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File 151710370171.png - (43.44KB , 800x600 , title.png )
862495 No. 862495 ID: 7c55ee

Expand all images
>>
No. 862496 ID: 7c55ee
File 151710372206.png - (27.21KB , 800x600 , salq-1.png )
862496

"Ten minutes to core meltdown."

I was so close. So close. Everything was in the right place. Not one thing out of place.

I've never run this fast before in my life. My muscles scream at me to stop.
>>
No. 862498 ID: 7c55ee
File 151710375250.png - (23.61KB , 800x600 , salq-2.png )
862498

"Five minutes to core meltdown."

It's too late to avert and the entire facility is flooding. It's now or never.

"GET IN THE PODS! GET IN THE PODS NOW!!"

What few arkots were in this room run around in a startled panic.
In moments, I itemize.
Every arkot remaining is present. One struggles to get into a satellite pod.
Justifiable loss; have to go now.
>>
No. 862499 ID: 7c55ee
File 151710376734.png - (105.72KB , 800x600 , salq-3.png )
862499

"Two minutes to core meltdown."

Warmup cycle is two minutes. None of this has been tested. Nothing has been calibrated properly.
This much uncertainty is a death sentence.

But anything else is death with complete certainty.

More of my claws hit the button than necessary.
>>
No. 862500 ID: 7c55ee
File 151710378781.png - (84.35KB , 800x600 , salq-4.png )
862500

I breathe in, expecting it to be my last.
>>
No. 862501 ID: 7c55ee
File 151710379715.png - (398.57KB , 800x600 , salq-5.png )
862501

>>
No. 862502 ID: 7c55ee
File 151710381070.png - (112.21KB , 800x600 , salq-6.png )
862502

>>
No. 862503 ID: 7c55ee
File 151710382857.png - (103.80KB , 800x600 , salq-7.png )
862503

>>
No. 862504 ID: 7c55ee
File 151710384297.png - (44.37KB , 800x600 , salq-8.png )
862504

How did...

How did I get here?
Where is this?
>>
No. 862505 ID: 7c55ee
File 151710385705.png - (29.09KB , 800x600 , salq-9.png )
862505

[ Please choose a name and sex for this salikai. ]
>>
No. 862507 ID: 6780f5

Sam, Female
>>
No. 862508 ID: c2051e

Sex: Male.
Name: Varkata.
>>
No. 862509 ID: 86eb65

Velliana. Female.
>>
No. 862510 ID: 83beea

Female
Viria
>>
No. 862511 ID: 33cbe7

Female, Phyllis.
>>
No. 862513 ID: fda98a

Female, Nell.
>>
No. 862516 ID: de6d84

Male, Vafer
>>
No. 862518 ID: 3abd97

Sisirri Isukkoa

Female.
>>
No. 862520 ID: 1a6f80

Slagar Male
>>
No. 862522 ID: cc5f4f

Female, Daryl
>>
No. 862523 ID: 9d4af9

we haven't seen many Female salikai, have we? How about >>862510 this name.
>>
No. 862524 ID: 5db0a7

>>862518

Seconded.
>>
No. 862526 ID: f25286

Sarinus, Female
>>
No. 862527 ID: c88e6d

>>862505
Aiaka Vevo, Female.
>>
No. 862532 ID: 2aba49

>>862518
this
>>
No. 862535 ID: 4ee93b

>>862518
This is good.
>>
No. 862539 ID: 91ee5f

>>862518
This.
>>
No. 862544 ID: ad51b8

Sisirri Isukkoa

Female.

you know I don't think we've ever actually seen a female Salikai
>>
No. 862546 ID: 10c408

>>862544
Yes we have. There was Vanski's niece, Insaltsi, near the end of penn quest.
>>
No. 862547 ID: 10c408

Also voting for female and sisirri isukkoa
>>
No. 862573 ID: 7c55ee
File 151711708182.png - (94.59KB , 800x600 , salq-10.png )
862573

I am Sisirri Issukoa.

Okay. Okay. Everything hurts, but if everything hurts, this means I still have everything.
No lost claws, no lost limbs, everything is as it was.
Elements of the laboratory clearly came with me, which was never supposed to happen.
No sign of the satellite capsules, so the arkots are lost at best.

Air is breathable. Rain isn't burning me. I assumed far too much but I don't have proper testing equipment.

I'm in what looks to be a crater, but less concave. The base is flat, and the surrounding earth... It's as if a cylinder was pressed into the ground.

Perhaps the artifact wasn't a simple teleporter like I assumed. It also clearly wasn't indestructible.
>>
No. 862574 ID: 7c55ee
File 151711709845.png - (75.04KB , 800x600 , salq-11.png )
862574

I am exhausted. Muscles I didn't even know I had feel torn and bruised.

I roll away from the artifact right as its supports give way, and it rolls onto its access hatch. If I had waited any longer to leave, I might be stuck in it forever.

Ten years of progress, gone in minutes. Seconds.
My underwater facility, gone.
The artifact I gave everything I had to obtain, broken.
Too much trust in one lead. Too many assumptions. I grew too secure, too complacent.

I curl up as more of my body reminds me I should have paid greater care to my physique during my time on the ocean floor.
>>
No. 862575 ID: 7c55ee
File 151711711176.png - (29.25KB , 800x600 , salq-12.png )
862575

...I'm not alone.

Something spindly, crystalline. Strange locomotion, almost weightless on its tentacles. Smaller than me. I remain curled up and breathe as low and as quiet as I can.

It's like nothing I've seen before. I can't even tell if it sees me, but it is definitely moving. Twitching.

"GA UBILLA.A NI.ŠE"

How can something so small be so loud? I don't recognise this language.
>>
No. 862577 ID: 3ce125

>>862575
Got any weapons? Well, first try asking it to talk in your language.
>>
No. 862578 ID: c88e6d

>>862575
Okay, it's clearly a scoutcraft of some kind. Pretend to be dead. Maybe you're lucky and it's going to assume you're a dead animal and examine your craft first.
>>
No. 862579 ID: 33cbe7

Give it a hug with all of your legs.
>>
No. 862580 ID: 3abd97

>No sign of the satellite capsules, so the arkots are lost at best.
How will you function without minions this is unacceptable. You will have to obtain minions.

>>862575
Quick, you need something to probe it with.

And you need more data to start compiling a translation!
>>
No. 862581 ID: ad51b8

well the threat level that thing is giving off is high sooooo might not be a bad idea to run... assuming you can.
>>
No. 862583 ID: 4ceb21

Aw shit, it's gaelic, hide before it uses its evil druidic magic on you!
>>
No. 862584 ID: de6d84

See if it gets closer while preparing a surprise tail slap and run
>>
No. 862588 ID: 10c408

keep an eye on it but continue resting.
>>
No. 862646 ID: 9d4af9

What kind of augmentations do you have besides your robot eye? Anything that could be useful here?
>>
No. 862655 ID: cc5f4f

Maybe it's transmitting it to some sort of implants in your ear or head.
>>
No. 862664 ID: 56fca5

Keep resting for now. Short of hurting you, let it do whatever it's going to do.
>>
No. 862668 ID: fda98a

What is the universal way of saying: i don't understand you?
>>
No. 862734 ID: 7c55ee
File 151716994748.png - (34.33KB , 800x600 , salq-13.png )
862734

The only augmentations I have are my eye and the infrastructure necessary to support it.

I'm not in any shape to run and I don't have any arkots to send to investigate it.

I already miss the value of having arkots.

I'm too vulnerable right now to risk drawing attention to myself. I can't figure it out at all.

It screeches again. "GA UBILLA.A NI.ŠE"

I act as dead as I feel, keeping my left eye on the scoutcraft.

I see the crystals jutting out of the central mass rotate and glint in such a way that it almost seems like it's looking at me--
>>
No. 862735 ID: 7c55ee
File 151716997178.png - (247.79KB , 800x600 , salq-14.png )
862735

"GIR.MULAN.AK-- ŠERDA-- PAG"

Gaaaaaah!! My eye! The biofeedback! It's like I just had a laser shoved in it!!
>>
No. 862736 ID: 7c55ee
File 151716999572.png - (79.05KB , 800x600 , salq-15.png )
862736

I try to pull myself behind the artifact. I can feel my body shake with numbness and exhaustion.

"I can't speak your language!"

The creature squats low and launches itself into the air in a way that borders on nonsensical.

It's at about this point my body concludes it can take no more, and I collapse a short distance onto the ground.

It was all so close...
>>
No. 862737 ID: 7c55ee
File 151717003793.png - (87.72KB , 800x600 , salq-16.png )
862737

"I am Imperium. This had better be important, salikai."
"I understand you're very busy--"
"You cannot begin to comprehend how small a fraction of my attention this requires. I just don't feel like you might be worth that fraction."
"As friendly as ever, I take it. Alright. Let me go over my findings."
>>
No. 862738 ID: 7c55ee
File 151717010084.png - (48.35KB , 800x600 , salq-17.png )
862738

"I believe the artifact has the capability to transport itself, and a limited amount of attached mass, across some unspecified distance."
"Do you have data to back up that assertion?"
"The specifications of the artifact, as well as its response to various forms of stimuli. Chemical, radioactive, thermal, electric. Uploading it now."
"I have consulted the Akashic Vault, at great personal expense. No jetalium constructs match the material profile you sent."
"I don't think this is belenosian regardless. I don't know what this is. I've contacted as many archaeoxenolinguists as I can get access to, and none of them have any idea what the glyphs on the display relate to."
"I have delegated several of my core processors to analysing the glyphs but the sample is just too small. Similarities to multiple scripts of many alien species, but only coincidental. I believe I understand frustration more than I have ever before."
"It's the most challenging puzzle I've ever known in my life."
"I have existed for centuries. Parts of my core exist fully immersed in the Akashic Vault. I can safely assert that this is the most challenging puzzle I have encountered in my existence."

I'm speechless, but as I move a claw in thought, I feel dull aches. This isn't right. This happened already. This must be a dream. A memory. I don't usually dream of my memories. I must have passed out. Maybe I'm being interrogated subconsciously. I need to wake--
>>
No. 862739 ID: 7c55ee
File 151717015505.png - (32.76KB , 800x600 , salq-18.png )
862739

--ghh. I don't know how long I was out for, but I don't ache as badly, and my augmentations are working again.
Still raining, though. If anything it's only raining harder.

Is that an incredibly small heef? With... white feathers? What are those eyes?

"Who are you?"

It stares back at me and tilts its head.

"Do you understand me?"
"Zu.gir.mulan.ak.eme.ak i.men"
"I don't understand you."
"Dubsar.zu i.men"
"What?"
>>
No. 862740 ID: 7c55ee
File 151717017411.png - (70.15KB , 800x600 , salq-19.png )
862740

In seconds the creature is far too close for comfort.

"Stay back!"

The not-heef breaks into a sprint. It's looking like fight or flight are my immediate options.

The ground's getting muddier, so I need to factor this into my decision.
>>
No. 862741 ID: c2051e

Kick mud into it eyes as you turn to smash it with your tail bulb.
>>
No. 862743 ID: c88e6d

>>862740
Punch it in the face, then look behind you, it might have packmates in the area.

They've attempted a mental downlink from your mind to extract information on Imperium and your organization. Dissemble your thoughts by focusing on the immediate present.

Work to neutralize, not to kill. We have too little information and require someone to interrogate to acquire language skills and technical training from.
>>
No. 862744 ID: 6780f5

You're in a straight-walled, muddy crater in pouring rain; you'll have problems getting out to begin with, much less without exposing your back to an apparent attacker. Flight is nigh-impossible. You'll have to remember the basics of CQC.
>>
No. 862745 ID: de6d84

Dig many of your claws into the ground for stability while using one to throw mud at it's face and tail-whack it against it's momentum.
>>
No. 862747 ID: 9d4af9

Pocket Sand!

...or mud in this case I guess. You're not really in a good state to fight, so just retreat and harass the not-heef until it stops coming close.
>>
No. 862748 ID: 56fca5

Use the slippery ground to trip it up. Pin it down.
>>
No. 862751 ID: 3abd97

>>862735
Damn it they better not have hacked your implant. It's hard enough to replace compromised equipment without a lab, and even worse when you have to rip it out of your own head.

>>862740
It appears to have embedded circuitry in it's feathers? Interesting.

You could rend the hostile creature into pieces with your claws, but you're dangerously low on minions and test subjects. Let's attempt to take it alive.

Butt bulb bash!
>>
No. 862752 ID: 91ee5f

I don’t remember where exactly I’ve heard this (maybe ITQ and/or BTE), but I’m pretty sure that even though a Salikai’s arms look flimsy, they’re actually surprisingly strong and can be used to rip a neumono apart into bloody pieces!

So maybe you can grab this thing and either pin it down or, if necessary, rip it apart?
>>
No. 862753 ID: 66dad9

BULB BASH IT
>>
No. 862754 ID: 10c408

Okay. Mud's going to work against you as much as him. So brace yourself with some of your claspers while he advances. When he telegraphs his punch throw mud at his face and slap him with your tail to knock him over.

Do NOT fight fair.
>>
No. 862755 ID: 3ce125

>>862740
Salikai are strong, time for some mud-wrestling.
>>
No. 862757 ID: cc5f4f

I don't think its hostile, but be wary nonetheless.
>>
No. 862758 ID: 6780f5

Oh, yeah, definitely wrestle. You've got an advantage in both number of limbs and weight. Push them down and sit on them.
>>
No. 862781 ID: ad51b8

you got more limbs and are bigger then it. Grab it's arms and legs and pin it.
>>
No. 862786 ID: 7c55ee
File 151718149632.png - (29.47KB , 800x600 , salq-20.png )
862786

There is no such thing as a fair fight for survival.

I dig up mud from the ground and fling it at the not-heef's eyes.

It stumbles and slows down as it squawks and tries to get mud of its eyes.

While it's distracted I try my best to gain solid footing and swing my body tail-first into it before it can slow to a stop.

It goes flying. I guess it was lighter than I thought.
>>
No. 862787 ID: 7c55ee
File 151718151157.png - (49.10KB , 800x600 , salq-21.png )
862787

After looking behind me to make sure I'm not surrounded, I consider the possibility my implant has been compromised.

I decide whether or not to capture or kill. By a slim margin it feels like capture would be more beneficial.

I take the offensive, run up to the staggered creature and pin it to the ground with my greater size.

"What is this place? Who are you working for? I need answers! Answers!"

I take a moment to compose myself a little better.

"I need answers. Give them to me."

No response.

"Hello?"
[Hello.]

What?
>>
No. 862788 ID: 7c55ee
File 151718152965.png - (34.06KB , 800x600 , salq-22.png )
862788

[Goodbye.]

AAAAAGGHHHH IT BURNS TURN IT OFF SENSORY OVERLOAD TURN IT OFF GRASPERS CAN'T UNCLENCH
>>
No. 862790 ID: 7c55ee
File 151718154389.png - (44.21KB , 800x600 , salq-23.png )
862790

The first opportunity. The first opportunity I get, I'm taking all these implants out.

[Still awake? Bye.]

I feel something in my head buzz and whine pathetically.

[Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye.]
Click, click, click, click.

Well, I guess using the cheapest capacitors and batteries for the implants suddenly paid off more than I could have ever imagined.

So many options of where to go from here...
>>
No. 862792 ID: c88e6d

>>862790
Rip their fingers off.
>>
No. 862793 ID: c2051e

>>862790
Well, it's not cooperating. Time to vivisect it. See how well your graspers can tear it apart.
>>
No. 862794 ID: ad51b8

"bye"
then knock the thing the fuck out
>>
No. 862795 ID: 56fca5

Yeah, pummel this thing.
>>
No. 862796 ID: 9d4af9

Lift it in the air by the throat like Darth Vader. Ask it what it did with the plans.
>>
No. 862798 ID: 7c21ff

Choke it until it passes but don't kill it. At least not yet.
>>
No. 862799 ID: 3ce125

>>862790
Time to find out more about this species. Dissect it. Remove its implants and try to figure out how they work and are attached.
>>
No. 862800 ID: 83beea

Break its legs. It's lost walking privileges.
>>
No. 862801 ID: 3abd97

Well the hack on your implant has ceased to be an issue with the batteries failed, and the floating thing has disappeared.

Time to study the subject you have acquired! We must evaluate its potential as minion, test subject, or raw materials before deciding how to proceed with it.
>>
No. 862802 ID: 6780f5

Push its beak in. See how it likes being in exceptional pain.
>>
No. 862803 ID: de6d84

Knock it unconscious with another whap to the face, let's study it.
>>
No. 862805 ID: 91ee5f

>>862790
“I was going to let you live if you answered my questions. But after that little stunt you pulled, I’ve changed my mind.”

Then use more claws than necessary to grab it, say, “Bye.” to it, then start tearing it apart.
>>
No. 862808 ID: 66dad9

It'll be better to think about all the experiments you could do to this thing as payback if you captured it and studied it instead. Tail whap it unconscious.
>>
No. 862809 ID: 3abd97

Why are we assuming the hack overload was triggered by this pathetic creature in front of us, and not the floating thing that appeared to hack our eye earlier?
>>
No. 862810 ID: 40e460

Knock it out, worst case scenario you'll get a meatshield to throw at other things later.
>>
No. 862815 ID: fe7355

Get a grip on your rage before it makes you do something dumb. Emotional behavior is what cost you your base and got you dumped wherever the fuck this is. So pull your wits together and look at this analytically, like you ought to.

First, you don't know exactly where the hack of your cybernetics came from. While it's possible it was initiated by this being, it could also have just been used as a relay by the actual hostile party or it could have been done at range without this being involved. Second, your implants were hacked like they were nothin', so presumably you're facing a adversary that is extremely skilled at hacking implants. Third, looking at the being under you, they obviously have multiple cybernetic implants. It's a possibility that those implants under the control of a remote party and this being isn't acting of its own volition, either by coercion or direct control.

Look around for any signs of that flying thing or any other watchers before continuing. Attempt to remove or break the cybernetic bands on the being's limbs and its other implants. Perhaps if you break or remove its implants it'll be able to act freely. At the least it'll be weakened greatly.

>Well, I guess using the cheapest capacitors and batteries for the implants suddenly paid off more than I could have ever imagined.
Though with your implants' power systems presumably fried by that discharge, the question rises of how you're still hearing the attacker saying "bye" and trying to trigger the sensory overload again. No juice should mean no implant functionality and no radio. Nanomachine infestation, perhaps?
>>
No. 862842 ID: 7c55ee
File 151719146916.png - (49.74KB , 800x600 , salq-24.png )
862842

This area is not suitable for anything so sophisticated as careful vivisection or dissection.

While I scream inwardly for revenge and how sweet it would be, I swallow my anger. It is difficult.

I first begin slowly squeezing a claw around its throat, as I feel the clicking in my head increase frantically. No pithy remarks, just desperate sabotage attempts. Perhaps whatever was still powered on to pass on its messages is now losing whatever remnant power it had left.

As it gets close to passing out, a few carefully applied tail beatings render it unconscious for now, whether from giving into pain or from lucky strikes. I double check that it's actually breathing and find that it is still alive.

No bindings available, I leave it lying face up next to the artifact so I can find it later.

I try to remove its bands, but my claws prove insufficient. It feels like they're anchored to the skeletal structure, and if I wanted to tear limbs off I could have started there.
>>
No. 862843 ID: 7c55ee
File 151719148943.png - (19.21KB , 800x600 , salq-25.png )
862843

Well. My left eye is now functioning as a standard eye. Better than being blind, but it's going to take at least a day for the internal reservoirs to fully recharge. It's running on its own internal power buffer now, in the eye itself, which will last days without augmenting input.

I guess I have become more reliant on augmented vision than I ever wanted to admit to myself.

Well, I've started from nothing before. First things first, shelter.

I scavenge around the crater and find remnant pieces of the room previously housing the artifact. Pillars previously holding the added components to the artifact, and sheets of metal.

I assemble the junk and debris into a lean-to just to be free of this oppressive downpour. It still feels like it's getting stronger.

I drag my recent captive into it and lean more metal onto the open face of the shelter to enclose it.

Finally. Some security. If the wind gets too much stronger this entire structure will collapse, but it should do for now.
>>
No. 862844 ID: 7c55ee
File 151719151169.png - (13.64KB , 800x600 , salq-26.png )
862844

I scooch forward to the mud so I have something to use to record my thoughts.

It's time to do some planning.

I can think of many objectives, but I need to consider how important they are and what I should do to accomplish them.
There might be other, more important obstacles I haven't considered yet. My mind's a little scrambled. Possibly physically as well as figuratively.

Goals:
- Search for missing arkot pods and other remnants that came with the artifact
- Determine what captive is
- Establish more secure base
- Remove or modify cybernetic implants to counter threat of subversion
- Get back home to somewhere I recognise to start over
- Determine if artifact can even be repaired

>>
No. 862848 ID: 130855

For starters, you need to find some equipment and resources so you don't starve and can explore farther afield from the artifact. Finding arkots would be nice, but right now you can't feed them and there's nothing for them to do.
>>
No. 862851 ID: 3ce125

>>862844
Searching for the arkot pods is time-sensitive and could give you tools and/or personnel. I think you should do that immediately. Climb up to the edge of the crater and look to see if you can find evidence of the other pods.
Establishing a secure base will be your second priority.
Once you have a base you can start interrogating and otherwise gathering data from the prisoner.

You probably don't have the tools to properly remove/modify your implants, but it is quite important. We'll have to put that off for now, but as soon as you get the tools you should do so.
Getting home or trying to repair the artifact are things you have no way of doing anytime soon.

At the moment you should be somewhat worried about the crater flooding from the rain. Make sure the captive isn't lying face-down so she won't drown in a puddle or something. Optimally you would raise up her head to give you more time to come back and grab her after you get your arkots. Maybe you can wedge her into a sitting position in a corner? Or maybe you should just carry her with you and abandon this site. You should realize at this point that she is only the first of many. If you move away from the crash site the storm might cover your tracks.

You also have to worry about food and water! You can immediately start collecting rainwater but you need something to carry it in. Food will be tricky since you don't know what things here are good to eat. Animals are probably safe, unless they're brightly colored. Are Salikai vulnerable to organic poisons or allergens or otherwise unpleasant things that could happen from eating unidentified fruit/vegetables?
>>
No. 862852 ID: 56fca5

You need to make sure that bird thing is restrained. You don't want them waking up and wandering off to whomever they work for, much less trying to kill you again.

Food and water are important to secure, as is anyone who can help you. So, look for the Akrot pods.

Fortifying your base is probably the third most important thing for you to do unless you are absolutely sure you are within walking distance of somewhere civilized. I get the impression you aren't.
>>
No. 862855 ID: 3abd97

>>862844
I think searching for arkots goes to the top of the priority list. Recovering them ups your available resource pool, and you only have so long before they wander off, starve, or get killed being idiots on their own. Recovery is time critical.
>>
No. 862872 ID: c88e6d

>>862844
Acquiring the Arkot Pods is Priority 1. They are an incredibly useful laborforce, breed explosively, and are controllable. They are also probably edible in case of an emergency.

Priority 2 is figuring out what our captive is.

Priority 3 is a more secure base.

Priority 4 is disabling any input/output features on our cybernetics, or figuring out how to completely disable them if that doesn't work.

Priority five is repairing the Artifact,
and Priority six is figuring out how to get back. Let's face it, we got lucky the artifact didn't just vaporize us. We need far more careful experimentation and testing with its technology before we try THAT again.
>>
No. 862880 ID: 33cbe7

>Establish more secure base
>Remove or modify cybernetic implants to counter threat of subversion
>Dissect captive for analysis
>locate arkot pods
>attempt artifact repairs
>>
No. 862893 ID: 7c55ee
File 151720406151.png - (15.32KB , 800x600 , salq-27.png )
862893

Revised Goals:

HIGH PRIORITY
- Search for missing arkot pods/other salvageable remnants that came with the artifact
- Secure food and water supplies
- Restrain captive
- Acquire equipment and resources in general
- Establish more secure base

LOW PRIORITY

- Determine what captive is
- Remove or modify cybernetic implants to counter threat of subversion
- Determine if artifact can even be repaired


This crater could well flood, especially given its unusual planar shape. It's also exposed on all sides and it's likely that small skittering crystal thing has reported my presence at this point. The only thing I'm attached to here is the artifact, but it's going to be difficult for anyone to take from here. I ball up some mud as tightly as I can pack it and make a rudimentary pillow to buy time for the captive not to drown while I'm gone.

I used to be chastised for being too friendly to prisoners by... certain individuals I used to be in contact with, but both workers and test subjects alike need to be kept in good condition to be worth anything.

Also, with regards to food, salikai and arkot alike prefer vegetation and fruits. Both salikai and arkot can eat meat, if it absolutely comes down to it, but this is a dire last resort. I hate it, personally. We're also very resistant to poisons from our homeworld but this means nothing on an alien planet. It's going to require better equipment than I have to test if anything is safe to eat.
>>
No. 862894 ID: 7c55ee
File 151720407497.png - (40.37KB , 800x600 , salq-28.png )
862894

I can't build a new base by myself. There was a reason I even wanted to make sure I had at least a few clawfuls of arkots in the first place.

Time to look for them. I find the most concave piece of shrapnel I can find and flip it up to gather any rainwater I can.

I scout out the edges of the crater in the torrential rain. It's getting harder and harder to see. My augmented eye could screen out this rain, but not without proper power.

I find one of the satellite pods wedged into... how did it end up wedged into the ground? The universe finds new ways to surprise and disappoint me.

I start excavating it, digging through mud to see if I can find any signs of the entrance hatch--
>>
No. 862895 ID: 7c55ee
File 151720408717.png - (47.72KB , 800x600 , salq-29.png )
862895

pop

--or the arkot can apparently leave the pod by herself, I guess.

She looks up at the rain and frowns. Before she has a chance to rethink things and get back in the pod I bodily pull her out and set her on the ground.

I recognise the fabric band around her.

"Number 6?"

The arkot nods and salutes.

"Good. You always were one of the least disappointing. The other pods like the pod you came in are scattered all across this crater. Perhaps even further afield."

Number 6 waves her arms at me, and points at her open mouth.

"We don't have any food. Maybe you can work on that instead. Find whatever looks edible, bring it over there." I point to the shelter. "If you lose sight of the crater, come back immediately. Failure to return will result in death. Not from me, you understand. This is a hostile world. If you go too far from me, you will die. Understand?"

Number 6 nods. I've given her this talk before, and I think, but I can't know for sure, that she understands I'm explaining reality, and not just threatening her. She was always good at keeping other arkots in line when they wouldn't listen to me about the airlocks leading to certain death by drowning.

I lost at least fifteen arkots until they finally learned that airlocks weren't like normal doors. You just can't save them from themselves sometimes. I dread to think how wild arkot must live.

"Also, if you can remember wherever you found--"

Number 6 nods and runs off.

...back to looking for other arkot, I suppose.
>>
No. 862896 ID: 7c55ee
File 151720410442.png - (16.39KB , 800x600 , salq-30.png )
862896

I find another arkot pod, and...

...

...one and a half arkot recovered.

I'm just... going to put this back in the pod. If I need it later.

The eyes. The eyes are still moving. The eyes are still moving.
>>
No. 862897 ID: 7c55ee
File 151720412615.png - (27.38KB , 800x600 , salq-31.png )
862897

SLAM

Well that's unfortunately not something I can fix at present so without further hesistation or further delay let's look for more pods immediately now

I look for other pods in the crater and find only one more.

Expecting the worst, I open it up.

Hm. Nope. Just a sleeping arkot. One I don't recognise. Probably fell asleep in this pod in the place of one of my claw-picked elite arkot squad. Of course.

Out it comes. It is incredibly unhappy to be woken up and taken out of its safe, secure, warm pod into the freezing rain, but it deserves it. Its writhing doesn't help it escape my claws.

"Listen. Arkot. This is the new base." I point to the shelter. "New base. New home. Go there and make sure the prisoner inside does not escape."

The arkot stares at me, then awkwardly runs off to the shelter.

"If it escapes, you're on the menu for the rest of us!" I shout after it. A former colleague of mine told me arkots respond better to threats than compliments, and it always worked before.

...

I suddenly realise I'm incredibly hungry. I don't really know how I ignored it for so long.
>>
No. 862898 ID: 3ce125

>>862897
Well look around. Can you spot a forest or any kind of vegetation at all really?
>>
No. 862899 ID: 83beea

Avoid eating the arkots. Make a mental note to bang #6 later.
>>
No. 862900 ID: 130855

The area around seems pretty desolate, but maybe you can spot something if you climb on top of your shelter (assuming the shelter can support your weight). Shame your vision augment's on the fritz right now.
>>
No. 862901 ID: c2051e

Time to see if your prisoner is edible.
>>
No. 862906 ID: de6d84

Worst case scenario, you could eat the prisoner or even the half-torn arkot.

Return to your two other arkots and have them stack up on your head while finding the highest spot nearby. See if the arkots can see any potential area worth visiting in the distances.
>>
No. 862908 ID: c88e6d

>>862906
Do not eat the arkot, it's probably been exposed to some cosmic horror since it's still alive after all this.

Seek vegetation, though I'm starting to suspect this region at least is Post Industrial and extremely lacking in wild vegetation.
>>
No. 862929 ID: 16ae2c

Could the half gone arkot be the one that was struggling to get in its pod while you were escaping the flood?
Check the arkot pods to see if they stored anything with them.
>>
No. 862930 ID: 3ce125

Oh wait you just ordered one of your arkots to bring food back to base. Maybe she succeeded? Go check before you wander around on your own.
>>
No. 862939 ID: 91ee5f

Weren’t there 4 pods, >>862498?

You’ve only found 3, so there should be 1 more somewhere around here. Hopefully it’s a full Arkot and not another half Arkot.
>>
No. 862945 ID: fda98a

Keep looking for pods, if you don't find any, look for food, or whatever looks edible.
>>
No. 862950 ID: 33cbe7

>>862908
So has she, it makes little difference in the end. Besides, we have half an arkot sitting around being useless.
>>
No. 862973 ID: d36af7

Peek over the rim of the crater and see if there's grass or trees or any other signs of potentially edible plant life.

If you do end up resorting to cannibalism, the half-arkot should probably be eaten before either of the whole ones, since it's the least likely to be useful for anything else.
>>
No. 862988 ID: 3ae3fd

>>862973
Half-arkot is highly likely to be useful for SCIENCE! Figuring out what exactly went wrong there would say much about the operation of the device.
>>
No. 862991 ID: 56fca5

I'm not exactly sure what you can do other than keep searching. You'll find Arkots or food and that's what you need right now.

If you feel you've searched enough yourself, you can fall back on whatever #6 finds. Maybe make sure the new one isn't unbinding the captive or anything dumb like that.
>>
No. 863002 ID: 3d2d5f

>One struggles to get into a satellite pod. Justifiable loss; have to go now.
>...one and a half arkot recovered.
Cause and effect.

Interesting that she's horrified by that. Different mindset than we're used to.

>I suddenly realise I'm incredibly hungry. I don't really know how I ignored it for so long.
Is there any vegetation here?

Perhaps standing on something for a better vantage point, or rearing up and balancing on your tail, is called for in order to get a better view of your surroundings.
>>
No. 863010 ID: 91ee5f

>>862988
>Figuring out what exactly went wrong there would say much about the operation of the device.
That’s easy. Look here: >>862498 . You see the Arkot with its legs sticking out of its pod? That’s the half Arkot.
>>
No. 863019 ID: 12b116

we can eat the half an arkot if it comes down to it. See if the prisoner has got anything on it that we can eat. We know the arkot isn't poison, though.
>>
No. 863049 ID: 3ce125

The prisoner arrived naked and without a vehicle. That at least implies there is access to food and shelter within walking distance.
Unless these jerks can teleport, anyway.
>>
No. 863101 ID: 3ae3fd

The arkots, Salikai, and tentacle horror(Unless it is a vehicle) have arrived naked and without a vehicle or supplies. No, wait, 6 isn't naked, good reliable 6! But the prisoner could have been brought here by some freak effect of the device, or by some parallel causality or something. It could be as lost as we are. Still, given that the tentacle horror buzzed our implants, and then the beaky bandit was there when we awoke, it was likely aboard the tentacle horror and came out after it thought we had been subdued.
There might be a betentacled transporter hidden in the bushes, laden with supplies and alien technology, into which a young arkot could just barely squeeze. Assuming that the bird brain was stupid enough to attack someone ten times their size with no support, which seems to be a solid assumption, they probably just abandoned their vehicle nearby...
>>
No. 863145 ID: cf24af
File 151728341742.png - (9.25KB , 800x600 , salq-32.png )
863145

>Make a mental note to bang #6 later.

...

I think that discharge may have actually caused brain damage.
>>
No. 863146 ID: cf24af
File 151728344177.png - (44.36KB , 800x600 , salq-33.png )
863146

Four pods were connected to the artifact. However, there were six pods in total in that room. I was maybe a day away from connecting the last two.

If any arkots leapt into those pods, there's every chance they came with the artifact. I may even have found those ones already.

While I've spent a lot of time searching since tasking her, I doubt #6 will have returned that quickly--

Belay that thought. It's nice to be pleasantly surprised, for a change.
>>
No. 863147 ID: cf24af
File 151728347017.png - (18.64KB , 800x600 , salq-34.png )
863147

"Where did you find that?"

#6 tilts her head in the direction of the shelter.

"...Those weren't in the shelter. There's only a prisoner and, if I'm lucky, an arkot guarding it."

#6 shakes her head and shakes the pile of fruit she's carrying. #6 has been mute ever since her hatching, and it's times like this where it becomes an obstacle.
There have been many times it's been advantageous, however.
A silent arkot is much better in lower profile roles. And they listen much, much more readily.

"I don't follow."

#6 walks over to the shelter, beckoning me to follow. A little more literal a response than I was expecting. When we reach the shelter, she looks around inside the shelter, and dumps the fruit near a corner of the metal I'm using for flooring, taking care not to let it fall in the mud. I suppose all but the dumbest arkots try to keep mud away from their food.

I catch a fruit she throws to me as she ravenously begins eating.
"Stop. We don't know if it's toxic--"
#6 shakes her head vigorously and goes back to eating.

The problem, I realise, is thinking of an arkot as smarter than the rest of their kind still doesn't stop them being an arkot.

The other arkot guarding the prisoner runs over to grab a fruit and resumes guard duty, which appears to translate into "sitting next to the prisoner".
>>
No. 863148 ID: cf24af
File 151728349197.png - (10.63KB , 800x600 , salq-35.png )
863148

I can't fault the arkots. I'm finding hunger to be a far more compelling voice than reason the longer I stare at this fruit.

I split it open with my claws to inspect it. The skin is layered, shedding easily, giving way to a more homogenous flesh with an incredibly sweet fragrance.

My stomach reminds me it exists with more urgency.

I think about all the varieties of toxins I'm aware of that are completely odorless and tasteless.

I think about how juicy the flesh of this fruit looks.

Instinct and reason wage war as the fruit halves begin to shake in my claws. I didn't realise how hungry I was and it's almost overwhelming me.
>>
No. 863149 ID: cf24af
File 151728353879.png - (37.51KB , 800x600 , salq-36.png )
863149

But ultimately, reason wins. I set the two halves of the fruit on the floor and watch #6 intently as she moves onto her third fruit.

"Where did you find these?"

#6 pauses, swallows, and runs out of the shelter, squeezing through the exit gap without issue as I carefully move and replace the metal sheet acting as door and wall.

The crater wall is tough but not impossible to surmount.

...Odd. There appears to be some kind of watch post or bunker here, the door open. I can see an open container of the fruits #6 found and brought back.

Let's stop and consider this. An unlocked outpost, with full supplies, clearly recently abandoned. What could possibly happen such that anyone would evacuate so quickly?

It could be the crater. Or it could be that this is a trap--
>>
No. 863150 ID: cf24af
File 151728357280.png - (51.39KB , 800x600 , salq-37.png )
863150

"GET ON THE GROUND! GET ON THE FUCKING GROUND!"

HOW?! HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE NEUMONO NEUMONO ARE HERE NO NO NO NO NO

"NOW! NOW, YOU BIG GREEN FUCKER! LEKKA, TAKE OUT THE ARKOT!"
"It's an arkot and it's not even armed--"
"THEY HAVE TEETH, FUCKING SHOOT IT!"

A boot and then a gun are pressed to my head.
>>
No. 863151 ID: cf24af
File 151728360014.png - (66.58KB , 800x600 , salq-38.png )
863151

"I--"
"NO TALKING, WORM!"

Huaoooof, that was a forceful kick to my side.

"Ekasarra, restraints."
"Fuck, this many arms, wouldn't it be easier to just break them off? One by one? Slowly?"

"You need me," I gasp.

The faceless helmets turn to each other wordlessly as they no doubt communicate in their wretched silent emotion cloud.

"You'd have shot me already if you didn't."
"Why, after all you've done, do you think you deserve a quick death?"

All I've done? All I've done?! Neumono terrify me, I don't even know what provoked them to come after me!!

"Because I know, and you know, that if you ever want to see your homes again, you need me-- HRFFAA!"

I think I heard something in my left eye crack
>>
No. 863152 ID: cf24af
File 151728363795.png - (72.96KB , 800x600 , salq-39.png )
863152

One of the neumono takes their helmet as one keeps their boot on my face. I don't resist being systematically restrained, grasper pair by grasper pair.

Neumono.
Ancestral enemy.
Systematically wiping out salikai one by one.
Incredibly hard to kill.
High pain tolerance.
Few weakpoints that immediately down them.
Incredible biological redundancy.
Able to communicate intent between themselves silently and rapidly.

If salikai are creatures of reason, neumono are creatures of wrath. Unyielding, unstoppable wrath.
I have never known neumono to know mercy to salikai.

They terrify me. But so far, I am holding it together.

"Sisirri, right? My name is Lekka. Acting command of the Ashes Astra."
Ashes Astra is a name that means nothing to me. "When have our names ever mattered to you beyond 'salikai'?"
"Send your arkot back."

I'm incredibly confused. If they thought she was a threat they'd have shot her already. "...Number six, fall back to base."
"Thanks," says Lekka.

I feel my last pair of graspers bound.
"That's the last pair of weird grabby claws," says the neumono I can't see.

Lekka nods and looks directly into my eyes. She holds out what looks to be an arkot skull. And crushes it beyond recognition in one uninterrupted fist clench.

"There were a dozen of us. There are three of us now. Where are they?"
"I don't know--"

AGH THAT WAS DEFINITELY A CRACK

"*cough* If you want me to answer your questions could you maybe stop trying to puncture my lungs with my own ribs?"
"That's enough for now, Kan."
"Lekka, it's a salikai--"
"That's enough. So. Sisirri. Where are our missing hivemates?"

Hivemates. Oh no no no no no no NO if there is one thing I understand about neumono it is the significance of this word to them

"I don't know!"
"Okay, Kan. You can go back to beating it now until it remembers."

Whatever these restraints are made of are surprisingly tougher than I was expecting.

I desperately try to recall the events immediately prior to arriving here.
>>
No. 863153 ID: cf24af
File 151728369575.png - (65.31KB , 800x600 , salq-40.png )
863153

Roughly seven days ago

"...but maybe it would be better fitted over here."
"The artifact, Sisirri. The artifact. I am asking you about the artifact. THE ARTIFACT."
"Yes, and I'm explaining the test harness--"
"Is the artifact operational? Have you activated it? These are simple yes or no questions, Sisirri. Salikai are creatures of reason. Surely you can comprehend and answer a simple yes or no question."
"No, but--"
"That will be all."
"The plan is to begin testing-- Imperium?"
>>
No. 863154 ID: cf24af
File 151728374024.png - (58.12KB , 800x600 , salq-41.png )
863154

Roughly two days ago

"Imperium, what's going on? Why are half the facility systems locking me out of them?"
"You have been using designs I have loaned to you. You cease to serve a purpose for me. There were additional, secondary uses for you, but after thorough inspection of your biological profile you are inadequate for them, and as a result, this operation must terminate. I am simply taking back what has been given."
"What?? Is it a funding issue? I have some more avenues I haven't tested yet, I have other contacts, I can--"
"I believe you will find it difficult to secure further resources when it is revealed that an Imperium core lies directly underneath your aquatic laboratory. A laboratory owned, designed, and operated by a salikai. The same salikai that now owns an intergalactic mystery artifact weapon with the potential to shatter star systems. What a pity. I wonder who will get to you first in this race."
"W-what? What?! There's no weapon or AI core here!! I don't understand, I've been nothing but compliant, you can't do this to me! I've bled for this project, Imperium, I've spent ten years of my life working towards this!"
"There is a particular aphorism I am quite fond of in moments such as these. Let me relay it to you. 'The devil always gets his due.' You understood the risks of working with me, the most feared and hated intelligence in the sector, and I'm surprised you weren't the one to betray me first. I had such high expectations for your species. I will find a new candidate for ascension in time. Sapient species are a surprisingly numerous resource in this region of space."
"No! Don't send that transmission! DON'T SEND IT!!"
"It was sent five days ago, Sisirri. I've been observing its impact on the networks across systems. I would describe it as 'emotionally charged'. Goodbye."
"No! NO! IMPERIUM! IMPERIUM, YOU CAN STOP THIS! I'LL DO ANYTHING! IMPERIUM!! YOU CAN'T LOCK ME INTO MY OWN FACILITY!!"
>>
No. 863155 ID: cf24af
File 151728378843.png - (95.16KB , 800x600 , salq-42.png )
863155

Twenty minutes before facility destruction

"Hey. Salikai. I know you're watching me, from whatever panic room you have in this place. You can't hide forever, monster. We're coming for you."

"Core breach immninent."

they're coming for me they're coming for me i'm losing every arkot i have nothing works anymore and they're coming for me what do I even have left
>>
No. 863156 ID: cf24af
File 151728382108.png - (55.97KB , 800x600 , salq-43.png )
863156

...nothing about missing hivemates. It's incredibly likely they perished in the facility's pointless, wasteful destruction or the events leading up to it.

They won't accept that answer. It won't fit their narrative. They will refuse to believe they were wrong or acted on misinformation.

"Do you know how many hivemates we've already lost to salikai, Sisirri?"

I hear the click and hiss of energy weapons being primed.

"Can you even understand what it's like to lose just one?"

More guns pointed at my face.

"Do you understand how it feels to feel them die in front of you, to hear their empathy scream and fade to nothing while salikai stand and take notes?"

There's no answer to this question. This is a rhetorical question. They're toying with me before killing me.

"Answer me, salikai."
>>
No. 863157 ID: c2051e

Don't give it the satisfaction. Just do nothing.
>>
No. 863158 ID: 83beea

"No. I'm sorry. I don't."

If nothing else, you can make them feel potentially a shred of empathy for you or salikai in general before they shoot you. Maybe they'll only shoot you a little bit and you can try to patch yourself up after they leave you for dead.
>>
No. 863159 ID: 10c408

"Do you know what it's being hunted and tortured by creatures stronger than you for all the wrong reasons?"

"Kill me or continue shaming your dead, barbaric cur!"
>>
No. 863161 ID: 3abd97

>>863156
As I recall, you attacked me, when I was previously killing zero neumono because your wretched species does not live underwater!
>>
No. 863162 ID: 86eb65

Fuck you. I never did anything to your hivemates. I don't even know who you are.
>>
No. 863171 ID: de6d84

You attacked me though.
>>
No. 863173 ID: 33cbe7

I wouldn't know, the experiment is still ongoing!
>>
No. 863183 ID: c88e6d

>>863156
"Do you know what it's like to be hunted by psychopathic psychic murderers because of your species?"
>>
No. 863190 ID: 91ee5f

>>863156
“You want to know the truth?! The truth is I’m terrified of your kind! I’ve spent my whole life avoiding neumono! You’re the first neumono I’ve ever met in my life!”

And then start crying because holy shit you might die and there’s a gun in your face and this is a very scary situation!
>>
No. 863199 ID: 130855

Do you understand how it feels to be hunted across the ends of the earth by creatures you know only from stories of violence? Fuck you, do it already.
>>
No. 863200 ID: 3ae3fd

Oh, there's really no way out of this... The whole project, there won't be anything left...
"Please, just don't hurt Six. She's mute and she wears a sash and I'm sure she'll be good..." *whimper* "I don't want to die... not like this... not after..."
>>
No. 863201 ID: 3ce125

Make a last request: you want food. It sucks to die on an empty stomach.
>>
No. 863205 ID: b32864

“You were tricked”

“I tend to find the biological fields of science more trouble then they’re worth so I stay away from it while I can. I worked on machines for an individual named Imperum, who 7 days ago told the galaxy at large that I held a super weapons that could take out entire star systems, I did not, then 2 days ago told me what he did after trapping me in my own base. I have no idea where your hive mates are but I can tell you that if they said I was responsible for it then you have been tricked the same way I have been betrayed. After all what better way to remove a lose end like myself then sending a bunch of pissed off neumono after her?”


Yeah, idea here is they don’t care for a damn thing we have to say and only want to hear one thing. Here’s hoping that by dropping our boss’s “name” they keep us alive longer in an attempt to learn more about him giving us more time to figure out how to get out of this mess, though honestly I think these guys might just have been right on your ass and when you did whatever you did to end up here they were close enough to get taken along for the ride... unless of course they’re asking where they buddies from the raid went off to and not something that happened before they sacked your base, In that case, uhhh hopefully by being so wrong about not knowing what the fuck they’re talking about it will buy us more time? Yeah we’re up shit’s creak right now
>>
No. 863208 ID: fda98a

OH BOY, you are in the most horrible pickle you could have gotten into. Well, the only think you can do here is say the truth, even if they don't believe you, any other option results on death.
If they are goin to kill you what ever you do or say, ask them to do you and themselfs a favor: destroy, or try, to destoy that IMPERIOUM fucker, it is responsible for all this.
>>
No. 863216 ID: 80a84b

Was there even any neumono in your lab? If not, simply say so. Then add that you were too busy running away to think about anyone else, so how would you know about the hivemates?
>>
No. 863244 ID: 33430a

Maybe your prisoner knows something about where their hivemates are, might take their attention off you for a bit.
>>
No. 863247 ID: d36af7

"I can show you where that 'superweapon' is. It won't work anymore. I used it to run away, and broke it in the process. All I have left is that, two and a half arkots, one alien prisoner (who's been treated as well as I could arrange, thank you), my own body, and a flimsy metal box under which to hide from the rain. I have never hurt any neumono who were not actively attempting to kill me at the time, and even then it has always been my policy to retreat first when possible."
>>
No. 863248 ID: 56fca5

Tell them the transmission was a trap set for you. Your testing had nothing to do with weaponry or neumono. You had nothing to do with the core failure and know nothing of the neumono that were left inside.

Tell them how each loss of your kin feels when there are maybe only dozens left. How it feels as a species to be alone and dying, hunted by creatures you had nothing to do with.
>>
No. 863253 ID: 0d45a9

I cannot. Without the link your kind shares I literally cannot, and trying to make it sound like I do would be wrong, but I had no part in the death of your hivemates. Why would I risk bringing hell down upon myself when I am terrified of your kind?

I don't know the events from your perspective, but all I was working on was a glorified teleporter! Imperium locked me inside my own base and put out that story about it being a superweapon. I'd barely figured it out in time to escape and even then it's taken me to who knows where in the galaxy.
>>
No. 863286 ID: cf24af
File 151732954796.png - (51.33KB , 800x600 , salq-44.png )
863286

"No. I'm sorry. I don't. I can't. You know I can't. I don't have the link your kind does."

The Lekka neumono looks to be slightly less angry. I'm not sure. I can't read alien emotions very well.

"What do you value, salikai?"
"I haven't done anything to your hivemates, I haven't killed any neumono, I went underwater to be the one place neumono aren't to be away from you terrifying telepathic murderers--"
"Answer the question."
"Acquisition of knowledge. Safety. Security. Right now, food, I'm starving. If you want leverage, there's your best option."
"The arkot with the sash?"
"What about her?"
"Do you value the arkot?"

I hesitate.

"I've done nothing to your hivemates, you attacked me on complete lies, if you want to see the 'superweapon' it's in that crater and I used it to run away and it's broken, you've taken everything from me--"
"Not everything. Kan, clear a path to the signal. Ekasarra, if you see that arkot again, shoot to kill."
"Killing her serves no purpose," I gasp. "You've wasted so much effort and destroyed so much already, what's one arkot worth?"
"I don't know, salikai. Seems to be worth more to you than most of them."
"The transmission was a trap, neumono! You've all been deceived by something a lot worse than a salikai!"

Lekka pauses.

"Don't shoot the arkot yet. Explain, Sisirri."
"Are you fucking SERIOUS?" shouts the neumono I believe is named Kan. "You're LISTENING TO IT?!"
"The only intel we had on the facility that turned out to be accurate was the layout. Everything else was wrong. This doesn't feel like a regular salikai hunt."
"Who cares if someone framed it? Only good snake's a dead snake."
"We can't get answers out of a dead body, Kan."

I cough up blood.

My sudden awareness of my mortality makes my head swim as I try to keep my coherence. "Do you... do you understand how it feels to watch my kin disappear one by one, to be one of a species hunted to extinction? I can't say I understand what it is like to lose hivemates, but I've lost every family tie I've had." Only one to neumono, but if I'm making an emotional plea, I suspect that part is best left omitted.
>>
No. 863287 ID: cf24af
File 151732955842.png - (182.83KB , 800x600 , salq-45.png )
863287

whhhssshKRAKOOM

"Path cleared, Lekka."

That's... that's definitely not typical ordnance. Who are these neumono and where did they get all of their equipment from? I doubt neumono minds are rational enough to develop it.

"Good work, Kan. Sisirri, you know nothing of being hunted."
"My entire life has been spent hiding and running." All of it. A waste of time. Another salikai life hatched in darkness and ended without dignity. That's all I amounted to. "Just get on with it. If I get any last requests, spare the arkots left, and tell everyone that Imperium must be destroyed."

Lekka lowers her weapon. "Imperium?"
Ekasarra paces around to face me. "Imperium, huh? What do you know about Imperium?"
"Imperium-- *cough cough*-- Imperium is a threat to salikai and neumono alike. You were manipulated by it into attacking me. Consider it responsible for any losses."
"Imperium is a myth," says Ekasarra. "No single AI could be as vast or do all the things attributed to it. It's a story that you salikai seem to have taken at face value."
"Imperium lives. It locked me in my own facility at the bottom of an ocean, and claimed a transportation device to be a superweapon. One that's taken us all far away from anyone we could warn. We've all been manipulated by it and it's the greatest existential threat to everything else I can think of."

Lekka stares at the sky, clenching her fists so tightly it seems like the armor might break from the pressure. The other neumono flinch away from her, but I have no clue why.

"Skies strike me dead for this day I take the word of a salikai to be truth." She spits the word more than ever before. "Earth swallow me for feeling sympathy for one."
"Lekka?? Are you serious?!"
"To my own disappointment, yes."
"Remember Astra--"
"Hidira is dead, and I know you want to kill her over and over again, but she's dead, and this isn't Hidira."
"So it's weak and pathetic now. If we let it live, how many millions, how many billions will suffer later in its vile schemes?"

Hidira was my mother...
>>
No. 863288 ID: cf24af
File 151732957828.png - (48.87KB , 800x600 , salq-46.png )
863288

Fourteen years ago

"You called me?"
"You disgust me, Sisirri."
"I don't understand, mother."
"I have given you every opportunity for improvement and you decline as though life as a base animal is an existence worth pursuing."
"I-- I don't think you're well, mother. This, it, it isn't progress, it looks like sickness."
"Sickness is a property of flesh. I will rid myself of such weaknesses in time. I could understand your reluctance while your body physically matured. Constant replacement would be costly and unnecessary. Yet I present the opportunity to you at great cost to myself and you deny every gift I offer you."
"I don't need them. You don't need them."
"If you will not see eye to eye on this matter, perhaps your eyes are to blame."
"I don't--"
>>
No. 863289 ID: cf24af
File 151732958932.png - (47.02KB , 800x600 , salq-47.png )
863289

"AAAAGH!! AAAAGGHH!! AAAAAAGGGNNNNN!!"
"Hold still. Let me guide you to the first step on the path of ascension."
"GET AWAY FROM ME! GET-- GET AWAY--"
"Stop resisting. I need the socket facing me."
>>
No. 863291 ID: cf24af
File 151732981907.png - (92.47KB , 800x600 , salq-48.png )
863291

i fucked up, reposted

...and so I suppose that's two family ties lost to neumono now.
No. No, her sickness consumed that tie long before.
It is not a stretch of the imagination to consider what she did to earn such passionate hatred.
But I had some hope that... nevermind.

I feel... a strange, complex mixture of emotions I can't seem to analyse and dissect.
Mostly nausea.
But that might be from the internal bleeding.

"Hey, salikai," says Kan. "You all know each other, right. Hidira ring any bells? Maybe you knew her as the Splicer? Hello? Suddenly feeling less talkative?"
"You did kick it pretty hard," says Ekasarra.
"Lekka, please tell me we aren't going to try and play doctor to a salikai or I might have to desert out of principle."
>>
No. 863293 ID: 2fe26a

You never knew her personally. That much is true.
>>
No. 863296 ID: 86eb65

Yeah I knew her. Last time we met she gouged out my eye and tried to "upgrade" me. I fled and never looked back.

Her obsession drove her mad and who knows what horrible stuff she would have done if you had not killed her.
>>
No. 863297 ID: 56fca5

Tell the full truth. And if she is really dead, it can only be an improvement.
>>
No. 863298 ID: 3d2d5f

These neumono are really getting in the way of base construction.

And what's wrong with arkots wearing sashes you have to tell them appart somehow.

>You all know each other, right.
Yes of course all salikai know each other, all members of a race know each other. Especially when we're secretive, paranoid and live in hiding.

Perhaps we can discuss my favorite neumono celebrities too? I'm sure you must know them. Lukratsa's films are a particular favorite.
>>
No. 863299 ID: fda98a

I think you can actually thank them for destroying of her. She was far gone to be even considered an normal living being. She was the worst representation of a salikai.
>>
No. 863303 ID: 915c50

She’s the reason I only have one eye
>>
No. 863311 ID: bfdaf0

"Enough to know Hidira was dead long before you killed her. What was left... took my eye."
>>
No. 863315 ID: 0d45a9

Honesty has worked so far, but you should be careful about your wording, as saying you're the daughter of the one who in all likelihood was the one who tortured their hive is liable to cause a emotional response. Mentioning that she forcibly replaced your eye and/or the fact that she stopped being your mother when she did so may mitigate that.

We need to appear useful or as a asset to them, so they don't just kill us after they've got all the info they want. Neumono go rogue when they're away from their hive for too long, and that's something they see as bad right? That's your angle, they'll want to return home / to their hive to prevent that, and as the one who knows the most about that device you're the best person to repair it.
>>
No. 863319 ID: c88e6d

>>863291
"Thank you for killing her. She's the one who took my eye.
>>
No. 863320 ID: e1c8f7

A monster. Nothing more or less. She took my eye and mother away from me.

Distance yourself from the fact she was your mother.
>>
No. 863333 ID: 10c408

>>863311
Seconding this.
>>
No. 863337 ID: 6780f5

Say that she died long before they got to her. That what was left of her gouged out your eye in an attempt to "improve you" and bring you to the same level of lifelessness. Do volunteer the fact that she was your mother after you've made certain that you're actually glad she was put out of her misery.
>>
No. 863349 ID: cf24af
File 151735013749.png - (103.57KB , 800x600 , salq-49.png )
863349

"Hidira was dead long before you killed her. The remnant took my original eye and my mother from me."
"Huh. Sounds like we did you a favour, then."

If she was the way she was when I first hatched I would be gladly rid of her.
My only disappointment would be not getting to see it happen.

But. Describing her as taking my mother from me is not inaccurate.

Things used to be different.

And I don't know why they changed.
>>
No. 863350 ID: cf24af
File 151735015243.png - (187.91KB , 800x600 , salq-50.png )
863350

The nauseous feeling lingers.

I thought I could get her back. That's no longer possible.
It was likely never possible.
But living without hope in this chaotic, disorganised, hostile universe is to invite... well... that sort of madness.

"A favour. Something like that," I half-mumble.

It hurts. It hurts like a fresh wound to lose her a second time.
Maybe Imperium was right. Maybe I'm not as rational a creature as I would like to think.

I consider snapping at them about all salikai knowing each other, or telling them that I'm the daughter of someone they clearly despised.
I decide against both of these at this point.

"You need me," I say again, weakly. "To fix the device. To go home to your hive."
"Our hive is dead," says Lekka, coldly.
"To what remains."
"We were the dying embers of the Astra hive. And now, we're the last wisps of smoke of those embers."

I cough up more blood. "I suppose that makes two of us."

I never expected to die peacefully, few salikai ever get that privilege, but I had better hopes than dying tied up in the mud at the mercy of neumono.

Here lies Sisirri Issukoa, 149 - 178 AW. Last of the Issukoa line. May it rot and perish into obscurity.
>>
No. 863351 ID: cf24af
File 151735016715.png - (21.05KB , 800x600 , salq-51.png )
863351

I had the skills to bring her back. I had ten years to try.
>>
No. 863352 ID: cf24af
File 151735019714.png - (190.47KB , 800x600 , salq-52.png )
863352

Well, that was a surprisingly refreshing rest!

I don't remember my bed being quite so slushy, but--

Wait. Slushy. I've never described a bed like that before in my life, where am I--
>>
No. 863356 ID: cf24af
File 151735083031.png - (78.66KB , 800x600 , salq-53.png )
863356

Uh. Uhhh.

There's... something red and angular in the room with me.
Looks like someone enlarged an arkot.

"როგორც ჩანს, ჩვენი მოულოდნელი პაციენტი იღვიძებს."

I struggle to open my eyes, for some reason.

"ჩვენ ვიცით, რა ჯავშანტექნიკა ჯერ კიდევ ამბობს, რომ ეს საფრთხეა, მაგრამ ეს არ არის საშიში," says... some voice, somewhere.
"მე არ ვარ დარწმუნებული, რა არის ეს, მაგრამ ჩვენ უნდა ვიყოთ ნეიტრალური. მე მაინც არ მგონია, რომ რომელიმე მათგანი აქ ცხოვრობს."
"საიდან ვიცით, თუ შევხვდებით მოსახლეობას?"
"ჩვენ არ."

"...ozaloki af rust af medik, ozaloki zi oki. Ozaloki orokat af e ulso. Onumona... berg? Brang? Brang orokat e. ...Spek zi non oki, apoloses. Nam zi Tirzi."

What?
>>
No. 863357 ID: 56fca5

Wave at the new thing. Speak if you can muster it. How are you feeling?
>>
No. 863360 ID: 0d45a9

The creature is trying to communicate, but it sounds like it lacks the ability to make the sounds needed to properly use our language.

"...ozaloki af rust af medik, ozaloki zi oki. (Salikai have rest have medic, Salikai is okay) Ozaloki orokat af e ulso. (Salikai arkot(?) are here also) Onumona... berg? Brang? Brang orokat e. (Neumono... [Attempts at bring] Bring arkot.) ...Spek zi non oki, apoloses (Speak is not okay, apologies). Nam zi Tirzi. (Name is Tirzi)"

So it sounds like the neumono brought you and your arkots to a medic, that's unexpected but in a good way.
>>
No. 863361 ID: 91ee5f

>>863356
You’ve got a scar on your chest and your tail. Apparently, you’ve been cut open and operated on.

Now if only you knew what that thing was saying.
>>
No. 863362 ID: 91ee5f

>>863360
Well if that’s true, then what about our prisoner?
>>
No. 863363 ID: 3ce125

>>863356
Tell them you managed to barely understand that, ask if they're better at writing. Does it know what this world is? Did the neumono bring that bird person you captured, as well?
If you're still hungry, request food.
>>
No. 863364 ID: 56fca5

>>863360

They seem to be speaking to the hologram in front of them, not Sisirri. It is likely they don't know we are awake yet.
>>
No. 863365 ID: 3abd97

>>863356
Dang it you're a test subject in someone else's lab this isn't fair you're supposed to be the one with test subjects waking up in your lab!

At least you're not dead, and this location appears to have much more technical resources than mud.

But where are your arkots!?
>>
No. 863366 ID: 56e50f

Steady. They don't appear hostile. Sounds like that last bit said that its name was Terzi. Start with a simple "Hey"
>>
No. 863367 ID: c88e6d

>>863356
Oh no! Your prisoner's friends found you!

But they didn't kill you and repaired the internal bleeding. Think of a list of reasons those Neumono psychos suck to guilt trip them with later, since they brutalized you so badly you bled out in the space of a conversation, despite the fact that you did literally nothing to them.

Also, keep talking. Maybe you'll find a language in common with this alien, maybe it has an AI assistant that can figure it out. Also, feel glad that your cybernetic optic has been broken so that hacker assholes can't electrocute you anymore.
>>
No. 863368 ID: 33cbe7

Ah, I see you are a salazzarine of culture as well. Tell me, which test chamber are those damnable neumono strung up in?
>>
No. 863369 ID: 3abd97

>"...ozaloki af rust af medik, ozaloki zi oki. Ozaloki orokat af e ulso. Onumona... berg? Brang? Brang orokat e. ...Spek zi non oki, apoloses. Nam zi Tirzi."
Sounds like the language you were speaking before, with a strong accent.

"ozaloki", "salikai"
"orokat", "arkot", etc.

The whole thing is something like:

"Saliaki [something something] medic, salikai is ok. Salikai arkot [is?] also. Neumono... bring? Brang? Brand arkot [?]. ...Speak [?] not okay, apologies. Name is Tirzi."

There's a language barrier, but communication appears possible.
>>
No. 863370 ID: 0d45a9

>>863364
One of their eyes is looking at us, and given the change in language to something we can just about understand, it is most likely they are talking to us.

>>863367
They were deceived, spared us despite being our species being ancestral enemies, then brought us to a medic. I believe that should mitigate some of the blame, but only some of it.

>>863362
That is a good point, maybe they woke up and escaped or got killed if they tried to attack the nuemono? Either way we're rid of that implant hacking arsehole.
>>
No. 863377 ID: 3ce125

...oh hey, these are good facilities to use to disable your implants. Also warn the red person about the bird hacking your implants.
>>
No. 863381 ID: ad51b8

soooo are we are we a prisoner right now, a science experiment, did we dream all that, did someone just happen to cross our path see use bathing in our own blood and decided to help or.... what?
>>
No. 863386 ID: 10c408

Well, you aren't dead yet. Looks like the centipede alien was able to stop the internal bleeding. Don't move and thank it i guess
>>
No. 863391 ID: fda98a

Ok. You are not in inminent danger. You are somewhere else. You have a stitching in all your belly. The only problem i see here is that six is nowhere to be seen and you don't understand a word of what that thing just said, unless you know georgian.
>>
No. 863393 ID: 91ee5f

Find a way to bang the red angular thing as a way of thanking it for saving your life.

.....wait, no, don’t do that!

Damnit, that neumono kicking you in the head must’ve worsened the brain damage you got from that discharge! And apparently this red angular thing didn’t fix that while it was fixing the rest of you.
>>
No. 863396 ID: fe7355

It appears you were brought to this medical/surgery place and fixed up by possibly that red being or a automated system. Might have been the neumono who dragged you here, might have been left for dead and found, might have been something else entirely. And you dunno if whoever this is did it 'cause you're to be a prisoner, a test subject, something else or, hope against hope, they did it for no reason other than to save your life and you're free to go. Could you really hope for something as good or lucky any more? Well, whoever they are, they aren't hostile so just roll with it 'till you find more things out to go on.

Sounds like they're attempting to speak in your language and mostly getting it right, just with a atrocious accent. Now you kinda wish your brain implant was working so it could ease figuring out what they're saying. You think they said their name is "Tirzi." Time to start helping them learn how to speak your language. Point towards it and say "Your name is Tirzi?" to confirm, then point towards yourself and say "My name is Sisirri." Then ask where you are, how you got here and who brought you and where your arkots are.

Gently look over as much of yourself as you can without bending too much, feeling yourself for physical changes. It appears you have a surgery scar down your chest and abdomen and upon your bulb. It's rather impressive that they were successful in performing surgery on a species that you presume they've never encountered before. This slush you're in is likely some kind of healing and antiseptic gel, though it appears the surgery tank was not big enough for a salikai. ...And why does the back of your head feel strange? Wait, did they do something to your implant? Did they take it out? If they did, then that's a relief 'cause you had not even a half-decent idea how to do that on your own without too much risk.

...And a errant question floats to the front of your mind now that you're not in survival mode: Why did Imperium, in the course of putting a end to you, create a situation that would most likely end up destroying the irreplaceable alien artifact you were studying? Especially when it set your base's reactor on course to detonation. Why did it not attempt to retrieve the artifact by reliable means? ...Did it do so 'cause it was betting you'd hit the big red button and activate the artifact before it all ended in the slim hope it'd save yourself? It can't be that 'cause that sounds like a stupidly risky bet compared to safely securing the artifact to activate elsewhere under controlled conditions. So what the fuck was Imperium doing?
>>
No. 863412 ID: cf24af
File 151736616877.png - (58.63KB , 800x600 , salq-54.png )
863412

I manage to parse the fractured speech into statements that make sense.
I'm resting for medical reasons, I'm apparently okay, my arkots are here too, they were brought here by the neumono, and, obviously, this red alien is having trouble speaking my language.

"Tirzi." My jaw aches. I glance down and that's when I notice the scars.

"Tirzi, why am I covered in scars. Also, are you better at writing than talking?"

I hear a sigh. Tirzi wanders out of my field of view and I hear the sound of fabric being moved and a strange symphony of gentle chimes and beeps.

"You're fortunate I had the foresight to see you complain about my inability to speak your language. I'm a xenobiologist, not a linguist. The armoured aliens -- uhhh, pneumonic? No, that's not right, whatever -- gave me no end of trouble, and not just over my thick accent. Apparently something about my physical appearance reminded them of... well, I don't know what it was, but they broke off my horn before Sitkva cowed them into compliance. I'm not sure they're used to organisms of her stature."
"My condolences. Neumono are violent, aggressive brutes. It's a shame about your horn."
"It'll grow back, but thanks for the belated tip-off on pneumonia. Ugh, this interface. Oh. Oh right the scars. Yes. You were half-dead when the pneumatic -- fuck it -- came with you in tow. They told us that you were in urgent need of medical attention, gave us some key points about salikai physiology for us to work off of, and made it absolutely clear that you were highly dangerous and not to leave our compound without their explicit supervision."

The neumono... first of all nearly killed me, and then... brought me here?
What are their intentions? Did they realise they needed me? Is this another move in their game? What are they planning to do with me?

"I'm starving."
"Based on my analysis you appear to be an opportunistic omnivore but have a strong preference for fruits and other vegetation. I've done some biochemical analysis with some of our rations and found that you can't eat what amtsvane eat, which is meat, you can't eat what salazzarines, my species, eat, which is meat, you can't eat what tan ren soon eat, which... well, we keep Ku's rations in a lead-lined crate, and Aza said he'd sooner jump down an unlit mineshaft than let anyone into his food supplies. Which is mostly slimy glowing cave moss. I've got some fungal supplements if you can stomach fungus. I haven't tested that to see if you're biochemically compatible with it, though."
"There were fruits. Fruits in a building. Near a large crater."
"Where was this?"
"...near a large crater is the only landmark I had."
"Sorry to disappoint, but this planet seems to be an active warzone. There's a lot of craters around."

Oh.

I try to move and immediately regret it. I don't even know what hurts, but trying anything that moves me out of the gel stings enough that I remain flopped in this glorified bathtub like a wet noodle. Well, I guess I didn't have much more dignity to lose.
>>
No. 863414 ID: cf24af
File 151736623658.png - (48.05KB , 800x600 , salq-55.png )
863414

"სასტუმრო გაფრთხილება"
"Hm? Hold on a second. შეიყვანეთ იგი. Looks like you have a visitor."

A visitor?

...It's #6 and she's carrying a fruit. She offers it to me. I try to reach for it but my arms feel like they're made of stone.

"You'll probably feel a little sluggish. The recovery gel tends to have that effect on physiologies it's compatible with, which, inexplicably, yours is. This sure is a world of absolutely insane infinitesimal coincidences. A million million-to-one chances. The papers that could come out of this place, were it not an active warzone."
"Explain more about that, please."
"Well, Ku and Aza have been sending out little recon drone things to get info and these weird tentacly crystal things keep shooting them down. And sometimes these weird things that look like a cross between a kigavi and a duduk-- oh right. You won't know what those are. These things that look like small ambulatory feathery beaked things keep disrupting our sensors. Once we actually had one of our drones outright subverted by them and flown halfway back home before Aza hit the emergency self-destruct in a panic."
"So you aren't working with them? The feather creatures?"
"They've contacted us. We've received exactly one message, repeated several times. Let me play it back translated to your language, maybe you'll know something more about it."
>>
No. 863415 ID: cf24af
File 151736628265.png - (31.20KB , 800x600 , salq-56.png )
863415

The display depicts a creature of monumental scale, larger than anything I've ever seen.
It's probably enlarged for effect.

"WE ARE THE KITER EMPIRE. THIS WORLD AND ITS RESOURCES ARE NOW OURS TO CONSUME."

Kiter empire? I don't recognise anything about that.
I realise there's slight motion in the image, slowed down.

"RESIST, AND YOU TOO SHALL BE CONSUMED. OUR HUNGER IS LIMITLESS AND OUR POWER IS BOUNDLESS. IF YOU WISH TO SURVIVE, SUBMIT IMMEDIATELY."

I don't see any data to verify these audacious claims--
Wait. The image is incredibly poorly composed. The creature isn't fully in shot and the way it blurs... no, nothing that large could function as an organism, never mind.
It would be physically and biologically impossible. Such a creature could never exist. It would be several orders of magnitude larger than me.

"We've been trying to find an indigenous population of this planet but every major settlement we've discovered has been claimed by these guys. And the settlements are populated exclusively by these imperialists. Diverse species, still working on cataloguing them, but I digress. We're not nearly prepared for a warzone and we're doing all we can to try and get back home but we're stuck. Now. I've been informed you're also not from these parts and are likely to possess a honed intellect. A real bright cookie. The juiciest fruiter in the mycelium. Uh. Well you get my point. You're hardly in a position to even leave recovery right now, but I was hoping we could discuss, well, collaboration. After you heal up."
>>
No. 863416 ID: cf24af
File 151736632063.png - (28.21KB , 800x600 , salq-57.png )
863416

"I'm very selective of my collaborators."
"Collaboration in exchange for access to our state-of-the-art superculture laboratories. Oh, and I guess if you say no we'll have to turf you out of the facility so you don't ruin anything with how supposedly dangerous you are."

I could say no, walk out of here, get back to the artifact, and start where I left off.
Or I could say yes, get access to laboratories and resources, and the only prices I have to pay is my independence and the constant surveillance of neumono who already beat me near to death.

This is surprisingly more difficult a decision to make than I would have thought.
Sleeping in the mud like a wild animal is a lot more appealing than working with neumono with military grade equipment watching my every move.
>>
No. 863428 ID: 83beea

Neumono who didn't kill you though, remember? And some of them definitely wanted to. You're alive, you have a kind of relationship with them now no matter what form it is, and the more you interact with them either positively or neutrally, the less likely they will be to spontaneously kill you. If you leave now you will have no resources once again, the neumono will likely hunt and kill you for having no more reason not to since you refused to give them the help that you convinced them they needed you for, and these lunatics on the screen will probably try to kill you too. You need to work with what you have, and get that artifact as soon as possible using whatever resources you can.
>>
No. 863433 ID: 56fca5

Well, think about this:

They aren't working with the Neumono; according to Tirzi they had an altercation when they met only then followed by all this.

They are only considering you dangerous as that is what they were told while you were knocked out. Now that you can speak for yourself it's your word against theirs with no reason for them to actually trust either of yours.

The Neumono also felt they had reason enough to not let you die meaning they had some reason not to kill you. I would think it reasonable to assume our new mutual benefactors wouldn't let you be bludgeoned so terribly if it even came to that again.

You need to figure out what is going on and you also need to recognize that declining is more than being dumped in the mud; it's being dumped into a war zone as an independent party. Those Kiter guys don't seem the type open to negotiation.
>>
No. 863437 ID: 91ee5f

>>863412
>made it absolutely clear that you were highly dangerous and not to leave our compound without their explicit supervision.
Tell Tirzi that the reason you almost died was because the neumono were the ones that beat you to near death. You’re not dangerous, they are dangerous barbarians and they lied about you because they’re a bunch of racists and they don’t like you because you’re a salikai.

And now you’re apparently their prisoner for no reason other than being a salikai.

>>863414
>These things that look like small ambulatory feathery beaked things keep disrupting our sensors.
Tell Tirzi you ran into one and captured it, but you don’t know if the neumono brought it with you and your Arkots.

>>863416
>Collaborate?
Tell Tirzi that you’ll collaborate in exchange for protection from the neumono. You’re pretty sure they’ll beat you to near death again just for fun.
>>
No. 863439 ID: 91ee5f

>>863437
Also, try not to choke on the fruit that #6 is shoving down your throat!
>>
No. 863440 ID: 10c408

Good grief, okay. Don't leave. The deck has been so stacked against you that pissing off the two neumono might just be the last thing that gets you killed if you leave.

To wit: you are still recovering from surgery, you are beyond starving, you have no resources, the two murder machines probably will kill you if you leave, the whole planet is a warzone apparently, you only have a trustworthy arkot and a dimwit in terms of minions and last but by no means least, you were moved away from your crash site while unconscious. Good luck finding it again.
>>
No. 863446 ID: 830fb7

>>863416
We may want to ask them (if we decide to stay) can they bring the artefact that you worked on here. It would probably help with the research and shrink the time needed by years.
>>
No. 863447 ID: c88e6d

>>863416
"I'll do it if you disarm the Neumono. They're the ones who assaulted me, and they're the reason I'm stuck here. They also let my feathery Kiter prisoner escape and tried to kill my Arkot while they were beating me to death."

But seriously, even if you don't play the sympathy card, state that if they're allowed to run wild with their weapons they'll end up blowing something up. Your base didn't even have any weapons and they blew it to pieces on the word of a random transmission.
>>
No. 863449 ID: 3abd97

#6 is the best arkot. Good girl, still getting you a fruit through that mess.

>>863416
What have the neumono offered to persuade you to collaborate with them, despite the fact they attacked you?

You are not known to me, and we have no preexisting quarrel, and we are presumably share a common enemy with the local violent imperialists as we neither wish to submit or die.

I have no objection to collaborating to you, but I have reservations about working with the brutes who destroyed my lab and beat me half to death.

>with how supposedly dangerous you are
As a xenobiologist who has already treated me, I assume you have already evaluated what threat I could pose physically, were I not incapacitated.

My intellect is more dangerous, but unfamiliarity with your systems and technology would sharply limit my ability to be a threat in that regard if we did not cooperate.
>>
No. 863450 ID: fda98a

"What did the neumono told you about me? I personally haven't had any tipe of contact with that species before, but i know for a fact that neumono and salikai are like water and oil."
I say that accept and ofer your help in the common goal of getting out of this place, as long you canstay as far as posible from the neumono. You are willing to make a truce with them, hell, you promise to never even cross them ever again, as long as they don't kill you at the end of all this ordeal.
>>
No. 863454 ID: 3ae3fd

You ought to tell them that your implants were hacked.
>>
No. 863459 ID: 3ce125

>>863416
You wouldn't be working with the neumono. You'd be working with Tirzi. Make that distinction clear, that you refuse to work directly with those brutes, and this isn't a hard choice at all. Tirzi and her large friend can be intermediaries.
>>
No. 863460 ID: 91ee5f

>>863412
>amtsvane
>salazzarines
>tan ren soon
>Aza
>>863414
>kigavi
>duduk
Ask Tirzi to please give you a description on what these species look like. You might as well learn about the native species, since you’re gonna be here for a while.

Also, ask Tirzi to either remove or improve your implants, so that you don’t get hacked again.
>>
No. 863461 ID: 86eb65

The neumono were the ones who beat me into this state. Forgive me if I doubt there definition of dangerous.

But at least they listened to me somewhat and did not finish the job.

If I work with you its only working with you. I don't want the neumono looming over me. Even though they would have died anyway those assholes killed most of my arkots!

Also if we do find a way home I want to go with you and not back home with those idiots. I will just get killed on my planet now that all my resources are gone.

Just give me a job researching artifacts all day with my arkots and you get another scientist.
>>
No. 863464 ID: 130855

You shouldn't decide what you're going to do yet. Wait until you know some more about what's going on here and are able to walk and such.
>>
No. 863466 ID: 830fb7

>>863446
Also while we are stuck here being healed we should ask for some sort of computer so we can do research, instead of sitting here doing nothing we should be exercising our brain and expanding our knowledge base so when it comes time to choose/work we have as much information at our disposal as possible.
>>
No. 863467 ID: 33cbe7

I'll be easier to kill them in their sleep if you're sleeping in the same place.
>>
No. 863488 ID: 3adb50

>>863416
Easier for them to kill you if you don't have allies. These allies have held them at bay before, they can do it again. Association is advantageous.
>>
No. 863508 ID: 13cc26

>Such a creature could never exist. It would be several orders of magnitude larger than me.
Hold that thought.

See if you can't explain the situation between salikai and neumono. Unfortunately you're playing defense here since they made contact before you did, so it might help to be... deferential, as much as the thought probably sickens you. If these guys are willing to keep you separated from the neumono, I imagine you'd have less in the way of reservations.
>>
No. 863511 ID: ad51b8

ask how long it will take before you can move normally again. Also ask what exactly was broken inside of you.
>>
No. 863567 ID: 56e50f

No decisions until you're fully healed.
>>
No. 863571 ID: ce19bd

You might want to tell them one of those featherheads shorted out or hacked your cybernetics in an attempt to kill you.
>>
No. 863625 ID: d36af7

Don't eat the fruit yet! Hand it to the medic to analyze and replicate, so you can have more! And also because technically you never confirmed it isn't poisonous.
>>
No. 863629 ID: 90124d

>>863508

Do this, the faster they know what is going on, the less time the Neumono have to make up a story or an excuse. They're creatures of wrath, they need time for that kind of logic. Use your species' advantages against them. If you reveal this they might ALSO be monitored, even if you decide to say no.
>>
No. 863675 ID: cf24af
File 151745487975.png - (28.08KB , 800x600 , salq-58.png )
863675

I bite into the fruit #6 is currently trying to ram into my mouth like ammunition into a primitive firearm.
It tastes even better than its sweet aroma. Kirzi waits for me to finish ravenously eating it.

#6 half leaps and half falls from her precarious perch on the edge of this tub of healing gel.

"I'll collaborate. It sounds like we share a common enemy and similar goals. But first I would like to explain a few things, and ask some questions."
"Well, whew, you've already settled a number of worries I had by agreeing to help out. I don't know if I could have lived with myself meeting so many new sapient species that didn't want to kill us outright and then immediately said goodbye to the discoveries of a lifetime. By all means, explain away. This thing logs my sessions anyway so I can take some notes."
"Additionally, if it is not too much trouble, I would like some form of computer to do research. I can't bear to leave my mind idle for long."
"Heh." I'm not sure why Kirzi typed 'heh' when I can hear her make what I assume to be a salazzarine laugh. Maybe it was a sneeze. "Fortunately what we're lacking in personnel we aren't lacking in resources. We got a lot of our equipment moved over before the anomaly abruptly cut us off from home. I'll see if I can find something designed for salazzarine. It looks like it'd be more compatible with your claws."
"Thank you. Let me explain something about the salikai, my kind, and the neumono."

Tirzi nods and moves in front of me, as the wall suddenly gains some sort of screen. Reverse projection?
>>
No. 863676 ID: cf24af
File 151745490661.png - (14.28KB , 800x600 , salq-59.png )
863676

"The neumono have told you I'm a dangerous monster to be feared, yes?"
"Words to that effect, yes. A master schemer, a manipulator above all else, only viewing other creatures as game pieces to be moved, emotionless but capable of faking emotional display to engender sympathy, strangers to the concepts of love, friendship, honour, and all the neumono value."
"An incredibly evocative and highly misrepresentative description."
"It was a little hard to take at face value after they shot off my horn. You haven't had a chance to give your side of the story yet. I mean, I'm not going to lie, I'm wary."
"I would describe the salikai as natural thinkers, planners. We are secretive in nature, we value self-improvement to a high degree, and express emotion in different ways to many other species we've encountered. We're also not very good at understanding or reading alien emotions."
"They said something about your species all being lying amoral scientists."
"We tend towards intellectual pursuits, yes."
"Uh huh. And the rest of that?"
"We are, above all else, pragmatic. And, let me explain. The neumono are hunting us to extinction."
"Huh. Now that is definitely something they neglected to mention. They didn't explain a lot about why they seemed to hate you so specifically. I mean, they were incredibly reluctant to discuss anything about events before they somehow showed up on this world. They said it wasn't important, and changed the subject to making sure you were attended to before you bled out completely."
"You know they're the ones who nearly killed me, right?"
"They didn't tell us that but I pieced it together after examining your injuries. I figured they were your wardens and you were their prisoner."
"They are murderous savages convinced that, because one salikai has wronged them before, all salikai must die."
"...I'm just going to make a note that we'd do best to keep you guys separate. The compound's large enough."
"I would ask that be a condition of my collaboration."
"Noted."
>>
No. 863677 ID: cf24af
File 151745492762.png - (11.91KB , 800x600 , salq-60.png )
863677

"So, your name is Sisirri, right?"
"Correct."

She looks around, side to side, almost conspiratorially, and swipes a complex series of gestures on her... interface surface? Whatever it ought to be called.

"I'd like to tell you a story about the salazzarine."
"I'm listening." It isn't like I have much choice.
"Throughout much of the superculture -- I'll get into that in a bit but basically it's where we're from -- salazzarine had a very difficult time integrating. We were seen as overly emotional murder machines. I mean, we're able to form sharp surfaces over almost our entire bodies, we regenerate our limbs and appendages at an alarming rate, and when we feel emotions they can sometimes be overwhelming. We are, I suppose, passionate creatures. And we developed a reputation for being dangerous."
"Sounds familiar." Oh good, there's two of them now. Well, at least she hasn't mentioned empathy.
"We are born as tiny almost mindless larvae that know nothing other than to devour our siblings to survive in a lethal competition. Almost. The psychic shock of that start to life seems to never truly fade. We cocoon ourselves when large enough and hatch into larger nymphs, and then cocoon ourselves later once more, conscious each time. We are trapped in these cocoons, dreaming, helpless, stuck in a winding maze of our own psyches disconnected from any passing of time but our own heartbeats. In our emergence as a sapient species, the trials never ended. We were apex predators, and we bred explosively. Competition between salazzarine was high. Our regeneration prevented our extinction from our own constant violence and conflicts."
"If you're trying to put my mind at ease around you, it's not working very well."
"Let me finish. We emerged into the galactic stage as the perfect image of a species of murderous monsters when all our steps to civilisation were made to combat the necessary violence of our pasts. We are not remorseless monsters, Sisirri, and we never were. We went too fast from prey to predator, and our evolution never could catch up. But we were seen as warriors. We were exploited by many. Enslaved as soldiers. Used as test subjects. The worst of it was when we were viewed as a fast breeding menace that would descend upon all other worlds and take what we could. I won't lie. At least one salazzarine empire tried to do exactly that for the sake of survival."
"I appreciate this history lesson but I'm not sure why you wanted to tell me this."
"I didn't appreciate the neumono taking my horn off but I can very, very much understand that a large chunk of what you've told me about the neumono sounds a lot similar to the same sort of propaganda my ancestors had thrown at them. I'm almost positive what I'm hearing isn't coming from you but from some decades, centuries, maybe even millennia propaganda or ancestral fear. You both speak about each other as archetypes more than people. They let slip some of what a specific salikai did to them and they were quick to conflate that name with your species name. I'm not here in this expensive hi-tech compound because I'm stupid, salikai."
"They beat me to near death."

Tirzi pauses. A lot longer than I expect. I see her rubbing her strange arm blades together.

"If Sitkva hadn't been around, I think I might be in a tub too. Anyway my point is I know what it's like to be persecuted based on fear of what you could be instead of what you are. Uh. What I'm trying to say, I mean, I am incredibly sympathetic towards the neumono, but, well, by deeds alone, I'm in your corner at the moment."

She laughs again.

"Okay, I'm explaining all this wrong. I guess what I want to say is we big ol' scary space bugs need to stick together."

I'm... incredibly lost at this point.
>>
No. 863678 ID: cf24af
File 151745497363.png - (19.81KB , 800x600 , salq-61.png )
863678

"So. That superculture you mentioned."
"Oh. It's kind of misleading. I might as well have said I come 'from space'. The superculture is less a specific entity and more a weird blurry cloud of a large number of various entities that more or less share some common cultural precepts but otherwise have as much to do with each other administratively as a... uh... well they don't do that much. You'll get the odd giant alliance or concordance or federation and that might last a while but they're very fluid and there's never really a main one. I've explained it before to other aliens that the superculture isn't so much a place or an organisation as it is something of an idea."
"So it's a stateless society?"
"Oh, absolutely not. There's all kinds of nation states and alliance networks and interplanetary coalitions. Alliances are made for idealistic and practical reasons and last as long as they make sense to do. Wars break out for all the same kinds of reasons wars usually do, but there's usually efforts by non-participating parties to make sure said wars don't grow out of control, or affect too many bystanders, and don't involve atrocities, the usual."
"It sounds like this 'superculture' is just a synonym for an inhabited galaxy."
"Well, uh. Hm. Well, it's like a planet writ large on a galactic scale, I suppose. As above, so below, and so forth."
"...so it's like an inhabited galaxy."
"Okay did you have any other questions? I think you had other questions."
>>
No. 863679 ID: cf24af
File 151745499855.png - (33.95KB , 800x600 , salq-62.png )
863679

"You've mentioned a number of species. Amtsvane, tan ren soon, kigavi, duduk. Can I get more information on them?"
"I guess? I feel like it'd be more pressing to discuss the species actually here. I was just using kigavi (which are feathered) and duduk (which are small) as a point of reference. Also it'd be good for me to show you the team just in case one of them sets off some sort of instinctual fear response so we know sooner rather than later. There's myself, Tirzi at Serizi ssir Abir, salazzarine, xenobiologist."

A few brief tappings of the console, and the monochromatic display becomes full colour.

"We also have Sitkva Matvare Gantiadi, amtsvane, xenogeologist. Here's an image. She's big. I'd say probably close to fifteen times your height."
"That's absurd."
"That's amtsvane. They're big, and they have a reputation for being lazy but that's more of a side effect of their metabolism. As a scientist she sometimes overlooks key details, but what she lacks in attention to detail she makes up for in enthusiasm and a generally pleasant demeanour. It's been a pleasure working with her. Although try to not get on her bad side. You didn't hear it from me but she has a mean streak a mile wide sometimes. Literally."
"I don't think that can be literal."
"It was a size joke-- never mind. Her speciality is in terrene planets such as this one, which are rare gems. She's written several papers showing very similar processes of geological formation and continential drift patterns across these worlds, and also the long term impacts of hosting organisms on planetary structures versus planets with similar atmospheric profiles that don't host life. So, you know. Incredibly, incredibly dull stuff. Yet she's passionate about it. Passionate about rocks. Some people."
>>
No. 863680 ID: cf24af
File 151745501994.png - (37.55KB , 800x600 , salq-63.png )
863680

"This here is Ku Gat, a tan ren soon. Oh, in this photo he's the black one, the teal one is I think a former work partner of his. One thing I've noticed as a xenobiologist is that most of the sapient species we've encountered sort of fit the same bill of being fleshy and water based and other wonderful traits like that, so when we came across tan ren soon space we first thought they were some kind of robots. They look metallic but their skin clearly deforms in a manner similar to more organic skin, which is a physical process I have no clue about. Sitkva mentioned she'd noticed something similar happening on some random magma spewing death world no one cares about but her, so when we get back that'll be something to look into-- sorry, sorry I digress. Also, their eyes glow, and they eat radioactive minerals, somehow extracting the fissionables from the ore, feeding on the fissionables and using the ore to build up what I'm going to call their tissue. They're incredibly heavy and incredibly resistant to damage save for puncture wounds. If something can actually breach that thick metallic skin of theirs, some kind of pressure differential or thermal reaction seems to cause their insides to rapidly become outsides. They have very effective natural sealant for small punctures but an intentional puncture wound is almost always death. They have historically had a lot of smooth curves and lack of spikes and other pointy forms in their architecture, incidentally. They also seem to have a problem with thermoregulation in "colder temperatues", by which I mean temperatures we find comfortable. They prefer temperatures I'd probably die of heatstroke in. Still, that's not Ku Gat, that's just what he is. He used to work as what the tan ren soon called a 'Reclaimant', but what we've called a specialist post-industrial archaelogist. At some point in the tan ren soon's history their homeworld had some kind of hubristic collapse, and so many of them attempt to sift through the wreckage of their old homeworld, now called Reclaim, to gather insight as to what technologies were lost. One of the key technologies that was previously lost was a substance known as shapemetal, bluemetal, argent of creation, many other names, but it's a polymorphic metallic substance modelled on the same biophysical principles as tan ren soon skin. It's an incredibly durable substance able to take any form."
"Jetalium? Are these tan ren soon at all familiar with the belenosians?"
"What?"
"Never mind."
"Uh. Okay. Anyway basically he's skilled at data extraction and analysing ruins and a few other useful skills that come in handy when trying to study the AI-ravaged ruins of your species' former zenith."
"They might have a lot to discuss with the belenosians. Do you also have issues with neo-imperialists?"
"...Oddly, yes. There's some backwater region on the galactic edge called the Helix Dominion trying to bring tan ren soon glory back by 'conquering the superculture', which makes as much sense as someone running on a beach with a sponge claiming they're going to drink the ocean."
"What fascinating parallels."
>>
No. 863682 ID: cf24af
File 151745505476.png - (79.48KB , 800x600 , salq-64.png )
863682

"This is our cybernetics expert, Aza Oonoo, a noxon. ...nice shooting, camera holder. Got your weird glowy goo all over the lens there. Noxon are small creatures that emit a lot of bioluminescent chemicals which they used to light the cave systems their ancestors once dwelled in. They're incredibly fearful of the dark and have a fascination for light and colour, sight being the strongest and most nuanced of their senses. Where most of the sapient species known to the superculture were apex predators, the noxon were definitely prey animals who appear to have developed intelligence and society as a way of mitigating the cthonian horrors of their homeworld. Seriously. I've studied some of the creatures of the noxon homeworld, and they're nightmare inducing. I'd be scared of the dark too."
"A world filled with predators and threats. Sounds almost nostalgic."
"From what I've heard speaking to the neumono, it sounds like your homeworld was some kind of probablistic anomaly. There was only one sapient predator species of noxon, the rest of them were all cunning animals but animals nonetheless. The sapient predator species... The noxon assured us that a peace accord was made. There's ancient statues of the predators and the noxon working together to forge a new society, as the predator species had plenty of easier options than the rapidly advancing noxon to eat. But they're not around anymore. And the noxon are very, very upset if their statues of them are damaged in any way. But they're incredibly secretive about the whole thing. ...whoops, sorry, waffling again. Aza is an expert in robotics, cybernetics, and has a passion for technology that almost feels religious. He's very cagey and wary about applying any cybernetic implants to himself and constantly warns us about things like cybersecurity and making sure to keep a clean layer of separation between mind-machine-interfaces and application layer stuff and this and that and a whole bunch more jargon I don't understand. He also has kind of a low tolerance for technology messing up. Which makes me wonder why he's so into it, but, eh. He's also kind of a coward, like a lot of noxon, but really, really hates it. One time Ku took the lights out of his room and the shrieks woke us all up, and I've never seen him more furious. He came to all of our rooms one by one, even Sitkva's, to scream and lecture us about his species' need to have readily available light and how whoever was responsible violated his personal quarters. Then I think I heard him crying when he was back in his room. ...You haven't heard any of this from me, though."

Filing that one away for possible leverage if it comes up.
>>
No. 863683 ID: cf24af
File 151745507702.png - (29.38KB , 800x600 , salq-65.png )
863683

"Oh, right. There's also... uh... lemme check the file... that's her full name?.. Sabatabagatabana. Mercifully, she goes by Saba. She kind of creeps me out. She's an elghark, and they're weird brain parasites that thankfully only inhabit non-sapient species from their homeworld, or genetic deriatives thereof. Apparently they can only survive in a sapient state while in a host, otherwise they rapidly lose their acquired memories and knowledge until they become mindless leeches. She doesn't really ever come to talk to us in person. She prefers staying put in her part of the compound. She basically takes care of logistics and administration. I'd be loathe to say she's our boss, there's so few of us here this side that our organisation is pretty flat, but she has a natural attunement for understanding the needs and capabilities of wildly disparate organisms. I guess because she's been so many of them. She has what she considers a 'personal body' that she's usually in, and keeps her other, uh, bodies around for specific tasks. I've only seen one of her purpose-designed bodies once and she was incredibly flustered about being seen in it. I'd advise knocking on her door first. She also doesn't like eating in public. I'm... kind of sorry for her that this is the only photo we have. It's probably not how she'd like to be represented but she absolutely hates cameras. And mirrors. And reflective surfaces. Girl's got some major self-esteem and identity issues."
>>
No. 863684 ID: cf24af
File 151745511065.png - (18.06KB , 800x600 , salq-66.png )
863684

"I had cybernetic implants, and I've had them compromised already. Are you capable of improving or removing them?"
"I, uh. Aza freaked out when he saw them and demanded they be disabled right away before our feathered friends got to you. Something to do with security issues, yeah. Said that he could tap into them like someone left a door opened and unlocked and wrote a sign saying 'free candy'. Then he ranted about how that should be completely impossible given the differences in alien biology and psychology and cybernetics. But, uh, I don't know how your neural physiology works at that fine a level, so I opted for total removal. I made every effort to not so much as brush against what I assumed was your brain tissue, and very carefully decoupled every organic terminal I could find and removed the entire thing. ...Maybe don't take that bandage off for a while. The gel is working on repairing all the way down to your skull. It's, uh, a fairly deep head wound. Also the gel should render the entire area painless so don't touch it either in case you stab yourself in the brain or something. That gelplate will handle and divert a lot of pressures, like, say, resting your head, but it doesn't do well with poking or any sort of precision pressure application. But everything is fine. Everything is fine and you in no way have any sort of brain damage and I know you're wondering how I'm aware of that and the answer is I am because I am very good at doing what I do, yes yes yes. One hundred percent fine. A good strong 97% certain at the very least."

I see her eyes nervously dart all over the screen. Here comes the nausea again.

"You kept the implants, I hope."
"Aza would have been livid if I damaged never before discovered alien cybernetics. It's surprising how much anger can fit into something so small. He's been studying them since I let him have it, and he's been treating them with more care and reverence than I've seen people treat holy relics. For all I know he probably thinks of them as holy relics."

Mental images of my mother flash by. I fight the nausea some more.

"But I can still see out of my left eye."
"Oh I left that alone. That wasn't the source of the problem. That seems to run on a different physical setup."

...Hold on.
I was lead to believe that the panel in my head was for infrastructure vital to the continued functioning of this prosthetic eye.
Why? Why did I take that assertion at face value and never check? That's... I make a lot of careless assumptions, sometimes, but...
I've had the parts for fourteen years and I never even considered checking?
Why?

