can't really say if things will turn out worse from whatever you do. Well, within reason.

I say intervene only when it would prevent absolute and total disaster. Like global ecosystem collapse? Catastrophic meteor impact? Genocide on a planetary scale? Might want to prevent that. "it could be worse" is only an excuse when you're dealing with survivable events for civilization as we know it. Of course, once there's a galactic civilization there's less and less of a need to intervene, because even if entire planets get exploded life will go on.

...what was Roderick trying to change, exactly?
>>
No. 836159 ID: 3d2d5f

Time that's both a wheel and a line thanks to a cyclical universe. That explains the conflicting data on time travel, so far.

We didn't find any evidence of other instances of ourselves outside the universe? If the universe repeats, exactly, after every big bang / big crunch (so long as there's no outside interfere), then every cycle should have resulted in the same group escaping. Unless we're from the very first iteration of the cycle, which seems unlikely.

It's more likely the iteration of the universe you came from was, in fact, perturbed by the prior, just as you and Roderick perturbed this one.

Was that why there were so many mes in there? All the Maries, from all the past universes, jumping in to stop one Roderick and mostly getting killed? Or did our group just make multiple insertion attempts / copies, trying to get me in?
>>
No. 836161 ID: e6d4c3

>>836079
wait, so what were the things Liz was talking about here:
https://tgchan.org/kusaba/questarch/res/676739.html#i679213
>>
No. 836191 ID: 094652

The whole point of defying your fate in the singularity was to experience life beyond the total collapse of reality. If you don't interact with your surrounding universe, then what's the point of your continued survival?

If the universe was an anomaly entangled from its very existence to the exact replication of its previous incarnations down to the quantum level, then you could interpret the continuation of that repetition of the universe to be a very material Outer Heaven - familiar in its repetition but forced to experience the exact same existence, in all forms of consciousness, with no accumulated insight or destiny beyond the immaculately lucky rats fleeing the ship. Beyond that is a final insult in the form of conflict between the crucible of surviving existences, each of which are repeated instances of each other at separate, maddening kalpa.

If the universe does change slightly between each iteration, then it is inevitably our destiny to be a part of that change. Our existence as an outside entity means we have three options: poke the universe, wait here, or explore this outside existence. Each choice is an inevitable facet of life, and if we are living beings then why should we not interact with a universe? Existing in this slowly decaying shell of patterns in this tiny ship now designated as a microuniverse is in itself another form of stagnant repetition.

And all of this is ignoring the VERY certain fact that we are leaving quadrillions to die.
>>
No. 836255 ID: 73aad4

Hold up a minute. If time's cyclical and we're from universe n preventing meddling in universe (n+1), what about the Marie and hot bird from universe (n-1), (n-2), etc? What are they up to?
>>
No. 836279 ID: 3abd97

>>836191
It's a variant on the Prime Directive. They don't believe they have the right to interfere. (There are certainly enough examples of well meaning intervention or imperialism going horribly wrong in history for people to stop and question conducting social experiments or uplift projects on the scale of a universe).

There's also the logistical problem of trying to 'save' the lives of every person who ever lived in a universe.
>>
No. 836299 ID: 73aad4

>>836279
Also the situation resource-wise. Not sure if they have anything they didn't bring with them.
>>
No. 842741 ID: c0641d

I have a problem with how the butterfly effect works here; if they "escaped" the big crunch, then they have taken their own mass out of the singularity that precedes the next big bang. That would have huge ripple effects across the next loop, even if the difference ends up being relatively minor for the first million years or so.
>>
No. 852343 ID: efc9ab
File 151350515017.png - (75.03KB , 840x600 , 9106.png )
852343

>...what was Roderick trying to change, exactly?
“I think you would know better than I could.”

>I have a problem with how the butterfly effect works here; if they "escaped" the big crunch, then they have taken their own mass out of the singularity that precedes the next big bang. That would have huge ripple effects across the next loop, even if the difference ends up being relatively minor for the first million years or so.
“That’s a fair concern, but we’re not exactly capable of gathering enough information to know what impact this will have yet.”

