>>34322
What? No! Vresch is a secret, remember? The people in this building excepting probably her are the only ones who knows he even exists. ..Which actually could be used as leverage against him, but let's file that away for later when we know more about the situation.

Really, any kind of cover story at this point is dangerous. Say "it's complicated" or "long story" or something and ask her about this Nihilism Tech Movement. Sounds important.

>>34321
Tell her your there for no real reason. Try to keep the focus on her and ask more questions.

>>34322
Shut it. She said she's here to see RASTIN, which means she knows precisely SQUAT about Vresch. And we're not gonna make a good face if we keep BLABBING ABOUT HIM to everyone and their mothers. SO far, Bicardi and LeVerne are the only humans other than Rastin that seem to know about Vresch.

Coralina!94Ud9yTfxQ 2009/08/25(Tue)00:16 No. 34346 ID: bde1b8
File 125118455980.png - (105.41KB , 600x400 , 40.png )

>Tell her you don't know, or its complicated.
Simple enough, especially since the reason I'm here is because a thousand voices in a tiny glass ball told me it was a good idea.

>Don't tell her about Vresch!
I wasn't going to. He's a secret.
"It's complicated."

"Very well. I won't ask."

She catches on quick. "So, what's this Nihilist Tech Movement about, Remi?"

"Well, everything dies, in the end. Plants, people, animals, you, me. Everything is going to go away, even technology. Everything will die."

"...That's pretty dour."

"You may think so, but the Nihilist Tech Movement is a religious one. We believe that, in time, you will die. Everything you own, everything you love, everyone you love. One day they will all be gone. But we believe in saying goodbye on your own terms."

"...Oh? What do you mean by that?"

"Well, with modern day medical advances, you can keep a person alive for as long as 80 years, on average. But with cybernetic implants, there is theoretically no time limit on life*. The only thing cybernetics can't save you from is Alzheimer's or lots of violence. Right now, cybernetics can only be obtained if you can get a license for them. We're trying to legalize their usage in medical emergencies, one step forward on our battle for total legalization of cybernetics."

"So... I think I'm missing the part where living forever and everyone dies meet."

"Oh, my apologies. I was getting ahead of myself. See, we believe in dying on your own terms, when you are ready to go. We believe suicide is always an acceptable option, and we help people set up there last moments. In fact, suicide should be the ONLY option. However, sometimes death sneaks up on people, and takes them before they are ready. Our movement wants to be able to prevent such tragedies, by helping people to live for as long as they need to to tie up their lives."

*Projections by Neotis lead cybernetics scientists estimate a maximum obtainable life span of 300 years before the brain simply deteriorates.

"You know i could be able to help you with that.."

>>34346
"What of the potentially undiscovered complications commonly associated with longevity treatments? You mention alzheimers, but arent late onset crippling genetic disorders such as -if you'll excuse the cliche- Huntington's disease going to present a problem to any such ambitions? Isn't cybernetic longevity simply a flawed sollution? It is, as you say, only enough to keep a person going until the brain rots. Wouldnt investigation in a method that precludes such obvious upper-level limits be more fruitful long term?"

So does Vresch keep cyborg clones of the people who summoned him for fun or what?

>>34350
You mean methods such as digitization of the brain, or at least its memories and experiences, into data format?
Although then we technically have to ask ourselves if the digitized person still has a soul, or still truly counts as human. It's a rather gray area.

>>34346
That's.. uh..

Huh. Except for the part where it could give Vresch more control over people, that's actually kinda cool.

Although, if it did give him that control, it leaves the question of why he'd limit it like that. Maybe he only has a limited amount of attention, and this method helps focus it on more important people.

But that's probably not important right now. I like this girl. I doubt it'll help any, but it probably couldn't hurt to warn her that Rastin's a pretty dangerous guy. Also, if you're feeling philosophical, ask her if she really thinks we'd be more likely to get our lives in order just because we'd live longer. People do tend to procrastinate, and more time just gives them more opportunity to do so.

>>34353
Who cares? I would say a sentient personality itself counts enough as a soul, wouldn't you? At least to the point where it doesn't really matter. Personality is what makes people people, after all.

>>34355

But this is really bad if humans are becoming technological. This means that Vresch is building an army of humans that will do exactly what he tells them theoretically without question.

He took over those robots well enough.