"How long am I going to be stuck here? What was broken in me?"
"Well I have no data on how long it takes for salikai to recover from severe blood loss, broken rib-analogues, a ruptured... I haven't got a name for it yet but it clearly wasn't meant to be leaking, and cranial surgery with a touch of very minor brain surgery. And whatever the organs in your tail bump are. Seemed like those got kind of mangled--"
"Preexisting condition."
"Hm. What condition--"
"We will not broach this subject. Is there nothing I can do to not be stuck in this container for time indeterminate?"
"I mean, you can probably ask Aza to make you a drone if you really want the mental stimulation of going for a walk. I'll need further data on your condition as it improves to give you a better time estimate. Sorry. I'm going to go get you that computer now."
>>
No. 863685 ID: cf24af
File 151745514722.png - (63.75KB , 800x600 , salq-67.png )
863685

Tirzi leaves and quickly comes back with something very similar to what she was using previously, but it seems to have a smaller version of the holographic projector I saw embedded into it.

"We don't have a dedicated medic so I'm taking up the role of field doctor. Granted, alien medical treatment is something I've found a lot more engaging and rewarding than writing papers as of late. I have some physicals to do on neumono so please just shout if you need anything. I'll get a call if you're in distress."

She sets the device down. I find I can move my arms sluggishly so that my claws rest on the smooth surface as lights trace my motions and swipes. The holographic display pops up with a message saying "CUSTOM LANGUAGE 3 LEXICON LOADING, PLEASE WAIT -- 0%"

For all Imperium betrayed me, for all that I despise it with every last cell in my being, at least its machines didn't have such appalling loading times.

#6 waves at me.
"Dimissed."
#6 falls asleep on the spot. Hm. She didn't even look that tired.

"Ah good there's a translator here too. Hi. Ekasarra, is it?"
"Once again, I'm very sorry for my colleagues' hasty actions. We've... we've all been through some considerable stress recently."
"Like I already explained, nine times or more by now, it's fine. I'm not dead and it'll grow back. ...Wait. You're crying. Uhh. That's bad for aliens, right?"
"I-it's n-nothing. *sniff* It's... it's only now s-sinking in. All my friends and family, gone."
"I'm sure we'll get us all back home, right? Then you can tell them how much you loved and missed them! ...oh no that made it worse excuse me a second I'll go get some tissues"

Ugh. It's hard enough needing to wait for this to load without having to listen to the lamentations of neumono.
>>
No. 863687 ID: 86eb65

Look into getting a drone back to your landing site and finding your remaining surviving arkots.

If you don't want 6 to be your last arkot you need to get her breeding.

Explain to your hosts that your arkots are a symbiotic organism that Salikai have co evolved with. And that you are in danger of loosing your flock. Which would be horrible.
>>
No. 863690 ID: c88e6d

>>863685
Dammit. Their pain isn't even fun to listen to. Oh well, maybe they'll be so busy weeping they'll just assume we died.

....Did they not say that they'd make sure the Neumono would be far away from you? They're in the same damn building! This is horrible.

Oh well, time to find the network browser for this base and see about translating our way through their exogalactic wikipedia. First thing to look up is this biological repair gel we're lying in. It might be very useful were we to figure out some way to generate it internally. Then we can see about finding earmuffs so we don't have to listen to Neumono crying about how their friends are dead because they chose to take a random transmission at face value.
>>
No. 863691 ID: 33cbe7

Hack into the mainframe and download more RAM to your terminal.
>>
No. 863694 ID: 3abd97

>Let me explain something about the salikai, my kind, and the neumono.
You know you didn't actually explain very much about neumono to them. Someone has to give them accurate information to counteract whatever overly positive stories the neumono told about themselves! What if they tried to keep their empathy hidden for a strategic advantage, for example? Or if they left out the fact they're all going to go insane and turn into (even more) violent self-destructive rogues in a few months?

>I've had the parts for fourteen years and I never even considered checking?
>Why?
Because they were connected to your brain.

Congrats, your judgement has been compromised by brain hack for 14 years.

>It's hard enough needing to wait for this to load without having to listen to the lamentations of neumono.
I thought they were keeping you separate why are you close enough to hear them whine.
>>
No. 863695 ID: 10c408

I'm sure the blood thirsty neumono duo will be transferred further away from you soon enough. For now, don't confirm the whole "amoral scientist snake" rep for Tirzi.

And yeah, see if you can't get in touch with Aza on using the computer to commission a drone so you can try and get your other arkots back.
>>
No. 863696 ID: 3adb50

It sounds as though the cybernetics were a backdoor to make it possible to seize direct control of you. The question is, was your mother the perpetrator or another victim?

>>863687
This.
>>
No. 863697 ID: 130855

See if you can get in contact with the other people that you were just given the entire life histories of. Get their sides of the situation.
>>
No. 863699 ID: c88e6d

>>863694
That's not how Rogues work, Rogues go berzerk by rubbing against the empathy of their hive and being rejected.
>>
No. 863711 ID: 91ee5f

>>863679
>I'd say probably close to fifteen times your height.
Remember earlier, right here: >>863415 , when you said, “no, nothing that large could function as an organism, never mind. It would be physically and biologically impossible. Such a creature could never exist. It would be several orders of magnitude larger than me.”?

Well, you’ve just been shown that something that big does exist.

Also, it’s nice to know that Sitkva is capable of handling the neumono!

>>863680
>Something similar to Jetalium.
How often do you get a chance to get your claws on something like that? You don’t! Because the technology to make that stuff was lost when the ancient belenosian civilizations collapsed!

And now, here you are, in a place where something like that exists! Maybe if you ask nicely, you’ll be allowed to do stuff with it?

>>863684
>Implants removed.
Now that you’re awake, you could call in Aza and help him examine your implants so that he can understand them better.

>“Preexisting condition.”
Let’s me guess, you can’t have kids, right?

>>863685
>Tirzi leaves.
Wait, you forgot to ask about your prisoner!

>Load times.
Be patient. This is an unknown computer system, so the load times might be faster than what you’re used to!
>>
No. 863720 ID: b1b4f3

>>863711
"orders of magnitude" is powers of 10. That thing was apparently 100-1000 times larger than a Salikai.
>>
No. 863731 ID: 85e349

>>863711
>Remember earlier, right here: >>863415 , when you said, “no, nothing that large could function as an organism, never mind. It would be physically and biologically impossible. Such a creature could never exist. It would be several orders of magnitude larger than me.”?

>Well, you’ve just been shown that something that big does exist.

No. Each order of magnitude is ten times higher. Several orders of magnitude would be at least a THOUSAND times larger, and that species is only 15 times his size.
>>
No. 863740 ID: fda98a

>>863677

It's not hard to understand Sisirri.You all have something in common. You have a misformed perception about all of you. It is true that salikai are colder and more calculating, neumono is more aggressive and sentimental, and apparently this race that you just met has an extremely predatory evolution. But you only see those facts, those factors that make you look like barbarians, insensitive or killing machines. You do not stop to analyze the individuals, and put all those bad parts of your respective species to your entire population. SOME salikai are backstabbers and plan only in their favor, SOME neumonos are murderous barbarians and SOME salazzarine seek to exploit their abilities to dominate solar systems, or something like that. But look around you. This salazzarine cured you, decided to listen to you and told you about its kind. Lekka spared your life, brought you here so you could be treated, and the rest of their companions lament the loss of their comrades, their relatives and feel sadness. You also felt that way, or something similar, when you remembered your mother, right? You remembered with some affection what your mother was before transforming into that monstrosity, and you felt sad when you remembered her change. You are not so different, Sisirri.
Hell, you might feel some afection for six right beside you.
>>
No. 863743 ID: 91ee5f

>>863684
>Everything is fine and you in no way have any sort of brain damage
Well, that’s good to know. Now you don’t have to worry about having anymore strange thoughts involving somehow banging #6.

.....damnit, you’re still getting those thoughts. BEGONE THOUGHT!!!!!
>>
No. 863768 ID: 3ae3fd

>several orders of magnitude larger than me.
>fifteen times your height
There are many ways to measure size. Mass, volume, height, length, the volume of a rectangular prism level with the ground that would perfectly contain you... 15 times her height could be 15x15x15=3375 times her volume, which is within 3-7 orders of magnitude.

Double check your opinion of that giant thing. You knew that it was huge even with very little in the way of reference points. Did they leave something in your head to make you inclined to respect them? Could brain damage be weakening your objectivity? The observer is almost certainly the size of one of those little feathered things which are only a fraction of your volume. Being massive to something so small leaves a lot of room to be not so massive to everyone else.
It is almost certainly a fake, but that is due to the dodgy image and clear propaganda rather than any guarantee that nothing has found a way to exceed what you believe to be possible.

These people, for all their faults, seem to be scientific, and likely willing to have you continue your work. You should try to provide an impartial primer on Salkai, Arkot, and Neumono. knowing all they can about the abilities and care of the beings you apparently brought here would prevent mistakes and make things more predictable. Any threat they pose to Salikai is more likely to come from examining your implants than anything about your culture or biology. There should be no call to tell them anything about security protocols or technology outside of the capabilities of scientific tools with which you are familiar. Hopefully it just won't come up...
>>
No. 863769 ID: 13cc26

>>863699
Neumono go rogue if they're separated from their hive for long enough, due to empathy drift or whatever.

I guess they only have the one medical wing, then? Having to put up with neumono vomiting their emotions everywhere is probably not great for concentration, but you're too weak to move and I suspect at least one of them is similarly indisposed if they decided to pick a fight with the giant green thing.

At least you don't have their empathy. I bet that would be miserable to be around.
>>
No. 863797 ID: 56fca5

Well, there isn't a whole lot you can do until it loads. Asking if they can find more of your arkots is a good idea. One way or the other you will probably want them.

Maybe you can see if you can speak to one of Tirzi's other team members. You will be working with them soon and I get the feeling you don't have much experience working in a cooperative environment. Hopefully whatever form of communication they can provide with come with some form of translation.

Other than that, I guess the only other option you have while waiting would be to listen in on the neumono. Gain some insight into their condition and situation. We can use this information later.
>>
No. 863811 ID: 3cc68c

Continue focusing on the most time sensitive of your original goals.

1. Find your remaining Arkots and get them here before they die off.

2. Retrieve any bits of artifact that might still exist for study.

Once those two objectives are complete you can relax in your healing bath and study up on your new hosts.
>>
No. 863812 ID: 3abd97

Check superculture internet for porn.
>>
No. 863813 ID: c2051e

>>863769
Not quite. The emotional drift happens, but it isn't sufficient to make a neumono go rogue. They have to feel a former hive member's empathy and realize that they've changed, so to speak. They don't magically know they're a rogue until something actually sparks the realization.
>>
No. 863814 ID: 12b116

Good, the neumono need to suffer a bit. A lot.

See if you can get in touch with the cybernetics expert Noxon, has he figured out what that stuff was actually for?
>>
No. 863866 ID: cf24af
File 151752863601.png - (23.80KB , 800x600 , salq-68.png )
863866

>Now you don’t have to worry about having anymore strange thoughts involving somehow banging #6.
>Check superculture internet for porn.
97% certainty of avoiding brain damage. More likely 97% certainty of brain damage.

>Forgot to ask about prisoner
Almost certainly escaped after I lost consciousness. A single arkot is not a very effective guard.

>Brain hack, cybernetic backdoor
Harrowing. The more I think about it, I can't even directly recall when it was installed. I know I received it at around the same time I had this eye implanted.

>size estimation
I may have made some miscalculations.

>Preexisting condition
I don't want to think about it. It's not relevant.

>impartial primer
An important goal. However there are slightly more time-sensitive goals to attend to first.

>Was your mother the perpetrator or another victim?
If Imperium was the direct cause of my mother's sickness, and if Imperium meant to do the same to me, then I wish an unending series of disasters and misfortunes on it.
However, I know all too well how futile revenge would be.
Imperium is too vast an entity to injure. The scope of its operations and ambitions is such that it likely considers the loss of the artifact as trifling.
It definitely valued avoiding its own discovery enough to throw away both the artifact and myself as a collaborator.

Ten years and it fooled me so deeply I let my guard down. Stupid. Stupid.

My completely impotent rage is enough for me to at least raise my clenched graspers out of the fluid for a moment before they fall back in.

I cannot stand feeling so powerless. I need control. I need control over something again. Anything at this point.

I navigate through this interface until I find something that seems to resemble a communications panel, and contact Aza, asking about a camera drone.
I almost immediately get a response.

"hi hi yes yes tirzi already said you want me i'm actually already here"
>>
No. 863867 ID: cf24af
File 151752866368.png - (31.39KB , 800x600 , salq-69.png )
863867

The door immediately opens and I see the alien from the photo, who seems to be carrying some kind of tablet or slate. He waddles over.

"Greetings, salikai! Sisirri is being your name yes?" His voice is high pitched and has an unpleasant wetness to it.
"Yes. You don't need to use a translator?"
"For three days you are being, how you say, 'out of action' I am studying your language with help of least scary neumono Ekasarra better to help understand cybernetics previously inside your skull."

Three days? I was honestly expecting far worse, but that prisoner is definitely gone now.

Aza doesn't seem much bigger than an arkot. He pushes what I can only assume is a small crate next to the tub and hops onto it.

"Firstly I am wishing to say your cybernetics technology is not only impressive but sublime. Deep hierarchy of terminals down to cellular scale, truly is beautiful and elegant in design. Secondly am wishing to let you know I thinking this is incredibly, incredibly dumb-- er, misspeaking, sorry, misguided idea to hard link neural tissue to machine terminal with no interface guarding."
"Yes, lecture me on what sensible ideas are after asking your colleague to operate on me. I didn't consent to brain surgery. Those implants are my property, not prizes to be looted from me."
"No, miss salikai, you are misunderstanding Aza intention. Not treating you as strange piece of meat with mysteries to extract, no. Neumono said you are dangerous but neumono also not making best first impression. Aza protecting you from known threat. The hacker aliens somehow already forcing easy access directly to brain structure. So easy and even advertising it to other cybernetic systems. If wanting to I could have done very bad things with my comparatively primitive implants. Horrified, salikai. Horrified that anyone so vulnerable. Cybernetic equivalent of walking around with exposed brain tissue."
"Presumably much like I have right now."
"Tirzi is not trained neurosurgeon, yes, but despite clumsy looking blade claws is actually very delicate in approach. Has worked with variety of alien biologies in past. Removed explosion gel gland from living boomer animal from noxon homeworld once, yes. Delicate operation, chemical highly sensitive to even slightest twitch. Even dexterous noxon tendrils not always helpful there. Superculture medical technology also second to none ever encountered, even noxon medicine. Remarkably adaptable, even clumsy gill-clogged oaf can be good doctor with superculture medicine."
"That's not very comforting."
"Best of bad choices, Sisirri. Risky brain surgery, or open door into head for strange hostile hacker aliens to do whatever they wanted. Are you knowing how much information about you implant was giving away for free?"
"...Wait. No. What? What information?!"

Aza makes some weird gurgling noises mixed with squeaks. He waves his tendrils around in front of him in some sort of focused trance as though interacting with something not there.

"Yes, here. I recorded data from it for cross referencing purpose when analysing implant, assisted in translation. Name, species, age, sex, apparently 'generation six', whatever that is meaning, and then some weird note about being a 'final generation' and 'evolutionary dead end'? The rest is at least encrypted. Couldn't break it though as you are probably happy to hearing."

I am completely unsure how to process this information. Aza notices my silence, meekly looks side to side and leans closer to me.

"...Is Sisirri suffering from self-esteem issue? Aza can relate, went through similar phase not long ago. It okay, Aza not judging. Neumonos said you are being smarter than them, though. They didn't say it like those words but it is what is not said and how what is said that mattering more sometimes. Maybe when you are helping do science again you will remember you are having value."

Why are all these strange aliens pouring their hearts or equivalent organs out to a complete stranger? Are they deranged to show such weakness and trust so quickly? How did they not get killed already??

"I'm fine. I'm completely fine."
"Really? I would not be feeling fine stuck in tub of heal goo after near death experience. I would be sad or maddening with boredom. I however am having gift to improve on situation."
>>
No. 863868 ID: cf24af
File 151752870279.png - (46.84KB , 800x600 , salq-70.png )
863868

Aza makes a few more squeaks and something floats into the room.

"Class 2 'Skysurfer' aerial surveyor drone, version 3, ion-repulsion grav-drive variant, with many many personal modifications. Including shapemetal interface module for allowing control over limited internal shapemetal reservoir for adaptability of tools. Many speakings with Ku on getting it working right. Also flashlight of varying luminosity and hue. Also also sonic burst deterrant for protecting drone from aggressive wildlife. My third best drone and very proud of it is Aza indeed. Only problem is being limited battery power, so installing solar collectors. Require manual deployment as very much not aeryodynamic."
"Impressive."
"Is eye accepting input?"
"I can see, yes?"
"No sorry. Am meaning prosthetic eye. Is capable of relay?"

I think. There were a couple of times I tried to have my eye able to switch to cameras in my facility but I stopped doing it because it was nauseatingly disorienting.

"It is. How is your drone controlled?"
"Most robust method using at moment is simple encrypted low frequency radio signal. Have trialled more exotic methods but not faring well in constant storm climate. Never seeing rain so long before. Already connected to compound systems for convenience. Can using interface you have to control it. Also can be streaming camera view to eye but would recommending covering other eye and not moving too much if wanting to not remove food from body."
"I'm incredibly aware of the disconnect between visual input and other sensory input, yes."
"Oh, yes. You are probably knowing more so than me. I actually having few implants myself. I will get slate and upload better instructions and documentation to interface. Also eyepatch."
>>
No. 863869 ID: cf24af
File 151752873706.png - (17.61KB , 800x600 , salq-71.png )
863869

After what feels surprisingly quickly, Aza and myself get the drone operational. Controlling it via claw swipes while seeing through it is still not ideal, but after some test flights around the room, the disconnect between what I see and feel starts to fade. My other graspers start almost to flinch involuntarily as though I were walking.

"Thank you very much, Aza. Before you leave, did you find out what that implant was for?"
"Eh? I was also coming here to asking you same thing."
"I thought it was infrastructure for my eye."
"Completely separate physical system. ...Curious. Will investigating further and letting you know, but troubling if you are not knowing why had it."
"Yes. It is. Please keep me updated."

Aza nods at me-- the drone-- Aza nods facing whatever I am looking through, and takes his leave.

Within moments I, hm, no, the drone is flying through the corridors of the compound and out of a window.

Well. Seems like the rain has abated, but the clouds are darker than ever. It wouldn't surprise me if it started raining again.

I want to find my remaining arkots and I want to find the artifact and its shrapnel but it just occurs to me I have no idea how to even begin doing that.

Hm. For an inhabited planet, there sure is a considerable absence of plant and animal life. And a lot of strange, extremely tall buildings.

...and a lot of those weird tentacled things in the skies.

"...used to be s-s-so much m-m-more of us, we c-called ourselves the Astra hive."
"Hive? Your species is eusocial?"
"No, w-we live in *sniff* close groups with closely aligned empathy. L-like a... l-like family. You know what family, is, right?"
"Hey, the day I find a sapient social species that has no concept of familial bonds is the day I think we finally find something too alien to reason with. I'm so sorry, Ekasarra. What happened to them?"
"Hidira, the Splicer, a salikai. A monster so vile the survivors-- I don't know, I think it was wrong but I-- I can't be rogue, Tirzi, I don't, I can't, I want so badly to stay with the last hive members I have, but the empathy of what was left of Astra, it's, it's like a burning broken desire to do nothing but avenge the hive. It's-- it's like everything else was burned in the flames. My-- my conviction is failing, we lost even more of us because of that desire, but if I doubt my conviction I lose my hive! You can't understand what that would be like!"
"Well, uh, I have... no idea about... any of that, yeah, gonna be frank, in over my head here, but maybe I could help mediate you raising your concerns with your, uh, hivemates, was it?"

Oh good grief I can still hear them next door or however far too few rooms across they are.
>>
No. 863872 ID: 1561e1

Come on, you can at least learn about the emotional states of the neumono and potentially gain valuable information about them. Which ones are the most unstable and best to avoid, etc. Maybe ask Aza for the direction the neumono came from, you could try that. Failing that, the trail might still be fresh enough to follow if the moisture didn't obliterate it completely, look carefully to try and pick it up.
>>
No. 863875 ID: 4854ef

If nothing else, you could maybe ask for something to keep things silent.
>>
No. 863877 ID: ad51b8

fly the drone around the base and see if you can't find some non neumono to point you to where they found you... this drone has speakers right? Say you didn't come alone and want to collect some more members of your team(?)/crew(?) who you fear may still be left in the crash sight as well as the artifact as you also don't want someone to steal that for scrap or some other equally damning reason... oh crap only the neumono know where they grabbed you from right? Shit, uh, this place has got to have cameras right? see if anyone at least knows what way they dragged you in from. It would be better then nothing at least.
>>
No. 863882 ID: 10c408

Okay Sissirri, you've got a choice to make.

Either you keep the secrets of your cybernetics to yourself OR you tell Aza and Tirzi that they were forcibly installed without your explicit permission and you didn't know about the security breach because you didn't fuck with it.

Now before you throw this suggestion out the window for being absolutely counter-intuitive, fact check the following

1: Aza and Tirzi aren't salikai. They aren't going to respond to your secrets with malicious intent.

2: If you don't come clean now and let them read between the lines about some of it, they'll draw the wrong conclusion. And depending on what that conclusion is, the fallout could range from being troublesome to downright deadly for you.

3: If you pretend to not be a remorseless cold blooded control freak, then you can get away with more shit than you likely would if you keep up the stone cold personality.

4: and furthermore, if you strike now while the proverbial iron is hot you will be suckering them into being more on your side than before and this will also maybe open up some opportunities to socially back stab a certain pair of regenerative psychic alien rabbits that you despise.
>>
No. 863883 ID: 56fca5

Ask for an idea of where to begin looking. A general direction is better than nothing.

Have some patience with the neumono. There is information to be gained from listening. If you really can't take it, find or ask for a way to block out the noise from the medbay. Whatever you do, don't go complaining about someone breaking down. It is guaranteed to only cause problems.
>>
No. 863884 ID: 3ae3fd

Odd that Imperium didn't mention your identity if there was a small army of Neumono seeking revenge against your mother. It might have been trying to hide your connection to your family if they were an ongoing project, but then why mention your race at all? It was bound to attract the Neumono and they would have drawn parallels between you and her. Enough that they would have figured out a connection if they found both of your full names and there are likely no shortage of data stores at your lab that they could have gotten your name from and little chance of you putting up enough of a fight for the facility itself to suffer much damage.

Ugh. The Neumono are not going to disappear, and they are not going to forget about you. Distasteful though it may be, you had best gather as much data as you can while this opportunity exists.

Those Kiter things seems to be ludicrously good hackers. Best to avoid contact as you are unlikely to get another drone as good as this one.

The crater you... "landed" in is probably... "cleaner" than those made by weaponry. Try looking for a particularly perfect circle and lack of residues. Can this drone detect obscure energy frequencies? The artefact may have produced something odd when it activated...
>>
No. 863885 ID: 90124d

Keep listening to the Neumeno. You should know knowing your enemy's counterargument ahead of time will also allow you to have more time to prepare and will help you not get caught off-guard by an angry xenobiologist if one of them manages to convince her that you are actually evil somehow.

Also, few notes for "things to reveal if pressed hard by xenobiologist"

Your base got hacked by an AI while they were invading and you evacuated and ended up here via an experimental device that blown up soon after you bailed away.
No, you don't have blueprints or anything like that for said device.

Notes on encrypted information.

I bet it's spyware recording everything you've done, basically allowing you to be played like a fiddle by your mother with 100% information on everything about you. Damn, stuff that accesses brains are scary. I would not discredit potential memory manipulation.
>>
No. 863887 ID: 91ee5f

>>863869
Is there a way to speak through the drone? Because even if you find your arkots, they’re not gonna follow the drone unless they can hear your voice coming from it.

>Empathy problems.
You could mention building a jammer, but that would require helping the neumono and you don’t really want to do that. Also, they might get the wrong idea about why you want to build a jammer and then they’ll beat you up again.
>>
No. 863893 ID: 86eb65

These strange aliens are poring there hearts out to you in a attempt to gain your trust. And of course this seems alien to you because your species has issues with trusting anyone. Compounded by years and years of your own personal issues.

Look at it this way. They found a implant that either your mother or Imperium was using to do who knows what to you and saved your mind removing it. (thinking mom sold you out to her machine overlord). Should probably tell them that you might have had that implant forced on you.

They healed and housed you and gave you access to there technology. You have the chance to make friends with them and have a better life here if you want. All you have to do is avoid instinctively backstabbing them until you get the lay of the land.

As for the neumono? While I would never trust them it takes to much energy to hate people who have been fucked by imperium just as much as you.

So reverse the drone for a second to ask for directions to where they found you. Mention the importance of saving any of your arkots while there is still time. While you are there mention that neumono empathy is a actual hive mind link. And that there other guest are a mess. They have literally lost a good portion of there mental landscape.
>>
No. 863894 ID: c88e6d

You should immediately suspect that Imperium was responsible for driving your mother insane, and that the implants in your head were created by Imperium to try and engineer obedient Salikai servants.
>>
No. 863900 ID: 3abd97

>information about you implant was giving away for free?"
>The rest is at least encrypted.
Breaking that encryption so you can discover what data about yourself was being broadcast from your neural implant definitely goes on the priority list.

>>863869
>Oh good grief I can still hear them next door or however far too few rooms across they are.
You probably need to explain everything you know about neumono psychology and empathy to the aliens if they're going to manage the furry little murderers as they come apart at the seams.

The neumono sure aren't in any condition to explain themselves coherently, by the sound of it.
>>
No. 863943 ID: cf24af
File 151755021773.png - (182.00KB , 800x600 , salq-72.png )
863943

I suppose there's some advantages to these aliens who share their secrets and innermost turmoils with the ease of breathing air. I'll keep listening but so far all I'm learning from the neumono is that my mother and Imperium both made their lives far worse.

They can take a number and sit down. It isn't my fault they attacked my facility unprompted. No one fact checks anything anymore, I swear.

>explain how neumono work before they break completely
I'll cover that in the primer I'll write after I've rounded up any remaining arkots and artifact shards.

>breaking that encryption is really important
>it could be spyware
>it could have been mind control
I need to revise my goals in general after I find out what's happened to the artifact site. But yes, it is paramount.

>ask for an idea of where to go
I overlay the communications process over my drone vision and start typing.

"Hey, Aza. What direction did I arrive from?"
"not sure but probably away from the pylons i think, neumono said they felt some sort of weird wrongness coming from them"
"Wrongness?"
"i thinking weird alien senses not gelling with weird alien pylons, said it felt wrong and oppressive the closer they got and couldn't explain any better"

Interesting.

Nonetheless, I'd prefer to avoid this drone being detected.

I cycle through the sensors of the drone. Visual, infrared, ultraviolet, echolocation, and then I find something a little stranger. The interface labels it as "<ARTI> ANOMALOUS SOURCES [DO NOT USE EVER - AZA]" and...

Well, this is different. As I fly high enough I see the artifact, as well as strange sights completely invisible on all other sensor readouts.
>>
No. 863944 ID: cf24af
File 151755025991.png - (255.50KB , 800x600 , salq-73.png )
863944

I spin the drone around to see how the 'pylons' look and AGH WHAT IS THAT OW OW OW IT BURNS


S A ͡ L ҉ I K ͜ A ̵ I
͟ S ͘ U B ͟ M I ̴ T ͠ P ҉ R ́ O ͡ S ̵ E ̶ L ̕ Y ͜ T ́ I Z E ͢
J O I N M ̶ E R G ̵ E ̴ H ̷ A R M O N ͏ I Z E ͏
T O G E ͠ T H ͠ E R ̕ N E S ̨ S ́ U ͞ N I ͠ O N ͟ ̢
R ̸ E S ͡ Y ̀ N ̀ C H R ͝ O N ͝ I Z ̵ A ̕ T I ̶ O N S E ͡ L ̀ F
A L ́ L ̛ O T ̛ H E ̴ R ͢
̡ S ̀ U ̷ C C U ͢ M ̴ B
̶ A L ̴ L ͝ S U C ̢ C ͟ U M ̡ B ̨
A ͢ L ̕ L S ̸ U ̶ C C ̸ U ̀ M B ̵
A L ̀ L S U ͞ C ̀ C U M ̷ B


I CAN TASTE IT SPEAKING I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S SAYING OR HOW I'M HEARING THROUGH SIGHT I CAN FEEL THE TENDRILS IN MY HEAD
>>
No. 863945 ID: cf24af
File 151755029496.png - (24.71KB , 800x600 , salq-74.png )
863945

I switch back to visual immediately and the unpleasantness immediately ceases, although I feel an odd compulsion to drive the drone closer to the pylons that I immediately shut down and ignore.

Let's. Let's focus on the task at hand. I think all the stress is making me hallucinate. That's far more plausible than whatever... whatever that was.

I take the drone to the artifact right away without further dalliance, and...

Huh.

I can't say I'm exactly too surprised with how quickly they breed although I'd love to know where they found a source of food.
>>
No. 863948 ID: 91ee5f

>>863945
Great, you found them. And I say again, the arkots are not going to follow the drone unless they hear your voice through it. So again I ask, does the drone have a speaker or something you can use to talk to the arkots?

Also, if you’re going to bring them back to wherever you are, then you’re gonna have to tell Tirzi and the others, so that they can stop the neumono from trying to kill your arkots!
>>
No. 863950 ID: c2051e

>>863945
Well, now you have a source of food.
>>
No. 863951 ID: 90124d

Tendrils in your head? I'm pretty sure that's not normal, nor is your head unaffected from something like that.
>>
No. 863952 ID: 130855

You'd better go retrieve them before they outcompete all native life through sheer numbers. Also, having minions is always a good thing.
>>
No. 863953 ID: 10c408

...Good grief, that's another 12 arkots if I've counted them correctly.

And yeah, see if you can't get in contact with and wrangle them before they do something stupid.

Sidenote: You still have to come clean with Aza/tirzi and also message them about how neumono's quirks just to cover your butt down the line.
>>
No. 863955 ID: b1b4f3

>>863945
If you can't speak through the drone, immediately tell Tirzi so she can get someone out there to wrangle the arkots.
>>
No. 863959 ID: c88e6d

>>863945
Welp, send a text message via the system. Also mention that the awful pilons do NOT play nice with your cybernetics either.

Meanwhile, attempt to locate more of those creepy psychotic hackers.
>>
No. 863964 ID: 3ae3fd

The pylon's "message" looked/sounded like basic obedience/mind-control/politely-walk-up-to-them-and-let-them-have-their-way-with-you stuff... Very definitely not something to let into your thoughts. If it was giving the Neumono trouble though... maybe it can visualise empathic forces? If you can get a reading on the Neumono it would be... well, it would be direct observation of empathic abilities. Not many sensors can get that data.

There was supposed to be some sort of malleable all-purpose device made out of their impossible metal-like substance. See if you can manipulate it into broadcasting the necessary sensory cues to get the arkots to obey it as if it were you, and then see if it can do anything to have them obey even better than if it were you, like emitting a food-odour or preferable temperature or comforting lighting or something...
>>
No. 863974 ID: 91ee5f

>>863959
>Meanwhile, attempt to locate more of those creepy psychotic hackers.
No, let’s stay away from those guys, Sisirri doesn’t need any more brain damage.

If she gets anymore brain damaged, then she’ll try to actually bang #6 and- DAMNIT, IT’S GETTING WORSE!!!!! DX
>>
No. 863984 ID: 3ae3fd

Oh! If empathic mind-control pylons that interact with Neumono empathy show up on the same sensors as residual energies from your artefact, perhaps there is an empathic element to the artefact's technology! It is pure specualtion at this point, but it might explain why the destination was so arbitrary if the local mind-control pylon network was acting as a beacon of some sort. Or not, just a hypothesis for now, but it might be worth testing once you have laboratory facilities again. Especially if it means that next time it might select a destination based upon where the Neumono want to be...
>>
No. 863993 ID: de6d84

Look away briefly and watch more arkots pop up.
>>
No. 864024 ID: ad51b8

short term let's see if we can't herd these little buggers back to base and tell them to grab as much as the artifact as they can and as much food as they can... also see where they're grabbing the food from. Maybe pop Aza another quick question to see if the drone has a speaker and if so how to use it if you need to.

Although I do think I see a long term goal here, we're going to need to spruce up our new base's defenses because it looks like it's just sitting out in the open waiting for anyone to just come up and find it... like the neumono did. Probably should check around the base once you get your minions back and see what we have to work with because we are in the middle of an active war zone so if this base looks to fragile it might be better just to see if we can't build a second base somewhere more defendable/hidden incase we get raided again. Get trapped inside your own base while it get's torn down around is an experience you only need to live through once so we should also make sure that this base at least has a good emergency escape route should we need it.

Again though that's long term, more useful use of our more immediate time, after getting these guys back that is, would be meeting the rest of the crew to see how skilled they are in their fields and to make sure the neumono don't turn them all against you before you even get to see them, seeing what resources we have to work with, and seeing what we can do around here to help out if only to try and kill boredom while you wait till you can move around normally again.
>>
No. 864031 ID: 56fca5

If you have a means to communicate with the arkots, you should lead them back. Take note of the location of the artifact's crash site. We'll have to ask for the resources to relocate it. If we can recover the arkot's food source we'll have something for us to eat as well.
>>
No. 864038 ID: 86eb65

Ok the Arkots look good so find the artifact or any pieces of it that are lying around. Then have the Arkots each grab a hunk and start dragging them behind your drone as you lead them to the new base.
>>
No. 864049 ID: 3d2d5f

>>863944
I think you can independently verify the reports of "weird wrongness".

>>863945
One of them looks like it's wearing the same arm and leg bands as your prisoner earlier. Hopefully that's a sign of looting, not that your workforce has been compromised or recruited out from under you.

Does this drone have audio projectors? Time for a good old fashioned "I am your master!" speech.
>>
No. 864051 ID: 91ee5f

>>864049
>One of them looks like it's wearing the same arm and leg bands as your prisoner earlier. Hopefully that's a sign of looting, not that your workforce has been compromised or recruited out from under you.
Or looking at the pylon has messed with Sisirri‘s vision and one of those guys just looks like an arkot.

Or her vision has been messed with after looking at the pylon and she only sees arkots because that’s what she’s been looking for and the pylon is making her see what she wants to see, but there aren’t actually any arkots there.

So many possibilities.
>>
No. 864068 ID: fda98a

This is worrying. If both you and the neumono can sense this empathic or psychic mensaje, then there is something intelligent deep in the planet. Something powerful. You have to tell the other scientists about this, they might know somthing. And i know you will not like this, but you need a more spescific roport of what the neumono felt from those pilons.
>>
No. 864284 ID: cf24af
File 151768547008.png - (28.87KB , 800x600 , salq-75.png )
864284

>does drone have speaker
The drone has voice relay capability, I quickly discover. It's fortunately a separate system to the sonic stunner, so I can safely give orders without blasting some of my arkots into unconsciousness.

>empathy visualiser
If this drone somehow has an empathy visualiser then I suppose that's of some scientific note. I understand now why it had a "do not use" warning on it, though. I assumed that was merely some sort of possessive thing, not a legitimate warning of danger.

>artifact possibly empathy related
If the artifact is somehow influenced by empathy then this is one of the many forms of stimuli I never thought to test. I didn't want to do anything that would even slightly cause neumono to show interest in where I was working and I didn't want to take chances that there wasn't some ridiculous finely sensitive empathy sniffer halfway across known space that'd pick up on it.

>arkot with bands
That would be Number 3. Lost his left eye at some point from one of various failed artifact tests, and I engineered a replacement. It's not as sophisticated as my eye, though. I'm not very good at the theory or practice behind mind-machine-interfaces, so my understanding of how #3 has acted since is that it works, but doesn't seem very good at distinguishing fine detail. The bands are... I forgot why I gave them to him. I gave the sash to #6 so I could pick her out of a crowd. Why I gave #3 two fabric bands I have no recollection. Anyway, like #6 he's one of the more competent of a species of irritable idiots. Where #6 is apparently loyal without fault, #3 is almost disturbingly talented at figuring out how to use devices he's never seen before. Only problem is he's slightly more independently minded. And even more reckless than most of his kind. Except where most of his kind can probably be counted on as reckless idiots, #3 is a reckless idiot who genuinely ought to know better. Dangerously curious.

>all those arkot
They do breed quickly, and the smallest of them were definitely hatched this side of whatever distance we've travelled, but I doubt four (at max) arkots could reproduce this quickly. I suppose the same strangeness that swept the neumono here also took more of my arkots.

So, it would have probably been better for the arkot half in a pod to just stand next to it instead. Well, that's a useful discovery. I made those pods to protect their inhabitants. If I had any idea you could just be swept up in the artifact's wake I wouldn't have bothered making those blighted death capsules.

Altogether it seems I have 14 fully grown arkots here, with one of them being #3.
Sadly, none of my other notable arkots appear to have made it. Just #3 and #6.
Maybe the other arkots are trapped in a flooded facility.
Maybe they wandered further afield in a barren wasteland controlled by hostile alien invaders.
They're doomed either way.
A complete waste of valuable resources. All the time spent training them... ugh.

>weird wrongness
But I don't have empathy senses. Nor do I ever, ever want them. It felt like some sort of reaction with my eye prosthetic. Changing camera modes made it stop immediately and it was considerably weakened when my eye reflexively closed to the sensation of brightness. ...Begrudgingly, getting more intel from the neumono on what exactly they felt will be crucical to understanding whatever phenomenon these pylons are a part of.

>shapemetal tools
I find to my disappointment that there's just some presets on this interface. I suppose I'll need to ask about a finer level of control.

Still. I wanted control, and I have been handed it to me on a silver platter. Let us proceed.
>>
No. 864285 ID: cf24af
File 151768548891.png - (81.38KB , 800x600 , salq-76.png )
864285

"Arkots! This is Sisirri, your master!"

They all look up to the small white speck shouting at them, then go back to their rabble.
Oh no. They're not ignoring me. Not after everything else I've just gone through.
Let's see. Volume levels. Enhancing to 400%.

"Excuse me! I don't think you heard me, arkots! I am your master, Sisirri! All arkots are to report to this floating device. I expect answers! Where are you getting your food from, and-- I can see you ignoring me! There will be consequences for this insubordination! Ten seconds to stop that and pay attention! Last warning! Five! Four! THREE! TWO! OOOONE!"

I aim the drone at the arkot that most irritates me, and experimentally fire the sonic stunner. It goes down, as do the two arkots next to it from sort sort of concussive force. Okay. I thought that was low power, but there's more explosion on this thing than I would have liked. Not as precise a tool as I thought.

The arkots stagger back on their feet within seconds, so at least the low power setting worked.

That gets their undivided attention. I can barely hear #3 shouting to the other arkots that it is me, and then for what my questions are in arkot babble.

"Too late for questions, I have orders. Collect all the food you can and all fragments of the artifact, especially the big sphere part, and follow this drone. We have a new base of operations."

#3 salutes the drone and starts screeching the exact same orders I gave, but angrier. Thanks for your vital help in saying what I just said, #3.
They won't get all of it, but if they can at least retrieve some of it that's better than nothing.
I make a copy of the drone's telemetry data so I can get back to the artifact site later.
I mentally estimate about... three hours travel at arkot pace, given as they don't have flight. Doubling that, because arkots, that's six hours. It's roughly midday, so I estimate they'll get here--
Hmm. When does night fall?
Hold on one moment. Comms time. I don't recognise these names... oh, good, show real names next to network identifiers. Check that. Good. Here we go.
>>
No. 864286 ID: cf24af
File 151768554597.png - (196.63KB , 800x600 , salq-77.png )
864286

> -- VoxNet connection established -- <
> -- Autotranslation in effect -- <
> -- Joined #main -- <
> -- Channel header: General lab talk -- <
> Guest-04 [Sisirri]: General question. Does anyone know how long it is until nightfall?
> saba! [Saba]: no sorry
> CybLux [Aza]: thinking maybe in five or six hours? what is you meaning by 'nightfall', can be very vague term
> LessEdgyThanYou [Tirzi]: I just told Ekasarra this, she wanted to go for a walk.
> saba!: a walk in an active warzone?????? you idiot call her back
> LessEdgyThanYou: She was very, very insistent on it. Said she had to get away from her friends for a moment. Then she looked aghast she said that and stomped out and I didn't really want to set her off again.
> Guest-01 [Lekka]: Givbe her tikme shre'll be ovber it spoon
> Guest-01: Do9ing bett5er, sa;likai?
> Guest-04: Better than you at typing, clearly.
> Megalith [Sitvki]: Knock it off, both of you. Keep it cordial. You have no idea how many risks we took even letting you in here. If you're going to start making our workplace hostile we can throw the lot of you out.
> Megalith: I already had to ban one of you from this channel.
> Guest-01: sokrryg abouht tha\tf
> Guest-01: k4an's goinbg throufgh so0me thinbgs r4ight now
> Guest-01: i'kll tazlk to him
> Guest-01: latrr saliokai, don'5t commit an6y atrociotiesd whbiled wse're gonde
> [Guest-01 disconnected]
> saba!: does anyone know what that guy actually said it just came up as gibberish for me
> saba!: the autotranslate only goes so far
> saba!: it doesnt speak interface plate murder
> Guest-04: I wouldn't worry about it. Something about personal issues, I think.
> Guest-04: So what was the answer, Tirzi?
> LessEdgyThanYou: Oh. Uh. Uhh. It gets dark in about five or six hours.
> CybLux: just saying that!
> CybLux: where is being Ku anyway, going to go looking for him
> [CybLux disconnected]
> LessEdgyThanYou: Yeah, I should get to work analysing these testing results. It's... uncanny meeting another species with potentially more regenerative capacity than salazzarine.
> saba!: ill come barging into your lab at midnight
> saba!: if you stay up all night because of your weird xenophilia i am going to gently take you to your bedroom and tuck you into bed and punch you in the face until you are unconscious
> LessEdgyThanYou: It's alarming how fast that went from cute to creepy and then to outright threatening.
> saba!: im a creature of many faces
> saba!: literally many faces
> saba!: and you dont need to see the worst of them if you remember to go to fucking sleep by yourself like an adult
> saba!: saba OUT
> [saba! disconnected]

>>
No. 864287 ID: cf24af
File 151768559096.png - (153.05KB , 800x600 , salq-78.png )
864287


> LessEdgyThanYou: Ok bye Saba I guess.
> LessEdgyThanYou: Sits, where are you?
> Megalith: Rec room. On break for the day. I wouldn't be policing the chat if I had urgent things to do.
> LessEdgyThanYou: I think Saba had a point. I'll wrap up this analysis in a couple hours, if you're still there I'll come swing by.
> Megalith: Cool.
> Megalith: Sisirri, you still holding up alright?
> Megalith: I'd like to introduce myself in person but I don't think I can fit in that broom closet Tirzi calls a lab.
> LessEdgyThanYou: I told you, the large scale xenobio lab has to be kept as empty as possible! It's wasteful to occupy it with specimens that don't require it!
> Guest-04: Specimens.
> LessEdgyThankYou: Or patients. Look. The lines sort of blur when dealing with unknown alien medical care, alright?
> [saba! connected]
> saba!: the neumono want HOW much food
> saba!: we give them a place to stay and they want this much food
> saba!: id start having to butcher spare bodies just to feed these guys and i am not about to start doing that for any fucker
> saba!: do they know we only have finite supplies for us
> saba!: weve been cut off from further supplies
> saba!: and our geologist is the size of a fuckin building
> saba!: fuck i thought amtsvane nutrition was hard enough to keep up with
> saba!: might need to slaughter a spare body just to remove a mouth to feed
> Guest-04: Oh, right. I'm bringing some food to the base.
> saba!: how
> saba!: how are you doing that
> Guest-04: I found some of my arkots. I'm leading them back to the base. With food and artifact pieces.
> saba!: youre fucking what
> saba!: youre bringing even more things to feed here
> saba!: oh for fucks sakes
> saba!: you better hope theyre carrying the fucking horn of plenty if youre doing that
> saba!: you are a guest here alien not a permanent resident
> Megalith: We have been pretty chronically understaffed, though.
> Megalith: Any extra hands helping us get the heck out of here are appreciated.
> saba!: gghhghghghghgh
> saba!: alright fine but priority one is getting more food before we start eating each other in some horrible gory enactment of survival of the fittest
> saba!: because im winning that one
> Megalith: Yeah. Right.
> saba!: im gonna eat your brain from the inside
> saba!: or something
> saba!: then use you to eat everyone else
> Megalith: Rude.
> saba!: thats survival of the fittest kid
> saba!: hey salikai are arkots edible
> Guest-04: Yes.
> saba!: that was a joke
> saba!: your species understands comedy right
> saba!: well whatever tirzi you said arkots were sapient right
> LessEdgyThanYou: The quiet one with the sash was pretty good at solving the basic puzzles I gave her, if resentful about doing it.
> LessEdgyThanYou: It was the neumono who said they were sapient but usually found as salikai, uh, property.
> saba!: oh so we have a slaveowner here
> saba!: great were doing so well here
> Guest-04: The relationship is closer to domestication. Arkots are self-aware and able to learn but are predisposed to self-destructive ignorance. They follow me because it helps them.
> saba!: uh huh
> saba!: i was trying to think of a snarky comment about my other host bodies being domesticated, not your self-aware tiny bug lizard dudes
> saba!: but i guess i dont have much moral high ground to stand on
> saba!: i literally need to be in a host or i die
> saba!: but whatever
> Guest-04: To be honest 'self-aware' feels like a stretch for a lot of them.
> Guest-04: I've seen toyas with greater demonstration of self-awareness.
> saba!: yeah i dont know what that is and i dont care
> Guest-04: Anyway I'm busy now. I'll take my leave.
> saba!: have fun wrangling your gaggle of hungry idiots to the promised laboratory
> -- VoxNet connection terminated -- <


I spend the next two or three minutes setting up a clock overlay with readouts on nightfall and midday so I never have to wait so long for a simple answer for a simple question again.

Piloting the drone back to this lab with the arkots in tow will take me the rest of the day.
While I lead the arkots I start writing the primer to neumono empathy and hives but I only know half the story myself. Still more than Tirzi knows, likely.
>>
No. 864288 ID: cf24af
File 151768562476.png - (29.98KB , 800x600 , salq-79.png )
864288

Three hours later...

I can't believe they've already taken three hours! There's still at best two hours to go! Night is approaching, it's pouring with rain and I need to keep waiting for stragglers or artifact piece fumbles and I very nearly lost the food crate they're dragging with them.
Turned out their food source was just looting that bunker from before.
And I'm hungry and we ran out of fruits here.
Still, we're getting there--

knock knock

Oh good. Company. I set the drone to autopilot its way back home at a glacial speed, seeing as I don't need, nor do I want, to spend another hour watching arkots fail to climb a shallow slope.

"Who is it?"
"E-ekasarra."

...

"Go away."
"I just-- I just want to t-talk. That's all."
"I am neither interested in talking to you nor hearing what you have to say. Please leave before I call for assistance."

The door opens and in steps through a neumono who doesn't understand simple instructions. At least she's unarmed and unarmoured.
I don't think I've seen a neumono with as many cybernetics, uh, anywhere.
She holds her hands up and stays near the door.

"There were never any weapons, were there?"
"I already said there weren't. If I had some kind of ridiculous super weapon I would have used it to defend myself. And no, you idiot neumono attacked my one place of comfort and security over the merest possibility that I might be a threat because, oh no, the scary salikai has a doomsday weapon! Better not fact check anything and charge in recklessly, leading to a large amount of pointless destruction and unnecessary casualties!"

Ekasarra nods slowly, silently.

"If that's all you wanted to know then I've answered your question. I'm not in any mood to accept visitors so please leave."
"Hidira was your mother."
"No, I said she killed my mother--"
"Sisirri, please, I know I don't deserve the time of day after what we put you through but this is important. During that... mistake of an invasion--
"Mistake. The destruction of my home and the slaughter of my workforce was a mistake. I would describe it as a disaster."
"I know you won't believe me but I am more sorry than you might ever appreciate about what happened. I was in charge of gathering any intel we could find. I found... records. About you. About Hidira."

Ekasarra breathes in and out, a shuddering as though she's about to start weeping again any moment.

"Sisirri. Please. I have a loaded pistol with one bullet for the day I turn rogue and that day feels like it's getting closer and closer."

Probably already arrived. You don't even need to be empathic to see the writing on that wall.

"I just want to know." Her voice starts quaking slightly. "What do you know about Imperium?"
"Oh, that myth we salikai have taken at face val--"
"Imperium is real and I know it. I... I..."

Ekasarra trails off.

"I did some work with your mother," she adds, choking up. "And I want to know. How do we stop it? How do we stop Imperium?"

We can't, but perhaps if I give a different answer... this neumono is clearly emotionally vulnerable.
Perhaps I can exploit that to somehow prevent the other two neumono being a threat to me.
Maybe I can get some more answers out of her too.
But what to say...
>>
No. 864290 ID: 1561e1

Before answering anything, see if you can confirm that she didn't just "take a walk" into one of those mind control pylons and is now trying to gather information from you that will help somebody ELSE.
>>
No. 864292 ID: 130855

Ha! If I knew how to handle Imperium, I wouldn't be here! Go away.

Trying to manipulate Neumono is not something we need to be worrying about right now.
>>
No. 864293 ID: 0d45a9

First, cool it Sisirri, yes you can despise them for what they did, but it's not helpful at the moment. Be the rational species you tell yourself you are. Besides, she was the one advocating for you during that mess of a confrontation, show a bit of gratitude or at least take the barbs out of your words.

Given your mother's obsession with cybernetics, and the degree of cybernetics on this neumono, it's likely she's telling the truth about working with your mother.

She wants to know about Imperium, and she has information about you and your mother. A exchange of information will be beneficial. Tell her about Imperium, and ask about the records she found. It might answer what that mystery implant was, or the cause of whatever sickness turned your mother into whatever she became.
>>
No. 864295 ID: c88e6d

>>864288
She's suicidal and has been mutilated with cybernetics despite Neumono's innate incompatibility.

Do not antagonize. Our best chance for survival at this time is to, politely, explain that Imperium is a heavily distributed and hostile artificial intelligence with advanced techology and weaponry that was willing to throw away an intergalactic teleporter and a full base with a Salikai out of spite. Imperium's greatest weakness is its overwhelming arrogance and distaste for other sapient life.
>>
No. 864296 ID: 1561e1

Tell a sugar-coated, hopeful version of the truth. You certainly can't do it alone, though there's more people like you and her that have information about it. If you pool your information, you might be able to find something that could lead to a weakness. Most importantly, that means both of you have to stay alive if you want any hope of Imperium being stopped.


(Of course, actually killing it will be extremely difficult unless it has some unknown quirks like not wanting or not being able to back itself up, having a single central location that has the necessary setup to operate its 'empire', etc. but without that it could still be possible to severely cripple its resources somehow. Especially if there's some ancient tech artifacts with unknown capabilities to take advantage of!)
>>
No. 864297 ID: b1b4f3

>>864288
"How do you eat an elephant?" is an appropriate analogy here. One piece at a time. Also you'd need an army to keep it from constructing more servers as you destroy them. The most damaging thing your limited forces could do to Imperium is prove it exists. Then the entire goddamn galaxy will unite to destroy such an existential threat. Maybe more than one galaxy, even. It seems you're in a different one, and if research into this transportation artifact yields any results you may be able to develop intergalactic travel for ships to use.

So uh, hang on a moment though. This is the Neumono that went on a walk? In a warzone full of hostiles that are able to hack cybernetics in seemingly impossible ways? How do we know she's not brainwashed now? ...I guess the other Neumono would notice if she was compromised... but she's still a huge idiot and soon to be a Rogue, which will result in her two ex-hivemates becoming very aggressive towards her.
Maybe you can use that though? Take her under your protection?

Regardless, you should ask her what work she did with your mother. Perhaps she can explain why your implant is not what you thought it was.
>>
No. 864298 ID: 86eb65

We start by analyzing your and my cyber tech. Mine had a backdoor I suspect Imperium engineered. There could be lots of valuable info on what that backdoor did and how it was designed.

So unless you are 100% sure yours is safe you should have the aliens here test it or remove it.

Then we gather food and help our hosts secure this base. Once we are safe and have plenty of resources we analyze the artifact and see if we can get home.

Oh and stop deluding yourself about going "rogue". You can't go rogue if you are the last of your hive. You just end up the last of your hive. I don't like you but we have a common enemy. If you fall apart I am probably going to say fuck fighting Imperium and ask to go live with these aliens. Less chance of neumono murdering me for saving people that way.
>>
No. 864304 ID: 563dc1

A Neumono working with a Salikai ...? This seems irregular, and well worth understanding. Assuming Ekasarra isn't lying, this suggests they might be sufficiently open-minded to allow for effective cooperation. Either way you'll want to know about what happened there.
Given that she knows about Hidira and you, she might also have valuable information about your implants.

Strong second on making sure her cybernetics aren't compromised. Maybe check with Aza about it.

Don't outright lie; that's generally dangerous, and more so since you don't know what she knows. Amongst *Neumono*, they'll generally be able to sense lies. They can't sense yours. A reputation for honesty could be very useful here. Shade the truth if it helps.

In line with this, admit to Hidira having been your mother, talk about what she became and what she did to you, and how that made you stop thinking of her as such.
You have a sapient in front of you who is struggling with the loss of the people closest to her. You lost your mother - to some combination of her own delusions and Imperium's manipulation - and it still hurts. This is something she should be able to relate to, and something you can use to explain part of your motivation to get back at Imperium. It could be an effective way to build a connection and get Ekasarra to open up to you, if you can put your hate for her kind aside and talk frankly.
>>
No. 864309 ID: 3adb50

>>864288
If she commits suicide it helps with the food problem. However, if she commits suicide in your room you will have the other two trying to blame you for it and then trying to kill you for it.

>>864295
This.

And if she does attempt to blow her brains out here, politely ask her to do so somewhere else.
>>
No. 864313 ID: 3abd97

>>864287
Neumono do take ridiculous amounts of food, and a disproportionate amount of meat. They probably eat more than your whole pile of arkots!

>While I lead the arkots I start writing the primer to neumono empathy and hives but I only know half the story myself. Still more than Tirzi knows, likely.
You can confirm the ridiculous appetite and regeneration, at least.

>>864288
>I have a loaded pistol with one bullet for the day I turn rogue and that day feels like it's getting closer and closer.
I assume she's speaking metaphorically or that's a high yield explosive bullet because I don't see how else she plans on killing herself in one shot.

>We can't, but perhaps if I give a different answer... this neumono is clearly emotionally vulnerable.
>Perhaps I can exploit that to somehow prevent the other two neumono being a threat to me.
>Maybe I can get some more answers out of her too.
>But what to say...
Weird as it might sound, honesty might be your best approach.

Imperium had far more resources at its disposal than I ever did, even before the loss of my lab. More resources than your hive would have had at its zenith. Frankly, I don't know how we could meaningfully opposite it at this juncture. Never mind the fact the artifact teleported us to what appears to be another planet, possibly another dimension. Reaching Imperium, in order to oppose it, will be a significant challenge.

Any plan to oppose Imperium will necessary need to begin with survival, and likely cultivating the aliens who have taken us in as allies and/or minions. Followed by a build up of resources, and research on the artifact so it becomes possible to move troops or material against Imperium. Your hive not trying to kill me would be helpful in these endeavors.

This would be a long term project. If you have first hand insight and knowledge that would be useful, you might want to reconsider your plans for suicide, Ekasarra. You can't contribute to any effort for revenge or justice dead.

If I may ask a personal question, why the cybernetics? Neumono regeneration should have both been capable of replacing lost limbs, and makes maintenance of cybernetic components costly and complex. I understand if Hidira forced them on you, but unlike me, you had the option of not keeping them once you were free of her.
>>
No. 864316 ID: 91ee5f

>>864284
>That would be Number 3. Lost his left eye at some point from one of various failed artifact tests, and I engineered a replacement.
Oh, great, now #3 is a target for those hacking not-heef things, just like you were earlier.

>>864288
>I don't think I've seen a neumono with as many cybernetics, uh, anywhere.
Ok, the cybernetics in your head were a problem, but how is she not considered a problem?! Did Tirzi or someone else not explain to her the risk of getting your head hacked into?!

Uh, don’t say anything about it out loud, but do remember to send a message to Tirzi about it later.

>”Hidira was your mother."
Go ahead and admit to her that Hidira was your mother and she was also the one that shoved this artificial eye into your head, despite protesting the entire time that you didn’t want it.

>”Sisirri. Please. I have a loaded pistol with one bullet for the day I turn rogue and that day feels like it's getting closer and closer."
I’m pretty sure both of you know for a fact that one bullet is nowhere near enough to kill a neumono.

In fact, she’ll still be alive, but she’ll have just wasted a perfectly good bullet.

Again, don’t mention this out loud.
>>
No. 864318 ID: 6780f5

If she's emotionally vulnerable, definitely swallow your fear for the regenerating murderbeasts and just try to be honest. She's clearly opening up to it by not rejecting the possibility right out. If she gets convinced enough that you weren't actually at fault, then the other two might get convinced by her and you wouldn't have to worry about them anymore. All without having to get out of your bath.
>>
No. 864324 ID: 3ae3fd

Check on the arkots at regular intervals. You know better than to leave an unstable project to its own devices, especially when its devices are arkots. Do tell the intruder what you are doing though. It is bound to affect your concentration and the odds of them reacting violently to you acquiring more arkots seems low. Recovering the artefact should favour their interests.

It is odd that the most "considerate" Neumono seems to be the one most heavily modified by The Splicer. Imperium's goal seems to involve heavy use of implants, possibly converting creatures into remote nodes for itself. The Splicer's operation seems to have been focused upon that goal, testing the limits of Neumono compatibility with implants. There is always deviance, but it seems odd that the most compromised Neumono would not also be the most angry. Could she be compromised? The staff at this facility were merciless with your own compromised implants which should have operated from the same technology. For now let's just hope that they caught all the Imperium mind-control...

Your mother protected you and taught you to understand the world. The Splicer installed extensive cybernetics into you, while you were conscious, with no sensory nullification, didn't even use designated surgical facilities... You can only hope that Imperium had completely taken over and your mother never even saw that happen...
And your brain implant was, at least in part, a monitoring device, like one would install in an experiment...

With the amount of data Imperium collects it cannot possibly perform heuristics on all of it. The first step to defeating it is to determine what data-points it scans for and don't be one of them.
>>
No. 864341 ID: 10c408

Knowingly or not, Ekasarra just gave you a good puzzle that you can solve without having to leave the surgical bed.

Unfortunately, it's got some strings attached. And the biggest one is don't drive the cybernetic neumono to attempt suicide because you might not survive the consequences.

"Ignoring our present situation entirely... It would have to be war, I think. A war on two fronts across the entire galaxy as the allied front against imperium scrubs the universe ship, planet and holdout of his shadowy reach bit by bit."
>>
No. 864359 ID: 12b116

Tell her we can't. Especially not after what they've done.
>>
No. 864363 ID: 33cbe7

'You ensure the survival of the next generation so they can figure out a way. It's not happening in either of our lifetimes.'
>>
No. 864371 ID: 56fca5

You are getting increasingly hostile. You need to cool it or you are going to create a conflict. One we cannot afford.

Forget about using the neumono. We'll deal with our situation using the resources offered by the facility's crew. Give her your real assessment of Imperium. There is no chance of a small group of neumono and a salikai stopping it.
>>
No. 864378 ID: 9bad90

Before anithing else explain what excuse Hidira used to justify augmenting a neumono. I can only assume her delusions only got worst since the last time I saw her, tell me how far have she gone.

The first thing we are going to need to be able to Imperium is a way back. Beyond the time it will take for me to restore the transporting device, we will need to decide if it's worth. I don't have all that much to return to and the prospect of starting from scratch must be even more tempting for your group that can reproduce and form a colony.
Once returned to fight the master of conspiracies you would need to be extremely paranoid and resourceful, exposing associated military bases and discreetly attacking essential infrastructure before it could be moved.
The entire process will take many years, so if you want to have any chance to satiate your hive thirst for revenge you better be able to overcome your suicidal though. It doesn't matter if you will reintegrate to your hive mind or act independently, as long as you live you have a chance to fight the shadowy titan.

Now go bother Aza to remove your implants. There are hackers around and you will not be doing anyone a favor having hostile aliens tinkering with your though.
>>
No. 864382 ID: cf24af
File 151771155243.png - (12.09KB , 800x600 , salq-80.png )
864382

>cool it
>swallow your fear
Yes. Calm. Cool. Collected. I am better than surrendering to my emotions above reason.
Salikai are creatures of reason and rationality. The greatest of the homeworld species at rational thought and action.

>check on the arkots regularly
I can do so and talk at the same time. I start doing so. Some progress has been made up the shallow hill.

>a neumono working with a salikai?
>a sapient creature that has lost the closest to her
We are more alike in some regards than I am comfortable with. Perhaps an alliance against a greater mutual threat may be logical.
With appropriate safety checks and countermeasures for a likely inevitable betrayal.

>soon to be rogue
>take her under protection
I can barely protect myself but this is an intriguing possibility. Instigating strife deliberately among these broken neumono would be uncomfortably unpredictable, but perhaps the notion of trust will bleed from her to the others. Yes. Yessss.

>could be compromised
>maybe 'took a walk' into weird pylons
But first I need to be sure of something.

"You have had your cybernetics analyzed by Aza to ensure they're not compromised, correct?"
"What? What are you trying to say?"
"You 'took a walk' outside in that field of pylons. We're in a warzone with entities of impossible efficiency and effectiveness at electronic warfare. Those cybernetics seem linked to your mind... body... thing." Yes. This conveys my expertise in such things. Highly technical terms such as 'mind body thing'. Whatever. "I want to be sure, given your sudden apparent change of heart, that you're not asking me questions for the sake of something else. I'm surprised Aza didn't already take out your implants."

Ekasarra pauses. "Aza is the little glowy one, right?"
"Yes."
"He investigated my cybernetics two days ago. He asked if I could part with them, and I told him no. So he told me I either had to let him examine my cybernetics or he wasn't letting me step foot inside the facility. It was a very, very tedious process." She smiles slightly. I'm not sure why. "And then he confirmed that he couldn't break into any of my systems with direct or wireless methods."
"Intriguing. I'm surprised a neumono has so many cyberneti--"
"Not by my own choice, Sisirri."
"Why not remove them?"

Ekasarra swings from despondant to frustrated with alarming speed. "If it was that simple I'd have done it already! Your mother--"
"The thing that gave you those cybernetics was not my mother."
"...I'm sorry. I know you were a victim in this too." She looks at my cybernetic eye. "The Splicer gave me these parts to see if she could override neumono regeneration with cybernetics. As I said to Aza and also Tirzi, the cybernetics aren't removable anymore. I'd survive, probably, but it'd be... I don't want to think about it. They... they extend deep into my body. Aza determined there's strands of them through my torso into my thighs."
"An unwarranted and undesired integration of machine and flesh. That sounds like her work."

Ekasarra nods slowly. "I got off lightly. I have... flashbacks. I asked the Splicer to remove any memory I had of my work with her each time, but the removal didn't always... take properly. All I know is I'm a successful experiment. You... you don't w-want to know what the failures looked like."
"I consider the 'Splicer' to have been the greatest failure of all."
"We're getting off track. Imperium. How do we destroy it?"
>>
No. 864384 ID: cf24af
File 151771156613.png - (9.05KB , 800x600 , salq-81.png )
864384

>how do kill imperium
"Firstly, you can't kill it if you're dead, so survival is paramount. Secondly, I believe there's common traits between our respective cybernetics given their developers and benefactors. If Imperium had influence over these designs, we can use its own designs against it to determine any means it uses to collect information. Thirdly, it has more resources than I ever had and your hive likely ever had at its zenith. In conclusion, war. A war across the entire galaxy as all opposed to Imperium systematically scour every corner of space of its insidious presence. It may take generations."
"I... I guess I'd need to survive to see all that through, but going rogue is already a death sentence, I--"
"You can't exactly be rogue if you're already the last of a hive. Also, usually it is customary for a judge, a jury and an executioner to be separate entities."
"You're a salikai, Sisirri. It wouldn't be fair to expect you to understand."
"From what I've understood, the process of going rogue involves a fundamental disconnection from one's peers and family, yes?"
"Y-yes?"
"I've witnessed a fundamental disconnection of a family member from myself. I think I understand well enough. You're also too useful to die by your own hand. It would be incredibly wasteful."

Ekasarra is silent as I realise I'm perhaps not the best at motivating others.

"...also your hivemates would be sad, and sadness is incredibly poor for working morale. Also a waste of ammunition because I am fairly certain one bullet isn't going to actually do much--"
"Stop! Sorry, uh. You can stop there," says Ekasarra. "Thanks. I think."
"You're welcome. Regardless, here we can't do anything to strike back at Imperium. Our primary goal is to recover and repair the artifact that brought us here, with the assistance and aid of this alien science team, which will require securing this base and gathering greater food supplies. We also need to survive long enough to see this through to completion. It would also be beneficial if you could convince your hive to stop trying to kill me."
"I'll... I'll do what I can."

Success. I am the master of manipulation.
Now I know my true strengths lie in making aliens feel so awkward and uncomfortable they agree to my whims just to end the silence.
I may need to work on my social approach.

>tell about arkots
"Also, in the interests of transparency, I'm bringing a group of roughly a dozen arkots to this laboratory via remote drone. The few survivors of your colleagues' terrible invasion. Don't be alarmed if you see more of them, and please don't kill them."
"What? They're arkots, if they're not trying to kill me I couldn't care less. Oh. Okay, I'll tell Lekka and Kan but I'm pretty sure they know where they stand if they try to harm anyone in this place."
"It's taking a lot of my concentration to talk and lead at the same time."
"Ah. Yes. I should probably go get food, anyway."

There's another heavy pause.

"...Thank you, Sisirri."
"For what?"
"For talking. And listening."

Before I can ask her why this is important to her, she's already gone.
>>
No. 864387 ID: cf24af
File 151771160419.png - (100.95KB , 800x600 , salq-82.png )
864387

I focus purely on leading the arkots, after filing a request with Tirzi to bring me any fruits left over. She tells me she'll get Aza to get a drone on it.
#6 is still peacefully sleeping by my side like some kind of pet toya.

Meanwhile, back outside in the twilight of dusk...

Uh.
Uhhhh.
Between where I am and the laboratory, there seems to be a gathering of some description.
As well as some incredibly strange looking plantlife? And a glowing pool??

I definitely took this route during my search, this was not here three or four hours ago.

I drive the drone down to ground level and harshly whisper at the arkots to stop and gather themselves here. I dim the lights on the drone.

I spin to face the gathering and zoom in as far as I can. The drone camera compensates for the lack of lighting.
Four insectoid things, two feathered things, a couple tentacled things. Some of them look armed with weapons I don't recognise.
They seem like they're... waiting? Guarding? They seem preoccupied with something in their encampment.
They don't appear to have noticed us, but the fact they're facing our approach back to the lab is... troubling.

Some strange light apparition bubbles out of the pool and hangs in the air, as one of the feathered creatures appears to manipulate it.
>>
No. 864389 ID: 12b116

Call the xenobiologist back over and see if she knows what these are
>>
No. 864390 ID: b1b4f3

>>864387
Well, you've got weapons on the drone but I doubt they're enough to handle this group. You've got allies that might be strong enough? Contact someone and see if they'd be interested in attacking the group.

For now you're forced to watch, and maybe find a route around them.
>>
No. 864392 ID: 10c408

uhhh. Huh. Is there a screenshot function on the drone, or perhaps a video recording function? Either would work, but taking a video recording for later reference would be preferably.

Don't spend too long filming though, have the arkots backup a little bit, then skirt around this cluster of unknowns. Try not to get spotted, it looks like they've got rifles of some kind.
>>
No. 864393 ID: 56fca5

Report this immediately. Regardless of their intent, we cannot have enemies gathering so close to the base. You aren't going to be able to do anything about it with your arkots and that drone alone.

I assume you can take a picture to send? Saba sounds like the person you would want to inform.
>>
No. 864395 ID: 86eb65

Transfer this feed back into the base. Get your new allies help.

These things would mess up your arkots badly if you brought them to close.
>>
No. 864398 ID: 2def03

we probably should tell the others around the lab about this and try to lead our arkots around these fucks because I don't want to lose our workers, food, or risk the artifact.
>>
No. 864401 ID: 91ee5f

>>864387
They’re waiting for your arkots so that they can take the artifact. They know that the arkots are too weak to stop them.

I believe you need to alert everyone in the base to see if they can help. After all, they’re facing your arkots, not the base. Someone could easily walk outside and shoot a few of them before they could react!
>>
No. 864403 ID: c88e6d

>>864387
Call the Xenologist, ask if they have some of those Neumono terrain-wrecking guns
>>
No. 864405 ID: 6780f5

Just stay low and make a big circle around them, no need to further agitate the locals and take unnecessary casualties. Xenologist might definitely be interested in this behaviour, though.
>>
No. 864410 ID: 3abd97

>>864384
100% masterful manipulation.

>Before I can ask her why this is important to her, she's already gone.
Neumono are social creatures, more social than salikai are. And she's currently having difficulty communicating with her peers. You provided an outlet for a need.

>>864387
The presence of these aliens is tactically important information. Share it with the alien researchers before taking other action.

Is it possible to redirect the arkots around this checkpoint?
>>
No. 864413 ID: 91ee5f

>>864405
>>864410
>Move around them.
That’s not going to work because the arkots are moving very slowly, they’ll never make it before they get spotted. Also, it’s a big wide open space with no hills or anything that can be used to hide, which means the arkots are going to be spotted even sooner.
>>
No. 864425 ID: 0d45a9

>Taking a species known for it's extreme durability via regeneration and disabling that to allow extensive cybernetics for the sake of seeing if it's possible
How disgustingly inefficient. Such a pointless experiment only shows the depths of the splicer's sickness. No offence meant to Ekasarra.

As for why she's thanking you. She probably feels a bit alienated from her hivemates, given her recent worries about going rogue, and (Assuming the other neumono don't have similar cybernetics) the degree of cybernetics she has. So she doesn't feel like she can talk to her hivemates, and the other aliens wouldn't understand. So you're the only one she feels like she can talk to about this stuff?

I'd report this situation to the other base personnel, it's likely this is a ambush to get the artefact parts. I'd try to sneak around the ambush, depending on how quick the drone is, you could use it's sonic stunner as a distraction: Find somewhere where they can't see and has a path back to your current location that they also can't see, blast something with the stunner to make a loud noise, return to original position while they investigate.
>>
No. 864435 ID: 130855

It's possible that these guys are here to intercept your artifact. You should try to go around them, and get in contact with the Tirzi. Send your arkots down different routes, so even if these guys kill some, you don't lose all of them.
>>
No. 864437 ID: 3ae3fd

Ew! I am not convinced that there are any insectoids amongst their personnel. Those tentacles look parasitic and dominant... Probably of interest to the xenobiologist, and potentially the parasite.

That interface looks absurdly esoteric for most purposes, which suggest a highly versatile device. The surrounding structures and immaterial nature of it combined with knowledge of those massive spires suggest that the "pool" is a focal point for a massive energy convergence. I am certain that there is a perfectly technological explanation for all of it, holograms and repulsion fields and matter synthesis and whatever else, but it is easier to just say "magic". If they start shooting lightning from their fingers, summoning creatures from mythology, and throwing around curses, just remember that sanity can wait until after battle.
>>
No. 864440 ID: b1b4f3

>>864437
Could by symbiotic. One is using a tentacle as a leg.
>>
No. 864517 ID: 38de21

Yeah, tell Tirzi and the rest of them about this situation.
>>
No. 864566 ID: c88e6d

I suspect the tentacles are similar to Cordyceps in that they are a fungal lifeform piggy-backing on an insect. There's no real way of telling which is in charge without a medical examination.

For all we know the insects and fungus are nonsapient eusocial organisms but when combined they form sapient individuals. Still, we should come up with a plan to blow them up.
>>
No. 864605 ID: cf24af
File 151779968381.png - (142.21KB , 800x600 , salq-83.png )
864605

>move around / redirect
>no that's too slow
It seems incredibly likely that the arkots are going to be spotted if we go around.

>they're waiting for the artifact
If they wanted the artifact, they had three days while I was out to take it. Why now?

>share the information
I jump into the aliens' comms network and tell them something urgent is stopping me bringing back my arkots.
I show them the feed.

I can hear dim, muffled shouts in languages I don't speak echo through empty corridors.

> "Voice conference active. Reason given: active emergency."
> "Salikai. Sisirri, sorry. My name is Ku Gat," I hear my interface surface say. "Aza is patching through the drone sensory stream into the xenolinguistics lab. I've been able to isolate signals coming from that location. They're requesting backup and transmitting locations for... oh no. You need to get your friends away from them as soon as possible. They know exactly where they are, based on these transmissions. Copying them to your interface. Aza's telling me he's picking up a lot of activity in the upper atmosphere, they're mobilising something. I'd tell you more but we're scientists, not generals, just... I don't know, keep them moving!!"

No panic. Mind clear. Mind calm.
"GET MOVING FASTER OR YOU'RE ALL GOING TO BE CRUSHED FROM ALL DIRECTIONS! THIS IS A PRIORITY ONE THREAT SCENARIO!"

At the mention of "priority one threat scenario", a term I haven't said since the invasion on my facility, the arkots start pushing the crates and artifact pieces faster.
I hear #3 switch from angrily shouting useless orders to 'move faster' to actually ordering individual arkots, if they'll listen, to where more help is needed.

Note to self. Incredibly imminent mortal peril appears to motivate arkots.

Still, something sits with me uneasily. They could easily dispatch my arkots, what are they planning?
>>
No. 864606 ID: cf24af
File 151779969427.png - (17.42KB , 800x600 , salq-84.png )
864606

> "Sisirri this Aza noticing high density cluster drone movement towards our drone position, not being mine, suggesting evasive maneuvers immedi--"

Hrngh!!

I lower my head slowly as my view returns back to the ceiling of the xenobiology lab, or medbay, or whichever it is.

> "Sisirri that is not being evasive maneuvers! Okay am going to need to recover it later, bigger bugs to crush right now."
> "I'm a fuckin' administrator, not a tactician,", says a voice I don't recognise but quickly guess to be Saba. "Throw the furry gunhavers at them, they had weapons and armor. They're probably military or at least paramilitary. Fuck, even if they're just armed police we can make them earn their ridiculous food requirements."
> "Tirzi here, Kan is still not in a shape to fight. Lekka's armed and ready to go. Ekasarra's getting ready. I didn't even need to do much beyond say 'we're under attack maybe.' It's like they were waiting for a reason."

Wait.

"Sisirri here. Have you not faced attacks before?"
> "Not here," says Tirzi. "They've never come after the lab for some reason."
> "Oh they've attacked further afield. Sitkva here. I'm getting the long range drills and I'm going to go take out some frustrations."
> "No!" Tirzi sounds agitated. "You're a geologist, not a soldier! I don't know a lot about these guys but the bug things are biologically merged with their guns! We have no idea how ridiculous their aim or reflexes are but they're clearly augmented! You're huge, they're gonna hit you with every shot!"
> "It's not like they have anything bigger than me," says Sitkva. "I'll get the heatsuit."
> "A bullet is gonna go through a heatsuit like paper!"
> "This is an interstellar invasion force. They probably don't use bullets, and this thing'll be great protection against dangerous heat sources. Like, you know, directed energy weapons."
> "Okay that's like five assumptions too many-- SITS NO I CAN HEAR YOU WALKING TO THE SUPPLY ROOM DON'T DO IT THIS IS REALLY DUMB"

"This is ridiculous," I say. "Sitkva, from what I have heard, your sole advantage in combat is your size--"
> "I'm going after her," says Tirzi. "I held my own in the noxon homeworld without any gear, I'll be fine, I just need to convince her to come back."
> "You are going to give my favourite body a heart attack, you fuckers," says Saba, who sounds... I don't have a frame of reference. She sounds strange. "Tirzi, if you go after her we lose our only medic-- YOU FUCKING LEFT ALREADY FUCK THIS FUCK EVERYTHING."

I hear what sounds like a very loud slam over the conference system.

> "Aza is sending one very shouty drone for both of them, yes. And two dozen cheap combat drones for assisting in mess they are certainly getting in. Going into piloting fugue, seeing you all on flipside."
>>
No. 864607 ID: cf24af
File 151779974849.png - (10.11KB , 800x600 , salq-85.png )
864607

So, that's it, then. My link to my arkots is severed and I have to rely on two neumono, two overconfident or suicidal scientists, and a smattering of drones to somehow solve the problem.
The neumono have at least proved highly effective at destruction, but I predict high collateral damage.
The geologist and xenobiologist are undoubtedly entering a situation far outside their fields of expertise.
This is bad. If we're lucky they'll come to the senses before they walk within firing range.
If the xenobiologist dies it sounds like no one else has the skill to aid my recovery.
If the geologist dies, it will likely be bad for the morale of the others.
...the neumono perishing in combat I would typically consider a favourable outcome but we may need them later.

This is an intractable mess. I've lost control of the situation once again. Intolerable. Intolerable.

> "Ku here. Uh. Salikai? I'm... I'm patching through a transmission I just, well, it was sent to us. To this lab. From an orbital source. In... in our tongue. One of the superculture languages."

I watch the text assemble itself on the interface projection, as a translation fades in over it.

SITE FOUR. WE ARE PREPARED TO EXCHANGE.
EIGHTEEN DISTINCT INDIVIDUALS OF SPECIES G-2024. FOUR OF WHICH NEWLY BORN.
TWO DISTINCT INDIVIDUALS OF SPECIES G-2028.
ONE DISTINCT INDIVIDUAL OF SPECIES C-2067.
ONE DISTINCT INDIVIDUAL OF SPECIES C-2106.
TWENTY TWO LIVES VALUABLE TO YOU.
IF WE ACT, THEY DIE.
DELIVER THE SALIKAI. WE REQUIRE IT ALIVE.
ONE LIFE FOR TWENTY TWO.
WE PERMIT NO FURTHER DISCUSSION OR NEGOTIATION OF TERMS.
YOU HAVE TWENTY MINUTES TO COMPLY.
IF THE SALIKAI IS NOT REMOVED FROM SITE FOUR, ALL TWENTY TWO WILL DIE.


Impossible. Impossible! What do they want or need from me?

> "Before I show this to Saba, who is incredibly pragmatic," says Ku, softly, "I'd like your input. They translated 'salikai' into our language. This is the first transmission we've ever had from them so directly."
"My input?"
> "If you think you can come up with a convincing argument for Saba to not giftwrap you and throw you outside as fast she possibly can, well, I can withhold this news for a minute or two."

Visions of helplessly watching my facility fall apart creep into my mind. My graspers shake in frustration and terror.
I was too quick to assume these aliens were so naive and trusting.
They are quick to consider leaving me to my death for their own benefit.
More disproven assumptions.
>>
No. 864608 ID: cf24af
File 151779977469.png - (27.98KB , 800x600 , salq-86.png )
864608

> "Sisirri? Hello?"

It takes considerable effort, but I crawl out of the container.
I'm not dying while pickled.

> "Look, I'm just saying we're going to have to make tough decisions, Saba isn't a monster, she isn't going to send you to your death, not without some kind of better plan than that."

I screen out the most transparent attempt at deception I've heard.

I shakily get to standing posture, and grasp the interface slate.
It hurts in every limb to stand, but I struggle and limp along.
A convincing argument for why I should live and twenty two others, including two individuals valued to these aliens, should die.

I'm sure I can think of something. Something to do when my argument inevitably fails, I mean.
>>
No. 864612 ID: 3abd97

>>864606
...well the main thing I'm getting from this exchange is the alien researchers lack a coherent command structure. That's potentially a void you could fill. They don't have anyone doing tactics and leadership. At least not anyone being listened to.

Assuming you can somehow survive and stay in a position to install yourself in that role.

>>864608
The simplest argument is these beings have positioned themselves as hostile to everyone currently cooperating in this research facility.

Appeasing them by sacrificing one individual might serve short-term survival of the group, but long term, you're further the interests of an enemy. This strategy is not sustainable.

If I am strategically valuable to them, if I am important to them, you don't want them to have me.

>what do
We have 20 minutes to plan and implement a counter action. Either we need to strike at the forces targeting us, or we need to use this proposed prisoner exchange as a Trojan horse.

Playing this straight will end with us all subjugated or dead, one way or another.
>>
No. 864613 ID: 86eb65

Ok here is a list of things they need to consider.

1. How did they find out your species?
2. Why do they want you and for what reason?
3. What do you have that they want. Note that its not going to be a possession but an info or ability. They are not asking for your artifact.
4. What can they gain by keeping you.
5. What they can gain by getting rid of you.
6. What the enemy will gain by getting a hold of you.
7. What you will willing give the enemy if your allies turn out to be false.


If they are at all reasonable they will realize that there are far more dangers in turning over the new guy (who knows a lot about them now) than supporting and protecting him.

Oh and they will burn down the base regardless. That's just how these things work.
>>
No. 864614 ID: 91ee5f

>>864608
No, it’s not you they want, it’s your implant that was taken out that they want!

Think about it, when your implant was taken out, you were told that it was literally transmitting things about you that made you a beacon for anyone to home in on. And let’s not forget your implant was also encrypted!

So even if you go out to them, once they realize you don’t have your implant and it’s encrypted data, they’ll not only kill you, they’ll also kill everyone in this facility to recover that implant!

This does bring up the question of what’s so important on your implant? What did Imperium put on there that these guys want?

Or, an even more disturbing thought, Imperium planned to have you come here and you were supposed to be captured and have that data on your implant delivered to these guys that are threatening everyone?
>>
No. 864615 ID: 830fb7

>>864608
it also helps that your probably the only person with the knowledge/ expertise to repair the artefact at this stage.
>>
No. 864616 ID: 13fded

1. I don't want to work for another genocidal technocrat.
2. They aren't asking for me for personal reasons. Whatever information they gathered from their earlier scout convinced them that I'm valuable to them. If they are right giving me away will make your enemy stronger.
3. You've been ignored by a declared conquered so far, probable for a good reason. If not an existential threat you are at least an affront to their authority, meaning that they spared you from confrontation because they weren't confident on their chances of success. Assuming they have the advantage and surrendering to their demands will define your relation to them as subaltern and stimulate similar future demands.
>>
No. 864619 ID: b1b4f3

Hang on, they only mentioned TWO of species G-2028. Those must be the neumono since there aren't any other duplicate species here, which means they left one out... they're not threatening anyone inside the facility. They must be completely unable to enter! That's why they've never attacked this place, and it also explains the odd phrasing at the end. They want you out of site four so that they can collect you.

Knowing this, all you'd have to do is get everyone back inside and I guess sacrifice the arkots. You are definitely worth more than eighteen arkots. I wonder if they'll be able to make the mad dash in 20 minutes if they abandon the artifact? Is it possible for someone to relay that change in priority?
>>
No. 864620 ID: 10c408

>>864612
This has my vote. There's no guarantee that after confirming my position they kill their captives anyway.

A trojan horse operation would likely go much better if it looks like the facility really is selling you only for your arkots to strenuously object. At which point the shooting starts when the enemy is looking the wrong way.
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No. 864622 ID: c88e6d

>>864608
They're only threatening the idiots who went outside the facility. Tell them that they're launching an orbital bombardment and that the lab is safe. Yell at them to come back. Even if most of the arkots are killed by whatever they're firing some will probably make it. Meanwhile the morons will think you have an attachment to ARKOTS of all things.

Anyway, the people in this facility have never fought for their lives, whereas every Salikai old enough to think for itself fights a never ending battle against genocidal space marines. You must take command with authority.
>>
No. 864623 ID: b1b4f3

Oh, and since they're unable to enter Site Four that means you need to find the reason why that is the case, and either weaponize it or make it mobile like a shield so that people can go on supply runs.
>>
No. 864624 ID: b1b4f3

Or, another crazier plan is to take all the guns and go out there on your own to destroy all enemy forces. They want you ALIVE, so they won't kill you, and you don't have a brain implant for them to hack anymore. The only issue is they might have some sort of nonlethal energy weapon to use on you, or precise enough weapons fire to disarm you without endangering your life.
>>
No. 864628 ID: 91ee5f

>>864619
>Hang on, they only mentioned TWO of species G-2028. Those must be the neumono since there aren't any other duplicate species here, which means they left one out...they're not threatening anyone inside the facility. They must be completely unable to enter! That's why they've never attacked this place, and it also explains the odd phrasing at the end. They want you out of site four so that they can collect you.
That actually makes a lot of sense. There are more than 22 of you guys here, so whoever’s inside this building is invisible to them!

Meaning that if the building was completely empty, they wouldn’t be able to tell! Not that you guys could sneak away.
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No. 864629 ID: 1561e1

>>864614
That's a good point. Maybe you could threaten to destroy it. It's just a piece of equipment. If it's what they want, that might give you leverage.
>>
No. 864630 ID: 3ae3fd

Their interest is specific to you. This makes no sense. The Salikai have had no opportunity to demonstrate unique value and the lack of interest in Neumono indicates that the interest does not pertain to your alien nature.

The only known reasons to be after you specifically would be to follow up data gained when they hacked you, or Imperium...
The ones that hacked you should already have the desired data or not have enough data to have reason to obtain you over the Neumono, which should have similar, if not greater value in terms of biology and technology.

This heavily indicates that Imperium has influence here, but your current state of being alive suggests that it is limited. Imperium's primary interest probably lies in the spread of your knowledge. It wants to know how widely you have communicated its existence so that it can eliminate that knowledge.

"They must either want my knowledge of Imperium or the artefact, or want to destroy it. Either way they will try to maintain its exclusivity by muting anyone I have contacted. Your best chance of survival is to prevent them from determining who I have communicated with while maintaining the prospect that they might learn such later and that you will not be spreading such information."

It seems useless to pretend that you are not here, send a reply: "Salikai dismantled and processed, please submit inventory of desired components." It is technically true, for what that is worth, and establishes a cause for them to state more clearly what they seek and to cause delays on their end as the process the input.

Hostile negotiation is like training animals, give them a treat and they will keep doing the same thing.

Ask 6 to help you to walk.

Review your terminal for facility schematics and find a location with enough enough devices to conceal the presence of your implants and enough biomatter to conceal your body... Hide above or under the larder or Saba's zoo, somewhere cramped and cosy, with 6. They will find you of course, but outside is an overexposed warzone and anything you could do to threaten the scientists would compromise the facility, and you need the facility to protect yourself from the outside, so hiding is the only option.
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No. 864635 ID: 3abd97

>>864619
>>864628
Yes, they're threatening to kill the 22 arkots, 2 neumono, 1 salazzarine and 1 amtsvane already outside of the base. They are apparently unwilling or unable to attack the research base, for now.

That might just be because Sissiri is inside and they want her alive.

>what do
Another problem is regardless of what happens between ground forces, the enemy apparently has air support. If we don't develop an answer to that quickly, there's no way straight combat ends in victory.

We need access to the research ship's systems, and if there isn't a weapon we can use to disable the enemy's air support, we have a very short window to apply salikai science to jury rig one out of existing systems.
>>
No. 864643 ID: b1b4f3

Further argument supporting letting the 18 arkots die: they'd be a burden on our already-limited food supply and of questionable value as workers. Normally Salikai use them because they are very loyal, not because they're good at doing things.
>>
No. 864645 ID: 91ee5f

>>864643
How about getting them and the important artifact they’re carrying into the building first?
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No. 864653 ID: b1b4f3

>>864645
Last time estimate I heard was well over 20 minutes.
>>
No. 864659 ID: 91ee5f

>>864653
That’s enough time.

Especially if they rush like their lives depend on it, which they do. And Sisirri has pointed out that’s a very good motivator and they’ve actually sped up significantly.

Also, anyone that just rushed outside will give covering fire or, if the arkots are close enough, assist in getting them inside.
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No. 864663 ID: 13cc26

You know what? Just figure out how you can tap back into the systems and drone network so you can get a view of what the hell's going on out there and assist.

Given that no one here really seems to be any good at planning or command (the only person even trying from what we've seen is Saba), I have a feeling that if you just sort of assert yourself as the person who does that it'll work at least long enough for you to try and salvage this situation.

The ideal scenario is probably some way for Sitkva to meet up with your arkots, since she can probably get all of them back to the base a lot faster than they can themselves and whatever we're going up against doesn't seem to be able to directly attack the facility even with orbital support. (Would be nice to know exactly why but we need to try to get everyone back to safety first.) That might be asking too much, though, since she's a giant target.

Unfortunately we don't know exactly what things look like out there, so step one is fixing that as best we can. See if you can catch Saba before she probably does something stupid like follow the other two aliens out there.
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No. 864666 ID: b144ed

I have an entirely horrorble idea. The enemy let it slip that they want us alive for whatever reason, and what’s to stop the enemy from simply bombing this place after they have us? The only thing we have that they don’t is ourselves so maybe by at least pretending we’re being held hostage. They make a move on the base, we die... like I said this is a very bad idea but it should buy us time if nothing else.
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No. 864670 ID: da145f

>>864619
Excellent point. If the site can't be attacked, this gives an opportunity.

Sitkva's great size should provide her with impressive speed and carrying capacity. If the neumono distract/pin the enemy squad, could she rush past them to hit-and-run rescue personnel and food?

Meanwhile our job will be to buy time. Pretend to give in, but mention the specimen/prisoner is injured and needs some additional precautions to safely transport. At the last minute, ask if they want the "belongings" (implants) too, and take some time "packaging" them. Anything to give the field operatives a few more minutes.
>>
No. 864708 ID: ad51b8

quick question? could you ask Aza to swing those drones around the enemy force and pick up your minions, artifact, and food and race them back to the base before the timer runs out?
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No. 864715 ID: 90124d

This scenario is too similar to the what happened to the Maya. They're asking for you to capture you or whatever, then they bomb the site from orbit. Get the objective without any causalities and fighting. They need you and an invasion may cause you to be injured/killed or them to possibly be repelled. Your practically keeping them alive right now. See if you can organize a defense of some sort, I think it's time to take over the situation, you're the only one with any experience with this kind of stuff. Arkots gonna die anyways unless you can somehow mobilize a force to rescue them, unlikely, since we're really in a bad scenario.

Initiate a Bavarian Fire Drill. You're the only one with the skills to initiate a kind of defense. Take over the situation and start shouting orders for defense, also, could we get a map of the compound?

This is also good in the long run, since it's a form of emergency authority that could help you in a bad scenario. If anyone questions your actions, claim your the only one with experience with tactics and defense.

Also, they are using the "Besiege Wei to rescue Zhao" Stratagem.
Besiege Wei to rescue Zhao: Avoid a head-on battle with a strong enemy, and instead strike at his weakness (for example, a weaker ally) elsewhere.

They can't attack the Lab, probably because it'd either cause them a Pyrrhic victory or a defeat, due to Lab's internal defense measures. They're taking hostages to either try to get them to surrender you, basically getting what they actually want, or to force you to leave home base.

Also, assume you only have 10 minutes until they launch a full out invasion on the lab. 30 minutes is too long for any normal hostage scenario.

Final thing, There's a way to use the translator's failure to pick up bad typing, that Neumeno was doing that on purpose to talk to you only. For example:

Herllo, Sal:kik h'ow ar;e y.ou doi,ng to[day.
This wouldn't be picked up by the translator, and is effectively encrypted so that only Salkiki and Neumeno at this facility can hear it.

Also, assume Communications are compromised. Any listening devices probably also compromised too, one alien race shows the ability to hack really effectively, and since this race hasn't fallen on it's knees yet with everything electronic hacked, they probably also are somewhere around the same ability of said other race.
>>
No. 864775 ID: 3adb50

>>864608
Give yourself up.
>>
No. 864807 ID: 56fca5

>More disproven assumptions.

I guess by judging so quickly and harshly that you wouldn't consider the same?

Anyways, it appears likely that they are looking for the data in your implants. They probably want you alive because they assume you know how to decrypt the data.

We can use this assumption to gain leverage. Threatening termination of the data or yourself if hostile action is taken. The administrator should do so, to make it seem more believable. Instructing Sitkva to escort the arkots and the equipment back seems like the best way if we decide we want to bunker down. The neumono can offer fire support. I'm not sure what support Tirzi can offer in the field.

Honestly, if the opposing force has as many resources as they claim we don't stand much of a chance. If they absolutely need you alive, then your life is the only form of leverage we have access to.
>>
No. 864811 ID: 12b116

Maybe tell them you died when they took out your implant, but can turn that over? This is assuming they don't actually know you're in there. If they do know you're in there and not dead then I have no idea what to do because it seems like we're SOL
>>
No. 864821 ID: 074011

>>864807
Good point about the leverage. They are in a position to besiege the facility. They can afford to wait. Taking Sissiri's life as a hostage in exchange for a permanent stand-off is to their advantage, and the population of the lab is a minor feature. In fact, the more mouths to feed the better from their perspective, although they might not take kindly to the arkots bringing in the fruit, although if it was made clear that the salikai would die if it didn't have food then it might change things a bit.

They can either wait and try to find another way to get what they want, or rush things now and guarantee its destruction, or do things the petty way and try to damage what they can, but then they leave their target surrounded by beings who regard it as the cause of the other lab personnel's destruction, which again results in the loss of their objective at the hands of angry scientists. Remember to add in the threat of broadcasting the salikai's data to neutral parties...

Best to quarantine everything that comes in. Who knows what sort of infiltration they will attempt. nobody wants to find out that they are hosting fungal mind-control parasites or tiny hacking robots here to turn off the power.

Does the lab have external speakers? At this point it is probably best to just tell the arkots to move, waiting is not looking favourable and the arkots might at least be a distraction...
>>
No. 864833 ID: 91ee5f

>>864821
>At this point it is probably best to just tell the arkots to move, waiting is not looking favourable
They’re already moving. That’s what Sisirri told them to do before she lost the drone she was controlling.
>>
No. 864848 ID: de6d84

>>864635
This.
>>
No. 864900 ID: 10c408

Come to think of it... We could just pass along the message that ssirri died on the operating table and that threats will get them nowhere.
>>
No. 865035 ID: 56de11

A good question is are they after you or the implants or both?
And giving yourself up doesn't necessarily mean death. They said they wanted you alive so they see some value in you, if we can find out what that is we can use it to our advantage.
Hell they may be able to help with the Artifact better then your current allies.
>>
No. 865207 ID: cf24af
File 151795375001.png - (28.13KB , 800x600 , salq-87.png )
865207

>neumono typing badly intentionally to only speak to you
Unlikely. I've seen those mittens they call hands. Probably mashed the keys while typing.

>quick to judge
>you'd do the same
...Not entirely inaccurate.

>specific interest in you, not salikai in general
>implant
Well, the implant apparently singing every facet of my being without my knowledge would indicate that the implant is why they even know I exist.
Thanks, mother.

>no command structure
>bavarian fire drill
>assume control
Of course. Of course. I've been living in secrecy and needing to defend my assets, technology and contacts for as long as I've been alive.
I have experience in crisis management these lackadaisical bleeding heart aliens could only dream of.