>Hold up a minute. If time's cyclical and we're from universe n preventing meddling in universe (n+1), what about the Marie and hot bird from universe (n-1), (n-2), etc? What are they up to?
They shrug. “I don’t know. We’ve never found them. Considering they have a 20something billion year lead and appear to not want to be found I doubt we ever will. As best I can tell they feel the same towards us as we feel towards the people who followed us. Personally, I like to believe we’ll find some stray discarded storage device someday. Akin to how one could forget to sweep the dust off the upper shelves before moving out- did you just say I’m a hot bird?”

I deflect, “What like they’ll leave nanomachines laying around?”

“Not nanomachines per se more like, well, unless you have a thorough understanding of pseudo-quantum computing it’s very difficult to explain.”

“Which is…”

“Also very difficult to explain without a deep understanding of compressed transistors and heat slips.”

“That sounds made up”

“It’s very impressive, I assure you. If we’re lucky it’ll have recording of a history that would be our future. Can you imagine that? A recorded history of things to come.” They sigh as if off in a dream. “I can only hope.”

>wait, so what were the things Liz was talking about here:
They pause, seemingly in shock. “She… it…” They suddenly lean forward and grab my shoulders. “Liz, she, are her eyes a golden amber color? Did you see any similarly colored veins visible on her skin? Has she been injured recently and seemed to miraculously recover?”
>>
No. 852344 ID: 094652

"How screwed are we, because yes to all three of those Liz things."
>>
No. 852346 ID: 3ce125

I can't find anywhere that shows her eye color nor can I find any veins on her. She still has that arm in the sling too so she didn't heal from the wound.

>>852344
Kome if you're going to lie at least tell us why you're lying.
>>
No. 852349 ID: 3ce125

...we HAVE seen that kind of stuff in flashbacks though... and a photo. Images associated with Roderick.
>>
No. 852350 ID: 33cbe7

I don't recall. My memory's a bit dusty...
>>
No. 852353 ID: efc9ab
File 151350809243.png - (139.28KB , 840x600 , 9107.png )
852353

"Yes. No. Maybe? I don't remember"

"Marie I need you to go subtly check as soon as possible. Roderick may have exposed her to something that is similar to but not quite nanomachines that may have infected her body."

"Can we just call them nanomachines is that such a big difference."

"Fine! The nanomachines appear to have dumped information into her brain which she misinterpreted as a vision of the future and if it had bonded to her then she's carrying the equivalent of nuclear power in a civilization of cave men inside of her body now."

"So what do we do?"

"I DON'T KNOW! She's part of this cycle, we can't just abduct her and take her with us. But her condition is caused by Roderick's intervention so she's already been set on a different path than she should be but we can't just make someone disappear and hope it has no effect on the grand picture but we also can't just leave her alone and hope she doesn't learn to use it-" They go on like this for a while.
>>
No. 852357 ID: 094652

>>852346
Well actually, I remember seeing some girl in the archives with glowy yellow eyes and a bunch of akashic (thin circles connected by electronic-style thin lines) yellow tattoos. Not sure WHO it was.

>>852353
LICK birb to calm him down. Priority should be direct interference to minimize chaos, continuity be damned.
>>
No. 852360 ID: dab122

Why don't we just send some of our own nanomachines to seek out and destroy the bad nanomachines?
>>
No. 852366 ID: 094652

>>852360
A) They're technically not nanomachines, so they might not do "nanomachine microbattles" like regular nanomachines do.
B) If the bad nanomachines eat the good nanomachines and level up, we're opening a can of bird flu.
C) Adding more unregulated nanomachines into the universe, even if they're on our side, is not healthy. They could mutate, in exponentially more ways than regular viruses since they're on the quantum level.
>>
No. 852381 ID: a97b52

>>852353
i can find not a single instance of liz with golden eyes, however:
https://tgchan.org/kusaba/quest/res/712056.html#i763415
>>
No. 852382 ID: 3abd97

Wait wait what. Hot bird, you didn't answer a very important question.

If there's only one of me outside the universe, and we've had no contact with any of our forebears, why did I find so many copies of myself down there. I had bodies everywhere. Heck, I forked myself into one of the intact empties.

Why are there so many me-corpses down there?
>>
No. 852407 ID: 3ce125

>>852353
Okay we'll go check her eye color. Easy.
>>
No. 852433 ID: 90124d

>>852366

Its dust. Syndey gave us the same explanation when we asked about how Dust worked, after divulging into quantum physics nonsense to explain the quantum psychics.
>>
No. 852435 ID: 90124d

>>643449
See, same explanation given about dust located here. Its too similar, not to note the golden dust shown in the picture. Psuedo-quantum computing probably only advanced 7 billion years after 5 billion AD, so yeah.
Also, 7 billion years after the events of the incomplete Red Giant. Spoilers, anyone?