>>34353
Indeed, this appears to be most logical answer, and one that raises the question of humanity. Can one be considered human, be said to possess a human soul if they are no longer tied to a human body? Even disregarding the spiritual aspect, one must ask how much of the brain, through its damages, growths and chemical processes, make up us. Would a person digitized in such a way - and therefore denied such influences - still be the same person? You know I belive we may be in a unique position here. We should ask our cyber demon friend what he thinks of the issue. After all, he traffics in both souls and computers, he is very much likely to know. Still, as this is the end of the line of cyberization, a path which gives our demon foe much control, perhaps we should attempt to convince our dining companion that more a more biological process is the way. See if we can't get her resources invested away from Vresch's domain and instead deal more with rejouvination technologies and the like; things which don't simply extend life, but more restore youth... as it were.

>>34357
I must agree here, especially on the grounds that full cyberization grants much more influence to a being such as Vresch, though I do wonder as to whether or not a human soul could be considered to simply be their own unique personality. You may be right in that Vresch could know more on the subject.

What are your thoughts, Miss Coralina?

Coralina!94Ud9yTfxQ 2009/08/25(Tue)01:15 No. 34361 ID: bde1b8
File 125118810548.png - (102.42KB , 600x400 , 40.png )

>Technobabble
I don't even know what Huntington's disease is... or digitization... or any of that. I'm more of a mystic than a techie, myself. I understand rituals and spells and all that fun stuff, not machines or cybernetics or whatever.

And I think you're missing her point. Immortality isn't her goal - its dying when you can afford to do so.

>Also, if you're feeling philosophical, ask her if she really thinks we'd be more likely to get our lives in order just because we'd live longer. People do tend to procrastinate, and more time just gives them more opportunity to do so.
"Do you think people will get their lives in order just because they can live longer? People tend to procrastinate a lot, and more time just gives them an opportunity to do so..."

"Well, everyone tires of life eventually. Its only a matter of time. I believe that, given the choice, everyone will choose to die when they are ready."

>I like this girl. I doubt it'll help any, but it probably couldn't hurt to warn her that Rastin's a pretty dangerous guy.
A good plan. I think I like her too, although she is a little creepy. Not that the half blind demon summoner has any right to say anything about creepy.

"I should probably warn you, Remi... Rastin is not a good man. Be careful around him."

"Are you worried about me? That's sweet. Don't worry, Coralina, I'll keep myself safe. I keep a tazer on the end of one of these wires."

"...Awesome." I want one of those.

>>34361
>I want one of those.
Who wouldn't want one of those? Hey, could you summon one of those?
And who's ever really finished with life? There's an infinite number of things to do in this world. Trust us, we know infinity. Speaking of, even if some people did choose to end their lives, plenty of people wouldn't, and it wouldn't be long before population growth got out of control. Then again, your world got bombed back pretty badly, so that wouldn't be a problem for a while.
And you gave us the impression that the world was a post-apocalyptic wasteland with the few living people scattered and scavenging to barely survive, not counting Vresch's posse. Now this girl is talking about licenses and political movements and wearing a taser. Did we miss something, or did you?

>>34365
post apocalypses have a lot more people than you'd expect, I imagine

>>34361
>Not that the half blind demon summoner has any right to say anything about creepy.

The half-blind demon summoner that destroyed the world, you mean?

We haven't forgotten about that, even if you have in your sudden rise to power.

>>34378
Haven't we given her enough grief about it yet?
I mean we've had bosses that have done bad things completely willingly and we cheered them on. This was a complete accident and she had no way of knowing or stopping it.

>>34381

For true, we've given her enough grief about that already.

I wonder what happened to that shard that fell out of us. It'd be handy if we could use it like we did with Muschie and Finesse. Although in all probability if we tried to look through it we'd be wedged in the paw of some random bloody animal, or at the bottom of a ruined sewer under some irradiated crater.

Coralina!94Ud9yTfxQ 2009/08/25(Tue)10:38 No. 34427 ID: bde1b8
File 125122191314.png - (98.93KB , 600x400 , 41.png )

>Who wouldn't want one of those? Hey, could you summon one of those?
No. I have no idea how they work, so any taser I made would probably explode.

>And you gave us the impression that the world was a post-apocalyptic wasteland with the few living people scattered and scavenging to barely survive, not counting Vresch's posse. Now this girl is talking about licenses and political movements and wearing a taser. Did we miss something, or did you?
I think I missed something. Outside of Neotis is pretty much exactly what I described. Remember, I avoided coming here the entire time. I have no idea what to expect here, and apparently I should expect politics and tasers.