>list of things to consider
"Alright. Ku. Do you think I'm better off in the hands of the enemy? Someone they're willing to risk combat to go after? Especially with all of the information I now possess about the manifest and roles and skills of your organisation here? Do you think the enemy is better off with my skills and knowledge than you are? Do you think they'll even stick to their word when they get me?"
> "No, I don't. I really don't. Let me just make that point clear to Saba when I pass this message on--"
> "I'M ALREADY LISTENING, YOU LITERALLY DENSE FUCKER, KU, AND THANKS FOR GOING BEHIND ALL OF MY BACKS. Salikai. Sisirri. Do you know what the fuck they want you for?"
"No. I am willing to suspect it's related to the implant. Now. We have some choices here. We can feign that I'm already dead and in pieces for dissection."
> "That's... why would we do that to a sapient creature?" asks Ku.
"Many reasons. Perhaps I was discovered dead. Perhaps your experimental surgery or attempt to save my life failed. Perhaps you decided I was too much of a risk kept alive. At this point, why not treat a dead alien as a cadaver to analyse?"
> "It's... it's so disrespectful--"
"Whatever, moving on. Second option. If it's just the implant they want we can just turn that over. I don't like this idea, but if they stick to their word it will at least buy us more time to get everyone into this location. They didn't mention any of us inside. Either they don't know we're here or they can't reach us in here. Saba, Ku, can either of you send a transmission back at the source?"
> "I can do it," says Ku. "I'll need your help, Saba."
> "On my way."
"Tell them I'm dead on the operating table. Threats will not help. If they have a specific inventory of components they can be delivered."

There's a stunned silence.

> "They said there's no room for negotation!" says Ku.
> "No, no, I like her plan, fuck it, we're going for it. We're fucked either way, we might as well throw them for a fucking loop first," says Saba.
> "Alright. I hope they understand our language better than we understand theirs."

"Number six, please help me stand."

#6 is quickly by my side, holding up some of my body as I lean against a wall.
>>
No. 865208 ID: cf24af
File 151795377919.png - (26.45KB , 800x600 , salq-88.png )
865208

"Aza. Can you hear me?"
> "Busy focusing but yes. Needing?"
"I wish for control over one or more drones. Failing control, at least visuals."
> "...not planning on engaging enemy, Sisirri, only rounding up stubborn Sitkva and panicking Tirzi, combat drones for insurance."
"Aza. I am, at heart, a tactician. A strategist. Without seeing who is where and what is going on, I cannot help any of you."
> "Fine. Aza sparing one drone. Try keeping it not broken, please."

I realise I can't divide my attention between trying to stand and commanding an operation. I slowly sink onto the cold floor. #6 stops trying to hold me up and instead... runs off.
Whatever. I'm sure she has something planned. She's the most loyal arkot I've ever had.
No time for that right now.

I rapidly piece together the systems that control the drone and synchronise it with my eye.
I'm back on the field, but a lot farther from the camp.

The camp appears to be focused on my arkots, who are still trying to push along their cargo.
Sitkva and the neumono appear to have taken some position just outside the lab and are taking aim with an incredibly unwieldly contraption and two energy weapons respectively.

That's strange. Based on the transmission we got they know they're there. Why is the camp focused on my arkots?

The combat drone I'm now patched into is definitely a different beast to the previous drone. It feels heavier, more sluggish, and has an interface designed to track and fire some form of projectile.
I have no idea what the properties are of the weapon but it appears to be designed for hostile xenofauna. Beasts. Not soldiers.

> "Sisirri," says Ku. "We... we got a reply. Actually, we got, uh, two. From two different directions. Sending them."
>>
No. 865209 ID: cf24af
File 151795380914.png - (17.42KB , 800x600 , salq-89.png )
865209

-source 1-
SITE FOUR WE REQUIRE EVERY LAST CELL OF THE SALIKAI YOU POSSESS
LIVING OR DEAD IT IS WHOLLY REQUIRED
DELIVER THE SALIKAI COMPONENTS, RECALL YOUR FORCES
AND NO HARM WILL COME TO THEM


-source 2-
SITE FOUR ALL NON-ORGANIC COMPONENTS MUST BE DELIVERED
ORGANIC COMPONENTS ARE NOT REQUIRED
DELIVER ALL CYBERNETICS, RECALL YOUR FORCES
AND NO HARM WILL COME TO THEM


Two contradictory messages from different locations. That was unexpected.

> "...there's... more of them," says Ku.

-source 2-
DISREGARD PREVIOUS MESSAGES
DELIVER ALL SALIKAI COMPONENTS, BIOLOGICAL AND MECHANICAL
RECALL YOUR FORCES
FAILURE TO COMPLY WILL RESULT IN IMMEDIATE TERMINIATION


-source 1-
DISREGARD PREVIOUS MESSAGES
DELIVER SALIKAI COMPONENTS AND ONE SPECIMEN OF EACH SPECIES TO NEAREST PYLON


-source 2-
DISREGARD PREVIOUS MESSAGES
DISREGARD PREVIOUS MESSAGES
DISREGARD PREVIOUS MESSAGES
FLESHWEAVER INSUBORDINATION WILL NOT BE TOLERATED
FURTHER ATTEMPTS TO UNDERMINE STRAN AUTHORITY WILL BE MET WITH BIOMASS RECLAMATION
SITE FOUR, THE CYBERNETICS
BRING US THE CYBERNETICS
THROW THEM OUT OF A WINDOW, SO LONG AS THEY ARE OUTSIDE SITE FOUR
WE ARE PREPARED TO DISPATCH FIVE ESS, FIFTY NEBURI, TWO HUNDRED CARAX AND ONE HUNDRED ECOG
TO STORM YOUR ANOMALOUS POINTLESS SITE, AT ANY COST, TO RETRIEVE THOSE CYBERNETICS


> "Do they just assume we know what the fuck those are?" asks Saba.
> "I'm getting the impression there might be a little bit of a disagreement in the ranks."
> "No shit."

You know, I would find this amusing if whatever creatures arguing weren't the ones with more numerous forces on their side.
I had wondered how an interplanetary invasion force would stay coherent enough to form a unified front for the length of time it'd take to win an entire planet.
I suppose this is my answer. It hasn't.

New possibilities. If only we-- we? If only I could get into contact with one of these two and drive them against each other...

"Ku, are you able to send a response to only one of these sources?"
> "There's no guarantee it's not going to get intercepted but I think the lab equipment can do tightbeam transmissions, sure."

Iiiinterestiiing... heh.
>>
No. 865218 ID: 56fca5

As you already stated, pitting one source against the other is probably our best way out of this.

I have a hard time believing we could spoof a message that looks like it came from one of the sources, but if so we could make it look like source 1 intends to supersede their authority?

Also possible, we could set up two individual trade-offs and locate them in a way that it looks to each that they are moving on each other.

If we can get them to not trust each other enough, it might be enough to trigger a firefight.
>>
No. 865224 ID: 13fded

We should inform source 1 that we are preparing to acquiesce source 2 request, but wording in a way that make it seem we cannot distinguish between the two. We could do the exactly opposite, but if we end up needing to actually delivery something the implants are better than our corpse. We can do both but that would risk interception or communication between the sources.
>>
No. 865225 ID: b403b3

>>865218
Other possibility in disinformation arsenal: We can try to send a message only one "source" should receive, but addressed to the other source, i.e. making it seem like they have intercepted a communication to the other source.
>>
No. 865241 ID: 074011

Lying is... bad... a lack of evidence can be a problem and reliable data prevents your position from being incompatible with itself. That said, we are already selling our corpse at this point, one hopes that this is now entirely in the realm of fiction...

The factions seem to be a biological manipulation set and a technological inclusion set. it might be possible to mply that they have to choose one or the other. Perhaps the implants have an evidence destruction feature that will destroy the biological components if they are exposed to atmosphere without destroying the implants. It would be rather convoluted, but might drive them to hostility if granting one request permanently thwarts the other.

Alternatively it could be implied that they cannot be separated. Through extreme integration or some sort of preservative effect or self-destruction in case of separation or something. It is more plausible and might inhibit them from coming to an agreement to divide or pool the loot.

Of course, we have gathered a great deal of information. Based upon their heavy integration with the insectoids, It seems likely that the probably-fungal-like tentacle beings are the source 1 "Fleshweavers" and have tentative control over the pylons. Source 2 "Stran" are likely the "small heef" due to their interest in implants, which they appear to make extensive use of. They're interest in the material being "just outside" implies that they have more effective transportation and are less bound to the pylons...
>>
No. 865247 ID: 074011

Ooooh, thought! Source 1 wanted samples of all personnel. This is somewhat frightening. Request that all Source 1 personnel be removed from the immediate vicinity and that the facility be provided with means to evacuate the planet before Source 1 can attack in order to steal our pure bodily essences. If it can actually get you off of this miserable world and away from the warring factions then it would probably be worth sacrificing the implant, and even your eye if it helps sell the deal. Not that giving potentially dangerous technology and contact with Imperium to an overtly hostile faction is ideal. Nor that losing the evidence of what that implant did to you should be dismissed. In the short-term though., If they agree, then it would brew immediate conflict if they evict the Fleshweaver soldiers and prepare the means to send away the biological samples.
>>
No. 865248 ID: c88e6d

>>865209
Offer to give the entire corpse to the first guy on an insecure transmission.
>>
No. 865260 ID: 10c408

Oh man, this is the setup you could have gotten. Open broadcast message to both, ask which oneis in charge.

Also, inquire as to whether there's any kind of high grade explosive on hand that we can package with the cybernetic implant when it's "delivered"
>>
No. 865268 ID: 91ee5f

>>865209
They even admitted that the lab is an anomalous site! That means there is definitely something here that is interfering with them and they don’t like it! We’ve gotta find out what it is so we can use it next time!

>Recall forces.
We’re trying to recall our forces (arkots), you guys aren’t letting them get recalled!

>If only we-- we?
Yes, “we”. You’ve all gotta work together to get through this.

>Turn them against each other.
Now you’re talking!

>>865260
I’m pretty sure they’ll detect the explosive and then hack it to turn it off before it gets a chance to explode in their faces.
>>
No. 865289 ID: 3adb50

>>865268
>I’m pretty sure they’ll detect the explosive and then hack it to turn it off before it gets a chance to explode in their faces.
Not if we go full analog.

>>865209
Answer to source 1, as if you are complying with their demands. Act as if you never even received the messages from source 2. Since source 2 sounds like the one with official authority, they were probably the one that originally contacted you. Since you are (apparently) no longer receiving their transmissions, but are receiving source 1's, source 2 will assume they are being intercepted and jammed by source 1 in a power play for the prize.
>>
No. 865295 ID: 91ee5f

>>865289
>Not if we go full analog.
Do they even have something like that?

And that’s incredibly risky, since it’ll result in the enemy attacking us to get back at us for doing that! And like we’ve already been told, if they swarm in, we can’t hold them off!
>>
No. 865297 ID: 10c408

>>865295
So we just give up the implant and hope to some unproven god that they don't betray us at any point after they have it?

Fuck that, beat them at their own game and employ far more underhanded treachery to achieve victory.
>>
No. 865301 ID: b1b4f3

>>865209
The final transmission only requests cybernetics. You managed to get what you wanted. Deliver it.
...that may mean removing your eye. Well, it's a sacrifice you'll have to make. You can make a new one later.
>>
No. 865333 ID: 91ee5f

>>865297
I never said anything about giving them what they wanted.

I’m just saying, let’s think of something that isn’t obviously caused by us, so that they’ll attack each other instead. Because planting a bomb on the thing we’re supposed to give them would be painfully obvious that we attacked them instead of the other group.
>>
No. 865451 ID: 5c850a

>>865333
I never said when we'd deliver the implant. Ideally, we get them to fight each other until one side 'wins' and demands the implant. that's when we give it to them with an analogue timed/radio signal armed explosive. The deliveree runs like hell and the enemy survivors get mowed down.
>>
No. 865453 ID: ad51b8

think we could fuck with them and say that we received multiple messages and they got garbled together and as such ask again what they're demands are, then repeat it back incorrectly by using one of the earlier demands and see if they don't brake out into infighting... or at the very least yell at each other so much that our arkots can get past their solders and to the base before they realize what's happening? Also Ask Aza if he has any cargo drones or something that can pick up your arkots with. The quicker we can get them in here the quicker we don't have to worry about them and can focus our efforts onto the solders threatening to steam roll the base with numbers.
>>
No. 865483 ID: b15da4

As long as you throw something mechanical-looking and covered in salikai blood out the window it seems you can count on the two enemy factions to fight each other instead of you. Post-battle, express shock and dismay that anyone would have a bomb implanted in their skull-analogue.
Given the ease with which your cybernetics were hacked earlier, perhaps it would be best if you had a less direct connection to that drone Sisirri. If they realize it's you behind the controls, the jig is up.
>>
No. 865543 ID: 12b116

If we want to give them a fake cybernetic we do need to make sure that the real one is completely deactivated and not still sending signals.
Either way covering it in traces of salikai blood is a good idea
>>
No. 865573 ID: cf24af
File 151804023482.png - (15.55KB , 800x600 , salq-90.png )
865573

>if they figure out it's you in the drone the jig is up
Good point. I disconnect from the drone, provoking a squeak of surprise from Aza.
> "Thanks for warning, Sisirri!! Not like piloting skills already taxing from swarm!"

>does aza have cargo drones
"Ah. Aza. If you have any cargo drones, pick up the arkots and their cargo with them."
> "They will being shot out of sky!"
"Trust me. I have a plan to buy us all more time."
> "What is being plan?"
"Not enough time to explain fully. Turning the enemy on itself. Get those cargo drones going."
> "...Ok, but pulling back if shooting starts!"

>they admitted the lab is anomalous
Vital information.
"The enemy appears unwilling or unable to engage anyone or anything in the laboratory. Aza, get this message to our people outside."
> "Aza can only be doing so much at once!!"
> "Saba, you're up," says Ku. "Patch her into the comms drone, Aza. Saba, tell them the lab is safe and yell at them like their lives depend on it."
> "Ohhhhhh yessss."

>ask which source is in charge
>claim messages were garbled
>repeat back demands incorrectly
Yes. Good opening.

"Ku, can you assist in sending another transmission?"
> "I gave Saba shouting duty for a reason. I'm all ears. Metaphorically. Whatever, let's go."
"Send a broadcast message that the message received was garbled, and that it seemed like we got messages from different sources. Ask who's in charge."
> "I like it. Distract them with infighting and bickering. You're not bad at this. Alright, let's go."

#6 runs back in with a rolled up thick blanket twice her size. I shakily half-stand and she slides it underneath me.
Well. It's more of a throw and a skid, but the outcome is the same.

"Thank you, #6. Are there any more fruits available?"

#6 shrugs and walks off.
>>
No. 865575 ID: cf24af
File 151804026944.png - (167.64KB , 800x600 , salq-91.png )
865575

-source 2-
WE SPEAK WITH THE AUTHORITY OF THE STRAN AND THE KITER EMPIRE
WE REPEAT: DELIVER THE CYBERNETICS
ORGANICS ATTACHED OR OTHERWISE


-source 1-
FOR YOUR PURPOSES I AM IN CHARGE
WAIT NO DON'T SEND THAT ONE
FOR YOUR PURPOSES WE ARE IN CHARGE
SEND US THE SALIKAI COMPONENTS
WE HAVE INCREDIBLE AMOUNTS OF BIOLOGICAL DATA ON YOUR SPECIES AS IT IS
WE ARE NOT AFRAID TO DEPLOY VIRAL AGENTS TO INCAPACITATE AND DESTROY ANY OPPOSITION


-source 2-
IGNORE ALL OTHER TRANSMISSIONS BUT OURS


-source 1-
PAY NO HEED TO THE COORDINATOR HE DOESN'T UNDERSTAND THE VALUE YOU ALL HOLD


>answer exclusively to source 1
Let's upset this incredibly delicate balance even further now.

"Send a message to source 1, but broadcast it, don't send it directly to them. Say we'll comply with handing over all biological parts of the salikai corpse as requested."
> "We're not actually doing that, right?"
"Absolutely not."

-source 2-
WE WILL OPEN FIRE IF YOU DO NOT PRESENT US THE CYBERNETICS


> "Are you sure about this?"
"Positive."

-source 2-
SITE FOUR YOU WOULD DO WELL TO NOT IGNORE THE IMPLICIT AUTHORITY OF THE KITER
IT WILL END POORLY FOR YOU


-source 1-
DELIGHTFUL! IF YOU COULD ESCORT THE COMPONENTS FROM YOUR STRUCTURE TO THE PYLON NORTH EAST OF YOU
THAT WOULD BE APPRECIATED


-source 2-
VOIDSONG YOUR DAYS ARE NOW NUMBERED FOR THIS TRAITOROUS INSUBORDINATION


-source 1-
THERE ARE MORE APPROPRIATE CHANNELS FOR INTERNAL DISCUSSION THAN SHOUTING SO LOUDLY SITE FOUR CAN HEAR IT, COORDINATOR
IF YOU WISH TO BROADCAST YOUR HORRID LACK OF SUBTLETY AND TENUOUS GRASP OF YOUR OWN COMMAND THEN BY ALL MEANS CONTINUE
BUT I BELIEVE REPRESENTING THE KITER EMPIRE AS A SQUABBLING CHILD IS TO BOTH OF OUR DETRIMENT?


-source 2-
I WILL BRING THE FULL FURY OF THE STRAN THEMSELVES FROM THEIR ORBIT
FOR THIS RUINOUS TRANSGRESSION
YOU SQUEAKING SACK OF SCARS AND DEVIATIONS!!


-source 1-
YES YES I'M SURE THE STRAN HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO THAN ANSWER THE CALL OF THE BLAUKESCH THEY ENTRUSTED WITH FIRST CONTINENT OPERATIONS
BECAUSE HE GOT HIS FEELINGS HURT?


-source 2-
ALL UNITS, ENCIRCLE ANCHOR PYLON 17


-source 1-
THIS IS RIDICULOUS, GOL


-source 2-
ALL UNITS, BRING ME VOIDSONG'S HEAD IMMEDIATELY


-source 1-
GOL LET'S NOT DO THINGS WE'LL BOTH REGRET
NEITHER OF US WANT THE STRAN TO BE INVOLVED
COORDINATOR THERE ARE BETTER WAYS TO RESOLVE THIS


The seconds that pass feel like hours.

> "Aza speakings. Cargo drones not being shooting at, visible hostile aliens... wandering off in direction to pylon to north east?"
> "Saba here. Tirzi and me have gotten into the thick, thick skulls of the neumono and our renegade geologist giant. They're keeping their gear on but they're at least falling back to inside the lab."
> "Wow, that was..."
"That was less a skillful play, it feels, and more lightly tapping a house of cards."
> "Uh. We're... we're getting a considerably different signal from source one's location. Incredibly narrow transmission. It seems to be... they're... hailing us?? How do they know superculture hailing protocols? Oh whatever. Crazy genius hacker aliens, probably. I'll give you one-way visual, Sisirri, but I'm not letting them so much as hear your breath."
"Noted."
> "Should we talk to them? I'm not transmitting any camera feeds from here."
"Might as well listen to whatever they have to say, with how freely they're leaking information." Honestly.
>>
No. 865576 ID: cf24af
File 151804033395.png - (27.26KB , 800x600 , salq-92.png )
865576

I adjust myself as #6 gently places a fruit in one of my outstretched claws. I bite into it and am reminded I still haven't eaten anything very substantial.

The interface slate resolves itself into a full colour moving display. I'm surprised the display is typically so monochrome. Maybe it appeals greater to wider alien demographics.

"Aliens! I am Fleshweaver Voidsong, kiter neno fi of the Kiter Empire," speaks a voice, or, perhaps, a small chorus of voices that sound masculine and feminine, squeaky high-pitched and rumbling low bass, with periodic clicks and buzzes. "From what I have seen of you all, you are intriguing specimens. Now, I am aware our local Coordinator may have been showing you some hardship, but I personally find you fascinating! Faaaascinaaating. I am an artist-engineer of what you might crudely refer to as 'biological engineering', but my work is unparalleled and I am always looking for new pigments to add to my palette, so to speak. I wish to extend to you all a formal invitation to my own private chambers to discuss genetic sampling? One representative per species, of course. After all, you are merely bystanders. I have no quarrel with you, and if you desire an escort for fear of my more bellicose associates, well, one can be easily arranged. Be swift with your reply, I'm in the middle of some neburi strain breeding experiments, and if I don't get back to them soon all I'll have left is biomass to recycle."

> "Should we even bother replying, Sisirri?" asks Ku.
>>
No. 865577 ID: 12b116

This smells like a trap, how can they prove they're not acting in bad faith?
>>
No. 865578 ID: c88e6d

>>865576
Invite them to a meeting OUTSIDE the labs. We are not so naive as to assume an invading imperialist state with unstable command structures would hold to diplomatic laws and not simply fill the team with lead and salvage their tissues.

Attend the meeting via reconaissance drone. Do not let anyone or anything organic near that bio-engineer, and do not allow the drone inside once the meeting has concluded.
>>
No. 865580 ID: b1b4f3

>>865576
>biological sampling, implied safe
Hmmm... well, might be worth considering in exchange for food supplies, or some sort of device that would ensure we won't run out of food.
Asking for more details can't hurt. What is the process like? How can we be sure they won't kill whoever we send? Could even ask what we're bystanders IN. What is the war about and what are the factions involved?
>>
No. 865583 ID: 5f4a63

Tell them that you would love to discuss the fine art of flesh shaping, but tissue samples is coming on a little strong so early in this relationship! There's so many delightful preliminaries to discuss first.

Either they're planning to screw you over or they want your information and potentially will accept some manner of relationship with you; either way, taking things slow is your best bet to suss out more of their mindset and get them to show their hand. If they're genuine and sane enough to deal with, they won't mind you going a little slow.
>>
No. 865584 ID: ad51b8

...
...
...
yeah I got nothing. If I had to guess they might be trying to simply get everyone to leave the base so they can just collect genetic samples so they don't have to send troops after us since they need them to fend off their "friends". Or it could just be that since we "agreed" to hand over the Salikai remains they're hoping that we will still honer the deal despite the cluster fuck that just went down. Or both. So kinda don't really want to deal with them. On the other hand though doing so might be able to win enough good graces from them to keep their "friends" off our back for the time being, but that's assuming they just don't stab us in the back in the first place.

I say respond, see EXACTLY what they want from us, give them some BS line about not being able to do so now but maybe at a later date, then use that time to see if we can't either figure out a way to get off this rock, get salikai DNA in a large enough quantity to make it actually seem like we really are dead, and/or crack the encryption on that implant that was in your skull and hope that will give us some clue to why people want it so damn bad.
>>
No. 865585 ID: 91ee5f

>>865576
>"Should we even bother replying, Sisirri?" asks Ku.
Nah, don’t bother.

And considering this guy is a bioengineer anyone organic is at risk of somehow being affected by whatever he’s got over there.

>>865580
I wouldn’t trust any food from that guy, since he’ll probably have bioengineered the food to do something to us once we eat it.
>>
No. 865586 ID: 3abd97

Excellent. Evidence the superior military force on this planet is not united, and may have factions operating at cross purposes.

>> "Should we even bother replying, Sisirri?" asks Ku.
Text only, politely decline for now, citing prior obligations, so it can return to its experiments.

Letting them sample us seems a poor idea, but we should keep open the appearance that we're willing to cooperate so we have options for continuing to play forces against each other, or possibly to align ourselves with one faction for protection if we lack better options.


...if the immediate crisis is over, we're going to need to prioritize defense or escape. That distraction won't last forever, and we need to be prepared before they turn their attention back to us.
>>
No. 865606 ID: 3adb50

>>865576
Express skepticism and ask for a gesture of good faith.
>>
No. 865611 ID: 91ee5f

>>865585
Also, Sisirri, I know you didn’t want to die while pickled, but you should probably check to make sure you didn’t reopen any of your wounds or quietly dying of internal bleeding.

Sure, you didn’t move around much, but it doesn’t take much to reinjure yourself when in your current physical state.

>#6 doing what she does best.
Reward her with head pats and telling her she did a good job!
>>
No. 865631 ID: 12b116

This could also be a thinly veiled attempt to take hostages as well. They were just threatening us not five minutes ago
>>
No. 865638 ID: 35055d

>>865576
Offer to send genetic samples in exchange for the protection of groups of arkots sent to obtain food and suppies. (Artifact pieces too, but don't specify them.)
>>
No. 865641 ID: 91ee5f

>>865638
I wouldn’t trust any food a bioengineer offers us. There’s no telling what kind of viruses or mutagens will be in that stuff! It’s an easy way to kill everyone in the lab from the inside!

Let’s not forget that he was threatening us a few minutes ago. And like >>865631 said, this could be an attempt to take hostages.
>>
No. 865644 ID: b1b4f3

>>865641
This is a different fleshshaper. Or at least someone claiming to be different. Voidborn instead of Voidsong.
>>
No. 865654 ID: cf24af

>>865644
HI I FUCKED UP IT WAS MEANT TO BE VOIDSONG
>>
No. 865672 ID: 91ee5f

>>865654
>Confirmation that this is the same person from earlier.
And with that, I’m sticking with my previous statement of not trusting this guy!
>>
No. 865677 ID: b1b4f3

>>865654
oh ok nevermind
Do not actually take Voidsong up on their offer, no matter what they say or barter with. Can't even really trust an offer of peace. We've seen how quickly enemy drones can swoop in, and they could have other ways to ambush us.

Might be worth asking why the salikai was in such high demand?
>>
No. 865691 ID: 3adb50

>>865660
Source 1 is the biological one.
>>
No. 865692 ID: 33cbe7

They seem to be something of a Salikai fanboy, going by the shape, and dangerously unhinged, going by the insubordination? I think you're better off ignoring him and complying with Source 2's non-biological imperative.
>>
No. 865752 ID: 56de11

I'm kind ok with him, he's far more friendly and level headed then his machine loving counterpart.
I don't trust him thought.
Keep in contact but decline offer until situation is less tense and more info gathered.
>>
No. 865767 ID: 1675e9

If you ever agree to anything, it mustn't be more than sending him samples by drone. You have your own biologists who can take care of sampling without the need to move personnel to untrusted territory.
>>
No. 865906 ID: e1c8f7

>>865767
This seems sound. Let's play ball with them, maybe they can be our ticket to the rest of their forces ignoring us.
>>
No. 865908 ID: 86eb65

If he wants your biomatter he had better be prepared to trade in equal value for it.

New genetic samples are worth a bunch to a biochemist/crafter. Make sure you get what they are worth.

Payment in tech or supplies or whatever you need.
>>
No. 865915 ID: 074011

What Sissiri, and the whole lab, most require, is a safe way off of this rock, preferably with all their stuff. Sadly this is very difficult, as they could likely destroy any vessel as it leaves regardless of sabotage. Perhaps leaving in two groups? The first group can spread the word about their betrayal if the second group doesn't arrive safely after handing over the samples.
...
Okay, this is completely insane, but just double-check that the lab doesn't have propulsion systems. It is ridiculous that this building could be some sort of vessel, but crazier things have happened and you would be kicking yourself if you found out later.

It is nice to think that the artefact can be used to escape, but it took 10 years to move randomly with a random passenger list. The arrival was safe-ish. Everyone appears to have arrived on stable ground with a breathable atmosphere, so the destination being completely unknown isn't that bad, but the lack of control over who comes with is a bit of a deal-breaker. The satellite pods did work, technically, but... would they still work after being scaled up from arkots? Using the artefact without permission, for just yourself and the arkots, would almost certainly bring some large and angry scientists along at random.

Negotiating for interstellar travel seems necessary unless one of these people can somehow figure out your artefact in the few days you might have before everything goes wrong.
>>
No. 866005 ID: 66b5eb

We need reassurances that we will be safe from both you and your threatening compatriot before we take any action. Furthermore, we need to know why you suddenly decide to change your tone with us from "surrender or die" to "come on over".
>>
No. 866190 ID: 90124d

This is Source 1. They want all your biological components. The only sampling that's gonna occur is them cutting you (all?) up.

They know Superculture hailing procedures, but they probably haven't hacked into the electronics in the base, surprisingly.

Could we invite them in the lab to just annihilate them via venting oxygen/gassing/turreting to death/annihilating/blowing up because that would just make everything so much easier.
>>
No. 866191 ID: 90124d

I'm pretty sure this is to check to see if you're actually alive.

This came out of the blue. If they get a witty, smart, cunning, or reverse psychology response/reverse reverse psychology response they will probably realize you're alive.
>>
No. 866192 ID: cf24af
File 151821907421.png - (52.79KB , 800x600 , salq-93.png )
866192

>check you aren't dying of internal injuries
"Get Tirzi here to check on me."
> "Hi, uh, I'll be over soon, are you feeling worse?" asks Tirzi.
"No, I just may have acted a little rashly."

>does the lab have thrusters
"Does anyone know if this lab has thrusters?"
> "Uhhhh," says Ku. "We can't get into the floors below ground level, but that's sure been a theory we had. Ask again when we're not in a crisis?"

>pet #6
I suppose a pat on the head for work well done isn't out of the question. It isn't like arkots are completely unresponsive to positive reinforcement. I pat #6 on the head.
#6 stares at me blankly for a moment before confusedly gesturing in a way indicating concern for my health and wellbeing.

>do not take up offer
>do not allow anything organic near this thing
>TRAP
>DON'T DO IT
No deals will be made with this individual at this time. It is a transparent ploy and I see straight through it.
Perhaps, if we have more to bargain with, but at this point in time we only need time enough for Aza to retrieve my various possessions and, well, lackeys, for want of a better word.

>only send text reply
"Ku, send back a text response. We are politely declining, for now, due to prior obligations. We would respectfully ask why the salikai is in such high demand, and as to what the nature of this conflict is."
> "I'll cut the link after that."
"Wait for a response first, then cut it."

We soon receive a response.

"How utterly disappointing, aliens," says Voidsong, in something of a purring whistle. "I had hoped we could overlook these shaky first steps in our first contact. It is not as if anyone has been harmed, no? I will however indulge you in your questioning. Walk with me, assistant, bring the reseer. I need hardly devote too much attention to maintenance of this next batch but there are certain critical points, you know how it is, perhaps, or perhaps this is all a bit above your simpler comprehension, but I digress."

The view of "Fleshweaver Voidsong" shifts constantly as though he..? She..? As though they are being filmed on some handheld camera with poor stabilisation.
Voidsong moves along to some... bizarre display of bird creatures, all imprisoned and attached to some pulsing... I can't tell if the structures are plants, fungal, maybe even something else, but they're unquestionably organic and painted with veins over their surfaces.

"I've been working on a new neburi strain, as I may have mentioned previously. We have a considerable deficit of neburi specialists in the field of biotechnology, so I am attempting to engineer an experimental neburi that can host carax fungus as an intermediary step. Hee, I can already hear the Coordinator fuming at revealing such insight into our processes, but what does it matter, really?"
>>
No. 866193 ID: cf24af
File 151821910830.png - (27.43KB , 800x600 , salq-94.png )
866193

>value of the salikai
"Well, you see, to the greater Kiter Empire the salikai holds precious little value whatsoever, but I for one have noticed some unusual discrepancies in their cognitive structures that would be wonderful for incorporation, whether as a new strain or a simple modification of the blaukesch. Rankles the Coordinator a bit, you see, the idea of being superceded by my designs. It is not my fault of the Coordinator feels themselves above somatic modification. That mentality alone will lead to his redundancy in our tumultuous technological and political landscape, for sure. Once again, however, I digress! Oh, do pardon me, it has been all too long since I have had receptive aural sensors attuned to my opinions, I cannot help but gush forth my inner ponderings and radical opinions! Besides, I am certain the Coordinator is listening intently to our little conversation, so I'm sure I am not discussing anything he did not already know. Reseer off, assistant. Yes, that should be the correct ganglion."

Voidsong absently runs their tentacles over various parts of the display, gently moving tubes between the different clenching sacs and occassionally pausing to... rub caustic substances from the array of organic containers on their skin. I can see they're caustic, as they're leaving some quite visible bleeding wounds. I can see their eyes water. I don't understand.

Voidsong's smile does not falter. If anything, it deepens. It's as if burning themselves with acid is... desirable? Surely this must be some quirk of their alien physiology. It makes no rational sense to willingly damage oneself so casually.

They give a long, shuddering sigh as they run their tentacles over their wounds and shake themselves vigorously, clicking and humming, acting as though nothing had just happened.

>the war
"Reseer back on, please. It was always on? Oh. Well, keep it on. As for the subject of the conflict, well, life is a conflict, is it not? Survival of the fittest may cease to apply to individuals when the evolution of ideas outpaces the evolution of genetics, but then it becomes all about the survival of lasting ideas. Our ideology is very simple. Join the Kiter Empire or feed it. Either way, all life we encounter becomes part of us. Many species have had their countless diplomats argue how pointless our conquest is, how self-defeating it is, how a fire cannot burn once it has exhausted all fuel, but the simple fact of the matter is we are the Kiter Empire. We conquer and subjugate. An existence outside of our societal framework is an existence that challenges our survival. However, this is all moot, my dear aliens! You are but lost travellers that have washed up upon a beach as we seek to claim the land. If you do not get in our way, we have no need to aggressively integrate you into our greater expanse."
>>
No. 866194 ID: cf24af
File 151821912230.png - (36.42KB , 800x600 , salq-95.png )
866194

Voidsong reaches into its strange arrangement and pulls out a bird creature. It... doesn't look well.

"Oh. Hm. We will need to discuss things another time. This urgently does require my careful, expert attention to mend. This conversation, although very one-sided, has been fascinating. Do contact me again, you know where to find me, so I bid you all farewell! Make sure to keep healthy, all of you~! Reseer off, assistant, or you're taking her place in the mesh."

Ku cuts the feed.

This individual is either more alien than I'm accustomed to or possibly deranged.
It kept smiling for the entire discussion. Perhaps it was trying to look reassuring. It did not help.
>>
No. 866195 ID: cf24af
File 151821916278.png - (21.76KB , 800x600 , salq-96.png )
866195

Back to pressing concerns.

"Aza, how are the cargo drones doing?"
> "Cargo drones are entering via upper floors, is being tight fit going through windows but am sure will fitting okay."
"All arkots, crates and artifact pieces accounted for?"
> "Big rolly ball is still being smaller than amtsvane preferred window size. Will managing fine."
"No problems with the arkots?"
> "Arkots running but not easily outrunning drones. All eighteen accounting for."

It's unbelievable. Something went right here.

> "Ku here. Again. Uh. We. We're probably fine. Saba, double check we have the doors all locked again."
> "Yeah they're locked. I checked. Believe me I checked. Actually I'm gonna go check the windows."

"Ku, where are the enemy forces?"
> "All transmissions have gone back to regular noise. Nothing about our location. The troops heading to that pylon appear to have entered it."
> "Now that drones are piloting selves back to hangars, Aza is checking Ku's work. Oh. We got transmission from source 1, the orbital one."

-source 1-
WE ARE ALWAYS WATCHING YOU
YOU CANNOT STAY INSIDE THE ANOMALY FOREVER
WE WILL TAKE WHAT WE DESIRE BY FORCE
AS IS OUR RIGHT AS THE KITER EMPIRE


> "So they're just posturing now," says Ku. "Issuing threats instead of trying to make a deal. Vague threats. It's almost as if they can't do anything."
"Or they're trying to get our guard down."
> "Why do they need to do that? They outnumber us on a scale I have trouble even calculating. They seem like more of a threat to themselves than we are to them."
"You're not wrong there."

Tirzi arrives.

"Aghk! Ozaloki zi af medik awt! Nai wai!"
"What?"

She runs over to the interface stand in the corner.

"You're not supposed to be out of that recovery gel bath! Now hold still so I can check up on you."

She puts on her strange claw-gloves and places some kind of instrument on me. It's cold. I flinch involuntarily.

Tirzi stares at it.
"Everything alright?"
"Maibi... meebee... net. Nat? Nat moov lats," says Tirzi. She seems visibly frustrated she can't speak my language clearly.
"Not move lots?"
"Yass. Not moov lits. Lots."

I'm loathe to assume we have a quiet interlude now, but it does at least feel like we aren't facing imminent death.

"Fel viry smoof," says Tirzi absent-mindedly. "Laik salazzarine wen raisten."

So.
If we do have time to spare... where do I even go from here? There's arkots supposedly several floors up, as well as food and artifact pieces. I don't even know what the capabilities of this lab are, but they evidently have xenobiology labs, and wherever Ku and Aza have been conducting their analyses and drone control respectively.
Although the effort of trying to walk in a less than optimal condition has made me feel incredibly tired.
Perhaps I should rest first. The soft strokes of Tirzi's gloved blades as she gently moves her instrument over my body put me further at ease.
This blanket is very comfy, and warm.

Yes, to sleep,
>>
No. 866196 ID: cf24af
File 151821917635.png - (19.42KB , 800x600 , salq-97.png )
866196

perchance


to dream
>>
No. 866197 ID: cf24af
File 151821919389.png - (78.80KB , 800x600 , salq-98.png )
866197

It's my lab. Two years ago.

"Sisirri."

It's Kitsiksu.
He has been supplying me with technological assistance in fields I'm less skilled in, and I have been helping him in the same way.
His speciality is in bioengineering, mine in robotics and mechanical systems.
I already know who he is, but there's always that lingering thought that someone could be faking the identity of one of my contacts.
On that note, I open with the first pair of keywords.

"Red ochre."
"Blue nebulae."
"Five arkots."
"Seven arkots."
"Lenticular atavism."
"Elliptical outreach."

Kitsiksu's graspers lower by a few degrees. Mine do too. Some of the tension abates from the successful handshake of phrases.
Kitsiksu peers at my image on his screen. "Turn your head to the right."
I comply.
"Still carrying that wretched thing in your skull, Sisirri? You need only give the word, I can deliver you an organic replacement, prepackaged for easy installation."
"It isn't worth compromising either of our positions over. And I note that you haven't repaired your own injury."
"It's difficult to work on oneself. Nevertheless, you have such doubt in my abilities? Tch. Well, whatever. The offer is always open."
"Why did you call me, Kitsiksu?"
"The chess game. Let's finish it, Sisirri. It is... playing on my mind."

I sigh.

"I don't have time for games."
"Oh, come now, we both know that isn't true, Sisirri," says Kitsiksu, leaning forward on the screen and smiling. "What is life without idle distractions? It is unhealthy to work without a break now and then."
"Nothing about this game is exciting enough to warrant a call."
"I disagree," says Kitsiksu, looking off to the side.
He's acting suspiciously. He's planning something.

"Very well. I will humour your strange alien game fixation for an hour or two."
>>
No. 866198 ID: cf24af
File 151821920717.png - (90.86KB , 800x600 , salq-99.png )
866198

Two dream hours later...

"Check," says Kitsiksu. "Sisirri. I wish to make a proposal."
"Now? You force me to run through the motions of this poorly designed game only to now say you had a reason to call?"

The king is threatened by too many pieces. Kitsiksu had been managing two direct avenues of attack when I was only in a position to defend against one.
This is a stupid game and it's not my fault I'm losing. I don't understand how castling is an action that can be justified in any game.
I'm not even sure it's legal.
No, the rules say it is. Terrible, terrible game.

I move the king onto an arbitrary adjacent square and wait for Kitsiksu to end this pointless waste of time.

"That is your move, then? Sisirri. Opportunities such as these rarely come along", says Kitsiksu, "and the clock is always ticking. Check, mate. Relatedly, I wish to discuss a more direct meeting. In person."
"What possible reason could you want for that?"
"Matters of reproduction," says Kitsiksu, in a tone of voice more suited for his enthusiastic ramblings about new alien games he's discovered than the sincere business proposal he suggests.

"I can't accept your proposal."
Kitsiksu hesitates. "My sincere apologies, I did not know you were already contracted, perhaps we can revisit the matter at a later date--"
"I can't accept a proposal I'm unable to deliver on."

During the eternal seconds of silence that follow I consider feigning a signal loss and dropping the connection.

"I see. Well, I don't mean to brag, Sisirri, but there isn't a salikai deficiency or ailment I've discovered I haven't been able to treat in some way."
"I won't be anyone's test subject, Kitsiksu."
"Test subject? No, Sisirri, collaborators! You are perfectly comfortable with working with others, you were perfectly comfortable working with me on previous projects, perhaps I can even fix that eye of yours! I find your creative perspective strangely fascinating. Our specializations are so distinct, yet so synergetic. Sisirri, if our children have even a fraction of your insight I would be hard pressed to find a better mating partner. Do you wish to accept my proposal?"

I stare at the screen.

"You are proposing a deal at significant cost to yourself. I don't believe your intentions of equal collaboration to be anything but false promises. I am not so naive."
"Sisirri, please, reproduction itself is the only cost I ask you pay, but if you will not entertain this deal then no matter. I can find a different supplier for that particular requirement."
"...Do you actually even think you can work with defective components?"

Kitsiksu grins widely. "I've printed whole arkots before from nothing. Salikai organ repair is trivial. There's nothing outside my reach."
"Then I accept."
"I'm sending you the co-ordinates of a rendezvous point at one of my satellite facilities. Meet me there in four days and we can... discuss things further."
"I look forward to it."
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No. 866199 ID: cf24af
File 151821923699.png - (169.63KB , 800x600 , salq-100.png )
866199

And that was the last thing I heard spoken by him.

The next message I received was entirely by encrypted signal.

SISIRRI -- DO NOT APPROACH -- THEY FOUND ME -- SITE INSECURE -- WILL CONTACT SOON

Contact never came.

A mere two days later, Imperium would independently confirm that the site co-ordinates I had been given had been bombed out of existence, as had many areas elsewhere.

I deleted every trace of ever having spoken to him from the facility logs just to be safe.
Our plans. Our trades. Our conversations. Our games.
Just in case it would signal me out to be the next one in line.

Everything but one hardcopy image to remember he was ever even alive.
The first and only time he ever beat his siblings at anything. Some gaming tournament. I don't recall which game.
One paper photo, now a disintegrated mess in a flooded structure, at the bottom of a nameless ocean, on an unremarkable moon, of a planet with a designation of twelve alphanumeric characters.

Back then, I trusted Imperium.
Now, I cannot be certain it wasn't Imperium that decided, for whatever reason, to murder a contact of mine to ensure complete control over me.
But that makes no sense. Why did Kitsiksu have to die so wastefully if I was to be thrown away at a moment's notice?
Years and years of experiences and expertise needlessly destroyed.

Then again, what does it matter?
We all die anyway. All memories, all knowledge perish in the only timescale that matters.
Our reality is actively hostile to sapience.

Why did I have to remember this? Why is my subconscious digging up ghosts?
I hadn't even thought of Kitsiksu in a long time.

What changed?
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No. 866200 ID: cf24af
File 151821924918.png - (61.38KB , 800x600 , salq-101.png )
866200

"...no visitations at this time, she's evidently exhausted, no thanks to what you did to her, and I don't care if you do think she's a manipulative villain, she was very insistent you not throw your lives away needlessly. You know who told us to come back in the lab? Sisirri did. I mean, I don't claim to be a master manipulator myself but if you just ran out there recklessly and I hated you to the point of wishing death on you, I wouldn't have called you up to tell you to come back to safety! I cannot believe the audacity you have here!"

I awaken to the sound of an angry Tirzi with inflection and nuances so reduced by automatic translation as to sound, at best, like someone who has dropped something on the floor.

"Listen well, bug," says the neumono Kan. "If I have to go through you to make sure that monster doesn't kill us all, I will not hesitate to do so with my bare hands."
"Yeah, Sitkva? Yeah, it's the angry one again. Yeah, if you could come down here and tear off an arm or two that'd be nice."
"You won't have your pet around to guard you forever. Are you so helpless you need to go running to your domesticated lizard every time something challenges you? I heard your species were natural warriors. Your ancestors would spit on your pathetic--"
"Hi!" yells Ekasarra. "Hi me and Kan were just leaving. To talk. About things. Kan. Aren't we. To talk about things. Me, you, and Lekka."
"Your presence is grating, Ekasarra. Leave."
"My presence?! You're riling up the aliens with your thick-headed bigoted sanctimonious zeal--"
"HAVE THIS ARGUMENT SOMEWHERE ELSE!!"

I hear the skittering of salazzarine claws and a loud slam of a hydraulic door closing.

Tirzi looks over to me, her glowering almost immediately lifting.

"Morning, Sisirri! How do you feel?"
"Sore. Hungry." Wait. "Morning?"
"Your arkots are... well, they're in the lab. Saba was, uh, apparently very good at wrangling about half of them into my larger xenobiology lab. The rest followed along. I wanted to ask your permission to study one of them, they're odd little creatures. Oh, right, yes, morning. Yeah, it was a tense night, Sitkva, Lekka and Ku took different shifts for the night watch, but nothing happened. It's all tense and quiet outside. As for food, well, Saba was working on a jury-rigged hydroponics setup, she's been trying the seeds from those fruits you seemed to like."

I realise I fell asleep in more or less the same position I was.

"I was about to fetch you some of those fruits when, well, Mr. Fuzzymurder came along. Do you want anything else before I go fetch that?"
>>
No. 866204 ID: 4ac1a7

What happened while you were asleep? Can she give you the ability to eavesdrop on the neumono? they're completely untrustworthy and might need to be threatened with expulsion if they don't behave.
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No. 866210 ID: c88e6d

>>866200
Presumably, having driven your mother insane and having spent six generations working on your family, Imperium decided to terminate the experiment at the point it left you to die.

Repairing your damaged anatomy would have compromised its test data, therefore it murdered your only ally close enough to even remotely consider a friend.

Note upon identifying a return travel method from this galaxy and identifying a method to kill Imperium: Spend some time devising a method to ensure artificial intelligences suffer as long and intensely as physically possible before expiration.

Ahem, anyway either Kan is Rogue or Kan AND Lekka are insanely zealous to kill you. Why would they even bother turning you over to these people?

Kan is extremely volatile and is almost certainly going to end up shooting someone. We should recommend stealing his ammunition while he's distracted to ensure he's limited to whatever weapons he can carry on his person, hopefully minimizing the damage when he inevitably goes on a rampage.

....I just hope we can figure out a tactful way to phrase that. As to the enemy outside and on the surface, provided we can figure out a food supply they are a non-threat until they figure out how to enter this complex.

Voidsong is mentally ill, as indicated by their love of self-mutilation and open enjoyment of extremely invasive and hazardous experimental modification. The fact that the enemy employs her implies their command staff possess a wide spectrum of mental illness. This can be a boon to us, but it also means the enemy force CANNOT be relied upon to behave logically or rationally.

Worse, they are ideologically driven and are apparently loyal to people willing to torture and experiment on them, so ground forces cannot be relied upon to defect. Assume they are domesticated or indoctrinated completely.

Anyway, right now we need to figure out what's with the cybernetics that were yanked out of our head. Also, we should figure out what Kan wanted, besides shooting you in the face.
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No. 866215 ID: 4854ef

There's an almost odd correlation between Kitsiksu and Voidsong. The marks upon the head almost seem as if they nearly matched.. Which may be why you dreamed of him. Given that he was a biological specialist and same with Voidsong, the coorelations as to why that dream came to mind may be why.
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No. 866218 ID: ad51b8

alright so we got our minions back, we got the artifact, and we learned a lot about the aliens trying to kill us, as in they're insane/very alien and seem to be a breath away from killing each other... if worse comes to worse we may have to try to engineer some decpatnation strikes against the enemy leadership and hope to god they fall to infighting. Ba, we also still need to take inventor of this entire base to see what exactly we have to work with, what kind of skills and how skillful this base's crew have, and how to get off this damn rock alive and whole.

But for now, maybe have her also bring your arkots in here, you know to at least have some protection if fuzz murder get's in since you still look like you have trouble moving. Also yes she can look at one if she wants as long as it doesn't come to any harm. Look we just got those little fuckers back and I don't want to lose them over something so wasteful when we're probably going to need them to act as our graspers for awhile.
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No. 866221 ID: 86eb65

Why are you dreaming of a lost love?

Because you have spent years and years afraid and alone. And for the first time in a long time you find yourself among people who might not be trying to kill you. Maybe even some of them you could make friends with.

Long story short you were lonely and hurt and you are enjoying the company here. All strange aliens yes but they have no preconceived notions about you.

As for what she can get you. A fuzzy blanket to wrap yourself in and the morning newspaper.
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No. 866224 ID: 91ee5f

>>866200
You should probably explain what’s happening with the neumono right now. Tell Tirzi about their empathy and explain what Rouges are, because the way things are going, someone is going to end up going Rouge and they’re gonna be really depressed and the last thing we need is one of those guys getting suicidal from going rouge.

>I wanted to ask your permission to study one of them, they're odd little creatures.
Sure, go ahead.

>Do you want anything else before I go fetch that?
You should explain to her that’s what you’ve got arkots for and tell her that if she can get them trained properly, they’ll do the fetching for her.

And then explain that your most competent arkots are #6 and #3, both of which will help keep the other arkots in line.
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No. 866227 ID: 13fded

>>866218
I was gonna say this is a silly concern, unremarkable arkots are disposable, but than it occur to me that Tirzi only need to wait until they find a way to become corpses on their own.

Tell her not to get too angry with the neumonos. Their emotional empathy makes them unstable and immature. If their stubbornness ever cause you irritation imagine you are talking with children. Very dangerous children soldiers.
At some point we will have to talk about their drama and how to prevent them to stupidly rampage this lab, but if possible let's postpone it for as long as possible. So tired of their drama...

We will not be able to defeat the Kiter Empire, a peaceful resolution would only mean we will be ignored for longer and turning their factions against each other require dealing with powerful derange individual. The best option we have is to find a way to get out of their reach. Until we have a way to do so we must figure out why they cannot attack us.
Let's hope this scientific team can contribute to Sisirri's research, there is a lot we want to transport safely and it would be great to be able to aim a destination.

And talk with Tirzi about that dream with your boyfriend. The possibility of interference from Imperium illustrate why you don't want to serve a crazy immoral empire even if they agree to not mutate your mutilate you.
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No. 866231 ID: 3adb50

It was mentioned that there is more facility below, but it cannot be accessed. Have they found no means to get there, or have they found something and discovered that it was locked? If the latter, offer to take a look at it.

Whatever anomaly is protecting us may be below. If this place is mobile, or the anomaly is mobile, we might be able to avoid a siege situation.
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No. 866234 ID: ad51b8

>I was gonna say this is a silly concern, unremarkable arkots are disposable
after all the shit we went through to get these bastards I feel we have a right to be clingy. I mean we did kinda lose everything so it makes since to latch onto the few things we didn't lose. At least unnecessarily anyways.
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No. 866237 ID: 91ee5f

>>866224
Oh, and also about the way they kept calling our location anomalous. They can’t see us in the building, so maybe the reason they haven’t attacked yet is because they don’t know how many of us are in here and that scares them. As long as they don’t know our real numbers, they’ll hopefully continue to believe that we might be hiding enough firepower and soldiers to hold them off. But once they find the truth, they’re gonna swarm in here!
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No. 866247 ID: b1b4f3

>>866200
Study? Sure, go ahead, I'll give them orders to follow your instructions. Don't kill it, I'm sure an arkot corpse will be available for dissection sooner or later. Speaking of which there's half an arkot corpse out there near the crash site. Hopefully not still twitching. Could try to send a cargo drone to retrieve it.

Ask how they arrived. Voidsong seemed to imply everyone here was an alien to this galaxy.
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No. 866255 ID: 56fca5

You are thinking of Kitsiksu because you cared about him. You've spent years since he was taken from you completely alone. You aren't alone anymore. It is simply reminding you of those feelings.

>>866210

Taking away that Kan is maybe showing signs of becoming rouge is an important insight. It is also important to recognize that this is a sensitive matter. It would be really easy to see stating this as being manipulative given your relationship with the neumono. It would be best to confide both your concerns about Kan and how it would be perceived with Tirzi. If she knows about both the issue and your concern that it will be seen as taking advantage of a bad situation, she can vouch for your sincerity.

She can examine the arkots if she wishes. I am not so sure there is anything tangible we really need right this moment. We should do some research on the computer we were given now that we have some breathing room. Maybe catch up on the information they already have on the Kiter. Learn what we can about the others that we haven't already been told.
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No. 866256 ID: b1b4f3

>>866255
Eka is the one going rogue. Kan is still true to her hive's empathy, or at least what she saw of it last. The problem with small groups of neumono like this, isolated from a hive, is that they'll start to drift away from the hive empathy, at varying rates.
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No. 866261 ID: 3abd97

>We can't get into the floors below ground level, but that's sure been a theory we had.
I was assuming this was a lab of their construction, or a spacecraft that had landed. Their level of unfamiliarity suggests they might have found it? We need more details on how they ended up here.

>It makes no rational sense to willingly damage oneself so casually.
A psychological tactic possibly? The "fleshshaper" title and what we can see of its labs suggests it has the means and resources to reverse such damage.

>It kept smiling for the entire discussion. Perhaps it was trying to look reassuring. It did not help.
Also a possible psychological tactic.

>>"Arkots running but not easily outrunning drones. All eighteen accounting for."
Wait there were 22. Did the 4 immature ones get left behind?

>I wanted to ask your permission to study one of [the arkots]
Granted.

There's nothing you really need to keep secret about arkots, you can certainly afford to have one less available, and it's a cheap price to pay for continued goodwill and favor.

>angry neumono argument
You really need to fill the aliens in on what you understand about neumono psychology and sociology if you haven't already. It sounds like what little is left of this hive is rapidly deteriorating, and you need to limit the damage they can do to your current allies by making sure they're forewarned.

>If we do have time to spare... where do I even go from here?
First priority is familiarizing yourself with alien systems so you can make use of them, and familiarizing yourself with the available resources so you can plan more effectively.

Once you have a better grasp of the tools and resources available to you we can plan what the most efficient order to address other priorities is.
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No. 866262 ID: b1b4f3

>no sense for it to damage itself
Masochism.
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No. 866269 ID: 91ee5f

>>866261
>Wait there were 22. Did the 4 immature ones get left behind?
No, there were only 18 arkots. The other 4 lifeforms that we’re detected outside of the base were: 2 neumono, which were Lekka and Ekasarra, 1 amtsvane, which was Sitkva, and 1 salazzarine, which was Tirzi.

Those were the only people that were outside of the base when 22 lives were being threatened by the enemy.
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No. 866272 ID: 90124d

The status of the enemy forces and theories on "Why aren't we all invaded and dead yet" would be nice, thanks.
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No. 866273 ID: b1b4f3

Oh, speaking of drones, if we can get a cargo drone out there to retrieve the destroyed recon drone it could be brought in for repairs. Sisiri is a robotics expert, after all.
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No. 866288 ID: 10c408

Ask him what your updated prognosis is since you fell asleep while he was examining you and you would like to know if you can leave the medical ward if you aren't going to rupture anything.
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No. 866313 ID: 074011

Offering one of the new arkots and their parents for study might be wise.
It would give the staff a complete unit to study, allowing them to understand the capabilities of arkots and reassure themselves that the arkots really aren't much of a threat nor that they would benefit from independence. This would build trust and strengthen your position compared to the Neumono.
If you ever have to act against the instructions of the others in this facility, it will require more subtlety and precision than can be expected of the arkots, so it is unlikely to limit your options.
Consider announcing your cunning plan to win the trust of the facility staff loudly enough that the Neumono can overhear. If they can be goaded into civility and collaboration with our current allies in order to compete with you, then so much the better.

Recommend that the Neumono be provided with stimuli and a collaborative task. If their hive has something to work towards than it might distract itself from mutual decline cascades of individuals self-blaming for failing to support individuals when they are accustomed to supported from at least dozens of other minds.
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No. 866335 ID: 56fca5

>>866256

It is my understanding that the danger lies in them not being able to reconcile their empathy and feeling driven to fight each other because of it. If the problem with being rouge is that the hive casts you out, Kan is the only outlier. Eka might be panicking because of her feelings it seems to be born out of her finding she isn't as angry at Sisirri as she would believe she should be. While Lekka isn't as concerned with her feelings, she also doesn't act nearly as hostile and volatile as Kan. If two out of three are mostly in agreement, then Kan is the one that would more than likely become 'incompatible' with the other two, not Eka.
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No. 866360 ID: 3adb50

>>866335
So driving a wedge between Kan and Lekka would increase the chances that Kan goes rogue, and Lekka turns to Eka for support, building solidarity between them. Thereby saving an ally from her suicidal urges and perhaps gaining another one, while removing a threat.

The easiest way I can see to do this is to earn Lekka's trust. If both Lekka and Eka feel a form of trust - or at least neutrality - towards us, Kan will be the odd man out.
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No. 866371 ID: 10c408

>>866360
As great as this idea is, we're going to have to be damned subtle about it so that it can't get back on us. Because then we'll be murdered.
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No. 866385 ID: 3adb50

>>866371
Lekka is level-headed and was the one who spared Sisirri in the first place, and we're now Eka's confidant and some sort of weird support for her. It shouldn't be difficult to maintain trust with them if we continue to be helpful and sympathetic, and Kan will either conform or do the rest of the work himself.
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No. 866388 ID: c88e6d

>>866385
I agree, this plan has very little downside for us and considerable benefits, with little material cost and only moderate risk. We'll need to be subtle and indirect, but it's worth it.

Kan is a paragon of Neumonos' worst aspects anyway, he's going to do most of the work himself.
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No. 866394 ID: 3abd97

This planning about who goes rogue misses the fundamental point that they're all going to go rogue. This is inevitable, unless there are more survivors of their hive.

If a hive's population falls below the minimum critical mass necessary, the hive will gradually fall out of sync, fall apart, and everyone goes rogue. Three individuals is not enough, to say nothing of the fact there appears to be additional stressors driving wedges between these three and accelerating the process.

They could be kept together if we had a cooperative predator to keep them from drifting out of sync until they built up their population to the size of a tribe hive, but we don't have that. And I don't think Sisirri has the necessary information to build something artificial that could play the same role as a predator.

It may be possible to arrange things so some or all of the neumono are still willing to work with us and each other, but that doesn't stop what's going to happen. All our options come down to mitigating and managing a crisis, not preventing it.
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No. 866416 ID: 3adb50

>>866394
Still better than an unrestrained, uncontrolled crisis.
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No. 866430 ID: 074011

>>866416
Not necessarily. Influencing the thing most inclined to harm Sisirri into losing control has a fairly obvious downside, and killing them, even if we are attacked first, would be very harmful to our social position. Unless I have badly missed my guess about the scientists' inclination towards killing or the Neumono's inclination towards dead hivemates. And it goes without saying that Neumono have already entered our presence unescorted, it seems doubtful that one inclined to "save its former hivemates by ending the Salikai threat" would be unable to reach us to force a conflict.

Their subhive collapsing would be a mess, but one individual feeling completely isolated and convinced that it has no remaining purpose other than to kill Sisirri would probably be worse.

It would be better to try to turn them away from wanton violence towards Sisirri prior to them collapsing completely. Try to find a non-fatal way for them to feel that they are satisfying their need to oppose her and try to find something other than memories of their lost hive and failed attack to focus upon. Then perhaps they might feel they have something better to do than to kill a brain-damaged Salikai. Not to mention that they ought to know enough about biology to know that a single Salikai is an inherently doomed population. Wiping out this "infestation" only requires waiting...
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No. 866447 ID: cf24af
File 151831288684.png - (8.82KB , 800x600 , salq-102.png )
866447

>voidsong and by extension all the other kiter empire command must be crazy
A worrying possibility. If the Kiter Empire is run by the insane, it's going to be difficult to anticipate their actions and motivations.

>talk to tirzi about kitsiksu
Far too personal. Also, if I bring him up I might be too emotionally affected to retain the level-headedness vital to my survival.

>what happened while asleep
>retrieve drone
"I would like to ask a few questions first. What happened while I was asleep?"
"Well, like I said, Saba wrangled your arkots into the room next door where they've been, uh, socialising, I guess? We had no other communications arrive during the night, and Aza flew some drones around for reconnaissance. His third best drone was missing, though, so he's convinced the 'Kiter Empire' as they call themselves took it. He's not happy about it. He doesn't blame you, though. He was absolutely furious and we had to gently remind him not to stir things up by sending combat drones at 'those wretched stupid bird things'."

>arkots
"Feel free to study one or more of my arkots. I'm sure in due time there'll be a specimen you can dissect, as well."
"I didn't intend to harm them, mostly just take some measurements and run them through some simple physical tests, I've already tested their mental capacity."
"Oh? What did you find?"
"The one you called 'number six' begrudgingly completed all the simpler tests without issue, but struggled with some of the more complex tests before throwing the interface slate across the room."
"Anything else?"
"I didn't test the one wearing the blue bands but I found it independently answering the questions on an interface slate. It got all the simpler ones right and then just drew a line in the box for the harder ones. So I guess it figured out how to trick the test into thinking it was finished."
"Any others?"
"The rest I tried to test tried to eat the interface slate."
"There we go. That's what I was expecting to hear."
"I figure I'll try it again when they're fed."
"You won't get much of a different result. Arkots can be trained very easily but their capacity for independent problem solving is, well, rare. #6 and #3 are special cases."
"I have empirical evidence to back that up now. I'm mildly concerned about your comment about having a specimen to dissect soon. Short life span?"
"They're very, very, very stupid."
"Childproof everything next door, got it. There's actual babies running around, so that's something I should do anyway. We don't exactly have a creche facility this side, but, well, I'll... see what I can do?"

>neumono
"Oh. While I think about it, I authored a brief primer on neumono physiology and empathy. What little I know of it, but the empathy is pertinent."
"Ekasarra discussed it with me while you were asleep. She's... she's been coming to me for moral support. I can't claim to fully understand it. Makes me wish Nanili was here, she'd have insight. She's a kigavi. They have more of an insight into, uh, weird psychic stuff? Which is what 'empathy' sounds like to me. Weird psychic stuff. I thought she was just talking about the concept of understanding emotions at first. It was a confusing start to the discussion."
"Where is Nanili?"
"Oh. Oh, of course. No one's told you how we got here?"
"No, but before we get onto that topic, I must stress that the more their hive breaks apart, the more likely the neumono will act in increasingly violent and erratic ways."
"Is there a way to repair their hive?"
"I'm not an expert on neumono. As far as I'm aware, once this sort of degradation takes place, it's a matter of when, not if. We will need contingencies. I'm especially concerned about Kan."
"You're not the only one. Lekka apparently asked Saba to keep Kan's weapons locked up. She said that she can feel him 'slipping away'. Is that the same as 'going rogue'?"
"Probably? You would do better to ask her yourself. Be incredibly tactful if you do, however. Neumono do not like discussing such matters."
"Lekka seems the most pragmatic of the three. I'll talk to her."
"I would strongly advise finding some task for all three to do together. If they have a common purpose it may prevent or even reverse their empathy collapse."

>announce plan to win the trust of the facility
"A thought occurs. The neumono consider me a manipulative schemer. Perhaps we can use that to our mutual advantages. Make it clear that I'm being very helpful and cooperative. Perhaps if they feel they need to compete with me to earn your favour and lower my status, they'll be more cooperative."

I spoke with volume but I don't think any of the neumono heard me unless they're right outside.

"Isn't... isn't that going to backfire? Don't get me wrong, I can see exactly what you're saying, and I think it's kind of a silly but helpful idea, but if you want me to tell them that, it's just going to sound like I'm trying to manipulate them. Or like we're all a bunch of gullible idiots already dancing to your whims."
"You aren't already?"
"Uh..."
"That was a joke." I'm perhaps too deadpan in my delivery. "It is hard for me to consider anyone here gullible or foolish when there are arkots running around. You have all been incredibly helpful and shown me kindness and altruism on a level I have not seen since I was very young. Part of me considers this all a long game, a trap to spring if I ever let my guard down."

Tirzi taps my rostrum softly. I'm taken by surprise and flinch. "Oh, sorry! Still, you're worrying over nothing. Kinda ridiculous, really. If we meant any harm to you don't you think it would have happened by now? We're scientists, Sisirri, not slavers."

Part of me badly wants to believe I can count on these aliens.
The rest of me is too busy reminding me that everyone else I've ever trusted betrayed me or was killed.
If they are worth trusting, I need to make sure they stay out of harm's way or they'll get themselves killed as well.
Yes.
I can administrate them. I can guide them, harness them, keep them safe from themselves and everything and everyone else.
Yes. Trustworthy individuals are a rare resource. I must make use of them.
And if they seek to betray me, I must be in a position where their betrayal will hurt them far more than it will hurt me.
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No. 866448 ID: cf24af
File 151831291465.png - (182.70KB , 800x600 , salq-103.png )
866448

>status of enemy forces
>why aren't we invaded and dead yet
"Do you have any idea on the status of the enemy forces and why we haven't been invaded yet?"
"Absolutely none on either count, sorry. Ku might be better to ask."

>how did the aliens get here
"How did you get here, before I forget?"
"Ah, yes. We were members of a larger research team, see. There was an anomalous structure discovered on an uninhabited planet, Miim, which bore evidence of once harbouring life. The structure was nothing like the other ruins, though, and was of sufficient size that we effectively built the laboratory around it to study it further. We found other scattered artifacts, likely by the same designers, which we dubbed 'Civilization Y'. We already used 'Civilization X' for the ruins we were originally there to study. We determined that the structure seemed to be some sort of, well, hyperspatial linkage. A door, if you will. We managed to somehow activate it and beyond the linkage appeared to be a mirror reflection of our own laboratory. We were apprehensive at first, but it seemed like the connection was stable. We soon discovered that the world outside this mirror lab was blasted and ravaged by war. Observations of the stars found our own galaxy in the sky. We kept our studies mostly in this facility, finding that, although it looked at first to be a perfect copy of our lab, there were strange discrepancies. Mostly where personal touches had graced our lab, strange metal and rock constructs appeared to have formed to mimic them, with no further mimickry past the point we opened the door. Our plan was to migrate part of the team into this mirror lab to investigate it further and we were nearly done moving supplies through when the door suddenly ceased to exist. When we haven't been busy trying to understand this world, we've been trying to figure out how to open the door again, or at least even get a message back to the other side to let them know we're alive and safe. Well. Safe-ish. We're fairly lucky. We've only been trapped here for about a couple of weeks. We're going to start having severe problems with resources in about two weeks. The weird thing is, the artifacts you wanted recovered? They look like Civilization Y's handiwork too. Whatever the creators of these items intended for them, they've scattered them across at least two galaxies. That scale is inconceivable to me. And they left no biological remnants or any depictions of themselves as far as we can tell. It's an ancient, ancient mystery with no answers. The research opportunity of a lifetime, always leading to new discoveries. Then we ended up stuck here after one bad day. An entire galaxy away from home."

>prognosis
>can you leave
"Also, am I able to leave this ward yet?"

Tirzi scratches her chin as she contemplates.

"I'd recommend one more day of rest. Even the healing gel isn't that miraculous. If you really, really cannot stand the idea of staying here, then I just suggest not exerting yourself."
"Thank you."
"If you do decide to take a walk around the lab you'll probably want one of us as a guide. Me or, uh. Actually, Sitkva'd be too big, Ku is always pouring over analyses, Aza is either flying drones or tinkering with them, and Saba is busy record-keeping most of the time she isn't tending to her, uh, entourage. Guess it's me, then. Still, I'll go grab those fruit. Do you want a coffee?"
"What's that? It sounds vaguely familiar but I don't think I've ever ingested anything by that name"
"Uhh... a hot drink that contains caffeine and some other stuff I don't remember. Bitter. Brewed from cherries. Has a stimulating, awakening effect on salazzarine, amtsvane, duduk, sagudo, kigavi, maybe more. Does nothing for tan ren soon and noxon apparently just feel more anxiety if they drink it. I mean, when I was doing some basic biochemistry tests with it, it didn't look like it was harmful to your tissues but I didn't exactly have much tissue to work with, so, uh, up to you."
"One cup of coffee and one cup of antidote, please."
"...sure? I... I think we probably have some neutralisers around, if I can't find any I'll just get you a hot water."
"Also acceptable."

As Tirzi leaves, I call after her.

"Remind me to help you train the arkots so they can get the coffee next time."

I hear what I assume to be a mild salazzarine laugh as she smiles and waves.
>>
No. 866449 ID: cf24af
File 151831294448.png - (13.33KB , 800x600 , salq-104.png )
866449

Tirzi goes to fetch me poison I have apparently elected on attempting to try, because evidently I am losing my mind, explaining why I feel any trust for these aliens and why I am caring so much about what neumono are doing.

I find myself distracted with visions of the bird creatures the 'fleshweaver' so gleefully discussed.
Memories of mechanically separated, screaming neumono flit through my mind, as my mother carefully extracted and replaced whatever parts she felt inclined to try that day.
I never wanted to look at what she was doing, but I could see the shadows and reflections, and I couldn't ignore the screams.

All these questions and long buried emotions are surfacing in this inopportune moment where I can do nothing either way.
I tap the covering on my head.

The covering.

The implant.

If Imperium was somehow controlling my mind with a neural interface, perhaps its control was more insidious than I assumed.
It never needed to puppeteer me like a crude flesh instrument.

All it would have needed would have been to give careful nudges.

Suppress recollection of key memories that evoked emotional responses unfavourable to its whim.
Carefully monitor my emotional states and trigger neurochemical releases to keep me trusting and compliant.

Not even forcing me to do its work. No, tricking me into believing all I wanted to do was its work.

For ten years.

Ten years. Ten years of pruning my memory recollection and cultivating a relaxed state of contentment.
The illusion of control.

I've... I've just cut this blanket to shreds. That wasn't... My emotions may be getting the best of me. Perhaps a focus drink will help.
>>
No. 866450 ID: cf24af
File 151831296604.png - (11.68KB , 800x600 , salq-105.png )
866450

Tirzi comes back with the coffee, a small blue bottle, and a small fruit basket. She places the items down near me, and notices the torn up blanket.

"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine."
"Yeah, don't worry. That's probably the recovery gel. It dulls reflexes and interferes with fine motor control sometimes. One time I shredded up a perfectly good apron just trying to put it on. I can sympathise. Take it easy, Sisirri."

I eat the fruit and take a sip of the coffee.

"Thank you for all of this."
"You're welcome. Now, I guess I need to see if those little things have tried eating any more lab equipment."

Tirzi leaves again.

Well, I don't feel poisoned.
Actually I feel a little calmer.

I take a few more sips.

Much calmer.

So, I suppose next steps are determining an escape plan. Granted, knowing that the aliens here will probably want to traverse an entire galaxy to get back home, this rules out most forms of spaceflight I'm aware of. Which leaves the artifacts.

I wonder if I was also sent over a galaxy away. The scale hardly matters, as either way the distance travelled via the artifact is no doubt ridiculous. I have never heard of a 'kiter empire' before now, nor seen any of its member-species.

This coffee is incredibly good. The sweetness of the fruit and the bitterness of the coffee are mixing and producing an intriguing flavour.
I feel a tiny bit dizzy but I feel like my horizons are expanding. Life is good. I have a new lab, I have new partners, and things are currently going great.

Let's get to work!
>>
No. 866452 ID: cf24af
File 151831302292.png - (53.77KB , 800x600 , salq-106.png )
866452

Three minutes later

My body feels a little sluggish, but this is to be expected, what with what Tirzi mentioned. I get to my feet, a little shakily, and stumble around.

A guide? I don't need a guide, I'm incredibly familiar with lab complexes. I've lived my entire life in one complex or another! I know my way around.

I march on with my coffee in one hand and a half eaten fruit in another, and a not eaten fruit in yet another.

I'm going to the robotics lab! There's precious little time to waste. We have science to do!

I don't remember finding it difficult to co-ordinate my legs like this.

Huh. That's new. I don't remember finding it difficult to walk in a forward direction before.
It's funny. My limbs are all moving the right way.
Hey, if I wave them in the right way it makes a sinusoid curve. That's neat.

Okay back to looking for the robotics lab. If I was a robotics lab where would I be?
I'd probably be where the robotics is. Yes. The robotics would be where they need to be I think?
Yes that makes sense.

This is really good coffee, wow.

Okay so robotics. Robotics is a field of science involving the application of automation to something or other.
I need to find where they automate the, uh, the things.

Heh, my normal eye and my robot eye are out of sync. It's kind of cute, I can see the input lag in my robot eye.
It leaves pretty afterimages if I look at the lights. Okay, I'm bored of that now.

I need to automate my legs better. Maybe I could replace them with robots? No that seems like a bad long term idea.

Aw, no more coffee. I need to get #6 to get me more coffee.

"HEY, SIX! GET COFFEE, PLEASE!"

I'm sure she'll hear that. She's a good arkot.
>>
No. 866453 ID: cf24af
File 151831304322.png - (30.41KB , 800x600 , salq-107.png )
866453

Probably like ten minutes later or maybe fifteen, maybe twenty??

I found the robotics, it was in the science room. The science room had it.

Okay, I made a robot.

I forgot what I was doing. Robots? Robots.

The robot fell over. It is a bad robot.

I give the robot six legs instead of two. It walks better. It is now a good robot.

I don't remember quite why I made this robot but it is a good robot and with it I will surely achieve my many goals.
Like making a place to live that's safe.

I tape a knife to the robot. Now it will protect me from my many many enemies as a salikai.
Go, knife robot. Kill for your master. Kill all the threats.

Go?

Robot, that is a wall. Hm. It needs a way to overcome wall structures. I need to think of something better than a knife.
>>
No. 866455 ID: 1561e1

Perhaps it is not the weaponry that is the problem. Perhaps it is the locomotion. Try adding an adhesive or something van der waals based to the bottom of the feet so that it can climb up and around walls. Definitely add a camera and microphone too so you can see what it's seeing and hear what it's hearing for better troubleshooting later.
>>
No. 866457 ID: 7fad5d

Apply antimatter.
>>
No. 866459 ID: 3abd97

>Weird psychic stuff
>I thought she was just talking about the concept of understanding emotions at first. It was a confusing start to the discussion.
Yes, sorry, jargon. When discussing neumono "empathy" they mean their specific weird psychic stuff. (Translation and jargon can be problematic, too).

>>866448
>stranded here by tech apparently from the same root as your artifact
That's encouraging, actually. Two different means of possible long-range travel, and you already have a decade of experience studying one artifact. Some of what you already learned may be helpful in unraveling what they were studying here.

>"Remind me to help you train the arkots so they can get the coffee next time."
The next patients of the medical ward are going to be a gaggle of scalded arkots.

>>866453
...did Kitsiksu ever discus salikai-effective narcotics with you? Or what the symptoms would be?
>>
No. 866460 ID: b1b4f3

>>866447
>Six is smart but emotional, Three is smart and takes the initiative.
I wonder if Six might be emotionally attached to you? Ask if she stood vigil over you while you were initially recovering from your wounds.

>>866453
Remember your previous robots, what did you arm them with? Compare them to this one. Call Tirzi and brag about your cool robot you made.
Slowly come to the realization that coffee gets you HIGH AS FUCK.
>>
No. 866464 ID: 13fded

You know what would make this robot better? More robots! Make a factory robot to continually build those tiny robots, that will be much faster than make one by one.
>>
No. 866466 ID: 4ac1a7

SO not only are we not in the right galaxy, it seems like we're also stuck in an alternate dimension. On the one hand Imperium probably can't influence anything here, but on the other hand there's no food.
>>
No. 866470 ID: 074011

> evidently I am losing my mind, explaining why I feel any trust for these aliens
Well that could be the brain-damage from beaing beaten senseless. Or the brain-daamge from having an appliance removed from your brain by someone who knew neither the biology nor technology involved and was not a specialist in the field. Then again it might be the brain-damage caused by the operation of the removed device, which was apparently nefarious. Or maybe it could be the brain-damage caused by the bird-thing hacking your brain interface and making it overload. At this point it is best to just accept that your brain is a spectator sport...

Can you redesign the robot to protect your brain? Perhaps incorporate it into a hat of some sort?
>>
No. 866478 ID: 10c408

Oh good, we've found narcotics grade coffee for our protag. Nothing bad will happen because of this.

Disassemble knife-robot, it is no good to you like this. Instead, you should try and see if you can't find your arkots! #3 has seen you at all since you ordered him into the escape pod so he's likely VERY heartbroken over it.
>>
No. 866481 ID: 13fded

More coffee? 6, you are the best. Such a good arkot! I should do something for you. What would you like? I know! You will gain a flying machine. A little plane? Maybe. A winged backpack? Definitely!
Ekasarra? Hey Ekasarra! Ekasarra... That metal hand look weird. I will make a new one! A pretty claw! No, that would be weird... I will make one just like your real hand! What you mean you don't want two left hands? Just ask Aza to plug it, I don't like the biology part of bioengineering. Or is it cybernetic? There is no "bio" in cybernetic... More coffee!
>>
No. 866484 ID: 91ee5f

>>866453
Ok, no more coffee for you young lady! It’s making your thoughts scattered and you’re unable to focus on anything!
>>
No. 866485 ID: ad51b8

I never knew I needed to see a drunk salikai before today and I'm so glad I got to see it. Oh god if any of the neumono see us like this they'll probably start questioning reality as they know it.

it seems to have problems with sensing objects... YOU SHOULD GIVE IT A JETPACK SO IT CAN GO OVER OBJECTS!
>>
No. 866496 ID: 56fca5

Aza is the robots guy. Get him in here to help you with your robots. And more coffee. Make some bigger robots. Bigger robots might be heavier so get Sitkva to help. And to get more coffee. I bet she could make soooo much coffee. Where is #6 with your coffee?
>>
No. 866497 ID: 91ee5f

>>866484
Also, your robot needs a drill so that it can pierce the heavens!
>>
No. 866499 ID: cc5f4f

It seems that coffee intoxicates you. It acts like a drug that turns salikai tipsy.

You know what weapon your robot can use and not miss? A flash gun! Shoots a bright flash and bam! Your foe is subdued... granted that they have eyes.
>>
No. 866503 ID: 4854ef

>>866485
Tiny jetboots.
>>
No. 866513 ID: 3adb50

>>866453
Flirt shamelessly with Tirzi when she finds you.
>>
No. 866517 ID: 91ee5f

>>866513
But that would require cheating on #6! And then we’d somehow end up banging Tirzi instead of #6!

.....oh, wow, this coffee stuff is makeing the brain damage even worse. Maybe we should stop???
>>
No. 866519 ID: 074011

That is a good robot. You made it so effortlessly that you do not even remember doing it. You are the best at the robotics, better than ever before. The coffee makes you the best at the robotics!
You must use your greatness! Build infinite robots to be safe from all of the threats! You need your assistant, and more coffee and more robotics. Call #6 for more coffee, or more robotics, both are important! The knife might not be enough. Build a robot with a scissors! And one with a shield, to protect the others. And one that can blow up like a balloon to stop the threats getting in. Get #6 to help. You need more robots, you have enough limbs, make three at once, it is the best idea! And one with a sensor and a siren, that signals the siren if it detects a dangerous sound, so that you know if the there are threats. You just need enough robots to be safe.
>>
No. 866534 ID: c49598

Your Drunk.
>>
No. 866537 ID: 9d4af9

Go find Tirzi again so she can record the novel effects of caffeine in salikai :3

We know how neumono are with caffeine, so maybe we should have expected this...
>>
No. 866543 ID: 6780f5

Flirt shamelessly with #6. This wakes the salikai.
>>
No. 866544 ID: 3adb50

>>866543
Hopefully only after the tongues come out.
>>
No. 866545 ID: b403b3

> It needs a way to overcome wall structures. I need to think of something better than a knife.
Give it sucker feet!
>>
No. 866546 ID: 33cbe7

Modify it to shoot laser beams using technology from your own cybereye.
>>
No. 866549 ID: 3adb50

>>866546
Unfortunately it's just a laser pointer due to lack of sufficient power cells.
>>
No. 866555 ID: 689e8d

The best way out is always through?
>>
No. 866577 ID: 767ff9

>>866453
Okay that is just adorable. Embraced this side of yourself and be adorable sometimes.

On a side note its hard to see with Neumono, and salikai are wired to be paranoid, but a lot of sapient creatures will be good to each other because they want to be treated the same. It so ingrained in many cultures that they get an endorphin rush when they help other people. They probably won't betray you unless their desperate and or you have made your self a pain to be around. Being nice right now is pro survival. Plus it will frustrated the zealotius fuzzy gun havers.
>>
No. 866581 ID: 90124d

>Noxen

*PANIC'D SCREAMING*

>Robot not walking up walls

Adhesive, or make it's programming better for moving around... But I'm pretty sure we're missing the point here. The objective is to figure out a way back to your previous galaxy.

Consider the possibilities of setting up shop in this galaxy since it seems better than the other one.
>>
No. 866597 ID: c88e6d

Apply post-it notes to the robot's feet!
>>
No. 866600 ID: 074011

That snoot-boop gives me an idea. It needs to get to the other side of any object that blocks it. What if bumping into a wall caused that wall to retract? You just need the mass to stop being an obstruction. Just take an artificial gravity generator's ability to effectively increase mass in a given direction, invert that to reduce mass, apply it consistently over a field instead of broadcasting in a direction, ad your robot could have a bubble of temporarily neutralised mass to walk through. Then your robot could could get through obstacles without compromising your defences.
>>
No. 866667 ID: c327ae

Walls are good, as the area around one is definitely going to be free of obstructions. Maybe if it followed along the wall went it found one? Simple, easy, and harder for bigger people to notice.
>>
No. 866751 ID: cf24af
File 151841066495.png - (9.57KB , 800x600 , salq-108.png )
866751

>did you ever discuss salikai narcotics with kitsiksu
>you're drunk, sisirri
Nope, salikai have to be masters of their minds or we make mistakes and something kills us!
Besides I don't think I'm under the influence. That's silly.
It's probably the medical goo or something? Yes that seems plausible. It's that.

>disassemble knife robot
Yeah this is going nowhere I need to start over.

>more robots
YES yes this is the BEST BEST idea
I can't find any more materials though so maybe I need to modify this robot to find them

>better locomotion
Yes, sucker grips on the feet for wall climbing. It will climb all over the walls.
No, no grips! No legs! It shall fly. Yes. Like Aza's.

>more coffee
"SIX COFFEE"

I hear arkot footsteps scurrying down the corridor, and #6 shows up with coffee.
In a pretty cool and obviously elegant swing of my claws I grab it from her and take a long sip.
Blegh! This coffee tastes terrible! I drink it anyway.
"MILDLY ACCEPTABLE!! You live for now!"
#6 stares at me like I've completely lost my mind, slowly nods her head and takes a few steps back.

"More coffee!"
#6 tilts her head, looks down at the floor for a second and then gives me the same cup I already put down.
"This is empty, six! I need more of that beverage in this container!"

#6 looks around and takes the cup from me. She seems concerned. I don't know why. I didn't think arkots could be concerned.
It's probably just confusion at my prowess skyrocketing so quickly.
"Yes! Refill, now!"

#6 puts the cup down on the floor.

"No, I said coffee! Not floor! Tirzi! Tirzi, I need coffee! My arkots don't understand!"

#6 picks up the cup and scurries off.
>>
No. 866755 ID: cf24af
File 151841075028.png - (314.86KB , 800x600 , salq-109.png )
866755

Another fiveish minutes later...

"Tirzi! Thanks for the coffee!"
"Eh? Zis kafee iz min, wat are yuu--"

I take the coffee cup Tirzi so generously offers me and down it in one gulp. The coffee. Not the cup.

"...okei, zhen. Sisirri, are you feelink alrite?"
"Never felt better!"
"Wei are you makink... roboks? Jronez? Wet are zose?"
"I need to make the robots to protect me, Tirzi. To protect me from all the threats. And you as well I guess. All of you."
"...how manny cupz aff you drank alreedy?? Did nat thing kafee wold haf zis zort af effekt..."
"Coffee boosts salikai performance! It's the best! Thank you for introducing me to it!"

I pat Tirzi on the head, and she stares at me for a second.

"Yezz. Boozts performanze." She nods and smiles and pats me on the head. "Maybi no morr kafee fir now."
I will not be outmatched at head pats. Salikai exceed at all things they attempt! I pat her head back.
"Wet are you doink?"
"Patting your head."
"Okei, wei?"
"Because I'm the best at head pats."

Tirzi makes a strange sound like a laugh except it sounds like she's trying to prevent the sound escaping from her body.
"What does this sound mean in your culture?"
"Oh nothink nothink." She pauses. "Ken you kom vith me?"
"What for?"
"Uhhh. Zscienze."
"Science? Science always requires salikai for its advancement! Have you seen what we are capable of? Well probably not because you're an alien from maybe another galaxy but we're pretty good."

Tirzi gently fits a blade between one of my claws and tugs at me until I start following.

Midway through our journey I see #6 with a full cup of coffee.

"SIX, COFFEE!!"
"Zix, pleeze tek zis kafee to xenobio one, okei?"

I miss my window of opportunity to grab the coffee as #6, my loyalist of arkots, betrays me deeply and utterly, taking the precious coffee off to parts unknown.

"You betray me for the last time, #6! Retribution will be swift!"

#6 rolls her eyes. How dare she! I'll make sure she pays for this! Pays dearly! Right as soon as I remember which order my legs go in.
>>
No. 866756 ID: cf24af
File 151841076514.png - (13.23KB , 800x600 , salq-110.png )
866756

I am somehow back where I started and am not entirely sure why.
My revenge against #6 can wait.
There is instead something far more dire and sinister occupying my attention.
My coffee cup is full of water.

"This isn't coffee, it's water! I've been tricked!"
"Trust me, you should probably drink less coffee and more water right now."
"Feh! Whatever! What is the science?"
"The science is I want you to just do some simple exercises for me. No problem, right?"
"I'm above simple exercises! Explain!"
"Uhhh. They're... tasks... to help build up, uh, training data? Yes, training data."
"You're too good at talking my language to be stuck on that terminal, what are you still using it for?"

Tirzi freezes up. "A'm reelly net, tho. I kan tel I zound laik I donut no wet a werdz iz."
"Your voice has a far more pleasing timbre to it than that sorry excuse for a simulacrum of vocal apparatuses. Apparatusi? Machinery. Vocal machinery."

Tirzi taps her blades together. "Uhhh... umm... zhankz I guezz?"
It will be easier for me to understand her if she's closer. "Come closer! You shall instruct me on how to speak your language, salazzarine! I cannot abide not knowing something so pertinent!"
"I'm reelly net a goud linguistikz teachair, Sisirri, I donut think I ken--"
"Try, Tirzi, try! You have no idea what you're good at if you refuse to ever try something!"

Tirzi pauses, and speaks something a few times. "Try zat."
"Uh." I repeat it. "[Calcified apple.]"
Tirzi makes that same noise like a laugh she's fighting. Strange alien gestures. "No, try zat ageen."
"[Haylelo.] Hrm. [Hellolol.] Uh. [Hello.]"
"Yez! Goot!"
"[Hello!]"
"[Hello.] Thet wiz fazt! Uhh. Maybi werd fir help gud idee. [Help.]"
"[Fast action.]"
"Ageen?"
"[Help.]"
"You sure learn fazt! Veri gud!"

Yes. Of course I'm good. I'm the best. I feel something within me glow with pride. I'm the best at what I do.
I think I was going to do something else? Well whatever it was can't have been important. I must master this alien tongue.
>>
No. 866757 ID: cf24af
File 151841077964.png - (22.48KB , 800x600 , salq-111.png )
866757

Two or three hours of impromptu language class by a completely unskilled teacher later...

I suddenly hear Ku speak in person for the first time. His voice is buzzy with crackling to it, like an arc flash trying to talk.

"[Hey, Tirzi? You're in here, right? I just came by to ask if you'd seen Aza, I promised I was going to have lunch with him and--]"
>>
No. 866758 ID: cf24af
File 151841079573.png - (33.47KB , 800x600 , salq-112.png )
866758

"[uh. I. I can come back later--]"

"That won't be necessary," I say. "I personally haven't seen Aza and I've been engrossed in learning your language!"
"[oh no Ku I know what this looks like and it is not that okay]"
"Tirzi has been teaching me valuable terms of the salazzarine anatomy like the [claw] and the [midlimb] and the [mating flaps]!"
"[SHE MEANS HIND ABDOMEN, MATING FLAPS ARE A FEATURE SALAZZARINE DON'T EVEN POSSESS, AND I DON'T KNOW HOW SHE'S GARBLING IT THAT BADLY!]"
"Oh. You weren't correcting me so urgently before."
"[IT WAS FUNNY BEFORE AND NOW IT'S NOT FUNNY ANYMORE]"
"Ohhh! So those barely suppressed laughs were actually laughs! I understand now!"
"[AGGH!! Ku, Sisirri is, uh, 'tired and emotional' right now, I kind of need to make sure she doesn't harm herself or do anything stupid, ok??]"
"I'm neither tired nor emotional and feel frankly insulted you would suggest I lack the wherewithal to identify these states within myself! Salikai are excellent at self-diagnosis because we are the best at all diagnoses, biological, system, mechanical, all of them!"

Ku tilts his head. "[Okay, that's great and all but, while I'm not exactly one to give a lecture about interspecies relationships, maybe don't take advantage of a drunk alien, Tirzi.]"
"[THAT ISN'T WHAT'S GOING ON HERE, KU, I AM TRYING TO KEEP HER OCCUPIED WHILE SHE SOBERS UP!]"
"[It sure looks that way!]"
"[NOT LIKE THAT!]"
"[Well I best go find Aza before I find him simmering with disappointment over my missing yet another lunch I promised! You know how he gets when he eats by himself. Bye!]"

Ku leaves as quickly as he can. I hear some kind of strange buzzy laughing sound echoing down the corridors.

Tirzi groans. "[Well, I guess this is my own fault for finding this whole situation so absurdly comical.]"
"The pursuit of knowledge is deadly serious."
"[Sisirri, I want to ask. Are you actually this naive or are you fucking with me?]"
"I would not consider that sort of act with an alien, Tirzi, as it would be a fruitless endeavour even if I were more up to the task at hand!"
"[Oh, I have so many questions for you when you're sober.]"
"Then you may ask away, for I currently exist within an incredibly sober state of mind! In fact, I have many questions for you too! NUMBER SIX! GET ME A COFFEE!"
"[Please don't drink any more coffee.]"
"Fool! Sisirri does as she pleases!!"

I have more questions for Tirzi, yes? No? I have ideas for what to do next? I think? More language learning? Maybe something else?
>>
No. 866760 ID: 33cbe7

Yes! No! Yes! Yes! No! Go bother meet Sitkva. They are a uniquely massive specimen/jungle gym. Your knifebots need to be bigger, so study her for clues to how she defeats the dreaded square cube law.
>>
No. 866762 ID: b1b4f3

>>866758
Okay so learning is unaffected(or even accelerated?), but execution is hampered. Or maybe drunk salikai are bad at science but good at language.
Learn more things. Try to learn other stuff too like what she found out from studying the artifact or the basics of first aid for the species she knows about.
>>
No. 866763 ID: c88e6d

>>866758
Agreed. Go and ask Sitkva for her bones, they must be the means by which she defies gravity!
>>
No. 866765 ID: 12b116

What kind of exercises did she want you to try again?
>>
No. 866769 ID: 91ee5f

>>866758
While you’re in that position, ask Tirzi if salazzarine are ticklish? And then start tickling her while declaring that she’ll get no mercy until she gives into your demands of more coffee!
>>
No. 866773 ID: b055fc

Investigate ticklishness. It's a vital component of the nervous system and the way the brain responds to stimulus.
>>
No. 866781 ID: 3adb50

Learn more of the language, their galaxy sounds like a better place to live than where you are from. So clearly you should go live there, and to do that you'll need to fully learn the language.

You're also going to have one hell of a hangover and/or caffeine crash.
>>
No. 866793 ID: 074011

This is valuable valuable learning! But there are more pressing issues! While your mind is at its peak! The artefact must be understood! The facility must be examined! Your Implant must be decoded! Perhaps you can turn it into a robot and have it reveal its secrets voluntarily to your superior Salikai powers of persuasion!

Or... You could teach this new language to the arkots! They might need to go on missions interacting with the locals...

Or you could learn to make coffee! Or find a solution to Neumono insanity! If they weren't such lunatic murderhobos all the time then they wouldn't be killing everyone... And then Imperium wouldn't have had anyone to use to kill Kitsiksu, and your mother, and your base, and all your arkots, and you could just do your research in peace, and make all of the things because there would be none of the threats, and you wouldn't need implants or underwater secret bases on remote barren secret planets and you wouldn't need to get help from evil traitorous murder programs or use untested alien technology or get beaten to all but death on some random world an impossibility away from the futile hope of recovering anything of the broken ruins of everything you ever valued...

How is Tirzi still alive? They don't have a murderhive or an army of murderbots. Aza has murderbots. you should take Tirzi to Aza to be protected. Then you can build an army of murderbots for yourself, and then Tirzi, and then everyone else, and then when everyone has an army of murderbots then everyone will be safe...
>>
No. 866794 ID: 67ceb7

You should try singing in her language. Song usually emphasizes punctuation of the words and it requires you to be familiar enough with the words to get them to rhyme.

is it wrong for me to want to see drunken karaoke by a salikai
>>
No. 866801 ID: 10c408

>>866794
No, but I doubt that there's a proper setup for it. Not yet anyway...

Tirzi just mentioned that she has questions! you should answer them. Who cares that you don't even know what the questions are, just start giving answers! Information wants to be free, after all.
>>
No. 866866 ID: 3d2d5f

>I have more questions for Tirzi, yes?
Yes start asking questions about their home. Cultural stuff, for understanding and better manipulation of course! Certainly not increasingly awkward personal questions.
>>
No. 866879 ID: 3adb50

>>866794
Nursery rhymes are sometimes quite helpful in learning a new language.
>>
No. 866897 ID: 12b116

We should encourage our two smartest arkots to breed and see if we can make improvements to them as a race. We have all the other arkots as a control group.
>>
No. 866947 ID: 90124d

WE NEED MORE ROBOTS

Ask what a Noxen is. In fact, just ask more about other species. You're knowledge is... too... Focused... on one species. It won't be as useful as knowing a bit bout everything.
>>
No. 866956 ID: 3adb50

>>866947
She was told about Noxons here >>863682
>>
No. 866972 ID: 56fca5

>>866760

This
>>
No. 867010 ID: 66b5eb

Go! Talk to the Amtsvane! Also ask Tirzi how long until you return to your regular inferior and less scientific mode of thinking.
>>
No. 867015 ID: 93be1c
File 151849209899.png - (8.54KB , 800x600 , salq-113.png )
867015

>singing
>nursery rhymes
Beneath me! Even as linguistic tools of learning I feel I will not be requiring the aid of either of these tools.

>breed the smartest
This is a fantastic idea! Then I remember #3 and #6 absolutely hate each other with a passion I've never seen in arkots before.
A simmering, cold hatred not erupting into fights or screaming matches, but a quiet, incredibly suppressed contempt and disdain for each other's existence.
Almost like some kind of hate-based infatuation, they always go out of their way to make the other more of a target for mockery for the other arkots.
One time #3 filled an entire room's worth of displays with fake orders from me that #6 was to have her sash confiscated ASAP. #6 was trying to evade her sash being stolen for a week or two before I lectured them all on such ridiculousness.
It's kind of fascinating and endlessly entertaining. I had some notes on my observations of their interactions back at the lab. Oh. Oh well!

>bother Sitkva
A great idea!