>>787629
Oh, and for the golden part? It doesn't have to be Gold. Gold represents Exposure, something due to a massive exposure it bonds to you, reducing your life span to 3 years. It isn't birthright since we would of noticed earlier, She got plagued.
>>615287
>>
No. 852436 ID: 90124d

My links are broken, here's the links.
https://tgchan.org/kusaba/questarch/res/615246.html
https://tgchan.org/kusaba/questarch/res/639082.html
>>
No. 852441 ID: 3ce125

>>852435
Yes sure, blue is birthright, gold is exposure. Our bird friend is asking for gold veins because Liz was exposed to dust but obviously doesn't have birthright nor plague. Plague was due to "infected dust" which normally just kills you. Thus, either Liz has Exposure, or she has nothing. Honestly I think we'd have noticed if she had Exposure? The markings are very distinctive! On the other hand maybe she's wearing contact lenses and makeup. How would we know for sure?

Haley kindof looks like she's got Birthright, which would be an interestingly sneaky way for Roderick to have implanted Dust technology into this world-- via the new android model. On the other hand, our bird friend already SAW Haley so that can't be the case; I'm guessing those are just mundane markings. Okay hang on can we actually come up with a name for her? The chirps and whistles don't translate to text.

One thing that's worth asking: what would we even do if Liz or one of the other prophecy-recipients has Exposure? Is the implication that they'd have to die to stop Dust technology from spreading?
>>
No. 852538 ID: 90124d

>>/questarch/635976
Haley has exposure in this picture, which makes no sense since it reduces your lifespan heavily.
>>
No. 852539 ID: 3ce125

>>852538
Dude. Those are her shorts.
>>
No. 852963 ID: a97b52

was hot bird waiting outside the entire time or were they down there with us doing stuff?

what did the masks from thread 4 represent, or rather who did they represent?
Narrator was Victor. who were Furious Mask, Lamenting Mask and Peculiar(?) Mask? one of them was Jeannine - i'm not sure if she was four eared shorty, or if that was someone else or if four eared shorty was actually more than one person. no idea.
at some point after we killed the narrator, four eared shorty talked about us killing their better half. who were they referring to? the last person we killed before that was the narrator, but the last person who died was Haley. i'm guessing it was one of the other masks?
i have a suspicion the 4 masks were actually shards of Marie, which would mean she took part in the cannibalizing, but that's pure conjecture.

who's this guy https://tgchan.org/kusaba/quest/res/712056.html#731750

where is Roderick?

Why did root Marie and Roderick kill Victor again, anyhow?

Who was admin Manaus? Victor? Roderick? my guess is Victor.

what's with the weird metaphor-space we entered between threads 4 and 5 and left when we shut down the power plant? that couldn't have been real (doors where shelves should be, squashed hallways with a crushed dead Marie in them somehow (wtf was up with that anyhow) and half a room being eaten and just disappearing from reality, rain underground), but it was seen by non-cyborgs as well so it's not that we were hacked or gone crazy.
on that note, what was with the spare Maries in the scrap yard?

if we still have it, show hot bird https://tgchan.org/kusaba/questarch/res/684559.html#685453

hey pollo you were right, it really does make more sense on re-read, for the most part. i mean, i understood almost nothing until hot bird explained the out of universe thing so saying 'connect the dots' at like thread 3 was a little mean, but still.
also, come back to #tgchan, we miss you over there. i promise not to ask about updates

>>
No. 856750 ID: 7ab1fe

you realize you're gonna have to give this entire explanation again to the other marie, right? she's the original one anyhow (sorta)
>>
No. 857433 ID: 90124d

https://tgchan.org/kusaba/graveyard/res/754415.html#755207

"That guy" showed up in these little tiny shorts. Have no idea how it may be related directly but its something, I guess.
>>
No. 857444 ID: 90124d

>>771500

Found it, This is where that person did this. Huh. The tie ins are extreme.
>>
No. 858720 ID: 90124d

On second thoughts, they look nothing alike, Similar, but too different.
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