>The half-blind demon summoner that destroyed the world, you mean? We haven't forgotten about that, even if you have in your sudden rise to power.
...No, I didn't forget. You make it sound like I should dwell on it always and forever. I fucked up. I get it. I haven't stopped trying to fix it. I'm still keeping you here to help with that. Can we move on?

>And who's ever really finished with life?
"Well, who is ever really done with life, Remi? Wouldn't some people try to just live on, forever?"

"Well if it came right down to it, I suppose we could persuade people to put their life into order."

>>34427
Ask about life in Neotis.

>>34427
And how would you "persuade" these people, exactly?

I actually like this girl's idea, if it weren't for Vresch. But with Vresch... it'll be harder for us to ever throw him out of his position of power if we ever want to.

Also say you're not from Neotis and ask how it is there.

>>34427
What are the religions feelings about murder and killing, if you take away someones life before they have finished there life would that be considered an unspeakable sin or would the killer simply be considered the person to persuade another to end there life.

Wait, what does Remi know about Vresch? Rasitin is used as the figurehead here, so it's possible that she's unaware that the show is actually being run by a technomantic demon - this would explain why she seems unconcerned by the fact that if you load yourself up with too many bionics, you will essentially lose control of your body to Vresch. Which seems like a pretty big risk, really, just to be able to have a better chance of getting your affairs in order.

It may be a mistake to trust her too much. As I've said, if she becomes too full of robotics Vresch will have control of her. Don't think he won't.

>>34451

I think that SHE seems trustworthy enough, although we should probably be a little delicate about her philosophy all the same. If we get her to find out what's going on with Vresch we can probably get ourselves a fairly powerful ally (she seems to be one of the leaders of the remaining human community at any rate). The prospect of Vresch siezing control of your body would basically invalidate the whole reason she wants these implants to be available in the first place, meaning it should be fairly easy to get her on board with wanting to take him down. Having a technologically minded friend would be extremely useful in itself in this kind of place.

We'll want to take it slow though, since as most people are evidently not really aware of the whole magical side of things coming on too quickly will make us look like a loon, and just laying out your hand this early is a stupid move in any case. For now we should just try and work out what she knows and get a rapport going.

>>34459

See there's a big problem here. If not much of the world knows about Vresch, it may be harder to convince her of that than we thought. Especially if it's robing her of what she's going after.

But yeah you said it in the end. Just talk and lay low for now. Don't give too much away.

>>34465

I suppose our ace-in-the-hole for proving we should be listened to is getting the robots to confirm who we are, and reel off all those directives pertaining to us. Also the way they cite this 'Vresch' person.

You know, assuming Vresch doesn't step in and hide them or something. We should probably try to find out the precise extent of his control; does he see them all ALL the time, or does he only cut into them sometimes? The fact that Vresch seemed to be tricked by our eye clip suggests he didn't see us when we rode in, which is promising in that regard.

Coralina!94Ud9yTfxQ 2009/08/25(Tue)13:20 No. 34493 ID: bde1b8
File 125123163397.png - (142.35KB , 600x400 , 42.png )

"Your breakfast, miss."

"Ah! Thank you, LeVerne."

"Would you like anything to drink?"

"Uhh, coffee please. 3 sugars."

>And how would you "persuade" these people, exactly? What are the religions feelings about murder and killing, if you take away someones life before they have finished there life would that be considered an unspeakable sin or would the killer simply be considered the person to persuade another to end there life.
"So, how would you persuade these people, exactly?"

"Well, we could always give them a time limit. That usually makes people hurry up."

"So... you threaten to kill them? How does the movement feel about murder, anyway?"

"Death before your time by any means is a tragedy. But honestly, we don't care how you die, if you're ready for it. Murder is as good as any other, although rarely does it happen when someone is ready to go."

>Also say you're not from Neotis and ask how it is there.
"You're not from...? I've been here for years, and this is only my second meeting with Rastin himself! How did you get in here straight from the outside?"

>I think that SHE seems trustworthy enough, although if she becomes too full of robotics Vresch will have control of her. Don't think he won't.
...I know. I feel like I should warn her, but...