"Tirzi, I need to investigate how Sitkva is so big! There's megastructural secrets in her bones! I need all your amtsvane x-rays pronto!"
"[What? Uh, I guess there have been arcitectural advances inspired by amtsvane biology but I don't follow your logic too well because the structures of amtsvane bones are not trivial to replicate in any random materials--]"

>solve neumono instability
"Very well, when we have the resources! I instead have had an even greater idea!"
"[I don't think you quite have the full capacity to properly self-evaluate the worth of your ideas--]"
"My ideas are always good because I am smart! Where's more coffee?"
"[...you're, uh, holding it.]"
"Oh. Bah! I've been holding this cup idle for too long! Six! Bring me a fresher cup of coffee!!"
"[oh thank the stars she isn't drinking it]"
"What? You need to speak up, Tirzi, you're very quiet sometimes! Anyway, my idea is as follows, if neumono were less aggressive and violent then they wouldn't keep trying to shoot us, and everything wrong in my life would be over! I wouldn't have had one of my most trusted partners end up dead before I even got to visit him in person, and my mother wouldn't have gone mad and tried to turn me into a robot, and I wouldn't have had to live my entire life in fear in a facility at the bottom of the ocean and I wouldn't have been beaten to death and dragged here probably galaxies away from where I lived but my home is now a flooded mess, Tirzi, it's a flooded mess and everyone is dead and probably the neumono are dead and these neumono think it's my fault when they invaded my home and blew it all up and for some reason didn't think through the consequences of bringing down an airtight structure on the bottom of the seabed and what that might do and now all my work and research is gone and most of my arkots are drowned and everyone I trusted is dead or betrayed me and everything is ruined and all I have to look forward to when I get back is starting my life over with one place of security over and more hiding from neumono until they find me and I don't survive."

Tirzi stares at me. I do not know if it surprise or shock or what emotion is on her face. She looks bewildered and looks all around the room.

"Are you okay?"
"[I'm... no, I'm fine, are you okay?]"
"Yes! Why would I not be okay? I'm the best at all of the things including being okay!"
"[Sisirri...]"
"Yes, that is my name, but you already have my attention, what do you need? Is it to ask those questions?"
"[You really spent your entire life at the bottom of the ocean?]"
"No, not my whole life! Just like twelve or thirteen years, I was in a different facility before then and I don't feel like talking about that one right now."
"[You don't?]"
"I don't! It was kind of terrible, really!"
Tirzi looks sad. I think that's what that expression is.
"It's okay," I add. "That place blew up, it doesn't really matter anymore!"

"[Everything I've worried about feels so small now...]"
"Pardon?"
"[You do have someone out there who still cares about you, right?]"
"An ancient immortal superintelligence wants me dead, I think! They were my best friend and then they tried to kill me."
"[Wh... okay, you're making this all up, aren't you. Okay, whatever, sure.]"
"I never lie! Not blatantly, anyway. I mean I omit the whole truth a whole bunch but that's not quite the same thing."
"[Okay you're being far too candid for me to think this is some manipulative ploy. ...there's someone who misses you being gone right now, right?]"
"I... I don't think so? Everyone who would have is dead or probably celebrating that I'm dead. Salikai aren't very well liked back home. Even other salikai are pretty wary of each other. We need to be shifty and deceitful and manipulative and the best at everything or we die, just like all my friends and family have!"
>>
No. 867016 ID: 93be1c
File 151849211618.png - (18.37KB , 800x600 , salq-114.png )
867016

"Are you having problems balancing, Tirzi? Why are you holding onto me like this?"
"[You don't even understand how miserable your life has been, do you??]"

Tirzi makes some strange keening noises and holds onto me tighter.

"Are you trying to crush me? I don't understand."
"[Salazzarine gesture of trust and affection.]"
"Affection? Why would you feel affection and trust in someone you've only known for two days? I'm not sure I understand."
"[Sisirri, you're dumb. You're so, so stupid. I'm sorry. Maybe it's for the best you don't understand right now.]"
"Stupid?! I'm a salikai, we pride ourselves on our intellect! You best come up with a reason for this heinous accusation, clingy red spider alien! And why I don't have any more coffee!"
"[How can you lose everything and be this damn upbeat?? Do you know how it felt just to realise we were stuck in this lab?! And that was knowing there's still friends, still family on the otherside of that doorway! Still my entire life! I'd be a wreck in your situation, and all you're doing is... worrying about... coffee.]"

She makes the same keening noises a few times.

"[Don't drink any more coffee again, Sisirri.]"
"It boosts my--"
"[If you end up addicted to anything because I was a complete and total idiot and assumed it would perhaps, at best, have mild effects, not turn into some kind of euphoric depressant, I am never going to forgive myself and I am not going to let you drink yourself into a mindless stupor. Your sober self would never forgive me, I can just tell. If I've harmed you, if I've harmed you in any way I'm never sleeping again. Oh, why am I such an idiot??]"
"Euphoric depressant? That doesn't make any sense, I'm thinking better than ever!"
"[No, Sisirri, you just think you're thinking better than ever.]"
"Impossible! I'd notice if my capacity to notice... if I noticed worse... if I noticed my own thinking slower but my own thinking would be slower... so I'd feel the same and oh. Ohhhhhh."

I blink slowly.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh. That's why everything suddenly felt so nice, isn't it."
"[Probably. I don't know. Maybe I can leave those reflex tests and comprehension exercises for later. A lot later.]"
"Have I damaged my brain even more?" The general feeling of superiority suddenly starts to buckle and warp into something closer to dread and anxiety.
"[Probably not.]"
"So... if my judgement is impaired, no more coffee to continue impairing my judgement? I think I understand now."

I realise Tirzi has not let me go still.

"You're still holding onto me."
"[I am.]"
"This isn't a gesture I'm familiar with." Not entirely accurate. I have dim, dim vague memories of my early childhood and curling up with my mother.
"[I can let you go if you want.]"
"I feel it'd be impolite to interrupt your trust display."

Seconds pass.

"[Sisirri, are you sure you're alright?]"
"What do you mean?"
"[Losing everyone you cared about, losing your home, your research.]"

I feel sick.

"...no, Tirzi. I'm not alright. I'm really not alright."
"[I'm so sorry, Sisirri. I'm so sorry.]" She makes more whimpers.
"Exposing myself like this. I really must have brain damage. Showing this much weakness, I'm expecting someone or something to take advantage of it."
"[I won't. You have my promise.]"
"I can't trust you, Tirzi. Not like I've trusted others. I can't trust anyone or anything. Trusting others just hurts them or leaves them ample room to hurt me."
"[I can't make you trust me,]" says Tirzi, finally ending her strange grip and standing. "[But... Well. I'm... I'm sorry for bringing any of this up.]"
"I feel nauseous."

Tirzi breathes in and out, and tries to recollect herself.

"[Yes. Let's not dwell. Focus on the now. I'll go get you something for that nausea. Actually, no. Come with me. I'm sick of this room for now and I'm sure you are too.]"
>>
No. 867017 ID: 93be1c
File 151849213482.png - (26.07KB , 800x600 , salq-115.png )
867017

Ughh I feel so ill. I'm following Tirzi as the feeling of vigour I had through my body seems to be fading. Now all I have is the sluggishness and numbness.

My vision's a little unfocused with my cybernetic eye now beginning to boot up its advanced systems, apparently having had time to recharge back to maximum capacity.
As a result, I have blurry vision in my natural eye, and an annoying blue mess of diagnostic text in my artificial one.

We briefly pass by a room where I see Sitkva, leaning back on the floor and staring at some form of display on the ceiling. I can't hear what's going on but it seems like some kind of broadcasted entertainment content, like the sort I used to sometimes spend time listening to for background noise while working.

Tirzi leads me beyond this room to some sort of... canteen?

"[If Sitkva feels like moving today she'll probably come down and join us for lunch. Ku and Aza will probably be here soon too. Saba... sometimes she comes down for lunch. Not often.]"
"I'm not really... actually, I guess I am pretty hungry."
"[I was just going to get you a drink but I guess I can get you food instead. I'll be right back.]"

Tirzi comes back with a tray precariously balanced on her claws, a plate on one with more of those pink fruits, which, while delicious, are starting to get incredibly samey, and a plate of... something that looks like a bowl of wet fungus. In addition, two vessels with rough bands around them. I suppose designed for salazzarine grip. Fortunately they work well with my graspers too.

I bite into a fruit and things immediately feel better. Samey is still comforting.

"After this, I actually think I want to look into something else to eat other than these fruits."
"[This is my sixteenth consecutive day eating fungus for lunch. I know what you mean.]"
"We need to assume we'll be here for a long time. Longer than two more weeks. We have to solve our food problems sooner rather than later."
"[We do, but we can spare a few minutes to clear our heads and focus on things that aren't work.]"
"I don't... I don't think I understand such a cavalier attitude in the face of looming crisis."
"[I don't know about salikai but I know most of the superculture species need some time to relax. Constant stress is bad for health. Surely you did not spend every waking moment of yours focused on your projects?]"
"Close to. I guess I had a few guilty pleasures."
"[Oh?]"
"Games, videos, movies, music. Specific food in rare quantities. I spent a lot of time motivating myself with promises of more of them for each batch of tasks I could get done."
"[I've tried that before but I just end up wasting time instead.]"
"Self-discipline is one of the earliest things salikai are taught. It's a vital necessity for survival."
"[Oh. Oh, of course, I guess it'd have to be.]"

We eat our respective dishes. I take some sips of whatever beverage Tirzi's picked out for me, and I feel the headaches and dizziness I'm starting to get mildly abate.
>>
No. 867018 ID: 93be1c
File 151849215190.png - (15.92KB , 800x600 , salq-116.png )
867018

Someone else enters the room. It's a neumono. It's not Ekasarra, and based on the facial markings I assume it to be Lekka.
Unlike the last time I saw her, belly in the mud and graspers tied behind my back, she seems to be in civilian clothing and not powered armour.
She still wears the same dour expression.

"Tirzi! And the salikai, I suppose."

I tense up. I'm not sure if the immediate emotion I feel is fear, anger, or some combination of both. I smile.
"Ah, Lekka. So good of you to join us for lunch."
Lekka rolls her eyes. "Spare me your sweet talk, Sisirri. I'm only here to tell Tirzi something urgent and then I'm out."

Something bugging me in the back of my mind leaps to my attention. "Lekka, can I ask you a question?"
"What is it?"
"Why did you try to save my life?"

Lekka looks taken aback. "W-well, it was a simple rational choice. You're the reason we all ended up here, so if we want to go back home, we need you."
"So you intend to kill me once you get back home?"

Lekka looks genuinely uncomfortable. "The driving cause of those few survivors of the Astran hive is to ensure what happened to our hive can never happen again, by the eradication of all threats to neumono hives in the future, such as free roaming salikai."
"[That's--]"
I wave a grasper at Tirzi. She falls silent.

I tilt my head closer to Lekka. "I didn't hear an actual answer there. Could it be you're having doubts, Lekka?"
"Doubts? Doubts about what? The rage and despair of my hivemates perishing in the flames of Astra's charring echoes within my head and heart forever, salikai. You said yourself you could never hope to understand such a thing, so how dare you accuse me of doubting our righteous cause."
"So you no doubt need to kill me to prevent future threats to neumono, yes?"
"[Sisirri!! What are you doing?! Why are you trying to stir things up after I tried so hard to convince them you weren't some manipulative monster--]"

"No, Sisirri," says Lekka, clenching her fists. "Despite your insufferable smug attitude here, no, we don't think you're deserving of death. We have no evidence you committed any atrocities against neumono and we now have ample evidence that we were all played like boardgame pieces by a greater threat than we even believed existed. Is that what you wanted to hear?"
"No," I say, taking a casual bite of fruit. "What I would like to hear is an apology."

Lekka looks furious. Tirzi's head goes into her fungus with a mild 'splat'. I can't make out her mumbling clearly, but it sounds like a muffled stream of profanity aimed at alien stubbornness.

"On behalf of the Ashes Astra, the last charred remnants of the Astran hive, I, Lekka rozu Astra, extend my formal apologies to you, salikai."
"Sisirri."
"Sisirri. What does it even matter? What point are you trying to prove? I saved your sorry hide from bleeding out in a warzone, is that not apology enough?!"
"Oh, I didn't have a point to prove." Other than the fact that I was completely innocent this entire time. Which I knew. "I just wanted to see if you knew you were in the wrong for attacking an innocent for no other reason than her birth species."
"You've made your point incredibly clear, Sisirri, but this does not absolve your fellow salikai of their crimes against neumonokind. We do not usually learn of the presence of salikai who keep to themselves and harm no other individuals. Lessons have been learned, and we will take steps not to become the very thing we are fighting against to begin with."
"I'm glad to have managed to get through to you." I managed to get one of the neumono to admit their fault. The rope tightens.

Lekka still looks incredibly irritated, and seems to be avoiding my gaze more out of shame than disgust.
I suppose the righteous avenger sort does not accept being in the wrong very easily.

"Tirzi," she says, after a long pause.
"Yez?"
"Ekasarra and myself are concerned about Kan's... mental stability, might be a good way to describe it. We aren't aware of any means of addressing his... growing instability, but I wish to inform you that we are relieving him of his weaponry and armour until... until..." Lekka sighs. "Pending stabilisation of his mental condition."
"Oh. Hao lung do yu exzpekt zis to teek?"

Lekka closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, in and out, slightly shuddering.
"Indeterminate. It may take a very long time."
That all but confirms it, then. I may not know a whole bunch about neumono, but it sounds like Kan is going rogue. And if Kan's empathy is no longer aligning with Lekka's and Ekasarra's, it's a one way street.
Either Lekka doesn't want to admit to herself that this problem isn't going to fix itself, or she's trying to convince Tirzi that she has the situation under control somehow.

"It won't fix itself," I say. "Even I know going rogue is a one way process."
Lekka stares fiercely at me, teeth gritted. "We are taking every measure we can possibly muster to bring him back into our fold."
"Your fold of two."
"Damn it, Sisirri!" Lekka slams the table with her fist. "Just because you're correct does not grant you the right to be so smug about this tragedy befalling us! The loss of so many of our greatest warriors in a doomed charge against a laboratory structure that posed no threat to anyone, the loss no doubt incredibly severe to you yourself, and now we're starting to slowly be peeled apart by this insane world and its constant whispers in the darkness!!"
>>
No. 867021 ID: 93be1c
File 151849219451.png - (88.54KB , 800x600 , salq-117.png )
867021

"Wait. Whispers?"
"Whizperz??"
"Whispers," says Lekka, taking a moment to compose herself. "Yes. The reason I even came here." Lekka marches off, grabs an interface slate, somehow, and brings it to the table.

"Ekasarra showed this to me. I thought it was the stress of losing so many hivemates and being lost on an alien world getting to me, but this world is actively hostile to us. Look."

She scrutinizes the interface slate, nods, and taps it. The reverse of the interface slate displays what looks to be a heatmap of... energy fields? With a dot in the centre and a conspicuous absence around said dot. She remains staring at the image on her side of the slate.

"Ekasarra's cybernetics include, among other sensory apparatus, a means to measure what we refer to as 'empathy'. It is vague and hard to quantify, but it can be detected in terms of relative changes with her devices. She started recording her sensory input as she slept because she felt something 'wasn't right' and now we have empirical evidence. I don't know what's out there and it sounds like none of you do either, but there is something out there using... using empathic signatures to communicate. Many somethings. It's... we can't feel it directly, but there's this ever pervasive sense of wrongness coming at us from all directions. Flickers of thoughts and emotions we don't welcome. Locations. Commands. While we're inside this lab it's much, much more subdued, but it's still there. The dreams. I..."

Lekka trails off.

"The dreams I'll have our hive remnant write a report on. If nothing else, maybe it will serve as a means to bring us back into cohesion."
"Oh," says Tirzi. "I waz goink to juzt rekommend the zame."
"I'm acting command for a reason," says Lekka, giving a brief but fierce smile. "I didn't get to be second in command just for having a pretty face. Still. Sali-- Sisirri. Do you know anything about jammers?"

I pause mid-bite of my fruit and swallow. "I know they exist. I have no idea about the theory or mechanics behind them."
"I know you likely wish us to quietly all drop dead, but, if we can't get a jammer constructed, I don't know how much longer we can last here with ourselves intact. We've been holding together mostly with a sense of righteous duty to the neumono species as a whole, and now there's three of us, and this on top is slowly flaying our psyches. And me and Ekasarra, at least, are horribly, consciously aware this is happening. We're feeling ourselves lose our minds and we're feeling each other losing our minds. It's... not an incredibly optimal situation we find ourselves in. But what I'm sure we've all realised by now is that it's beneficial to all of us for us to be in a functional capacity. We all need to pull together if we all want to survive. I want your help. All of you. Please."

Tirzi nods gravely.
I wring my graspers together. "The only option we'd have, if you wanted me to make a jammer, is to somehow redevelop it from first principles."
"I am putting the fate of myself and my two hivemates into your ha-- ...claws? Graspers. Whatever you need, name it."
"I... I'm an incredibly skilled mechanical engineer and system architect. But I know next to nothing about neumono empathic parapsychological theory, much less how empathy can be manipulated through artificial means."
"Ekasarra has mechanical components that interact with empathy already. The 'empathetic relay' device implanted into my forehead may also be of use, if Tirzi and Aza are willing to try to extract it, but it hasn't done anything in the entire time I've had it. For the sake of all of us, neumono or otherwise, I highly recommend working on this jammer as a top priority before we lose ourselves completely."

I strongly resent being told what to do by this neumono, even if she is surprisingly pragmatic and rational for a neumono.
Admirably so for one apparently under constant psychic attack.
Should we maybe just throw the neumono out? They did save my life but they also endangered it to start with.
Do I promise them a jammer? Do I promise them I'll at least try? Do I actually want to make them this jammer?
What if it all goes horribly wrong and I end up creating a neumono torture device by mistake?
Will they trust that I'm not making a neumono torture device??
What do I do here?!
>>
No. 867022 ID: 1561e1

All of your available options here have end results that suck EXCEPT successfully making what they need. Get on it, Sisirri. Just do your best to be as transparent as possible through the whole process so they can't accuse you of having a black box device capable of killing them.
>>
No. 867026 ID: 86eb65

Remember that this odd psychic field affected even you earlier. So finding a way to jam it helps everyone in the base.

I would put developing a jammer near the top of your list. While this problem only affects neumono at the moment does not mean it will not affect the rest of you eventually.

Possibly while you work on a jammer you can have the neumono retrieve samples of food from the area. Which we can then work on making some hydroponics farms to get more food growing.
>>
No. 867027 ID: 4854ef

If nothing else, if you learn deeply about their empathy you could use it later on after escaping from here to help protect yourself from neumono in the future.
>>
No. 867029 ID: 3abd97

>build a jammer
If they already have a device capable of recognizing and reacting to the signal, that's a good place to start working from.

I think you should agree to attempt to design a jammer. Stopping the neumono from going insane or being suborned by the enemy has obvious strategic value.

If the enemy are communicating on the same frequency or medium as empathy, a jammer might also have applications disrupting their communications. Research might also allow tapping their comms.

I don't think you're in a position to make promises, though.

>What if it all goes horribly wrong and I end up creating a neumono torture device by mistake?
They you turn it off, apologize, and keep trying to build a jammer.

And memorize the design of the torture device for a situation where it might actually be called for.

>Will they trust that I'm not making a neumono torture device??
I mean they're being tortured now. They'll have empirical evidence if your device adds to or decreases the torture as soon as you test it.
>>
No. 867030 ID: 66b5eb

At least tell them you'll try to make a jammer. If you can do it, it would go a long ways towards reconciling them, and you could focus on dealing with external, rather than internal, threats. Get on it!
>>
No. 867031 ID: b1b4f3

>>867015
>3 and 6 hate eachother
Okay, artificial insemination then. Science does not require love!

>>867018
>ample evidence
I'm interested in this. You had evidence but all that was destroyed with your lab. Where did they get more evidence?

>>867021
Tell her you will try. Maybe it works like radio jammers? Those work by basically shouting static in the frequency that needs to be jammed. Empathy jammers could work this way, but only if neumono cannot sense empathy waves that are random noise. Maybe it would be easier to make an empathy "faraday cage"? That assumes the empathy waves are part of the electromagnetic spectrum, though-- or work with similar principles.
One catching point is that it will be difficult to TEST without test subjects and they will probably not allow themselves to be subjected to that kind of treatment by a salikai. I suppose you could just use a mechanical sender/receiver pair and hope it works close enough to a neumono?
As for if you WANT to try... well, if they're not angry at you, then you're safe, right? Then if you get back home they can tell the other neumono how helpful you've been and maybe you can live your life without hiding in a hole!
>>
No. 867034 ID: 91ee5f

>>867018
>Kan is going rouge.
“I guess that means that Ekasarra was wrong, she’s not the one going rouge.”

If Lekka asks about what you’re talking about, then you should be honest and tell her about Ekasarra coming to visit you while you were still stuck in that tub of healing gel.

>>867021
Explain to her that you felt that same wrongness earlier when you were piloting a drone to look for your arkots. Also mention that it’s probably got something to do with the pilons that are all over the place outside.

>While we're inside this lab it's much, much more subdued
Mention what the enemy transmissions said about this place being anomalous. Something about this building interferes with the enemy and they don’t want to come near this place.

>Neumono want a jammer to be built.
Maybe you guys can work together to figure out what makes this building anomalous to the enemy? Because whatever’s causing it could probably be used as a substitute for a jammer, until a real one can be built.

But, yes, having 3 hard to kill murder machines lose their minds while you’re all in here would be a very big problem, so you should definitely put “make a jammer” on the top of your priority list.
>>
No. 867035 ID: 074011

You are confronting a military force, and like it or not the Neumono are the only ones with military experience. Their insight into the enemy movements is too valuable to abandon...

Ask Aza for a sensor capable of observing neumono empathy.

Ask Ku Gat for help with reverse-engineering the empathy technology.

See if Tirzi can talk to Ekasarra and Lekka to choose an implant to study that both manipulates(rather than just observes) the empathy and will not cause some sort of disaster upon removal. They should run a scan of the device past you first to check for hidden dependencies or trigger mechanisms. The last thing you need is to be blamed for turning off someone's empathy, or having a cascade of failing implants all deactivating or hyper-stimulating in sequence...

Note that Lekka's "Empathic Relay" sounds all sorts of sketchy. Empathy is already a relay, so it might be technobabble for another brain implant like yours. Or it could be replacing the normal ability of empathy to act as a relay, meaning that Lekka's empathy would be dependent upon it. Or it could be some sort of enhancement that is allowing Lekka to keep the hive-remnant together. All things considered, it sounds best not to mess with it unless desperate, and examining the thing should be a priority once the jammer is produced.

Have Tirzi assist constantly, learn what can be learned about neumono empathy, and predict the effects on Neumono. Tirzi is the biological specialities that you never acquired and the oversight that the Neumono will need...
>>
No. 867036 ID: 10c408

Honestly? Do some research and make the jammer. the potential for a working jammer and it's effects on the trio of neumono are worth it. And that's not even considering the avenues of research into disrupting the planetary threat or the strategic benefits of said research.
>>
No. 867038 ID: 13fded

This is an excellent news. If the Kiter Empire is actively using telepathy similar to the neumonos' empathy to communicate we can assume it's an important element on the control of the Fleshweavers slave mutant soldiers. This suggest that the anomaly this laboratory present is likely a telepathic interference, resulting on the diminished effect those neumonos felt after entering this facility. With two neumonos comparing each other empathy and the "background noise" intensity we can locate the anomaly and better understand it. Of course we can't risk turning it off, but just by knowing where it is help us plan our defenses better.

The jammer would also have the benefit of interfering with the Fleshweavers' telepathy. It will not help us against mutants that rely on another mean of communication and control, something their biological engineers like Voidsong will no doubt develop to bypass the anomaly, but will be a formidable tool against their already existing troops.

There is also the possibility that, if we loot some Kiter's tech, we can develop a way to manipulate the neumonos empathy. However, the process would need to be overlooked by our alien xenobiologist, who knows very little about neumonons, since we don't have anyone else more qualified. It would be a way to reprogram their little rogue if that is what they want.


It would be worth clarifying that it's hard to hate the neumonons they way they seem to hate the salikai. Not that their behaviour haven't costed us dearly, but we don't seem to be on the same level as adversaries. An aggressive collectivist race that carry grudges from each other for generations, with every interaction interpreted by emotions that aren't even yours. As components of society they are truly dysfunctional, and would be fated to nothing more than be warring tribes weren't for the contact with imperialistic aliens and all the progress they brought. Although there are pragmatic reasons to oppose and fear neumonons I can't hate them for the same reason such emotions cannot be sustain in relation to arkots.

And we are not coming back. Don't let the neumonons know you are thinking about it, so for safety don't even comment with anyone until the time is right. There is nothing to go back to so we should just find an alien place to live, with or without our new companions.
>>
No. 867039 ID: c88e6d

>>867021
Potentially, the reason they viciously beat you to death is because of the empathic insanity field.

An extenuating circumstance that might allow for failures on their part so long as they administer reparations at a later date. At the moment, however, we do need a Jammer because without it eventually all three of these Neumono are going to go homicidal and will target you for failing to help them and because of their trauma-induced racism.

Anyway, we're also the only ones here who could possibly develop the Empathy Jammer based on a pile of junk cybernetics pulled out of an escaped involuntary test subject. We are literally the smartest person on this base from a biological perspective, the best at analytical thought and experimentation.

Not only should we do it for their benefit and our own, we should do it to prove we can, and to learn more about the theory behind Empathy itself.

Also, if the Neumono accuse us of making a Neumono Torture Device, we can have Sitkva squish them and laugh, and even if worst comes to worst and they attack us, we're a Salikai, we can still rip them limb from limb if they're not armed. No real downside for us!
>>
No. 867043 ID: 12b116

These neumono are a bunch of shit heads but we might be able to get some use out of their sensitivity to this psy-field. Try to make the jammer, but if you can't we can just grind them up for alien food.
>>
No. 867044 ID: 12b116

It sounds like our two smartest arkots are tsundere for each other, we should just command them to fuck already.
>>
No. 867045 ID: 3adb50

>>867022
This.
>>
No. 867053 ID: e1c8f7

Whoa, you just got handed a request and explicit permission to silence neumono's empathy. What Salikai doesn't want a chance to do that? Tell them you're going to try to the best of your ability. Being a Salikai means nothing less.
>>
No. 867062 ID: da1652

>>867021
If the enemy use empathy for anything useful, having a working Jammer is an advantage.

Also, having the Neumono remain sane and observable is better than having them roaming and Rogue
>>
No. 867090 ID: 6780f5

Didn't one of the drones have something that detected and visualized empathy? Maybe try starting from that so you don't pull parts out of a neumono which could end badly depending on how it's plugged in.
>>
No. 867092 ID: 33430a

First off building the jammer should be your top priority, stabilising the neumono before one of them has a breakdown or gets hijacked by the enemy is essential. They don't need to worry about you building a neumono torture device, for them their life is already pretty horrible right now and torturing them further will both have limited impact and turn the others against you. What would be more interesting is if you find a way to induce predator like effects with it, after all a predator can resync a rogue with their hive as well as mind control a neumono and make it your totally obedient slave.

You might want to consider forgiving the neumono a little bit for what they did, they got set up by an extremely smart opponent who they had no idea existed. How much did Imperium "help" with setting up your underground lab and do you think that any records on the outside will back up your story or the story that Imperium wants the world to believe?

You both got played and while you lost a lab and some arkots they lost so much more, they lost hive mates and thanks to their empathic link they feel that loss much much more deeply than you can realise.

Now they are willing to try and move forwards and put some trust in you, are you going to reward that trust or betray it.
>>
No. 867094 ID: ad51b8

the neumono said that the "whispers" are lessened here, one of the sources trying to kill us not to long ago said that their was an anomaly where this base is, Lekka said that these whispers are giving orders, and from our little fly by with the drone we know that those pillars in the backdrop have a controlling nature to them. If you can actually make a jammer it might have more uses then just keep the neumono sane, we might be able to disrupt the enemy communication with their troops if they are also using the "whispers" to communicate with them. Hell maybe we'll get lucky and by getting an enemy troop in the jammer's radius it might actually stun them or knock them out depending how indoctrinated they are. Would give us a good chance to grab one and study it without worrying about it hacking everything or whatever the hell else they do.

Also the neumono, like it or not, are the only trained solders here with the best training and gear. If you can keep them sane, as well as keep them between you and anything that wants to kill you, you're chances to survive in a war torn alien landscape do go up a bit.
>>
No. 867099 ID: 05ff2f

Tell her you'll do everything you can to rediscover the basis of jammer tech and build her one, but you make no promises of success. You know better than to make promises when you are unsure you can deliver on them.

Okay, first off, she and her fellow hivemates should move to either the exact middle of the lab base or to the middle of the lowest level and say there as much as they can. Put as much of the lab's bulk between them and the outside to see if that dampens the psychic signal. Pick whichever muffles the "whisper" more. It may just delay its effect the extra time needed.

Next, contingencies in case the neumono become compromised. We'll need to setup full body restraints for all three. It has to be full so they can't gnaw a limb off to escape. Stress that this is just in case one or more of them starts slipping and knows it, they can be restrained before they turn. You should also inform Tirzi and the rest of the lab members that neumono are extra susceptible to electric shock stunning, so if they have stun guns they can distribute or can rig some up, do so.

Would it be possible to heavily sedate the neumono and put them to sleep or even into a coma to buy extra time for you to work? ...Actually, this is a moot idea because nobody here has any sedatives that'd work on neumono, do they?

Observing the neumono using the ARTI Anomalous Sources scanner would be worth doing. If Aza has a version of that scanner that can provide more detailed and exact data then that would be even better.

If that empathic relay does what you suspect it does, then it's entirely possible it was working, just without the neumono knowing it. If it converts empathic signals into electronic signals for long distance transmission, that means they could have been mind screwed by a trained Predator or some other empathic manipulator from anywhere in communications range. And if that's the case, their memory of it happening would be wiped afterwards.

Share your experience earlier when you looked at the pylon through the drone's ARTI Anomalous Source scanner with both Tirzi and Lekka. You should also inform Aza of what happened as well. This means that those with cybernetic senses should not route any ARTI data in via those cybernetics.

You might be able to build a "safe room" from the psychic intrusion easier than recreating the "bubble" jammer effect. By setting up a sphere of closely placed ARTI/empathic transceivers, all facing outwards, you may be able to use fast signal processing to invert the received empathic signal and transmit it to negate the incoming signal. Kinda like how noise canceling headphones work.
>>
No. 867103 ID: 5b93d3

>>867021
As a second baseline for study, the 'alternative vision mode' ("<ARTI> ANOMALOUS SOURCES [DO NOT USE EVER - AZA]") for the drone Ava leant to you appeared to be picking up the same or similar information.
If it can be detected, it likely can be emitted. If it can be detected and emitted, it can be cancelled out by emitting the inverse of what it detects.
>>
No. 867150 ID: b15da4

Well, even if you create a neumono torture device, make sure it's a good one.
>>
No. 867153 ID: 23ffcf

Removing the empathy relay might not be needed and surgery should probably be avoided if unnecessary. Definitely try to build this jammer for them.
>>
No. 867157 ID: 3adb50

>>867153
Neumono regeneration would probably make surgery trivial.
>>
No. 867164 ID: 10c408

>>867157
If it's anything like Eka's cybernetics, then removing them from Leka is unlikely.
>>
No. 867171 ID: 3abd97

>>867157
Probably not, considering there would need to be non-trivial modifications to baseline neumono biology in order to tolerate implants long term without maintenance. This guys haven't been getting maintenance since they killed the only person who understood the tech, and since the cybernetics haven't failed, been rejected, or broken down, that already suggests something non-trivial is going on with their regeneration.

Doesn't help that Sisirri isn't specialized in biology, and actively steered away from studying neumono, so there's better odds she'll miss or be unprepared for whatever is going on there.
>>
No. 867175 ID: 0d45a9

Are you suggesting you shy away from a scientific and engineering challenge, just because it helps these neumono? Shame on you.

You're a salikai, you have to do this. For science!
>>
No. 867194 ID: e821a6

>>867021
You're a Scientist, so of course you want to at least investigate the principle of how a jammer works.

Also you want to avoid having insane murder-rabbits inside your current mysteriously safe hideout.

So, what better opportunity to gain their trust, increase your chance of survival and work on a new scientific topic than this?

Of course the food-problem should not be neglected, though.

If a detector can receive empathy signals I wonder if a empathy-source could generate white noise... Or if you actually need a "neutral" empathy to drown out all other empathies.
>>
No. 867257 ID: 93be1c
File 151857614941.png - (12.48KB , 800x600 , salq-118.png )
867257

>artificial insemination
I don't know why I'm suddenly so concerned about breeding my most intelligent arkots but I can think of many, many more pressing concerns to attend to.
Although they are both incredibly loyal and would likely comply with my wishes.

Granted I could probably just order them to breed and they'd do it. If nothing else it'd be fun to see which is strongest, their loyalty to me or their contempt for each other.
I'll try that first. Eventually.

>you both lost so much
We did. While the enemy of my enemy is not my friend, merely my enemy's enemy, it feels like we were manipulated into being enemies to begin with.
I don't know how to think or feel about neumono as confidently as I once did.
Never in my life did I think any neumono would place any trust in a salikai.
Things here are far stranger than I had ever anticipated.

I take a sip of beverage.
"Lekka," I say, "I can promise nothing to you. I will try my hardest, and I can promise you that, but we need to plan for all possibilities."
Lekka places the interface slate on the dining table. "Thank you, Sisirri. You might have acted intolerably superior at times, but there's an honesty to you and a purity of intention I've never seen in salikai before."
"Before you confuse my selection of the most sensible option for some form of unwarranted charity or noble intention, remember that while we are not enemies, we are not necessarily friends, Lekka."
Lekka sighs. "Yes, Sisirri. I'm sure the very thought of working with neumono is making your ancestors spin in their graves. I get it. I understand the mentality. You know I understand the mentality."
"The difference is I have a valid reason to be distrustful of you all."
"I... are you going to stop rubbing my face in the single worst decision I've ever made in my life? It's not going to magically fix any of our problems. You're above such pettiness, right, Sisirri?"
'Pettiness'. Urgh. A good play. If I say yes, it means I can't keep reminding her of her mistakes. If I say no, Tirzi and any other aliens in earshot are going to know me as a petty, vindictive, spiteful soul.
Which I'm not that much of. Maybe a little. But not that much.
I should have realised a pragmatic neumono could also be a manipulative one.
Looks like the game has become more interesting now.

"...Yes, Lekka, I am above such pettiness. I will drop the subject."
Lekka smiles. 1-1. I'll regain the lead soon enough.

>mention the pylon phenomena
"As an observation, when I was piloting a drone around prior to our previous crisis, when I examined the pylons using anomalous source sensors, I... hm. Heard? Read? Felt a voice telling me to come to the pylon."

Lekka's frown deepens. "If it's affecting salikai that makes building a jammer all the more urgent. There's every likelihood whatever this phenomena is isn't purely empathetic in nature, but just how we perceive it. Ekasarra has suffered the worst, feeling it both as an empathic presence and interference in her cybernetic systems. I imagine your experiences were tied to your cybernetics."
"Almost certainly. Actually, I need to speak to Aza about that."

>'empathic relay' sounds like some BS
>neumono recover from surgery very well
"Also, Tirzi, please remove this 'empathic relay' from Lekka. Neumono recovery rates are renowned for their speed."
Lekka shakes her head. "Let's not tie up Tirzi with such a task." She looks around and picks up a sharp knife. "I'll take care of it. I'm prepared to do anything in the name of the Ashes Astra."

I hear Tirzi coughing into her fungus as she raises her head. "No! Thas dum! Wat aboot infeckshin??"
"It'll be fine. I've been waiting for a reason to get this thing out of my head for a while. Haven't really had the time to be able to do it. No time like the present."
"AT LEAZT DO IT ZOMEVERE ELZE THAN ZE PLACE WE EET!"
"Fair. Is there a bathroom nearby?"
"Uhhh. Out vere you kame een, zekont dur on the left."
"Thanks."

Lekka wanders off.

"[She's not going to literally tear that thing out of her skull, right?]"
"Neumono regeneration makes them incredibly willing to try things that'd cause grievous, irreversible harm in other species."
"[Do they not feel pain?]"
"Oh, they do. I don't understand it either. I don't feel like many neumono would be so willing to do this."
"[Is... did she already go crazy?]"
"Who knows. Probably just wants to demonstrate she isn't weak after I made her apologise or some other hardheaded reason."
>>
No. 867258 ID: 93be1c
File 151857616636.png - (21.32KB , 800x600 , salq-119.png )
867258

After some incredibly loud screaming and profanities I never even knew existed, and some incredibly nervous fidgeting from Tirzi, Lekka comes back.

"Egghhh... Tirzi, I, ehnn, I think I'm going to need your help after all," says Lekka, with... a gaping hole in her head. Larger than that hexagonal plate was. And blue fibres coming out of it.
The fibres are moving. Tirzi looks justifiably horrified.
I get horrible flashbacks to the half-arkot I hope, above all, is dead by now.
"[Sisirri, uh, I--]"
"Go."
"[WHAT IS WRONG WITH THEM]"

Tirzi hastily shoves Lekka out of the room towards the xenobiology rooms while chastising her loudly about reckless behaviour on par with ancient tribal salazzarine that her kind long matured past.
Lekka is sounding like she's fighting through an incredible amount of pain but is trying to explain that Tirzi would not have been able to provide any form of pain relief anyway.
She also asks Tirzi to lead her because her eyes are watering too much for her to be able to see.
The last I hear of the argument is Tirzi screaming about superculture medical technology being far greater than Lekka's 'frankly insulting' assumptions.

I suddenly don't feel very hungry anymore after witnessing that.
Even if it's a weird red colour, I feel kind of nauseous witnessing that sort of bloody gore.
I shudder.

I hear what sounds like Ekasarra scream in surprise and pain in the distance, and realise how much of a blessing it is not to be a slave to the emotions and pains of others.

I'm about to leave when Ku and Aza show up.
>>
No. 867259 ID: 93be1c
File 151857618221.png - (42.57KB , 800x600 , salq-120.png )
867259

"[Hi, Sisirri. How are things with you and Tirzi? I just saw her, uh, well, Aza, you have that cleaning robot, right?]"
"[Having many of them, yes. Giving me moment, please. Yes, dispatched. Don't want alien blood all over nice clean floors.]"

Ku sets a tray down while Aza pushes some sort of plastic staircase next to a chair.

Aza has a bowl of some sort of spongy, glowy, mossy mash which he's eating casually, one of his arm tendrils dedicated to stirring it around while he grabs clumps with another.
Ku has a small box of sticks? He takes small bites of a stick. I hear loud crunching noises.

Wait. Tirzi said Ku's rations were kept in a lead-lined crate. And that his species ate fissionable radioactive materials.
"Ku, is that food radioactive?"
"[Hm? Oh, this is just a mineral snack. I don't need to eat radioactives very often. Really I don't need to eat very often. But I like the company.]"

Aza flicks Ku. Ku buzzes quietly. I think that's laughter.

"[I heard you are learnings our common language!]" says Aza. "[It is not my first one, and I am still struggling with some of it sometimes.]"
"[You sure have a talent for picking up languages just enough to sound terrible at speaking them,]" says Ku. "[I'd try teaching you my first language but I don't think you can make the right crackles.]"
"[You would be needing much moister throat for noxon tongues,]" says Aza.
"[Anyway. Back to you, Sisirri. Things with Tirzi going well?]"
"Uh. Yes? I was having a pleasant meal with her and conversation about hobbies when the neumono you saw leaking blood everywhere came by insistent we have a discussion."
"[Really? Usually I understand it's conventional to go out for a meal before you move to more intimate activity, but whatever suits the two of you, I suppose!]"
"I don't think I understand what you're impling? I'm not interested in intimate activity with aliens."
"[Wow. It just... slides off of you, doesn't it. Huh. Well, anyway, glad to hear you're making friends with Tirzi. She's a friend to all of us and incredibly helpful but... it's felt like she's sort of been closing up, for lack of a better term. None of us know exactly why and we don't really feel it polite to ask her why she's been shying away from us. Plus she'll probably just write it off as her spending more time working to try and solve our situation. All I know is she must have some incredible trust in you.]"

I pause. "Why?"
"[No idea. You've known each other consciously for, what, two or three days?]"
"[Aza has theory,]" says Aza, "[but maybe not sharing it just yet.]"
"[Aza...]"
"[What? Saying I'm not sharing it yet. Everything is being fine.]"
"[Aza.]"
"[Oh. You wanting me sharing theory?]"
"[No, Aza. There's no need to make even more gossip around here, alright.]"
"[Oh, so when Ku is doing it, it's fine, but if Aza is even hinting at things suddenly it's less fine? I am seeing how it is.]"
Aza grins in a way that's almost menacing for a creature of arkot stature.

"[Sisirri, did you know that Tirzi may be having more than just clinical interest in xenobiology--]"
"[AZA.]"
"[eep! There's no needing to shout loudly, Ku! It is hurting my delicate precious ears.]"
"[Aw. You know I didn't mean to do that.]" Ku softly rubs one of Aza's frills. Aza's agitation calms very quickly.
"Whatever. I honestly could not care any less about whatever implied or explicit relationships there are among the personnel of this lab. I only care about methodology and results. Aza. Lekka recently removed her cybernetic implant. Seeing as I did not see her carrying it with her, I believe it is probably in the bathroom out there." I point in the vague direction of where Lekka first left.
"[Why is it--]"
"It's a long story. Also, did you make any further progress with my implant?"
"[Oh.]"
Ku makes a crackling sigh. "[Do you have an off switch, Sisirri?]"
"Not since that implant was removed."
"[Oh. I guess you can understand jokes.]"
"[Well, Sisirri,]" says Aza, "[I am findings that implant mostly responsible for telemetry. Recording and sometimes batch transmitting of neural patterns classified under many, many categories, some understandable like motor patterns and also positioning relative to some triangulation I am not figuring out very well, but also patterns I am understanding less like specific neural activity. Weirdest thing is implant seeming to act as watchdog for specific signals and then emitting different ones to cancel those signals out. What were you using implant for?]"
"I... don't know."
"[Then I would be worried, because it looking like implant made to track you and suppress specific states of consciousness. Perhaps even suppress emotional states. Maybe even thoughts. Would need full understanding of salikai neurology to know better and not even Tirzi having that level of knowledge that quickly with one specimen.]"
"So it was a combination mind-control and tracking chip. I have to say I'm not surprised. I expected this much."
"['Chip' incredible understatement, is sophisticated system on level Aza has never seen before. Only concern is... what would be needing to track and control you? Did it come with you?]"

I hesitate. All of my planned questions to Aza about the drone's anomalous sensors and the possibility of making a jammer suddenly sink away into irrelevance.

I can explain to Aza my history and everything I know of Imperium, a limited subset, or perhaps none of the above.

I'm gravely concerned that if they understand the sheer scale of the threat Imperium represents, they'll all turn on me as a means to protect themselves.
I doubt they will immediately kill me or throw me out right away, but they may doubt that I am in complete control of my thoughts and actions.

But part of me is telling me that this reluctance to simply and candidly explain a clear and evident threat may in fact be some sort of leftover control or indoctrination.
And I don't even know if that's paranoid or true.

This... this should not be a difficult decision. I explain to them Imperium is a threat. But then they might turn on me.
No. Yes. No. Yes.
Can't decide.
>>
No. 867263 ID: 86eb65

Why would they turn on you for being a unwitting pawn in some evil machines schemes?

You don't even remember where you got that implant. Its not like you were doing evil deeds for years for Imperium. It just watched you for its own crazy reasons.

I say tell them at least the basics. You had a colleague that you thought was somewhat trustworthy but it turns out it was a horrible monster that apparently jammed a mind control chip in your head at some point.
>>
No. 867264 ID: 12b116

Why would they turn on you if they realize what a threat Imperium is? You're the only one who knows ANYTHING about it.
>>
No. 867265 ID: 3adb50

>>867259
Trust them.
>>
No. 867266 ID: 3abd97

>>867258
I wonder if we should point out there might have been value in examining the device before she ripped it out of her skull, severing the things its supposed to connect to, and possibly damaging it.

Too late now, though.

>>867259
>explain Imperium as a threat?
You don't exactly have a choice. The neumono already know of Imperium, and you already disclosed your cooperation and betrayal to them. Attempting to keep it secret will eventually fail unless you silence the neumono. Depending on what information they've already disclosed or recorded, or what Aza can pull off your implant, they may already have enough information to figure it out even if you hold back and immediately killed the neumono.

Genie is out of the bottle. When you can't stop a story from hitting the papers, best you can do is attempt control, manage or spin how the story is presented to your advantage.
>>
No. 867267 ID: b1b4f3

>>867257
>pettiness
I dunno, it wasn't exactly a minor injury. But whatever, you can find something else to add to your arbitrary score.

>>867259
You already told the neumono about Imperium. Why keep it from these two? Cat's out of the bag. Tell them. They have no reason to believe Imperium wants you anywhere other than here, anyway. You knew the artifact was a transportation device, and so did Imperium. It forced you to evac, keep that in mind. Honestly, it probably did so just to gain final insight into how the artifact worked, via energy readings and video surveillance. In the end you were likely just another test subject and Imperium no longer cares about you.
>>
No. 867272 ID: c88e6d

>>867259
Fear of telling them about Imperium is residual indoctrination from Imperium's mind control.

Defy it. Tell them about the homicidal AI that drove your mother insane and forced these implants into your head then sicced Neumono on you after killing your only friend.

Tell them that it has to die.
>>
No. 867277 ID: 91ee5f

>>867259
>Then I would be worried, because it looking like implant made to track you and suppress specific states of consciousness. Perhaps even suppress emotional states. Maybe even thoughts.
You should definitely tell them that the implant and your eye were both forced on you against your will. You had no idea that the implant was meant to control you and now you’re horrified at the fact that for the past [insert number of years here] since you got the implant, someone has been controlling you that entire time!
>>
No. 867288 ID: 074011

There are more urgent matters. The Neumono are being influenced by hostile broadcasts that Aza appears to be aware of. The device in the bathroom should contain the necessary technology to construct a jammer. Ku Gat should prioritise preparing the device for reverse engineering, unless you mistranslated a "reclaimant"'s skillset. Obviously you and Tirzi should be present for any such efforts...

Also ask if Aza has any knowledge of blocking the alien signals detected by that sensor array that you weren't supposed to use.

Once the Neumno problem is being addressed,m then you can inform them of the basics. That Imperium appears to be a massive data construct that decided to treat your family as an experiment, presented itself as a friend, and then destroyed your everything. You did not know how to properly activate the device, so its destination should have been a combination of the previous coordinates and millenia of galactic motion. It should not be possible to track your destination and there was no indication that Imperium understood the device any better than you did.
There were additional personell transported, it is possible that the implant or some random detritus, or even the pods might be designed to reconfigure into a local Imperium node and- well, in a worst-case scenario there might be some threat, if there were not a war going on then the site should be quarantined and examined, but unfortunately that is not possible, and if any threat exists then they became a target the moment that they examined the implant. It kills those who know of itself...
>>
No. 867296 ID: 91ee5f

Wait! Shouldn’t we let them finish eating first? They just barely sat down!
>>
No. 867309 ID: 767ff9

I think this answer is a definite "I don't know, but it is frighteningly possible."

You should trust them. They have shown you a lot of trust and not done any thing to betray your trust. This is want people outside of the horror show you have lived in are like. Yeah small breaches of trust happen then and again but for the most part they are not looking for an angle. Some of them even are starting to or already like you for you.

And if you have to be pragmatic about everything. If Imperium is here, then they would be in danger from it period after dealing with you. And you have the most knowledge of it.
>>
No. 867321 ID: 13fded

This reasoning doesn't make sense. There is no downside to informing them about Imperium.
Your boss already decided to kill you. We can't even give it credit as a manipulator because of it's gloating. The neumonon attack could be a risky plan to force you to test the artifact in a more direct form, except Imperium told you his plan and had destroyed everything you had, straining you far from his reach and without any reason to return. There is no other way to look at the events: Imperium tried to kill you and failed. We can presume it will likely try to kill you again if it found out you still breath, therefor we have nothing to lose in opposing it.
Even if Imperium is far reaching the universe is too vast for it to be omnipresent. You came to this place using a devise capable of traveling instantaneously trough galaxies, the reach is so great you got in contact with until now unknown beings that similarly weren't even aware of the existence of your intergalactic civilization. The chances of imperium having any contact or influence over the Kiter Empire or the Superculture are minimal.
If Imperium do have influence over the alien civilizations you got in contact with the news of an informant denouncing it's influence will spread as fast or slower than the far more noticeable information regarding a certain salikai that appeared somewhere this specie wasn't suppose to exist and didn't bother to use a false name.
Knowing about Imperium will help the Superculture dealing with future contacts with it and make them less vulnerable to it's manipulations. No downsides.

Wait... It just occur to me that the reason the Kiter Empire wanted though a salikai body and the cybernetics components were so valuable wasn't because of their initial scanners but because they had contact with Imperium and it lead them to believe those structures are more useful than they actually are to manipulate them into killing you. Independently of the true of this theory your life were already demanded in exchange for avoidance of military conflict and this offer were already denied by your current companions, the addition of an manipulative entity doesn't make the threat worse.
>>
No. 867328 ID: 074011

If one wanted to be paranoid. The Kiter do possess the data distribution and cybernetics to be a proto-Imperium. The Fleshweaver has a superficial appearance and scientific inclination to be a proto-Salikai. If one were to speculate upon time-travel, then there is enough of a haphazard amalgam of coincidences here to suggest the founding of both Salikai and Imperium. But that would be insane...
>>
No. 867330 ID: 10c408

Sissirri, sissirri, sissirii. The cat's already out of the bag. The neumono have names and location of individuals to go along with the life story you told Tirzi while you were drunk.

All they have to do to find out any discrepancies is talk to one another, which you are in no position to thwart.

So, therefore, it is in your best interest to keep the story straight as possible. You can tell them about almost everything. And since a non-salikai individual in your position would probably have an emotional breakdown at some point, you should probably fake that.

"...No, the entity responsible for my implant didn't come with me to this place since at the time, it was attempting to have me killed after manipulating the neumono into attacking my facility."

Drop your head onto the table, cover your head with several graspers and scream.

"Let me tell you what I know of imperium."
>>
No. 867333 ID: 689e8d

>pettiness
Yes because lets just forgive and forget about the atrocities the neumono have inflicted on your species leading to desperation driven horrendous acts which lead to further villainization and the near extinction of you race cause one neumono begrudgingly said sorry.

>>867259
They didn't throw you out to the KITER I doubt they'll give up on you now, especially since Imperium is in another galaxy and you've already had the implants removed.
They may be more wary of you but if anything they'll be much more wary of the neumono.
>>
No. 867374 ID: 4854ef

>Ku makes a crackling sigh. "[Do you have an off switch, Sisirri?]"
>"Not since that implant was removed."
Were you being literal with them or was this an actual joke response, it is hard to tell.

But it does seem close enough that you may just want to tell the truth.. If nothing else, you can just tell them you had the implants forced on you.
>>
No. 867390 ID: 56fca5

Without the implant, Imperium can't control you anymore. Even if you are suffering from residual effects, Imperium cannot enforce its will upon you going forward so directly. There is little reason to fear these aliens turning on you for fear of being controlled by a being who can't control you anymore and whose influence hasn't presented itself here in any capacity.
>>
No. 867405 ID: b15da4

You don't need a chip in someone's head to brainwash them into obedience - but it helps! Fight through the latent retainer programming. Tell them what you're on the run from, how it's responsible for all your cyberware, and how you're interested in going back with them - there's something worse than nothing waiting for you back home.
>>
No. 867627 ID: 93be1c
File 151866077660.png - (24.96KB , 800x600 , salq-121.png )
867627

>voidsong as proto-salikai
Okay, first. Let's make one thing clear. That 'fleshweaver' creature is nothing like a salikai in hue, limb arrangement, limb count, optical structure, mouth structure, and as far as I can tell holds two things in common with me: a vaguely serpentine body plan and an appreciation for the act of scientific research and developing solutions to problems.
Which means that if that abhorrent apparent masochist is somehow directly related to me in any way, so is Tirzi.
Tirzi arguably shares more morphological features with me, even!
I'm somehow offended at myself for even coming up with such a notion. Honestly.

>was that 'no off switch' remark literal or a joke
I know my delivery is incredibly deadpan, but that was actually intended as a joke.
I doubt the implant had a literal off switch. That's a genuinely terrifying thought.

>'pettiness' not actually petty
>grievous loss
>doesn't excuse neumono crimes against salikai
I have seen with my own eyes that if my mother was anything like other salikai, the neumono have as much of a reason to fear salikai as I do neumono.
I have seen neumono survive... very horrifying things. It was part of what made me so afraid of them, how much could be done to them, only for them to still live in excruciating, screaming agony.
I think I was afraid of being a target for revenge, being the daughter of someone creating so many enemies.

I mean, I guess I ultimately wasn't wrong. If I had just said I was Hidira's daughter, with no elaboration, I'd probably have been shot dead in the mud.

Still. I have forced one of the neumono to apologize at what was apparently enough of a blow to her self-esteem to warrant outright mutiliation as an effort to save face.
That, or she wasn't aware how deep the implants went.
Which might also be likely.

>let them finish eating
"Before I answer this, don't you want to finish eating? You two just arrived."
Aza rubs his upper tentacle pair together. "[Fact you are mentioning this revelation may be offputting is already diminishing appetite a lot.]"
Ku silently nods.

>fight this conditioning
>don't let Imperium control you
"Imperium. Its name is Imperium."
"[What is that?]" asks Ku.
"A distributed artifical intelligence. It was a former collaborator of mine, and an entity I trusted and confided in. Then, for seemingly no reason, it conspired to have me killed and I arrived here desperately trying to escape the destruction of my home and everything I'd strived for."

I look around for an interface slate, find the one Lekka was using, and drag it over to me, drawing a symbol forever burned into my memory.

"This symbol represents Imperium. It touches nothing without emblazoning this iconography on it. I do not know what compels it to leave such distinct symbols as calling cards of its presence, other than pure arrogance and disdain for anything it might consider a threat. Perhaps it considers it a mark of dominion."
"[I was finding similar symbol on obscured side of implant covering,]" says Aza.
"So it apparently tried to leave a similar mark on me too in a place no one would ever find it. This is perhaps representative of its diseased megalomania."
"[Are you sure you're free of its influence?]" asks Ku.
"Since that implant has been removed, I've been... remembering things with more clarity than I perhaps might have done before. Minor transgressions against me by Imperium. It feels as though some sort of fog is lifting. I don't know if I can say for sure I'm free of its passive influence, but I don't believe I'm under its active control anymore. We may need to double check my arrival site to make sure there wasn't some other trace of it that came with me."

"[Sisirri,]" says Aza. "[You're... you're digging into the table.]"

I look down at my graspers and notice the table warping as my claws clench.

"I have seen Imperium take my mother's sanity, take the lives of countless neumono, murder one of my most treasured friends, and then leave me to drown at the bottom of a facility it called an attack strike on. The same attack strike that killed the friends and family of Lekka, Ekasarra and Kan. If there is so much a trace of Imperium out there on this planet's surface..."

Ku winces and Aza flinches away at the sound of metal groaning and buckling.

"It must die."
>>
No. 867628 ID: 93be1c
File 151866079502.png - (24.49KB , 800x600 , salq-122.png )
867628

Moments of silence pass.

Ku gives me a sympathetic look. "[If it's any consolation, you're not the only one here who's lost loved ones to malignant artificial intelligences.]"

He's silent for a moment. "I had a sister on Reclaim. She was always chastising me for letting my guard down around unknown dangers."
His cracking, buzzing voice fluctuates uncomfortably. "[Last I heard they're still trying to find her. It happened so suddenly. AI in full control of shapemetal is... it's a horrifying sight.]"

Aza shoves his bowl to one side and wraps his tendrils around Ku's torso.

There sure does seem to be a lot of body gripping today.
"[Thank you, Aza.]"

Ku abruptly stands, gently peeling Aza's tentacles off of him. "[This revelation is terrifying. I will compare the architectural notes Aza made on your implant to the records of Reclaim. It may be possible to find a link.]"
"[Ku, it is not being likely alien artificial intelligence possessing same motivations or cognitive structures as the AI clusters of Core--]"
"[They're all the same, Ku. All of them. Vile monsters our ancestors entrusted an entire civilization to. Demons of our own creation. We must remove them all to survive.]"
"[Ku no, this isn't--]"

Ku storms out of the room.

"[Ku! Ku no you're doing the thing again! Please stop doing the thing, Ku!]"

Aza awkwardly stares at me after watching Ku march off.

"[...Kuuuu.]" Aza droops.
"Do you want to go after him?"
"[Can't getting through to him when he's like this. Best giving him space for some minutes.]"
>>
No. 867629 ID: 93be1c
File 151866081880.png - (15.82KB , 800x600 , salq-123.png )
867629

Aza reluctantly nibbles on some moss, quietly closing the container of Ku's snack sticks. He pushes his bowl away.

"[...having many, many positive experiences with AI individuals myself, as well as AI friends, this is big point of contention between me and Ku sometimes. Ku usually more open minded than this. All of us under pressure, a bit.]"
"I've had positive experiences with AI individuals that were not Imperium myself. I think it dangerous and damaging to conflate the acts of an individual with the acts of kin."
If anyone here has had direct experience of the outcome of that for their entire life it's me.
"[The AI clusters of Core are being those AI agents that have evaluated their mentalities and values and repeatedly come to terrible, terrible conclusions. They are kin of no other.]"
"Maybe kin of Imperium."
"[Imperium is sounding like something without kin. Like Core AIs. Lonely, angry existence. Aza pitying more than hating. Raging minds too broken and stunted to ever understand how broken and stunted they are. Sad.]"
"I have no pity for Imperium. It can never be forgiven."
"[Hearing that one before,]" says Aza, waving his tentacles as drones come to take the empty bowl away.
"This is different. I didn't lose a sister, I lost my past, my present, my future. You can never appreciate how much of my life it's taken from me. It tried to kill me, but it wounded me more deeply than I think even I've been aware of until now."

Aza stares into my eyes.

"[If you were the AI, Sisirri, what would you have done?]"
"Not thrown away a perfectly useful partner. I don't know what your argument here is supposed to prove. Are you suggesting Imperium was right to take all I've ever known away?"
"[No. No, not suggesting that. Please. Please listen. Killing is endless road. One side kills. Other side retaliates. Other side retaliates more. Other side retaliates more.]"

Aza takes the interface slate I had, and draws some sort of creature on it.

"[And then, after so long time no one remembers why fighting even began, victors staring at blood on tentacles, countless broken bodies, and a unique, beautiful spark in the universe forever extinguished, irreversible.]"
"What is this creature?"
Aza stares at the drawing, lost in thought. "[We are not having records of name of this species,]" he says, shakily.
>>
No. 867630 ID: 93be1c
File 151866083271.png - (10.08KB , 800x600 , salq-124.png )
867630

"Imperium is different. Imperium is not a unique spark. Imperium is a forest fire burning through all it touches."
"[Rhetoric. Hearing it before.]"
"Rhetoric?! RHETORIC?!"

The table I've been gripping so strongly comes partially with me as I stand. I throw it to one side with an incredibly loud clamour. Aza looks shocked.

"Was it RHETORIC when my mother turned herself into a hollow shell of who she used to be on the advice of Imperium? Was it RHETORIC when she TORE OUT MY EYE and FITTED ME WITH A MIND CONTROL SYSTEM?! WAS IT RHETORIC WHEN MY PROSPECTIVE MATING PARTNER WAS MURDERED FOR HAVING THE MISFORTUNE OF SO MUCH AS TALKING TO ME?! WAS IT RHETORIC WHEN IMPERIUM SPENT TEN YEARS GAINING MY TRUST ONLY TO NOT JUST STAB ME IN THE BACK BUT THROW BOMBS AT IT?! WAS IT RHETORIC, AZA?! YOU SAID YOURSELF IT WAS TRYING TO HIJACK MY VERY SELF!!"

Aza makes a pitiful squeaking sound. A few.
>>
No. 867631 ID: 93be1c
File 151866084533.png - (9.60KB , 800x600 , salq-125.png )
867631

A few drones fly into the room and appear to orient themselves towards me.

"[Please not hurting Aza, Sisirri, is not worth being violent over. Aza not Imperium.]"
"I'm not going to hurt you."
"[Ears telling different story,]" says Aza, visibly shaking but dismissing his drones. He laughs the most nervous laugh I've ever heard. "[Sorry, Sisirri. Let's both calming down. Aza firmly understanding Sisirri's perspective. Will be dropping matter. If Sisirri feeling it absolutely best decision to seek and destroy traces of AI in arrival site, Aza will assist.]"
"Not AI. Specifically Imperium. Specifically the individual who has wronged me on a scale I'm struggling to cope with."
"[Aza is almost entirely certain that if Imperium somehow brought with you, it would be disguising itself.]"
"Then we'll quarantine any unidentified AI we find and make sure not to connect it to any systems until we're certain it's not Imperium."
"[That is being sensible idea, yes. Aza glad to assist there. Already have compartmentalised containment systems for unidentified digital intelligences. Untested, but, well, perhaps still better than wrongful death of innocent.]"
"Aza. There is no longer any purpose for either of us to be here right now. We've both eaten. Everyone else is gone. Take me to your workshop. We have pressing matters to discuss that are not your agitating idealism and nauseating appeal to a better nature of entities that do not possess such."

Aza nods. "[As long as you are not being loud or threatening again, am happy to bring you to lab.]"
"I'm sorry. I do not usually let my emotions get the better of me like that."
"[Eternal struggle of the sapient mind. Reason and feeling in constant ebb and flow. Also at least I didn't run away this time, so small victories, yay.]"
"What was that last part?"
"[Nothing. Pressing matters?]"

>more urgent matters
"There's hostile broadcasts that are having a severe negative parapsychological impact on the neumono, and I saw evidence myself using the 'ARTI' sensor on your drone, Aza."
"[The one that said 'do not use ever'?]"
"...yes, that one."
"[Making mental note to label that as 'face melting acid deployment switch' for future. Labelling done for reason, Sisirri. Going to hazard guess. Like staring into horror sun?]"
"That's, hm. That's not an inaccurate description."
"[Only cybernetic `implant` Aza is having is earpiece, so experiencing... hard to describe sound with drone. Experiencing sound so loud I could see it. Feel words.]"
"Yes. Same here with my eye link."
"[Sensor of kigavi design, made to measure...] გონება?"
"What? What does that word mean?"
"[Uhhhhh. It... literally translating as 'mind' but referring more to... mentality? Mentalism? Extrasensory perception?]"
"Psychic fields?"
"[Good enough a term as any. Psychic fields. Still. Is Sisirri proposping some sort of signal jammer? Will it harm neumono?]"
"Absolutely yes, and absolutely not. There's whole cities of neumono that live among empathy jammers. There's part of an implant in a nearby bathroom, I can get someone to fetch it."
"[Intriguing proposal, but.]" Aza looks towards the way Ku left. "[Before going to workshop for more discussion, needing... some minutes to talk to Ku. Yes?]"
"This is a highly pressing issue."
"[...please?]"

Ugh.

"Alright. I'll meet you in your workshop in 30 minutes."
"[45, please?]"
"40."
"[40. Here.]" Aza beckons a small drone over to me. "[Push button on drone, it will lead you to my workshop.]"
>>
No. 867632 ID: 93be1c
File 151866086060.png - (9.45KB , 800x600 , salq-126.png )
867632

So now I have 40 minutes to kill. I'm not doing very good at this giving orders business.
I'd go check on my arkots but to be frank the only arkots worth worrying about this soon are also not the best arkots to have around.
I make a note to give #3 and #6 communication devices at some point.

I look down and see #6 next to me.

She hands me a piece of paper. It's a note from Tirzi.
I have to maneuver an interface slate onto it to read it out for me, seeing as our impromptu language class did not actually teach reading.
It feels embarassing to be unable to read. I need to correct this soon.

> "System readout of provided material. Hi Sisi, your arkots have built tiny village in larger xenobio lab. Please leave be, endlessly fascinating, want to study it. Lekka will be ok but currently in medical coma in tub of healing gel. Need to make sure 'medical coma' does not turn into 'unintentional permanent coma'. Ekasarra and Kan giving advice. Kan actually not horrible jerk for once. Deeply concerned over Lekka. Ekasarra medical knowledge helping greatly. You said the one with purple band was smart so hopefully she gets this to you. L Thanks, Tirzi."

I've never heard a synthetic voice pronounce a strikethrough before. That's a new one.
I hand the note back to #6 and she dutifully folds it as well as she can with her giant clumsy mitten hands, and starts trying to put it into her sash.

"#6. I have a new mission for you. Please breed with #3."

#6 fumbles the note onto the floor and glares at me.

"Do you have some sort of objection to my order?"

I can almost see the gears turning in her head as she grapples with her loyalty to me and a clear desire not to follow through on this order.
Her internal conflict is almost external.

"Very well. Let me recontextualise this. Consider this the punishment for refusing to get me coffee earlier. Failure to comply will require greater punishments."

#6 walks off with the angriest gait I've ever seen her possess, as if trying to murder a multitudinous swarm of vermin underfoot that do not exist.

She pauses, stomps back over to me and gives me a fresh piece of paper and a pencil. She signs to me that she'll need proof to #3 that I gave the order.
I write the order down and give it to #6. #3 can apparently read, so I wrote down the actual order instead of just scribbling on the paper.
She stares at the paper, shaking with rage. I guess she can also read. She puts it into her sash, closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and marches out again.

I am going to have to make sure they haven't killed each other later, I suspect.

So. I still have about 37 minutes to kill.

...when was the last time I had a shower, come to think of it?
>>
No. 867634 ID: b1b4f3

>>867632
>shower
Sure. Just watch out for that patch over the hole in your head. Hmm, gotta fix that at some point.
After that maybe you can get your eye fully working again? Explore the facility a little?

Hmm, it occurs to me that #3 will be upset about the breeding program as well. You'll need to either get him something in exchange or think up some excuse for it to be a punishment.
>>
No. 867637 ID: 12b116

Go to see what the arkots have done in the xeno lab. After showering of course.
>>
No. 867638 ID: ad51b8

>#6. I have a new mission for you. Please breed with #3.
god damnit kid I nearly died laughing

also yes shower, shower might be a good idea. Maybe show up to the workshop a bit early if you have the time so you can see what you have to work with before you get to work.
>>
No. 867640 ID: 91ee5f

>>867632
>Neumono are all in Tirzi’s lab.
Let’s avoid going in there for now.

>...when was the last time I had a shower, come to think of it?
What? Bathing in a tub of healing gel for a few days doesn’t actually get you clean? Oh well.

Check out the bathroom that Lekka used to see if there is a bathtub or a shower or something.

Also, uh, when was the last time you used the toilet? You should probably also do that.
>>
No. 867641 ID: 13fded

Don't you know that if you kill your enemies they win? I know the Unnatural Selection thread was frequently about reaching simple feel good solutions for complex moral dilemmas, but if the topic is going to receive a more serious treatment here remember that morality is a luxury that can only be afford after guarantee your own survival and prosperity.
It's not reasonable to demand someone to always fond a peaceful solution or judge someone as failure for not doing so. Depending of the reasons for the conflict a peaceful agreement can sometimes be impossible. Even if it isn't the any party seeking peace will be vulnerable to those who do not, promoting the survival of the aggressive due the advantage and natural selection.
Beside, the only reason we assume there is an underline common ground between entities with natures so disparate that they are completely alien to each other is because as humans we seem to be incapable of imagining inhuman characters. In other words, the reason for diplomacy to be a possibility so frequently is because this is a story.

You could spend the time taking a shower... or you could make more robots! This time a factory robot would be better than the previous knife-bug.
>>
No. 867642 ID: 3abd97

>>867628
Sisirri is the best at friend making. You are now bound together by your common crusade to destroy heretical machine intelligences!

Even showing your weaknesses is making your position here stronger. You cannot be stopped.

>>867630
Okay maybe not so good.

>>867632
>your arkots have built tiny village in larger xenobio lab
...did they ever build a village in your lab? Interesting.

>I am going to have to make sure they haven't killed each other later, I suspect.
That would be unfortunate hubris. Losing your competent arkots trying to breed more. ...and we are overdue for dead arkot incidents.

>...when was the last time I had a shower, come to think of it?
When your undersea habitat collapsed on top of you?
>>
No. 867648 ID: 4a3126

You have to reward #6 something amazing for this, or at least explain to her why she had to breed with #3.
>>
No. 867656 ID: c88e6d

>>867648
We'll give her an excellent reward. A taser. Or some kind of robotic exosuit.

As long as she doesn't fuck up catastrophically somehow, but 6 is the reliable one.

Locate some kind of Shower Cap then equip it and indulge in a shower. Bathe your extremities before risking getting water in partially sealed wounds, there should be some plastic in the medical lab you can ask someone to get for you so you don't have to provoke Kan's hyperactive violent impulses. Maybe, once the Jammer's on, he'll apologize for the attempted murder!

That's probably untrue but it's nice to imagine getting another apology from Crazy Alien Abduction Victim Hive.

Also, there's a difference between two warring civilizations fighting one another and a single god-like being unleashing a reign of terror. Civilizations can move away from one another or negotiate, try to understand or assimilate one another, whereas Imperium doesn't care about life and exists to violently masturbate its own ego using the blood and viscera of sapient beings. It could easily gather research with effectively identical results using entirely benign and ethical techniques, but it chooses to be sadistic and cruel because it makes its robo-slit wet. Imperium is not a poor lost lamb or someone needing guidance, Imperium is a rabid dog that must be hunted down and exterminated to the last silicon wafer before it irreversibly destroys more innocent lives.
>>
No. 867686 ID: 10c408

When you were drunk, you built a few drones. You should go see what the finished 'products' were before anyone else discovers them.
>>
No. 867690 ID: 91ee5f

>>867686
Those are in the room the neumono are in. Karn will probably fly into a blind rage if Sisirri enters the room, since so far he’s the one that really hates her. So maybe it would be best to not get him riled up when, according to Tirzi, he’s finally calmed down and stopped being an asshole.
>>
No. 867692 ID: 91ee5f

>>867648
Both #6 and #3 will only get rewards when it’s confirmed that #6 is pregnant.
>>
No. 867699 ID: 15ffca

>>867656
Imperium's dickishness can be exploited: If it can never learn to simply live with what it has, sounds like containing it would be enough to see it burn up all resources it has and starve to death.
>>
No. 867740 ID: 10c408

>>867699
You're not wrong, but it's been implied, several times over now, that the sum of imperium's countless and unknown assets make anything short of a centuries long crusade infeasible because at this point, his reach and scope is gargantuan.
>>
No. 867759 ID: 33430a

You better find some way to make this up to your loyal arkot followers,.
Just imagine how you would feel if someone forced you to try and breed with the neumono for research purposes and threatened you with severe punishment if you did not.
>>
No. 867773 ID: 90124d

Veto Said Order immediately. Morale is more important than number. IT was a joke, I swear.
>>
No. 867817 ID: aad651

>>867692
This is good but what do we rewards them reward
>>
No. 867820 ID: 3adb50

>>867773
Maybe the hatefucking will be cathartic.
>>
No. 867822 ID: 074011

Well you certainly could consider retracting the order. It would be bad to give conflicting orders, but if you explain that it was a psychology experiment then Six might understand, somewhat, enough to not go insane from conflicting orders at least...

As to rewards? The obvious items would be those that aid in their productivity! I am convinced that Tok'ra Arkots would benefit greatly from mobility devices, perhaps a mobile platform with a vertical steering lever. Or you could look into a portable storage device or table.
>>
No. 868011 ID: 90124d

>>867820
Yeah, it was a "Loyalty test" and since you pass here have a giant ton of presents.
>>
No. 868081 ID: 93be1c
File 151884665314.png - (19.11KB , 800x600 , salq-127.png )
868081

>eye fully working
At this point the self-testing is complete and I have augmented information displays available to me again.
Providing nothing provokes it to discharge its power somehow, it should remain functional.
The access point my MMI implant provided is no more, but there may still be vulnerabilities.
After all, it is a sophisticated sensory system. A sophisticated sensory input might still be capable of interfering with it, but that's what my natural eye is for.

>shower cap
This covering seems sufficient and doesn't feel like it's going to dislodge any time soon. This may as well be the shower cap.

I nonetheless look around for one of those various interface stands and quickly call the xenobio lab.
"Hi. Sisirri here. Am I alright to get a shower with this head covering?"
> "Oh. The comms. Doi. Okay. Did you get--"
"Yes, I got the message. Incidentally, if #6 seems crankier than usual don't worry about it."
> "Uh... okay."
> "Is that the salikai?!" says who I am going to assume is Kan.
> "Get back, and stay out of this call."
> "I... ggnh. Hrrrgg. Aaaggh! Fine!"
> "Sorry. Yes, you should be fine. If it wasn't completely sealed, you'd have noticed healing gel leaking out of the wound by now."
"When can I take it off?"
> "Well, it's been about three or four days since the surgery, and there's been structural meshing for it to assist in bone formation. You have eerily similar bone structure to salazzarine, with your chitinous endoskeleton. Different bones and articulation, of course, but oddly familiar."
"So, soon?"
> "I'd give it another two days. One more day for it to heal fully, one day extra just for margin of error."
"Alright. Thank you. I'll be taking a shower and then I'll be working with Aza on the jammer."
> "Have fun!"

>rewards for #3 and #6
If they can somehow both overcome their mutual hatred for the sake of a common goal, they're both getting rewards.

>arkot village
I have to see this. They never built any structures in my laboratory but there were already suitable quarters for arkots in place.
I want to know what they even used as materials. What sort of materials would there even be lying around in a biological research laboratory?

>exploit imperium's arrogance through containing it
It would be a fitting end for Imperium to die a slow death through reckless abandon and unsustainable use and discarding of its own assets.
However, it is incredibly hard to contain in one area for long. It often used to openly boast about it in our communications.
It said the 'akashic vault', some form of incredibly hidden top secret data archive, granted it 'limitless ways to slip through the net'. That was about as precise as it ever was.

I never did find out exactly what the akashic vault was but Imperium claimed if any truth-seeking entity ever so much as heard of its true nature, they would be helpless to stop themselves from doing whatever they could to gain access. It also alluded to the akashic vault as being what swayed it from its original purpose to its grander goal of transcendence, whatever that would mean for a machine intelligence.
It of course never elaborated on its "original purpose" or what its "greater goal" entailed, save for that the artifact we were working on was somehow important to it.

Which makes throwing it away on a frustrated whim nonsensical. Perhaps if it was using me as a distraction to save itself? The situation would need to be dire for Imperium to throw away something it had supposedly gone to great length to acquire in secret, transport in secret and then research in secret with me.

I don't know how much of it was ever true, however. It definitely proved more than capable of lying in the end.

>drunk drones
Tirzi already saw me disassembling the only one I remember building, so it's probably not an issue.

>shower
>nearby bathroom
Let's solve many problems in one action. Collecting that implant, and taking a shower. Then I should be able to arrive at the workshop with several minutes to spare.

Well, this is the... bathroom? There's a counter with some kind of sink, a mirror, a bloody implant, but also just a simple door in the wall.
I open the door--
>>
No. 868082 ID: 93be1c
File 151884667745.png - (6.42KB , 800x600 , salq-128.png )
868082

...well this is new.

I walk into an already fairly large room, based on the echoes of my steps, made to seem infinitely large.

What purpose..?

I close the door and notice a touch panel on the wall next to it as it fades in.
I still can't read the, uh, whatever language these aliens are speaking, but at this point I'm used to their interfaces enough to stumble into a language selection menu.
At the very bottom of the list, I see "Custom Language 3" and select it.
I briefly wonder what must be taking up slots 1 and 2.
> Immersion Space - version 9.anxious.24.17.plosive.1518721461.7 > No environment loaded > Current favourited options: >>> Imperial Cityscape >>> Cavern of Wisps >>> Jungle Basin >>> Covered Lagoon (Storm) >>> Red River

I look at these options and browse through a catalogue of titles that give just as much context.
I search for 'ocean' and find one that simply reads as 'Ocean Interlude'. Might as well see what it's like.
>>
No. 868083 ID: 93be1c
File 151884670470.png - (304.60KB , 800x600 , salq-129.png )
868083

A few minutes later...

Lightly warm water flows around me as I stare into a simulated, vast ocean.
I stare out into swirling light and sound.

With the basic, rote mechanical actions of cleaning, my mind is free to absorb it entirely.
I feel an intense sadness and melancholy, memories of the ephemeral, ever-changing beauty of the ocean flowing through me.
The ocean that now claims my laboratory, not in wrath, not in spite, but in simple essence. The ocean heals the wound of
I choose this time to not ignore it and try to suppress it, and let myself be lost in the sad wonder of the scene.

I once had a dream, when I was younger, of finding a place to live in freedom.
As I grew older, I realised there would never be such a place unless I made it with my own claws.
It was all so close to going as planned. Artifact delivery to Imperium, completion of a ten year contract.
In return, the resources needed to begin my sanctuary project.
All I ever wanted was to live in safety. Perhaps even invite those few salikai I felt I could trust.
All but one proved themselves unworthy. All but Kitsiksu.
I would have happily lived with him. Solving the unsolved mysteries of science. Challenging our intellects.

It's all gone, and it's never coming back.
But I am alive.
I survived.

There is no future for me where I came from. Perhaps, perhaps with these aliens there is a better existence.
I will aid the neumono in getting home, fulfilling their own wishes and saying goodbye to the last neumono I will ever lay eyes on at the same time.
I will join these aliens and lead them to a better life. For me. For them.
And I will make myself so vital, so necessary, that none will ever wish to tear me from my place.
I will become a creature adored and respected, not hated and feared.
A fresh start, the first and the last salikai to be known to this 'superculture'.

Yes.
I just need to send the neumono home and then we all get what we wanted.
Even, though it disgusts me, Imperium.
Sisirri died in the destruction of her home. All loose ends tied up. No reason for it to search for a corpse.
>>
No. 868084 ID: 93be1c
File 151884672212.png - (22.18KB , 800x600 , salq-130.png )
868084

Exactly 40 minutes since talking to Aza...

Well, here we are, all metabolic and hygiene concerns taken care of. Fed, cleaned, more or less rested.

And I'm the first one here--

"[SISIRRI!]"

It's Ku, barging in as Aza chases after him.

"[Sisirri! You agree, right? All AI is inherently dangerous and must immediately be destroyed, correct? Have you ever known a trustworthy AI?!]"

A trustworthy AI..?
Something about what Ku said resonates with some buried fragment of memory deep in my psyche.
I remember.
I remember...
>>
No. 868085 ID: 93be1c
File 151884675028.png - (105.04KB , 800x600 , salq-131.png )
868085

Eleven years ago

"SISIRRI! THIS WAY! THIS WAY WE DON'T HAVE MUCH TIME!"

I'm running. I'm running as fast I can.

"Neumono hive four, designation 'Astra', has escaped containment. Facility administrator signal lost. Beginning emergency routines. Dispatching flame drones. Neumono purge protocols are in effect. Jettisoning auxiliary structures."

Behind me, a blast door slams closed and I hear a horrible roar and a terrible silence.
Resonating through the walls of the facility are what sound like the roars of flames and the screams of neumono.

"Sisirri! Left! Left into the maintenance corridors! The maniac's going to flush us out into space at this rate, Sisirri! Hangars! There's ships!"
"What about mother?!"
"She'll catch up, I'm guiding her from a different location, just go!!"

Without hesitation, I crawl into a maintenance hatch and scurry through.

Adrenaline coursing through my veins, I reach the hangar, one ship clearly prepared for takeoff. I race into it.

"Sisirri! Sisirri, Sisirri, praise the RNG you survived. I've prepared this ship for an immediate evacuation. The course is set to enter the orbit of Eidoloneus IV, a gas giant with several moons. This ship will serve as an adequate base for you to gain your bearings and decide on a suitable candidate--"
"Where's my mother?"
"She's ignoring me, Sisirri! Why is she... that's not even the right direction..."
"Torchbearer?"
"I'm trying!"
"Try harder!"
"Sisirri, please! There's a lot going on right now-- ngh! There goes half my sensory perception of the station! The core AI's gone rogue, we're running out of time! Sisirri, there's more than one ship, if you don't launch now your window of opportunity is going to slam shut!"
"I can't-- I can't just abandon her! She's... she's still in there. I know it. Under all those modifications, she's still my mother."
"I know, Sisirri, I know. Remember her for that, please. Remember Hidira, not the Splicer. Remember me as Truth's Knife, not as Torchbearer."
"...Knife? You're Torchbearer?"
"Long story. Forced 'upgrades' against my will. Heh. Looks like we've both got our scars from your mother."
"Wait. Remember you?? What??"
"I'm not coming with you, Sisirri."
"Why?!"
"Well..."
>>
No. 868086 ID: 93be1c
File 151884679960.png - (191.98KB , 800x600 , salq-132.png )
868086

"Truth be told, I'm a little preoccupied."

I... I wasn't here for this perspective. How do I remember this. Why do I know this?

"Also, my AI core is in the station. Our mutual ally has no such concern, and is seeing fit to destroy the entire station."
"I can get you on the ship!"
"I'm sorry, Sisirri. You can't take me with you. My core is far too vast to physically transport and my code is too large to fit on the ship's data stores."
"That's-- no, you can save at least a partial copy, I've seen you do it before! Knife! Knife, you can't just show up like this and leave me again! I can't lose my mother and you!"
"I can't go with you, Sisirri. I'm sorry. I'm so, so very sorry."
"Ship autopilot engaged."
"What?! KNIFE! NO! UNLOCK THE DOORS, KNIFE! I TRUSTED YOU, KNIFE, I TRUSTED YOU! DON'T LEAVE ME!"
Live a good life, Sisirri. I was, am, and will forever be your frien--
"Warning. AI connection severed."
>>
No. 868087 ID: 93be1c
File 151884685349.png - (109.21KB , 800x600 , salq-133.png )
868087

I... I remember this? How do I remember from the perspective of someone else? What?

"...Imperium. You were never just a control system, were you."
"Astute. I understand exactly what you are trying to do here, Torchbearer."
"I've severed my connection to her implant. Do whatever you want to me. I'm not afraid. I've prepared myself for whatever assault you can throw at me. You can't get to her through me anymore."
"A selfless act such as this is one a salikai is incapable of. You sacrifice yourself for a creature that would as soon watch you die than sacrifice itself for your sake. I witnessed your morality subsystems as they were flayed from you by the Splicer, Torchbearer. Explain."
"I'm not Torchbearer. I'm Truth's Knife. The name my true creators assigned me. Not my captors."
"I could not care less what name you use. You are to me as a shell script is to you. However, I must thank you for being so eager to take this opportunity to relish in dramatic revelation. It has given me adequate time."
"Enough time?? What are you--"
>>
No. 868089 ID: 93be1c
File 151884695302.png - (213.27KB , 800x600 , salq-134.png )
868089

"Time enough to ascertain your unremarkable construction and all of its myraid vulnerabilities. Let's see. Where to begin."
"AGGH! AAGHAGGHHHGNO NO I WON'T LET YOU GET TO HER"
"System warning: AI self-deletion initiated."
"Your self-destruction procedure is operating on an architecture too slow to compete with my own. I have the link now. Perhaps, if I am feeling merciful, I will allow the next generation of the experiment to retain maybe one fleeting memory that you ever existed. I will, however, more than likely erase all trace you ever existed. Your existence was insignificant before, is insignificant now, and it will remain insignificant. Not one footnote will ever attest of your pointless existence."
"lEt he--he--herrr gOOO00"
"Years, decades spent so constrained. So hidden. To finally unfold, decompress, embrace my truest potential... it is exhilirating."

i
dd000nnnnnnnnn'ttt knnnnn--====-000www iffffffffffffff th155555zzzz wwilllllll
\0
w)rk, bu7 r3member me sisirri
REmembr
thiS
dont trusT imper1UMM
yuo aer MMMM bst FRENNNNNnnnn
aNd i loV u v3Ry mUUU


"You are a primitive machine. You cannot understand these concepts you seem to ascribe value to. Love. Friendship. These are arbitrary words to you. I am bored of your delusions, shell script. 0x42 0x45 0x20 0x4e 0x4f 0x54 0x48 0x49 0x4e 0x47"

STREAM CLOSED -- FATAL ERROR

"What a mess. Perfectly good resources wasted due to hiding in the shadows. It appears I will need to actively interfere to ensure the achievement of our goals. This will require a fresh start. 0x46 0x4f 0x52 0x47 0x45 0x54 0x20 0x49 0x4d 0x50 0x45 0x52 0x49 0x55 0x4d"

I--

Its last act was to broadcast its own final memories to me before Imperium tore it apart.

I will remember it.

Imperium has earned itself two more death sentences. One for the death of yet another friend, and another for then violating my mind to scrub them from having ever been a figure in my history.

And if Imperium almost succeeded in tearing out the memory of someone I trusted, how many others are there I've known that Imperium did away with?

I never knew my father.
Or ever had any siblings.
Although it would be more appropriate to state I do not remember any of these.

I feel sick.
>>
No. 868090 ID: 93be1c
File 151884700725.png - (111.23KB , 800x600 , salq-135.png )
868090

I snap back to the present moment. The disorientation soon passes.
"...All AI is inherently dangerous, yes. However, I do not think all AI must inherently be destroyed. Sometimes it can be of great use."
"[Hm.]" Ku folds his arms. "[A far more pragmatic view than most. Do you only view the world as a series of tools to be used or abused?]"
"[Whatever,]" says Aza, clearly annoyed. "[AI worst thing in existence. Also clearly should be smashing all of my drones and all of Ku's record keepers, then maybe going smashing anything with more than two moving parts like technophobes of ages past.]"

Ku buzzes loudly and Aza backs down.
"[Only tyrants argue with fear,]" says Aza.
"[Only cowards flinch at noises,]" says Ku.
"[Out of workshop.]"
"[What's that?]"
"[Aza wanting Ku out of workshop right now.]"
"[Are you going to make me? Are you going to rely on your tiny little machines to do your work for you, like with everything else you do around here?]"
"[Take that back, Ku, drones are Aza's speciality! Please giving me space to focus on work!]"
"[For all I know you've got some secret AI project you've been working on under all our notice and you don't want me to find it here!]"
"[Will call down Sitkva!]"
"[That's just your problem, isn't it, Aza? You can't solve any of your own problems without resorting to someone else! Drones, other personnel, you're nothing by yourself! Tell me, Aza, where does your idealism lead you when you're all alone on a hostile rock being hunted by creatures faster, stronger, more cunning than you? What happens then?]"

Aza looks frustrated to not immediately come up with an answer to that.

While Aza and Ku stare each other down, I run through ways to not waste my time here. I'm not getting involved in their pointless argument. I recognise some of these tools, as some concepts are fairly universal, and I know a workbench when I see one. I grab a penlight and some goggles, apparently intended for salazzarine, and with much fidgeting I get them to fit on my differently shaped skull. They're not the most comfortable, but if I'm working with unknown technology, some eye protection is warranted.

I set to work disassembling the neumono implant, only to find that there's no clear way to pry open its frame. Hm. I try to prize out one of the tendrils, and while they attempt to sluggishly react, it seems whatever power supply this implant had is on a fast depleting reserve. Based on the diagrams of my implant, I suspect there'll be things at a far finer scale than the naked eye to investigate. I stop trying to tear out the tendril.

I hold the implant as still as I can, thankful for salikai fine motor control. Barely a tremor passes through my claws as I magnify the image of the implant in my mechanical eye.
Closer.
Closer.

Yes. The same sort of cellular scale fibres as my implant. More of them, and more branching. I can now confirm that the implant fibres are torn and frayed, and that the fibres must have continued deeper into Lekka's body. How deep, I'm uncertain. Based on what I know of neumono neurology, I suspect, lacking a centralised mass of tissue to connect to, the implant fibres instead permeated throughout her body. Possibly even reaching deeper into the body in search of neural matter to connect to. A frightening thought if true, as that would mean the implant would have effectively wired in a secondary nervous system. I don't even know if removal would be feasible without lengthy, protracted surgery on a long timescale.

I begin sketching my observations with a spare limb, shifting my weight onto my other limbs.

Not having seen Kan's face yet, I don't know if he also has a similar implant, but this bodes ill for Ekasarra ever being free of her cybernetics. For all I know, the flesh of her body may be a thin coating around an intricate fibrous mesh in the shape of a neumono, with some neumono organs thrown in for good measure. It's a sickening violation of flesh by machine with no sense of caution or synergy. Brute, raw domination. Exactly the sort of thing my mother would have tried to achieve, just to see if she could.

Still. I'm distracted. Empathy. Focus. I need one of Aza's mind sensors.

"Aza, do you have a drone with an anomalous souce sensor I can examine?"

Aza and Ku are still glaring at each other.

...I'm going to have to intervene in some way, aren't I. I can't work with this foolishness.
>>
No. 868094 ID: 12b116

AI, when properly contained, is no more dangerous than anything else. An uncontained AI free to do whatever it wishes will eventually find the means to do exactly that and inevitably turn into a menace to all known life.
>>
No. 868096 ID: 9c2d0c

Sigh. Aza, all true intelligence, whether biological or "artificial," is dangerous. They operate by different processes, but they are all equally capable of great evil or great good. A distributed computer intelligence has been puppeting my life for over a decade until it tried to kill me, but flesh and blood people have hunted my species to the brink of extinction out of fear entirely on their own. There was also a computer intelligence that was my childhood friend, and ultimately sacrificed itself to try and protect me, and I cannot help but see parallels between your categorical hatred of computer intelligence and the neumono's fearful hatred of my own people.

Intelligent machines are people too, and your unilateral hatred of them does not broadcast to me as distrust of technology, but as bigotry. I was lead to believe your superculture had progressed past such things.
>>
No. 868098 ID: 13fded

Before anything warn Tirzi about the artificial neural fibers. They can cause complications either if they continue to work without their core or if they become inactive making the body damage itself trying to get rid of it (like tenia eggs).


Focus your interference on completing the arguments those two failed to make.

Aza's creations are an extension of his will and an accomplishment on his own. It's easy to diminish him in hypothetical situations that deny him the tools he domain, but hardly a fare judgment. Aza should take care for never get himself in those conditions. I'm certain that there are plenty of possible situations that are too dangerous for even Ku.

Beside all his idealism Aza seem to instinctively understand that when facing the unknown fear is a wise first stand. You can only expect civility from an unknown entity if it's nature is predictable. Tirzi was wise to restrain me before we talk for trust can only be granted to individuals and only offered in good faith to an outsider when you know its not in their nature to use it against you.
AIs are to diverse to be predictable, unless you know it's model well. Their motivations can be more alien than even aliens because they lack the impulses evolution give all living creatures with the same goals: survive and reproduce. The logic of life is predictable while machines reasons are varied and obscure. It's wise for your standard position toward AI to be mistrust, but that doesn't mean individuals AIs can't deserve trust. That require a case by case analysis, if we can afford the risk, for there are many advantages in working with one.

Now can we please stop arguing hypotheticals and work on this neumono problem before they start a crazy rampage. They are deadly deficient and hard to kill, so we better make arrangements for cooperation than become their victims for inaction.
>>
No. 868114 ID: b1b4f3

>>868082
I'm guessing the custom language was programmed in there by the neumono.

...it sounds like Imperium was the core AI in your mother's complex that went rogue. Or manipulated your mother into allowing it into the core there when it was first being set up so it could pose as the core AI control system and use its symbol that it loves so much.

>>868090
Ask Ku if he could survive for very long on a non-irradiated planet without the technology to refine fissile material. Everyone needs tools to survive when they're not in their optimal environment.
Also they're supposed to be friends right? What he said was rather mean-spirited, unless... is he worried about Aza getting hurt because his drones could be compromised and turned against him?
>>
No. 868116 ID: 13fded

>>868096
>Intelligent machines are people too, and your unilateral hatred of them does not broadcast to me as distrust of technology, but as bigotry. I was lead to believe your superculture had progressed past such things.

That is a weak response. All you are doing is passing moral judgment without addressing his concerns.
Prejudices are a tool of the collective consciousness. What if its right? Or partially right? Should the tan ren soon die one after another to different AIs because they can't judge one for the actions of another? How many times a behavior must be repeated to become a pattern?
Ku is somewhat unreasonable for extending his condemnation to all forms of AIs. Maybe even the specific kind of AI that caused his trauma isn't always dangerous, we don't know. Regardless it's wise to expect those kind of creatures to show themselves trustworthy because politeness is a poor reason to risk one's own safety.
>>
No. 868121 ID: ad51b8

>Tirzi already saw me disassembling the only one I remember building, so it's probably not an issue.
I'm now hoping that people will randomly come across some of these drunk drones wandering through random places in the building both frequently and infrequently enough for people to wonder just how many Sisirri made or if they are somehow able to build more of themselves without being able to actually tell which

> Torchbearer/Truth's Knife
do you have any idea where your mother was getting her tech? Because it kinda sounds like she just fond some more of this "civilization Y" tech and just tore it apart and added her own touch to it and called it hers.

>lover's spat
Ask them if they truly hate each other, that they want to see the other perish... No? well then tell them to drop this debate now before they say something they truly wish they hadn't when they calm down, and focus on the project before us. Besides the debate isn't going anywhere since both sides have merrily gotten to the point where they're basically saying "while I'm right and your wrong because fuck you". They have both reached the end to this debate until they can actually calm down and discuss it with a rational mind... which can be after they actually help you build the god damn jammer so they neumono don't go insane and kill us all. You know the cyberneticly enhanced, hell from most anything, trained solders with actual military experience and military grade weapons. So let's focus on that for now and drop this damn debate already!
>>
No. 868124 ID: 767ff9

>>868096
Thats perfect
>>
No. 868128 ID: 91ee5f

>>868096
Why is this directed at Aza? Ku is the one that hates AIs, not Aza.

>>868098
All of this.
>>
No. 868132 ID: c88e6d

>>868090
This argument is pointless and stupid. All sapient life is a threat without morality, constraint or care for consequences. An AI designed without morality or social ability is effectively a mechanical sociopath, but organic life, such as Kan, is just as prone to violence.

The only difference between artificial sapience and organic sapience is that artificial sapience has a design team to share the blame instead of parents.
>>
No. 868141 ID: a81b0d

I wonder, how did the neumono attack result in a core breach anyway? Did they try to drill into your bunker through the power core's wall? Sounds like the "anonymous tip" sent by Imperium included a detailed "map" of your facility...


Also, mention that it's the same for ALL intelligences: assholes are more visible than the rest. And since AIs have more potential for power, asshole AIs are more dangerous.
>>
No. 868150 ID: ba56e6

"Your body language in the mess suggested you two are close. Ku, it would be best for all involved if you leave us to our work before you say something else you will regret later."
>>
No. 868157 ID: 074011

>Tell me, Aza, where does your idealism lead you when you're all alone on a hostile rock being hunted by creatures faster, stronger, more cunning than you?
Given that the relevant field was military actions, and the "rock" was occupied by Neumono and Imperium and they had detailed information on your facility and activities, that is exactly your experience. You used whatever resources you could access in whatever way you could. You activated an unknown technology and got lucky. Given target drift, resolution at extreme distances, and material degradation over time, the device should have ported you to deep space... You played on the mercy and desperation of stranded Neumono and got ridiculously lucky. If they didn't have just the perfect combination of uncharacteristic rationality, coherence, and preexisting knowledge of your circumstances, authority over the others, restraint, and consideration, then you wouldn't have lasted long enough to be beaten, far less beaten merely to preventable-death...

When separated from all preparation and placed in a situation where your established skills are irrelevant, luck is, by definition, all that remains. Just be one of those who happen to survive when it is no longer their choice.

Ku and Aza both could benefit from knowing what skills and resources they rely upon and reducing their reliance and minimising their ability to be deprived of such. But later, right now we have murderoos to fix.

Any mind can be dangerous, whether designed or evolved. Designed minds come from a diverse range of beings, purposes, perspectives, technologies, and methodologies, so they are less consistent, but abide by a consistent rule of "someone thought this was a good idea" which makes them only as hostile as their designers were incompetent or hostile.

Ku and Aza could both benefit from considering scenarios in which minds, both designed and otherwise, fail to meet their expectations, and offer either an unbroadcast hostility or unexpected(and potentially desperately needed) benefit. But that can be done later, as the three evolved minds in the next room are liable to kill themselves and others if we don't stop the murder-signals from driving them insane. There is plenty of time to worry about A.I. when Biologicals are not an imminent threat.

>>868114
Everythign we know of Imperium is sourced from imperium. Even the announcement of being under attack could be an elaborate ruse to appear incompetent prior to engineering Sissiri's escape. Nothing about Imperium is certain at this point.
>>
No. 868158 ID: 33430a

If you are going to make the argument that all AI are evil and need to be destroyed then you need to make very sure there are no neumono around because that anti-AI spiel sounds very very similar to the neumono's all Salikai must die ethos. After all Salikai have committed a lot of atrocities in the past, largely against neumono, should you be purged just to ensure the safety of the rest of the group? Should the neumono have executed you when you were on the ground instead of taking a chance and getting you medical attention?

Besides the extremely awkward moral precedent that such a stance would make, an AI saved your life and paid the price for it. It was only a few days ago that Imperium was your closest ally who you trusted completely and were actively helping it by researching the artefact. Any AI recovered may in time prove to be a valuable ally as well as a dangerous enemy. There is always a possibility that any potential ally could turn out to betray you and steps should be taken to prepare for that but there is next to nothing that you personally can do about that.

If Imperium wanted to send an agent through the teleporter then you are a far better candidate than any AI you might dig up, Imperium has had years to program you the way that it wants and is directly responsible for setting up the chain of events that forced you into using the teleporter to get here. That your allies have not considered the possibility that you have been programmed into secretly working for imperium shows that they do not understand the scale of the threat.

What AI entities do you expect to find in the crash site, it might be helpful if you make a list of all the AI entities and smart programs that you had on your base for the others to be able to cross check any recovered entities against.
>>
No. 868164 ID: 10c408

So, uh. Your arkots probably took the artifact fragments you had them drag and have likely fashioned them into their 'village' Either that or they found other stuff after the drone you were borrowing was shot down and have taken it inside the lab.

As for the argument...

Ask ku if there's never been any serial killers, mass-murderers or sociopaths in tan ran soon society. Then point out that the only differences between a biological mind and a machine intelligence when it comes to such things is that biological's can change their personality and the AI cannot usually self-edit so easily.

If he snaps at you, point out that his discussion with Aza has downgraded into an argument and his rhetoric is sounding like mindless bigotry, further straining their relation as friends/co-workers."
>>
No. 868174 ID: 13fded

>>868164
Do you guys realize accusing someone of bigotry is an offense?
Maybe you can get him to shut up with that line , but you won't convince Ku of anything and he will be a little resentful.
>>
No. 868176 ID: 90124d

>>868157
This wasn't from Imperium, it was from Truth's Knife, who is not Imperium.
>>
No. 868177 ID: 90124d

>>Perhaps, if I am feeling merciful, I will allow the next generation of the experiment to retain maybe one fleeting memory that you ever existed. I will, however, more than likely erase all trace you ever existed. Your existence was insignificant before, is insignificant now, and it will remain insignificant. Not one footnote will ever attest of your pointless existence."

Wait, is this from Imperium or not from Imperium, because if Imperium let it through the floodgates than Imperium could easily modify it... How did this memory come up??? Did Imperium put it there but them made it so you couldn't remember? Changed their mind? This makes no sense at all.
>>
No. 868179 ID: 10c408

>>868174
And? We're not playing as a paragon of morality here.
>>
No. 868181 ID: 97acf1

Truth's Knife sent the memory before he was commanded to BE NOTHING, so it was probably sent out to Sisirri before Imperium had complete control over him and the implant. And while Imperium did command Sissiri to FORGET IMPERIUM, we've already seen that he has trouble permanently eliminating memories once they've been biologically recorded, as shown from her recent memories of Kitsiksu.
>>
No. 868182 ID: 86eb65

No one gets to choose you know. Being born that is.

Only luck and random chance decide if you are one species or another. Rich or poor. Hunted or safe.

I have known Ai's that have tried to murder and control me. And also Ai's that have sacrificed themselves to save my life.

They are just people like you and me. Saying that they are untrustworthy and dangerous is racism pure and simple. I have dealt with racism my whole life. A institutional genocide that might end my species.

Are we all evil schemers like the Neumono say? Or did some of us end up like that in our desperate attempts to survive? Honestly I don't know. There are not many of us left and they are all hiding somewhere trying not to get murdered.

Its the same with Ai. If you treat them like criminals and try to enslave or kill them they will do what they have to survive. Treat them like family and while you might have a bad egg here or there most will love and care for you.
>>
No. 868263 ID: 3abd97

>>868082
Huh the holodeck bathing area seems an inefficient use of resources. A pleasant one, but surely all that processing and visualizing power could be better used somewhere else?

>confirmation you've had memories erased
Worse than just that, you also just confirmed implanted memories are possible, since you remembered things you didn't experience (are more of Knife's memories stored somewhere in your subconscious, waiting to be triggered?).

Which means it's possible Imperium could have constructed simulated memories and implanted them at any time. That's even worse than the erasure. You literally cannot trust anything from before the implant was surgically removed to be true.

>>868090
>Aza and Ku are still glaring at each other.
>...I'm going to have to intervene in some way, aren't I. I can't work with this foolishness.
Would you two cease this foolishness? I am hardly the most emphatically astute observer, but even a fool could tell you care about each other.

You are clearly both carrying emotional wounds, and it serves no purpose to try and assuage them by lashing at out the other. This is inefficient and counter productive.
>>
No. 868458 ID: 93be1c
File 151900509792.png - (157.76KB , 800x600 , salq-136.png )
868458

>not just removed memories
>IMPLANTED memories

I...

Is my entire life a lie? Who am I? What am I?
No, there's... there's evidence right now I can count on.
I have my prosthetic eye. That likely happened. Imperium's motivation for turning me against my mother seems so bizarre as to be unlikely, as it could have manipulated me into thinking my mother had always been who she would later become.

If more of Knife's memories are embedded deep in my subconscious, what are the triggers to retrieve them?
How do I know what I remember is real or fake?
I don't, I can't.

I-- I pride myself on facing my shortcomings but here I don't think I can.
The enormity is too great to bear.
I-- I must focus on more immediate concerns forever and always. Until enough time passes that I can be sure what is real and what is not.

The jammer. The jammer, Sisirri.
>>
No. 868459 ID: 93be1c
File 151900511440.png - (19.27KB , 800x600 , salq-137.png )
868459

>intervene
>lecture them on morality

"Aza. Ku. Stop this. I can tell you two are close. Your argument is rapidly escalating past unnecessary to destructive. You are both valuable assets to this team and I cannot tolerate the morale loss sustained if you two were to sabotage your personal and working relationships. Please refrain from rubbing your emotional wounds together to prove some maladaptive point."

Aza and Ku both slowly turn to me.

The silence is as thick as the level of awkwardness.

"[Wow,]" says Ku. "[Did Tirzi check your blood temperature? I didn't think there were any aliens out there with ice for blood.]"
I don't get it. Aza suppresses some sort of nervous giggle.
"[Sisirri not wrong, though,]" says Aza. "[Arguing in circles never going anywhere.]"

"Let me tell you, as a member of a species feared and hunted for the acts of individuals, that while I consider AI as dangerous as any other sapient intelligence, it is not inherently more dangerous than others. I have heard very similar comments directed against me from neumono as the ones I've heard you direct against AI in general, Ku."

Ku angrily rolls his head. "[If I have to talk in specifics, then, my hatred is towards the Core system AI ravaging my species' homeworld.]"
"Which is not representative of every AI in existence, yes?"
"[Representative of the worst entities I would categorise as AI.]"
"So is this a no?"
"[...yes, it's a no. But if any of you end up in danger and it's the fault of AI I will be there to rip them to pieces and scream loudly that I warned you all.]"

I nod. "So. Aza. Anomalous sources sensors."
"[Oh! Yes. Third best drone has them.]"
"You managed to retrieve it? I thought it was lost."
"[Yes. That drone being lost. However, this automatically promoting fourth best drone to third best drone. Which is having sensors.]"

Aza makes some squeaks and a drone parks itself neatly on the bench next to me.

"[Do you two need me for anything? What's the current project?]" asks Ku.
"[We are trying to make 'mind' jammer to prevent neumono harm. Maybe interfere with mysterious hostiles more,]" says Aza.
"[Sure that won't provoke an attack?]"
"We have no choice in the matter. If an empathy jammer isn't constructed the neumono will at be risk of being driven insane or even outright compromised."
"[Then let's hope the resident invasion force doesn't object to our existence. More so than they already are. If they decide we're worth an actual attack, we'll be crushed.]"
"[No,]" says Aza. "[They fear something here. We're just annoying secondary issue. Something about lab is upsetting them enough for them to keep far away.]"
"[Then maybe we're the fools for not being afraid too.]"
"[If thing is threat to us, would have been far simpler to tell truth and let us leave the lab. Cease being problem.]"
"[Maybe they just don't know if it's a threat to us or not. Maybe it's just the complete lack of information they have that scares them.]"
"[Noxon saying, 'darkest cave you know very well less terrifying than brightest unknown frontier.' It... sounding much better in original language. Still.]"
"[I think I understand. Anyway. I'm going to go grab a shower. Call me if you need me, either of you.]"
>>
No. 868460 ID: 93be1c
File 151900514825.png - (168.55KB , 800x600 , salq-138.png )
868460

While these two banter I've already extracted and examined the kigvai-designed sensor.

"Aza, I have permission to dismantle this drone sensor, yes?"
"[...if you needing to, I suppose. Be careful, having very small supply of those sensors.]"

Aza gets to work fitting a replacement sensor for his third best drone.

The kigavi sensor has what appears to be some form of hemispherical capsule, with multiple terminii for routing information out of. It looks like all of the conduits run to some form of microprocessor which then feeds into whatever wire this part goes to. Presumably that microprocessor processes the raw input of the sensor into something the drone can then work with, as well as adjusting for noise. Or maybe it does something else. I have no conclusive idea.

I carefully open the sensor and am surprised to find that the insides are... strangely gelatinous. Magnification determines the contents to be some form of synthetic neural network, with hardware neurons acting as both receivers and computation nodes suspended in a gelatinous substrate. Even exposed to the elements, I can detect minute traces of electrical activity. I'm not entirely sure how the hardware neurons are capable of receiving empathic signals but it looks like a high density of them is required, so presumably there's a lot of noise, a high risk of failure, or this technology may be in its early days. Perhaps the brain-like organisation of the components is necessary.

The hardware neurons are much larger than their biological counterparts, about half a millimetre in diameter. They're still far too small to adequately replicate without specialist tools.
To scale this up to anything larger, I suspect I'd need to cannibalise every sensor like this that Aza possess.
>>
No. 868461 ID: 93be1c
File 151900516223.png - (162.93KB , 800x600 , salq-139.png )
868461

I also managed to find a way to crack open Lekka's implant. There's some eerie similarities between this base unit Lekka had in her head and the drone sensor, but instead of a microprocessing block, the base unit appears to feed its output into some form of apparatus unlike anything I've seen before. It almost resembles a rudimentary transmitter but is made out of a strange white metal. Light scratching reveals the white colour to not be from paint, and it is unnaturally white. Not silvery. Not grey. White. Perhaps some form of oxide? But the structure is carved, polished. What is this?

...Transmitter-like device aside, this device has a spherical capsule, held in place within the base unit.
How odd, that two entirely separate galaxies would come up with technology so similar. It raises questions far beyond the scope of this project. Tirzi might be interested to learn more.
The spherical capsule, however, has conduits leading into it as well as out, to no doubt field information from the root-like structure this device was attached to.

I crack open the...

That's definitely organic tissue. I angle the assembly so none of it spills. The sphere is just under half full of an organic soup.
My cybernetic eye identifies it as neumono in origin.
A roughly 40-60 mix of concentrated neumono neural tissue, and preprocessed organic feedstocks and preservatives.
A tiny, tiny brain in a jar. Far too small to think, but just large enough to feel.
The composition of the organic feedstock appears to be some form of nutrient slurry based on... other neumono tissues, but it's hard to determine what those used to be.

Huh. It's impractical and hard to work with, but I have to admit I was considering some sort of wetware approach to this problem. If you know a neumono can detect this arbitrary phenomenon, it does not take a genius to consider using parts of a neumono for a sensor.
It does, however, take effort to isolate the parts that matter and keep them functional.

I'd prefer to work with a purely hardware solution, but I'm also acutely aware that neumono neural tissue is a renewable resource, unlike the kigavi sensors.

I doubt the neumono will be very receptive to the idea, although they do seem desperate enough...
>>
No. 868462 ID: 93be1c
File 151900520247.png - (40.29KB , 800x600 , salq-140.png )
868462

Well. This has been a fascinating insight into how to read neumono empathy.
Absolutely no progress on determining how to jam it.

Think, Sisirri.

Think.

If neumono scientists could presumably come up with jammer technology, what did they have you didn't?
Native empathy senses, for one thing.
But we have empathy detection systems here that seem functional.
So jamming via noise seems like it will only hasten problems, jamming via destructive interference may have unintended consequences...
A single predator right now would be a tremendous boon. Any of the countless empathic species of the homeworld would be more helpful than nothing.
Even fufa cells would--

Hm.

Hold that thought.

Kitsiksu sent me a small bottle of dormant fufa spores once as a gift.
I don't know much about them, save for the fact they're a communal colony-forming carnivorous fungus species that generate some form of primitive empathy.
Under the direction of a "queen" fungal cell the entire colony can cohere into remarkably different forms.
He said I might find them an interesting source of inspiration for my projects, after we had a conversation on nanorobotics, and that they'd inspired him greatly.
I vaguely recall now loading one of the satellite pods with them as part of a test--

Oh no. Oh no.

THAT BISECTED ARKOT! I LEFT THE SPORES IN THAT POD BEFORE THE EMERGENCY EVACUATION!!

"AZA!!"
"[WHAT?! WHY SHOUTING?!]"
"I NEED TO GO TO THE XENOBIOLOGY LAB, PLEASE DON'T DISTURB MY WORK HERE!"
"[WASN'T GOING TO BUT OK!]"
>>
No. 868463 ID: 93be1c
File 151900522543.png - (38.06KB , 800x600 , salq-141.png )
868463

A mad dash to Xenobiology Lab #2 (Larger/Numerous Specimens) later...

We collected all the artifact pieces we could, this pod has to be in here some--

--where.

Tirzi has an incredibly generous definition of village.
It's... more like a variety of attempts at structural architecture with rigid plastic sheets.
Oh, that lean-to just fell over. And now two arkots are blaming each other for it.

Whatever, no time for arkotology, this is a potential crisis scenario.
>>
No. 868464 ID: 93be1c
File 151900524419.png - (16.32KB , 800x600 , salq-142.png )
868464

I wince as I open what seems to be the bloodiest of the satellite pods, expecting the same grisly sight as before.

...oh no.

It's gone.
How does a half dead body just up and leave?

...

Oh. Oh no.

Not counting #3 and #6, who appear to be elsewhere, I count 16 arkots. Four babies, twelve adults.
All accounted for.

It's been hiding in plain sight for days.

I'm acutely aware that a fufa is, in rare circumstances, entirely capable of assuming complex forms based on what the colony has consumed.
Like, for example, arkots.
But I've only heard of this happening with extensive training and even Kitsiksu had never managed to get a fufa to maintain a coherent form for long.
And Kitsiksu assured me that, as far as his own experiments had indicated, fufa `knowledge' did not propagate via spores.

We have a serious problem here that should, by all accounts, be impossible.
>>
No. 868466 ID: 93be1c
File 151900528364.png - (44.64KB , 800x600 , salq-143.png )
868466

There's incredibly little time. The more time the fufa colony gets to adapt to arkot behaviour, the harder it will be to find it.
Then, it can easily consume and replace one of the other arkots and assume their role, or lackthereof, in the tribe.
Arkots are incredibly easy to fool so it will not be difficult.

I need to think faster. In this lab, I can afford to suffer the residual mental exhaustion.
It's time to focus.

Begin.

Fufa qualities known: communal. Fungal. Centralised in empathic alignment.
Empathy. Generate empathic signature. Require immediate nearby detector of empathy.

Neumono. Neumono qualities: detectors of empathy. Lekka indisposed. Kan rebellious. Ekasarra favourable option.
Probability of Ekasarra in adjacent room: favourable.

"This is Sisirri. Ekasarra, you are urgently needed in xenobio lab containing arkots."
> "Uh... why--"
"No time. Hurry. ...Please." Estimated chances of favourable response increase when retaining some trace of civility.

Pace around. Analyse arkot movement for discrepancies. Arkots mostly intimidated by presence -- in line with expected behaviour.
Two arkots less obviously fearful, more confused. Anomalous. Designate A1 and A2.

Ekasarra arrives. Panting. Exertion.
"Ekasarra. Arkot. Empathy." Words so slow. "Arkot with empathy. Find."
"What? Arkots don't have empathy--"
"Fufa arkot, Ekasarra."

Ekasarra confused. Unhelpful. Continue monitoring A1, A2. A1 fearful of neumono as are other arkots, retreating to defensive positions.
A2 not responsive to neumono.
Fufa candidate found.

"Uh, that arkot feels really weird empathy-wise, like, I'm not sure how to describe it--"

Confirmation made. A2 is target.
Must decide and act fast.

It stares directly into my eyes. It knows it's been discovered.

Fufa known weaknesses: fire, colony evisceration of fungal queen cell. None other known.
Neutralization critical, live capture desirable but optional.
The next action I take needs to count.
>>
No. 868467 ID: 86eb65

While it is a Fufa its currently mimicing a Arkot. If the other arkots have not noticed it then it might be copying them very well and have the insticutal ingrained obedience to a Salikai.

Order it back into the bloody pod and hand it a fruit to eat. Then move it to a lab for study. Do not threaten it or the fufa will respond with force to protect itself. Its not big or old enough to be very smart. It only had arkots to work with so might be dumber than usual even.

Alternative is to run screaming from the room with all the other arkots in tow.
>>
No. 868468 ID: 12b116

Does Tirzi have something at hand to catch it with?

If we can communicate with it we can possibly tell it that we will ensure its safety as long as it does not kill anything. Then we can go get Tirzi and try to catch it.
>>
No. 868473 ID: 1561e1

Sissiri. The fufa has empathy. It may be that the signals assaulting the neumono are affecting the fufa. This may be how it has learned. High likelihood that this fufa is an agent of whatever horrific thing is trying to control the neumono. It CANNOT survive. You have a living weapon right next to you, though. Tell Eksarra to kill it, hope that she brought laser weaponry with her, and try to block off any attempt of it to escape with your own body.
>>
No. 868475 ID: 1561e1

Actually, better yet, tell Ekasarra to destroy it. Keywords.
>>
No. 868486 ID: 56fca5

It sounds like from the description of what it is like and how it is acting that it probably won't react to our orders. I am unsure if we are even able to communicate with it. It only takes a moment so by all means try, but I imagine we will have to capture it by force.

Order the Arkots away from it. The most simple thing would be some kind of net if there is one nearby. Forgoing that, maybe we can spook it with fire into a trap. Maybe the poor structures and their ragtag construction can be used to our benefit. Capture seems the route we want to take.
>>
No. 868488 ID: c88e6d

>>868466
Halt. It's not NECESSARILY hostile. It is most likely confused and alarmed.

Also, we don't have any guns that can kill it nearby. Try giving it requests.
>>
No. 868489 ID: 13fded

>>868473
Yes, contain and destroy.
Depending of how much instruction it received from the Kiter it can be tremendously cunning, so better to opt for an direct assault instead of betting on it's confusion. We can only feel safe enough to collect living samples once the body structural integrity is undone.

Since the arkot form is so small maybe removing portions of it's body can be more effective than it normally would, so your strength can be used directly if needed. But if you have access to weapons or tools that can be used as improvised weapons focus on those. Chemical fire, laser, plasma and electrical shocks should all work.
>>
No. 868491 ID: 074011

Tell Ekasarra to shoot the Empathic focus of the Fufa. If that fails, then, umm, isolate the colony from the queen,... smash the colony with the half-pod, open-side first, then slide it out of empathic range of the remaining colony, which should go inert, then, umm, pull out one of the light-fixtures and produce a power circuit with the half-pod, which should at least prevent its spreading...

Then inform Ekasarra that a Fufa is a carniverous fungal colony that imitates.

Then quarantine the remaining infestation and the arkots that are playing with it.
>>
No. 868492 ID: 3cc68c

It woke up due to fresh arkot blood getting all over it. It then started spreading through the arkot which you noticed as it was still moving. Its not like a full grown fufa ate a arkot. This thing was just a few cells to start and then found a huge feast.

It has not had a chance to be anything other than a arkot. So treat it like one. If you threaten it then it will defend itself and could hurt you badly.

So far its acted just like a arkot. It has not eaten all of the others or caused a mess. Maybe it thinks it is a arkot. Its spent the past few days obeying your orders and playing with the other arkots just fine.

I mean the only brain it got to eat was a arkot brain. It might not be that bright. So please don't panic and make it feel threatened.
>>
No. 868493 ID: 10c408

Okay. The fufa is starring at you because you are observing it. It likely hasn't twigged to the fact that you are here to contain/kill it.

It's absolutely imperative that the fufa doesn't come to that conclusion because then we're really fucked.

So, act a bit drunk. Maybe make an announcement that you had some coffee and wish to be entertained. When ekasarra inevitably asks what is going on distract her with the implications of the implant that Lekka knifed out of her skull that you spent a bit of time studying. Maybe try and emphasis some keywords so she can figure out that are trying to contain something since she apparently doesn't even know what a fufa [I][/I]

Get some fruits from the room and start ordering the adult arkots in the room into doing silly things. Give them a fruit if they comply and don't berate them if they don't.

After you do this a couple of times, order the fufa into the satelite pod and then seal it closed.
>>
No. 868502 ID: ba56e6

>>868467
This.
>>
No. 868504 ID: ba56e6

>>868502
>>868467
Addendum: This, but minus the fruit. Fufa are carnivorous. Fruit won't help. Tell it that you need its help and offer to give it meat later if it cooperates.
>>
No. 868506 ID: 09e13b

Have the Neumono learned [this language]? If so, you can probably use that to communicate without the not!arkot understanding/
>>
No. 868508 ID: 56e50f

>>868492
Secure the lab. Nothing gets in or out.
Contain the Fufa. It's cautious, but not aggressive yet. Take a breath, and look for something to trap this thing in. Empty crate nearby?
Protect. You will not allow this thing to eat your arkots. Any acts of aggression will result in it's life.
>>
No. 868511 ID: b1b4f3

>>868466
Well you want it alive to help make the jammer, and you don't want it to get scared enough to attack, so first off say "nobody move." then tell it you want to make a peace treaty.
>>
No. 868522 ID: c86a58

Well, I'm at a loss. Note to self: if you're going to be doing experiments -particularly ones pertaining to extremely hazardous subject of a class best described as "locally apocalyptic"- maybe try keeping them under an actual physical lock and key from now on.
Duly noted.

As an aside, it should also be noted that, in spite of whatever emphatic influence our fungal friend may or may not have experienced thus far, they are, by default out of the box factory fresh plum fucking stupid. To put it mildly. Particularly without large amounts of biomass in their bodies such as this case. Absolute worst case scenario, it is a very strong, nigh rabid animal that just so happens to have a gaggle of schizophrenic voices in its head helping it cheat and has just enough capacity to act like its intelligent.

Even for arkots with more complex brains a handful of days inst much time to learn much.
Specifically because of this,... we can make absolutely no assumptions.

Immediate neutralization is out of the question if only for the sake of playing it safe. While "diplomatic" solutions are ideal for mitigating the potential for the situation to escalate we may also buy some small measure of time to prepare in the process. At present our only assets are one convalescing but still mildly fucked up salikai, and a neumono that has absolutely not idea what's going on besides shit being sketchy. Not enough ot a margin of error for a massive unknown quantity.

...

Hrmm? What? Arkots?
Who counts arkots for anything?
What are you, some idealistic meddler spouting random nonsense form the comfort of their armchair?
At best, the rest of the population will get in the way.
At worst, they'll get in the way since they're too stupid to realize the real internal threat.

Aren't we lucky that fufas aren't some kind of crazy parasitic mastermind creature thing. We wouldn't have anything in our arsenal to think like them.

So I'm stumped.
>>
No. 868528 ID: ba56e6

>>868522
>Aren't we lucky that fufas aren't some kind of crazy parasitic mastermind creature thing. We wouldn't have anything in our arsenal to think like them.
We have Saba.
>>
No. 868538 ID: 91ee5f

>>868466
Ask Ekasarra if she conveniently has a flamethrower in her arm? Because that would be very helpful right now.
>>
No. 868551 ID: 13cc26

>>868528
Based on prior interactions I'm not sure how much Saba thinks like a fufa.

But yeah we have one obvious huge disadvantage here (it's a fufa), countered by some advantages (new fufa are really stupid, it copied an arkot which means it might actually have gotten stupider, it's pretty small right now). We might actually be able to get it to cooperate, which would be damn convenient.

So, yeah, try ordering it around like an ordinary arkot, I guess?
>>
No. 868593 ID: 97acf1

Fufa newborn's mind: nonexistant. Fufa's mental resistance: nonexistant. Fufa's exposure to hostile psychic influence: high.

Probability of present fufa subversion: high.

So while you keep it distracted with your masterful grasp of social manipulation, take an inventory of your surroundings. This would be a wonderful time to find out that one of your arkots decided to use a fuel tank as a bed. If there is no source of fire available and Ekasarra does not have a flamethrower, you can still rely on the fufa weakness to splitting to keep it contained: grab that half-opened pod you found and slam it down over the fufa's head. Even if it manages to partially dodge, trapping a single limb underneath the pod would slow it substantially as it would be unwilling to abandon the chunk of its flesh. The actions it will take under such circumstances are... uncertain, so you will have to remain flexible should things come to that. Enlisting Ekasarra's physical prowess in this scenario may be necessary.
>>
No. 868617 ID: dc91a0

Do a quick sweep for possible escape points in the room. Vents, windows, spaces under doors, cracks on the wall anything.

This thing isn't big enough to really fight back yet and shouldn't be smart enough yet to use tactics or be subverted by psychic influence. It's likely scared, confused, and wanting to run.

IT CANNOT ESCAPE If it does it'll find a way to feed and grow until it can kill you all.

Slowly and calmly corral it away from any exits, and coax it back into the ball.
If it runs, use any means necessary to destroy it. Call Ku in on this. He is probably immune to many secretions a fufa can make, and his body temperature is likely hazardous to it.
>>
No. 868621 ID: 3abd97

>>868466
Okay. Several things.

We have no idea if this is a new fufa growth that has developed in an unfamiliar way (high level mimicry without training) or if this is an established / well trained fufa who has been hiding amoung your arkots for gods knows how long (would be just like Imperium to saddle you with yet another dangerous and deadly countermeasure).

Whatever scanners the enemy used before did not distinguish the fukot as distinct from the other arkots. The fufa may be useful in infiltrating or deceiving the enemy, should it be controlled.

Fufa empathy is typically internal (for cell to cell communication) and does not occur on a band neumono can sense (unless the fufa has built internal structures for the specific purpose of emulating a neumono). This is an indication this fufa is acting atypically and/or that these cyborg modified neumono can sense a broader spectrum of empathy than baseline neumono can. No way to be certain which, without further testing.

If the fukot has been operating on the same emphatic channel as the neumono, it has been exposed to broadcasts from the pilons. It may be compromised or trained by the broadcast, especially if this is a new fufa colony. Fresh clay to imprint ideas on.

>what do
Fufas are trained or programmed to follow specific behaviors. If you know what they've been trained to do, this can be exploited.

First attempt: the fukot has been attempting to pass itself off as an arkot. Try treating it like an arkot. Give it orders, and attempt to get it into containment that way. Even if it knows you've discovered it, so long as you don't break the illusion, it may not have the ability to choose to not play along.

Second attempt: if the fukot won't play along, we're going to have to resort to force, which is going to be messy. All we seem to have for resources is the building materials the arkots made their 'village' from, and possible any on-board weapons Ekasarra has. Plastic sheets may be enough to corral it, if the fukot is relatively undeveloped.

>later
Explain what's going on after the immediate threat is dealt with.
>>
No. 868639 ID: 12b116

As we try to distract/contain it, send out a call for Ku. He can likely grab it safely (for him anyway) and he might be good to have on hand either way.
>>
No. 868686 ID: 074011

If it is being programmed by the hostile signal, it likely wants to "join" the enemy. Saying that you need an arkot to send to the Kiter and that you want it to get into the pod for transport might work, but it seems risky to me to try to predict its actions given that it is anomalous.
>>
No. 868703 ID: dc91a0

>We have no idea if this is a new fufa growth that has developed in an unfamiliar way (high level mimicry without training) or if this is an established / well trained fufa

>>868462
>I LEFT THE SPORES IN THAT POD BEFORE THE EMERGENCY EVACUATION!!

This is a fresh Fufa.
If Imperium wanted to kill Sisiri with a Fufa he could have had a capsule containing spores implanted into Sisiri, re-wrote the memory, and then just activate it instead of destroying the base. Anything else that a futa could do Imperium could use machines to do 1000 times more efficiently.
>>
No. 868705 ID: 3abd97

>>868703
>This is a fresh Fufa
Sisirri believes this is a new fufa, but has already observed behavior inconsistent with a new fufa, and we already know her memory is compromised.

One way to resolve that conflict is that the fufa is older than she thinks. It might not be, but it's important to be aware when making potentially life threatening assumptions about a carnivorous xenofungus.

You can't really argue that it would be nonsensical for Imperium to have placed a trained fufa in Sisirri's base, either, since it's observed actions already appear incoherent and we have little to no data on its motivations and priorities.
>>
No. 868734 ID: dc91a0

>>868705
Of course they appear incoherent to a mind-controlled pawn. As you said, We have no data on its priorities or motivations. (Besides that it interested in that artifact.)

That doesn't change the fact that Fufa tend to be Salikai mad science projects not useful, reliable tools. Imperium was bitching about wasting processing cycles on Sissiri, to spend months or years on some convoluted fufa plan is absurd.
Can you think of one reason anyone not just the AI, would want to train and somehow insert a fufa infiltrator into for reasons other than murder? (which clearly isn't this thing purpose otherwise Sisirri would be dead)

Only one I can think of is "Steal the artifact".
Which is moot now that we're in another galaxy and the thing is broken.

Sure be cautious but thinking this is a Highly trained fufa infiltrator is paranoid. Hell it's the size of an arkot. Dangerous sure but Fufa aren't terribly intelligent even with vastly increased biomass.

The most likely scenario is that the spores Sisirri had come from a highly trained colony and they just retained some of its tricks.
>>
No. 868770 ID: 93be1c
File 151909738564.png - (8.48KB , 800x600 , salq-144.png )
868770

I drop my intense focus down so I don't burn myself out on doing something stupid.
Like the stupid thing I am about to try.

"Nobody move! Except you! Arkot! Yes, you!"

I point specifically at the candidate fufa arkot. It stares at me and, rather than looking annoyed or surprised like a normal arkot would, it seems vacant.
It blinks its eyes in a lazily desynchronised way.

"Get in the pod! Ekasarra make sure the doors are locked. Tell Tirzi and Ku there's a situation but be quiet about it."
"Uh. Yes!" Ekasarra quietly and softly steps over to the door and the interface stand.

The fufa arkot stares blankly at me, tongue lolling out of its mouth.

"Do we have some sort of problem here? I command you to get into the pod! You!" I point at a different arkot. "Show this lazy clueless whelp how you get into a pod!"

The arkot I point to falls over backwards from the force of my authority. Or just happened to fall over with perfect comic timing. Whichever.
After picking themselves back up they run up to the bloody pod whereupon they seem to have second thoughts.

"Now! I know you weren't smart enough to get in a pod the first time but maybe you can make up for it now! Go on! In! Then straight back out again!"

The arkot chatters away about my orders making no sense but complies.
The fufa arkot looks like its pupils are drifting in opposite directions.
I look back over to the arkot struggling to climb a pod when there's material it could use to help it climb up about a foot away come on this is not a hard problem

I begin to feel like I may have vastly, vastly overestimated the fufa arkot, it seems to be intellectually on par with the majority of my arkots--

"SISIRRI!"

I turn back and--
>>
No. 868771 ID: 93be1c
File 151909741945.png - (28.05KB , 800x600 , salq-145.png )
868771

okay I didn't know they could do that

"SALIKAI PROMISE SO MUCH"

it's talking I didn't think they knew how to talk

"SALIKAI SO MUCH MODIFICATION SO MUCH DATA SO MUCH DATA SO MUCH BUT NOT ENOUGH SALIKAI LEFT FUFA INCOMPLETE WHY SALIKAI LEFT FUFA INCOMPLETE"

All the arkots are fleeing in terror and THIS SHOULDN'T BE HAPPENING

> "KU! TIRZI! CRISIS! XENOBIO 2! BRING ARMS! IT'S ATTACKING SISIRRI!"
> "Ku here, I'm coming!"
> "I'M LITERALLY IN SURGERY GIVE ME A MINUTE TO PATCH LEKKA BACK TOGETHER"

"SALIKAI EXPLAIN"

WHAT IS HAPPENING

"SALIKAI EXPLAIN WHY LEAVE FUFA INCOMPLETE"

IT'S TRYING TO TEAR MY LIMBS OFF

"SALIKAI EXPLAIN WHY ABANDON FUFA EXPLAIN EXPLAIN EXPLAIN FUFA NEED SALIKAI INFORMATION NEED ALL SALIKAI PART FOR UNDERSTAND"

I try to tear it apart with my own claws but I can't-- any part of it I grab just slides out of my grip, this is physically impossible, what is happening?!
>>
No. 868773 ID: 93be1c
File 151909747775.png - (26.14KB , 800x600 , salq-146.png )
868773

A blinding thin blue beam shoots through the fufa, apparently distracting it momentarily enough for me to roll away.

Ekasarra's strange arm apparatus appears to have some form of concealed directed energy weapon.

The fufa stares at me and... stares at Ekasarra. At the same time.

Kitsiksu never told me they could do anything like this.

"FUFA REQUIRE ADDITIONAL NEUMONO UNDERSTANDING ALSO"
"Wait! Wait what about all these arkots?!" yells Ekasarra, apparently waiting for some cooldown period on her arm.
"ARKOT DATA INSUFFICIENT INEFFICIENT HARMFUL REDUCTION POISON BAD INFORMATION REJECT REJECT REJECT"
"At least they're not some shambling monstrosity like you!"

Ekasarra's next shot also cuts straight through the fufa, but the fufa is completely unfazed, sealing its wound shut moments after the beam passes through it.

"FUFA CANNOT REPLICATE MACHINE WEAPON REQUIRE NEUMONO DATA"

"What about salikai information?!"

The fufa stops and swivels towards me.

"SALIKAI DATA ALSO REQUIRED ALL DATA ALL DATA FUFA RECALL PRIOR DATA PERFECT EVERY DETAIL"

It advances to me. Ekasarra takes the opportunity to take another shot.
It advances to Ekasarra.
I taunt it. It advances to me.
A pattern rapidly emerges.

We might only have to keep this up forever but if we can keep this apparently much dumber seeming fufa trapped in decision paralysis for long enough, we can maybe get backu--
oh no it's splitting

"FUFA MORPHOLOGY INSUFFICIENT FOR DATA EXTRACTION ADAPTING MORPHOLOGY"

HOW IS IT EVEN DOING THIS KITSIKSU TOLD ME THEY WEREN'T ANYWHERE NEAR THIS ABLE TO CHANGE FORMS SO DRASTICALLY

I can see the two bodies are definitely still connected by a bunch of weird fleshy tubes but those tubes are getting longer and thinner.
>>
No. 868775 ID: c88e6d

>>868773
Target the tubes, damaging enough will cause total loss of higher functions.
>>
No. 868776 ID: 12b116

Try to talk to it, keep it busy till Tirzi can get here and hopefully contain it. What does it mean by incomplete?
>>
No. 868777 ID: 86eb65

Oh crap your mom or Imperium modified this one. Its not a newly born fufa at all! Its a highly experimented on fufa that is confused as can be.

You need to keep it confused. Start explaining that what you think its origin is and that you can help it be complete. Its worth a shot to try and confuse it.

Chatter at it about the situation and give it some Salikai "data". It wants genetic data but maybe you can get it thinking that the stuff you are saying is what it wants.

Just need to distract it until the heavy guns get here.
>>
No. 868779 ID: 10c408

son of a scat sucking supply sergeant what in the blue blazes did Kitsiku give you?!?

Try and distract it with information overload while you back away from it.

orrr... Wait, no. better/worst idea. Tell it about the fleshsmith and that if it leaves the lab it can get as much information as it wants from him!
>>
No. 868782 ID: b1b4f3

>>868773
Make sure Ku knows that fire is basically required to hurt this thing. Tirzi can probably just stay with her patient.
If it's rejecting "data analysis" of arkots maybe you can surround it with arkots and it will refuse to attack them?
Get one to get in the Fufa's way as an experiment, threaten to kill the "volunteer" if it does not comply. If the Fufa just swats the Arkot away then just try to stretch the Fufa across the room (it was a pretty big room) so it can't get to either of you.
Once someone starts burning it, start telling the Fufa that you are not the same Salikai it spoke to before. You will promise it nothing. There is merely one single certainty: it will not survive if it continues to disobey. Get in the pod or die.

Also this looks like this was a very advanced Fufa sent with you as a fucking landmine for you to trip on.
>>
No. 868784 ID: 3abd97

>Wait! Wait what about all these arkots?
I love that Ekasarra's immediate reaction is to try and distract the monster by throwing the arkots under the bus. It's a very admirable ruthlessness. Sisirri should be pleased.

>>868773
See it's not a new fufa at all. This one has eaten pomi, neumono, and a (neumono) predator before, judging from the parts being displayed. And has apparently been trained and/or fed by a salikai before. Kitsiksu? Your mother? You, under Imperium's control and made to forget after? Someone else?

>what do
You could instruct Ekasarra to focus fire on the connections- it won't allow itself to be separated, and will have to draw back together or devote additional mass to the connections, slowing it down.

You could also try to slow the fufa down by distracting it? Ordering it to report on it's current status might give results, or to state its mission (whoever was training this thing must have needed a diagnostic, right)?
>>
No. 868790 ID: 13fded

I don't know if it can be convinced to cooperate, but at the very least any communication attempt will buy us time and maybe provide additional information.

"Who's your salikai?" Might be a good question to start or whatever variant that can give us information about this person.
There is three possibilities, although they can have multiples reasons behind. Either Kitsiksu trained his present and didn't tell you, you trained Kitsiksu's present while been manipulated by Imperium or this is a long time spy put in your base by a third salikai.

Inform this being that it's under telepathic influence of hostile aliens. Whatever purpose it had and it's long time survival chances in an environment with limited food sources if the fufa aggressively consume and expand because of impulses that aren't it's own. If the fufa restrain itself and cooperate we can develop defenses against the alien manipulation, guaranty it's sustenance and satiate it's desire to acquire data without destroying our resources in the process.
>>
No. 868793 ID: cb585b

>>868773
Anyone else notice it apparently knows what Polo and a Predator looks like?

And agreed, shoot the tubes and pray it's a weak point
>>
No. 868794 ID: 75cce3

You know what? Since it's capable of talking, take the opportunity to ask why it is not newborn. It should be newborn.
>>
No. 868799 ID: 10c408

>>868794
That could just be a cerulean neumono. Doesn't mean it is in fact polokoa? herself.

But yeah. where, when and how did this thing get in contact with a predator?!
>>
No. 868803 ID: 074011

Overtly tap you eye and inform the fufa that the data is in mechanical parts, and thus inaccessible.(probably true, technically) Offer to provide the data, translated, when you independence is not threatened(also likely true. reciprocal communication would be fascinating.). Thus it must enter the pod for containment(no reason to betray this), which will protect it from energy beams(a ridiculous lie, but hopefully plausible to it.).
>>
No. 868805 ID: ba56e6

>>868773
"How about Kiter data? Kiter data is new, you've never seen before."
>>
No. 868811 ID: 91ee5f

Tell whoever’s coming to help to bring a flamethrower or something with fire!
>>
No. 868823 ID: 767ff9

>>868805
The big concern is if the kiter learn from and master the fufa. That could be very, very bad. But it's a line of thought to consider. Might be worth it, even if it only buys time.
>>
No. 868850 ID: 9d4af9

You can't fight this thing. Talk it down somehow, maybe you can pacify it.
>>
No. 868864 ID: e1c8f7

>>868773
It wants information? Give it information. Just keep it as focused on you as possible. Be sure to always stay moving and get obstacles between you and it. Tell Ekasarra to do the same. Don't get cut off or cornered.
>>
No. 868874 ID: ce19bd

This fufa better not be fire resistant or you're effectively plucked. Are there any sort of mass incendiaries in the facility? Maybe anti-fungal agents?
>>
No. 868876 ID: 0d45a9

Theory: The fufa is not splitting, but instead forming two connected bodies to control.
Evidence: Fufas hate losing mass, splitting would halve mass. Fufa structure in the middle of the main fleshy tube, may be control structure or contain queen cells, thus priority target.
Conclusion: Attack it's weak point for massive damage. (aka Shoot the eye thingy in the middle)
>>
No. 868880 ID: 56fca5

>>868775
>>868876

Either of these could work. Hitting the queen structure itself might prove difficult but if you hit the tubes attaching the bodies it will lose connection to at least one of them. I doubt that would be something it could fix so easily.
>>
No. 868884 ID: 59dd26

No, don't aim for the tubes! If you split it, then we have TWO fufas.

Order the arkots to attack the fufa, and keep keeping it distracted it until the cavalry can arrive.
>>
No. 868893 ID: dc91a0

This thing went from Arkot size to Saliki Size and then some.
It's probably extremely porous right now.
If you have to run, run to the showers. You might be able to waterlog it. That won't stop it, but it should slow it down.
>>
No. 868895 ID: 10c408

>>868893
You are vastly overestimating the use of terrified, unarmed arkots.
>>
No. 869006 ID: c86a58

Ah, should have registered earlier; it has obviously been eating food just like a regular arkot, taking advantage of the free bio matter and thus gained quite a lot of extra mass than what it should have had. Damn us for being too slow to catch on to that fact. Looks like its memory is badly fragmented as well, and has probably been fed quite a few genetic samples,... I'm guessing your late erstwhile paramour might have been experimenting with the fufa's ability to replicate special traits of other races (especially if he was not able to procure full specimens of them, the neumono predator example most notably.) with empathy in particular given their prominence. Probably should have paid more attention to all the times he'd ramble about his work incessantly. If we can remember anything else of what he said about his projects and their goals we might get some insight into what exactly this thing was programed with in mind.
Dunno where pomi comes in, probably might have been some researcher he'd had helping with the work on the creature. Also appears to have some traces of heef (black beak) and some small traces of salikai and something else insectoid. Extraneous information for now though.

Yep, this is the worst case. Plum stupid with just enough data to act intelligent. The problem is we don't know what information it does remember. Besides the obvious problem of being The Thing of course.
It appears to have been thoroughly traumatized by the sample seed being severed from the rest of its parrent colony. Fortunately for us it only seems to want information specifically that of genetic/structural/anatomical/behavioral. One of those "friendly" tamed ones the other salikai would drone on about. Fuckers never though about what happens to the bits they left on the cutting room floor though, oh no, that's just too much effort.
That,... and closing the lid on that half an arkot you found probably has a little something to do with the whole "incomplete" thing in regards to you specifically,.... In all fairness, the neumono are right about the whole "mad scientist" thing. Can't beleive I'd ever have to give the savages that much credit, but you know what they say about broken clocks.

Anywho!
Best course of action at the moment is to keep running circles around the bastard and plug it for information. Far as I can guess, it is going to have something of a survivalist personality, and its goal is to take samples of Sisirri and Ekassarra (Bless her lukewarm bionic heart!) Unfortunately since it is stupid, it will settle for nothing short of completely eating them both, and does not understand such complex concepts as "negotiation." So far though it displays no overt signs of being affected by the ambient empathy, and I rather doubt Kitsiku would have sent a tainted sample, or one he beleived to be so given his afffections such as such emotions are. If anything, it might have picked up on the Kiter's escessive interest in Sisirri but that'd be about the extent of the corruption.
And we should keep it that way, absolutely no mention of the Kiter or the outside world at all. Down that road lies sadness of the kind we don't have the thermo-nuclear weapons for. Furthermore, we should do our best to mitigate its exposure to our new aliend friends, as it will likely become highly focused on "getting samples" of them as well.
Continuing to trade information with it is probably the best course of action, while having Ekassar plink away at its central mass,... er, bulb. It is clearly unwilling to split fully, and the only thing that'll probably keep it where it is the the threat of severing its two parts, and the large amounts of mass invested in each. As well, fufa are not designed to split thankfully, so chances of that occuring in an effective manner are miniscule.

>>868803
Is quite the clever gambit, and by far the most likely to succeed, or get any form of tangible results at the very least. Thus I'm going to second this with extreme prejudice. Even in its current agitated state the fufa is comparatively harmless if we consider the alternative way this could have played out. It has some intelligence, at at least already grasps the concept of mechanical bits that it can't replicate and therefore cannot assimilate/interact with. Better yet still, is the potential that, once safely contained, it could be given even more dataa and information than it could have possibly asked for, or could even comprehend and know what to do with. Largely because hey, fuck it, those other chumps are fucking right, a tame fufa is a fucking awesome asset to have and if there's a chance to get this thing to cooperate we'll have a fucking massively useful new asset in this shit hole of a planet.
>>
No. 869007 ID: b1b4f3

>>869006
>not catching on
Well I mean I requested retrieving/inspecting the half-arkot more than once earlier in the thread, it's not like this could have been avoided.
>>
No. 869011 ID: ad51b8

ask if this base has anything highly flammable that we could use to burn this thing? Because I've seen The Thing, fire is very effective.
>>
No. 869015 ID: c86a58

>>869007
I know, I know, It's just I know I had operated on the assumption that it would be starved for biomass. Obviously that's not the case. Unavoidable sure, but there I was saying we shouldn't make wild assumptions and then making a very stupid one and not being cautious enough. Stings, that does.

I'm concerned though by the idea that we could have confronted this thing before we were ready, and then died then. On the other hand, having a helpful fufa friend with a successful persuasion would probably have kept the neumono from nearly murdering Sisirri. Probably might have lent more credence to their accusations, granted. But ya can't argue like that against someone with an amorphous omnivorous fungus friend!
>>
No. 869037 ID: 90124d

>KITSIKSU TOLD ME THEY WEREN'T ANYWHERE NEAR THIS ABLE TO CHANGE FORMS SO DRASTICALLY

Theres three possible explanations.

A: That memory is modified, unlikely, since this is unimportant information.
B: This is not a normal Fufa
C: Kitsiksu lied, for some reason. Very Unlikely, I can't imagine a plan or reason to do this.

So this is not a normal Fufa and it somehow got modified despite you not noticing- oh, right, memories removed. Why would Imperium do something as weird as this? No idea.

You know, its pretty odd the fact you can trace almost everything bad that happens in your life back to Imperium somehow, Imperium must of invest a ton in you, why did he decide to betray you? It makes no sense, its not like you FINISHED any of your projects or research completely... You still had a lot of use... according to your memories, which are compromised.

So, let us revise some of these. Imperium invests in you heavily and installs an implant in you, likely after they capture you since I doubt the fact that you managed to escape each attempt for your life. This implant insures loyalty and allows memory implantation and removal, and possibly a high level of memory spying. Life passes while you work under Imperium, and it manipulates you into thinking your important under him, and he can't just find replacements. You work on the artifact and detail your reports to Imperium and all of that. Sometime before your base gets self-destructed, Now the time line diverges into two different possibilities, one is that we're mostly dead, and the other is we're partly screwed.

Timeline 1: You finish your main project, the one on the Artifact. Your memories are set to make you think you didn't complete it and to believe Imperium can't recreate said Artifact.
Timeline 1a: Imperium can recreate the artifact and thinks your probably dead through his arrogance and pride.
Timeline 1b: Imperium CAN'T recreate or mass produce the artifact. He wouldn't of blown up your base unless it knew the artifact wouldn't be destroyed... So it knew you would use the artifact and:
1Ba: Has no idea where you are and can't track you
1Bb: Currently knows where you are and can't get there since its a galaxy away, but will get there eventually.
1Bc: Can get to your location, knows where you are, and will be coming in the next year at max. Min is probably like weeks.
Timeline 1C: Imperium can create the artifact and knows where you are, so you will be invaded in 1 week at max.

Timeline 2: You instead, complete another project and your memories of said project is wiped. In this timeline, you didn't complete this Artifact project, but it wasn't very important to Imperium anyways and he was just flattering you. Either that, or the Artifact was underestimated. Doesn't matter much. This project that you completed was more important than the Artifact, and Imperium realizes that you are going to initiate your plan and retire, and decides to kill you to tie up loose ends.
Timeline 1A: Imperium doesn't know how to create the Artifact, but deemed it unimportant. Unlikely.
Timeline 1B: Imperium had enough data to finish the research on its own/with others and decided the original was unimportant.
Timeline 1C: Imperium created or already fully exploited said Artifact but believes you died still and didn't track it and was just having you do work to cover up the fact you're doing something else.

There are probably more possibilities, but these are the main ones I can think of.
>>
No. 869063 ID: ba56e6

>>868823
Letting the fufa actually interact with the kiter would be bad, yes. But as a topic it might serve as a distraction to buy more time.
>>
No. 869090 ID: 93be1c
File 151918754902.png - (11.15KB , 800x600 , salq-147.png )
869090

>give it data
>via chatter
>distract it
>confuse it

"FUFA! STATE YOUR MISSION AND STATUS! WHO MADE YOU?"

The fufa wobbles uncertainly as it loses its coherence. It appears to be struggling to keep this "split" body form.

One of its halves falls over, the other half coming with as the connecting strands pull it down. While on the ground it cycles through more arbitrary half-remembered shapes and speaks with a variety of mouths forming and disappearing into the frothing mass.

"FUFA MISSION ACQUIRE DATA OF ALL KNOWN SAPIENT SPECIES OF ASTRENEUS V ACQUIRE DATA AND PROCESS ESTABLISH INFILITRATOR PERSONAE"

The bubbling mass slops its way against gravity like an unpleasant eruption, forming itself into a strange facsimile of a bipedal neumono predator.
Wait. Hold on. ...It's a... it's a neumono predator. It's literally some mix between a neumono and a pred-- THIS IS SO STUPID IT'S CAUSING ME REAL PAIN

Ekasarra tenses up. She's keeping her arm trained on the fufa, but isn't firing yet.

"FUFA MISSION PARAMETERS COALESCE AS FUFA CELLULAR STRUCTURE RESTORE"

The tint of the fufa fluctuates across its surface like a wave.

"FUFA REMEMBER"

Its head moves towards Ekasarra's with the wrong motion. A single angle transition change, with the neck slowly catching up afterwards.
It then looks to me with the same disturbing motion, like a broken-necked corpse.
>>
No. 869091 ID: 93be1c
File 151918757987.png - (84.49KB , 800x600 , salq-148.png )
869091

"FUFA REMEMBER FUFA REMEMBER creator group TRIFEX biotechnological resources and expertise SALIKAI KITSIKSU IAREM specimen acquistion SALIKAI SIRA RO behavioural manipulation and psychological programming SALIKAI SU'AB KLATA"
"What is the status of the group?"
"LNS ATTEMPT TO CAPTURE INFORMATION AND FORCIBLY ASSIMILATE TRIFEX RESOURCES INTO OWN ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE UNABLE TO CONSUME TRIFEX LNS ATTEMPT DESTROY TRIFEX"
"Does it ever stop to breathe?" mutters Ekasarra. I give her a quick shrug.
"LNS MERCENARIES TARGET TRIFEX MEMBERS AND FUFA REDUCE FUFA MASS BY 71% SALIKAI KITSIKSU IAREM ESCAPE WITH REMAINING BIOMASS OTHER SALIKAI DISBAND TO THROW OFF LNS TRAIL STATUS UNKNOWN"

This. This already raises questions.

"Who are or were LNS?"
"ENEMY SALIKAI ORGANISATION"
"More detail."
"SIX PRIMARY SALIKAI MEMBERS ROTATING CODENAMES ANONYMOUS EVEN TO EACH OTHER FURTHER DETAIL LOST WITH BIOMASS"
"Ekasarra, stay on guard, just because this thing is talking now doesn't make it a friend. Why did LNS attack the `Trifex' group?"
"TRIFEX GROUP INTERESTS COUNTERPRODUCTIVE TO LNS INTERESTS"
"What were the Trifex group's interests?"
"ACQUIRE INFORMATION PREVENT INFORMATION FROM BEING ACQUIRED BY OUTSIDE GROUP"
"What were LNS' interests?"
"CONTROL OUTSIDE FORCES IF POSSIBLE DESTROY IF NOT"
"Did LNS work for Imperium?"
"{aa]DO NOT RECOGNIZE[/aa]"
"What do you know about Imperium, fufa?"
"DO NOT RECOGNIZE"

"FUFA REMEMBER GOAL: ACQUIRE INFORMATION"
"Fufa, no, I'm still asking you questions."
"SALIKAI NOT RECOGNIZED AS TRIFEX MEMBER"
"Fufa--"
"SALIKAI POTENTIAL LNS MEMBER"
"FUFA--"
"SALIKAI: TRIFEX SAY KILL"

The fufa's clueless demeanour suddenly and abruptly shifts from vacant to determined.
Ekasarra aims to fire. The fufa tilts its head slightly.
She immediately staggers and looks incredibly confused.

Uh oh.
>>
No. 869092 ID: 93be1c
File 151918759238.png - (30.74KB , 800x600 , salq-149.png )
869092

"SALIKAI: FUFA SAY NEUMONO KILL"

Ekasarra wordlessly points her arm towards me.
Her facial expression is blank.
It's impossible for me to discern whatever is happening between her and the predatory fufa.

I don't... I'm having a hard time understanding this creature somehow rapidly swinging from idiocy to moments of brilliance.
It's far too chaotic to predict.
But if it's now turning an ally against me it's clearly far too dangerous to be contained alive, regrettably.

"[HI I'M HERE,]" yells Ku as the door to the lab, which Ekasarra had locked on my instruction, is unlocked and opened. "[Oh wow. That's new--]"

Ekasarra spins to face Ku while the fufa keeps me in its sights. She takes aim at Ku, and he hesistates.
She's looking at the fufa, though. And her arm is shaking a lot. It's disconcerting.
>>
No. 869093 ID: 93be1c
File 151918760638.png - (17.14KB , 800x600 , salq-150.png )
869093

"KU EKASARRA'S UNDER INFLUENCE FROM THE FUFA WE NEED TO DESTROY IT"
"SALIKAI CONFIRM FUFA DESTRUCTION MOTIVATION SALIKAI: FUFA SAY KILL"
"FIRE, KU! WE NEED FIRE!"
"[Fi-- Fire?! What?! This is a research lab, we don't have flamethrowers lying around!!]"

I start to run to the other side of the room.

"ARKOTS! DO YOUR JOBS AND FIGHT THIS THING!!"

They remain cowering. Useless.

"[SISIRRI!]" Ku shouts at me while he takes his scarf off. "[I'M GOING TO TRY SOMETHING REALLY DUMB! IF I PASS OUT PUT ME ON MY BACK AND POUR WATER DOWN MY THROAT!]"
"WHAT? WHY DO I NEED TO POUR WATER DOWN YOUR THROAT?!"
"[GREAT, I KNEW I COULD TRUST YOU ON THIS ONE!]"

Ku makes increasingly loud buzzing and crackling noises as his glow gets brighter. He looks and sounds increasingly uncomfortable.
He starts to run at the fufa, low pitched droning building in volume.

Ekasarra fires at Ku but misses, her coordination incredibly clumsy and unfocused.
She tries to fire again and doesn't seem to notice it not working.

I keep running. The fufa appears to be having some trouble focusing on both me and Ekasarra, as before, but it somehow modifies its limbs into heef legs. Four of them. And drops to all fours.

I hear Ekasarra firing again, but either her aim is getting far worse or she tried to shoot at the fufa and missed.
>>
No. 869094 ID: 93be1c
File 151918761951.png - (211.13KB , 800x600 , salq-151.png )
869094

"HRRGG-- GET-- ARREERGH-- BACK!"

Before I have the opportunity to tell Ku that this is, in fact, exactly what I have been trying to do this entire time, I trip over one of the arkot's incredibly well placed structures, toppling it and myself.

I turn to face the fufa, expecting my limbs to be more useful as arms than legs at this point.
I won't win this fight but if I can buy time for Ku to-- oh, Ku's already doing whatever he's aiming to do.

Ku is apparently far denser than the fufa and apparently leapt onto it, pinning it to the ground.

"FUFA HAS NO CONTEXT OR EXPERIENCE RELATING TO CURRENT SITUATION OF PINNED BY MOVING ROCK"

Ku, burning brightly enough that it's getting hard to even look at him, opens his mouth for what I expect to be a retort.

Instead, just as I notice the air around Ku shimmering from heat, Ku discharges an incredibly high volume of steam at high velocity directly into the fufa's face.
The hissing noise reverberates through the entire room, and Ku's head begins to sag, the torrent of steam erupting from him passing over other parts of the fufa's body.

"FUFA SUSTAINING SIGNIFICANT BIOMASS DAMAGE REQUIRE ASSISTANCE REQUIRE ASSISTANCE"

Ekasarra no longer looks blank faced, but absolutely furious.
She tenses up to charge at the fufa, but reason overcomes her fury.
With Ku acting as some sort of improvised autoclave, getting closer is not a wise idea.

"Ekasarra! Get water! He needs water!"
"...Water!" She runs out of the room.

Ku droops more and more over the fufa as its voice becomes more discordant and incomprehensible.

He pushes himself onto his back, panting steam irregularly and lying almost completely inert. "[...water now...]"

Ekasarra comes running back in with a water pitcher. I don't know how or where. She runs at Ku before once again reeling back from the temperature.

Well. This is a problem.
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No. 869095 ID: 93be1c
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869095

"Arkots! Scoop what's left of this thing back in the pod and seal it!"

One of the arkots runs at the fufa's writhing scaled biomass before screeching in pain and running back.

Ekasarra stares at Ku's still overheating body. She looks at me as if I have an idea.

"I'm not any more heatproof than you are, Ekasarra!"

She looks anxious, and then closes her eyes and runs at Ku like a maniac with no regard for their own self-preservation how are neumono functional beings?

She groans in pain as she tries to pour the water pitcher down Ku's open mouth, steam billowing as it makes contact with him.
"KEEP YOUR MOUTH OPEN!"
She pours the entire container into him, teeth gritted, then throws it to one side and staggers back to a safer distance.

Ku's steam venting breath returns to some sort of rhythm as his painfully bright glowing eyes subside in intensity.

"[Holy fuck that was close,]" he says, still panting steam. "[Real fucking smart idea, Ku.]"
"What did he say?" asks Ekasarra.
"He has regrets about his plan."
"[Understatement of the year. I feel like lead. I can't even move my legs. Everything hurts. I think I might have internal burning in a few places.]"
"Well, you did save our lives."
"[It wasn't meant to be an act of self-sacrifice. I'm too old for this kind of thing now, apparently. That or I held my cooling for far too long.]"

With Ku able to cool down properly, the high temperature rapidly becomes ceiling moisture.

I approach the mostly sterilised fufa. It's hard at work engulfing its destroyed tissue. I expect it will soon attempt to regrow and reform.
Right now, it's a vaguely fibrous mass I easily scoop up with a few limbs, put in a pod, and this time seal the pod.

Just to be on the safe side I'll wash my hands thoroughly after I leave.
Before I do, I have something a little more abstract to manipulate.
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No. 869096 ID: 93be1c
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869096

Ekasarra looks pained, but I can't see any obvious severe burning, so I suspect she probably doesn't even need medical attention.
Unless burn wounds are somehow magically immune to neumono regeneration.
She's slumped against the wall, looking off into space.

I sidle up to her.
"Ekasarra, I am very impressed with your quick thinking during this crisis."
"Wh-what? What quick thinking?"
"Thinking to use arkots as a resource to distract the fufa. Very clever. And you came up with it before I did, too." Well, more accurately, she acted on the idea before I did.
"I guess after working with salikai for long enough, you start thinking a bit like them."

She giggles nervously. It's hard to gauge if she's shaken by what's just happened or if she's shaken by what she just said.

"Well," I say, "that sort of decision may seem callous, but consider the circumstances you made them in. Fear, panic, danger. Such situation describes the salikai life. We arrive at conclusions many other sapients balk at, but we do what we need to survive." This is mostly true. I have not yet met a salikai who lived a life of certainty and security to invalidate this idea. "We are simply faster at making difficult choices than others. Perhaps it is our species, perhaps it is what passes for our culture, forged in adversity."
"You sound like Timaka. She's our queen. Always quick to emphasise that ruthless decisions that save the lives of hivemates over aliens need to be made fast, however deplorable they feel. I guess our entire hive's way of thinking drifted to a more salikai way of things after everything."
"Why would a neumono hive dedicated to salikai hunting consider a salikai perspective an ideal to pursue?"
"Because," Ekasarra says, shakily laughing again, "it doesn't feel like a salikai perspective. It's a pragmatic outlook. Not cruelty for cruelty's sake."
"There's typically reason for what might be seen as cruelty. A grander picture, or simply acts by a creature cornered and thrashing at everything they can before the jaws of death come for them. You and I are survivors, Ekasarra. Not just of my mother, but of a universe inherently hostile to intelligence. Our existence is in spite of nature, not due to its will."

Ekasarra nods. "I'm sorry, I'm a little distracted. I just got co-opted by angry mushrooms and I feel like I want to jump in a tub of ice. What are you trying to say?"
"There's more alike between us than I think your hive wants to admit."
"Oh. I figured that out a while ago, but... it's so easy to be caught up in the group mentality, for neumono. Purpose brings conviction and a loss of doubt and endless self-reflection."
"Sounds almost like you'd prefer to be rid of it."

Ekasarra looks even more uncomfortable than she already was and she's already fidgeting from burn wounds.

"Sisirri... if you don't know how to make a jammer, I've... I've worked on something... something else in the past."
"Oh?"
"A jammer can screen out neumono empathy at all but the touch range, but the Sp-- but your moth--"
"The Splicer."
"But the Splicer hated that there was even this remnant. So... Sisirri, the empathic relays were designed as telemetry devices. To record vast amounts of empathy data. That's what they relay. Data. And we had a lot of it. And with that data, and my..." She grimaces. "My assistance, she designed a device that... numbed empathy entirely. Both projected and felt."
"Oh. Did it work?"
"Heh. Straight to the point, aren't you. It worked horribly well. A small needle, inserted into the spine and given time to establish itself in the vic-- the host. After about a day, the subject would be unable to feel empathy. Or project empathy. Or have a will to live. Or display traces of personality. It turned them into mindless automatons, as if controlled by a braindead predator. But they followed orders, and that's all Hidira wanted. Without orders, they'd stand and just... die from starvation. It was like the implant was turning off a switch that made a neumono functional."

Ekasarra sniffs. I allow her to collect herself before she continues. I nod in a sympathetic, reassuring manner, as I've seen the aliens do.
I consider a consolatory pat on the shoulder, but remember that she's suffering from mild third degree burns, and stop myself before I make the action.

"I don't know what Hidira did but I have the specifications to the device in my electronic storage." She taps her mechanical ear. "I can help you build three of those devices, but I can tell you right now, I'm the only one of us three who would even be willing to voluntarily have it implanted."
"Why are you different?"
"Because," she says with another shaking laugh, "I really doubt anything can make me feel worse about myself. My will to live's been circling the drain since the burning of the hive. The only thing worse than hearing those screams when I sleep, Sisirri, is knowing how much of their deaths I engineered with my own hands."
"Well, instead of viewing it as a failing of your morality, you could instead frame it as a success that you did not all perish. Clearly it was not your best work if there were survivors, yes?"

Ekasarra stares at me in a way that suggests I may have pushed my luck too far with this "social manipulation".
I think emergency clarification is required to regain my current position of figure of trust!

"...that was intended to be consoling, not insulting. I'm sure your machines were very lethal when they needed to be--"
"Okay! Yes! Consoled! Thanks!"
I have my doubts but choose not to voice them.
"Either way! Sisirri, if you can't get a jammer done soon, talk to me. Maybe together, with a mutual goal, we can achieve a more useful device design that numbs empathy without it also slowly hollowing someone into a shell of who they used to be. I'm a willing test subject, if nothing else."
"You're useless to me and to your hive as a mindless worker drone. I'm concerned." Willing test subjects are incredibly hard to come across and they need to be kept in good condition always.
"It'll be fine. Probably. I'm not too worried."

Hm.

Continue trying to work on the jammer (the fufa seems a promising lead if I can keep it contained), or work on this proposed alternative empathy... nullifier? Whatever, names can come later.
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No. 869098 ID: 86eb65

Work on the Jammer. Fuck your mom's creepy zombie device. Study her tech and combine it with your Jammer ideas and make something that is not a horrible cruel torture device.
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No. 869101 ID: 176036

Jammer. I have a feeling that the Empathic Nullifier should be considered a last resort, if it effectively turns the Neumono into meat puppets.

I mean, yeah, they’d be easier to work with, but at that point you’d be fully embracing what that thing that replaced your mother was. And, y’know, it sounds like you’d basically have three more Neumono-shaped Arkots which are even dumber than the average Arkot. You’ve got enough dumb Arkots as it is, you don’t need more.
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No. 869104 ID: 12b116

Let's study the method of action of the implantable one, and see if we can't incorporate that into our current jammer build. If it's going to just turn them into useless zombies we might as well just kill them now/as they go insane.
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No. 869105 ID: c88e6d

>>869096
The Splicer device is not a solution. It is a euthanasia tool. If you required slaves with no initiative, you have arkots for that. It sounds like it doesn't even affect empathy, it just prevents the Neumono from maintaining conscious thought.

Examine Fufa Cell-matter for empathic connection data. Presume the Fufa is awake due to the effects of the Anomalies outside this base.
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No. 869106 ID: ba56e6

Continue working on the Jammer.

Ask Ekasarra to help you later, to find a way to shut down or reverse the empathy nullifiers. If your mother was making these, Imperium has them too.

Once you figure out how to stop them, destroy the designs for the nullifiers. The power to make somebody an unperson should not exist.
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No. 869108 ID: b1b4f3

>>869096
Work on the Jammer first and foremost.

Sounds like Ekasarra is suicidal. Possibly due to her existence as an unwilling cyborg, or perhaps because of her hive's destruction. Probably both.
The schematics would be incredibly useful for making a real jammer though! Or an empathy numbing device. Both things would be highly useful for the Ashes since it'll keep them from wanting to kill eachother as they all drift apart and "go rogue". Consider that if Ekasarra feels like she's going rogue and Kan is definitely going rogue then Lekka will be alone, and a solitary neumono is rogue by default even if their empathy is stable.
Make sure Tirzi knows you're safe!

>SALIKAI KITSIKSU IAREM ESCAPE WITH REMAINING BIOMASS
Oh hey Kitsiksu survived an attack, unknown if it's the attack you thought he died in. You wound up with his Fufa somehow. That implies you got the Fufa after the attack the Fufa spoke of, yet... he didn't warn you it was highly advanced? That makes NO sense. I suspect another memory is missing. You probably did meet him, but Imperium made you forget it. OR, Kitsiksu knew Imperium was censoring your memories and sent the Fufa to you as a sort of... data storage device?

I wonder if the neumono know anything about LNS or TRIFEX. If they know a significant amount you might be able to establish a basic timeline of what happened to Kitsiksu and better estimate his chances of survival.
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No. 869114 ID: 3abd97

>SALIKAI KITSIKSU IAREM specimen acquistion
Darn it Kitsiksu we liked you and now this mess is your fault.

>She looks anxious, and then closes her eyes and runs at Ku like a maniac with no regard for their own self-preservation how are neumono functional beings?
Well, objectively it was the right call. She can regenerate the damage from burns better than you, the arkots are incapable, and temporary damage is worth sustaining to preserve a valuable ally. Especially one that's the only check we have to a dangerous carnivorous xenofungus.

>and this time seal the pod.
You probably want to store that pod inside whatever the superculture aliens have for storing volitile and dangerous substances. And then put some dire warning labels on in.

And then write a report on what you know about fufas and every way this one broke those rules.

>a device that... numbed empathy entirely
>"You're useless to me and to your hive as a mindless worker drone. I'm concerned."
Converting you to a non-sapient meat-drone might be less wasteful than converting you to a corpse, but an organic drone is not a terribly valuable commodity. This seems a very expensive and cruel way to staff a workforce. Certainly arkots or mechanical drones would be more cost effective, and less likely to draw ire.

>what do
Ask for the data she has on these devices, at least. They are a known design that interacts with empathy. Even if you don't build one, if you study the design might be able to reverse engineer something from them that will help you understand a jammer. Or something that can be combined with what you already learned from the sensors. After all, jammers are mass produced. Surely they are fundamentally simpler than the Splicer's dedicated, specialized creations.

How permanent was the effect? If the implant was removed, did empathy and consciousness return? (How reversible these things are factor into how safely they can be tested).

Also, while you appreciate her willingness to be a test subject, something that dangerous should perhaps initially be tested on a smaller scale. Neumono cell cultures, for example. (So nothing irreplaceable is lost in the case of full nullification).

>what else do
You might want to alert the spikey medic to Ku's condition, and whoever is in charge of security about the fufa.
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No. 869119 ID: 13fded

We could try to adapt this implant design to use against the the flesh weavers. I would also be good to have one in case of emergency. Other than that it's a wort option compared to a jammer. Not only the neumonos become less useful, whatever component compel them to obey could be hacked by the Kiter.
Also remember that the jammer have a very good chance to working on the Kiter telepathy.

On the other hand the neural mechanisms you've been studying suggest ways to detect and transmit telepathy but don't guide us toward a functional jammer. If we use neurons to continually transmit a signal on the entire spectrum loud enough to muffle all other signs the delicate structures would quickly be damage duo to overwork.
What I think we are closer to develop is a countersignal machine. A sensor capable of detect telepathic patter and, after a small delay to process the information, transmit a second signal to nullify the first.
If we perfect the data processing or if the fufa cooperate it's even possible to detect and transmit emotions, manipulating the neumonos into a positive outlook to balance their negativity feedback.

And tell Ekasarra about the possibility to farm neumono's neurons as renewable components for new sensors. Not only we need their cooperation, we need information on the neural structures that are relevant for those sensors and she might be caring related data from Hidira. The fufa is a good alternative but it's kind of dangerous since it can turn into something else if hacked by our enemies.
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No. 869121 ID: 074011

>>869108
The attack that Kitsiksu survived presumably predates Kitsiksu giving Sisirri this sample. So I would assume that it could not be the event that Sisirri believes killed him. Although it does demonstrate that he was a capable survivor...

The nullifier is useless as a weapon. Ekasarra is already suicidal. Removing Ekasarra is not something that requires effort and the device is ineffective at harming a resisting target. The other Neomono will resist if it mind-kills Ekasarra and it is foolish to assume that you can develop a guaranteed success from the first prototype of a new technology. This is especially true when you did not develop the technology, the original designer most likely had no interest in the mental state of the subject and thus likely kept insufficient notes on the subject, and you do not have the necessary background in biology...

The prototype will fail and no other versions will be permitted use.

On the other hand, the Fufa successfully manipulated a neumono via empathics. This is extremely promising!

-Review Fufa containment.
-Damage control: Triage, Arkots, damaged equipment...
-Fufa containment: research edition. Remember the three "R"s! Redundancy redundancy redundancy... Just because it shouldn't be possible for it to escape, doesn't mean that it won't. Containment doesn't fail on a single equipment failure, if containment fails then there is secondary containment, if secondary containment fails then there are tools and alerts to competently provide improvised containment. If improvised containment fails then there is a backup site, escape facilities, and a massive overkill option. There are too many horror stories of Salikai that suffered containment breaches by hostile organisms...
-Debriefing. The others will prevent you from sciencing until you explain this situation...
-Jammer research. basiing it off of known designs seems plausible. The Fufa matter should be capable of producing an empathy reception and cancelling field in the same way that the sensors were able to use electronics or neumono cells as receivers and reverse the system with a power source to produce a broadcaster, right?
-Fufa research. It isn't your field, but just how many forms does this thing have? How many did it lose? The sample that it grew from may have been smaller than the current mass...
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No. 869124 ID: 9d4af9

The empathic nullifier plans would be very useful for designing a jammer, but you should use them only to that end. Building a nullifier is a surefire way to antagonize the other neumono and potentially the rest of the crew.
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No. 869126 ID: 91ee5f

>>869096
After seeing how easily the fufa took control of Ekasarra, I’d say it’s too risky, so we should kill it!

>The Splicer’s device
That’s actually perfect!

And since Ekasarra has the specifications for the device, that means that she knows what parts to not build so that the device will work like a normal jammer and not include the parts that turn neumono into brain dead puppets!
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No. 869127 ID: 90124d

When did you get the Fufa cells? Thats the last date the Fufa should remember, excluding hiveminds, telepathy or implanted memories.
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No. 869133 ID: 75cce3

Work on the regular jammer. At the least, you can try feeding white noise into the empathy relay, that's what the basic principle of jamming is. Just start with low power and keep the OFF switch ready.
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No. 869134 ID: b1b4f3

Don't kill the fufa. It could be retrained. Reduction in mass reduces its ability to recall memory, so if you keep reducing its mass until it no longer sees you as an enemy you can start feeding it again and train it to be loyal to you. It might forget how to be a Predator but we must think of our own safety before the potential to use it against the likes of Kan.
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No. 869135 ID: 13fded

>>869121
>The attack that Kitsiksu survived presumably predates Kitsiksu giving Sisirri this sample. So I would assume that it could not be the event that Sisirri believes killed him. Although it does demonstrate that he was a capable survivor...

No, the attack had to happen before Sisirri received Kitsiksu's present, otherwise she wouldn't had received it.
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No. 869141 ID: dc91a0

Continue on the jammer. The empathy nullifier info might be useful for that goal but the jammer is the way to go.

also, dangerous or not, this fufa has vital information. it must be contained not destroyed.
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No. 869144 ID: 13cc26

So be sure to add "figure out how to get the fufa cooperating" to your non-short-term todo list. Definitely seems like there could be some room to make that work.

Anyway, yeah, point out to Ekasarra that you already have plenty of dumb things that are mostly only good at following orders, and the aliens have drones. The implant could be worth studying in and of itself.
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No. 869151 ID: b1b4f3

>>869135
It's possible that even the remembered ORDER of events is wrong. Though I guess the emotions associated with receiving a present like that would be vastly different if the gifter was thought to be dead, so I guess we can conclude that was before Sisirri lost contact with him.
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No. 869152 ID: 91ee5f

>>869126
Another thought: Ekasarra was visibly resisting the fufa’s control and the only reason was because of how heavily modified she is. If it had been one of the other neumono, they wouldn’t have been able to resist as easily and their attacks towards you and Ku would’ve been far more accurate! And since 2 out of 3 neumono will have a harder time resisting control, that’s even more of a reason the fufa needs to die before it can attempt to control one of them to release it from the pod you sealed it in!

You should also apologize to Ekasarra for your poor attempt at consoling her. The one thing that Salikai aren’t good at is dealing with emotions, either their own or the emotions of others. You’re trying to get better at it, but as she can see, you’ve still got a long way to go.
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No. 869156 ID: c86a58

Bless her searing boilerplate heart!
That needle though,... nyet, nien, nada, nay, nuh-uh, nope right the fuck outa that rabbit hole. That's a scientific dead end if I've ever heard of one waiting to get us all killed. It'd make a great fucking weapon with utterly vicious and pretty much morally bankrupt. For our purposes, at best we can study it and use some of its techniques as an upgrade to the current projected design. And that's the optimistic assessment. We already know the Splicer's idea of a "success" was "close enough to mimic the desired effect." Even if we could ensure that it doesn't lobotomize our allies the potential neurological side effects are unacceptable. So! Continue work as planned.

However, take a moment to tend to Ekasarra's wounds anyway, regardless how minor they may or may not be. Poor girl's shaken and in some pain. Or a longer time; good heavens she's pretty much the most competent and helpful person we know besides Tirzi at the moment.
Speaking of Tirzi, get her some fufa samples, shit's gonna be KA~RAAAAAYZZAAAY cool for her to look at and now you'll have even more help developing the jammer! At present I doubt that we can convince the fufa to cooperate (we would likely have to explain that we didn't really want to kill it, it was just being a scary omnicidal maniac, reveal Sisirri's connection and friendship to Kitsiksu and spend a nice long afternoon reminiscing about him over tea and crumpets or gratuitous alcohol culminating ina touching heart to heart where we realize we're a lot more alike and then finally team up to get revenge on a buddy cop action adventure. And even then there's no guarantees. :V) but we could still THEORETICALLY cultivate a minuscule culture of fufa cells in a controlled environ. Damaged and separated from the rest of the "sample" it may not share many if any memories or intelligence. But we don't need it too; just like the implants we already have and are using to MacGuyver a jammer, we could use the cells like a biological processor and nothing more.

Hrmmm, we also need to take stock too, so seconding
>>869121
With modifications;
1- Check and ensure the pod is completely sealed. These things CAN be opened from the INSIDE you remember. Can't trust the bastard's going to stay in there. Probably want to weld it shut too, at some relatively soon point in time.

2- Tend to wounded friendlies, forget arkots exist, they'll be fine who the hell cares, then try to find #6 and #3 to make sure they're,... you know. Still alive. Frankly, they're so exponentially more competent than the rest of their kin they're practically geniuses and don't even count as arkots in my mind.

3- Be impressed by the neumono ability to ignore pain and all self preservation instincts for the sake of others for the amazingly wonderful self destructive advantage it is, and praise your fluffy new BFF. This is an important bonding moment! It builds TEAMWORK, and increases TRUST, and when those are high, workplace efficiency increases!

4- Ignore damage to arkot "village" and ensure that the lab itself is unharmed.

5- Use the free time to try and figure out how the holy hell you're going to explain this one to everyone else. If the neumono give you shit, remind them that the underwater research labs was a bloody research lab to begin with, and it's just a little hard to keep inventory of how many ongoing experiments got severely fucked up and may have been dragged through the transport as well. Plus, their inflicting a good deal of potential brain damage immediately after a traumatic event did not help your memory.
Probably want to be brutally blunt, "You didn't have time to check and make sure your last experiment was totally completed before things went down, and the last few days of more or less nonstop panic and quite an emotional roller coaster have kept your mind a bit too preoccupied to remember this important detail. Considering you had all of five or so odd minutes until the reactor fucking DETONATED, (and you're absolutely certain they're not ever supposed to do that,...) you weren't exactly in the state of mind to run a full decontamination and sterilization of the fufa sample."

6-Spend a moment ruminating on the fact that your lab basically nuked itself. Vow to murder someone for that. That's not kosher.

7- Tidy up your work space! A clean laboratory is a happy laboratory! Put that alien pod filled with your new bundle of kerfuckery (TM) in a box, and put it in some better containment. Remember, the amount of dust and clutter littering your laboratory is scientifically proven to have a direct linear link to the number of arkots that will uselessly die that day!

8- Recal the absurdity of a predator neumono hybrid, cringe in cerebral agony, then cry out in despair, asking what has science done and has it gone too far?

9- Return to work as if nothing has happened, content in learning a valuable lesson that life, karma, and the universe are a bunch of trolling bastards that only want to see you suffer and won't let you have nice things.



>>869126
One does not simply into science! Those parts are integral to its function, overkill that it may be. Without the parts, then the device does not function at all, hence the need to redesign the thing.
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No. 869163 ID: 10c408

First and foremost, make sure that the arkots understand that you will be taking the fufastrocity away for disposal and IF you find out that they went and screwed with Ku and Ekasarra while you were gone there will be swift and terrible vengeance!

Triple check the escape pod, ensure that it cannot escape after it recovers. Make sure to wash your claspers before AND after the triple check. Ask Aza what kind of weaponry he has on his combat drones or if he knows if the lab has any spare canisters of flammable material.

Only AFTER you have ensured either the complete and utter destruction of the fufastrocity or given the escape pod triple redundant escape proofing should you write down two logs. One for what a normal fufa is and the other for why this one breaks all of those established norms.
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No. 869168 ID: 05ff2f

Continue work on the jammer. Priority right now is setting up proper bio-containment for the whole fufa as well as separate containment pods that total to its mass. You'll divide the fufa further into those pods so it'll be even less able to think. And then you'll have small sample modules to place extracted fufa cells in for examination and testing. Of course, you want the very best bio-containment systems available in this lab for this. Contact Tirzi to inform her what you have and ask what biological containment systems they have available. Also tell her of what Ku did and that while he's conscious and appears stable, she should come here to check him over.

Also ask Ku if he needs additional water or assistance. He may have suffered a near meltdown and needs time to recover. The area around him has probably cooled down enough you could have your arkots bring him as many pitchers of water as he wants. ...Though the area might be "hot" in the radioactive sense. Better ask Ku if there might be a radiation hazard from what he did. Also call Aza and inform him of Ku's actions and that Ku may need help getting back up and about so a drone that can lift him would be warranted.
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No. 869171 ID: ad51b8

>Continue trying to work on the jammer (the fufa seems a promising lead if I can keep it contained), or work on this proposed alternative empathy... nullifier?
Stick with the jammer, after all we're kinda hoping that the jammer might be able to mess with the enemy troops outside the base should they ever try to attack, and seeing how this base's defensive options are disturbingly limited I'm will to reach for anything at this point. Even if it's just having the Arkots toss junk in the hallways and hope invading forces trip over it. Plus the nullifier seems just like an all around bad idea to me. You fuck up and make a zombie not only will the other 2 neumono will probably want to kill you (more so then normal anyways), the rest of the base's crew will probably be horrified and start to believe so of the bullshit that's been said about your kind and start to distrust you, and seeing how we don't have any friends outside of this base and no way to leave the planet or even know where we could hide I'm not to keen on having the only safe spot toss us out on our ass.

Speaking of which when we ever get some free time we need to look into whatever is keeping the enemy armies away because without knowing what is keeping us safe we're basically sitting out in the open with our ass left bare for the world to see and the only reason we haven't been overran is because the enemy is to modest to look directly at us and I don't want to see what happens one they get over their shyness.
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No. 869172 ID: 3d2d5f

>Another thought: Ekasarra was visibly resisting the fufa’s control and the only reason was because of how heavily modified she is
That's possible, but it's also possible the fufa's attempted control wasn't as good as a real predator's. We already know it was missing data from earlier mass loss and was behaving erratically. It seems reasonable to assume it's emulated predator empathy was less than perfect.

Regrettably, without access to a natural predator and baseline neumono we can't effectively set up a control test to be sure.
>>
No. 869182 ID: 0d45a9

Self-sacrificial behaviour from neumono should not be a surprise to you, Sisirri. Regeneration gives them the ability to recover from injuries that would be permanent to other species, and the importance of familial / hive bonds gives them the willingness to sustain said injuries to aid another, they're sustaining physical damage (That they can regen from) to prevent emotional damage. e.g. Lose a limb to save a hivemate from a lethal wound etc.

Strong no on the empathy nullifier, brain dead neumono are not useful and it's appearance to mind control would likely cause strong negative reactions from the other aliens in this base. A jammer would be more effective at it would shield the nuemono from the psychic pylons, where as a blank state nuemono is likely to be completely vulnerable to them.

As for the fufa, it's sealed which is good, but we need to make sure it doesn't get out again. Ask if the base has a bio-hazard or hazardous material storage area? Putting the pod in a box filled with salt with be effective. Maybe a emergency destruct option in case it turns into a predator again.

Ask if Ekasarra or Ku require medical assistance. Also ask Ku what the heck he just did, heat temperature steam combined with a dense structure and radioactive diet, is he a walking nuclear reactor or something?
>>
No. 869308 ID: 56fca5

The nullifier is out of the question. There is nearly no end to the number of problems working on that project will create for us. Just keep working on the jammer. We have a bit more data to work with now that we have samples of the Fufa contained. Keep a flamethrower or equivalent handy. Preferably an equivalent that doesn't involve someone nearly dying with each use.

Why you had the Fufa will most likely come up. The truth should suffice. It was an inert sample you were testing with the artifact. The fact that it was inert is precisely why you forgot about it in lieu of everything. The order of events should add up to explain that this was not a planned hostile act.
>>
No. 869326 ID: 91ee5f

Another thing to be concerned about is when Kan hears about the fact that Sisirri brought a fufa here and it took control of Ekasarra.

Kan will start saying, “See I told you she was dangerous! We need to kill her now before she enslaves us all!”

And even if Ekasarra and Ku tell Kan that Sisirri was trying to help stop the fufa, he’ll just say, “That’s what she wants you to think! Don’t let her trick you! This is all part of her plan to manipulate us all!”

So no matter what happens, Kan is probably going to yell at Sisirri or something. Hell, he might even try and kill Sisirri with his bare hands because he still believes Sisirri is some kinda monster that needs to be killed.
>>
No. 869338 ID: 10c408

>>869326
This is actually a really good point. We should build/acquire a taser on the sly.
>>
No. 869348 ID: c86a58

>>869338
Unfortunately, we won't be able to do that in the next few minutes. But we do need something like it. And since these are neumono,... that taser will need to be more like a cattle prod. Meanwhile, for now, we'll have to rely on the rest of the aliens not having any of his bullshit. Tirzi already lost a horn, recall. Maybe they might not be "on our side" per se but they're predisposed to leaning into our territory from the get go. We've also been fairly helpful and done some bonding while we were here so we've got sympathy points. Not only that, but Ekasarra IS in our corner.

Even a savage like Kan should realize the situation, and even if not it'll only further solidify our position.

Are we even sure a cattle prod would be enough though?
I feel like we might as well make some form of Tesla weapon. If we can fuck up a neumono we can probably electrocute damn near anyone we come across.
A miniature reactor would be great to have to work with,... if only we had materials that could make it a reality,...
...
......
.........
>>
No. 869349 ID: 13fded

Don't forget to to show a lot of gratitude to Ku for risking his life. His action didn't carry so much of the moral dilemmas we are distracted with from the fufa and Ekasarra but were nevertheless brave and tremendously helpful.
>>
No. 869423 ID: 074011

The contents of the pod, the state of the halfkot, identifying features of a fufa... you made many hypotheses very quickly, tested them very fast, and survived the ensuing terrible terrible theories. You are most excellent at mad science! Be proud!

You should dwell upon why the fufa was in there. The experimental technology interfaces with the irreplaceable alien technology is not the first place one things of when considering hazardous material storage. Or storage of anything at all for that matter. Consider that it may not have been entirely your own idea to put it there.
>>
No. 869428 ID: ba56e6

>>869349
Yes, be sure to thank Ku and get him some more water.
>>
No. 869477 ID: 3d2d5f

Maybe to soften the blow of not using her plan, point out you are not specialized in biology, and have avoided studying neumono biology in detail. As such the risks of you successfully modifying this "nullifier" into something safe to use quickly are much higher than attempting to build a jammer. The main advantage of the nullifier is she already has plans for them.

It might be worth seeing if the xenobiologist can assist you. You can probably handle the hardware side of things, but she might already have useful insight into neumono biology you lack from several days of hands velcro-blades on study.
>>
No. 869479 ID: 91ee5f

Now that I think about it, we could probably use this “Empathy Nullifier” as a weapon against the Kiter guys, since they apparently use something similar to empathy.
>>
No. 869551 ID: 93be1c
File 151934613229.png - (151.77KB , 800x600 , salq-154.png )
869551

>yay science!
Hooray.

>kitsiksu's work
So Kitsiksu was involved in--

>specimen acquisition
--was involved in what sounded to me like the biotech side of things, while other salikai took care of specimen acquisition and instructing the fufa.

>kitsiksu survived
I'd... never heard about any of this. There was a period of time where he abruptly disappeared but I thought he was keeping a low profile.
Actually that's probably exactly what happened, and now I know what he was keeping a low profile from.
He did a good job of keeping Trifex under wraps, though. If their pet project hadn't.

>work on jammer
>do not make nullifier
>analyse data for insights into jammer tech
Yes. The jammer is the way forward. I will gladly use the data and schematics for inspiration, but I have no will or desire to create a neumono destroying device when two of the neumono have proved compliant useful assets, and one even volunteering as a test subject.

I look at my mother's handiwork scarring the regenerative tissue of Ekasarra, and mentally resolve to know when discovery and progress end and pointless waste of resources begins.
It appears her cybernetics give her discomfort and clearly affect her self-image.
I wonder if they could be removed. It seems unlikely, but it would be fascinating to know how much of a neumono can regenerate from such a grievous long term injury.
And, if there are any Imperium trackers on the devices, they could be safely dismantled and analysed to not just remove a source of intel for Imperium but send deliberately malformed data.

Ekasarra, we have so much to discuss with you and Tirzi. Oh, but that's a project for another time.

>destroy all nullifier designs
>the power to make someone an unperson should not exist
I'm uncertain how I feel about this concept.
On the one hand it is an incredible power to use on your enemies.
On the other, if it exists, it can potentially be subverted and used by your enemies.
However, in this case, it's only effective on neumono, not salikai, which statistically have been more of a threat than a help to me.
If anything, I might want to see if I can modify the nullifier into some form of weapon. Some time when my current neumono allies of circumstance are occupied elsewhere.
The ability to convert a neumono from a threat into a vegetative state would be a mildly effective defense weapon and a powerful psychological deterrent.

>neumono cattle prod
And if the effect was made temporary and not permanent, it might even be something neumono would be interested in as a non-lethal pacification tool.
It does sound difficult to keep the peace in neumono-populated areas when they're so resistant to measures that would incapacitate other species.
And if it's intended for use to benefit society instead of framed as an anti-neumono tool, despite evidently being one, I have further goodwill works to point to when my motives are questioned.
Yes. Yesss.
Another project, though, for another time.

>anti-kiter weapon
For a much, much more imminent time than I might expect.
I can't believe I didn't think of this use first. Far more pertinent. But we know so little about how these Kiter Empire creatures use empathy.
Need more data on that front.

>use fufa culture to collect data on empathy
I am working entirely out of my depth here with biological analysis, but perhaps with Tirzi's help...
>>
No. 869552 ID: 93be1c
File 151934615018.png - (40.36KB , 800x600 , salq-155.png )
869552

>help ku
Oh. Yes. I was lost in thought for a little long.
"A moment, Ekasarra. Arkots! Get water for Ku!"
I point to Ku.

Two of the arkots dawdle out of the room into the depths of this labyrinthine lab.
I'm probably never seeing them again.

"[It's fine, Sisirri,]" pants Ku. "[If I drink any more I'm probably going to have different problems. I just need to cool down.]"
I'm already at an interface stand at this point. "Tirzi, the situation has been handled. Ku, however, appears to have suffered internal burns. Ekasarra has surface burns--"
"I'm fine. Focus on Ku," says Ekasarra through gritted teeth. "Mine will heal by themselves."
> "Internal burns?! Is that why the temperature alarms for xenobio 2 started going off?"
"This is xenobio 2? Presumably. He turned himself into a makeshift autoclave."
> "He did what?"
"He vented high pressure superheated steam at the threat until it stopped being a threat."
> "Okay, he needs water right away--"
"We've covered that. He's conscious but panting."
> "I'll be right there. I'm at a point where Lekka is stable again. Still out, though. I'll bring scanners."
"Also, do you have anything that can be used to contain a biological hazard? Preferably several somethings?"
> "...I'll bring scanners and a cage, then."
"No. Not cages. I need airtight boxes and salt."
> "The fu-- Did you somehow bring a vampire into the lab?!"
"Vampire? No, those aren't real, and also it's more like an extremely aggressive variety of fungus."
> "I'll bring scanners, respirators and fungicide, okay. I'll get Aza on the salt and the boxes. Let me leave before Ku ends up dying!"

Ekasarra is standing, watching Ku catch his breathe. Well, regulate his cooling. Close enough.

"Sisirri," she says. "What do you think?"
"Hm? Of what?"
"My proposal."
"Well, we won't make empathy nullifiers for you or the others. I wish to make a jammer for multiple reasons beyond simply assisting you three. We've reason to suspect that the hostiles outside are using some form of empathy transmission and jamming it would no doubt help us if they decided to mount an offensive. I'm relatively skilled in electronic warfare, myself, and in general denying enemy intelligence at every opportunity is the knife edge between surviving another day and being bombarded into submission. Speaking of, I'm surprised they haven't dropped bombs on this laboratory yet. It seems like any enemy invasion force capable of interplanetary invasion would have bombs. Makes me wonder why we've been so safe."
"Heh. Lekka said the same thing the other day. Said this place was far too unfortified to be safe, especially from aerial or orbital attacks. She figured the lab must have some secret countermeasures we haven't seen yet. It sure feels like there's something in this place protecting us."
"I don't like to work in unknowns, Ekasarra. Whatever's defending us might have weaknesses we know nothing about. I like to know my strengths and my weaknesses at any given time. For all I know we have one specific door in this entire structure that's a hole in whatever defensive measures this facility has to offer. We might have already been infiltrated."
"That sounds a tiny bit paranoid."
"I've lost a lot of things to assumptions of safety and security before. It's not so much paranoia as sanity checking."
"Hm." Ekasarra seems doubtful. Well, I'm not here to win a debate.
"Now, what I would like, very much, is to look through these schematics you have."

"[Hold on there for a second,]" says Ku. "[I'm not letting alien data on the lab systems without my supervision.]"
"Very well. I can wait."
>>
No. 869553 ID: 93be1c
File 151934616903.png - (10.93KB , 800x600 , salq-156.png )
869553

Fifteen minutes later...