>Just talk and lay low for now. Don't give too much away.
...yeah. This needs to be secret. Also she's wondering how I got in here. I should probably give her some sort of answer.

"Stumbled upon it, asked to come in. After all, it's civilization, kinda. I was surprised it actually worked. Old 'end of the world' shows always portrayed 'last bastion of civilization' places as being run by assholes that wouldn't let anyone in."

>>34493

"One of the robots picked me up and brought me here. I've been here since."

Not a lie uttered.

>>34493
"I summoned Vresch in the first place, so I have some measure of favor in his eyes. Vresch, if you didn't know, is Rastin's controller. His boss."

>>34493
Tell her you're very sorry but you're not at liberty to say. If you can, adopt a strained expression, as you obviously like this girl (not that way), but are unable to go into any details.

>>34493
Sounds weird, but life on a... oh, jeez... "deadline" probably could be better than not knowing when you're going to die at all. A little morbid and creepifying, but not the worst thing in the world, as long as the people deciding how long is "long enough" are under control.

Stick to what you said. It's complicated. But definitely ask her again for info on Neotis. If you're going to take up Vresch's offer, having an insider's perspective of this place - which is, what, the world's capital now? - could go a long way.

"We're on good terms with the establishment here... we were... we played a minor part in the rise to power... we're not exactly proud of it..."

>>34506

It's probably worth asking how you would avoid the risk of abuse on the part of whoever oversees the decision of when people should be 'hurried along'. Might as well show an interest.

I imagine that until the risk of population explosion starts to appear there won't be any need to do it anyway.

>>34493
"I may have known the leader of Neotis before he came to power. I guess he felt some reason to meet with me upon my arrival."

Not a word of it untrue, not a single bit of extraneous information, and NOTHING INCRIMINATING like admitting you HELPED HIM RISE TO POWER (which in actuality, you didn't really).

Coralina!94Ud9yTfxQ 2009/08/25(Tue)14:20 No. 34538 ID: bde1b8
File 125123525279.png - (118.71KB , 600x400 , 42.png )

>Tell her you're very sorry but you're not at liberty to say. If you can, adopt a strained expression, as you obviously like this girl (not that way), but are unable to go into any details.
Well, I can at least give her some sort of explanation, I think...
>I may have known the leader of Neotis before his rise to power.
THAT WILL WORK.
"Well, you see... I used to know the leader of Neotis before his rise to power. I guess he wants to reminisce or something."

"Uhhhhh huh. Well, its about time for my meeting with the bastard. If you ever want to join the movement, or just talk, you can reach our headquarters at 302 on the tram-line. We're right at the drop off point, lucky us. Feel free to drop in any time."

Coralina!94Ud9yTfxQ 2009/08/25(Tue)14:22 No. 34543 ID: bde1b8
File 125123537740.png - (109.82KB , 600x400 , 43.png )

As Remi leaves, she waves. "Enjoy your breakfast, sweetheart."

...Was... w-was she hitting on me? I... I can't tell...

>>34538

Clearly people think that Rasitin is the head honcho, then. We should probably reaffirm our warning about him before she leaves, like how there is a worrying tendency of visitors not to LEAVE again.

>>34543
Would that be so bad, Cori? I mean... she's cute, right?

"I will cutey"

Man, you missed your chance to kiss her. We totally told you to go for it too. Now she's gonna get trolled to death and you may never see her again.

>>34543
>...Was... w-was she hitting on me? I... I can't tell...
Not too bad really. But you can hardly blame her.

Suggestion 2009/08/26(Wed)00:22 No. 35009 ID: bde1b8
File 125127136314.gif - (85.33KB , 600x400 , Idle Hands.gif )

Rastin getting impatient.

>animated!

>>35009
Fuck you, Rastin!

Also fuck Remi before you kill her, she probably needs a good dickin'.

>>35027

Oh good. It doesn't seem like a proper quest without the creepy fuckers showing up.

Suggestion 2009/08/26(Wed)14:06 No. 35111 ID: b61b02
File 125132078959.gif - (221.17KB , 254x135 , Angry Masksalesman.gif )

>>35027
Die in a fire

Squeegy!OeZ2B20kbk 2009/08/26(Wed)14:31 No. 35120 ID: 64d98f
File 125132230516.png - (5.60KB , 83x106 , youdisgustme.png )

>>35027
what the fuck is wrong with you

>>35009
...Dare I ask what he's looking for?