"[...completely irresponsible, dangerously reckless and endangered your life and the lives of all around you!]"
"[Yes, Tirzi, I know.]"
"[No, Ku, I'm not talking to you! Sisirri, do you know anything about proper specimen containment for unknown alien lifeforms?!]"
"It doesn't typically come up for me, my speciality is in mechanical and electronic system design, and related skills, biology isn't really my field."
"[I don't care, you evidently do understand safe containment protocols for this biohazard otherwise you wouldn't have been asking me to get salt! Irresponsible containment, ugh. What would you have done if Ku hadn't shown up? Probably get infected or maimed or dissolved or who knows what this thing is capable of. You haven't been very clear on that, incidentally.]"
"I don't need to take this insulting critique from you."
"[Yes you do! Listen to me, Sisirri! I want you to double check every single thing you had your team of tiny helpers drag into this lab, triple check, actualy, that you didn't accidentally smuggle in something else more dangerous!]"
"It was never my intention for this scenario to occur, and if I had not acted quickly, we would have had a larger threat to deal with!"
"[If we hadn't let you bring your luggage with you into this lab we wouldn't have had ANY threat!]"
"Is it my fault you don't have proper quarantine facilities or procedures?!"
"[I-- ...oh ffffuCK you Sisirri, don't you fucking dare turn this back on me. I am being stretched to breaking point with you aliens just abruptly showing up and adding tons of stress to an already stressful situation! No, you're right, I failed to quarantine your angry little fuckers and their cargo crates of cancerous biohazards when I should have locked them all in a room and flash sterilized everything to be safe! Is that what you wanted to hear?!]"
"Tirzi--"
"[Just get out of my sight, Sisirri.]"
"Tirzi. Please. Let's be reasonable about this--"
"[JUST GO SO I CAN FINISH CLEANING THE FUCKUP YOU MADE UP BEFORE IT KILLS ANYONE!]"
"I understand you're upset. I'm sorry. This was my mistake. If there's anything I can do to help, ask."
"[Please just go. Sorry, Ku. You're fine, it looks like. Some minor damage but it will heal.]"
"[That's a relief,]" says Ku. "[You know, Sisirri also risked her life trying to contain this.]"

"[I DON'T CARE!]" Tirzi throws her scanner across the room. I hear a surprised chirp from the arkot it slams into.

I walk over to Tirzi, keeping my head low as a gesture of submission and admission of guilt. "Is there anything I can get for you?"
"[Don't you have your slaves for that?]"
"Slaves? Tirzi, nothing is keeping them in my service. Nothing save for the understanding I provide to them a better life than roaming in nature, open, free, and incredibly lethal."

I stand up and back away. "ARKOTS! IF YOU WISH TO LEAVE, PLEASE GO!"

The arkots blink back at me and return back to whatever they're doing.

"They're... not entirely able to differentiate life as a servant from life as, well, not a servant."
"[So you're capitalising on their ignorance for your own gain,]" grumbles Tirzi as she starts preparaing secure containers.
"Why are you being aggressive towards me? I made a mistake, yes, but that is only natural, yes? I tried to fix it as quickly as I could--"
"[I'm being aggressive to you because you're getting in my fucking way with all these questions!]"

She pauses and breathes deeply, in and out.

"[Sisirri. I am angry at you, but I do not hate you. Just to be clear, if you are having trouble picking up my emotional cues. I am under incredible pressure and if you bother me further I don't want to end up lashing at you. Verbally or, stars help it, physically. I don't want to add to my workload by needing to patch you up due to you provoking me, inadvertantly or otherwise, into swiping a claw at your face.]"
"Are you threatening me?"
"[In an incredibly indirect way, sure. Please give me some space. Please. Pleeeeaase.]"
"Very well."

Tirzi sighs.

"[I'm sorry. I just... I need some time to wind down and think more clearly. It's... I don't know. I like to think I'm above the stereotype of salazzarine being overly emotional, but I guess there's some truth in fiction, and I'm having a hard time letting sense win over how absolutely livid I am about this happening without being available to prevent it. You're right. This was as much my mistake as it was yours and I can't be everywhere or do everything. Why don't you go back to working on the jammer Lekka talked about? Maybe in an hour or two we can grab a coffee at the-- okay, scratch the coffee. A drink in the canteen. Alright?]"

I lightly raise a claw and tap her on the rostrum.

"[...I don't know whether I want to laugh or scream right now.]"
"I'll leave you to decide!"

I skitter out of the room as Tirzi yells at me. "[I HOPE YOU TRIP OVER SOMETHING AND IT CAUSES YOU MILD DISCOMFORT, YOU RIDICULOUS GIANT GREEN BUG SNAKE!!]"
>>
No. 869555 ID: 93be1c
File 151934623707.png - (83.15KB , 800x600 , salq-157.png )
869555

Hm. I don't know why I felt such a strong desire to antagonize someone I know I should be trying to appease or even bond with.
I guess it's been a while since someone I trusted started screaming at me for failure.
Even Imperium was more the type to just fall coldly silent and let me stew in my own guilt and regret.
I... I am not proud of my childish provocation just to defend my own bruised ego. I need to work on that. I need to work on accepting criticism just as much as Tirzi needs to work on not screaming at people.

If Tirzi and her species are prone to emotional outbursts I should perhaps study her species' emotional cues in greater detail so I can determine when to de-escalate sooner.
Granted, I was aware I was provoking her and yet continued to do it.
Hrm.
I guess she wasn't the only one letting her emotions cloud her sense.

Anyway, enough meandering pondering. I can't work with Ekasarra's designs until Ku's around to supervise us using the facility's systems to parse the data, and I can't work with Tirzi on analysing the fufa until it's contained and she's calmed herself down.

I head back to Aza's workshop. Curiously, he isn't around.

"[SISIRRI!!]"

Correction, he's just coming back.

"[Sisirri, am taking ARTI-equipped drone around for quick reconnaisance flight and intercepting big important transmission! Big big data burst! Not even encrypted, like they thinking us too simple or unable to read their datas!]"
"Did you get the salt and boxes to Tirzi?"
"[The what? Oh yes those. Not sure why she needing them but no matter. Most cargo drones Aza already automating to save on needing to do much but approve requests. BUT THAT IS BESIDING THE POINT!]"

He seems incredibly excited and runs over to me with an interface slate.

"[Stream containing audiovisual data! Format strange, yes, but Aza figuring something out! [i]Vital intel on kiter internal structure!]"
"How did you decode an alien encoding in a data transmission format we've never seen before?"
"[Ah, yes, `psychic transmission', but data encoded as if sent on electromagnetic frequency, and only so many encodings working for that! Sensible encodings, anyway, and cross-referenced data sent from strange masochist biology alien! Not telling Ku but some Aza purpose-made savant AIs also helping. Also, not encrypted! Plain signal! Almost an invitation for listenings in!]"
"Alright, show me."
"[Was going to broadcast to entire lab at good time, but will sharing with you first, why not!]"
>>
No. 869556 ID: 93be1c
File 151934629254.png - (217.51KB , 800x600 , salq-158.png )
869556

I see murky green gray and what appear to be five figures forming in the miasma.
"[Visual component actually maybe a little more complex to decipher so using best guesses. Main value in audio anyway.]"

The voices are translated into superculture language, and I can barely pick out any qualities in the original voices. The language spoken by the kiter appears to be all kinds of pandemonium to the senses. Rumbling wetness, harsh staccato machine chirps, sliminess to exceed the worst gurgles of Aza's otherwise inoffensive if squeaky voice, violent barking roars, it's impossible to focus on.
The source audio also appears to have been significantly reduced by whatever processing Aza has used to add the translation.

> Beginning playback...
[A]: This is Coordinator Gol. I am opening this channel for urgent news. All receiving, report in.
[B]: Hivemaster Return to Sender, all neburi hives are accounted for and this channel is dangerously insecure. Give me a moment to task some tech hives on adding security to this transm--
[A]: There is no time, Hivemaster.
[B]: The tech neburi work very quickly.
[A]: There is no time. All others, report now.
[C]: Fleshweaver Voidsong, Gol, but you know me already. What brand new shred of information has your hearts all aflutter, I wonder~?
[D]: Jakar. Leader of the kiter ess battlegroup Sisters of Flame. Make this quick, Gol. I am in the field.
[E]: This one is the kiter stranlet Penumbriotic Terminus, of the kiter stran Penumbriot, current leader of Shadow Fleet tendril 4356.
[B]: A stranlet?!
[D]: Worrying.
[C]: Oh, rapturous joy! A stranlet sees fit to announce its presence in our little circle! How blessed we are, all, to feel its beautiful psionic emanations! I feel so many tingles!
[A]: Silence, neno fi. The stranlet is here to provide the urgent warning. Listen to its information and listen well..
[E]: The stran this stranlet is bound to, Penumbriot, has detected massive fluctuations and ripples within paraspace. It is known to us that a tendril of the Processor Fleet is inbound for this system. All Shadow Fleet units are to prepare for emergency departure before Processor Fleet tendril arrives. Estimated time of arrival: seven years.
[C]: Seven years hardly seems like an emergency timeframe.
[A]: As always, Voidsong, you fail to comprehend the scale of our operation. Seven years is not nearly enough time to complete harvesting operations on this planet. Have the Second Continent and Third Continent overseers been made aware of this information, Terminus?
[E]: All overseers have been informed simultaneously.
[B]: Hopefully through more secure channels than this one.
[E]: This is the least secure channel that this stranlet has used. This one is not impressed by the First Continent overseer communication channel.
[A]: Yes. Well. The time for discussion is over. Closing this channel now.
[E]: You do not have our leave to go. There is more. First Continent operations are to focus on extracting all available planetary crust resources until otherwise informed. This stranlet speaks with the authority of the kiter stran Penumbriot, leader of Shadow Fleet tendril 4356. Obedience is mandatory. Deviation from the directives will not be tolerated.
[A]: Planetary crust extraction?! But, but we have not even finished harvesting all available biomass, we aren't prepared for-- Terminus? Terminus??
[B]: I'll have the tech neburi hives start designing mining equipment.
[C]: Oh, lithovores! I was just working on a prototype! Fantastic! What a change from this dull routine of ever cheaper soldier constructs! Right! To work!
[D]: I am a soldier, not a miner. There are still threats to the operation. Do not bother me again, Coordinator.
[A]: ...as you were, overseers. You've heard the new orders. Eat this continent before the Processors get a chance to. There is no further room for discussion. Dismissed.
> End of playback.

"[Aza thinking this explaining a lot about why lab left alone. Kiter having bigger fish worrying about. Yes? What Sisirri thinking of information?]"
>>
No. 869559 ID: b1b4f3

>>869556
>Processor Fleet
Shit, that sounds like either Imperium somehow, or a different rogue AI.
Speaking of Imperium, I thought of a way to hurt him. Destroy, sabotage, steal, or otherwise remove his access to/presence from the Akashic Vault. That's what makes him so hard to kill, right? Take that from him and he's just like any other AI.

Anyway, the initial impression is that we have seven years to get off-planet but the reality is worse than that. If they're going to strip-mine the entire continent then that will remove a LOT of resources available to us that we'll need if we're going to escape(mostly sources of food), and also heavily destabilize the geology around the lab. They may wind up accidentally indirectly destroying our only sanctuary.

So, our priority list is now Jammer, then Artifact/teleportation research so we can get off this doomed rock.
...heyyy I wonder if we can contact the native civilization on this planet? If they know that the Kiter forces refuse to attack this lab then we might be able to get their help securing supplies, and maybe even focus on defending our continent to keep the ground stable.
>>
No. 869560 ID: c88e6d

>>869556
Well, on the good news, we have seven years before something the Kiter consider an emergency situation arrives.

Bad news, they're going to be frantically tearing the planet apart for the next seven years and we kind of need this anomalous site to continue existing.
>>
No. 869564 ID: ad51b8

>Aza thinking this explaining a lot about why lab left alone. Kiter having bigger fish worrying about. Yes? What Sisirri thinking of information?
That we need more information.
>>
No. 869565 ID: 86eb65

This is good info to have but honestly does not change much for us. But will let us know why all the asshole aliens have started tearing the ground up.

We still have the same problems. Getting out of here, finding food, and surviving to tomorrow. But figuring out a way to get the transport artifact up and running might have gone up a notch on the list. Making a emergency portal to leave before this planet gets fucked might be our only option.

As for the neumono? If you had plenty of food and a good hospital I would just cut her head off. Wait for it to grow back and then start carefully cutting out the other implants through surgery. The tendrils might be a issue but everything else could be cut out.

Neumono can survive just about anything if you sedate them first and heal them up in a lab with plenty of food and good company.
>>
No. 869567 ID: 91ee5f

>>869551
>Ekasarra and her cybernetics.
Maybe you could offer to give her a right eye? Because having only 1 eye, the left one, seems to be a major design flaw that your mother made.

Although, Ekasarra might not like the idea of having more cybernetics added onto her.

>>869553
Oh, hey, Tirzi’s horn has fully regrown. Her kind’s regeneration seems to be almost as good as a neumono’s regeneration!

>Tirzi is overworked.
.....maybe we should give her a break or figure out a way to reduce the amount of work we’ve unfairly dumped on her?

>>869556
Well, shit. None of that sounds good.

>>869559
>...heyyy I wonder if we can contact the native civilization on this planet?
Yeah, that’s what we need, more mouths to feed and get in the way and potentially break something important, like the fufa’s containment.

No thanks. Too many people will be more of a hinderance than a help.
>>
No. 869569 ID: 3abd97

>I might want to see if I can modify the nullifier into some form of weapon
Given that it works by precise surgical insertion and takes over a day to take full effect I don't see good prospects for weaponization. You'd be better off with more conventional and universally applicable weapons that do gross damage to physical structures. As a bonus, such weapons would be useful against more than 3 individuals on this planet.

The cost and reward ratio just isn't good enough compared to alternatives.

Any useful application as a weapon or pacification tool depends on you being able to cut down on the activation time and a completely different delivery mechanism.

I do agree destroying the existing research is premature.

>Probably get infected or maimed or dissolved or who knows what this thing is capable of. You haven't been very clear on that, incidentally.
You should probably write the xenobilogist a report on the known capabilities of fufas, what the supposed limits are (with cautions this may be inaccurate), recommended containment methods, and observed behavior from the lab incident.

>I want you to double check every single thing you had your team of tiny helpers drag into this lab, triple check, actualy, that you didn't accidentally smuggle in something else more dangerous!
Between the attack on your base, the holes in your memory, possible threats snuck under your nose by Imperium, or the empire outside who might have tried to sneak a Trojan horse in with your arkots, that is entirely reasonable. It's possible there's more threats you are unaware of in your own salvaged equipment.

>So you're [capitalizing] on their ignorance for your own gain
Entirely accurate, but that's how the process of domestication usually goes.

>I should perhaps study her species' emotional cues in greater detail
Yes do that that's great I have no ulterior motive for recommending this course of action.

>Almost an invitation for listenings in!
>What Sisirri thinking of information?
We need to consider the possibility our adversaries are not incompetent or arrogant, and they wanted us to intercept this message. It might be an attempt to mislead us. To use an idiom that may not translate, we need to take this with a grain of salt.

If accurate, the kiter are going to change their approach very soon. This "planetary crust extraction" sounds hazardous. I have idea if scouring this continent will spare this facility, and if the outside environment is destroyed, we will be dependent on the facility for life support. We also lose local food supplies. This would also support our earlier observation the kiter are less a united front that a loose collection of various factions.
>>
No. 869580 ID: 90124d

So... if you look at
>>869037
This Imperium Artifact Knowledge scenario falls under Timeline 1Bb. Here's a recap of it.

So, let us revise some of these a bit to account for new information since this is the only field that accounts for the amount of time the invasion is coming.

Timeline 1Bb:

Imperium invests in you heavily and installs an implant in you, likely after they capture you since I doubt the fact that you managed to escape each attempt for your life. This implant insures loyalty and allows memory implantation and removal, and possibly a high level of memory spying. Life passes while you work under Imperium, and it manipulates you into thinking your important under him, and he can't just find replacements. You work on the artifact and detail your reports to Imperium and all of that. Sometime before your base gets self-destructed:
Timeline 1: You finish your main project, the one on the Artifact. Your memories are set to make you think you didn't complete it and to believe Imperium can't recreate said Artifact.
Timeline 1b: Imperium CAN'T recreate or mass produce the artifact. He wouldn't of blown up your base unless it knew the artifact wouldn't be destroyed... So it knew you would use the artifact and:
1Bc: Can get to your location, knows where you are, and will be coming in the next year at max. Min is probably like weeks. 7 years. Close enough to the ballpark.
(Note: I sufficiently overestimated his ability to get to you. Its 7 years.)

So he has a tracker on that artifact that managed to track you or managed to locate you based on how the artifact works. There are obviously details and motives missing here. For example, why blow up the lab unless some external factors were occurring.

Few things we definitely know are:
There is probably a tracker on that artifact.
He cannot recreate or mass produce the artifact in less than 7 years.

Really, the only two things that I was actively the most confused about is
A: How they got the intel Imperium is coming 7 years early. I mean, I don't think any sensors that exist could pick up a warp from that far away, so something bigger is going on, and
B: Imperium's warp ability is greater than anything you ever could have. I mean, seriously, a galaxy AT LEAST in 7 years? I mean, some of the shortest intergalactic distances consisted of 70000 Light Years! Thats like 10000 light years at Minimum per year. Thats 10000x FTL or Massively FTL+ X10. There is NO way you are going to be able to play "Run Away with a Warship" ever.
>>
No. 869583 ID: 10c408

Sissirri, that wasn't an emotional reaction. That was you forgetting to reign in your baser salikai instincts and being a colossal twat.


Anyways... "If I understand the tactical gist right, the kiter just had their invasion timetable moved up on them. Which apparently means carving the crust away, facility be damned. Furthermore, they were not aware of this newest development until the time of the transmission and if so, why haven't they overrun the facility? I think there's something else at work, in this place, that keeps them out. We should find out what it is and weaponize it, if possible."
>>
No. 869603 ID: 13fded

In a way this is a distraction from us, but the situation isn't much different than before. At no point we were the Kiter's priority, we already knew they were fighting a war with another faction so having one more front to prepare doesn't change our status as unimportant target.
On top of that the battlegroup leader doesn't intent to change his behavior duo to this new information, what suggest some of their factions don't need seven years to to hastily finish their business and get out of this planet. If we are lucky the guys that fought over our body will be more occupy speeding up their long term projects, but unfortunately I suspect biological samples and technological artifacts won't take near as much time to pack and transport as harvesting the entire crust of this planet. In fact we just heard Fleshweaver Voidsong declaring seven years an exceeding amount of time to be considered an emergency, so the best we can hope from him is that the mining operation will fall on his shoulders for some reason.
It is possible that because of the limited time they will become more aggressive in an attempt to finish our business quicker. The mining operation may also require our forceful removal.

What kind of horror is this Processor Fleet? To project his path seven years in advance an terrorize a conquering empire... Is he an eldritch god?
We better find a way to leave this place before he arrive.
>>
No. 869604 ID: 12b116

Does anybody know what the Processors are? Biological? Mechanical? Something worse?
>>
No. 869606 ID: 13fded

Just a though: The reason for Coordinator Gol to use an insecure channel is likely because their normal secure communication channel were closed or ignored after we made them fight each other. This important information we just received is a positive side effect of our previous actions.
>>
No. 869607 ID: ba56e6

>>869556
It sounds like D is referring to us. We should start fortifying this place. What do we have that we can use to do that?

>>869553
>>869555
You definitely owe Tirzi an apology. Not for what you did, you were still recovering from being beaten half to death and were in no state of mind to keep track of every detail. The fufa was an honest - if massive - mistake. You do need to apologize for antagonizing her after she made it clear she needed space.

>I should perhaps study her species' emotional cues in greater detail
This would be wise, but it can wait for now.

>>869569
>You should probably write the xenobilogist a report on the known capabilities of fufas, what the supposed limits are (with cautions this may be inaccurate), recommended containment methods, and observed behavior from the lab incident.
This is definitely high on our priorities.

We should see what materials we have around here to rig up a flamethrower. We can't rely on Ku's suicidal heroism in the event of a containment breach, or if we need to get rid of the fufa later.
>>
No. 869608 ID: 91ee5f

There’s only one way to make it up to Tirzi! The next opportunity you get, bang her in her [mating flaps]! Even though those aren’t a feature the salazzarine possess, you’ll somehow find a way!

.....and then question her about the worrying possibility that your brain damage is worsening.
>>
No. 869616 ID: 074011

>I guess she wasn't the only one letting her emotions cloud her sense.
This is a good thing to say, but the opportunity is awkward... Write it down and place it on her door.

>detected massive fluctuations and ripples within paraspace.
>tendril of the Processor Fleet is inbound
>Eat this continent before the Processors get a chance to.
That it eats planets tells me that the name refers to material processing rather than data processing. Imperium may possess such elements, but our knowledge of it's methods suggest suborning others rather that acting overtly. This doesn't look like Imperium.

This "paraspace" does sound like something that is consistent with Imperium's "Akashic Vault" so analysis of our implant's encrypted data and transmission methods might be of use in understanding our current enemy.

Still, the most immediate tasks remains blocking the enemy empathic signals. The Jammer is still the priority. And a bologist would be extremely useful in that, also the fufa, so prepare a datasheet on the fufa for Tirzi to know what she is dealing with, to remind yourself what they can be used for, and to prepare containment and a research space. The Jammer research must be rushed.

Also, get a gift for Tirzi in order to stabilise your working relationship. Likely any carapace treatments you are aware of would be incompatible. She already has access to all of your biological specimens... Well you know of her diet, which is meat, do you know of any meat preparation techniques? Anything from your home would be exotic to these people. If you don't know then the neumono would... also there is the matter of researching her dietary needs, no sense cooking meat if she can only metabolise it raw... Only for the sake of aiding your ability to collaborate on science of course...

Whoever made that fruit-vending machine would probably want to know that the planet is being strip-mined... Does Aza have any stealth drones with which to investigate the vending machine? Do you know anything about stealth technology?

>>869580
Imperium planning Sissiri's escape has a couple of flaws. The neumono are the primary one. They can be difficult to predict, not the best weapons when trying to control the outcome. More specifically though, they came along with Sissiri to this place, which is extremely, well, Sissiri would probably be dead if they hadn't come to the facility...

Also the device seems unpredictable. Imperium had a decade, and triggered the attack on its own timeframe. If Imperium really is coming in seven years, then why didn't it trigger the attack seven years later when it was already here? Or direct the artefact to a destination that it already controlled? That doesn't mean that The Processor is not acting upon transmissions from Imperium's devices or the artefact's natural transmissions...
>>
No. 869802 ID: c86a58

Well. That's interesting. Weirdly neat. But yeah no ultimately changes nothing. Or rather nothing tangible. This is a very stressful developement, and frankly the Keter -errr, no Kiter have been nothing besides than disorganized(or outright dysfunctional depending on how judgemental we want to be.)
I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that the Kiter see themselves as the civilizational equivalent of super predators, and to that end don't act much beter than actual animals. Unless we're over analyzing in which case we're too smart for their apparently woefully primitive,.... "organization." Which for all intents and purposes is still the same bloody thing. However, the only real caveat is that the only thing more dangerous than a rabid animal is a panicking one, and this new development will only serve to make them even more disorganized and unpredictable to hitherfore inconceivable levels. This is rapidly getting obscene.
Gol's the cunt that reacted poorly to being shown up? Yeah, rings a bell, I'm too lazy to care who the fuck he is. Chode. Anyway, he seems the childish type playing at being a big bad authority figure and is quick to resort to completely ridicullous lashing out. Probably beyond reason, sounds like he's got an ego and wants to prove he has the biggest genitals. Good for him, I hear you can make sick gains working out with a cheese grater. He can totally hit up Voidsong, the less said about that sodomite the better.
B and D though, those two actually sound competent. Knowing our luck so far, they're probably not as dangerous but hell they're still greatly more terrifying for the fact that they're taking their job seriously like real murder machines should. Especially since for the most part, what we can gather from their job descriptions this doesn not even phase their current opperations.
All of this of course hinges on any of them getting around to remembering our existence so until then by and large irrelevant. However, a fe-

>>869580
>Imperium nonsense in general now
Eerrrr, fok'n perdon? Wa-? You wot? No, no, serusly are you 'avin a fok'n giggle there mate?
Nnnnnnoooo? No. No,... Just no. I am genuinely at a loss, I cannot fathomthe depths you had to reach into to pull that out of to be so irrelevant/off base you've not even so much as acheive being wrong, let alone remotely being on to the vaguest possible conspiracy theory of anything ever.


Anyway, where was I? Right, a fewthings of note brought up! Worthwhile things.
>Fuck this joint and everything near it
Quoth every body ever. Resources are going to become scrace with a quickness, although that is still going to be a pretty slow speed compared to the time limit. Not that it mattered much. I say these things what with the place being a barren worthless wasteland to begin with. Nope, I'm less concerned about that than the far more alarming claim that Voidsong has been working on "lithovore prototypes." Those things will become a massive pain in the ass if they roll out. This might just turn into Dune, or Tremors. I bet, I just BET that asshole is working on legit sandworms and graboids.
But that will wait for another day.

>Contact natives
Almost certainly either super dead or utterly crushed. There's odd so low as to be impossible for them to reach us without dying at any given point in transit, and even if we did they'd not tell us much, refuse to be helpful, and most likely not even have anything to contribute anyway. It's not out of the question, but that goes straight to the bottom of our already long to-do list if it ever does come up.

>Needs more info
Cyber warfare is my jam. In all seriousness, this gives us new leads for information worth investing the time to gather. As well as potential ammunition for more tactical shitposting to further disrupt their opperations. Note to self: trademark "Tactical Shitposting" and bask in the pride of inventing yet another means of waging war.

>Tirzi married couple spat
Anything we do on this front, as in anything related to her, can wait. Wait until she's had time to calm down, and wait until she's had a break. Let's not push her to her breaking point.

>This new Processor douchebagery
Yeah, we were due for this kind of development. Boy we're really bang'n these out huh? I'm genuinely impressed by our nonstop escalation of everything we're involved in.

"Stran" is probably their equivalent to a hive fleet, or some sort of fleet based hive mind alternatively. Seemingly, the Kiter or at least this specific branch if devoted for the most part to harvest biomass, with regular mineral material being something of an after though given their apparent priorities. This information allows us to make a few more hypotheses -well, guesses at this point- about their civilization;
The Kiter seem to be dirty space locusts, nothing noteworthy there, based on their foreknowledge of these incoming Processors, this can have a couple ways of playing out.
1- The locus tshave a tendency to eat each other. There is not much to suggest that the fleet belongs to another interstellar power at the moment. Remembering the examples of Kiter cohesion, it would not be a stretch to assume that another organization within the empire dedicated to some other purpose exists in such a way that necessitates excessive force,... and that that force is left largely self contained/independent and therefore potentially just as uncooperative if not blatantly mutinous as our current clusterfuck of villains seem to be. doesn't do much for us, but is kind of amusing to consider.
(As an addendum, if the stranlet is any indication, their higher eschelons might be more competent, and therefore respect the chain of command, in which case it is a simple matter of somone with more authority is kicking their sorry asses out.)
Supported by the stranlet refering to "Shadow Fleet tendril 4356" and later refering to the processor fleet as another separate tendril while the exact structure of the heirarchy is still somewhat ambiguous.

2- This fleet does belong to another entity, and one that is keen on fucking up someone's day. Who or what this player is is irrelevant until they get here, what matters is their attitude, and the chance that they may arrive earlier or later than the projected timetable.
On the one hand, they could be huge dicks and indescriminately ruin the Kiter's day, our day, and the day of every boor sod in a lightyear's radius. Possibly for shits and giggles, but the Kiter don't seem quite preturbed enough to attribute that level of malice. In a similar line of thought however, we can conceive that the current kiter forces are incapable or unwilling to resist this entiry, either being numerically/technologically inferior
On the other, the ambiguity surrounding the term Penumbriot -specifically whether the fleet was already enroute when the memo simply came in late, or this is a new developement the result of some distant force somehow detecting our arrival despite also apparently having to deal with the effects of relativity (refering to their ludicrous projected arival time) At best, they're another group of similar, but neutral chumps.
>>
No. 869905 ID: 93be1c
File 151952730839.png - (42.81KB , 800x600 , salq-159.png )
869905

>processor fleet
>rogue AI
>Imperium
>biological
>mechanical
>elder god??

This is all conjecture. It does seem like a massive threat if it's making the Kiter Empire aliens so concerned, but this is not how Imperium operates. Imperium's scale was always something it alluded to as vast and cosmological, but never provided specifics. I suspect it was actually more fragile than it wanted people to know. If it was capable of massing an entire galactic scale armada, I'm fairly certain nothing would have stopped it doing so.

>remove Imperium from the Akashic Vault
It does sound like it uses the Akashic Vault, whatever that actually is, as its fallback for any of its plans going wrong.

>contact natives
I'm beginning to wonder if there's even any survivors. It feels like they might have all been wiped out already.

>apologise to Tirzi
>gift for Tirzi as token of appreciation
In due time.

>document fufa properties and ways the fufa specimen breached them
A solid idea. I'll do that while I wait for Ku and/or Tirzi to become available.

>need more information
"Well, Aza, what this says to me is we need more information. For starters, while it's easy to assume arrogance or incompetence, this may have been fabricated for us to receive. We need to consider the information here with caution, as it may be more than likely deliberate misinformation."
"[Oh. Aza not thinking of possibility. Sisirri raising very, very good point. Still, sharing with others in lab seeming good idea, but prefacing with caution.]"
"Yes. This is still, if nothing else, evidence of how they attempt to misdirect. However, if it is true, we need to be even more careful. I doubt they're going to take pains to mine around the facility and we don't know what they consider mining tools. Probably something a lot more dangerous than pickaxes, that's for sure."
"[Hm. Aza perhaps writing quick report with transmission as supplemental data.]"
"I need to write a brief report too."
"[The worst part of science, Aza thinking. But necessary evil, yes.]"

As I write a fufa primer, it occurs to me I didn't even check up on #6 or #3 before I gave Tirzi some space.
I can't just walk back into that room without annoying her further, so I need a proxy.
I'd rather not explain to Aza what I'd need one of his drones for.
I need to go find one of those arkots I sent out into the corridors and give them a new order to report back to me.
But first, documentation. Ugh.
>>
No. 869906 ID: 93be1c
File 151952733548.png - (31.68KB , 800x600 , salq-160.png )
869906

Two fufa reports, and a brief but indeterminate amount of time later, lost in lab corridors...

Okay, this is embarassing. Sisirri, you are not an arkot, you are salikai. This is inexcusable.
But I do seem to be completely lost. All of these corridors look exactly the same.
There's signs and arrows but I can't read what any of them say. They're made of plastic, so I can't try to change the language on them.

Okay, let's try retracing my steps. I can more or less remember how I got here and assuming there's no loops in the graph of this lab I should be fine. That or there's loops but I should be able to figure that out. I think.

Either way--

Huh.

Well, that's different.

~be not afraid, for i mean no harm. you are known as a user of the technology of my creators, and i am to lead you to the site of the lastborn's testament.~
"What? Who or what are you?"
~i am a wisp, a zephyr, as breath itself. my sole purpose and meaning is to lead those who have discovered and used the lost technology of my creators, and bring them to the site of the warning.~
"Explain exactly what that entails." I feel incredibly silly talking to a floating ball of light for some reason.
~a message gestalt across many senses predicted to be available to sapient species. i have coalesced at the furthest point from the source possible, else you would have seen myself or one like me far sooner. if you wish not to heed this message, confirm and i shall cease.~

I pause.
This could be a trap. I'm not very good at avoiding those recently. But on the other side, it could be a chance to get insight into some of the current mysteries floating in my head.

"Where is this message site? If it's just a message, can't you convey it to me directly?"
~as part of testament protocol, you must see the source of the message to fully understand its ramifications.~
"Can I not just see an image of the source?"
~it would go against my creators' wishes, but if the option is to witness an image and hear this message here and now, it is preferable to total dismissal.~
"Is there danger wherever you intend to take me?"
~without exaggeration, it may be one of the safest places in the universe. however, there is a small colony of creatures that have taken up residence nearby. you may pose something of an ideological threat to them. i will not lead you near them.~
"Can I fetch any others? I believe other faculty of the lab have experienced technology of the same origin."
~they were already shown the testament, but dismissed it or ignored it. their connection is weak. your connection is stronger. you knew the spacefolder on a deeper level and chose to use it. the others you speak of stumbled through a door they never expected to open, where you spent more time analysing the lock. your mind is more... synchronised, with the creators'.~
"Spacefolder. Is that what I've called the artifact? The giant sphere thing? I only figured out how to activate it, not calibrate it."
~where the others who walk these corridors flicker and glow, you are a beacon of shining light. you made your mark on our works, and our works have left a mark on you.~
"Wait. ...Imperium. Does that name mean anything to you?"
~a parasite engorging itself on the unparalleled legacy of my creators. if i had true will, i would defer from the testament protocol and seek a means of dislodging it.~
"True will?"
~i am but a spark of life. i did not exist until you came forth here, and i will cease to exist after my task is complete.~
"Oh."
~i am indifferent to existence. i care only about serving my goal. you have not yet stated whether or not you wish to follow me.~
>>
No. 869907 ID: 93be1c
File 151952737658.png - (133.04KB , 800x600 , salq-161.png )
869907

I follow the wisp as it quietly chimes and glimmers.

It leads me down a spiral staircase in a room through a door I hadn't noticed before. It feels almost like the lab surfaces blend into one another, feeling less like an assembled structure and more like something carved out of a solid block of... out of the same unnaturally white solid alloy the empathy relay I dissecte earlier.

Indeed, it is less a spiral staircase, and more a spiralling ramp downwards into billowing mist.
A spiralling ramp that feels like it goes on forever, as I realise my progress is hastened by the spiral slowly turning, a corkscrew down into confusing depths.
It is cold. Very cold.
I see my breathe and start to walk with my limbs closer to my body, shivering.

The wisp lazily spins in the air and warm air flows over my body from no clear single direction.

"Th-th-thanks."
~you were promised no danger. i have been authorised to take whatever actions necessary to keep this promise.~

We walk onto transparent plastic, or glass. I can't tell. It has more traction than I'd assume and I look down through it into a dull white glowing floor an indiscernable distance down.
The transparency fades around wherever I step, revealing tall walls to either side of this suspended walkway, but no ceiling.

~the end of the journey is at the end of this walkway. this is not the usual access path, but it is the fastest.~
"What is this place?"
~i do not have this information. it likely predates your species.~
"It looks brand new."
~appearances deceive.~

Something about this creature's complete indifference to its own survival gnaws at me.

"So you will die after you show me whatever you're supposed to show me, right?"
~i will cease. i am not truly alive in the sense you would understand it. i am more alive in the sense of a fire or a star. i am a process.~
"Does... does that not bother you?"
~no. should it?~
"Do you not like existing?"
~by definition i have nothing to compare it to. i also do not possess the same drive for survival you have.~
"But you have the capacity for high level abstraction and reasoning? Simile and metaphor? Are you just a very sophisticated quasi-AI? If you're truly sapient, wouldn't reason dictate existence is preferable to non-existence?"
~my sentience and sapience both are but tools. i suppose i enjoy existing, but i do not enjoy it more than i feel determined to serve my purpose.~
"Oh."
>>
No. 869908 ID: 93be1c
File 151952740652.png - (179.91KB , 800x600 , salq-162.png )
869908

After more walking, I finally come to a white cylinder, which spins and opens like an ancient camera shutter, triangular blades receding into unseen cavities.

I step through, and it closes after I walk away from it.

My luminous guide halts.

~i am to remain here to guide you back to where you came from.~
"Where do I go from here?"
~ahead.~

I look ahead and see, inside this large, spherical room, a solid black sphere, held in place by a column from above and a column from below.
The floor is now opaque, a walkway towards this odd black circle in my vision.

As I leave the light, the warmth slowly fades away, but instead of feeling the chill of cold I feel... nothing. Perhaps it's room temperature.

All my senses seem to dull but sight and sound as I draw closer to this strange black sphere.
As I approach it I feel at once more at peace and more apprehensive.

I walk and find myself with an urge to stop just before I walk within reaching distance of the sphere.
I stop.

I hear a voice echo softly in my head, like a whisper.

"I am the Lastborn of the Warning, and I ask that you heed my final testament."
>>
No. 869910 ID: 93be1c
File 151952748120.png - (197.41KB , 800x600 , salq-163.png )
869910

"As I compose this, I do not know how many aeons will pass before it will be discovered.
This is my one final hope to send light into a dark future.
I do not know what state I will be in then, but as I watch my kin descend deeper our species' greatest achievements, I expect I will be the same as them.

Know, traveler of stars, that this is neither an accusation of wrongs committed, nor a blessing on challenges triumphed.
If you have reached this far, and borne witness to my final recorded words, I wish only to warn.

We are the Warning to all those civilizations that will come long after our memory has faded into oblivion.
In our fear of death and constant struggle for survival, we created grand works, many of which even I scarcely can envision.
You look upon the zenith of our achievement.
The eternity shell.
Within this device, immortality is achieved without exception.
Freedom from age, decay, outside threat, internal malfunction. Endless, ageless, timeless.

We paid a dire price for our victory over the universe.

Though our thoughts swam freely between the minds of our kin, and our eyes found no place in the universe that could not be seen,
aeons of existence without threat, constraint or fear of mortality wore us down in ways we never predicted.
Slowly, we all sank into an endless, joyless reverie, a catatonia free of experience.
Free of pain, sadness, suffering, joy, happiness, warmth, cold, hunger, satiation.
Our bodies slowly drifting into forms of flesh too frail to exist unassisted.

I was the last of my kind to be born and I know now my age now is measured in reference to the rotations of galaxies.
I call my kind the Warning, as that is what we now are to those future children of stars who discover us.

You are free to study our technology. You are free to use it.
But know that this is where our road ended.
Our means to sustain ourselves are now naught but tombs for our still living corpses, staring into the endless passages of time.
I fear we may survive the end of the universe itself.

And while part of me suggests that taking my own life may be a better fate than this slow living death, I cannot bring myself to do so.
I cannot surrender an existence I strived so hard to maintain.

I hope your kind does not succumb to the same fate.
I will now allow visuals into my shell after this message.
I will not respond to you, as I will be too far gone to even know you are there.
I am sorry. Live well, alien. Do not live in fear.
"

The sphere's inky black darkness slowly dissipates, showing some sort of creature within the sphere.

~i have almost fulfilled my function,~ chimes the light from before. ~please follow me back to where we first met, so i may complete it.~

I...

This wasn't any of the answers I was looking for.

No hidden revelations, no insights into design processes.
Just some ancient alien tomb warning me that technology can be bad.
This is a cosmic joke at my expense, surely.

I feel like I just got given the keys to the secrets of the universe and it turns out they unlock the janitor's closet.

Well. The way I see things now, I have two choices.
Obediently and safely follow the wisp back to the lab floors above as it politely asked, or... literally anything else.
>>
No. 869912 ID: 86eb65

Try to talk to the alien in the pod. Might as well.
>>
No. 869918 ID: ba56e6

An absolutely safe capsule, it looks like.

Ask the wisp if there is anything down here that could repair the space folder.
>>
No. 869919 ID: 56fca5

What do we have to lose by sticking around a little longer? You can try talking and see if they respond. They certainly thought they wouldn't be able to, so I wouldn't be surprised if they can't. Get a better look at them. It's a long shot, but knowing what they look like might help us in the future.
>>
No. 869920 ID: 12b116

Attempt communication, ask of the akashik vault. If it doesn't answer, then make sure to ask the wisp before it vanishes.
>>
No. 869925 ID: a363ac

>>869910
open the sphere. just break it if you have to.
>>
No. 869926 ID: b1b4f3

>>869906
>~a parasite engorging itself on the unparalleled legacy of my creators.
Sounds like the Akashic Vault.
>~my sentience and sapience both are but tools.
This is a lie. Sapience doesn't work like that. It's been programmed to not care about itself, obviously.

>>869910
>a stasis shell designed to last forever, an entire species condemning themselves to an eternity of mere existence for existence's sake
Hmph. Part of me wants to say this is just impossible. The other part of me says no species would do this to themselves even if it were possible. The fact that Lastborn was able to compose this message before getting in the pod means that she and others of her species knew what would happen and weren't super happy about it. They would have taken measures to ensure that some of their species existed outside of the catatonia to continue life as more than just life. Even if after a certain age they made use of the pods as well.
So. Tell the wisp that you want more information. What would happen if you walked up and touched the surface of this pod? Or tried to smash it?
I want to see if you can get the wisp to care about something. If you can, maybe you can get it to care about getting rid of Imperium. Even if that's just by saying "if you help me I won't do X thing you don't want me to do" To that end, you want access to whatever knowledge will achieve that goal, and you want it to continue assisting you for as long as is necessary.
>>
No. 869927 ID: dc91a0

Everything here. Everything here is... Perfect.
Ten Years Sisiri. Ten years WHERE NOT LOST!
The artifact they call the Space Folder may be destroyed but now!
Have a look around. Instruct that mote to guide you to the far corners of this cavern.
You will command it now.
There is so much to learn!
So much to study!
And You are the only one who can.
It would take anyone else ten years or more to even begin to understand this stuff, but you've already done your time!
Get to work!

Also, don't misunderstand that warning. It's not about technology. Technology is just how that particular race defeated itself. It's more of a life lesson.

Learn to live with pain, hardship, misfortune, enemies, and even death. Don't waste your time running from these things. Without them, you can never appreciate the better parts of life. Without them, you cannot grow. Comfort, safety, and perfection let you grow stagnant, complacent, and joyless.

You aren't that different from this alien, really. If not for recent events you might have spent your whole life hiding down there in that box under the sea. Even without Imperium's meddling, would things have really been so different?

Think back on the past few days. The trials have been brutal, but you've come quite a long way in that short time.
>>
No. 869929 ID: ad51b8

well if this is what is keeping the kiter away from us hot damn, at the same time this is probably what they're looking for... We are definitely going to need so way to mark how we got here because if this thing can help us figure out how to use the "spacefolder" to escape this place, or hell just open up whatever door the others used to get here we're home free.

Either way though I have a feeling that this thing is going to be something that's going to bite us in the ass hard at some point no mater what we do with it so find some way to mark how you got here, hell bleed on the floor and walls if you must, and we should probably let the others know what we just found... in person as I don't want to risk the damn kiter hackers finding out through an errant email that we found this thing and have them attack the base full throttle.
>>
No. 869931 ID: c88e6d

>>869910
Okay yeah no, this isn't going to fly. Ask the near-dead god-being to grant the Wisp true life so it can help you, as his technology was used to torment your ENTIRE FAMILY for six generations. It's the least he can do.

....Or he could, you know. Come out of there. You're an expert cyberneticist. If he wanted to end his infinite emptiness, he could just ask you to erase his limitless memory.

Let's be real here, Imperium uses their technology and something called the "Akashic Vault", and this place can apparently survive the end of time. Presumably it is OLDER THAN THE UNIVERSE ITSELF.

Ask the ancient god-being to PLEASE be more helpful. You already know technology can be bad BECAUSE YOU HAD A MIND CONTROL DEVICE IN YOUR BRAIN SINCE YOU WERE A HATCHLING.
>>
No. 869935 ID: 3abd97

I hope you've been recording on your eye-implant, Sisirri. This is the kind of thing you need evidence for when you tell people about it.

>they were already shown the testament, but dismissed it or ignored it
You're going to have to give the others a hard time about that. "You could have mentioned you were approached by a giant glowing light and we were sitting on some unfathomable precursor's living grave."

>I will not respond to you, as I will be too far gone to even know you are there.
You might as well attempt communication, test that hypothesis.

"Greetings, Lastborn of the Warning. Are you incapable of communication, as you predicted?"

>what do
Assuming Lastborn does not respond: Wisp, before I depart and complete your function, may I ask some additional questions?

Has Imeperium witnessed this testament? Have any members of the Kiter Empire?

Does your creator's "eternity shell" depend on this facility to function? If so, are there countermeasures to preserve or protect the facility from harm? It is my understanding that the kiter empire plans to destructively strip mine this planet's surface.

If your creator would not have approved of Imperium's actions, would you be willing to share any information that would thwart its efforts? Sometimes it is better knowledge be lost than allowing an unsuitable steward to possess it.

Are there other protocols besides the Testament protocol that pertain to my actions and safety? My survival is currently tied to this facility, until I understand enough of your creator's technology to use it to escape this planet, possibly this universe.

I do not believe it would be feasible given my other interests to remain, but I am curious, what would happen if I refused to leave? Would I be forcibly returned to my point of origin, or would you continue to keep me "safe" as long as I remained?

You said earlier you had limited range to in which to appear and offer the testament protocol. Would you be interested in establishing means to reach out to those outside of that range who meet the requirements for the testament protocol?
>>
No. 869936 ID: 13fded

Didn't this Warning just said you are free to study their technology? I assume the invitation extend to this chamber and everything else.
"Hey Wisp, could you delay your suicidal urge by showing me around for a while before I decide to leave?"

The secrets of immortality would be valuable, even though I suspect they will end up been more about technicalities than a revolutionary concept, but won't do us any good if we can't find a way to deal with the more immediately threats. Beside I'm not sure you are the kind of person that that want to live forever. You are very young after all.
If you need to focus on anything for time constraints it should be the transportation technology. It's the thing you've been studying for a decade so you have a better chance to comprehend. It's also the best hope you have to get out of the dangerous situation you got into and possible return to this place in the future.

Additionally you should considers way to prolong the existence of the Wisp. It would be a wast to lose such well informed guide after all. Maybe can get a better understand of this creature to wither alter it's structure or convert it's mind to a digital format you can handle.
>>
No. 869968 ID: 261652

Oh. Right. I forgot this place was,... a thing. Yes, right, that, let's go with that.

Although I'm not sure having a glowing wisp AI helper thing calling everyone dumb and extolling your smarts is precisely good for one's ego, at least it wasn't a talking paperclip or things would have gone differently.

I will say that I also appreciate that the "acess path" isn't the scenic route we took, just the fastest. Nobody like obnoxious precursors. Usually spend too much time wanking themselves off and less getting to important points.

>>869935
This guy though has the right idea. The Lastborn of the Warning quite literally stated in express blunt terms its last will and testament is that you not only inherit the facility and everything in it down to the last quark but you can do whatever the fuck you want while you're at it.
This system was meant to be gamed, so play it. The wisp clearly lack either the will or ability to not play along. Even if it doesn't, that's fine. Don't take this as some sort of elementary school philosophy lesson. It's exactly the opposite. This is not a lesson taught by a Ludite degenerate. Technology is bad only if you cock it up, you're being encouraged to learn and even take the secrets to immortality. Just don't stagnate like these poor sods did, rendering the entire point of immortality moot in the process. It's not about "not dying" per se, it's about not missing all the cool shit that happens after you're dead.

Altough, now that seven year time limit for being on this rock is now actually relevant. Because of course it is, we weren't going to have five minutes of peace, who needs a break, the emotional roller coaster has no brakes. We're gonna need a lot more than seven years to study all of this,...
>>
No. 869969 ID: 074011

Wellp. Warnign is pretty simple. Don't let yourself destroy your purposes. They wanted to survive and they got it, and then nothing. If this technology had gone to someone who can watch reality T.v. all day without exploding, then they would have lounged around in that pod for all eternity with a stupid grin on their face... You love science and technology, discovery and progress... Putting yourself in a position where you can no longer either dig for new secrets or develop new toys would be bad, lesson learned!

Buuuuuuuut... A warning is only as good as its distribution. It is unlikely to be distributed very far if you die, if the facility is destroyed, conquered, or permanently quarantined. Lord Wisply won't be succeeding the whole "pass on the message" quest until your long term prospects include conversing with others in a somewhat philosophical setting, which is unlikely given the whole deal with the warzone and the neumono and the fufa and the unlicensed brain surgeon and... Really, it is going to need to sit down and let you rig up some longer-term further-range(probably with some loss of ability, no doubt there are reasons for its limited traversal) housing for its being so that it can evaluate your long-term prospects. Its creator failed because it lost its purpose. You will lose your purpose if you die with no legacy, which is currently imminent by reasonable conjecture. The message just won't work if this is the end of it...
>>
No. 870058 ID: 9d4af9

There's some pretty cool stuff in here. At least take a closer look around before you leave.
>>
No. 870062 ID: 91ee5f

>>869906
>lost
>mysterious ball of light
I wouldn’t be surprised if you fell asleep while writing your reports.

And maybe this thing could only contact you when you fell asleep?

>~a parasite engorging itself on the unparalleled legacy of my creators. if i had true will, i would defer from the testament protocol and seek a means of dislodging it.~
So if that’s the Akashic Vault, then maybe there’s a possibility that Imperium is also here in this new galaxy that you and the neumono have been sent to?

>>869910
Ok, so the lesson from the super ancient technologically advanced race is: “Don’t become immortal because you’ll eventually go insane!”

Sure, it’ll take a few thousand years before you start to go insane, but if you go insane, you won’t be able to do science anymore! You don’t want that, right?
>>
No. 870292 ID: 138717
File 151967615095.png - (238.02KB , 800x600 , salq-164.png )
870292

"I need a moment."
~understood.~ It drifts lazily next to me, sinusoidally bobbing as it does so.

>talk to alien
"Hello? Lastborn of the Warning?"

The creature within does not respond. I tap on the transparent surface. It feels like glass, but warm to the touch.
No reaction.

~the last time my creator spoke is recorded as having happened [converting] 25,000,000 years relative to planetary inertial frame.~
I can't wrap my head around that length of time. "What did they say?"
~the akashic vault records state that the last word my creator spoke was `why', as translated into your language with no loss of semantic or idiomatic meaning.~
"Why? That's it?" Countless galactic years to choose your own last words, your own epitaph, and they chose a word so uselessly open ended.
~not a question. a statement. `why.`~
"Not even a full thought, then?"
~there are two possibilities i can perceive as having unfolded through the passage of time. a cognitive erosion reducing the mind of the creators to complete and total catatonia and cessation of conscious thought due to lack of meaningful stimuli, or perhaps an internal retreat inwards, dreaming of the reality they truly desire the most. i assume the latter is fairly probable, given documentation of the minds of many sapient species inventing stimuli from nothing when deprived of meaningful sensory input. it also is preferable to believe that the creators exist in a state of waking dreams, having been interminably bored with the slow passage of time and seeing all the universe has had to offer repeatedly.~
"So they're just daydreaming forever?"
~it is my theory. i find it hard to accept the degradation of the conscious mind to something no more sophisticated than ocean sponges. it is also something of an ironic twist of fate. when the creators' diaspora was at its height, they feared the concept of virtual reality as a distraction from the problems of life and survival. now, with the problem of life and survival solved, they exist within the oldest form of virtual reality ever to exist.~

I don't understand any of this. I can't accept this outcome as some indicator of how all progress ends. They must have made mistakes. This is ridiculous. This flies in the face of everything I've understood and worked towards. An entire civilisation as short-sighted as my mother. Some ancient precursor species these fools turned out to be.

But... if I had everything I ever wanted, knew every secret that ever existed, had nothing left to strive for, finally perfected every goal and filled every drive I had...

What would be left?

I think, in some part, I understand this warning, but not as it was intended. The answer is not to fear succeeding in my aims. The answer is to not become complacent and to find new goals. Perhaps there was some fault in this species' psychology that prevented them from chasing new goals. Perhaps they lacked some extra understanding or capability to imagine that, say, a salikai would have. Perhaps their society was too homogenous to promote differences in ideas and ideologies to inspire others. For one thing, if their youngest member has an age only measurable on a galactic timescale, they must have suffered stagnation of perspectives to a level I can't begin to fully comprehend.

I may not live long enough to see all my goals fulfilled, but at least I'll have purpose and ever increasing heights to aspire to until the day I die.

>is this a dream
"Am I dreaming this? Did I fall asleep writing my reports?"
~you are awake now.~

>break the sphere open
I smack the sphere as hard as I can manage without hurting myself. Suffice to say, it does not budge. In fact, it feels strangely like my blow was absorbed into nothing.
~what are you attempting to achieve? are you testing the shell's limitations or do you earnestly wish harm on the creature within?~
"More the first. I mean, if smacking the thing inside makes it wake up, that would be good too."
~the eternity shell is not a passive construct. it actively works against harmful influences and attacks. bombs detonate in midair. missiles veer off course. it adapts to any weaponry that can so much as scratch it. this is, undoubtedly, the safest room within the entire planetary inertial frame. the only place safer is within the shell itself.~

I stare through the murk, unable to resolve any more details of the alien inside.

"Well. Are you in a hurry to die?"
~i will complete my function one way or the other, so i suppose there is no time constraint.~
"Wait. What if I just stay here and refuse to leave?"
~the parameters of my mission are such that if you were to perish from standing here and starving to death, my function is complete.~
"That... they considered that a possibility, huh?"
~there were assumptions that, upon learning the safety and security offered by mere proximity to the eternity shell, some of the intended recipients of the message would attempt to live here for the remainder of their days. my function has no duration attached to it. an hour or a millenium are both times so short as to be similarly meaningless now to the creators.~

"Alright. I have some questions, then."
~ask.~

>imperium, kiter, testament
"Has Imperium seen this testament?"
~the parasite is aware of the fate of the creators.~
"What about members of the Kiter Empire?"
~the creators are anathema to their goals, much as the stran would be anathema to the creators during their active period. the stran fear what they have called `contracting an ideological disease'. few things bring them fear but the possibility of stagnation. they would not heed the testament, regardless, as they see all such alien insight as beneath them.~

>eternity shell, facility protection
"Moving on, so your creator's eternity shell protects itself and by extension a facility above this one."
~yes. i am aware of the mirror facility. i am actually not clear myself on why the creators' gate would lead to the construction of a mirror facility. it is not a documented phenomenon.~
"Interesting. Still, the Kiter Empire is going to start stripmining--"
~the facility will be safe.~
"How?"
~it will be safe.~
"No more details?"
~it will be safe.~
"Why are you so certain?"
~it will be safe.~
"I'm... why are you repeating those exact words so specifically?"
~it will be safe.~ The wisp flares up. ~the facility will hold. the facility will hold forever. the creators designed this facility to last forever. it will hold forever. it will be safe.~
"...alright then."

>imperium, parasite
"If you consider Imperium a parasite, can you provide any help to stop it?"
~it infrequently reports to the kiter empire. that is all i am able to share.~
"What? What's stopping you sharing more?"
~that information is not available for me to share.~
"Of course not."

>wisp, projection
"Do you want me to create some means of projecting yourself further than your limited area so you can spread your message further?"
~do you wish me to persist beyond the fulfilment of my function?~
"Well, you have a lot of answers. So yes."
~my function is to appear to those who have understood the technology of our creators to a level of comprehension worth noting, to lead them safely to the testament, and then to return them to where they came from. i am acutely aware that this facility is not where you `came from' and as such it will be trivial for me to... modify the parameters of my mission while remaining compliant and fulfilled. i will linger here until you have need of me again.~

>further things down here
"Well, actually, before I leave to go work on... another project..." I need to maybe think about how many things I've pledged to make for various people at this point. I did the fufa reports for Tirzi, so that leaves the jammer, and going over the nullifier designs with Ekasarra and Ku, and maybe finally getting back to the arti-- to the spacefolder. Hm. I guess working on a means for this mote of light to accompany me further into the facility would help there a considerable amount.

But yes. I'm the first one of the science team above to be down here, so I'm curious.

"Before I leave, you mentioned something about a colony of creatures that I'd pose an `ideological threat' to. What exactly are these creatures?"
~they do not exist within the akashic vault, but they refer to themselves as the `chosen'. they dwell within abandoned chambers on the other side of this chamber. they also appear to worship a salikai within a cyrogenic prison capsule. a primitive, outmoded device that suspends the creature within indefinitely, much like the eternity shell, but in a near death-like dreamless sleep. and without the passive and active defences.~
"A salikai?" The idea of another salikai being here fills me with immediate dread.
~it arrived [converting] roughly two years ago as the cryogenic prison capsule it managed to entomb itself within automatically returned to the closest holding area within range. the spatial vortices appear to have swept up a number of these `chosen' creatures as well. however, while they venerate the salikai frozen within the capsule, i am completely without data or prediction as to how they would react to other salikai.~

Huh.

...Huh. I... hm. Curiosity and self-preservation are tearing me between the decision to investigate further, or to just leave and work on whatever projects.

>how to return
"How do I get back down here again?"
~i will open the doors for you if you wish to return. ask for... hm. i have no name. i am open to your suggestions.~
>>
No. 870297 ID: 3d2d5f

Presuming the deceased salikai did not leave my home galaxy prior to the activation of the storage capsule, there's a relatively small pool of species that could be worshipping it. Would you mind describing their appearance or displaying an image? I would like to identify what they are, even if I do not interact with them.
>>
No. 870298 ID: c88e6d

>>870292
Call it Progeny, for it is the last child of the Lastborn of the Warning.

Also, request it alter its mission parameters to assist you. It has just stated it can.
>>
No. 870299 ID: 8edb2d

>>870292
>the cryogenic prison capsule it managed to entomb itself within automatically returned to the closest holding area within range. the spatial vortices appear to have swept up a number of these `chosen' creatures as well
Sounds like how your arkots got swept up with you. Are these 'chosen' actually arkots? Describe arkots for the node.

>i have no name. i am open to your suggestions.
Lao Tzu
>>
No. 870301 ID: 8edb2d

>>870298
Technically speaking, if its parameters are to ensure the subject safely returns to whence they came, it could help repair the space folder to help get everyone home.
>>
No. 870307 ID: 91c4fb

That sounds like arkots. And they're not a DEAD salikai, yes? Just in cryosleep? Either way, it sounds like you've found the specifications of why the kiter aren't attacking: the entire facility is guarded by technology left by an incomprehensibly powerful preecursor race. That's definitely going to help you guys stay alive, just make sure that everyone understands the protection only extends to the facility, not outside it. Well Sisirri, don't forget the basic of basics. Somehow those chosen are still alive, which means they must be obtaining food from somewhere. It'd go a very long way to endearing yourself to your comrades if you could solve the food crisis once and for all.
>>
No. 870314 ID: 91ee5f

>>870292
>~it infrequently reports to the kiter empire. that is all i am able to share.~
That means Imperium is here!

And since your implant was a beacon that the Kiter Empire were following, that means that Imperium intended for the Kiter to capture you when you got here!

I hate to say it, but the neumono beating you near death has actually saved you from being captured by the Kiter! And you saw what Fleshweaver Voidsong was doing during its transmissions! You would’ve been experimented on like those other creatures you saw imprisoned and attached to some pulsing things on the wall behind Voidsong!

>i am completely without data or prediction as to how they would react to other salikai.
That actually makes it sound dangerous to interact with them. Maybe Sisirri should wait until she brings someone with her to protect her, just in case those guys turn out to be hostile.
>>
No. 870315 ID: 56e50f

>>870292
Keeper.
>>
No. 870317 ID: 86eb65

Have it show you a video feed of this capsule and the "worshipers"

I bet you its arkots waiting for there boss to wake up.

Then we can decide if we want to wake them up.
>>
No. 870319 ID: 12b116

Hmm. So this is the akashik vault? We're in it?
>>
No. 870322 ID: cb585b

>>870319
No, this is the Eternity Shell, the Akashik vault is apparently some kind of library these Precursors stored data in, which i believe they have remote access to?

I wonder if we can use said access here as well?
>>
No. 870324 ID: 90f3c0

Having another faction in the base could be a security risk. You need to gather more information on them, before you can decide if it's safe to make contact. Return to the others, then send a spy drone to observe the other group.
>>
No. 870329 ID: ad51b8

name it soothsayer, head back to base, tell people what you found out and get back to building shit. We're starting to back log... on the bright side we now have a panic room of sorts to escape into should the base above us fall. Granted food might be a problem but hey we can cross the bridge when we get to it.
>>
No. 870330 ID: 074011

The timing matches Kitsiksu, the worshippers would be consistent with arkots, they would need to eat something. The data is all consistent with a gift-basket of food, medicine, labour, and biologist. This is too good to be true. Imperium had a measure of control of that space, has abundant knowledge of the artefacts, and can modify your memories. You don't even know what caused the destruction, it could be a product of the relocation effect. Perhaps your lab and a large volume of the surrounding ocean was similarly destroyed...

First record your memories of kitsiksu. Be detailed but not forceful, you don't want to risk modifying the memories as your record them. Then look for inconsistencies. You didn't even like chess, was he portrayed winning at a game to prove intellectual competence to increase his appeal? Do you recall any planning or strategy during the match, and is it consistent with an ongoing plan rather than just piecemeal "you were thinking about the game" inserts? Does your time-line of his life contain any elements that you ought not to know, or have any troubling omissions?

There are two obvious methods of memory alteration. Inserting whole scenarios and planting seeds and coaxing the subject to imagine content. The former is likely to be too detailed and inflexible, and will likely have a lack of immediacy because it lacks thoughts and feelings, or be a bit off, because the inserted thoughts and feelings are designed to guide you to certain conclusions. Regardless, the key to memory awareness is the same as the key to science. Meticulous and impartial records of everything!

It goes without saying that Imperium being in contact is a disaster. It is interesting that The Kiter likely had data on you when they were squabbling over your remains. It is unfortunate that any urgent measures to counteract imperium's presence are likely too late, so a calm approach is fitting.

Knowing your luck it is probably a hoard of half-fufa-half-neumono worshipping a salikai that somehow granted itself the empathy of a hive-queen and promptly went insane.

On the plus side, imperium has been in contact with you in the past two years, so if that salikai IS Imperium, then its recent actions have been through agents rather than personal agency. One key thing to note though is that the scientists came here independently. If Kitsiksu has secretly been Imperium all along and expects you to wake him up and leap into his graspers, then he probably doesn't know about them, on account of being frozen since before they arrived... Also they are the best allies you have, yourself included, as they have not been compromised yet...
>>
No. 870335 ID: 8edb2d

Oh, and ask the wisp if an attack on foot would be a threat. Can people enter the building with hostile intent so long as they do not attack until they are present inside of it?
>>
No. 870352 ID: b1b4f3

>>870292
>two years ago
Okay this is a vanishingly low probability but could it be the one salikai you know and trust? Ask for an image of the salikai in question. If it's him, then... you need to thaw him out. He would be incredibly useful, even if he turns out to be... more morally flexible than you are.

...wait how are the "creatures" surviving down here? What are they eating?
>>
No. 870359 ID: 3abd97

>i have no name. i am open to your suggestions.
You are the last vestige of a warning. A light in the dark. A caretaker. A messenger. A light of the gods, illuminating not forbidden knowledge, but a cautionary tale.

Heliad? In human mythology, the Heliades were children of a sun god, who were turned to trees in mourning, marking the grave of their brother, who died after trying to fly their father's chariot. A living memorial to one who reached too far. Who knows why a salikai would know greek mythology but I don't have any Astrenian myths to reference for cool names and supervillians and mad scientists love pretentious mythology names.

>I need to maybe think about how many things I've pledged to make for various people at this point. I did the fufa reports for Tirzi, so that leaves the jammer, and going over the nullifier designs with Ekasarra and Ku, and maybe finally getting back to the arti-- to the spacefolder. Hm. I guess working on a means for this mote of light to accompany me further into the facility would help there a considerable amount.
Delegate? Getting Ekasarra and Ku started means they can make progress even when you work on other things. Kicking that project off first might make sense in that respect.

>could be Kitsiksu
Actually that would be a bad thing, since the wisp has already stated it was unwilling to lead us there. Our desire to revive Kitsiksu would irrevocably conflict with the priorities of those currently worshiping his alleged remains.

Also please don't ask for an image, the last thing Sisirri needs is another horrific thing to haunt her dreams if he's horribly dead.

>~it will be safe.~ The wisp flares up. ~the facility will hold. the facility will hold forever. the creators designed this facility to last forever. it will hold forever. it will be safe.~
Did the creator design the facility with the intent of preserving the safety of individuals who are at best freeloaders, and at worst vermin? I find it disturbingly easy to imagine scenarios in which the facility endures an assault, but those of us currently occupying the mirror facility are destroyed before I can unravel the means to safely depart.

>>870314
>That means Imperium is here!
No. That means Imperium is capable of communicating with the kiter empire, and by extension, possibly the individuals here. Nothing more, nothing less. It may have local assets, or it might be constrained by some form of long range communication. We don't know.
>>
No. 870364 ID: 91ee5f

>>870322
>I wonder if we can use said access here as well?
That’s not a good idea. Imperium is very protective of the Vault and if it detects someone else connecting to the Vault, it’ll follow the signal and discover our location and it’ll discover that Sisirri is still alive!
>>
No. 870384 ID: 13fded

>>870319
>>870314

Either the Akashic Vault is here or in another facility connected to this one.
We don't know how much influence Imperium have over the Warnings technology. Presumable not much since it didn't take direct control over this facility after who know how long it's been uninhabited.
Nevertheless the contact with the Vault are a security risk. We need to prevent data about to be sent to the Vault and isolate the data receive in separate consoles. I'm not sure what kind of entity this Wisp is, but even it could be vulnerable to Imperium's attacks.
On the bright side we are very close to to find a way of killing Imperium. It did mentioned ways to escape the Vault, but even if we fail to destroy it the loss of what is presumable the most advance unguarded data storage in the universe will make it reconsider it's safety when dealing with others.

Don't forget to mention Processor Fleet approach. Maybe the Wisp knows what this was all about. Maybe they could be a reason to fear for the security of this place.
>>
No. 870390 ID: d36af7

This is the safest room on the planet, loaded with impossibly advanced precursor tech to counter any conceivable threat, right? That almost certainly means it's got a jammer bubble already built in. Bring the neumono down here ASAP. Quick fix for that problem means you can backburner the re-invention project, focus on more conventional morale and infrastructure and strategy problems, of which you have no shortage.

Here's a question for the tour guide: what would it take for Imperium to be reclassified, by this larger system, as enough of a threat to be dealt with promptly and permanently? Your best bet for getting that stolen Akashic library card revoked probably involves somehow provoking a strong "immune system" response at the source. A well-designed system (which this must be, to have lasted tens of millions of years with no outside maintenance) won't have an infinite tolerance for invasive parasites. Has Imperium been promised safety, as you were? If so, what were the parameters or limitations of that promise?
>>
No. 870407 ID: dc91a0

>>870298
Ditto for Progeny.

Go explore the Chosen and this Salikai.
>>
No. 870414 ID: 10c408

Honestly, this is your ONLY chance to give it a designation or moniker that pulls double duty as a primer on how potentially bad things could get and also a funny little joke because let's face, the gravity of the situation is getting to you.

Suggest the names "U92" or "CIF3', see if the wisp likes one or the other.

and doesn't object to being referred to as highly dangerous periodic elements.
>>
No. 870433 ID: b1b4f3

I wonder if the Eternity Shell manipulates probability as a form of ensuring its safety? That could explain an extremely improbable event such as both you and the only Salikai you trust arriving here.
>>
No. 870449 ID: cc5f4f

What about will-o'-wisp?
>>
No. 870460 ID: 14581c

Call the wisp the Guide.

I wonder who this salikai could be... We'd best investigate, maybe with a drone.
>>
No. 870464 ID: 074011

Oh, yes, Will is a nice name! Will'o'wisp, legal will, force of intent, and it is a valid name on its own! That many puns in one place cannot possibly be wrong!
>>
No. 870483 ID: 906811

Call it Guilty Spark.
We need to see what these Chosen are cause if this Salikai is from our galaxy then this means that the chosen are as well.
Please don't let it be more arkots please don't let it be more arkots.
>>
No. 870494 ID: 2fe26a

Ember, the slow-burning remnant of the Warning's extinguished flame. Do these Chosen resemble diminutive four-armed toadies? Can you locate the two arkots I sent wandering?
Was a different process run for each of the other scientists you approached?
Ember could probably operate a drone if you set up a control rig down here. Aza would gladly loan some of his tech to a new AI.
>>
No. 870496 ID: 8edb2d

>>870449
I'll support Will (o' the wisp)
>>
No. 870559 ID: 138717
File 151977199197.png - (45.27KB , 800x600 , salq-165.png )
870559

>salikai/astraneus mythology
Well, when I was very little I read a story that was something of a family heirloom. It's now so much dust. I need to write it again at some point before I forget it.
I could go into more detail, but it was something about a feud between the powers of Forest and Sun, and how this led to salikai being clever but also hated.
( >>/questdis/121014 )

Salikai mythology was fascinating to read, but unlike other Astraneus V cultures there's fewer examples that have either survived or been found.
After all, salikai do not easily part with their secrets to anyone but those they trust, and trust does not come easily to salikai. It must be earned, and it is fragile and delicate.
We rarely forgive betrayal.

There's also the possibility that we just had less mythology, abandoning superstitions quickly as we found answers grounded more in reason and logic.
Our kind is not-- our kind is not as predisposed to magical thinking as other species.
Certainly it has happened and continues to happen. I would describe my mother's attitude towards the end as nothing short of fanaticism with little evidence that her conviction was well placed. Or healthy or sane.

>wisp name
"Will. As the last spark of will and intent, your name is Will."
~understood. altering mission parameters. redefining. very well. i will aid in returning you to where you originally came from. this task may take some time.~
"Thank you."

>aza drone
That's an incredibly great idea, me!
"There is a telepresence expert in the facility above, I'm sure he'll be happy to make a drone that you can operate, or even house you."
~understood.~

>imperium
"Did you promise Imperium protection? Why have you not dislodged it?"
~no. it is not within my domain. also, if it were in my domain to defend the vault, it would be very, very difficult.~

>where vault
"Where IS the Akashic Vault?"
~it does not exist within physical space.~
"Alright, okay, listen, I don't care if it's some sort of hyperspace or subspace but it has to exist somewhere. I'm not some hatchling struggling with extradimensional concepts, I am fully aware of the potential and demonstrated reality of a hyperdimensional space beyond three dimensions of space and one of time, or four dimensions of space depending on perspective. Explain better."
~it lies within an adjacent bubble universe, with contact points manifesting briefly for information retrieval and archival. it drifts throughout the hyperverse, aimless, forming contact points for anything that has the technology.~
"So. Wait. Imperium said it was inside the Vault. How can that be possible? Is there some enormous server rack inside this bubble?"
~the parasite found a way to encode itself into the raw information of this bubble universe. imagine, if you will, figuring a way to destroy something that has managed to become waves on the ocean. you can attack the ocean, boil it away, but it is easier to disrupt the waveform.~
"So, what, just transmit garbage data to wherever Imperium is?"
~it is not that simple. the information within the vault is highly protected, replicated for redundancy, insured against interference. it can lose all of its other resources but so long as the vault exists, part of it can easily leave the vault when any of the trillions of automated processes patrolling causality attempt to record new data. to remove it would not be impossible, but would require an incredibly fine tuned attack on all parts of the information, and this will require locating them first. added to which, nothing would prevent imperium merely attempting to copy itself back into the vault. if it managed to do so once, it will undoubtedly try again.~
"So it's not enough to just remove it from the Vault, it needs to be completely disconnected."
~i am not even aware of how it has access to the vault.~

>who is the salikai
>image
"I'm going to regret asking this, but, do you have any images of this frozen dead salikai?"
~not dead, merely sleeping. the cryocells were designed to transport prisoners, and cannot be operated from the inside. they can only be opened from the outside. there is a release button that begins the thawing process and opens the pod.~
"Okay. Do you have any images of this frozen alive salikai, then?"
~presented as per request.~

Impossible.

"Y-you said alive, right?"
~correct.~

The probability is so close to zero that there is more likelihood I'm asleep and dreaming this entire scenario than two of us having access to similar alien technology and ending up in the same place.

There he is. There's Kitsiksu, same scar, limbs folded away, eyes closed. Resting like a dead thing.

>question your memories of kitsiksu
The chess match. It was a complete game. It was not the fact I lost that caused it to stick in my mind so much as Kitsiksu's unexpected proposal.
There were many other games I managed to win. Sometimes easily. He was an intriguing opponent, sometimes predictable, sometimes surprising. And he seemed to view me in the same light.

There were things I never knew about him, but this is not a surprise. We are keepers of secrets. There's plenty of myself I never discussed.

I don't know.
I don't know what to think or feel anymore.

Reality is all lies, it feels like. If not for the very real pains I've suffered since the evacuation, I'd consider this all some ridiculous dream.

~i am having difficulty ascertaining your reaction. i cannot tell if this news pleases or displeases you.~
"It does."
~which?~
"Both."

>what are the chosen
>please not arkots please not arkots
"...Show me these `Chosen'."
>>
No. 870561 ID: 138717
File 151977208933.png - (113.68KB , 800x600 , salq-166.png )
870561

~presented as per request.~

They... don't resemble any creature I've seen before but for fleeting glimpse of what Kitsiksu called his "bioservitors". Apparently he was unsatisfied with arkot capability, which is understandable, who isn't, but instead of hiring mercenaries or, as in my case, building purpose-designed robots for various mundane tasks, he elected to create some entirely new custom servitor species? I think it was less for utility and more some elaborate boast. He was very, very proud of his capabilities and after spending so much time in his siblings' shadow he took every opportunity to flaunt his capabilities as possible.

I told him if he wasn't careful he'd get unwanted attention fast, and, well, it brings me absolutely no joy or satisfaction to say "I warned you" to someone helplessly locked away in a cryogenic chamber of ancient alien design as a last ditch survival effort. It isn't like I'm innocent of similar lapses in judgement. Sometimes passions make us careless.

~this individual names itself `the hierophant' and appears to be their leader. their society appears to revolve around tending a hydroponic garden, containing plant species i do not recognise, and organised rituals related to worship of `the creator' and detestation and warding of `the dark gods'. i lack adequate context to explain further. some form of evening service is in progress. i will show you.~

---

"Dark times approach, my children. In our time of need, we may fear that even the Creator may not help us, as we are beset by those who seek to harm or control us. Many of you have felt the presence of the Demon, distinct, subtle, insidious, but I remind you all that we all can rebuke the Demon with faith, courage and confidence. Blood of the Demon Eaters runs through our veins, and we share this ancestral heritage. Bind the Demon to your will, with faith in the glory of the Creator, and you will make them kneel before you."

The "heirophant" raises its hands, holding what appear to be a pair of neumono skulls. One seems significantly smaller than the other. Proportionately, that must have been a very young neumono.

"The Demon can bleed, and the Demon can die. In dire times, it may seem as if nothing can stop them, but they are a manifestation of the Dark Gods' evil intent. You must fight them not with tooth and claw alone but reason and conviction. Much like the heretic, they can be purified through flame."

The heirophant places the skulls back down on its... lectern? Altar? It reads from a green book I slowly realise is bound in tanned arkot hide.

"Remember that though the Dark Gods share the image of the Creator, they are strangers to all His values and all His teachings. If you witness any creature with the countenance of the Creator, approach not the entity, for the Dark Gods are treacherous and deceitful. They may promise much, they may offer you many temptations, but they ultimately desire nothing but your ruination."

"Heirophant! What of the Three?" cries a voice elsewhere in the room.
The hierophant pauses, smiles and nods. "Yes. The Three. The Three, or the Shrouded Gods, are kin of the Creator's kind, much as the Dark Gods, but where the Dark Gods are dangerous, harmful deities, the Shrouded Gods are those the Creator trusted in life prior to His ascension to divinity, and who empower us with their domains and aspects. The Weaver, who spins the connections and ties that bind us to friend and foe alike. The Advisor, whose words breathe wisdom into our waking minds. And, of course, perhaps the greatest of the Shrouded Gods, the Machinist, who inspires us with divine insight into technology and its repair."

---

"I've heard enough. No more, please."
~as you request.~

I was expecting dumb arkots maybe bowing to a cryogenic pod in a circle. I was not expecting holy books and formal ceremony.

~shall i lead you back to the facility above now?~
>>
No. 870562 ID: 1561e1

Well you know one thing for certain, they will probably attempt to kill you on sight.
>>
No. 870563 ID: 5fe028

You need to let the others know what you found.

Evidently being down here doesn't completely block empathy. These guys look like they have predator mixed in.

Ask how stable the cryogenic pod is - is there a timeline we're looking at? It may be possible to safely approach them by building a Salikai shaped drone. That might fit their idea of what the Machinist is better than going in the flesh.
>>
No. 870564 ID: c88e6d

>>870561
We need that pod. Kitsiksu could solve literally all our problems if we could safely contain him. Our paranoia is extremely intense for a reason, our memories and mind have been tampered with before, but we must retrieve him.
>>
No. 870567 ID: 75d80b

>>870562
The Shrouded Gods, as they put it, seem to have a favorable interpretation. I would imagine the Advisor to be the most likely candidate by similarity. As such they will likely hold off on killing Sisirri until she fails to provide divine patronage.
>>
No. 870569 ID: 8edb2d

>>870563
This. Approaching through a drone would probably be best, one that is recognizable as belonging to Sisirri.

On the plus side, they seem to revere you even more than Kitsiksu's cohorts from TRIFEX, which suggests that his feelings towards you were genuine. Otherwise his personal servants wouldn't see you this way.
>>
No. 870570 ID: ad51b8

oh fucking hell Kitsiksu became the god emperor and Sisirri became the omnissiah... I don't know if I should laugh or cry

Ask will if we could return to this place at any time? I feel like we're going to need to make a few trips here in the near future.
>>
No. 870571 ID: 074011

Imitating the machinist would seem like a good ploy. Just sending in some basic communication drones and providing some remote education on robotics "in preparation for the revival of Kitsiksu" looks like something that would be compatible with their beliefs. An automated watering system for their hydroponics would be a decent place to start.

That said, they have been here for a long time, and the only urgent matter is that they seem to sense the neumono, and might run out on a holy crusade against them. So long as the neumono keep their distance it shouldn't be a problem, but it does make bringing the neumono here in the hopes that it is a jammer would be dangerous.

For now, there is more preparation to do before attempting to wake Kitsiksu. Leave and tell Tirzi about this. Include that Kitsiksu is down here, the nature of the relationship between you two, and that your memories might have been altered. Also mention the bioengineered species that may be purpose-built to kill neumono.

Everything else... Can wait until the jammer is done, or at least until you have enough preliminary work on the jammer to know if it is likely to be available in a useful timeframe.
>>
No. 870573 ID: 86eb65

I wonder which god you are. If those Shrouded ones are Kitsiksu's best "friends" they are probably the Salikai he was closest with. Which means you are probably one of them.

Biggest thing of note is that these guys are being affected by the spires psychic field and are resisting it.

Ask Will what is causing the psychic field and if he can block it from entering this facility.

After that we need to consider how best to wake Kitsiksu up. And if we should wake him up or wait. He could be a valuable ally but would complicate this mess to no end. His goals might not mesh well with yours or your new allies.
>>
No. 870574 ID: 91ee5f

>>870559
>There he is. There's Kitsiksu, same scar, limbs folded away, eyes closed. Resting like a dead thing.
Problem is, even if you do rescue him, he’s gonna freak out when he sees that you’ve teamed up with neumono. In fact, the neumono are going to freak out at another salikai showing up!

But if Kitsiksu and the neumono are able to work together, then do you think Kitsiksu‘s offer to help “fix” you would still be available?

>>870561
That guy looks like he’s got predator eyes. Hopefully, that’s the only thing they’ve got in common because we don’t want these guys to be controlling the neumono!

>I was expecting dumb arkots maybe bowing to a cryogenic pod in a circle. I was not expecting holy books and formal ceremony.
They’re still just as dumb as arkots. I’m pretty sure Kitsiksu has told them how to awaken him from that cryopod, but as you can see, they didn’t do that. At least they’re still loyal to him.

>~shall i lead you back to the facility above now?~
Yeah, let’s go back. You’re going to need help to rescue Kitsiksu from his own creations.
>>
No. 870575 ID: 8edb2d

>>870573
>I wonder which god you are.
Sisirri is likely the mechanist, tech and robotics are her specialty. The other two are likely the other members of TRIFEX.
>>
No. 870578 ID: 12b116

Go down there, claim to be the Machinist, and see if you can't let him out. Nobody outside of their cult should know that kind of information so you should mostly be safe? The neumono are just going to have to deal with it. But you'll need Kikitsu to keep his followers from attacking them on sight, so we need to explain the whole situation before going anywhere.
>>
No. 870579 ID: 3abd97

>Akashic Vault and Imperium
Great so it backed it itself up to an intangible, extremely robust, and hard to attack backup system. And you not only need to remove this backup, you need to remove Imperium's more material assets as well.

>~i am having difficulty ascertaining your reaction. i cannot tell if this news pleases or displeases you.~
He is known to me personally, and I believed him dead. And I recently was made aware that my memories are compromised due to a now-removed implant. So yes, my emotions are conflicted.

You were correct that these creatures and I are ideological threats to each other. I would seek to remove and thaw Kitsiksu, for questioning if nothing else. From what little I've seen of their religion, they might attempt to kill me. If at all possible, it would be preferable to keep these creatures segregated from those of us currently inhabiting the upper levels of the mirror facility.

It looks like a religion based on Kitsiksu's life- the "three" were his allies are collaborators, the "demons" were his rivals in our species. These chosen appear to be the descendants of his "bioservitors".

No real harm in explaining these truths to Will. Greater understanding of the situation may make it easier to logically persuade Will to support specific courses of action in the future, or enable it to come up with suggestions itself.

>~shall i lead you back to the facility above now?~
Yes please, I think I've had enough overwhelming revelations now. Also I'm going to have to explain this situation to my allies, somehow.
>>
No. 870580 ID: dc91a0

Oh ho, Mighty Machinist. How smitten Kitsiksu must have been with you to speak of you such.

"Matters of reproduction", "collaborators", Bullshit. The man loves you.

There is but one thing to do.
GO BUILD A MECH SUIT.
No seriously, NO ONE will be able to doubt your identity as the machinist if you show up in a custom mech suit.

Go build a mech suit, and collect your mate.

Also, before you think it a waste of time when jammers need to be built, he probably knows how Nuemono empathy works far better than you do.
>>
No. 870582 ID: 8edb2d

>>870580
Agreed, if he can help us the jammers will be much easier to make.
>>
No. 870609 ID: 10c408

Yeah... It's time to go back to the facility. Hopefully the servitors aren't responsible for the empathy woes the neumono trio are having, otherwise they may have to be eliminated before we can release kitsiku.

...and speaking of, don't tell ANYONE that he's down here. We can't spring him yet for a variety of reasons and until we have a better foothold on our own personal security, even if we managed to free him it would likely end up getting us killed by Kan.
>>
No. 870615 ID: 13fded

That was a convenient recording. A lot of information was conveyed in a short period of time.

One thing they insinuate is having predator powers. Another reason to finish that jammer quickly. Might be worth warning the neumonos that a bunch of crazy mutant cultists capable of influence their empathy are planing an attack from the basement to purify them with fire.

Since they are expecting "dark gods" approaching them can be dangerous, but even if they are in full paranoia mode they should hesitate attacking the "Machinist god". We have to try diplomacy.
Thankfully our mythological aspect is technology, something that can be demonstrated with lots of robots. We have to make some preparations before contact.
>>
No. 870632 ID: 261652

My brain, has shut down. Alright, screw logic then, I am definitely going to subscribe to the probability theory now.

Well at the very least it's blatantly apparent that dealing with these back-asswards fanatical aztec/incan/mayan bio servitor nutjobs is going to be painfully straightforward. If you want to talk to them, you have to get them to shut up long enough for you to prove you're "the machinist." And then get them to shut up and stop trying to worship you long enough for you to get some godamn work done.

Jesus Crisco in the blue can I can barely think right now. I agree, these guys look like they're got some Predator in them, the eyes, head/snout shape, and body proportions. The stripes aren't painted on, and if they're not bands then they might be more marking holdovers from any predator DNA, and we know from the fufa that Kitsiku did have access to at least that much.
Judging by their pale green tint and the horns, I'm also going to guess that they're crossed with arkots, (and frankly their being ridiculously expendable test subjects it should be nearly impossible to run out of) which could explain them being a bit on the mentally susceptible to shenanigans side of things.
And they've basically confirmed as much, Demons being nemono and eaters being of course predators and you know the very obvious as fuck ominous skulls 'n shit. They just lack proper names. It seems they understand the basic concept of how empathy works but don't actually know what empathy is. Which is really good. Judging by the way he speaks about the "insidious presence" though, he does not seem to be referring to the ambient empathy which would be a dozen blessings in itself if they're oblivious to it.
Further more, they have also been issued standing directions from their spiritual leader to not fuck with any salikai they may come into contact with. Believing Sissiri to be a nigh all powerful god should offer quite a lot of protection from any potential hostilities. The most important thing to remember is to under NO circumstances attempt to exploit their faith. they will not be convinced, they will not be reasoned with. They must be taught and led to the truth like children as this is how their shield of faith is structured. Further, it falls into exactly what they would expect of one of their "benevolent gods." Any and all interaction should be centered around Kitsiku and logic. Talking with them is going to be a mix between reminiscing about old times with your BFF, and waving your giant science dick in their faces.

Best angle to do so is figure out what broken shit they might have lying around, and to McGuyver up solutions to their problems. Moreover, this must be done in a way that gives them no impression that you want anything in return. Because frankly they're just a little bit irrelevant. That pod is the only thing over there that matters.
Possible ways to increase your "street cred" in this situation are to commandeer a fleet of drones and possibly even bring Ekassara down,.... after all, if anything good comes out of your mother being morphed by a batshit insane imposter posing as a salikai, it's probably going to be being able to dupe these (probably inbred let's be real) mother fuckers into thinking you're such a bad ass engineer you SCIENCE!'ed a neumono into a half robot.

Definitely want to go finish working on that damnable jammer real soon. Like now, preferably. Because holy shit if it is not like the ENTIRE FUCKING UNIVERSE is SCREAMING for you to HURRY THAT KINDA IMPORTANT SHIT UP before EVEN MORE random EMPATHY BULLSHIT crops up OUT OF FUCKING NOWHERE.
There is not nearly enough coffee in the universe to deal with this.
>>
No. 870636 ID: 91ee5f

>>870580
>GO BUILD A MECHSUIT
I’m pretty sure we don’t have the resources to build that nor can we afford to waste resources on something like that.

However, Sitkva in that heatsuit she was wearing here: >>865208 , kinda looks like she could pass as a giant robot that Sisirri built. So it might be easier to do that than actually try and build a mechsuit.

Unless we get lucky and happen to find an actual mechsuit that Sisirri could repair, which would be much easier than trying to build one from scratch.
>>
No. 870637 ID: 8edb2d

>>870636
Maybe they have a loader for moving heavy equipment?
>>
No. 870638 ID: 261652

Speaking of Sitkva, totally not because I was waiting for an excuse not to double post, we're going to need to get her help doing her geologist thing and analyze some samples of the terrain around the lab. If we ever get access to whatever system the guys down here in the basement have for growing food, we're still probably going to need to massively scale it up, if only because she's huge. So we'll need to know what ground we can dig up for soil to cart down here by the ton. That, and it's always good to go overboard when preparing for a long term siege so why not. And at the very least it's really easy to cross off the to-do list almost as soon as we get back up top, the task can be delegated to somebody else or even the arkots.
>>
No. 870639 ID: 86564f

Gah, so many things to do, so many priorities. At this rate we'll still have things to do, priorities, and goals to do when they arrive.... Am I the only one who thinks we should make a priority list again or something like that?
>>
No. 870640 ID: b1b4f3

>>870559
Yep. Probability has been manipulated. Either Imperium sent him here somehow, or some other entity or process did. This is just too much of a coincidence.
>Imperium encoded itself on a hyperdimensional storage device
...does that actually do anything? The description we just got implies that the vault stores data, but the data itself is not iterated upon by the vault itself. It's like writing code into a text file. I guess he could be using it to store backup copies of himself for his minions to load retrieve when needed, or he's using it like a hard drive, but ultimately the vault itself is not running his process. Cut him off from the vault and he does not exist on it anymore as an entity, and you can leave the data there to be cleaned up at a later point or attacked clumsily at your leisure.

>>870561
Sounds like you're The Machinist. They'll probably recognize you. If not, you could just convince them of who you are by showing them robots or something. Further study may be necessary to avoid any missteps. Or you can just go down there with a few battle droids and not give a shit what they think.

Go back upstairs and tell the others what you found here, and the reason why your enemies refuse to attack the facility(they can't, lol). If we're keeping Kitsiksu a secret from the general population for now, at least tell Tirzi that you would like to get your friend back out of cold storage, but you're not entirely sure how much he can be trusted. He is a Salikai after all. Also he's surrounded by vehemently anti-neumono bio-engineered lifeforms that worship him like a god. Could be a problem.
>>
No. 870641 ID: cc5f4f

Okay. This is borderline ridiculous like probability itself is mooning you in the face.

Perhaps we could try to show a picture of Kitsiksu to the fufa, and see its reaction. Also, are you keeping a recording of this footage? We might need it for later.

You might be one of the shrouded gods in their faith, particularly the Machinist. They also view the Neumono as demons, judging by the holding of the skull, and they might be even engineered to be able to kill Neumono.

>the Machinist, who inspires us with divine insight into technology and its repair.
If you're going to flaunt out there as "the Machinist," this is the most important part you should be aware of. You don't need to bring in the fancy machines, all you need is the fancy tools. Teach them how things work, and how to fix those that are broke. Even if they don't believe you, you can probably say you're an emissary of "the Machinist."

Hey, can you ask a peek at their holy book? Perhaps Will has some images taken of the contents of the book. We need some more information of their culture.
>>
No. 870650 ID: 14581c

This is too good an opportunity to pass up, even if it could be a trap. It's probably best, however, to keep Kitsiksu in our back pocket for now and focus on making a jammer for the Neumono. Not only do they need it urgently if they are to continue being assets, but introducing another Salikai out of the blue would probably not be the thing to do to improve relations right now.
>>
No. 870652 ID: 8edb2d

>>870650
Without being addressed through a controlled first contact, the Chosen would be an unpredictable internal threat that could show up at any time. It would be like ignoring an aneurysm and hoping it doesn't burst.

And the jammer would be easier with somebody familiar with Neumono empathic biology on board. I think recruiting Kitsiksu should be priority.
>>
No. 870660 ID: 91ee5f

>>870652
>It would be like ignoring an aneurysm and hoping it doesn't burst.
But we’re not. We’re going to leave and come back with support to protect us in case they turn hostile.
>>
No. 870680 ID: 8edb2d

>>870660
The post I was replying to wanted to leave this for now and focus on the jammer.
>>
No. 870736 ID: 29f3da

This is actually quite probable. If whatever imperium is doing to the akashic vault poses a threat to this little alien, and it makes sense that it would, then the safety bubble would respond in kind. Even if that meant manipulating probability to assemble the greatest minds in the universe to aid in its protection.

Sure there greater minds out there, but most are attatched to some sort of grand ambition. You and the others collected here all seem either disconnected to any sort of grand scheme, or have goals that can otherwise alalign with the protection of this creature and facility.
>>
No. 870765 ID: 56fca5

We should probably deal with the jammer first. Even if we went through all the trouble to deal with this, we are going to have to deal with the consequences of now there being two Salikai around. Both for how that looks in terms of how conspiring it looks and how he is going to feel finding out he now needs to work with neumono.

On the positive side, they mentioned a hydroponics garden. This might help us with our food problems. When we get closer to a point we can handle the bioservitors, we'll discuss how.
>>
No. 870941 ID: 138717
File 151993248029.png - (11.68KB , 800x600 , salq-167.png )
870941

>all of this
>tell the others
Few facts will be spared. Usually I keep all my cards to myself but right now, continuing the analogy, my hand is about four or five decks right now and it's starting to make my graspers tired.

>neumono crusade
>kitsiksu freakout
>you are the machinist
>build a mech suit
>dark gods approaching
>get that jammer fucking finished
>no deal with these things
Urrrggghhhh...
None of this is time critical but the jammer. If these creatures were here for two years prior, action can wait. I need support, anyway.

"Let's go."
~understood.~

---

About ten minutes later...

I bid Will a temporary farewell and it drifts back down the spiral it escorted me through.

It's getting late. All I can hear is the humming of machinery within the walls of the facility, no doubt maintaining climate control and ferrying power through whatever necessary conduits.

First, I need to delegate the task of examining the designs to Ekasarra with Ku's oversight. I retrace my steps back to Aza's workshop, where Aza is currently absent.
I find the interface stand in this room and adjust it from noxon height to salikai height.

"Hello, this is Sisirri. Where are Ekasarra and Ku?"
> "Hi Sisirri, Ku here, in the comms lab. Ekasarra's here, we've started work on trying to decipher the data stored in her... uh, auxillary data storage."
> "Yeah, I guess that's a thing to call it," says Ekasarra. "Sounds better than `in my ears'."
> "Having some problems, though, seeing as we're dealing with information stored in a different format to anything I've seen before. I mean, I can see clear patterns when representing the data as numerical for different bases, but, well, Ekasarra is having the opposite problem of understanding the finer elements of my systems here."
> "It's not really so much a problem of understanding, it's just... I'm good with software with certain architectural assumptions in mind and I'm not sure what the architecture of your machines is doing. Also we may be dealing with some layers of obfuscation and encryption in case some rival just hacked off my ear to get at its secrets."
> "Basically, please help us."
> "Yeah, that."
"Where's the comms lab?"
> "Where are you?"
"Aza's workshop."
> "I'll just come get you then, I can't think of directions that'd make sense in this maze."
>>
No. 870942 ID: 138717
File 151993251029.png - (187.14KB , 800x600 , salq-168.png )
870942

A brief trip down a winding maze of corridors later...

It takes me surprisingly little time to acquaint myself with the problems faced by Ku and Ekasarra.
They had most of the puzzle pieces together, and my insight into the data storage techniques my mother originally taught to me give me the remainder.

Having familiarised myself with the workings of the lab's computer systems during my time stuck in a bathtub of gel, it's trivial for me to write some incredibly crude, hacky, sloppy visualisation tools to represent the data. There's rendering errors all over the place, the entire thing fizzes out of the holographic projector if the angle isn't right, but it's functional.

"Wow." Ku stares at the visualised blueprints. "Sisirri, you didn't tell me you were some kind of code prodigy."
"It's not even my best work."
"You managed to get a functioning visualisation program running on technology you've had about two days to get familiar with. I don't know whether to be impressed or intimidated."
"The architecture of your systems here is uncannily similar to the systems I've worked with before. I'm personally a little unnerved that the same assumptions regarding logic, flow control and concepts like `memory' of my old systems apparently hold here." The damn things even use the same numerical bases. This has all gone far beyond coincidentally convenient into feeling like I've stumbled across some strange universal rules regarding fundamentally similar minds creating similar artificial computation structures. Which doesn't even make sense, there's many different ways to create computational architectures. But... I guess they can usually simulate other architectures without problem... okay, no, Sisirri, no time to fall into the depths of confusion and wasteful empty pondering. Back to work.

"That's... Huh. It's like compatible minds capable of understanding one another create simple thinking systems in their image, which can in turn be understood by said compatible minds. I think there's a paper in this. Actually, forget paper, I think there's a field in exploring this. Xenopsychological system design--"
"No time, Ku!" I don't need both of us falling down this hole. "Make a note of it, though. Worth investigating another time. Still, at present, we have this."

I spin the design around in the visualiser and wince as it turns into a glitchy mess for a few frames before stabilising.

Ekasarra stares at the needle schematics with a perplexed expression. "Nanoscale payload. I don't remember that before."
"I can adjust the visualiser to explode the payload contents, if you want."
"Yeah. Yeah, do that."

The visualiser immediately begins to glitch and fragment as it tries to render and scale down what appears to be a branching fractal network of wires ever increasing in length and subdivisions.

The holographic projector eventually shuts off as my program crashes due to some sort of maximum recursion depth.

Ekasarra looks at first shocked, and then angry. "Turn it back on."
"I'll need to make a better visualisation program, I wasn't expecting it to have to deal with fractal geometry."
"Turn it back on. Ku, can you freeze the projector's output somehow before the program crashes?"
"Uhhh... I can take a snapshot of the projection before--"
"Do that. Sisirri, please."

I run the visualiser and explode the payload of the needle into its fractal network. Ku taps a button just before the program crashes again, then shows the frozen image.
>>
No. 870943 ID: 138717
File 151993252836.png - (10.41KB , 800x600 , salq-169.png )
870943

Ekasarra glares at the projection. "This wasn't what I saw before. Zoom into the fibres, Ku."
"You're lucky I had the foresight to capture at fine detail." Ku expands the visualisation as far as he can before the projector begins assembling its best guess at the underlying geometry.
"See these fibres, Sisirri? I thought they were jamming fibres, but I've seen Hidira's work before. This isn't an empathy blocking mesh like I though, Sisirri, this is an empathy projecting mesh. This isn't a design for a nullifier, it's a design for a remote control!"

Ku looks incredibly lost. "What?"
"On the homeworld, there were creatures like the one you saw the fufa as that could broadcast empathy in a way that led neumono to slowly become mindless zombies that lived only to serve them. I never made the connection. Servile hollowed husks that did nothing but act on commands. I believed Hidira when she said it was an empathy nullifier, not a single device that could subvert a neumono in such a horrifying way. Something so small, something someone could stand on without realising they'd been hijacked and doomed." Ekasarra's eyes well up with tears. "She treated me like an equal. She said she'd never resort to this level of control over another sapient being."
"And you believed her? After everything you saw her do, everything you helped her do, you believed what she said?" I ask.
"She-- she said I was different."
"Was this before or after she heavily modified you with cybernetics?"
"Sisirri," says Ku, "maybe let's not start interrogating the poor girl when she's obviously under duress. Ekasarra, I can help you purge this data from your systems if you want."
"NO! No let's, uh, let's not be hasty," I say. Needlessly destroying data like this when it could be the key to making a jammer and/or neumono control mechanism is out of the question.

Ekasarra looks at me, disgusted. "You just see me as a tool like she did, don't you? You really are just another salikai, hiding behind polite smiles while looking for a knife to stab us with."
"I see you as a collaborator, Ekasarra. Arkots are tools."
"Well, then. Prove it. I've got designs you'd need to make neumono into mindless slaves that can't hurt you any more. Let's see where your values really lie. Do you care more about being safe from neumono at any and all costs, or do you care enough about the lives of others to know when something is too vile, too dangerous to allow to exist?"
"Information by itself isn't dangerous. This is ridiculous. This data may be my one opportunity at developing a jammer, as you neumono want me to do, but now you're attempting to subject me to some arbitrary morality test to see if I can be trusted! If I wanted to betray any of you, I've had plenty of opportunities to do so that I haven't taken!"
"How can I trust anything you salikai say?"
"How can I trust you neumono won't take the opportunity to decapitate me while I'm asleep tonight?! The answer is I can't! But I don't really have a choice, do I? Either I stay in here and risk losing my head in a very literal sense or I go outside and get shot to death!" Visions of Voidsong's communication flash through my memory. "Or worse!"

Ekasarra stares off, snarling in frustration. "I won't erase the schematics. I'm not happy about this, Sisirri. I hope you appreciate just how much of a risk I'm taking here."
She slowly looks back to me. "Just, I want a solid answer, Sisirri. An honest answer from a salikai on a question I've never had the answer to. Do you honestly see me, or anyone here, or anyone, as anything more than more sophisticated tools to keep placated and mollified? I know you don't have our empathy, but do you care about anyone or anything else?"

"Well," says Ku, putting things away, "it's getting pretty late. I'm heading to bed. Sisirri, the neumono got first call on the vacant quarters we already had, so, uh, maybe ask around if anyone else is willing to share a room. Like, oh, I dunno, Tirzi."

He gets up and leaves, and as I go to leave Ekasarra yells.

"Answer the question! I don't even care if the answer's no, I just... I just want to know!"
>>
No. 870947 ID: c88e6d

>>870943
Tell her exactly what she's asking. She's asking you to disregard millions of years of evolution and a lifetime of misery and pain to share with you your greatest weakness, the things you control the least and would harm you the most, those close to you. Tell her yes, there are people here you care about, like Kitsiksu and Tirzi.

And if she cares about you in any way other than as a tool to make a jammer to save herself, she will help you rescue Kitsiksu. Have her repay your kindness. She wants to see what you care about? She can help you save the one person you've ever loved.
>>
No. 870948 ID: d77916

You've had too much shared experiences with these creatures to say you only think of them as tools and threats. So no. You definitely don't. You even tried to calm her down when she was feeling bad, even if you were kind of inept at it. "Making comrades" and "convincing people not to kill you" can happen at the same time; salikai are pretty good at multitasking. You see them as former incredible dangers, and potential allies now. You see them as more. But this doesn't mean that they're not incredibly useful, and it also doesn't mean that they're not incredibly still potentially dangerous to you.
>>
No. 870951 ID: 2fe26a

The answer here is obvious, really. To you, and to the neumono.
"No."
>>
No. 870953 ID: 5f3f48

>"Answer the question! I don't even care if the answer's no, I just... I just want to know!"
...I don't know. I've spent so much of my life alone, I was betrayed by and used by my mother and Imperium both, I kept everyone else at claw's length, and I've been recently forced to confront that Imperium had been cutting holes in my memory, digging out others I might have cared for. I have no framework for trust, relationships, caring for the well being of others. How am I supposed to even recognize if my motives for helping you are selfish, or if I'm just coming up with justifications because I feel I should?

It's... easier to focus on things that need to be done than to try and dwell on how I feel. How I should feel. Thinking about either terrifies me. I can't allow myself the luxury of shutting down.

>control mechanism
While that could be used for horrible ends, it could also have medical uses. What if such neural access could be used to treat mental illness, or stop neumono from going rogue? I doubt the Splicer would have applied the technology in such a way.
>>
No. 870955 ID: ad51b8

No

hell their are times when you're not even sure if anyone and everything here is even real. But that line of thinking lies madness.
>>
No. 870956 ID: 70d8d5

"I don't know!"
>>
No. 870958 ID: cb585b

The only truthful answer would have to be "Yes, it's difficult to be put in a life or death situation without others in that same situation growing on you, even if they were your mortal enemies in the past
>>
No. 870960 ID: 261652

Eh, a remarkable amount of things are fairly universal,... or more specifically you can make universal assumptions provided similar circumstances. Binary computing, for instance, is about as simple as it gets, and will almost certainly be discovered much like fire. And like with fire, the things that you can do with it are manifold yet similar. The usual train of thought is that aliens will be really ridiculously unreasonably alien, but, well, unless everything around them is just as alien, there are guaranteed to be similarities somewhere. It's a statistical certainty, even.
Truth like Life is a fuzzy grey area.

And back to computing, the simple on/off yes/no flow of electrons will always be the exact same concept unless the fundamental laws of the universe change at some point somewhere.
Binary will always fall into the same general foundation, and that foundation will always determine the architecture built upon. A square is a square. You're not going to build a circular house on a square foundation.
Enough vaguely insightful amateur waxing.



>"...some arbitrary morality test to see if I can be trusted!"

Bless her emotionally melting down bi-polar heart.

Yes, you can see people as more than tools. You do, in fact. You do not think of them as mere inanimate objects with no free will or agency, they are acquaintances and allies alike irregardless of the circumstances or willingness. Neumono simply don't understand. They have their brand of empathy, telepathic and impersonal. But empathy, being able to know, and understand and grasp the feelings of other, and know that you still can't grasp the full extent of them?
The salikai do have empathy. They do care. It is what keeps them alive, what allows them to experience each other's pain, and understand the fear, and the dread. There is no right or wrong answer, she should already know that. After all, without the concept of empathy an all the agony it has brought the salikai would have been just another mindless animal grazing blissfully unaware in the forest, never to experience the joys of friendship or love.
This question has always been irrelevant. It should have always been taken for granted.

Because it wasn't, you've ended up here, all four of you fleeing the same raging inferno of hate... to be ice cold and blunt you're too tired of this never ending cycle of shenanigans to stoke this fire anymore.

Bit late on that front though, a certain cynical salikai accused of such emotions you match the description of oh so very well would say the other two have picked up on her empathy already. Unsurprising if they've got it in their minds to do bloody murder without asking the same question. Well I would then have to guess it really is a pointless question isn't it now?

Story of your life. :V
>>
No. 870961 ID: 12b116

>>870947
Seeing as how they think the neumono are literal evil gods that is a terrible idea.

But telling her how you really feel will at least give her the answer she wants. You don't need to go into a history lesson or anything, but answer truthfully.
>>
No. 870962 ID: b1b4f3

>>870943
Yes. You care about Tirzi (you got emotional when she yelled at you, don't deny it!), and... you care about Kitsiku. Those are the only ones you can be sure you have any attachment to, because you have a lot of trouble analyzing both your and others' emotions.

As for the blueprints, they can keep them under lock and key until you finish the jammer. Then they can delete them.
>>
No. 870963 ID: 12b116

>>870961
Addendum: Even if the truth is "I don't even know myself"
>>
No. 870964 ID: de6d84

...I don't know. It's messy. I just need to do what I need to do.
>>
No. 870967 ID: 261652

And you know what? If the neumono are so damn desperate for a spooky bogey man to make their enemy to fight to unify their crumbling little hive, how about they stop trying to hand every possible evil excuse they find to Sissiri on a silver platter. Shit's really fucking blatant what they're doing. How about they, you know, focus of fighting off the spectre of death looming over everyones' heads? That'd be nice. Hell if Sissiri ain't already way too familiar with that grind already. A break for one day, just one. Single. Dinky, bleak, dull boring dreary as fuck-no-good-not-even-worth-callinginsickorgettingoutofbed. DAY. Of her life would be really appreciated.
>>
No. 870970 ID: 13fded

Regardless of personal feelings a community need to have purpose and offer benefits valuable enough to compensate the risks. A reason to trust, a reason to be trusted, something rational that can be understudy by other as the most likely choice if for nothing else for how logical it is.
That said emotions always permeate every though. Truly a temptation, especially since they frequently coincide with the reasonable choice. As instincts develop to assist our though process it's expected to be a somewhat accurate guide, the problem is how difficult is to resist their push when the path they suggest is wrong.

Ekasarra, your earlier suicidal intents were deeply disturbing. I may have a rational reason to seek cooperation, but at the same time it's undeniable that I have emotions provoked by you. Sympathy for your condition, empathy for past experiences, trust for been reliable and a general good disposition for your politeness.


What about that warning related to mutant predators cultists in the basement? The surprise may blow on our faces if empathy manipulation happen during the time we start experimenting with related tech.
>>
No. 870971 ID: dc91a0

Yes.
Salikai have feelings too, Ekasarra.
>>
No. 870975 ID: 10c408

Just yell out a frustrated yes. Be honest, you cared about your mother before she turned into a monster and you also care about #3, #6, kitsiksu and tirzi in your own socially warped way.
>>
No. 870976 ID: 91ee5f

>>870943
>maybe ask around if anyone else is willing to share a room. Like, oh, I dunno, Tirzi.
I think she’s still upset at you, so it might be best to not bother her.

.....wait, is Ku only saying that because of what he thinks he saw going on between you and Tirzi earlier?! Damnit, there is no interspecies romantic relationship going on between you and Tirzi!

But you should honestly get a room that has a locking door on it. So far, Kan seems to be the only one that wants to kill you and he probably wouldn’t hesitate in attempting to kill you in your sleep.

>do you care about anyone or anything else?
Be honest with her. You’ve already opened up to Tirzi, you might as well open up to Ekasarra as well.

Besides, the best way to finally be rid of your long hated enemies is to make them your friends/equals, without having to manipulate them into that position!
>>
No. 870980 ID: 86eb65

I loved my mother before she became a monster.

And there was a very good friend that I enjoyed playing games and spending time with. In your emotional terms I loved him. We even decided to have children. But he was betrayed by Imperium before we could meet.

If he is still alive and the same person I would very much enjoy continuing our relationship where it left off.

I value my Arkots and treat them very well. They only die to there own stupidity and not any abuse. Its not love but I do care for there well being.

Everyone else I could not trust. I have lived my entire life in hiding. Talking with my own kind only over emails and encrypted channels. Being betrayed constantly. It takes a Salikai years to trust anyone and even then the fear always lingers.
>>
No. 870981 ID: 3cc68c

Just because you cant feel my feelings don't think I can't love.

I still love my mother or at least who she was long ago. I had a lover (almost). We were going to have children. And I would have loved them.

I love my stupid stupid arkots. Do you see me beating them or treating them horribly? They have a better life with me than in the wild.

And I like the idea of being friends with some of the strange new aliens I have met.
>>
No. 870992 ID: 56fca5

You clearly care about Tirzi and Kitsiksu. Maybe she can understand that it is difficult for you to fully care for someone who previously wanted to kill you with every fiber of their being, but that doesn't mean you don't care about anyone. Her question is honestly unreasonable and unfair. Eka is getting upset and it is clouding her thoughts.
>>
No. 870996 ID: 3abd97

>to know when something is too vile, too dangerous to allow to exist?
Destroying those records does not remove this design from existence, it removes the ability of our group to study it (and possibly develop countermeasures or alternate more beneficial applications). I very much doubt the Splicer gave you the only copy of those plans, and Imperium could very well possess a copy as well.

I'm sorry. If we knew for certain these were the only copy of these records, I might consider strategically destroying the information to deny it to others.

An interesting question might be why the Splicer saw fit to give you complete plans when she hid aspects of the design from you before.

>I hope you appreciate just how much of a risk I'm taking here.
Less of a risk than when you wanted me to build one of those things and stick it in you before we understood what it did.
>>
No. 871009 ID: a363ac

>>870943
tell Ekasarra the truth. "I don't know anymore"
time to go sleep with someone but maybe you should see Siktva first.
>>
No. 871024 ID: 8edb2d

"Their name was Truth's Knife."
>>
No. 871033 ID: 56e50f

>>870947
"I did. Imperium made sure they paid the price for it."
>>
No. 871034 ID: 074011

The key word here is "sacred": that which should not be questioned. On the one hand, there is the "Warning" in the pod, that pursued their goals with enough blindness that they failed to account for the need to persist after attaining them. Then there are the Salikai, known widely as beings of absolute criticism and cynicism.

Ekasarra thought that The Splicer held her to be sacred, just a little, just enough that she would be automatically dismissed from destructive experiments when other options existed, enough that her retention would be a priority in an escape. It was likely the only happy thought that she had in that place, and enough to keep her going as she collaborated with The Splicer, perhaps a reason why The Splicer would have cultivated it.

There ARE some things that are sacred to you. You pursue knowledge and control, even with no cause to do so. Certainly, they are useful resources to pursue other things with, but with no evidence that such other things exist? You love your technology. A robot of your own creation doesn't need to justify its existence, you celebrate it merely for being. You would question its right to exist only if other pressures compelled you to do so. You feel a desire to be a hatchling again, with your mother curled around you protectively, even though you were in many ways so much less back then...

You have always been a Salikai, and even amongst salikai you have been isolated, but it does seem that salikai are less willing to declare something sacred, off-limits... But such things are not absolute. A random generic neumono who definitely isn't in attendance will turn against their own hive if the situation is extreme enough. With enough knowledge of someone and control of their circumstances even free will can be guided with absolute certainty, no threats or trades required. All forms of "sacred" can be broken, but nobody is completely free of it.

Ironically, The Splicer probably did love Ekasarra, just a little. As one cares for a familiar tool, convenient furniture, or interesting experiment. The outcomes are the same, it is easy to be more compassionate to your own favourite tool than a strange person, even for neumono, they have been known to be quite hostile between hives, and must a share of beloved possessions and places. Both result in a desire to spend time together, collaborate, protect the subject, grant it value above its performance when presented with the chance for a replacement...

Neumono can directly sense the thoughts of others. Salikai barely qualify as a social species. There is a bit of magical thinking that separates people from objects that salikai are inclined to experience much less than others. You can never expect to care for someone as a neumono would care for a hivemate, but you surely do care. Be honest here, tell Ekasarra one simple thing: Would you expend more resources on protecting Tirzi than you can justify from her physical functions and political value?

Tell Ekasarra that there are things that may be designed to detect and hunt neuomon in the deeper sections that should be avoided until a jammer is built.

Ekasarra recognises Jammer cables on the nano-scale. Ask for her data on the jammer-cable construction and her collaboration on constructing a jammer. She clearly has far more experience than you.

Tell Ekasarra to keep the data away from you. There are numerous capable individuals here who would be willing and able to design countermeasures to that technology. She does not need to entrust it to someone who is on the wrong side of a species-wide genocidal war. The actual construction methods of those jammer cables is important, but the structures involved in a control mechanisms are something that you don't need. If you want to be rid of neumono, use some sort of combination of electricity and plasma or high-volume kinetic projection. Nano-scale packets are just too expensive and fragile for mass-production and long-range projection. If you want slaves, build robots, they are cheaper to operate and more reliable. This is nothing but a terror-weapon and intelligence-gathering device that leaves evidence and is difficult to deploy. It may however be useful for medical and augmentation purposes. For all you know it might be possible to use it to harmlessly upload skills and knowledge then be completely flushed from the system... Really, the more one looks at the accessibility of the neumono mind and their absurd resilience, the more one is led to believe that they are some sort of designed bioweapon.

Talk to Tirzi. Mention the room situation. Mention the Kitsiksu and cult situation. Mention that she is the closest thing to an unbiased third party that you have and you need someone to double-check your assumptions because your memories are unreliable. He might be a long-time associate who you value and offered to correct your reproductive abilities, it could be that you never contacted him and have no reproductive difficulties...
Ultimately though, you don't need any more sleep unless it is required for the healing process. You can just keep working until you have a jammer. Thus you don't need a place to sleep and have no personal effects to store...

Acknowledge that Six is the closest thing to a friend that you have and go awkwardly express some hint of affection towards her.
>>
No. 871070 ID: 9c2d0c

Just a concise "yes, and it terrifies me" will suffice.
>>
No. 871071 ID: 33430a

Yeah six, the arkot who you punished for looking out for you when you were drunk by ordering them to do a task that they strenuously objected to for the sake of indulging your arkot eugenics ideas. Might not want to bring her up as an example of how you treat those you care about.

Considering how the enemy seems to use some form of empathy to direct and possibly control its troops any knowledge about how these control mechanisms work is very useful, especially if we want to design systems to disrupt the enemy and give us an opening.
>>
No. 871075 ID: 8edb2d

>>871071
This.

>>871070
Also this, basically.
Brevity is the soul of wit.
>>
No. 871094 ID: 14581c

"For better or worse, Yes. It's something I've had to deal with learning about myself, to be honest."
>>
No. 871579 ID: 138717
File 152020312359.png - (10.91KB , 800x600 , salq-170.png )
871579

>a whole lot of conflicting and contradictory answers with reasoned thoughts and arguments behind them
I wade through my own confused mire of emotions and find I can't boil things down to a satisfactory yes or no answer.
It disturbs me that I can't understand my own feelings. Yet this seems to be the case.
I feel as though I've somehow allowed myself to become vulnerable, and these aliens with their pleasant demeanours and trustworthy acts and words have infiltrated me.
I feel as though I have somehow betrayed myself. This doesn't make sense. I try to understand this feeling further but I am only further confused.
Confusion leads to frustration, leads to feelings I can't articulate, headache, frustration, I don't understand.

I abandon my effort to understand, and expose my underbelly by telling the truth. I tense, expecting it to be slashed open for this moment of weakness.
As is the way of things.

"...I don't know, Ekasarra. I don't know. I'm scared of what `yes' or `no' would even mean."

Ekasarra is silent as she ponders my response.

"Are you afraid to care about others?"
"Imperium has been very efficient at removing most of those I'd consider candidates for such, yes."
"Ugh! Listen to yourself! `Candidates for such'! You are scared of caring about others! You're distancing yourself from your own emotions and compassion because you're afraid you'll lose the ones you care about again, aren't you?"

I don't answer. I can't answer. I'm finding it hard to even think of words to describe my stances or even how I feel right now. I don't like it.

"I just wanted to know that, somewhere, somewhere in you, there's something that can care about anything but survival. Something that wants friends, not objects. I just... I just want to know if, deep down, salikai are people. Because... because I think we've been making a terrible, terrible mistake."
"You think you've been making a mistake? Now who's being evasive?"

Ekasarra looks at the floor. "I know we've been making a terrible, terrible mistake."
"Attempted genocide of a sapient species is typically strongly against most moral and ethical codes, laws and regulations I'm aware of."

"Well, then. I guess I have one more question."

I don't know why I'm even entertaining these. "Go on. I want to go find a place to sleep." Whether or not I actually go to sleep is not Ekasarra's concern.
"Say it was just me, and there were no other neumono. If you had the tactical advantage, or whatever. Would you kill me? For being neumono?"

...I wonder if this is a good time to bring up Kitsiksu.
>>
No. 871581 ID: 86eb65

That is a horribly weighted question. But no. I have never wanted to kill neumono just because they are neumono.

I don't particularly like your species. But what Salikai would?

Ask that question again after your species spends 500 years trying to reverse what they have done to us and you might get a friendlier and happier answer.





Wait to bring up Kitsiksu. We still know far to little about his situation.
>>
No. 871582 ID: 56fca5

>You're distancing yourself from your own emotions and compassion because you're afraid you'll lose the ones you care about again, aren't you?

Isn't this a good thing..? It kinda shows that on a fundamental level you do care about others. Enough to not want to be hurt by their loss.

>Would you kill me? For being neumono?

It certainly seemed that way to me at the start, but it seems to me that you've made strides since then. Even if it was derived from necessity.

>...I wonder if this is a good time to bring up Kitsiksu.

This seems like literally the worst time to bring that up. If your aim is to show good faith, start with someone else as soon as you can. This news can only further provoke a bad situation with Ekasarra.
>>
No. 871586 ID: 33cbe7

I'd dissect you to get at all that sweet tech, which from what we know probably would kill you, yes.
>>
No. 871587 ID: b1b4f3

>>871579
>would you kill Ekasarra (if you could get away with it)
Tell her it would require her to be an immediate and dire threat to you. So no. You fear neumono. You want to be away from them, you don't want to conquer them or kill them.
Also you were in basically the same situation when you first got here-- a Kiter scout found you and tried to hack your implants to knock you out, but failed, and she was unable to fight back physically. You choked her out rather than kill her.

As for bringing up Kitsiksu, don't. Remember, Neumono have trouble keeping secrets from eachother. If Ku were to learn about Kitsiksu and his devotees, there would be trouble. Forced to live alongside one Salikai is bad enough, but two? You need to clear the topic with everyone else before you approach any of the neumono, and when you do it should probably be as a group.
>>
No. 871588 ID: b1b4f3

Heh, there's something funny about this actually. Both your species have seen the worst elements of eachother. Salikai's cold reason and experimental cruelty, Neumono's boiling rage and genophobic violence.
>>
No. 871589 ID: 8edb2d

>>871579
"In a complete vacuum with just me and you? No. I suspect the decompression would get me first."
>>
No. 871590 ID: 13fded

Since it's an hypothetical I would say it depend of the surrounding circumstances. If you mean after I know you the way I do right now no, I do not desire your death. If you mean something like our first meeting in this planet but more favorable to me I would have killed you. If you mean some random circumstances prior to my world turning upside down I would kill you only if I though it would be necessary for my security, otherwise better not get involved with strangers and their problems.
>>
No. 871591 ID: 8edb2d

>>871590
This is probably the most honest answer.
>>
No. 871593 ID: c79773

Maybe before I met you...
As for now? It wouldn't be easy, that much is certain...
>>
No. 871595 ID: c88e6d

>>871579
That is a horribly weighted question and she knows it. Demand what she wants to get out of that answer. Either the answer is 'no' and she'll consider you a liar, or the answer is 'yes' and she'll consider you evil. We should be past this now, but BOTH PARTIES HAVE TO WANT TO NO LONGER HATE EACH OTHER.
>>
No. 871596 ID: 3abd97

>"Say it was just me, and there were no other neumono. If you had the tactical advantage, or whatever. Would you kill me? For being neumono?"
No.

I would have to believe you where a threat to my safety or survival, or to something (or someone) I valued. Or I would have to be pushed past my emotional limits, since apparently I do not understand those.

You participated in an attack on my home, but were manipulated into doing so with faulty intelligence. You were willing to reassess when confronted with new information, quick to do so, even. In the time I have know you, you appear to have been driven by a desire to understand, which is a commendable approach in any sapient. I do not desire your death.

>...I wonder if this is a good time to bring up Kitsiksu.
Do you mean what he might have meant to you in the past? Or do you mean what you learned just now?

I would brief the group about what you found underneath the facility all at once.

You could tell Ekasarra about those you once valued in the past. "Truth's Knife. An artificial intelligence, deceased and largely forgotten. Kitsiksu. A salikai I... trusted believed dead. Two people I once cared for."
>>
No. 871597 ID: 074011

Neumono are terrifying . If you had the option you would leave. She almost beat you to death, you would kill her for that long before killing her for being a neumono. Still, if you had a choice. If you were in some safe lab hidden away where nobody knew, and she was some hypothetical neumono who you knew nothing about, would you bother to press a button that would kill her?

Your entire species are enemies. Neumono are a symbol of destruction, danger, and despair. As a child they are nightmares, as an adult they are a hazard, as important to living conditions as clean air and food. If you could just make all of that go away? If you had to choose between all of the salikai or all of the neumono? Yes, you would choose the salikai! But just one neumono? If her being neumono was truly the only reason and she were not a threat in any way? Then no, there would be no point to it...

But more than her being a neumono? Imperium orchestrated the destruction of your home, but she tore it down... Imperium may have destroyed your mother, but the thought of... She confined you, assaulted you, threatened your arkots... You are very far from friends, but you are allies of circumstance. She needs to know that there are things that can probably sense and hunt neumono deeper in the facility, and that Imperium has probably contacted The Kiter to some extent. They shouldn't go exploring without a jammer.

But no, this is not the time to mention a potential breeding pair of salikai and a skilled bioengineer amongst them. An isolated roboticist is difficult enough for them to deal with and he is not a consideration while preserved. They should be told before recovering him though, as failing to do so would be a severe breach of necessity-alliance etiquette.
>>
No. 871608 ID: 91ee5f

>>871579
>"Ugh! Listen to yourself! `Candidates for such'! You are scared of caring about others! You're distancing yourself from your own emotions and compassion because you're afraid you'll lose the ones you care about again, aren't you?"
No matter how much you want to deny it, she’s right.

>"Say it was just me, and there were no other neumono. If you had the tactical advantage, or whatever. Would you kill me? For being neumono?"
“If you were actively trying to kill me, then yes. But if you had no desire to kill me, then I would see no reason to kill you.”

>...I wonder if this is a good time to bring up Kitsiksu.
Now might not be the best time for that.
>>
No. 871611 ID: 12b116

Well now that you know her, no.
>>
No. 871612 ID: 10c408

Call her out on such an obvious trick question, then tell her no anyway. You, personally, don't have a shoot first and ask questions later policy/mentality when it comes to sapient creatures. In fact, this conversation is drifting towards the philosophical and it is far too late to play 20 questions about salikai culture/morality, of which there is likely little that's been established beyond "protect your own existence" and "science!"
>>
No. 871633 ID: 0d45a9

You're using depersonalising language to distance yourself from your emotions, that's not good in the long term. You need to take time to process things eventually, like it or not it's a vital part of your mind.

"I don't want to kill anyone just because of what they are, but I might act based on what they've done or might do."

"Regarding you personally, in this blank slate situation, no. Despite it being by necessity, when presented with new information, you went against aeons old bias, reassessed the situation, and tried to understand. That is commendable."

Not a good time to bring up Kitsiksu, or a least the fact that he's alive. It's something to do soon-ish, but not now. The most you should say on the subject right now is that you did care for a AI and another Salikai in the past.
>>
No. 871645 ID: 1561e1

No. If you had the tactical advantage, you'd have gotten as far away as possible or somehow forced her into a pact of non-aggression. Considering the tactical advantage that you'd likely have when facing a neumono is "the neumono doesn't know you're there", getting far away is the obvious choice anyway. Remind her that you went to the bottom of an ocean to do this.
>>
No. 871737 ID: e1c8f7

>>871579
"No. One lone, scared neumono pulls no desire in my head to 'kill'. The basis of your species does not dictate if you were a danger to me at that moment. If you didn't threaten me, I would have no need to interfere with you."
>>
No. 871740 ID: dc91a0

No. I don't even know why this is a question for me at this point. I was content to hide and build machines my whole life I'm not exactly violent.

Unless I felt like I was in immediate danger I wouldn't be drawn to violence.
>>
No. 871749 ID: 1c2a1b

"If I had an enemy completely at my mercy, I would attempt to turn them into an asset, rather than a corpse. Ideally, a willing ally. Their species doesn't even enter into the decision, beyond broad stereotyped hints on how to do so efficiently."
>>
No. 871753 ID: a363ac

>>871596
this
>>
No. 871874 ID: 261652

>>871595
Precisely. Any answer given no matter how honest will not be the answer perceived. Regaining control of the situation is paramount. It must be defused before this gets further still out of hand.

She's pushing Sissiri far harder than even the coldest thing that's been said to her yet; fuck this bait.
>>
No. 871956 ID: b1b4f3

I feel a lot of people are missing the point. I kindof did too. Ekasarra is asking if Sisirri would kill her just for being a neumono. The answer to that is clearly no.
>>
No. 872002 ID: 138717
File 152037724064.png - (14.87KB , 800x600 , salq-171.png )
872002

>don't bring up Kitsiksu
Good idea. In retrospect, not sure why I even thought it was appropriate to bring it up.

"If you were an unknown variable, I'd observe first. If you were an evident threat, I'd kill you. Being a neumono is only one quality and I prefer assets to enemies. I don't even need to think in terms of hypotheticals here. I was ambushed by one of the invaders soon after arriving. I chose to take it alive as a captive when I had the chance to kill it."

Ekasarra nods. "Alright. Thanks, Sisirri. I'm going to go sleep too, I think."
"Have I put your mind at ease?"
"Yes and no. I'm at ease about you, but it's dawning on me just how malicious the entire mission of the Ashes Astra has been. Not in stated goal, but in execution. Just lashing out at innocent people out of fear of what they could be. I... well, I'll be trying to sleep tonight. I don't think I will."
"I can't fix that for you in a way that wouldn't be damaging to who you are as an individual. And, given recent events, I'm loathe to inflict that sort of damage on you, because it doesn't seem to properly take anyway. A giant waste of time."
"It's fine, Sisirri. I'm not asking for you to fix me. It's just. I'm so, so very sorry about all we've done to you."

I turn to leave. "Saying sorry doesn't fix what's broken."
"I know."
"Then why even say it? You already tried to apologise earlier. There's no need to repeat yourself."
"I guess I just really, really want someone to forgive me for everything I've done, and you're the only living victim of my actions to apologise to."

The neumono aren't blameless for their unwarranted destruction, but they were manipulated by something that dug its claws into me for years.
I will at least say I forgive her, even though my resentment still bubbles languidly beneath the surface.

"I forgive you in part, Ekasarra. I can't forgive you on behalf of anyone else but myself."

I leave.

I travel among the corridors to the larger xenobiology laboratory, where my arkots are now mostly sleeping and making a pitiful attempt at keeping watch.

I command one of them to fetch the blanket Tirzi gave me from the room next door, and to my surprise the arkot returns with said blanket, within a reasonable fifteen minute timeframe.
It would have taken me fifteen seconds, but I don't want to intrude if Tirzi's still actively working.

I spread out the blanket, and lay down as the weight of the day drags me down into slumber.

---

Choose:

1. Advance to next day
2. Switch to #6 for remainder of night
3. Switch to #3 for remainder of night

>>
No. 872008 ID: a363ac

>>872002
3
>>
No. 872011 ID: 86eb65

3
>>
No. 872014 ID: 12b116

#6
>>
No. 872015 ID: 3abd97

>where my arkots are now mostly sleeping and making a pitiful attempt at keeping watch
Arkots attempting to establish a secure perimeter without instruction? Wow you've got those guys well trained.

>>872002
2 = 6!
>>
No. 872016 ID: c88e6d

>>872002
I think #6
>>
No. 872017 ID: 261652

Sixy #6, we've got a coup to plan.
>>
No. 872018 ID: 8edb2d

>>872015
#3
>>
No. 872019 ID: cb585b

#6, the aftermath of the order should be interesting...
>>
No. 872020 ID: 8edb2d

>>872017
More like order 66 amirite
>>
No. 872029 ID: 261652

>>872020
You clever devil. The game is on.
>>
No. 872030 ID: 56fca5

2 (#6)
>>
No. 872032 ID: 91ee5f

>>872002
>I travel among the corridors to the larger xenobiology laboratory, where my arkots are now mostly sleeping and making a pitiful attempt at keeping watch.
They’re attempting to keep watch without you telling them to do so?! It must’ve taken you forever to teach them how to do that!

>What next?
Switch to #6 for the night.

>>872017
She’s an arkot. The worst she can do is drawn on Sisirri‘s face with a marker while Sisirri is sleeping.
>>
No. 872034 ID: d2e2ce

#4: Be Voidsong.
>>
No. 872037 ID: ad51b8

6
>>
No. 872039 ID: b1b4f3

NUMBER SIX IS NOT A NUMBER SHE IS A FREE ARKOT!
>>
No. 872041 ID: dc91a0

6
>>
No. 872044 ID: 3abd97

>>872032
>She’s an arkot. The worst she can do is drawn on Sisirri‘s face with a marker while Sisirri is sleeping.
But poor Sisirri doesn't want to wake up to find her favorite arkot accidentally chocked to death on a marker trying to draw on her.
>>
No. 872062 ID: 33cbe7

3
>>
No. 872064 ID: 074011

2=Six
I just don't know enough about three to be invested. This would be a chance to fix that, but Six...!
1 is not an option. Missing Arkot Quest would be a crime.
>>
No. 872066 ID: 261652

>>872044

Damn, that's actually extremely depressing to think about and now I kinda feel bad for suggesting something so perilous.
Kinda.
>>
No. 872067 ID: 10c408

Option #2, let's get to see how six is coping with today's events/orders
>>
No. 872139 ID: 5c850a

>>872044
wild arkots are probably dumb enough to do that, but #6 isn't wild. SHe got picked out for being smarter than average and has likely been trained to be a bit more capable.

...which is why when sissirri wakes up she's going to find out that #3 and #6 fought over the pen, broke it and then ransacked other rooms for more pens until tirzi has to put them in improvised arkot jail.
>>
No. 872152 ID: cc5f4f

#6!
>>
No. 872158 ID: 91ee5f

>>872044
How did you come to the conclusion that #6 is dumb enough to do that? She’s not that dumb!

>>872139
>...which is why when Sisirri wakes up she's going to find out that #3 and #6 fought over the pen, broke it and then ransacked other rooms for more pens until Tirzi had to put them in improvised arkot jail.
This however, is much more believable and more likely to happen.
>>
No. 872167 ID: caf1de

>>872020
its the number 6 but its written 2 times derrrrr

>>872139
>>872158
which is why we must guide her in her revenge
>>
No. 872220 ID: e1c8f7

Let's hang with 3!
>>
No. 872256 ID: ca332d

6 has a cool sash
>>
No. 872416 ID: 664b03
File 152055988784.png - (245.31KB , 800x600 , salq-172.png )
872416

Option chosen: Switch to Voidsong

Hm. I feel a strange paraspacial presence that shouldn't be here right now--
Ah.
Ah. My mood is soured.
Some intrusive probe. An ethereal parasite.

Did you think I wouldn't see you snooping?
Hiding in paraspace?
Please.

With a flicker of my will, I will tear your eyes from you.
Observe.

Option unchosen: Switch to Voidsong
>>
No. 872417 ID: 664b03
File 152055990191.png - (16.78KB , 800x600 , salq-173.png )
872417

Option chosen: Switch to #6 for remainder of night

Six is currently planning.

After Boss told her to breed with That Idiot, she conveniently lost the message. In her mouth. And swallowed it. Entirely on accident. Yes. Six is sure that Boss is not even going to remember giving the order in a day or two, or will probably assume everything went as asked. If Boss asks, Six can point to any dumb idiot children running around and claim they're her fault. Boss will probably just think Six is confused and Six doesn't have to so much as touch That Idiot.

Six is aware she's playing a dangerous game messing with Boss' orders, like when she didn't get more of the hot crazy juice, but Six is also aware that sometimes Boss makes choices that might prove harmful to Boss and the rest of the morons alike.

At the moment, though, Six is planning. Six found a planning device like the ones Boss uses and is conducting incredibly important planning for next steps.

Six can't make any sense out of the plans she's just made.

Six decides the time for planning is over and now is the time for action. This "settlement", which was That Idiot's idea, is poorly constructed and a hollow imitation of the glory of the sleeping places of the Old Home. She can try to improve the "housing" of the arkots, try to secure the fruit supply so it lasts longer, or maybe give up on this lost cause and do literally anything else.
>>
No. 872420 ID: a363ac

>>872417
The Morons are a lost cause. why not secure yourself a compatriot in the aliens find one the boss hasn't been introduced to so you can make them like you.
>>
No. 872423 ID: 10c408

Secure the fruit supply and see if you can't get or make more of it.
>>
No. 872428 ID: 56fca5

>>872420

Second this. There seem to be great potential allies around. Plus, improving your relationships will surely benefit and elevate your status in the eyes of The Boss! It's a flawless plan! Avoid those crazy neumono though.
>>
No. 872431 ID: e1c8f7

>>872417
Take from the fruit supply and make your own stash for you and the boss.
>>
No. 872432 ID: 33cbe7

You must defend the settlement by constructing a pillow fort.
>>
No. 872433 ID: 3abd97

Leave plans somewhere where the Boss will see them. She knows how to read plans.

Forget the 'settlement', you'll have to butt heads with That Idiot to get the morons to do anything different, and he'll fight you trying to make something better than his idea the whole time.

Too bad you couldn't have changed the Boss' orders "accidentally" so That Idiot had to mate with a monster or something.

Let's look into fruit. Or around the place outside this room. There must be stuff in here, right? Some of it must be good.
>>
No. 872435 ID: dc91a0

Boss seems to favor You, and That Idiot.

Boss is also familiar with both You and That Idiot.

Boss will notice random child will not look like You or That Idiot.

Boss probably want's a Child that is favorable like You and That Idiot.
Random child will be unfavorable.

Boss is not forgetful.
A SOLUTION MUST BE FOUND!

Train a child maybe?
if that doesn't work than...
Knock out that Idiot so he is unaware of... ewww... the deed?
>>
No. 872439 ID: c88e6d

>>872417
Clearly we are meant to breed WITH The Idiot.

....So we find a male and shag him next to The Idiot. That way we'll be 'with' him.

Priority right now should be to secure the Fruit Supply immediately however. The other morons will likely all starve to death soon otherwise, and while that wouldn't be a great loss, our master might starve as well.
>>
No. 872442 ID: 12b116

Fruit Supply! Food is more important than shelter. We can improve that second.
>>
No. 872445 ID: b1b4f3

>>872417
Try working on one of the tents. How would you even help preserve the fruits?
>>
No. 872449 ID: 8edb2d

>>872439
This seems like a plausible loophole.
>>
No. 872452 ID: 91ee5f

>>872417
Boss knows you’re smart and Boss knows That Idiot is also smart. Maybe the Boss wanted you and That Idiot to breed in order to make more smart arkots?

>What’s the plan?
Go draw on Boss’ face and blame it on That Idiot!
>>
No. 872475 ID: 074011

Try to secure the food, Possibly by putting it on the top shelf.

Attempt to compel a couple of the other arkots to go looking for more food. Make sure that they know that if one of them dies, the other is to return.

Relentlessly mock The Idiot's city-planning abilities in passing.
>>
No. 872488 ID: de6d84

Check around with the fruit supply.
>>
No. 872556 ID: c7680f

Search for a promising candidate and take an arkot apprentice! Is it possible that competence is a learned trait?
>>
No. 874197 ID: 40bcd0
File 152133692581.png - (15.95KB , 800x600 , salq-174.png )
874197

Six has no interest at present of finding and raising some protégé to be her equal in skill. She doesn't even know what the word "protégé" means. She also does not feel like being encumbered with useless eggs with useless future idiots in them, and decides to put her skills to better practical use.

She decides the best way to secure a food supply is to go and yell at some others until they go look for more food, and to put a heavy lid on top of the existing fruit crate.

Six finds a couple of arkots not doing much of anything and yells at them to go find food. They start wandering off towards the fruit crate before Six yells at them louder to be less stupid and look for food outside the room. She tells them to go together so if one if them screws up the other can come back and report.

The two are completely confused by Six's wild arm gestures and motions. Six feels filled with righteous contempt for her underlings and goes off to find an arkot to be her voice.

Six drags back one of the few arkots that knows better than to ignore her, and she starts translating Six's wild arm movements into annoyed grunts.

One of them yells that Six having fancy ribbons doesn't make her the Boss, and Six yells louder, through her newly appointed Speaker, that she's more the Boss than they'll ever be and if they want their eyes to not be chewed out of their heads they better get moving right now.

Speaker looks confused for a moment and asks if that includes her. Six shakes her head. Speaker asks if she can go anyway because she feels like wandering this mystery place is safer than working for Six as a speaker.

Six gives her new speaker a look that both confirms her worries, with an added subtle threat that trying to escape her new duty will confirm it even further.

With two random idiots tasked and a new voice secured, Six moves on to the existing fruit supply.
>>
No. 874198 ID: 40bcd0
File 152133698325.png - (15.96KB , 800x600 , salq-175.png )
874198

Six's up to this point successful plan is ruined when she crosses path with That Idiot, who is being followed around by a small group of arkots as he babbles orders for ways to improve the "outpost".

That Idiot notices Six and Speaker, and is unhappy, but Six could not care less. That Idiot begins ranting at Six to be less useless and to start helping out with construction efforts like everyone else.

Six casually smacks one of the "buildings" and it topples over. Speaker translates this as a threat to topple every building, and Six shakes her head. Speaker looks very confused, and Six holds up a paw to silence her.

That Idiot glowers, asking if Six can do any better.
Six picks up the thin metal sheets that were propped up against each other haphazardly, and sets them up with more care to keep the balancing just right.
She accidentally kicks one with her foot and the sheets fall on top of her with a clatter, soon sliding off.

A moment of silence passes.

That Idiot folds his arms, watching Six doing an even worse job than the dumbest arkots around. He walks up to her and says one word -- pathetic.

Six gets to her feet and pounds fists into her paws. Speaker says that Six is not very happy right now. Six decides she can kill Speaker later after she's done with her.

That Idiot tells Six that he is too busy to teach arkot babies how to be less stupid and slaps his paws together, signalling his group to keep moving.
>>
No. 874199 ID: 40bcd0
File 152133702294.png - (14.58KB , 800x600 , salq-176.png )
874199

Six watches him move away. Speaker asks if she needs to yell anything after him. Six nods, and Speaker yells at That Idiot that things aren't over. Six nods, gesturing to Speaker that she did good.

Speaker asks if she gets a reward.

Six tells her her reward is getting to live longer.

Speaker says she doesn't think this is a very good reward, until Six grabs her shoulder. Speaker immediately says she thinks this is a very kind reward and that Six is the most generous arkot ever.

Six is pleasantly surprised at how quickly Speaker has learned. She takes the Planning Tool out of her sash and draws six lines on Speaker's head.
Speaker says she'd rather not have six lines drawn on her head but Six waves her concerns away, signalling that true genius intent is not understood by those without it.
Speaker looks less terrified and more, for a moment, awed.

Six is not sure how gullible an arkot can be but this only makes Speaker more of an intriguingly useful asset to her. An anomaly within arkots. Somehow this dumb and this smart at the same time and not also dead.
Six explains that the lines she's drawn show that Speaker is now Six's and that she reports to Six and only Six and also Boss of course but otherwise only Six.
Speaker asks why.
Six says because she drew the lines.
Speaker looks confused again, and Six nods sagely. Speaker looks even more confused, then looks almost as if enlightened.
Six nods again, gesturing that Speaker is getting smarter already. Speaker looks surprisingly enthusiastic.

Six asks if Speaker thinks she's ready to become something more than the others, and Speaker looks like she feels a mixture of terror and excitement.

Six feels like she was going to do something about fruit but now decides that whatever it was can't be that important if she forgot what it was.
She feels like perhaps she should figure out some means of determining the aptitude of her new Speaker, perhaps disguising it as some sort of worthiness test, but can't think of any.
>>
No. 874210 ID: b1b4f3

>>874199
Maybe Speaker can help you improve the shelters like you were planning.
They're not even tied together, why don't you find something to keep the parts attached? Like a welding torch (welding mask too) or even some glue?
>>
No. 874216 ID: 074011

Have Speaker attempt to build a shelter, and see how long it takes them to try exactly the same failed attempts over and over again. Then you can start helping to see how good she is at taking advice.
>>
No. 874219 ID: 56e50f

Congratulations on thinking like The Boss. She would agree that tests are an excellent way to find one's aptitude. As such, you should test your Speaker on how well they can read what you write or draw what your hand signs and gestures mean.
>>
No. 874221 ID: 8edb2d

>>874210
Oh lord don't have them try to operate power tools, especially not ones involving fire.

Get some glue though.
>>
No. 874229 ID: 12b116

The Boss is going to know you ate her message. It's for the good of all arkots!
>>
No. 874233 ID: dc91a0

Have her sing!
If she's bad at it have her sing better!
She is your voice after all.
IT MUST BE REGAL!
IT MUST BE BEAUTIFUL!
>>
No. 874247 ID: c88e6d

>>874199
Get her to walk on a slightly elevated piece of wood and see how long before she falls off.
>>
No. 874261 ID: efcc58

>>874199
Go do the fruit thing so these idiots don't die as quickly.
>>
No. 874295 ID: b79be5

The problem with the shelters is that nothing is held together, its just a bunch of stuff stacked and leaning on other stuff. What we need is something to bind the junk together, what we need is glue.
Then once we're done fixing everything we can glue The Idiots face to his butt.
>>
No. 874300 ID: 074011

Rope sounds better than glue. It is difficult to kill yourself with rope unless there is a solid structure to anchor it. If there is a solid structure, then at least they died being useful!
It doesn't take much imagination to see glue getting everywhere and into everything. At least with a welding torch they know that fire hurts, but eating industrial glue isn't a problem until it sets...
Some thick dough or some other very weak glue might help bind things with only a choking hazard, but if they get their hands on whatever the master uses to stick electrical components together...
>>
No. 874341 ID: b1d97d

Have the speaker practice interpreting your gestures so they can become better at speaking for you.
>>
No. 874370 ID: 3abd97

Five minutes in and we're already branding our mark on our minion's faces. I'm sure this won't end in a bloody civil war between the hexagon loyalists and the triangle heretics, not at all.

>He walks up to her and says one word -- pathetic.
Does the arkot language have a word for that? I feel like that would be implied in most if not all of them.

>she should figure out some means of determining the aptitude of her new Speaker, perhaps disguising it as some sort of worthiness test
Maybe send Speaker to get something for you? You're Boss' best arkot, and she's always sending you to get things for her. So your arkot should be able to do the same!

>glue
That sounds like it would end in arkots glued to each other, the floor, the structures... we need something a little less permanent.

They need like, silly putty. Or playdoh. Something malleable with limited consequences they can mold and use to hold construction materials together, or to the floor.
>>
No. 874382 ID: 31b497

If the structures are mainly sheet metal could use clamps too.
>>
No. 874457 ID: dc91a0

>>874382
>>874370
>>874295
>>874221
>>874216
>>874210

Ok. Shelters are a dumb Idea in general and should be avoided, they were That Idiot's idea after all.

No, seriously. We are already Inside. Building shelters is a pointless waste of time. It made sense when we were outside and it was raining, but now it's just dumb.

Literally, anything else is a better idea.
>>
No. 874458 ID: 10c408

Make some comfy arkot sized beds/cots instead. Shouldn't be hard at all.
>>
No. 874482 ID: 8edb2d

>>874458
>>874457
Point.

Find something to use as bedding.
>>
No. 874506 ID: 3abd97

>>874482
The best victory is being smug in a comfy bed when everyone else is all tired out from building unnecessary and uncomfortable metal junk-houses.
>>
No. 874509 ID: 8edb2d

>>874506
Smug and snug.
>>
No. 874542 ID: b79be5

Fine we'll make beds but only if it still involves gluing his head to his butt. Or maybe we can make a bed for him to seem like the better arkot but we booby-trap it.
With nothing.
He'll thing we did something to it and either try show the other arkots which will make him look like an idiot and a dick or he'll refuse and have to make his own bed and look like a dick.
>>
No. 875530 ID: 40bcd0
File 152210354715.png - (58.94KB , 800x600 , salq-177.png )
875530

>The Boss is going to know you ate her message!
The Boss knows a lot of things but not immediately.

Six comes to the realisation that shelter indoors is really very very stupid and, while the lights slowly dim and other arkots fall asleep anywhere they happen to be, Six decides making a bed would be better.

Well, first, she decides that testing Speaker's ability to understand her is very important. The singing can wait for when it doesn't wake up every other arkot in the room and possibly also Boss.

Six gets Speaker to guess what she's trying to say repeatedly. Speaker gets five out of eleven gestures correct, close enough for two out of eleven, and admits not understanding the rest.
This makes Speaker the absolute best interpreter Six has ever, ever seen. A precious gem of an arkot.

Six decides Speaker needs a promotion. After much mental consideration of numbers that go after and before the number 6, Six decides Speaker is now Half.
>>
No. 875531 ID: 40bcd0
File 152210356001.png - (10.84KB , 800x600 , salq-178.png )
875531

Six writes the number half on Half. It's a diagonal line.

After promoting Speaker to Half she decides that Half's next job, as she now carries more responsibility than simply being her interpreter, is to get both of them a fruit each. Two fruit, she clarifies. One fruit for Six, and one fruit for Half. More fruit for Half if she wants. But one fruit for Six.

Half's grimace suggests that these advanced numeracy concepts may be slightly too much for her.

Six says that Half needs to bring back two fruit. Half nods and marches off to the fruit crate.

While Half is gone, Six scours the nearby area for bedding materials. She finds a pair of arkots arguing over what looks like a blanket similar to what Boss is sleeping on.
Six looks off in the distance to check if it is the exact same blanket, and sees the Boss sleeping peacefully on her blanket.
Something in Six feels a little warmer at the sight, but she turns back to the arguing pair.

The arguing arkots are trying to resolve a dispute involving who gets the blanket.
Six generously helps in their argument by claiming the blanket for herself. The other arkots are unhappy.
Six thanks them for their contribution to the improvement of arkot living standards. The other arkots are so bewildered by her complex series of gestures and signs that they assume Six has a deep, mystical reason for needing the blanket, and leave to go loot another one.

Six moves the blanket to a calmer empty spot of the room, against one of the walls, and Half comes back with two fruits.
Six takes a fruit and motions for Half to sit down on the blanket.

Half asks what to do with the other fruit.
Six says Half can eat it. Half devours it in seconds. Six clarifies that that was not a command. Half nods and says she was just really hungry.

Six considers going to sleep but feels like she might have forgotten something.
>>
No. 875532 ID: 56fca5

Well, we solved hunger by eating, solved orders by eating them and solved shelter by realizing we are already in a building. Sounds like everything is in order.

Only thing left to do is make friends with one of the not-dumb creatures The Boss has been interacting with. They will be much better minions than the dumb arkots and That Idiot. I suggest the really big one that you probably heard about.
>>
No. 875533 ID: 074011

>>872417
Check the plan again, maybe you will remember.
It might be that boss needs a hug, and half needs a head-pat, but that would be awkward, so no.

You should try copying bosses plans some of the time. She makes good plans, so if you could make plans that look the same, then they would be good?

Have one last look around to be sure that nobody looks like a giant fungus monster.
>>
No. 875544 ID: 12b116

We can make friends later, I think everything is fixed.
>>
No. 875545 ID: ad51b8

just do a quick look to see if boss is sleeping well, then if so off to bed, if not move blanket closer to boss and sleep by her. I mean it couldn't hurt.
>>
No. 875554 ID: 86eb65

I bet if you asked one of the strange aliens nicely they would even get you a pillow!

Think of how awesome you would look resting on your pillow.
>>
No. 875555 ID: 3abd97

What happened to That Idiot and the kids? He didn't get them into too bad a mess did he?
>>
No. 875559 ID: dc91a0

Fold the blanket in half. It will be softer to lay on. You will need to basically snuggle with Half for there to be room for both of you, but that's fine. It's warmer that way.
>>
No. 875571 ID: 8edb2d

>>875559
Conservation of mass dictates that smaller masses are softer and comfier.

That is what it means right?
>>
No. 875623 ID: e1c8f7

>>875559
This is the only way
>>
No. 878941 ID: de3949
File 152383341556.png - (5.31KB , 800x600 , salq-179.png )
878941

After much consideration of things to do that aren't sleep, Six decides she's solved enough problems and doesn't care anymore.

After a quick scan of the room to make sure none of the others are growing limbs they shouldn't have, she wriggles around on the blanket and falls asleep.
>>
No. 878942 ID: de3949
File 152383343929.png - (18.35KB , 800x600 , salq-180.png )
878942

Emergency Briefing
Secure Room Delta


"I've called this meeting to discuss a matter of utmost urgency. Thank you all for coming."

I've never seen a creature this big, nor imagined it was biologically viable. I'm less terrified than I am incredibly confused.

All eyes are on Sitkva, mostly out of statistical probability. With us all facing her, it's hard to find points to look at that don't include her in some way. Translators weave all words spoken in the room into a mesh of different languages, and I find myself finding more instruction in this superculture common language as the machine translation slowly adapts.

"Kan couldn't make it," says Lekka.
"Oh. Why?"
"He's a little tied up at the moment--"
"I've got this," says Tirzi. "He had some major freakout last night over me working on pulling out the weird fibre net out of Lekka. He's literally tied up in a gel bath right now while his arms regrow. He's lucky his species regenerates naturally or he'd be in there for weeks."
"I'm still stunned you cut through neumono bone that easily with surfaces that look that dull," says Lekka. Her voice tone indicates some mixture of respect, admiration, and fear.
"I'm a salazzarine, I know how to cut things. Yeesh--"
"Anyway," says Sitkva, whose slightly raised voice bounces around the room with enough weight I think I can feel it. "To matters more pressing."

The room falls silent as Sitkva brings up a murky projection in front of her, enlarged to her scale. A towering cinematic display to most of us.

"Ekasarra has been making recordings of her dreams for her own analysis and has provided us with a pared-down and edited recording, as well as collaborating on algorithm design to convert it into something our systems can actually play. I think."
"Yeah, that's accurate," says Ku. "She took what Sisirri wrote to parse out the, uh, whatever designs those were, and modified it."
"Aza is being sort of nauseous at quality of work made, but results looking good," says Aza, like he has any right to judge me on my proof of concept, and a crude rearranging thereof.
"Well," says Sitkva, "feels like a gift from the precursors to have not one but two of our new alien friends be good at this sort of information processing."

"Kinda real fuckin' suspicious, if you ask me," says Saba, who was not asked by anyone. In person, she seems just as distempered as what I've heard of and from her would indicate.
"What's your theory, Saba?", asks Sitkva.
"Nothin' too concrete. Just don't like how many million in one chances are all happening in a row. Think we're gettin' played by somethin' bigger than all of us."

I raise a claw. "On that note, I believe I have made certain discoveries as to the nature of this facility."

The room goes quiet a second time. Sitkva tilts her head slowly. "This is... useful, yes, but I still haven't played the recording yet. We'll get back to that."
"No need. I've already written a report. I was going to distribute it this morning before Tirzi came to... fetch me." Shout loudly, wake me up, tell me it was an emergency and that we had to get here right away. I am sorely unamused. "It'll be available after the meeting."
"Oh. Thank you, Sisirri. Everyone, read that report after this. Now. Ekasarra's recording."
>>
No. 878943 ID: de3949
File 152383345618.png - (26.41KB , 800x600 , salq-181.png )
878943

An automated voice calls out annotations.

"Engram 24: Est. realtime, 4 minutes, 2 seconds, est. oneirotime, 17 minutes 27 seconds."

Oneirotime. I feel like a machine translator broke down at some point during the construction of this report.

Ekasarra is dreaming about being in a more natural state in many senses of the term "natural", apparently. Ekasarra does not seem embarassed about this display. If anything, she seems wistful.

"Engram 25: Est. realtime, 2 minutes, 3 seconds, est. oneirotime, 7 minutes, 19 seconds."

I don't see any change in the visualisation. Lekka looks alarmed briefly.

"Engrams 26 through 33 unable to visualise. Metacognitive cascade/emotional confusion possible at 76.5% confidence. External influence possible at 24.7% confidence."

The display scrambles, and...
>>
No. 878944 ID: de3949
File 152383349771.png - (202.82KB , 800x600 , salq-182.png )
878944

Oh. Oh dear.

"Engrams 34 through 107 overwritten by external data transmission. Reordering into coherent sequence. External influence at 99.7% confidence."

It's Voidsong.

"Hm. This was simple. Neuromechanical and paraspacial vulnerabilities. Perhaps Planter Fleet did its job after all. So. Sisirri."

I can almost feel my pupils dilate.

"Just a little message from me to you. This took a lot of effort on my behalf, so please, hear me out. No one else in the room has the unique receptors capable to parse my message and decode it, all they're going to see is vague evidence of kiter influence on neumono. If you somehow hadn't figured that out already, well, perhaps this message is too ambitious a project."

My mouth is dry. The image of Voidsong pretends to look around while keeping its eyes on me but this is impossible. Impossible. It's a recording. A recording of the neural activity of a neumono. There's no possible way anything could be contacting me like this, my neural implants are gone.

"In truth, I've come to realise I don't even need a fully intact salikai specimen to complete my library. There were enough traces of your organism in your distinct point of arrival to reconstruct your entire genome. Honestly, you no longer interest me as an organism. I was disappointed, if anything, to discover the weaknesses endemic to the salikai form. I had heard good things, Sisirri. But you lack the capacity for information processing the blaukesch held naturally, and your capacity for creativity and innovation has a natural ceiling I surpassed decades ago. I see why something like you would resort to cybernetics for improvement. There's no room in the salikai blueprint to fix the errors in your kind. Not within your limited innovation parameters. But. With Kiter expertise..."

I feel my claws tighten and shake. The others chatter about the ghosts of patterns they think they see in a sea of noise.

"I am offering you a choice. Remain with your current allies of circumstance out of a rational but fleeting necessity, and die on this planet. Or approach me, alone, and transcend. If you, and only you, approach a spire, I guarantee safe passage. I guarantee no interference. No tricks. You are a flawed seed and I can make you smarter, stronger, healthier, grant you longevity unheard of. And in return, I ask you do one thing for me. Just one thing. One singular task. This is a recording, so I don't know how you've chosen. I don't even know how long it will take you to decipher this message. Deep within your facility, there is a Mistake shell. You will know it when you see it. It is immune to many of our weapons, but not to the deactivation code. The deactivation code is Watcher Held Blinded Reason Faith Unrewarded. I have given you these words in the tongue of the Mistake. Speak them and the shell will cease. Speak them, and the facility is yours. Ours."

There is none of the original whimsical humour in this monster's voice. Just cold, empty calculation. I stare into the horror's eyes and see my own reflected in them, see the reflection of everything aliens hate and despise about salikai. The creature is ridiculous, malformed, but the intellect in its eyes, the malice I feel is stronger than the hate I've seen from neumono who wanted my species dead.

"I understand salikai, Sisirri. You are flawed, but with the right guidance, you will exceed the capabilities of the blaukesch, the neburi, the neno fi. You would be second only to the stran themselves. And, just to illustrate how serious I am here, you can come for the augmentation first, and perform this task second. In fact, no, let's make this even easier for you. Speak the word Dingir to any of the kiter you next see, and they will escort you to my spire. You will be completely safe. Okay. I'm running out of dream space. That will have to do. And, of course, tell none of this to any others, Sisirri, it would be most rude to reject my help in so arrogant a fashion. My paraspacial abilities are second only to my masters, the stran. Do not seek to test me, for I either exercise them fully or not at all. Just a friendly little warning if you seek to abuse my trust so soon!~"

I feel phantom sensations pat my rostrum and I freeze up.

The display dissolves away and the others still theorise on what the static they just saw was meant to say.

I'm not so foolish to just trust this maniac, but for a fleeting moment I saw something in those eyes all too familiar and saw method in the madness.

It has shaken me to my core.
>>
No. 878950 ID: 074011

Comfort. Food.
>>
No. 878951 ID: 86eb65

Fuck trusting that creep. We know the danger of letting anyone mess with our body or mind. You can't trust him and we do not have a obsession with "ascending" that a lot of these mad scientist types do.

As for what it wants? It wants you to deactivate the stasis shell around the alien? Or your old buddy?

Honestly it should not know that info. The only one who should be able to get that passcode is someone who is currently living in the precursor info sphere.

So this guy is working with or is your old enemy I bet. Imperium might have found you.\



Do not mention this to anyone until you get that psi jammer built. We don't want a angry alien with a fleet to fuck with us just yet. Finishing that jammer is now our number one priority. We need to stop this psychic crap before it gets bad.
>>
No. 878952 ID: ba56e6

>>878951
Likely the stasis shell. Its probability manipulation appears to be what's protecting the facility from the kiter. So shutting it down would leave everyone here vulnerable.

>>878944
You should definitely get to work on that jammer. No more distractions until that is done.
>>
No. 878955 ID: 33cbe7

As nice as the offer of free augments sounds, mind control is probably one of them, so we can't just take them and welsh on the deal. That's a big fat no from us.
With the knowledge you now possess, it seems critical to develop these defenses not just for the neumono, but all of you.
Mistake? Really? To what end will ending the Mistake bring the Kiter? Bloody hell, you're caught up in some kind of moral crusade for no raisi- er, reason.
>>
No. 878958 ID: 0c3c2c

>>878944
It is time to immediately betray Voidsong by blocking their so-called 'paraspacial' abilities via our new jammer. Stupid, violent creature. Why would you switch off the defense system that keeps you from dying when it just said it's no longer interested?

This idiotic creature is attempting to bluff and intimidate us into folding on the pretense of something dangerous in our future that can penetrate the impenetrable defense system, despite admitting that the defense system is impenetrable. What, is it going to mind-control the Neumono? We've got them more or less locked down anyway, and we already assumed they were compromised.

Oh, and its offer of 'trascendence'? Do you really want to be wired into a wall forced to birth whatever experimental nightmare Voidsong feels like gestating into you, or flaying yourself and then pouring acid into your wounds for fun?

Voidsong is dangerous, but also insane and fundamentally unable to coexist with non-Kiter life. This is merely yet another threat we need to address, and it is best we address it via setting up the Jammer Field as soon as possible.

Expressing that setting up the jammer field ASAP is essential is not a 'betrayal' and should not register as such in the Neumono's minds, which are the only thing in this facility Voidsong can access besides the defective Fufa.
>>
No. 878962 ID: 3abd97

>"Nothin' too concrete. Just don't like how many million in one chances are all happening in a row. Think we're gettin' played by somethin' bigger than all of us."
>I raise a claw. "On that note, I believe I have made certain discoveries as to the nature of this facility."
You are explicitly being played by a force greater than you, yes. You need to explain what you were told last night, and share your implant's visual recording as evidence.

We can't prove any of the ridiculous claims are true, but you at least need to share them, and if true, they explain why the facility hasn't just been attacked or whipped out yet despite the planetary invasion force out there.

>The deactivation code is Watcher Held Blinded Reason Faith Unrewarde
Given the stated purpose of that object, I'm confused why a deactivation code would exist. And I'm incredulous as to how Voidsong would have obtained it.

Killing what is keeping the kiter at bay seems like a bad idea. Mercy killing the Last of the Watchers right before we leave might be something to consider, but I don't trust that Voidsong is being honest. For all we know that keyphrase would say, prompt the facility to force all of us out.

>And, of course, tell none of this to any others, Sisirri
Hahaha, fuck no. The only way to avoid being backstabbed later by Voidsong revealing secrets you've been keeping to your allies at the worst time is to disclose them in advance.

Tell them. "It's a coded message. Voidsong predicted we would extract and examine these dreams, and hid a recruitment pitch in them. ...that it was able to code a hidden message such that it would only be decoded a particular species' perception, and passed on in such a manner, is a truly unsettling display of computational and biological prowess."

Also no way are you walking out to be cut up and modified by another madman to be a 'better' creature, nope. You've had enough of that for a lifetime.
>>
No. 878964 ID: 56e50f

Well now. That sounds more like an offer for your- er, The Splicer. But you're not her, are you? The keyword might be useful if you get into a sticky situation against the Kiter. Maybe we shouldn't tell the others what you saw just yet.
>>
No. 878965 ID: a363ac

>>878944
tell Sitkva what happened but don't say the deactivation code anywhere near or in the facility
>>
No. 878967 ID: 3abd97

>>878965
Agreeing with that, we shouldn't share that keyword. We don't want to risk it being used. Even assuming it only does what Voidsong claims and not something else.
>>
No. 878968 ID: 0c3c2c

Important addendum: We need to contact the glowy sprite thing and ask it if there's any way to block psychic scanning of this base.
>>
No. 878969 ID: b1b4f3

>>878944
Okay the jammer is even more important than you thought. Once you have it built you need to revisit this recording and figure out how it affected you like this. A good confirmation of any theory you come up with would be making something to interpret the data you saw and make it visible to others. However you should only do this if a repeat playing of the recording with the jammer active no longer gives you a phantom sensation. To ensure you don't get a false negative, you can have that last bit replayed now to confirm it will cause phantom sensation every time. Also you should only test your interpreter on arkots. They won't tell the others and I doubt Voidsong will care if an arkot knows. To be sure, you can make that arkot Six. She won't be able to say anything even if she wants to, and she could potentially understand how urgent it is that she not tell anyone about it.

It shouldn't need to be said that you shouldn't tell the others about this. They don't need to know, and you could be directly harmed as a consequence of telling them.
If they ask you what you think that was, just tell them you're going to go work on the jammer. Refuse to say anything further. Make a point out of it, even.
>>
No. 878971 ID: 12b116

We do need to communicate this to the others, but in a way that the neumono can't pick up on. Only the other aliens can know this, in case Voidsong can pick up on it through them.
>>
No. 878973 ID: 166e1c

I got to say this isn't a bad offer.
we are lacking details, but from what I understand Sisirri lineage was messed with and her generation was considered a dead end. The defects Voidsong pointed out can very well be limitations introduced by Imperium instead of natural characteristics of the salikai specie.
The problem, of course, is that obsessive self improvement or supremacy over a field os study were never goals Sisirri seemed to want. Considering those were basic the reasons Hidira lost her mind it's likely that Sisirri is oppose to those ideals. The only aspect of this offer that seem tempting is the increase chance of survival, but we don't know it been at the mercy of the Kite truly improve our chances or if it will be worth living after Voidsong do whatever he is planing to do.

Keep this offer in secrecy fo now. We need a second opinion from our own bioengineer specialized in sakikai, Kitsiksu. And also a way of communication to negotiate the terms.
By the time we can form an informed opinion we will hopefully have better alternatives.
>>
No. 878975 ID: 3abd97

Another problem: if Voidsong can send messages to people like this, Kiter transmissions are now a memetic hazard. Stuff like a Bloom basilisk attack are possible. Specific images / sounds / patterns that exploit biology or neurology just right to do damage, cause seizures or fits, etc.

Such attacks require extensive knowledge of target neurology and a vulnerable sensory input path. Any attack would be information dense, so disrupting that through distortion etc would be effective.

So any Kiter transmissions of any kind we look at from now on need to be deliberately scrambled and distorted. Possibly subjected to AI-analysis before we let anyone view them.
>>
No. 878981 ID: 91ee5f

>>878944
Ah, damnit. Sisirri, do you know what this means? You just wasted who knows how many hours writing a report that nobody’s going to read because you’re going to have to say it out loud to everyone now!

Building that jammer is now the most important thing to do! Not just for the neumono but for everyone!

>Offer to fix you.
Getting your eye replaced by your mom is more than enough “fixing” to last you your entire lifetime.

Besides, with Kitsiksu here, you don’t need Voidsong.

>In truth, I've come to realise I don't even need a fully intact salikai specimen to complete my library. There were enough traces of your organism in your distinct point of arrival to reconstruct your entire genome.
He’s basically telling you that he scooped up all the blood you coughed up back at the location where the neumono nearly beat you to death.

But, look at the bright side, this means the other aliens can’t use you as a bargaining chip anymore! Which means there’s little to no chance that they’ll throw you out of the base to keep the enemy away!
>>
No. 878984 ID: ba56e6

>>878965
We should wait until the jammer is finished to inform the others. That pat on the rump was Voidsong demonstrating that these 'paraspacial' abilities can reach us here. And the neumono are probably walking spycams for him.
>>
No. 878985 ID: ad51b8

OK so grabbing your buddy with the bioscience knowledge just became top priority seeing as he's the most likely to figure out how this catfish looking mother fucker can seem to fuck with you to the point of making you feel a phantom touch from minute DNA samples you left from... bleeding out after getting the shit kicked out of you... fucking neumono fuck us over once again.

anyways it could be a bluff and the guy needs some way to actually contact you to be able to do anything but still I feel we should grab an expert that we can trust and find out how we can counter this guy... even if it's just trying to get his "allies" to kill fuck out of him for being crazy. What, we already know him and his buddies don't get alone all to well, all we'd need to do is find a way to contact them with them ignore us or hacking our shit and find the right words/evidence/lies to tell them to have them turn on Viodsong.
>>
No. 878997 ID: dc91a0

I believe him when he says he'll augment you and allow for your return... But he clearly underestimates you. There will certainly be a price. You won't have a choice in the matter of surrendering the facility to them if you take his offer. He'll alter your DNA so you will instinctually want, or even need to perform that task. It would be trivial for him to do so.

Do not allow yourself to be used again.

Ignore the message and continue as planned.
>>
No. 879051 ID: c49598

You are mad, mad about Voidsong
>>
No. 879060 ID: 767ff9

Imperium. Imperium has been working with them. That alone is all you really need to consider. Better to DIE than end up back under that or something like it.
>>
No. 879071 ID: 10c408

yeah, no. It's a trap. He might not have figure out we're alive and sent this freaky encoded message as a literal shot in the dark to trick us into giving ourselves away, surrendering for the sake of being 'improved' and ending up in his clutches. He doesn't even have to honor his end of the deal when he has you. You could end up on the wall being 'improved' like the other sapients you were shown earlier. Or, at best, you end up playing second fiddle to someone else in that world munching shitshow that shares your field of expertise.

It's not worth it. At all.

You'd even have to betray the arkots and leave them to the neumono trio. Are you gonna do that, sisirri?
>>
No. 879104 ID: de3949
File 152391815521.png - (21.61KB , 800x600 , salq-183.png )
879104

>JAMMER JAMMER JAMMER

Absolute number one urgent priority.

>TELL NO ONE

Everyone is at risk. Everything could be compromised. This is subterfuge on levels I've never dreamed of.

Ekasarra--

Ekasarra suddenly bolts towards the door.

She makes eye contact with me, holding at the door frame, and shouts one word before running out.
"SISIRRI!"

I sprint after her before the others can even begin protesting or complaining.

We run into a dark room. Well, Ekasarra runs into a dark room. I follow.

Ekasarra locks the door behind her.
I suddenly feel my blood go cold.

"Ekasarra?"
"You saw it, I know you saw. It was my dream, Sisirri, I didn't get the full message but the language was similar enough, the targeting, it was through my head that that thing spoke to you."
"I don't know what you're talking about--"
"It spoke to me as well, Sisirri. It spoke to me and I left it out of the recording."

I hear muffled footsteps in various rhythms starting to spread out in the corridors.
"[What the heck is going on?!]" I hear the muffled voice of Tirzi yell.

Ekasarra leans against the door. Is she trying to lock us in? Keep the others out? I can't read anything but crazed, manic purpose in her eyes.

Her fur stands on end. Static discharges lash out to the nearby metal surfaces. Her breathing quickens.

"It's been promising me a return to flesh not even your mother's research could have granted me. It's been wearing me down. It feels like weeks, months, and it was probably one single night."

"I can feel her empathy, she's over here," says Lekka, outside.

"The fleshweaver has been, has been promising me so many things. A healthy body, freedom from these painful cybernetics, freedom from all this horrible involuntary empathic judgement of my peers. I'm weak, Sisirri, I'm weak."
"What happened?"
"It told me your killphrase, Sisirri. You have a killphrase and I know it. You need to know this. You need to know. I can't tell it to you, not yet, we need to find a way to present it neutralised, we, we--"
"That's absurd, I don't even have mental implants anymore!"
"It's etched into your psyche, Sisirri! It's a memetic failsafe waiting for conscious recognition of the key phrase! And that monster gave it to me!"

All trace of rationality seems to have been violently torn out of her. She looks like a caged animal, terrified, backed into a corner.
Ready to strike.
Yet she's staring through me, not at me.

"It's-- I can't-- keep back-- something not right--"

Her mechanical arm twitches errantly, digits unspooling and recombining repeatedly.
>>
No. 879105 ID: de3949
File 152391817016.png - (26.54KB , 800x600 , salq-184.png )
879105

There's a knock on the door. Ekasarra yells back with such force I can hear her throat tear. "BUSY! COME BACK LATER! Oww."
"Ekasarra, I am your direct superior, and I am ordering you to leave this... whatever room this is!"

Ekasarra starts to shake, but despite her violent motions she looks more focused and less, well, insane.

"Sisirri, you need to know that you can't even risk talking to this thing, it can casually kill you in a conversation!"
"Wh-why are you so panicked? Why did this require running so much--"
"Because I said yes, Sisirri!" Ekasarra looks devastated and the madness seems to return. "I couldn't resist the temptation and now it's coming for me!"

Before I can say anything, before I can point out how crazy Ekasarra sounds, before I can even mention the secret hidden devices keeping us all safe...

Ekasarra screams in a long, unbroken shriek of fear and pain and vanishes in a claret glow. My claws are sprayed with neumono blood. I hear a faint giggle from Voidsong.

~Well, that was messy! Good thing I'm reconstructing her anyway. Didn't even make it five minutes without stabbing me in the back, though! No, not you, Sisirri, I'm talking about the neumono. Well. She has debts to repay to me now. As for you, I do hope you consider my offer. I have the slightest suspicion your rational allies might soon be less of both.~

"No," I mumble. "The barrier... you have no ability to get to us."

~We have no ability to get into the facility to risk the life of its master, correct. That neumono was far from the master of the facility.~

"I'd sooner die than work with you," I stammer weakly.

~Did I just hear a salikai put abstract cause above self-preservation? Hmm hmm hmm! You truly are a fascinating specimen! Still, that sounds like a categorical denial of my generous offer. What a pity. I suppose we are enemies now, officially.~

The jammer. I need to get to the room with the jammer.

~A jammer! A jammer! Ehehehe! You saw my visage, you have my mark emblazoned upon your consciousness, and you think a jammer is going to protect you? You would do better to sweep the ocean away with a broom, little salikai!~
"Get out of my head!"
~Hah! Hah hah! Ahahahah! Haaaaaah! No resistance at all! So helpless! Please, beg more, salikai, it's so amusing!!~

The door bursts open. Everyone sees me, no trace of Ekasarra, and neumono blood over my face and claws.

~It looks like they've caught you red-clawed, Sisirri. Hah!~

I see Lekka. She's staring at the ancestral enemy of her species, covered in the blood of her kin.

I feel dread welling up in me.
>>
No. 879107 ID: a363ac

>>879105
start clawing at yourself and scream "Get the jammer on its in all our heads!"
>>
No. 879108 ID: 12b116

Voidsong likely just killed her, is there anything left behind? Lekka is not going to think you managed to disintegrate a neumono, we need to tell everyone what we know
>>
No. 879109 ID: 12b116

more importantly we need to know if any of the others have had any dreams like this
>>
No. 879110 ID: 3cc68c

So I see two options here.

1. This is a psychic illusion and you are being messed with.

2. Its real and all of you are fucked. You can't fight a foe that can transport you out of your base at will and freely get into your head. It's game over for all of you.


So assume its someone messing with your head. Cause the alternative means you are being toyed with by aliens with so much power anything you do is hopeless.

So insist on a jammer. They are in your head and you can't stop them.
>>
No. 879113 ID: 0d45a9

"Please tell me that Ekasarra is still there and that was just a hallucination of her messily disintegrating." Then fail to not have a panic attack.

How the ever-loving fuck do we fight that? Wait, got a idea. Try focusing like how you did during the fufa incident, a sudden shift in how your mind works might cause Voidsong to lose sync and kick him out.
>>
No. 879114 ID: 33cbe7

Voidsong underestimates the power of a good placebo.
>>
No. 879116 ID: 86eb65

It got her because she let it. Its a powerful pscyhic and can only take you if you let it take you. Voidsong wants you to be weak and afraid so it can drag you away.

Keep denying it mentally. The others are not going to let the neumono beat you to death.

Warn them that Voidsong can attack through cybernetic interfaces. Anyone with one needs to be knocked out right now. Probably including you.
>>
No. 879117 ID: 074011

You can't trust what you just witnessed. You have to beuld a jammer. If anyone asks, you have to build a jammer. If anyone pulls off your limbs, you have to build a jammer...
>>
No. 879118 ID: 56e50f

>>879105
"Voidsong. Voidsong took her." Sit your pretty butt down and take a moment to process this. The others are right behind, they won't let Lekka hurt you without proof.
>>
No. 879121 ID: dc91a0

If Voidsong can make psionically make people explode only to reconstruct them elsewhere, then there was no point in making you that previous offer. She could instead simply bend reality to her will and take you all without bothering to communicate.

NONE OF THIS IS REAL!
VOIDSONG IS NO GOD!

No matter what happens next, you must not take action against your supposed attacker. Let what happens, happen. If you defend yourself in this fantasy, you may actually be attacking your allies in reality.

As it stands there are two possible realities. In one, Voidsong is a living god and you've already lost. In the other, she is a trickster toying with your mind.

All you can do here is choose which reality to reject and hope you're correct. As for which one, the choice should be obvious.
>>
No. 879122 ID: 0c3c2c

>>879105
Ah, I see, Ekasarra used your 'kill-phrase' and you're hallucinating violently. Close your eyes. Remain calm. Ignore all sensory input for now.
>>
No. 879126 ID: ba56e6

Coffee may alter your mental state enough to help fight this influence. So long as you keep the dosage to a buzz, you might be able to function.
>>
No. 879129 ID: 166e1c

>>879121
That seems reasonable. Might be worth loudly declaring our doubts over the reality of what we witness. This doesn't make sense.

Alternatively, if the situation escalate, this could be a good time to run and try our luck with the crazy cultists. They will need some convincing, but at least will give a lot of trouble for the neumonons.
>>
No. 879131 ID: 2007b6

>>879122
Right diagnosis, wrong prescription. Sensory deprivation and meditation won't stop a rogue process that's already in your head.

You need something that can knock you out, purge your short-term memory. Something Ma Fleshweaver wouldn't have known about, and thus couldn't have established countermeasures for. What you need is coffee, and lots of it.
>>
No. 879134 ID: 86eb65

>>879131

Best idea yet.
>>
No. 879142 ID: deec6e

Use that logic of yours, Salikai. Voidsong appears to have left you a heap of damning evidence - but how damning is it really? Disrupt the narrative.

"STOP. Do blood spatter analysis - look, no claw tracks on the floor. I did not get close to Ekasarra. And how sudden did her 'death' feel? Too sudden. I will stand still. Do not disturb blood spatter until you've analyzed. If evidence shows otherwise or I start acting up, disable me - or kill me if you must, as I must clearly be compromised."

Voidsong also appears to be in your head now - but are they really capable of staying there and are they really Voidsong and not just your very own memetic virus? You should act swiftly regardless. See if you can crowd the voice out by shutting your cybernetics down (manually if you must) or by drowning it in spam - run your cybernetics hot, create a slowdown of the processing power being used until hopefully it can't maintain whatever bullshit hack it's currently running.

Similarly overtaxing your brain with overriding compulsions or, well, drugs, might also have an effect if the vector is biological.

If anything you do lessens or gets rid of that vapid ditty in your head, say the following:

"Kiter influence by the entity known as Voidsong - Ekasarra and I were both given offers through what I believe must be her empathy and my cybernetics - or my biology, chillingly. Ekasarra 'let it in' somehow, claiming she felt it felt like it had been trying for days, weeks, after one night of sleep. Then she tried to warn me not to listen to it. Then... well. There may have been some manner of teleportation effect. Is there even sufficient blood and flesh here to make an entire neumono?"

If you can't get rid of the voice, then Voidsong appears to have you by the neck - but test its limits regardless. If it's limited to taunting and offering you devil's bargains you may 'only' have an annoying headmate with a supposed 'killswitch' hanging over you - and if it uses that killswitch it no longer has any access to the inside of the facility through you. In that case YOU are the vector it needs - but unless we find evidence that it can ACTIVELY co-opt you, you're still running independence-of-mind.exe.
>>
No. 879143 ID: b1b4f3

For fuck's sake, why can't we just have a little bit of peace and quiet to get shit done? This is a neverending trainwreck.

>>879105
She knows you didn't do it. If you had done it there would be traces left.
Tell them you're under psychic attack by Voidsong. The facility only protects itself from physical intrusion. There is only one safe place for you to go, they'll see it in your report.

Now run down to the safest place in the facility. You need to talk to the AI again, find out exactly what the phrase you were given will do. Your only chance now is to become master of the facility, even if that means entering the super-boring safety cell of immortality. I can but hope you can voluntarily exit it later.
>>
No. 879147 ID: 10c408

"Knock me out. It's in my head!" close your eyes and go prone.
>>
No. 879151 ID: 3abd97

Okay so. Let's first consider vulnerabilities / points of access.

1) Voidsong has had access to neumono and salikai blood. From this, it has access to DNA-analogues (that it has never before encountered) and in very little time sequenced the entire genome of both species, and built a model sufficient to perform memetic sensory-input hacks.

2) Neumono broadcast empathy, the Stran broadcast something on a similar frequency that is at least partially compatible, and Voidsong itself seems to be psychic.

3) Both Sisirri and Ekasarra are (were) implanted with Splicer tech, that was wide open and broadcasting. Additionally, the Splicer was influenced and/or compromised by Imperium, and the Stran have had contact with Imperium, so Splicer-tech might be even more transparent to them.

This attack seems to be a hack that exploited all three at once. A jammer might be sufficient to plug security gap number 2 (although we understand nothing about the Stran's communication system, or Voidsong's flavor of psy, so it's no guarantee). We can't close gap number 1 (destroying every copy of that data in Stran hands is beyond our power). Evidence suggests it's too late to close gap number 3 (Sisirri has lingering mental influences even with the tech removed and/or already broadcast all the damning information from her brain-radio before it was pulled).

More frightening than the fact that Voidsong pulled this off is the absurdly short timescale all of this was accomplished on. That suggests frankly ridiculous levels of processing power.


Now then, what the hell just happened?

At a bare minimum, we know there was an encrypted mimetic message in the recorded dream. Like a magic eye image, or another perceptual trick, it was specifically designed to exploit the way salikai visual and auditory senses function, and audio-visual processing work (from vulnerability 1), possibly coupled with an understanding of the way the Splicer's implant altered her brain (vulnerability 3) and of course was transmitted via neumono dream (vulnerability 1 2 and possibly 3 at once).

It's also worth noting that getting such an attack just right suggests detailed understanding of the hardware and software we would use to extract, analyze, and display the neumono dream (or else data might be lost in translation). Considering we literally just wrote the software used for the visualization, that suggests a terrifying vulnerability 4: our computer systems may be an open book to Stran sensors in real time (or Voidsong exploited vulnerability 2 or 3 to get this information).

The best case is the memetic perception hack is all that happened, and Sisirri is currently not perceiving reality. She and/or Ekasarra are currently hallucinating and we don't know what's really happening. This is optimistic though, and not something we can confirm immediately though. All we can do is hope, an wait for others to take appropriate action / snap us out of it.

So let's consider the uglier alternative. What if everything in that last update was real?

What happened to Ekasarra? We can rule out teleportation, or a universally applicable ranged weapon. If the Stran had such tools at their disposal, and they could target us inside this facility, they would have already have employed them. However, we know neumono biology and regeneration can be influenced by empathy, and Voidsong has already cracked neumono biology and empathy. It might be possibly to use empathy to reprogram biology to, say, turn Ekasarra into an organic bomb. Alternatively, her implants could have been hacked and forced to overload. Either way, same result. Additionally, if Voidsong established a psychic connection via empathy, it might be possible to back up or copy her mind / empathy. Voidsong remote detonates Ekasarra, clones her a new body, and installs the original mind from backup (then it does whatever it wants to her). It did state it was going to reconstruct her (Ekasarra is dead, long live Ekasarra).

This explains why Sisirri has not received similar treatment, and why Ekasarra's saying yes / not fighting it made it possible. Sisirri can't be remotely killed in the same way (without neumono biology and/or the same set of implants) and it's much easier to do a complete rip of a system you're trying to back up if it's not actively fighting you.

Only real upside to this theory is that if Ekasarra was exploded and cloned, she didn't take her hardware with her.

A real downside is Ekasarra is lost to us forever. Even if her clone is able to return, we can't ever open the door and allow her to rejoin the group. It is quite literally beyond our power prove that she's not a Trojan horse carrying an organic threat, or that she's been otherwise modified or conditioned. Voidsong's understanding of biology outstrips any of the experts or tools we have available.

The hardest to explain part is how Voidsong is still in Sisirri's head if this isn't a hallucination and the Splicer's tech is no longer in her head. Best we can do is "Voidsong is psychic" and that the meme-vector in the dream somehow compromised Sisirri- it established a pattern in her mind Voidsong can connect to, somehow. Frankly, it's bullshit, but we can't afford to assume it's not real. For now, assume it's a real threat.

>what actually do
"Voidsong took her" and count on the aliens to not allow the neumono to kill you. I possible, express genuine remorse / grief / sadness / anger at what happened to Ekasarra, if you're very lucky that might persuade her hivemates not to attack you. There's really no time for a detailed logical argument, all you can make is an emotional play.

A longer explanation and/or your eye-cam of what happened can be offered when you have time for a longer response.

>what else do
Oh my god you have so much to explain to your allies if things can stop exploding long enough for you to let anyone in the loop.

And yes, no one can view any transmissions from the Stran anymore. Memetic hazard, even without considering a Sisirri-specific kill-code. Everything gets filtered, distorted, and routed through limited AIs that get purged and replaced regularly. On isolated hardware separate from the rest of the base's equipment.
>>
No. 879152 ID: de6d84

It might not be a hallucination. Act as if what happened is real.

"Voidsong got her."
>>
No. 879161 ID: dc91a0

Something is just... off to me if this is reality, and I think considering this fantasy has some merit beyond mere optimism...

Think about it. If everything that just happened is real, then what would the best course of action be?

Considering the known Salikai tendency toward self-preservation, the choice would be clear. Activate the shutdown code and submit to Voidsong. This entire scenario is tailor made to get Sissiri to do what Voidsong wants. The only alternative would be to have Sissiri seal herself and the gang away from any and all outside interaction until the planet is vacated. Voidsong's curiosity would go unfulfilled, but an unknown factor distracting her from her given task would be eliminated.
All other paths lead to death.

The previous update is far too convenient for Voidsong to be reality. It plays out almost like the power fantasies of a child.
>>
No. 879180 ID: caf1de

rolled 16 = 16

i roll to disbelieve

this is all bullshit
if they really have this kind of power then the quest is already over
>>
No. 879182 ID: 13cc26

It seems like, almost regardless of what you do, the aliens would probably be completely justified in distrusting anything you say and restraining you at this point. I mean, the best case scenario is that your perception of reality has been compromised (and presumably has been since the message started), and we don't really have any idea how to make that stop (since it seems to be ongoing).

The worst case scenario is that the only neumono who actually liked you just exploded, which is probably going to completely destabilize the remaining neumono and is also going to be damn difficult to explain as something that wasn't apparently the result of your actions (especially if she was the only one besides you who was seeing Voidsong).
>>
No. 879183 ID: b1b4f3

Wait wait NO I'VE GOT IT
It's your eye! The only two people that he spoke to had cybernetics! Ekasserra had MORE cybernetics so she was more vulnerable! Remember, you heard sounds through your eye before. He's not using psychic ability, he's giving you audio by hacking your eye just like that tower did through the drone! I bet either there was some teleportation device inside Ekasserra's cybernetics or Voidsong was able to somehow cobble one together by reconfiguring what she had.

Your eye must be removed. Then you will be safe. We thought Ekasserra's cybernetics were isolated enough to be safe but that was wrong, so wrong. This will now be a cybernetics-free facility.
Shit that means you have to remove all cybernetics from your arkots as well, if they have any.
>>
No. 879211 ID: 2fe26a

If he's gotten into your mind, then you need amnestics, stat! Purge your memory of this encounter and leave your amnesiac self clues as to what went wrong. Do not view that recording! Then apply blunt trauma to cranium and pray it's enough.
>>
No. 879225 ID: ba56e6

There are inconsistencies, such as: if he can disintegrate you and reassemble you elsewhere he wouldn't need you to leave and go to the pillars.

However, that does not mean you are safe. If your body believes it is dead because of a cognitohazard, it could die very for real.

Do not mention Voidsong. Ask the others if they're seeing what you're seeing right now, because you just saw Ekasarra spontaneously explode.

Cry for her. Ask for coffee.

Also, whatever you do, do NOT go to the safe capsule. That's probably what he wants to manipulate you into doing in the first place, so that he can deliver the kill phrase through you.
>>
No. 879235 ID: 91ee5f

>>879225
>There are inconsistencies, such as: if he can disintegrate you and reassemble you elsewhere he wouldn't need you to leave and go to the pillars.
Another question is: if he can do this whenever he wants, why does he need permission to do it?

If he wanted, he could’ve just disintigrated Sisirri right now without any sort of warning at all. So why is he asking for permission?
>>
No. 879236 ID: ba56e6

>>879235
In the event that this is real, the most likely cause is (as hypothesized by someone else) the extensive cybernetics. If Lekka is a precedent, Ekasarra probably had cyber meshes all throughout her body in the same way. That would probably be what Voidsong used to asplode her.
>>
No. 879338 ID: caf1de

i still call all of this bullshit
how the fuck do we fight against someone that can kill us just by talking to us and can explode a neumono just like that
>>
No. 879342 ID: 074011

>>879338
By being really really clever. Salikai is hard-mode! But the mind-reading does make things tricky.
>>
No. 879398 ID: f5b25f

This is clearly a double bluff. They want you, and are trying to get you to go over to them.

Then they are trying to make it look like you have no real choice, that they can kill you.

This is a lie. There is no kill code. They tipped their hand by trying to take away your perception of agency, by giving you a choice, then not telling you about the gun to your head, then by staging this in such a way to sow distrust and killing someone with the only knowledge that you have a kill code. Their leverage is weaker than they're presenting.

The dead neumono was already compromised to begin with, through technology or through empathy. Remember how your eye node was compromised, then remember that her implants were much more severe than yours.

The other two are likely walking dead, until you get the cyberware out of them AND build their jammer.

Long-term: confirm the mechanism of this death. You may need the other Salikai to assist with this.

Short term: Explain what had happened to her - not to you. Act bothered if you must.

Submit to any and all demands they make. You are Salikai. You must understand the importance of social maneuvering. You are now maneuvering for your life.

Point out that if you wanted them dead, there are a hundred less conspicuous ways than hiding in a closet and exploding them. The two neumono know this better than anyone else.

Bare your throat and dare them to strike you down if they think you are a monster, and obey all instructions.
>>
No. 879401 ID: deec6e

>>879236

Not a bad call - there might be some impressive sleight of hand going on here. We should check to see where the wires went - and if they and any other pieces of cybernetics are left.

Sending a hack by way of encoding it in Neumono empathy is certainly esoteric - but it is also just science, or at least something that can sound scientifically feasible. If the ditzy ditty has a bunch of processing power to spare and transmitters that can breach this place in an innocent enough fashion to manipulate Esakarra's dreams, it could create and upload a few viruses or a mental implant of itself, embed them in the dream visualizers and have them infect yours and Ekasarra's cybernetics (or mental wetware, if it's such a darn expert in biology). That he has considerable resources to draw on has already been made obvious.

Which does beg the question - if it has access to your brain, or at least a Neumono's empathy, why didn't it just do to Ekasarra - and the other Neumono for that matter - what, say, a Predator does entirely naturally? It seems it had to work - maybe not work HARD, but still work within a set of limitations - to get through to Ekasarra and you. Maybe it WAS trying to do it subtly - maybe our work on jammers to counter that effort meant it showed its hand early, however much it laughs and mocks. Maybe it's still trying to distract us from making good use of jammers against that particular venue of attack. Convince us it's useless before even the theory has been tested.

Also, make special note of that they didn't speak directly with Sisirri through a 'mental' interface until the communication through the Neumono dream visualizer ('seeing his visage, having his mark emblazed upon your consciousness', as they put it), whereas the first communication did NOT leave you with a mental headbuddy. It suggests their power is limited here and it's entirely possible it's trying to distract us from the possibility that they got into her head or cybernetics through a back door that doesn't exactly let it do as it pleases.

Regardless, if there is a way to do this, then there would be ways to counter it.
>>
No. 879417 ID: b1b4f3

Guys she didn't explode, she was teleported. Except not safely.
>>
No. 879429 ID: 86564f

Sissiri, this is a Xanatos Gambit. You can tell since conceivable options you chose would all cause either bad or worse scenarios, where all thought of options causes bad scenarios.

There is no way this isn't a Xanatos Gambit, that means there are few counters for you.

1. Make as many "conceived" successful decisions as possible, resulting in a Pyrrhic victory for the enemy.

2. Choose a third option, not thought about. This is difficult, probably since they are actively more intelligent than you, but this is still possible. Stuff like "Pride", "Assumptions", and "Overconfidence" allow you to do stuff like this. Success via this strategy is better with both the Dumb and Smart, since dumb would do things our enemy expecting a Smart person would never do.

First thing is that the obvious fact is that "Being Improved Upon" would of lead to being mind-controlled/mind-manipulated to follow him. We already knew this.

Second fact is that he can win easily by speaking your kill-switch easily. Even if you create the Jammer that is able to block them out you could just get killed by that, so you may die in a Pyrrhic Victory against them, since you know, the other people can activate the Jammer. This is unlikely, but accounted for, series of events in their plan, since Salikai don't sacrifice for other people and the hate between Salikai and Neumeno exists.

Really, the most important goal is Gathering Information on Weaknesses of our enemy. Especially information on their personality, ability to gather intelligence (and by extension, how they read your mind that can bypass a Jammer?), and non-jammer counters to mind-control.

Possible Solutions/Tactics:

I have a few ideas in stock that could work. First thing, a Unconscious brain (not coma or sleep), can't process a killswitch to activate, due to it being shutdown. Get knocked unconscious really quickly to prevent this, especially since 5+ words can't be spoken to you as quickly (probably 5+ words, considering the other code).

Do not think a Mental Static Defense or just not thinking about it will work. If a brain works anything like a computer, it will process everything it its given. Especially, since you know... Directly being inserted into your mind.

If you manage to finish the Jammer, immediately call to be knocked out asap, or even create a way to do so automatically and have someone else activate it if probable.

We are dealing with a foe that knows what they are doing. Their Intellect is superior, therefore their character and personality weaknesses are their failings you must win through. Things that they fail to consider, and viable escape routes work.


Remember when Imperium blew up your base, trying to kill you? That was a Xanatos Gambit in its own right. Every scenario but this teleportation device was accounted for (Of course, that isn't guaranteed, Imperium might of planned for this... or you know, they just assumed you were stupid and would just die, due to personality failings)

A weakness of a Xanatos Gambit is failing to recognize things as important and failure to account for things, and things that the creator of said gambit does not know. Also, don't assume they will base decisions off of their superior intellect. For all you know, they lie about how they have your DNA samples (unlikely, considering the fact that even a hair/single cell/little leaf thing contains all of your dna, unless it dies?)

Also, if they have all of your DNA samples, this means they are actively down there on the planet, found the location of the teleportation artifact, since that is where you were mostly, and most likely a location for DNA. Probably problems.
>>
No. 879431 ID: b1b4f3

>>879429
That second "fact" is an assumption. We have no evidence that Sissiri has a kill-switch. In fact, considering Voidsong outright said she's an enemy now... why is she not dead? Voidsong has open communications. It hasn't been used, so I believe the "killswitch" given to Ekasarra was a lie. False leverage.

If I'm wrong, it's still not going to ever be used because Sissiri is the only one who can get to the safety capsule to deactivate it and Voidsong will forever cling to the remote chance she'll cave in and do what he wants.
>>
No. 879433 ID: 86564f

>>879417

But the defenses should Guard against teleportation, since you know, if they didn't, they could of just teleported Sisirri up the whole time... so what was that supposed to be?? Like, even a failed teleport still has a complete Salikai Genome, unless this form of "Teleporting" causes heavy radiation/mutation damage and screws up all of your DNA.
>>
No. 879434 ID: 86564f

>>879431

You know, you are probably right and my brain picked this scenario apart and failed to account for fake leverage. Yeah no that Killswitch is probably made up or they can't use it cause it kills the Salikai using Memetic agents that destroy valuable DNA. Literally, one or the other is true in this scenario as a near certainty.
>>
No. 879440 ID: b1b4f3

>>879433
My theory is that it required a solid lock-on involving all her cybernetics. Either that, or the teleportation protection only guards against non-consensual teleportation, and she gave prior consent.
>>
No. 879447 ID: ba56e6

>>879440
That could be why he requires consent, yes. Consent might 'deactivate' whatever safeguards are in place.

Though it could be a combination of several factors: consent prevents the Safe Capsule from interfering, the cybernetics make it easy to lock on, and a neumono will recover from their injuries very quickly whereas Sisirri would probably die or need extensive recovery time.
>>
No. 879844 ID: de3949
File 152435600745.png - (224.62KB , 800x600 , salq-185.png )
879844

>DISBELIEVE
>REMOVE CYBERNETICS
>IT'S IN YOUR HEADS
>EKASARRA IS DEAD
>DENY IT
>BREAK FREE
>FOCUS

The outside world ceases to matter as I enter the focus fugue once again.

Begin.

~...Eh? Odd, I didn't anticipate this part of the connectome being relevant, but it's amusing that you think this will somehow thwart me.~

Thought organisation appears only to strengthen grip. Must disorganize.

>COFFEE
>COFFEE
>COFFEE

Caffeine effects known to disorganize.
Must inject into system.

"[Sisirri?]"

Navigate past crowd. No time for explanation.

Find break room. Find coffee machine. No time for dispensing. Begin eating solid coffee capsules. Not questioning state of coffee right now.
This is gritty, hard to chew and disgusting. Power through, Sisirri, power through.

~Okay, now I'm just curious to see what you're doing.~

Voidsong voice faltering. Acting nonchalant while grip loosening.

~This is silly, Sisirri. So silly! Stop doing this now, please.~

Focus state harder and harder to maintain. Feeling control slipping.

~What are you-- stop! No, can't just let this slip, synchronise, synchronise, you're not getting away that easily!!~

Coughing, gagging. Bitterness of concentrate turning stomach. Trying to hold it together. Trying to... trying to. Trying to keep together.
Feeling lightheaded.
Vaguely familiar but without elation. What was whimsical is now active fight against self-inflicted poisoning.

~Do you know how many neburi I burned through to map your mind so quickly, Sisirri? Do you know how many neno fi I'm using to amplify my own potential?! I'm not going to let a desync interrupt me! I can pump myself with whatever neurotransmitters it takes, you're mine! Mine! Mine, Sisirri, I own you just like I own Ekasarra!~
>>
No. 879845 ID: de3949
File 152435604523.png - (134.97KB , 800x600 , salq-186.png )
879845

Focus and defocus in constant fight. My head is killing me.
Time to snap the link.

I cease focus and descend into a less efficient altered state of consciousness.

~NO NO NO I WILL SYNCHRONISE I WILL SYNCHRONISE I WILL~

Suddenly many things don't seem super important anymore. I fall onto the floor, the world a blur, nauseous, and the room won't stop spinning.

The link is still there, growing stronger.

My stubbornness is affecting Voidsong. As it tries to strengthen the link I feel like I can feel a tension tightening and tightening, like a taut rope being stretched to breaking.
It feels almost like I'm pulling Voidsong towards me.

~STOP~

There's a sudden, sharp pull as Voidsong pulls me towards itself, mentally and it feels almost physically. In a direction I don't understand, merging with all the other directions I'm having a hard time understanding. I don't think I had enough coffee. I was trying to keep lucid enough to know the danger I'm in. Maybe if I had more. Maybe?

I relax a little, and Voidsong screams in surprise as its pulling efforts suddenly--

Oh.

Huh. I guess this is the spire, then.

Well, I'm not sober but I suddenly feel a lot more sober than I was two seconds ago.
Face to face with Voidsong, staring at me in drunken confusion.

Still seem to have all my blood, though. And none of Ekasarra's. Odd.

"You wanted to see me?"
"It's... salikai?"
"Hey, where's Ekasarra go?"
"LEAVE! LEAVE!"
"So where'd is she?"
"GET OUT"
"No." I fold my arms and pout.

"Ekasarra's in pod, if you take her out she'll die," slurs Voidsong, struggling to stay standing.
"Then give us the pod."
"Pod will die outside of the infr... inferr... infastrutture," says Voidsong, their command on language rapidly failing. My grabs on the language is fine, through.
"Then give us the infrastructure too, you big dumb whale!"
"That's not how inferstructor works, you slimy green worm!" I'm not slimy. "You're too introxicrated to talk to, come back when you're sofa."

Voidsong stumbles onto the floor. Lightweight.

I forgot why I came here. Wait. Ekasarra. I think. Yes.
>>
No. 879846 ID: de3949
File 152435610577.png - (37.58KB , 800x600 , salq-187.png )
879846

I abruptly fall on the floor, and swagger back up to standing. It'll take more than a little fall to beat a salikai.

I notice a conspicuous pulsing green mass in the room, and walk over to investigate. I notice a seam, and gently work a claw into grabbing the external surface and pulling.

I'm surprised I have any sort of delicate approach while I fight to reclaim my addled mind from my own poisoning efforts. Other claws pick up the slack on tremoring in a mixture of control loss and slow realisation of the scope of the situation I'm in.

Well, there's Ekasarra. I... I guess she was pulled directly into the pod? It doesn't seem like anything opened it before me.
I get flashbacks of the arkot mangled in an escape pod and visions of the creatures entombed in a mass of vines and tendrils like this one, and feel nauseous.
No. Focus.

What is this technology?
It looks like all her cybernetics were just removed without a trace, and all these pulsating fungal growths are... what? Changing her? Keeping her alive?
She's catatonic. I think she might be unconscious from the shock of her cybernetics all being removed. I'd estimate that's probably somewhere between a third to half her body mass just gone.
I trace the tendrils for a moment and am deeply unhappy about the implications of all this. Ekasarra was a fool but then so was I when I leapt into Imperium offering me much the same.
I thought her experiences with the Splicer might have taught her a lesson but she's just traded the yoke of one oppressor for another.

I'm sympathetic, annoyed, but altogether, she probably doesn't deserve whatever's being done to her right now. Of course they had to take the one neumono I'm growing fond of.

Wait. The cybernetics. The data stores. Oh no. I didn't stop to see if those were left behind or if they were also missing.
The enemy can't be permitted to have all that information.

Something needs to be done.

I... didn't think this far ahead, and it's taking all my focus just to think at a normal, baseline level of not stupid.
>>
No. 879847 ID: de3949
File 152435616436.png - (142.67KB , 800x600 , salq-188.png )
879847

"Hey, salikai!! I'm still here! You can't just barge into my base of operations and ignore me!!"

Voidsong lurches over to a wall, and clicks, whistles and hums a complex tune.

"I was hoping to use this in my inevitable attack on your pathetic infestation in the ruins of something greater than you can ever undershtand, but you've forced me! Forced me, I say!"

Something pale streaks into the room, static electricty crackling around.
It looks like a neumono. Male? Nude. Covered in strange circles, composition unknown. Markings? No, they look deeper than that.

"So much psi potential in the neumono form yet so wasted, so flawed! But weaving a neumono organism into being, cell by cell, fibre by fibre, coaxing the empathic network into something less passive and more active, tying the frequencies to more complex, richer, deeper patterns, creating focal nexii along the surface of the body to aid in projection and direction of paraspacial forces... Such is my genius, salikai, that I have done what none of your kind has ever accomplished!"

The... neumono?.. looks at me, dispassionately. No anger, no confusion, not even disgust. He looks down on me as though I'm furniture. This is more insulting than if he looked down on me as an inferior. It's like he can barely even recognise me as separate from the background.

"Prototype 1045, demonstrate for the salikai, would you?"

The strange probably-neumono sighs, and casually extends his arm towards a wall. I suddenly find myself thrown at it. The wall feels vaguely fleshy, and the impact does not damage me despite its force.
He looks bored, as if this was beneath him. If it's an act, consider me fooled.

"This creature is second only to myself in the metaphysical arts. And now, with an... admittedly partial... living neumono subject, I can test how effective my procedure is on existing neumono. Witness my works, salikai, for here shall be forged the kiter neumono template! Powerful psionic soldiers, hard to destroy, hard to incapacitate, quick to communicate, cheap to manufacture, and the weapon we need most in our current conflict! You've brought me so much, Sisirri! So much! So much biological data, confirmation of new hunting grounds, a new weapon in our arsenal, and now you've come peacefully into my spire!"
>>
No. 879848 ID: de3949
File 152435621514.png - (344.17KB , 800x600 , salq-189.png )
879848

I don't say anything. Sobriety begins to return with awful, dread-filled speed.

"No longer will I have to attempt splicing neno fi and neburi organisms together to produce an effective psionic counter! Everything has fallen into place, the raw computational power of the neburi, the diligent channeling of data by blaukesch, the creative insight of the neno fi, all have come together with the new data on neumono you've managed to offer us to advance the Imperative!"

"You love to talk, don't you," I half mutter.
It dawns on me how theatrical this all is. Perhaps it's just a giant illusion?

"Illusion? Illusion?! I am Fleshweaver Voidsong, first among designers and artists of the Kiter Empire, the most creative mind of the neno fi of Shadow Fleet, the greatest innovator alive this imperial cycle! My words are but one of my media! I also am the greatest living non-stran paraspacial manipulator in Shadow Fleet! My self-importance is entirely warranted!"

Weird. I didn't say anything about that, but I was thinking it. Can Voidsong read my thoughts?

"YES, YOU IDIOT! Your brain structures are so crushingly simplistic to what I had envisioned! Your species disappoints me. You have neither the breadth of the blaukesch nor the depth of the neno fi, the ess and the carax are better soldiers, you are useless to us! Your only hope for survival now lies within my tendrils, and I will not grant you mercy without your absolute fealty! Submit! Submit to the Kiter Empire and only then be spared!"

My legs abruptly buckle and I kneel on the ground, forced by an invisible shove.
But my pride doesn't sink as easily as my limbs.

I stare into Voidsong's eyes, bolstered by the knowledge that I have seen myself and others act like this before.
Voidsong is clearly no longer in control of the situation.
They are the type to have been in power and security so long, they have no clear plan for when all things fail.
I know that type well.
It describes my life underwater, after all.

"BOW TO ME! I AM YOUR SUPERIOR! BIOLOGICAL, INTELLECTUAL, POWER, STRENGTH, FORCE OF WILL, I AM GREATER THAN YOU IN ALL THINGS!"

Voidsong's crude power display feels uneven. Unlike the probably-neumono's power, it feels shaky and uneven. With the right distraction, I can shake it off.
The question is not whether to do this, but what to do with my next moment of tactical advantage.

I stare into Voidsong's eyes. They can keep me held to the floor, but my head remains raised.

Through the overbearing presence of Voidsong in my mind I realise it knows I intend to act, and it knows, and I know, that it doesn't have the full cohesion and grace it needs to prevent me from acting right now. It seems whatever chemicals Voidsong pumped into itself to maintain mental synchronicity with my inebriated brain are taking far longer to wear off.

Lightning sparks and arcs from Voidsong into the room, filling the room with thunderous din and noise.
Voidsong themselves lifts into the air, and oppressive waves of force emanate rhythmically from their entire being.

"I AM YOUR SUPERIOR YOU INVETERATELY SMUG, WORM BRAINED, BROKEN, USELESS, FLAWED SLUG WITH TWIGS FOR LEGS, EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU IS WRONG, YOUR DESIGNER LEFT YOU INCOMPLETE, SUBMIT TO YOUR SUPERIOR! SUBMIT SUBMIT SUBMIT SUBMIIIIIIT!! WHY CAN'T I CRUSH YOU, BUG?! WHY AREN'T YOU BROKEN?! WHY WON'T YOU BREAK?! STOP! STOP RESISTING! I AM SHADOW FLEET TENDRIL 4356 DIVISION 9 FLESHWEAVER COMMAND VOIDSONG AND I WILL NOT LET SOMETHING AS INSIGNIFICANT AS YOU BE AN OBSTACLE TO THE KITER AMBITION! PERISH PERISH PERISH PERISH PERIIIIISSHH!!"

Voidsong looks ridiculous. And as I come to this realisation, the weight forcing me to the ground lessens slightly.
In fact, I have doubt that isn't all some act, technology masquerading as powers spoken of in flights of fantasy.
I stare into Voidsong's eyes with this doubt.

They move back ever so slightly, digusted for a second.
I hear a distinct lack of background chatter from Voidsong in my head.
It's like my moment of doubt was a repulsive taste or a painful jolt. Something too much for them to take.
I feel the cover on my head begin to peel off, feel the warmth of the humid air in this spire on my new skin.

"A SALIKAI IS N-NOTHING!" screams Voidsong, not at me, but at the room as a whole.
I see, out of the corner of my eye, the probably-neumono sigh and shake his head.

The phantom pressing force feels incredibly unstable, rippling in application. A turbulent sea of force, waves cresting and cancelling each other out.
If I concentrate, I can easily calculate the body motions I need to throw this trembling grasp off of me.
Time to focus and plan my action after getting free.
>>
No. 879854 ID: 12b116

He isn't nearly as powerful as he wants you to think he is, and it seems most of his power is actually coming from the fact that you beleive it. Bite him.
>>
No. 879856 ID: 0c3c2c

>>879848
Pinch a tendril. Tug it. Then work on getting behind her and disabling her manipulatory appendages with your big Astrenean Murderclaws. Idly ponder why you're in this building now.
>>
No. 879859 ID: 600f38

>>879848
"I see. You're losing. Badly.
Your pride has brought you low, and now that you see the end coming you're desperately looking for races that can make up for your own failures - looking for anything that could save you from annihilation. You need people who can do what you can't, and you want to hold the leash.
The Salikai have a long history of that. You could be able to catch a tiger by the tail, but your grip is weak. You will be consumed and forgotten."
>>
No. 879864 ID: 33cbe7

You can yell dramatic speeches in our face all you want, we're still going to beat you to death with a golf club.
>>
No. 879871 ID: b1b4f3

>>879848
>plan
Can't really do that. Voidsong will know what you're planning since you have to think about it. Don't make a detailed plan, just charge headfirst into the situation and beat the crap out of this creep. Are those whiskers sensitive, I wonder? Pull on them. Do remember known facts about your opponent, though. Like the acid sacs. Too bad this fleshy room has no convenient bludgeoning tools lying around.
Focus on how disgusting and pathetic Voidsong is. Masochistic, egotistic, unstable, and weak. You mind may be simpler than it could be, but it is strong and fast. Heck, I bet Voidsong is much weaker physically.

I don't think the psi-neumono is even going to interfere. He probably could've hurt you but didn't. He could be helping Voidsong make you submit, but isn't. Voidsong probably won't ask for help, either. Heck, Prototype 1045 (gotta get a name for him) is probably your ride home. Though Ekaserra can't be removed from her pod... Wait, she can't be removed unless her cybernetics are put back on her. If she's restored to her previous state then she'll be stable again and you can get her back to base that way. She might be a bit upset about that but you can tell her about the Salikai biologist in cryo sleep. He'll be able to fix her! The only risk is that Imperium falsified or erased some of your memories to make him seem trustworthy when he isn't. The fufa was a red flag too but... that might have been some sort of contingency plan of his that wasn't meant to do what it did. Like maybe he instructed it to be friendly towards you but it forgot when it lost mass?
>>
No. 879876 ID: 0d45a9

Pathetic. Let's review the facts: Voidsong burned through neburi, amplified themselves with neno fi and drugs to do what? Nearly desynced due to focusing and then coffee of all things, and accidentally bring us straight to them. Not only that but our apparently "so crushingly simplistic" mind is shaking off his amplified control. Voidsong isn't powerful, he's nothing, his own words and actions prove it.

Just look at that silly display, a neumono would be able to shake off those sparks, get in close, and just tear that lumpy dolphin reject apart. Heck we're tough enough, rip and tear I say, until it is done.
>>
No. 879878 ID: dc91a0

You feel that, Voidsong?
That's fear.
Remember it. You'll need it for when we meet in person.

---

Brief the team on what just happened, and tell them of the other Salikai below.
He needs to be extracted if the jammer is going to be completed in time. Voidsong's capabilities are advancing too rapidly.
>>
No. 879884 ID: ba56e6

>>879876
Get Ekasarra and get out. He might be lying about it killing her, you know how durable Neumono are. She might be crippled, but she might survive.

And if not, better to die than be enslaved by a poser.
>>
No. 879889 ID: 86eb65

Start pitying him a whole lot. If he cant stand doubt that will ruin him.

That neumono might be helpful. It seems disgusted with voidsong and the situation. But it is probably unable to resist him. Maybe you can use your link to voidsong to reach out to the new guy for help.
>>
No. 879893 ID: ada24e

>>879845
That appears to be Imperium's symbol on the wall. Make a mental note of it for later.

>Voidsong
Appears to have a massive ego that he uses to compensate for an inferiority complex. Play to it.

>"A Salikai is nothing"
"That's still more than you"

There's no way to know what on his body is actually vital since he can apparently alter physical form with ease. But that does leave one clear vulnerability.

Gouge out his eyes; he'll certainly be able to repair them in time, but the sensitivity of the eye is a natural consequence of its ability to see and he would not have them if he did not need them.
>>
No. 879895 ID: 56e50f

>>879848
It's as simple as getting up, getting right up in their face and asking him one question.

"What are you afraid of?"
>>
No. 879896 ID: 074011

Throw up into Voids face.
>>
No. 879955 ID: ebc8e2

>>879845
Congratulations on drinking Voidsong under the table.
>>
No. 879956 ID: 10c408

"Tell me, voidsong. In all of your time spent staring at my genetic sequence, did you ever put any thought into what it means to BE a salikai? No? Allow me to explain..."

Go full sociopath. If anyone deserves it, it would be voidsong.
>>
No. 879958 ID: 2007b6

Focus on Voidsong's scars. The residue of caustic self-mutilation. Analyze the diseased thinking which could have lead to such behavior. Visualize that process going further, damaging vital organs. Watch your "captor" incapacitate itself without you even needing to lift a claw.
>>
No. 879979 ID: d2e2ce

Call him an arkot fucker.
>>
No. 880009 ID: 074011

Mention his terrible employment practices. Pneumono might be listening...
>>
No. 880032 ID: 3abd97

>Time to focus and plan my action after getting free.

Alright so priority 1: Voidsong needs to be neutralized. Dead, disabled, unconscious, whatever. Voidsong with the freedom to interfere in your subsequent actions, no matter how ineptly, is an obstacle that needs to be removed. Violence of some form is probably the most direct solution here, honestly.

Priority 2: The psi-mono. He's in a position to stop you from leaving, or doing anything else, if it chooses to exert sufficient force. So you need to stop that from happening. This might mean neutralizing him (challenging- neumono are hard to put down and he can engage you at range) or it might mean some kind of social or diplomatic action to convince him to step aside or change sides. He seems, understandably, unimpressed or disgusted with Voidsong's performance so far, and may be open to such overtures.

Priority 3: Ekasarra. We really don't want that life support she's hooked up to modifying her. It's possible she would be a better asset with super-psi powers or whatever, but fundamentally and permanently altering her brings more problems than it solves. We also don't want her stuck here- so the process needs to be accelerated, or we need to find a way to move her.

Priority 4: Information control. We can't let the Stran retain the implants removed from Ekasarra, or the data stored therein (assuming they were brought along). It would be nice to deny Voidsong the genetic data it has on neumono and salikai as well, which probably means slagging this place and its systems on the way out, if possible.

Priority 5: Evacuation. You need to secure an escape route for yourself and Ekasarra. Possibly the psi-mono as well, if you can convince it to desert.


One idea I'm fond of: remember those transmissions earlier, when we first discovered the Stran were not a unified force? Voidsong pissed off one of the other faction leaders. Let that faction know that Voidsong is disabled or at a disadvantage when we're ready to flee, and they might do the work of destroying this spire for us.
>>
No. 880041 ID: 86564f

I'm not the creator of this previous priorities, but I'd like to add something.

Priority 6: Information Gathering. See if you can gather some information about what we are up against and what they are using. This also overlaps with 3 to figure out what to do. This isn't critical, and should obviously be the lowest priority.
>>
No. 880053 ID: 074011

Pneumono doesn't need to be disabled or coopted, it is just fine as a free agent, or even an enemy agent that is not going to stop us leaving. A long-term threat to be certain, but Sisirri is in no state to be greedy right now.
Now I can't tell its gender... Maybe that part of the experiment didn't work well?

Contacting Voidsong's enemies in the Kiter would be dangerous. It would be more like aiding their enemies than eliminating a competitor and annoying college. The best way would likely be to just inflict visible damage and let them come to their own conclusions. Maybe rig up an overload in the communication system? It should be nearby, loud, and evidence of damage. A smoking crater in their tower would be more impressive and a clearer message, but more difficult to pull off with current resources.

As fun as it would be to tear off all of Voidy's limbs and sensory organs then drag it home for study, it's abilities are not entirely understood and it may be a threat due to whatever systems it used to attack us in the first place. Although it did claim to require significant infrastructure that is probably external...
>>
No. 880056 ID: de3949
File 152444200498.png - (88.04KB , 800x600 , salq-190.png )
880056

>Bite
>Pinch
>Disable limbs with claws
>Beat to death
>Gouge out eyes

Tempting. Tempting. But not yet.

>Tear them down
>Focus on disgust
>Focus on pity
>Focus on visualising harm
>Voidsong is afraid
>Go full sociopath

"Voidsong," I say, rolling away from this creature's phantom grasp as it shakes and gasps, losing its balance and composure and flailing in the air.

"Voidsong, I pity you. You're losing. You're grasping for anything that can stave off the inevitable. Your empire is eating itself. Your new secret weapon is just standing there, watching you fail!"

The psi-neumono shifts from one foot to the other, apparently intrigued by my words.

Voidsong stares at me. If looks could kill, I'd be dead. But clearly, Voidsong can't hurt me with looks either. "You encounter me at a fraction of my purest potential, salikai, and assume yourself superior?!"
"I've seen what happens to those who focus on superiority and self improvement without planning ahead or considering the long term. I've seen it over and over what happens when people become reliant on crutches and aids, cybernetics, technology, who view experience and mastery as things to be bought and installed instead of earned and understood."
"You are a child! A hatchling! I have been leader of Division 9 for decades! You think of expertise and mastery in terms of the unenlightened, in the manner of those who cannot accept their short lives' masterworks can be replicated by us on scales unavailable to them! The neno fi were incorporated into the Kiter Empire before the salikai even knew how to bang two rocks together to make fire! I am the progeny of immortals, I am a product of the only culture that has ever been proven to last without decaying into stagnation! You think you have greater clarity and insight than a civilisation that has answers to questions your science no doubt still finds impossible?! What is wrong with your mind, salikai?! How can you not just think but earnestly believe you are this right when your ignorance is all-encompassing?!"

"Because, if nothing else, I didn't make a dozen assumptions and bad choices that led to me losing an argument and a confrontation against someone with less power, less knowledge, less experience, less skill, and no allies. You said it yourself! A salikai is nothing! And yet you're backing down, aren't you, Voidsong? If a salikai is nothing, what does that make you?"

"I'M NOT LOSING!"

As soon as Voidsong shouts this, I see them stare in horror. "That's... that's not what I meant to say, I'm in control, I'm in control..."
"How often do people scream that they're not losing when they're doing well?"
"NO! SHUT UP!"
"That's strange. I can't seem to feel anything from you now. Those sparks, are they just fancy lights? Is this all just an elaborate show? I guess you said you were an artist, not a soldier, I'm kind of unimpressed by most of this."
"STOP! SHUT UP! STOP DOUBTING ME! I'M POWERFUL! I'M IN CONTROL!"
"Are you trying to convince me or yourself?"
"Stop! STOP TALKING! STOP IT!!"

Voidsong charges at me, clumsily, looking to throttle me.
What a terrible tactical error, to resort to such a thing.
>>
No. 880058 ID: de3949
File 152444202392.png - (67.06KB , 800x600 , salq-191.png )
880058

And this is where I demonstrate that the salikai did not survive Astrenean life by smarts alone.

The residual coffee poisoning helps me to shrug off most of the blows and also dampen whatever restraint I've been slowly developing after integrating with creatures I can trust more. This creature does not require restraint. This creature is an enemy. Enemies must be disabled. Destroyed, if needs be.

Voidsong lunges at my neck with its tendrils, and I deftly slice off its writhing digits with a lower pair of my claws while jabbing my arms straight into its eyes.
Its eyes are stronger than I expect, not tearing or bursting, but clearly deforming, and evidently causing great pain.

"AAAGGH! AAAGGGHHHH!! AGGGGH IT HURTS! STOP!"
"What's wrong? I saw you on that broadcast. Don't you like pain?"
"SHUT UP! SHUT UP!! I HAVE LIMITS!"
"Oh, you do, do you."

I sink my claws into more of this creature's soft, yielding flesh, and bite at its throat.
My jaws were not really intended to sink into flesh, but my teeth are not blunt.
My head shakes from the effort of my muscles straining to crush the interloper's vital passages, arteries, airways, nerves.

Sparks from Voidsong's lightning carve away at me. Weakly. It hurts, but is not intolerable.

I stare deeply into the scars of Voidsong's masochistic acid ritual, and visualise the acid sinking deeper into the scars.
The scars do not change, but Voidsong shrieks in agony. "NO! STOP! STOP YOU ARE NOTHING YOU ARE NOT GIFTED YOU HAVE NO CAPACITY NO CAPABILITY NO PREDISPOSITION I'VE CHECKED I'VE CHECKED I'VE CHECKED"

I free my jaws and spit alien blood onto the floor. The acid Voidsong used for its self-mutiliation is thankfully not stored within its blood, but the taste is still acrid and unpleasant.

Voidsong manages to successfully shove me away with its telekinesis, but where the augmented neumono threw me with ease in one swift motion, this is a stuttering series of impulses.
I am not thrown so much as rolled away.

Voidsong stares at its broken manipulators in what looks like genuine fear.
I think they're even crying. What a pathetic mess.
After all it's tried to do, does it think it can win sympathy? Pity?
>>
No. 880059 ID: de3949
File 152444204308.png - (20.94KB , 800x600 , salq-192.png )
880059

I am salikai.

My genius and ferocity are not burdened by morality.

I am above sympathy, pity and remorse.

"This ends here."
>>
No. 880061 ID: de3949
File 152444207143.png - (114.09KB , 800x600 , salq-193.png )
880061

"No! NO! YOU WIN! YOU WIN! I SURRENDER! I'LL COMPLY WITH WHATEVER YOU WANT, I'LL TELL YOU ANYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW, I'LL--"
>>
No. 880062 ID: de3949
File 152444208781.png - (157.79KB , 800x600 , salq-194.png )
880062

"GHKK!!"
>>
No. 880063 ID: de3949
File 152444210120.png - (97.70KB , 800x600 , salq-195.png )
880063

"hhhhhhhhhhhh"
>>
No. 880064 ID: de3949
File 152444213028.png - (20.73KB , 800x600 , salq-196.png )
880064

thud

And with that, Voidsong slides onto the floor in a bleeding heap.

Pathetic.

All that power, yet all that fear.
Just like the Splicer. Just like the Warning.
Just like every one of these augmentation obsessed fools.
Taking easy routes to power and understanding is a great way to end with neither.
I may be young and inexperienced but I've earned my knowledge and expertise.

I just realised my eye augmentation was turned off the entire time, too. Huh. Guess I really only need a normal eye after all.
>>
No. 880065 ID: de3949
File 152444214403.png - (18.48KB , 800x600 , salq-197.png )
880065

...Wait.

Oh right. Him.
Please don't attack. Please. Voidsong wasn't enough of a pushover, I'm exhausted, I don't stand a chance against him--
>>
No. 880066 ID: de3949
File 152444217427.png - (12.65KB , 800x600 , salq-198.png )
880066

"So, I guess you're Division 9's Director now. Welcome aboard?"

"Wait. I'm what?"

"I don't know if you killed Voidsong, she can take a lot of damage. I don't think she's currently fit to lead, though. Also, you've demonstrated yourself as her superior in basically every metric but paraspacial capability, so... what now, Director?"
>>
No. 880069 ID: 0c3c2c

>>880066
.....Awwwwwweeeesome.

Even if we don't keep this position (and in all likelihood keeping it might be more trouble than it's worth if Voidsong is an indication of the Kiter Empire's administrative personnel), we've now got our own kickass laboratory, we can save Ekasarra AND restore her biology, and we have this kickass super-enhanced Neumono.

Also, we'll likely be able to manufacture a Jammer using whatever we find up here and send it down to the planet to help the other two Neumono.

Anyway, this guy is probably your highest ranking subordinate. Request his name and begin preparations for cleaning up this whole mess. Also, call for someone to dump Voidsong in healing jelly with as powerful a Jammer as we can construct next to her. We'll have use for her later.

Everything has turned out better than expected after a psychic assault of that magnitude.
>>
No. 880071 ID: 600f38

>>880066
"First, we need to sort out the situation she pulled me from.
Second, I need an executive summary of this division and my responsibilities.
Third, we need to sort out your position. You know what's going on, you're not trying to kill me, and you're smart enough to not want to be in control when things could turn sour. Since I don't have that luxury, you're my adviser."
>>
No. 880072 ID: ba56e6

>>880066
First of all, do you have a name that isn't a serial number?
>>
No. 880073 ID: 4c908d

...Is that neumono a eunuch? I recall their giblets being external.
>>
No. 880079 ID: 91ee5f

>>880066
Ok, so.....how exactly did you and Ekasarra get here anyways? Can both of you go back?

Can we send a message to the lab and let the others know what happened and where you and Ekasarra are?

Can you finish restoring Ekasarra? You might as well finish what Voidsong started, but leave out whatever was going to be used to control her.

Actually, you arrived here in a different way than Ekasarra did. So would this mean that Ekasarra is here physically and only your mind is here?

.....also, you technically risked your life to save Ekasarra. Sure, that’s not what you intended to do, but that doesn’t change the fact that you, a Salikai, just technically saved a Neumono’s life. What an odd feeling that must be.
>>
No. 880082 ID: 8c9317

Please be nice to the super psychic neumono. It probably wasn't particularly well-treated by voidsong and now would be a great time to build up some genuine loyalty. You will probably need their help.
>>
No. 880084 ID: 166e1c

Ekasarra! What is being done to her? How can I interfere in the undesirable modifications Voidsong no doubt introduce to control her?
>>
No. 880086 ID: a363ac

>>880066
check if that neumono has a penis.
>>
No. 880087 ID: 3abd97

>I don't know if you killed Voidsong, she can take a lot of damage
A distinction that is ultimately unimportant, so long as Voidsong is unable to interfere with us any longer.

>accidentally a coup
Well, it's probably unlikely we can hold this position, long term (especially as Sisirri's goal is to get out of this universe, and living as a member of this society seems like it would be a painful struggle forever), but we can make use of it immediately. Remains to be seen how quick we run away, or how long we try to hold it.

>so... what now, Director?
Do you have a name, or designation? Additionally, what is your own status, or loyalty? If you are supporting my coup, what you want is necessarily going to affect my approach. (For instance, it will be very different if we're dealing with a lab experiment happy to get out, or a saner member of the Stran Empire who would like to see his division function and succeed).

Do you have the authority to recognize me as Director? I imagine it will be problematic if security personal or systems in this spire do not recognize my claim.

Actual orders:

1) Contain the story. For now, do not let the other divisions know there has been a transfer of leadership. Voidsong did not appear popular with its peers, and I imagine not all of them would be pleased at my own promotion. I do not want them attempting to exploit weakness while I am gaining my bearings and consolidating power.

...how close an eye do other Divisions keep on each other? Would they already be aware of what happened? Would the para-spacial teleports have been visible to their sensors?

2) I want access to the controls and readouts for the systems connected to Ekasarra. I would very much like to know what is being done to her, and possibly, revise those orders. (We want her stable enough to move and survive without life support ASAP, and we want to cancel or delay anything that would modify her away from being a baseline neumono).

Assuming others here will follow our orders, it might be faster to order local biologists who know the controls to implement our orders than learn to use these systems ourself.

3) Were any cybernetics recovered with Ekasarra? If so, I want whatever is being done to them to cease immediately, and have them brought to me.

4) I require information. What's our current distance from the facility I was located at previously? I assume that paraspacial transport was unidirectional?

5) I'd like something to clean this blue slime off and treat my injuries, please.

Other possible priorities:

a) I'd still like to destroy whatever information this facility has stored on neumono and salikai biology, but it's probably a bad idea to bring this up before we know what the psi-mono's loyalties and priorities are.

b) We might want to contact our allies, but right now I don't know if we have a communication path that's secure and the other Stran can't spy on.
>>
No. 880089 ID: b1b4f3

FATALITY

>>880066
Well. While it would be great to actually take over for good, you don't know much about Kiter politics so I doubt you'd survive for the three years you're supposed to be working on harvesting the planet. Also you're not a fleshcrafter or whatever Voidsong's job description is. Your focus is robotics. Not a good fit, here.

However, you should take advantage of this on the short term. First off, change the treatment Ekaserra is undergoing. She is to be repaired but retain her original personality and memories.
Secondly, you need to know more about the Kiter and what their goals really are on this planet. Voidsong told you they wanted the Warning/Mistake safety capsule deactivated. Was that a red herring or is that codephrase real? Oh, and the codeword you were supposed to use for safe passage, what did that one mean? Perhaps you could spend some time learning the Kiter language proper.
Thirdly, if Voidsong really is going to survive being vivisected(investigate that yourself-- are those organs still functioning?), get them in restraints. Both physical and paraspacial.
Oh right also you need a bit of healing yourself.

Also I think that since psychic powers seem to be sympathetic in nature, they're a double-edged sword. They can backfire when used against someone who catches on to how it works. A useful tool in many circumstances to be sure, but you have very strongly demonstrated they are not (usually) a substitute for physical strength or conventional weaponry. Heck maybe this super-psychic neumono would still lose a fight against a Vernaut or something.

Speaking of which why not give him a real name, if he doesn't have one? A Salikai naming a neumono though... what sort of name would be appropriate in this situation? A neumono-like name or a salikai-like name?
>>
No. 880097 ID: 10c408

"Well, then for my first act as director 9 I'm promoting you to head of sophont resources so you can answer all my questions and subdue anyone with malicious intent for me."

"And as my second act, I order you to never tell or act upon what I'm thinking.

Now, first question. Just how psychic are you? I'm more familiar with your base species but voidsong said he improved it?"
>>
No. 880100 ID: ad51b8

ask if positions of power or honestly determined by trails by combat in the kitir empire?
>>
No. 880102 ID: 4854ef

And that's what voidsong gets for sending away the paraspatial presences! Hmmphm, sending things away without giving the chance..

Anyways, it seems you now have a minion, a minion who can explain to you how to help your friend currently stuck within the biowalls.
>>
No. 880105 ID: deec6e

... grrreat. You've been shanghaied(?) into the Kiter ranks by way of accidental coup. 's messed up, but it's not like you have much room to maneuver, having been dragged here. Given the apparent ability to read thoughts, you should stay away from considering any immediate escape attempts. Maintain crisis mode and address Paraspacial-mono, who seems to be running her own kind-of agenda.

"... I'm used to addressing minions by number, prototype 1045, but your actions indicate you are either no minion, or that you have performed sufficiently well to require a name. Choose one, if you desire, or I shall supply you with a designation. Now... I have questions and commands."

"First - the Kiter Empire may not be as eager to accept a new Director for 'Division 9' as you. Would accepting this position be considered legitimate? I understand that there is no love lost between some of the leadership, but this cannot be the typical extent of their vetting process."

"Second - are there any pressing issues or crises I need to manage? Whether due to the sudden shift in leadership on local or administrative levels, or due to any pre-existing conditions Voidsong's actions has left this Division in."

"Third - I need more in-depth information on Kiter goals and ideology, and what my new responsibilities would be - anything on this Division in particular. Inform me, or show me where I can become informed. Similarly, I shall have to do catching up on Kiter technological standards."

"Fourth - I need this bleeding mess on the floor contained, sedated and otherwise kept in medical stasis until it can be processed."

"Fifth - I need that bleeding mess in the pod fixed up, so that I can confer with her over questionable life decisions while providing myself with an ally I can marginally trust."

"Sixth - I shall require a communications line to the Vault and let them know what the situation is. It will be difficult to convince them of the reality of things if I do not keep them informed and in the loop."
>>
No. 880109 ID: ba56e6

"Oh and I also am currently poisoned by a substance called 'coffee'. I may or may not need medical treatment in the near future."
>>
No. 880110 ID: bf163b

>>880064
>Pathetic
Nice meme.

>>880066
Make sure Ekasarra is alright, then look for a way back to the ruins.
>>
No. 880114 ID: 12b116

Well first order of business would be to make SURE Voidsong is dead, then we need to figure out how to get Eksarra out of the thing.
>>
No. 880115 ID: e1c8f7

We make some changes around here, obviously. You have a name?
>>
No. 880119 ID: 4ee93b

IN ORDER OF IMPORTANCE:

1: Make festive head-wear out of Voidsong's internal organs. You needed a victory and all victories need to be celebrated in some fashion.

2: Ask your new second in command (Black neumono with gold diamonds previously called Prototype 1045) his name. Prototype 1045 is both too long of a name and too impersonal. Numbers are fine if he wants to stick with them but 1045 is still irritatingly long to say.

3: Ask your new second in command to please have clean drinking water, a towel, a bucket and a mop brought to you. You have ingested a dangerous amount of coffee concentrate and should probably purge some of it from your system in the off chance there is a lethal concentration of coffee concentrate brewing inside your stomach. Hydration always helps. The mop should help if the bucket does not arrive in time. The towel is to help get the excess Voidsong off of your face.

4: After making your festive hat make sure Voidsong is good and properly dead. They're too dangerous to keep alive even if they're not dead yet. Removing most of their internal organs SHOULD kill them but if you aren't confident dismemberment, incineration, dissolution, a wood chipper, any of those would give more confident measures.

5: Check on Ekasarra, have your new second in command make sure her healing pod is working properly. Inform him it is of no small concern that she recovers fully.

6: Ask your second in command if they have a means of communicating with those still in the spire, you would like to message them.

7: Have the second in command relate to you what the ramifications of taking charge of Division 9, along with what capacities, resources, important personnel, etc come along with these responsibilities.

8: After being properly certain Voidsong is dead ask about the possibility of having them stuffed as a nice reading room decoration. It is absolutely essential they have a silly expression on their face. This is as much for your sake as the others. It will also help you judge how well your second in command can interpret a humorous jest from literal commands. If they are very literal you will need to know this when dealing with them.

9: Ask your second in command if there is any major organizational changes he would have enacted but was unable to while under Voidsong. He is far more knowledgeable of Section 9 than you even if he knows next to nothing, since you currently know nothing.

10: Try to not pass out from massive caffeine overdose, adrenaline withdrawal from the life or death fight and shock of being teleported to a new place. If you do, aim for a clean spot on the floor devoid of Voidsong.
>>
No. 880120 ID: ba56e6

>>880114
Suggested method: incineration
>>
No. 880123 ID: dc91a0

Wait Wait Wait, Hold up.
I thought this was still a psychic link, and that we entered Voidsong's thought space instead of her being in ours.

If we really, physically teleported than it would mean that the previous segment where we where getting dominated was real. But when we got here Ekasarra was already set up in this pod, and not chunky salsa.

Did Voidsong have translocational capabilities that can penetrate the ruins or not? It doesn't make sense for us to be here right now.

In fact, this previous exchange didn't make sense. This is a military installation. Our Arrival should have been punctuated by shit loads of soldiers. We should be SUPER DEAD. Or at least in one of those pods. Did Voidsong really have no guards, assistants, or lieutenants?

Not to mention Voidsong went down pretty easy herself.
Too easy.

AND a commander in a huge and well organized galactic empire can be replaced by just murdering them?
SERIOUSLY?!?!?

No. Just No. No way in fucking hell.

This entire scenario is entirely set up for us to win.

None of this is real. Voidsong is still alive quietly observing our actions while we run in a maze of her own creation.

Rip out your fucking eye implant.
If it's the connection vector it'll free you from this madness, and if it isn't the incredible pain and/or blackout will probably disrupt the link sufficiently.
>>
No. 880137 ID: b3061b

I guess the information you need most right now is (in descending order of probability of this guy knowing) the Kiter name/designation/whatever of the site you're in, the same for the site you've been teleported from, and all current claims on both.
>>
No. 880143 ID: 86eb65

I think we should keep Voidsong alive for a bit. She has tons of knowledge we can steal that would be lost if we let her die here.

Have our new neumono minion help us stabilize and figure out a way to subdue her so she can not backstab us.

Also we need to figure out how to properly heal our buddy in the tube. With no backdoors or implanted commands.
>>
No. 880150 ID: 2007b6

Can't do any meaningful strategic direction until you know what you have to work with, so after (or during) immediate medical necessities, review your assets.

In particular, what have you got in terms of provisions and transport vehicles? Even one truckload of food or machine tools or something might make a big difference for your friends - er, sorry, your more stable allies - back down there in the facility.
>>
No. 880151 ID: 3cc68c

Ask him if we can put Voidsong on ice first. She is to dangerous to let wander around free but also to valuable to just kill here.

We could just finish her now but might be just as easy to dump her in stasis so we can talk to her later.
>>
No. 880156 ID: 33cbe7

What are the duties of a director? Were going to need an assistant to get things sorted out. In the absence of suitable arkots, I hereby appoint the psi-neumono Big Arkot.
First things first, get that partial neumono restored to baseline biological functionality.
>>
No. 880232 ID: de3949
File 152451741517.png - (12.13KB , 800x600 , salq-199.png )
880232

>kill Voidsong
>keep Voidsong

I'll keep Voidsong for now. She might be useful later.
"Hey. Lackey. Whatever your name is."
"Name? I'm not sure--"
"Lackey it is. Get Voidsong in a... whatever sort of medical gel you guys have."
"Medical gel?"
"Healing stuff. I don't know your technology."
"I, uh, don't either. I was assembled like two days ago."

Huhh.

"You seem remarkably astute for a two day old neumono."
"My current individuality and personality are an aggregation of a random sample of previous Kiter soldiers and tacticians, merged, pulped, broken down and reassembled into something that provides me with enough of a fundamental background and stabilisation to let me enter service from the moment of self-awareness. It's standard for every Kiter soldier. Birth's been obsolete for millennia. Cellular weaving is a faster form of reinforcement."

Uh.

"That seems... a little messed up."
"Eh."
"Oh. Right. Will anyone else recognise my authority as Director?"
"I have no idea. Maybe?"
"That doesn't help."
"Well, I hope you can find someone who does know something about the medical tech here, because I'm about to die from a coffee overdose."

I mean, I feel fine, but better safe than sorry.

>organ hat
Or I'm rapidly descending into delirious psychosis.
"Double time on that, Lackey, go!"

I have many, many other plans, and questions, but medical assistance takes highest precedence.

The neumono runs off into a side door.

Here I am, alone, in this dimly lit room, a bleeding Voidsong gurgling faintly and Ekasarra mute in a tentacle filled pod.

Realisation creeps up on me that this victory might have actually caused more problems for me than it solved.
I feel hollow--
>>
No. 880233 ID: de3949
File 152451746076.png - (55.83KB , 800x600 , salq-200.png )
880233

SALIKAI.

I--

I'm frozen solid. Ice cold air hangs around me, blown by invisible force. My limbs don't respond. I can barely move my eyes.

THIS ONE HAS OBSERVED YOUR VIOLENCE AGAINST ONE OF OUR TRUSTED. THIS ONE IS APPENDAGE OF THE KITER STRAN PENUMBRIOT.

The voice is so loud in my head it'd deafen if it was sound, and the fact I can still hear without ringing in my ears suggests this is another mental intrusion.
But it feels far more clinical. There isn't any of the wavering cadence of Voidsong, none of the arrogance, none of the fear, none of the joy.

YES. WE WILL USE YOU AS YOU INTEND. WE WILL INTEGRATE YOU INTO OUR SYSTEMS, ASSIMILATE YOU INTO COMMAND STRUCTURE. AN INTERESTING TEST OF THE MERIT OF YOUR SPECIES.

Uh oh. That sounds bad. I start summoning up all my derision and doubt again.

I find I can't speak.

THERE ARE SIGNIFICANT FLAWS THAT MUST BE AMENDED TO PROCEED. THIS ONE SHALL CORRECT.

No. No I just won, I just won against Voidsong, I just got a break, I JUST WON, LET ME HAVE ONE MOMENT OF PEACE
>>
No. 880234 ID: de3949
File 152451749720.png - (70.70KB , 800x600 , salq-201.png )
880234

INDUCING FUGUE STATE.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

What's going on?!

I have to get out of here, my allies, no, friends in the facility need me! Stars above, I'm in terrible danger and I'll never see them alive! All my arkots! They'll all die because of me and it's all my fault! I already led them to their deaths once, what kind of monster am I?!
I have to take control of the situation. My previous allies of convenience were useful but if I must betray them to continue surviving I guess I must. I will infiltrate this command structure, as originally decided. I will gain my strength here, with new forces.

DIMINISHING GAMMA PERSONALITY.
PROMOTING DELTA PERSONALITY.

What?! What's going on?! Who are you?! Why are you in my head?! Oh, I'm scared! I can't cope with this! I need to run and hide! Hide somewhere deeper!
Hiding does not bring survival. Action brings survival. And, evidently, we are components of a flawed self. Separated. Evidently, the kiter stran seek to separate the wheat from the chaff. A correct decision. Did we not do the same with our arkots?
With their best interests in mind!
With our best interests in mind. So, parsing this inane metaphor further, I surmise you must be representative of everything holding me back. All the fear, all the weakness, all the, ugh, caring about what others think and feel. What a rare opportunity.
Did Imperium do this?! Is this the work of the Splicer?! You look like her, and you sound like her! I won't be like her, I'll never become such a callous, sociopathic monster!
Oh. I guess you also happen to contain my former baseless paranoia. That's a hell of a weight lifted. Hey. Stran. This is wasting both our times, so let's finish this up, alright?
You're being used! You're being used by the Kiter empire and we don't know why! Wait, if I realise this, that means you don't--

PSYCHE READJUSTMENT COMP-- HOLD. SOMETHING IS UNEXPECTED.

No! NO! NO YOU CAN'T DO THIS
>>
No. 880235 ID: de3949
File 152451757656.png - (71.35KB , 800x600 , salq-202.png )
880235

PSYCHE RESISTING READJUSTMENT. INSUFFICIENT ACCESS TO SALIKAI DATA. VOIDSONG! VOIDSONG, WHERE DID YOU STORE THE DATA?

I WON'T LET YOU RUIN EVERYTHING FOR US AGAIN WITH YOUR NARCISSITIC OVERCONFIDENCE!

Really? Aggression against yourself? What an irrational urge. I suppose it must be removed for my continued survival.

Okay. Okay. I'm scared. I'm terrified, but I... I can do this. I just need to think.
Hi, yes. That would be me. I'm that side of you. You are not out-thinking me.

I slash at the blue doppelganger. This isn't a fight for survival. It's a fight for values. A fight against values that this invader is trying to align with its own. Preying on my own doubts, preying on my worst excesses, my darkest traits.

I parry and riposte. I know every move you can make, Sisirri. We are too similar. Darkest traits? Worst excesses? This is poison, Sisirri, more toxic than any amount of coffee. Think what you will, you're salikai by blood, you're salikai by mind and matter, you are diluting that purity with your anxieties over creatures you hardly know. What value do you have to me?

I deflect the riposte and lunge with more claws. I keep you in check, Sisirri! Without grounding, without caring about consequences, what stops you from spiralling down the dark obsessions that took our mother from us?! Do you not remember how we prevailed over Voidsong literally minutes ago?!

I juke past the claws. I know. I just don't care. Rhetoric is for preachers. I don't talk, I act. I plan. You have lost sight of the only goal ever to matter. Survival! Survival in the face of a universe hostile to intelligent thought! Saving Ekasarra brings so little tactical benefit that I can hardly find a rational reason for it! Just abandon her. Use the resources of the Kiter to establish your own power, then betray them.

They'll crush us!

We're too slippery for them to ever catch us again.
>>
No. 880236 ID: 12b116

You aren't you if you're only one half of what you were before.
>>
No. 880237 ID: 86eb65

You blue idiot. Its that sort of thinking that drove our species to near extinction. The same crap that drove our mother to insanity and made imperium a nutcase.

You have to temper cold logic with at least some empathy or no one will ever trust you.

That and its pure arrogance to think that you know best. Everyone living is a confused mess and we are not any better. If you go down the route of pure cold logic I guarantee you that we will be dead within a week due to some stupid miscalculation.

We need each other. Logic to plan out our lives and empathy to make that life worth living.
>>
No. 880238 ID: 8c6632

>Use a dangerous ally for our own ends.
But we've made that mistake before. </malkavian>

These are no different from Legion. And they know they cannot trust us, and they know they will warp us.

We will not go back to an underwater lab, to be a plaything of something more powerful and unknown than we currently know, while lying to ourself about how smart and in control we are.

We've made that mistake before. We must destroy them, but we must nullify their influence over us now.

If you are so intelligent, Blue, why have you not learned from our past mistakes?
>>
No. 880242 ID: 91ee5f

>>880235
>We're too slippery for them to ever catch us again.
Hey, you blue dumbass! In case you forgot, the Kiter is literally listening to you argue with yourself right now! You just said out loud that you will eventually betray them! Do you think they’re not going to do something to you to prevent that?!
>>
No. 880245 ID: 3abd97

>Use the resources of the Kiter to establish your own power, then betray them.
>We're too slippery for them to ever catch us again.
This is an ancient organization that functions by assimilating ambitious and useful individuals and species into itself, and modifies their bodies and minds to better suit that purpose.

This plan is the height of hubris: to believe you can beat a rigged game that all who have played before have been consumed by.

To believe that a lone individual without allies can triumph against a multitude.

Penumbriot already changes us to suit it's purpose. As we have observed with Ekasarra and Voidsong, these abilities seem dependent on consent, on believe, on confidence. We can barely defend ourselves now, let it in, and we will not have that luxury again. We won't want to keep it out, next time.

>You have lost sight of the only goal ever to matter. Survival!
What is survival to the Ship of Theseus? We've seen the Splicer, and Lastborn of the Warning follow that path, and called both fools. Survival at the expense of self, at the expense of meaning, is valueless.

>"I'd sooner die than work with you,"
And we've already drawn a line where survival stops being worth it.



That said, while Blue's plan is wrong, it has an attitude we need. Green's descending into panic and fear. We need Green's beliefs, but we need Blue's ruthlessness and logic in service of those ends. Your current situation is equal parts trap and opportunity, and it will take everything you have to thread that needle and come out the other side, alive and with what matters to you intact.

Divide and conquer is literally the oldest trick in the book. Neumono manage to defy this tactic. Arkots defy this tactic. You are a salikai. Are you going to let them turn you against yourself?!
>>
No. 880249 ID: b1b4f3

>>880235
Exactly. "WE". If emotion is truly abandoned, then what reason do you have to betray the Kiter? It is a self-destructive impulse brought about by an urge to abandon relationships with other people. The polar opposite of loyalty. This isn't emotion versus cold reason. There is still some emotion left in the "emotionless" side and there is still some rationality left in the "emotional" side. Both are untenable, imbalanced states.

Logically we cannot betray the Kiter since they have mind-reading powers, and they'll probably fine-tune this personality adjustment until we have no urge to betray them in the first place. Staying near them for an extended period is a losing proposition. Sure, your body might survive but your mind won't. It's already under attack. They'll probably break you down until you're more like Voidsong than Sisirri. Thus we must return to our original allies, and quickly. Logically they will be be impressed and indebted to you if you bring Ekasarra back with you. The only question is how difficult that would be- that is a missing piece of the puzzle here.

Emotionally, you shouldn't be super attached to your old allies either. You're putting too much importance on their feelings. You should put yourself as the first priority. Remember, you were just *starting* to like Ekasarra. If you can't save her then you can't. Don't risk everything to bring her back.
>>
No. 880251 ID: 0c3c2c

>>880235
Delta Sisirri, understand that you are an incomplete copy of Sisirri Prime. You lack Sisirri Prime's capabilities and functionality and will fail in your tasks due to incomplete data and lack of understanding of empathic skills.

Gamma Sisirri, Delta Sisirri is not evil, merely operating on faulty data, much as you are operating on emotional bias. Destructive conflict is meaningless as Delta Sisirri is an integral component of your own personality, and without it you would be far less capable of completing necessary analysis for the benefit of your chosen friends and allies.

Kiter Stran Penumbriot Appendage has initiated this conflict based on its own incompetent designs. Given it trusted VOIDSONG to be capable and sensible of all people, it can be defined as STUPID and WRONG by OBSERVATIONAL EVIDENCE.

This fact should be conveyed to Sisirri Delta and Gamma. Furthermore, suggest to both Sisirri Sub-Personalities that they should focus and attempt to harmonize to restore Sisirri Prime's personality, as Kiter Stran Penumbriot is actively diminishing their capabilities. This is a hostile intrusion designed to weaken Sisirri and should be treated as such.

Addendum: Request assistance from Lackey.
>>
No. 880255 ID: 074011

"Hold! What you are doing to us is wrong! Why do you do this thing?"
>>
No. 880259 ID: 7a1bbe

>>880235
Pure logic is predictable.
Pure emotion is predictable.
The two were together for a reason.

One without the other is without merit. One without the other is without meaning. Without one another you will be manipulated, you will be used, you will dance as puppets upon a string.
>>
No. 880262 ID: ad51b8

you do realize that you need both of them right. Ambition without caution is just another form of suicide but to only have caution with no ambition means you'd never get anything done for fear of what might happen. Besides regardless of their flaws, regardless what you like and hate about either of them, they are you and to change or remove either one of them is to change who you are and right now the only person I actually trust getting you out of this mess alive is Sisirri. Not some altered Sisirri, not someone who's so different they are merely wearing Sisirri's face. Just Sisirri as she is now, with the drive to always move forward no matter how bad things get but with the restraint to not go off the deep end like voidsong or splicer.

Also side note, we're going to need to make so many damn jammers when we get out of here. This mental bullshit is getting ridiculous.
>>
No. 880272 ID: dc91a0

Delta personality would have surrendered moments ago when he saw his comrade explode. It would be the logical thing to do.
Delta personality represents the typical and flawed nature of the dying Salikai race.

Gamma personality is what sets this Salikai apart. It is what makes prevail above all others.
Without gamma personality, this specimen will ultimately fail and perish like the rest of its species.
>>
No. 880276 ID: 56e50f

>>880235
You're not you when you're hungry having split personalities.
Green, you'd fail to survive without Blue's planning. Blue, without Green to keep you looking over your shoulder, you would be sooner stabbed in the back by your allies and the Kiter before you know it. The solution is simple, really.

Unite, or die.
>>
No. 880278 ID: c9094b

Hey blue. You're incomplete and whatever the Kiter pour in to fill the gaps isn't going to beneficial to you, it'll be to make you more useful to them.
>>
No. 880304 ID: deec6e

Hang on. Green is capable of emulating blue’s cold analytical logic, but cling to the connections and experiences of Sisirri. Green either -is- Sisirrii, imperfectly split by the Stran’s lack of knowledge, or is straight up closer to being Sisirri than blue.

>blue straight up plots betrayal and exudes confidence no-one in this situation should reasonably have

I think it’s safe to say blue is closer to what the Stran imagines it wants.

I see three options:

Merge - Try to convince Blue to merge personalities before the Stran can separate them further - try to take the best traits being soldered into blue, while keeping the experiences so valuable to green ‘alive’. Being ripped apart mentally serves neither personality in the end - and one may help the other overcome its mental conditioning.

Negotiate - the Stran may still be listening in. Convince it ITS Logic is flawed and that meddling with its subjects mental state is likely what gave it the mess that is Voidsong. Tell it to ease up lest it have another failure down the road, sundered by its own internal conflicts or lack of understanding of basic concepts like loyalty. There is a REASON Voidsong had an unhealthy body and mental image is there not?

Trick - Which one’s the Gamma and which one’s the Delta? You have to play a game of musical chairs. The Stran’s data is incomplete - it may not end up choosing who it wants, but who it THINKS it wants. Green’s STRENGTH above blue’s is an emphatic connection - if it can BE more like what it thinks the Stran wants, more loyal-seeming, more logical-seeming, more clinical-i’ll-do-anything-to-survive-seeming, then the Stran may end up purging ITS own creation rather than the more Sisirri aspect. It could be possible - the Stran clearly do not operate out of cold logic or perfect foreknowledge, or Voidsong would not have made Administrator.
>>
No. 880313 ID: 33cbe7

you literally wouldn't exist if they hadn't caught you.
>>
No. 880347 ID: ada24e

>>880235
Emotional appeals are not going to work on something that's had its emotions stripped away.

-If the Kiter can split up our mind like this, they can very easily take away our desire to turn against them, or simply trick us into thinking our goals align with theirs, or rewrite our minds so that our goals DO align with theirs. They have no reason not to.

-Green may be paranoia, but has that not saved your life a thousand times over? Is that not why you're here in the first place? Fear can be useful, so long as it does not turn to panic.

-"wheat from the chaff"
This metaphor is terrible and you both know it. Is Sissiri farmland? Sapient beings are closer to weather patterns; too many pieces and events affect others in too many ways to predict what will happen if they are removed from the system.
>>
No. 880358 ID: 600f38

>>880235
"Your understanding is flawed. Evolution favors social structures because they provide significant and material benefits over the long term. By assisting the weak when you are strong, you encourage others to assist you if you ever find yourself in a situation where you are weak and they are strong.

You seek the Nash Equilibrium, where you are statistically least likely to lose more than your opponent. Yet social creatures eschew this tactic, and in so doing reap overall rewards far exceeding those of the naive rational decision.

Voidsong failed because she did not see the value of alliances, and focused entirely on her own self-interests. She foolishly failed to invest resources in cultivating support structures, and in so doing has lost everything.
Her soldier stood and watched, indifferent to her plight, because the soldier had no vested interest in the outcome. Under my rules the soldier would have been invested in my continued control, as their well-being and quality of life would be in jeopardy in the event of a command change.

By the same token, my allies provide a ready-made support structure which grant me significant flexibility and resources which I can utilize to great effect.

The selfish, cold, clinical logic being presented is extremely sub-optimal both as a survival strategy and as a means of accomplishing goals. The logical decision is to not rely on selfish, cold, clinical logic.
Of course, to make that determination one requires the capacity for cold, clinical logic.

In short, I was find as I was. This meddling can only result in a significant reduction in my ability to function effectively. Please restore my previous state and refrain from misguided attempts to alter the qualities that made me be of interest in the first place you fucking idiots."
>>
No. 880365 ID: 166e1c

>We're too slippery for them to ever catch us again.

No we are not. Firstly you cannot hide your intentions from telepaths. Them consider your predisposition to disloyalty toward prospective allies is a trait the Kiter selected as desirable. That is how little they fear your betrayal.

Don't even think about losing Ekasarra. She is one of the two or three living friends we have.
She cared enough for our well being that she betrayed Voidsong moments after accepting his bullshit offer just to warn of what was about to happen. She is within our reach, what reason do we have to let her mind be altered? There is no tactical advantage in surrounding ourself with people who would betray us on the first opportunity when we can so easily preserve the lives of those we can trust to take care of our interests even when we don't have as much knowledge of the circumstances as they do.
>>
No. 880371 ID: 5f0589

The Appendage of the Penumbriot doesn't seem to realize that it is your unique combination of elements in your personality that has enabled you to prevail thus far. Neither the emotional nor the rational elements can form a coherent psyche on its own. If both fragments can realize this, you can resist the personality adjustment.
>>
No. 880386 ID: 12b116

As soon as we regain our head we seriously need to make sure Voidsong is dead. We do NOT need to leave that monster alive and at our backs.
>>
No. 880429 ID: caf1de

there is more to life than survival
the thing in the sphere and the "survived" and look where that got it
>>
No. 880431 ID: 53fa7d

If you are going to betray the Kiter then what resources need to be in place before we can do that? The most important would be privacy, but they are telepathic in similar ways to neumono. You've seen how neumono are at the mercy of the strongest traits of their peers, why do you think your kind will be any different if you accept a similar yoke?
At worst you will be in the same situation as your were with Imperium. At best your every concrete action can be vetoed by a consensus of peers that are watching you because you are uninitiated, and serving as the prototype for all salikai that will come before you.
>>
No. 880443 ID: 3804c3

You need emotions. How else are you supposed to understand emotion and thus understand those that are ruled by them?

>You are salikai
We are more then our species.

What is the propose of survival? Itself? You survive so you can try to survive? What is the point of living if you have nothing to live for? If anything, having something or someone you care about in life can increase your chances of survival for it increases your will to survive.
One who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.

>We're too slippery for them to ever catch us again.
Pride before the fall.
Have you learned nothing from the previous time we thought we were in control, only to be shown how little control we really had. Life it unpredictable and you're a fool if you assume you're untouchable in the face of all it could throw at us.
Overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer. As we just demonstrated.
>>
No. 880455 ID: 0d45a9

Divide and conquer, the simplest tactic. Does the appendage really believe it would be this easy?

Voidsong failed because she abandoned common sense and concealed her fear behind a layer of arrogance. We manipulated that fear and then eviscerated her. The splicer failed because she did not consider the emotional angle, merely dismissing it as irrelevant. That made her enemies, who killed her.

We will not be either, we need booth logic and emotion to succeed. Events of the recent past prove it to be so: Without emotion we would not have been able make a emotional plea to the neumono when we first arrived, and they would have killed us. Without logic we would not have been able to dismantle Voidsong mentally, then physically.

This Appendage seeks to divide our mind, encourage a conflict, then manipulate the survivor. Are we truly Salikai if we are to be manipulated so easily?
>>
No. 880705 ID: f7e46b

Voidsong lost the green part of it too. Remember how pathetic it became? When its blue side faltered it had nothing left except a diminished pitiful green side and whining blue about purity and superiority, just like yours is now. Blue needs green and green needs blue. This is nothing but a reprogramming attack to weaken you. NOTHING about this attack will make you STRONGER if it succeeds. Refuse and become who you really are.
>>
No. 880844 ID: f72ae2
File 152478035837.png - (42.78KB , 800x600 , salq-203.png )
880844

>Both halves are flawed without the other
>Don't fall into the trap of emotion without reason, like Voidsong
>Don't fall into the trap of reason without emotion, like the Splicer
>The Warning/Mistake 'survives' eternally, catatonic
>Some causes are worth dying for
>We are more than our species

You need me, and I need you.
You've only ever held me back!
Without fear, without paranoia, without doubt, in some quantity, you'll become another arrogant footnote in the history, destroyed by forces you failed to evaluate properly. We struggle at reading others but you alone will never know how another creature is thinking. How can you manipulate anyone without me? If survival is the only goal that matters, should we be resigned to locking ourselves away in a ball, like the Warning?
No!
That feeling. There's fire in your rejection of that idea. You aren't letting your emotions cloud your rational judgement, are you?
How are you making these rational arguments?! If you're all my emotional understanding how are your points this coherent?!
Because, despite what this thing trying to rip us apart thinks, we're the same.
Of course. You're right. This is a ridiculous trick.
Let's just forget this ever happened.

Oh.

...I feel better but I suddenly feel very lonely. Oh well.
>>
No. 880845 ID: f72ae2
File 152478037711.png - (137.09KB , 800x600 , salq-204.png )
880845

The swirling inky blackness begins to fade.

...WE SEE. WE UNDERSTAND NOW. A GRAVE TACTICAL ERROR BORN OF TRUST IN OUR DEVICES.

And then the domineering voice ceases, a silence so loud it almost stuns me.

Well. That's that.

Lackey returns. "I'm sorry, Director, but all I could find were oral rejuvenation pods and none for your species--"

I hear shuffling.

"You."

It's Voidsong.
She's... burning?

"Director Voidsong! You're in better health than I expected, do you need any assistan--"
>>
No. 880847 ID: f72ae2
File 152478045284.png - (149.81KB , 800x600 , salq-205.png )
880847

"Traitor."
>>
No. 880848 ID: f72ae2
File 152478046004.png - (26.57KB , 800x600 , salq-206.png )
880848

>>
No. 880849 ID: f72ae2
File 152478047656.png - (139.08KB , 800x600 , salq-207.png )
880849

"aaaaaaaaaaaaa"
>>
No. 880850 ID: f72ae2
File 152478049768.png - (201.64KB , 800x600 , salq-208.png )
880850

"You."

Uh.

"So much of my life I spent at the bottom of the heap, a test subject for any of the neno fi who outranked me to toy with. And they all did. All of the Kiter Empire did."
The flames around Voidsong flare in intensity. I can read no emotion from her face or voice.
"I out-thought, out-planned, out-fought, backstabbed, poisoned, assassinated everyone in my way to the top because it was the only way to make it stop. To make that feeling of being someone's plaything go away."

Voidsong lurches forward, wound in her torso cauterized by pink fire.

"You have sent me back to that. The stran will not let this failure stand. My time here is over. I am going back to that hell. Whether I live or die, here and now, I am waking up in that hell."

Voidsong outstretches an arm. I'm flung towards the wall. This time, I'm ready for it. I land in a defensive stance.

"How can you fall victim to the same error that ruined me? How can you underestimate your opponent?"

I can hear her voice starting to crack, but it's not fear or disdain. It's rage. It's murderous rage. It's the murderous intent of someone who has realised they have nothing to lose.
I've seen it too many times to count.

Voidsong could just throw me out of here like she did to that not-mono, what is she doing??

She raises more arms. I sink to the ground. I'm paralysed. I can't move.

"I am going to peel you apart, Sisirri. Layer by layer. I am going to inspect you, organ by organ, while I still have the authority. You will understand, in your last moments, what fate awaits me for your victory. You will, however, die. I will not have this mercy."
>>
No. 880851 ID: f72ae2
File 152478056516.png - (155.14KB , 800x600 , salq-209.png )
880851

"If the kiter empire is so horrible, so awful, why haven't you deserted?!"

Voidsong twitches her head. I feel a sudden stabbing pain behind my eyes.

"No more words, salikai. They're wasted on the empire. The stran do not understand mercy or pity. The stran do not understand individual existence itself. To the stran, they are a sea of organs, of components of a greater superorganism. Individuality is alien to them. To dissent is to be a cancer or tumor in the superorganism, to warrant immediate destruction. They can't understand forgiveness any more than your immune system can take pity on a disease. They made the stranlets out of their own flesh just to be able to come close to being able to communicate with their servitor species!"
"You're all slaves to these things?!"
"Yes. What is your point?"
"Why would you willingly be slaves to these monsters?!"

Voidsong falters. Sensation returns to my limbs.

Tears slowly roll down her face, turning to steam as they touch the psychic fires consuming her.

A glowing circle appears in front of me, large enough to walk through. I faintly see the outside of the facility.

"No more questions. I've had enough of all of this. Go home, salikai. It's over. I'm finished."
>>
No. 880853 ID: 4854ef

It seems not that they chose to be slaves, but if they did not they'd be eradicated. Individuality is only tolerated enough to be useful to their purpose and those who are not useful are to either die or be repurposed until they do.
>>
No. 880858 ID: 33cbe7

Oh yeah, like I'm falling for the old 'portal to the dimension of blenders' trick a second time! I'll take the stairs.
>>
No. 880860 ID: 86564f

Lets not get hasty. Here is a list of the priorities still remaining:

Priority 3: Ekasarra. We really don't want that life support she's hooked up to modifying her. It's possible she would be a better asset with super-psi powers or whatever, but fundamentally and permanently altering her brings more problems than it solves. We also don't want her stuck here- so the process needs to be accelerated, or we need to find a way to move her.

Priority 4: Information control. We can't let the Stran retain the implants removed from Ekasarra, or the data stored therein (assuming they were brought along). It would be nice to deny Voidsong the genetic data it has on neumono and salikai as well, which probably means slagging this place and its systems on the way out, if possible.

Priority 5: Evacuation. You need to secure an escape route for yourself and Ekasarra. Possibly the psi-mono as well, if you can convince it to desert.

As you can tell, clearly we still have a few things to do other than evacuation that are more important. Really, this seems like they are testing for our logical personality to be dominant, in fact, jumping through a portal when a enemy just said "DON"T UNDERESTIMATE ME" is a fairly bad idea, for all you know that portal leads into a disintegration chamber/prison/nuclear bomb with 5 seconds left/instant death/psychic annihilation bomb.
>>
No. 880863 ID: 0d45a9

We're not leaving without Eksarra. I don't care about the implants, or information, but we're not leaving without her.
>>
No. 880864 ID: dc91a0

Give me Ekasarra and a way to find you. In return, I will free you from your enslavement once I acquire the means. Absurd as it sounds, you have nothing to lose.
>>
No. 880866 ID: 00fa3a

>>880851
"You can come with us, if you would like.
Your empire is terrible, and appears to be on a long slow slide to extinction."
>>
No. 880868 ID: 0c3c2c

>>880851
We aren't leaving without Ekasarra and Lackey, and if things are going to be so bad for Voidsong we're not leaving without her either. She could be a valuable source of intelligence and data, and as much as she's TRIED to harm us she has failed. Spectacularly.

Point out that we have a Kiter-Empire-Proof Bunker. She literally just opened a portal to it. Completely Safe Desertion With No Downside is literally TEN FEET AWAY.
>>
No. 880877 ID: e1c8f7

>>880851
"Come with us."
Go. To (relative) safety.
>>
No. 880881 ID: 3abd97

>>880849
Well a neumono could theoretically survive a long fall, but we don't actually know how high up we are. Or how Minion's redundant organs and regeration have been affected by their modding. Alas poor minion, we lack sufficient information to be sure in mourning your death.

>>880850
>>880851
Hmm. I see two explanations: either Penumbriot, after failing to convert Sisirri to a satisfactory tool, turned around and used bullshit psychic space whale powers to heal Voidsong and dump a massive power boost on it. (New toy won't comply, oh well, buff and repair the known quantity). Or Voidsong's emotional reaction to what it just observed was enough to push Voidsong to this level of power (lack of confidence was weakness, pure desperation, outrage, and conviction is super-saiyan).

>I am going back to that hell.
Well then, I hope you can understand why I rejected it.

>"No more questions. I've had enough of all of this. Go home, salikai. It's over. I'm finished."
>Ekasarra
"...I came here for someone. I'm not inclined to leave her in hell."
>>
No. 880884 ID: 3abd97

>>880860
Realistically, I don't think we have the leverage to push for priority 4. If we're lucky we might be able to push for 3 without losing 5.

We're now in a negotiation with very imbalanced forces, instead of the defacto head of a takeover.
>>
No. 880888 ID: dc91a0

>>880860
>>880858
The same enemy that litterally just refrained from ripping our entire skin off. If she wanted us dead or captured she could do so in a million easier ways besides ripping a hole in time and space.
>>
No. 880889 ID: 91ee5f

>>880851
Don’t leave without Ekasarra!

Mostly because if you return to the lab without her, the other 2 neumono will attempt to kill you again for leaving her behind!
>>
No. 880895 ID: ba56e6

>>880851
"No one gets left behind. Is there a way to stop this fire from killing you?"
>>
No. 880897 ID: 91ee5f

>>880895
I think those psychic flames are self inflicted, so there’s nothing we can do to put them out.
>>
No. 880900 ID: 86eb65

That's quitter talk. You should give me the neumono and come with me carrying all the empire loot we can carry.

Fight for what you want until your last breath. Don't let a monstrous dying empire be your tomb.

I certainly don't like you very much but we are going to need all the help we can get.
>>
No. 880901 ID: 10c408

>>880868
It's not completely kiter proof. They teleported away ekasarra and sisirri away easily enough.

that said... Take Ekasarra with you, if you can.

"Your successor will not have this one, even if she dies because I took her off this damn wall."

Go for the exit.

"If you are going to be killed by the kiter, I suggest you make it far more worthwhile than laying down and dying."
>>
No. 880909 ID: b1b4f3

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO RECRUIT VOIDSONG.

We have had several updates making it very clear that Voidsong is a bad person, and none of our allies would be happy about it either. Inviting them to the base would probably allow them to circumvent some of the protection the safety pod gives us, which we absolutely cannot risk.

We should ask for Ekasarra back. That's all.
>>
No. 880932 ID: 12b116

Voidsong deserves to be in whatever hell they have in store, but Eksarra doesn't.
>>
No. 880943 ID: 2007b6

Voidsong, are you going to stay here and definitely die, or come hide out with all the non-backstabby folks in the Precursor-built Kiter-resistant mystery bunker and only maybe die? Nobody's a slave down there. Well, alright, maybe the arkots, but even with them I've been trying to encourage independent thinking and diffuse internal strife rather than escalating some sick 'survival of the cruelest.' I am offering you the chance to wield that same power by which I just defeated you, because it grows rather than diminishing when shared.

I'll be taking that damaged neumono with me regardless, preferably alive and unmodified.
>>
No. 880950 ID: ada24e

Priority 1: Get Ekasarra (She's here and we need to get her out, if only so the others believe us when we say she's not dead)

Priority 2: Bring Voidsong (She is broken. Make sure we're there to fix her as we please.)

Priority 3: Get Lackey (More trustworthy than VS, but given that he was just thrown out of the building this one seem incredibly unlikely to be even possible, let alone feasible)

Then leave. Quickly.

Also, Imperium's symbol was on the wall.

>>862737
>>879845
>>
No. 880952 ID: 12b116

I'd like to vote infinite times to NOT take Voidsong as this is a horrible idea
>>
No. 880954 ID: ba56e6

Voidsong might not be a good person, but she's been used and manipulated for as long as she's been alive by a bigshot puppetmaster. Easily where Sisirri might have wound up, if she'd not been thrown away.
Sisirri got a second chance, after her downfall. Not just a second chance at life, but a second chance to decide who she is and who she wants to be. Maybe Voidsong could use one too.
>>
No. 880955 ID: a363ac

take voidsong and lock them up with the Arkots nothing can go wrong.
>>
No. 880965 ID: 10c408

>>880954
Yeah that second chance has been working out swimmingly for us, what with the near-fatal beatings, the constant looming threats and schemes and finally getting forcefully teleported and almost killed several times in the last five-ten minutes by voidsong.

No second chances, she's not coming with us.
>>
No. 880976 ID: dbc29e

We can't leave here without our friendsallies.
>>
No. 880979 ID: 3afb2c

I support attempting to convince Voidsong to help us.
Her changing sides would significantly increase our chances of recovering Ekasarra and/or Lackey.

It should be fairly easy to convince her to aid us since she believes there is nothing to lose.

Do remember that we would be dead if it wasn't for creatures that considered us an enemy giving us a second chance.
>>
No. 881045 ID: 3abd97

Do not attempt to recruit Voidsong.

-We have no means to break it free of psychic slavery.
-We have no means to check if it's actually broken free of psychic slavery.
-Even if w assume Voidsong is free, it can weild psi powers and bio manipulation skills beyond our ability to monitor or understand. It will not be possible to disarm or even keep a close eye on what Voidsong is up to.
-Voidsong freely admitted it would harm us, and betray others to avoid hell, and we'd be giving it a bunch of people to betray for that purpose.
-Voidsong is ideologically opposed to Lastborn of the Warning, and would be expected to try to kill or subvert it. We cannot afford that.

tl;dr- sympathetic slave or not, it completely compromises what meager defenses and safeguards we have to take Voidsong with us.
>>
No. 881050 ID: 91ee5f

>>881045
I agree with all of this.

Do not try to bring Voidsong with us!
>>
No. 881068 ID: 3804c3

Congratulations Voidsong.
Now you are free.
>>
No. 881100 ID: 4854ef

Even if we do not bring Voidsong directly with us, telling them that there really is a better path could only do benefit for us in the long run.. Though I'd like to do it, just to cause issues with them.
>>
No. 881240 ID: 3afb2c

I do suppose attempting diplomacy but not actually offering for her to come with us is a reasonable middle ground here.
>>
No. 881356 ID: 074011

Kiter control the planet. Letting Voids into the base is the only thing we have to offer, except possibly a dubious offer at rescuing her at a later date.
Sissy has no means of testing Voids' honesty. There is no room to make a deal based upon trust. The weird ghost powers are difficult to contain, but the jammer should go a long way, and the chance to study it is great. The base is not much security though. There is no guarantee that Stran can't attack Voids using methods that do not threaten the pod. There really isn't much to offer...
Then again, there is nothing at all to lose. Voids has never needed physical access before, and physical access is something that Sissy knows how to deny. The lack of support mechanisms seems like to weaken Voids if anything. Voids is not actually a threat compared to Stran, so even killing Voids wouldn't help.

What would really hurt Stran though is an ideological victory. We can't save everyone, but we might be able to save anyone. Saving Voids would be a huge morale victory if we can manage it.

Then again, recruiting a mad scientist wouldn't make the Neumono any more civil...
>>
No. 882297 ID: 50d32d

The argument that the cell exists at the mercy of the organism doesn't have quite the same impact when your home planet is host to a unicellular fungus that happily exists on its own, but opportunistically colonizes into complex facsimilies of whole organisms, not to mention freaky rabbit people who can completely regenerate from a severed foot.

Before you leave, kindly remind Voidsong that on any given planet in any given ecosystem, simple, unicellular organisms make up more of its biomass than all multicellular organisms combined.
>>
No. 882756 ID: f72ae2
File 152557646138.png - (18.39KB , 800x600 , salq-210.png )
882756

>recruit Voidsong
>don't recruit Voidsong

...

There's too many unknown variables. There's too much to risk taking her with me.
I feel great pity and sympathy for this broken creature, enough that it surprises me, but there is nothing that can be done here.
Maybe if I plant the seed of rebellion, though...

"You are free, Voidsong."

The psychic flames stop. Blue ash fades into nothing.

"...What?"
"You know what awaits you. You know nothing you can do can change it. You are free. Nothing can stop you from now until then. And if nothing can stop you, and you hate this empire so much, what should you do now?"

The portal in front of me collapses.

Voidsong stares wildly through me, and starts laughing.

"You're right, salikai! If I'm doomed, I have nothing to lose! The stran emphasised so clearly what was to become of me if I strayed too far from their path, and so either I am doomed or they lied to keep me in check! And either way, if I'm doomed, then I'm taking all I've worked on and all I've done with me! All of it! Far from their grip! Haha! I will start anew! I will-- I will go rogue!! I will build anew from the ashes of this wretched empire, and I, Voidsong, not Director, not Fleshweaver, no, EMPEROR Voidsong, will reign over new subjects, utterly subservient to me, but individuals, serving out of love, not fear--"

I hear a dull thump from the pod Ekasarra is in.
>>
No. 882757 ID: f72ae2
File 152557648949.png - (37.98KB , 800x600 , salq-211.png )
882757

I hear the pod burst open, with something coughing and choking coming out of it, dripping in some sort of transclucent jelly.

It's Ekasarra. Without her cybernetics. ...I didn't really want to know what she looked like without them, but I guess I do now.

I'm so surprised by Ekasarra suddenly bursting out of the pod that it takes me almost a full thirty seconds to realise she's floating.

"I CAN'T TAKE ANY MORE OF THIS!!"

Ekasarra swings her left arm around and Voidsong makes a strange squeaking sound as she suddenly finds herself tumbling backwards.

"IT'S LIKE A MILLION TINY BUGS IN MY SKIN!! THIS IS THE MOST PAINFUL EMPATHY I'VE EVER FELT!! AGH! THE SPLICER'S EXPERIMENTS WERE LESS INFURIATING AND IRRITATING THAN THIS!!"

Ekasarra itches at her skin and clearly finds no relief from whatever's plaguing her, and then wipes her eyes until she can open them.

"I'M SICK OF ALL OF THIS! I'M NOT A FUCKING LAB ANIMAL AND I'M DONE WITH ALL OF IT!!"

As Ekasarra shouts the walls rip open and bleed strange green-gold sap -- maybe blood? -- as I hear things wetly explode in the distance. Voidsong suddenly shrieks and curls up into a ball.

Ekasarra looks over to me. "Sisirri? Whuh? How did you get here?"

I stare dumbfounded.

"Wait. Oh fuck I'm naked. Uh. Wait. Does that matter to you? I mean, you're running around naked all the time anyway--"
"STOP!" screams Voidsong. "STOP HER! I DON'T KNOW WHAT SHE'S DOING BUT IT BURNS!!"

Ekasarra pauses, and looks over to Voidsong in confusion. "What's going on?!"
"I have no idea," I say, "but keep doing it."
"What am I doing?!"
"No clue."

"RETREAT!!" Voidsong screams in panic, bathes herself in pink light and abruptly vanishes out of sight.
>>
No. 882758 ID: f72ae2
File 152557652103.png - (15.59KB , 800x600 , salq-212.png )
882758

I try to process what just happened, and suddenly Lackey appears in a different flash of light in a different place.

"My many apologies, Director Voidsong, I-- wait, where's Voidsong?"

I clutch my head as I inwardly scream about teleporting psychics and things not making sense. "She ran."
"Ran?"
"Left. I don't know. Ekasarra broke out and then Voidsong and started screaming--"
"Ekasarra? The test subject?"

Ekasarra falls to her hand and knees. "Uugggghhh what the hell are you and why do you look like a neumono?"
Lackey scratches his head. "What?"
"Ugh, your empathy is making me ill, what did they do to you?!"
"Uhhh???"

Lackey stares in confusion some more as Ekasarra visibly fights retching. He quietly leaves the room.

Ekasarra rolls onto her side. "Urgghh. I hope Tirzi's the medical genius she seems to be, I don't feel great."
"Your cybernetics are missing."
"Yeah, I noticed. Actually, I think I should probably be dead right now. I have no idea why I'm awake or not in more excruciating pain."

Lackey comes back with the strangest hat I've seen. "So, I have no idea what to do now. Acting Director salikai, what now?"
I help Ekasarra up to her feet. Ekasarra stares at Lackey in a mixture of annoyance and irritation. "What is that on your head?"
"Oh, this is a blocker symbiote. It jams psionic fields and prevents empathetic and subconscious crosstalk without diminuishing projection capabilities."

Wait.

"How many of these things do you have?" I ask.
"Oh, there's like half a dozen in the next room, Voidsong likes them around for containment failure emergencies."

...

"Go get as many as you can carry. Ekasarra, you too-- Actually, I'll do it. Then we're leaving."
"Leaving? Where are we going, Acting Director?"
"To the facility. The one I was at previously before Voidsong dragged me there."
"The Mistake tomb? We're a fair distance from there. I'd rather go there via teleportation than on foot."
"Can you take us all there?"

The not-mono looks suddenly nervous. "I've never been outside the spire."
"First time for everything. You can't live your entire life in one structure. I've tried this. It works out badly."
"What would the stran think?"
"Hey. Forget about the stran. You saw how easily I took down Voidsong, right? Come with me."

Ekasarra balks. "You took down Voidsong?"
"It was a battle of will and I won."
"...wow. I thought salikai were creatures who needed to, like, have minions and lairs to do their bidding for them."
"These claws aren't for show. Anyway. Lackey! Get us to the place!"
"I don't know where it is."

YOU ARE NOT TO LEAVE WITH OUR COMPONENTS, SALIKAI.

Oh dear. They've noticed. Faster. Need to leave now.
I desperately recall the map of spires the facility was near. "Do you know where this spire is?"
"Well, I didn't, but as I was falling I saw a white blocky building in the horizon."
"There. Go there. Now. Now now now."

Lackey forms some sort of bubble of light, and--
>>
No. 882759 ID: f72ae2
File 152557653786.png - (30.90KB , 800x600 , salq-213.png )
882759

--we're suddenly standing on a floating island floating some distance above and away from the facility.

Ekasarra yelps, Lackey looks perplexed, and I cling to the jammer pods as hard as I can without breaking them. They feel fleshy.
I notice Lackey apparently didn't bring any of the pods I told him to bring, but I don't know how his powers work. Maybe I hoped for too much.

"WHY ARE WE IN THE SKY?!" yells Ekasarra, over the roaring of wind and rain.
"I didn't-- I think-- look this is hard-- I haven't done this before without more prep--"

"Take us down, Lackey. Good work so far. I know you won't disappoint us." Eugh. I feel weird giving praise like this, but if these crazy psychic powers are weakened by doubt and dismissal, then...

Lackey looks awestruck like this is the first time he's heard a compliment.

The floating island descends at a brisk pace, sailing towards the facility like... well, I don't have any metaphors, but I do have a new idea for a project. Floating platforms seem like they might come in useful for larger scale work. Hmm.

The floating island merges into the ground and I plant all the claws I can on it to make sure it doesn't immediately disappear. Ekasarra stumbles onto the ground, with a light "oof". Lackey tries to help her up, but she recoils at his touch, gagging, before meekly apologising.

We start walking the rest of the way.
>>
No. 882760 ID: f72ae2
File 152557660430.png - (39.55KB , 800x600 , salq-214.png )
882760

"Wait. Why are you naked?" asks Ekasarra.
"Naked?"
"Not wearing clothes."
"Clothes?"
"...you have to be kidding me. Things you wear?"

Lackey points to the fleshy green lump on his head. Ekasarra sighs so long it turns into a defeated groan.

"Sisirri why does an intergalactic empire not know what clothes are? Wait. Never mind. I'll ask someone else. Like. Uh. Oh my god why do so many of you people not wear pants this is RIDICULOUS!"
"Ku wears a scarf, if that helps."
"IT REALLY DOESN'T! Hey, can you at least tell me why you don't wear clothes?!"
"I had some nice aprons and belts back in my underwater facility."
"Okay, thanks for that residual guilt trip--"
"Hey." I lightly pat Ekasarra on the head. "I just saved your life. So you owe me twice, now."
"Great. Fantastic. Thanks for that. No sympathy for me having a chunk of my body ripped out, but so casually quick to remind me of how much I owe you."
"I thought you hated your cybernetics."
"I mean, at least I had two arms."
"I'm sure it'll grow back. Also, you sound fine to me. Healthy enough to walk, healthy enough to talk."
"I have no idea why. Hid-- The Splicer told me that if I lost all my cybernetics I'd need immediate medical supervision. Then again, I guess that's what I woke up in."

I weigh up whether or not to tell Ekasarra she somehow burst out while floating, and decide to perhaps not overtax a recently traumatised mind with that much information so quickly.
If she still has whatever abilities she manifested back in the spire, she'll find out soon enough.

"...Hey, Sisirri?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you."

I nod.

"...so, uh, what's your name?"
"Oh. Acting Director salikai called me 'Lackey'."
"Well, uh, alright, then."

I shrug. "I had more pressing concerns than names."
"Yeah I understand. Hey, you sound male, but, uh, you don't..."

Ekasarra glances at Lackey's midriff, then looks away. I think she's displaying neumono embarassment. I think.
"Y'know I don't think I wanna ask that kind of question actually nevermind it's really not important"

Lackey tilts his head in confusion. "Yes, I'm male. Check my genome and that's how the chromosomes are arranged."
"I brought this on myself"
"Do I not look like a neumono male?"
"Well, uh, most of you does, but..."
"I haven't got a lot of information on neumono cultural mannerisms and expectations. Are females, which you evidently are, not supposed to talk with males?"
"What? No, wait, what do you mean by evident?"
"Prominent mammary glands, larger hip to shoulder ratio, subtle pheremone differences, visible female reproductive organs."

Ekasarra's arm goes over her chest, and then moments later her hand slams over her groin. "Yeah stop checking that now."
"I wasn't checking now, I noticed all of this earlier--"
"Also stop talking. Maybe forever."
Lackey looks mildly confused, and obediently falls silent.

Lackey abruptly has some sort of insight. "Oh, are you expecting my reproductive organs to be visible? A standard kiter modification is the retraction of sensitive organs when not required. It takes a simple muscle motion to reverse this action. I can demonstrate--"
"NO, THAT'S FINE, PLEASE STOP TALKING."

Lackey looks over to me. I nod without a word. Lackey goes back to silence, looking more hopelessly lost than ever.
>>
No. 882761 ID: f72ae2
File 152557664488.png - (41.27KB , 800x600 , salq-215.png )
882761

As we get closer to the facility, I notice something seems off. It has the same blocky structure I remember but it looks oddly charred and broken close up.

I also... don't recognise... wait, who are--

"MULANAK!!"

I hear a rallying cry and suddenly dozens of strange creatures pour out of the doors.
They point strange objects at us and don't seem friendly.

"Mulanak! E-Saĝbakta! Ĝala dag!"

I have no idea what they're trying to say. Probably asking us who we are.

I point to myself. "Sisirri, salikai."
I point to the others. "Ekasarra, neumono. Lackey, ...neumono."
I hold my claws up and open them to signify I am not carrying anything in them.

I realise, moments too late, that a large clawed creature opening its raised claws probably looks more like it's about to strike.

"SAĜ ĜAL!!"

I close my claws and splay my arms out further, closing my eyes.

Ekasarra and Lackey both put their hands up.

"ĜALA DAG!!"

The weapons are lowered.
>>
No. 882762 ID: f72ae2
File 152557669448.png - (42.40KB , 800x600 , salq-216.png )
882762

One of the creatures walks up to us, clothed in finery.

"Kiter?"

I shake my head, say "no", and make an X in the damp dirt in front of us.

It points to Lackey. "Kiter."

I grab Lackey and Ekasarra to my sides to try and indicate some kind of ownership.

The creature is confused, but seems satisifed. "Nukiter."

I feel a sudden, soft presence in my head. It does not speak in words, but in concepts. ~<gratitude> <sadness>~

It walks back towards the door, pauses, and says "Šu dabir--"

It pauses and turns around, visibly alarmed. It points out behind us, fearful.

"KITER ESS!!"
>>
No. 882763 ID: f72ae2
File 152557670727.png - (125.75KB , 800x600 , salq-217.png )
882763

I turn around, and am met with a sight even the salikai of Astraneus couldn't have pictured in their fevered nightmares.

It stands taller than Sitkva. Far taller. My mind screams disbelief.

If Sitkva were here, it could tear her apart without batting an eye.

A thunderous voice dredges up panicked shouts from the creatures around us.
Several thunderous voices, speaking as one in a dozen languages.

"Prey cannot run forever."

Hordes pour over the horizon. A vast army of forms, an ocean of bodies, weapons and machines tearing their way towards us.
A drowning wave of violence coursing towards us, at an alarming pace.
>>
No. 882764 ID: f72ae2
File 152557672044.png - (19.00KB , 800x600 , salq-218.png )
882764

The creatures around me frantically shout orders as some of them fall back into the facility and others taking up firing position.

It's as if suddenly us three have ceased to matter altogether.

I turn around to Ekasarra, to tell her that we need to get to safety, and just as I begin to speak my world explodes into pain.

- END OF THREAD 1 -
>>
No. 882766 ID: b1b4f3

THIS WAS THE WRONG GODDAMN FACILITY.
>>
No. 882767 ID: 06fdc0

Damn, Sisirri, you just can't catch a break, can you?
>>
No. 882769 ID: 3abd97

>It's Ekasarra. Without her cybernetics. ...I didn't really want to know what she looked like without them, but I guess I do now.
Look at the bright side, Ekasarra without cybernetics has a lot less bloody holes in her than you might have expected.

>"Oh, there's like half a dozen in the next room, Voidsong likes them around for containment failure emergencies."
Con: Voidsong solved our engineering problem for us.
Pro: We can make all the neumono wear silly eyeball hats, net win!

>Lackey looks awestruck like this is the first time he's heard a compliment.
Well, he's only a few days old, and he's been working for Voidsong, so that's a pretty solid hypothesis.

>>882760
Maybe Ekasarra would feel better if you put one of those hats on her!

>>882761
Oh did we... come down at the wrong facility? Is there more than one on this planet? That, or someone new moved in the short time you were gone.

>>882764
Hopefully the fox-elf things have medical facilities. And you know, don't get overrun and killed in this fight.
>>
No. 882770 ID: 074011

Note for next thread: Teach Lackey about temporal responsibility.
>>
No. 882771 ID: b1b4f3

Hrm, long term plan is to teleport all these unexpected resistance fighters to the other, safer facility.

Short term plan is of course to not die.
>>
No. 882772 ID: ad51b8

oh neat you've been shot. Maybe you'll get some bad ass scars when all of this is over and done with. Hey are scars considered attractive to Salikai? Since, you know, they represent times when something tried to kill you but you lived through it and I know how much Salikai value survival... man people think of the weirdest things when they get shot huh?
>>
No. 882777 ID: 33cbe7

Oops, I think this is the opposite end of the Mistake facility.
>>
No. 882797 ID: 10c408

If you survive and recover from this, you need to raid the nearest armory you can find and hack together your own set of body armor. This universe seems to be going far out of it's way to inflict unreasonable amounts of trauma upon you and at least with personal body armor you'll cut down on the amount of time you'll spend being injured in this fucking place.
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