Encyclopede Expedition
"We... can leave him here, or release him to go his own way. If he'll agree, we can implant some technical knowledge into his head so he can find ways to survive." If they can't wipe his memory, they don't really have a use for him. They can also replace him, although they won't mention that to Lucia Sophia.
"What... What kind of technical knowledge?" Nemo looks at the nearest Encyclopede, a mix of caution and curiosity ruling his expression.
"Mechanical aptitude, automotive engineering, domestic plumbing, early twenty-first century human electronics, using their own calendar, or something similar. If Lucia Sophia can recommend something, we should be able to achieve it. We placed one of your gene-line with a complete background in the farrier's trade in the Sarajevo crowd in July Nineteen Fourteen so we could unobtrusively observe and record a major historical event." That's intended as guarantee they can achieve such a goal, though perhaps it might backfire.
Tales from the Octahedron - Expedition into the Dark
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Earl of Purple
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Re: Tales from the Octahedron - Expedition into the Dark
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Don't run now, my eggs are hatching.
Don't run now, my eggs are hatching.
Re: Tales from the Octahedron - Expedition into the Dark
"Those are fine suggestions. However, I'd like to remind you of what I am and that I am already connected to Nemo's psyche", Lucia Sophia answers to the Encyclopedes, "if it is Nemo's will, I can do a comparable thing for you."
She looks at Nemo. "I cannot guarantee my methods will be any more comfortable than theirs. I'm simply noting it as a possibility. The choice is yours."
She looks at Nemo. "I cannot guarantee my methods will be any more comfortable than theirs. I'm simply noting it as a possibility. The choice is yours."
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Earl of Purple
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Re: Tales from the Octahedron - Expedition into the Dark
Encyclopede Expedition
"I think... I think I trust you more, Lucia Sophia. I think... something mechanical? And... and anything you think someone should know, as well. The Encyclopedes' have... an odd understanding of what someone 'should' know, I think." It's potentially odd that Nemo would trust the entity he's just met over the ones he knows better, but the Encyclopedes have never bothered to hide their alien natures from him, whereas Lucia Sophia looks like a human.
"Everyone should know the mechanisms behind their own anatomy. How else are they to fix and repair themselves if they do not?" Which sounds reasonable, except for the Encyclopedes this would include too much information, such as the chemical composition of stomach acid, and potentially their entire genome as well.
"I think... I think I trust you more, Lucia Sophia. I think... something mechanical? And... and anything you think someone should know, as well. The Encyclopedes' have... an odd understanding of what someone 'should' know, I think." It's potentially odd that Nemo would trust the entity he's just met over the ones he knows better, but the Encyclopedes have never bothered to hide their alien natures from him, whereas Lucia Sophia looks like a human.
"Everyone should know the mechanisms behind their own anatomy. How else are they to fix and repair themselves if they do not?" Which sounds reasonable, except for the Encyclopedes this would include too much information, such as the chemical composition of stomach acid, and potentially their entire genome as well.
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Don't run now, my eggs are hatching.
Don't run now, my eggs are hatching.
Re: Tales from the Octahedron - Expedition into the Dark
"Very well." The lady nods towards the Encyclopedes. "You are free to go now." For the Encyclopedes, the scene fades to black... and then they find themselves back in the archive, just where they were. The party hats are gone and their instruments are unharmed and working normally. The wheel is still spinning around them and golden light flows through the tubes and into Nemo's brain, but the bubble of artificial reality is gone.
VIGIL sensors can pick this up too. The bright light that obscured their video feed has dimmed, allowing whoever is monitoring the room to see the Encyclopedes again.
For Nemo, the dream continues. "This may feel a little weird", Lucia Sophia tella him, "to keep real time requirements of this simulation under check, I have to accelerate it. You will not be able to remain fully lucid during it. It will be bit like a dream where a lot more time seems to pass than really does. Do not fret. It will make sense in retrospect, after you wake up."
Even as she speaks, the scenery around Nemo is changing. Nemo himself is changing, too. He is a child now, playing on the meadows with other children, supervised by Lucia Sophia who is suddenly much younger, perhaps twenty year old or so. Then Nemo finds himself at school, in class, learning elementary math and how to read. It's like he suddenly remembered seven years of his early life, but the thoughts move so fast he can't focus on any single moment.
VIGIL sensors can pick this up too. The bright light that obscured their video feed has dimmed, allowing whoever is monitoring the room to see the Encyclopedes again.
For Nemo, the dream continues. "This may feel a little weird", Lucia Sophia tella him, "to keep real time requirements of this simulation under check, I have to accelerate it. You will not be able to remain fully lucid during it. It will be bit like a dream where a lot more time seems to pass than really does. Do not fret. It will make sense in retrospect, after you wake up."
Even as she speaks, the scenery around Nemo is changing. Nemo himself is changing, too. He is a child now, playing on the meadows with other children, supervised by Lucia Sophia who is suddenly much younger, perhaps twenty year old or so. Then Nemo finds himself at school, in class, learning elementary math and how to read. It's like he suddenly remembered seven years of his early life, but the thoughts move so fast he can't focus on any single moment.
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Earl of Purple
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Re: Tales from the Octahedron - Expedition into the Dark
Encyclopede Expedition
The myriapod scholars gather everything except Nemo and start to depart, pens still and camera silent, as they very unusually don't gather further data from within the Octohedron. Their passive equipment continues to record, and once they depart the structure they begin to make observations. They walk back to their bronze plinth, squeezing so the four of them and their gurney all fit, and wait as the sides fold back up and fuse, the small pyramid then gliding off.
Nemo is appreciative of this method. When the Encyclopedes implanted knowledge, they pinned his eyelids back and used a beam of light to etch straight into his neurons.
The myriapod scholars gather everything except Nemo and start to depart, pens still and camera silent, as they very unusually don't gather further data from within the Octohedron. Their passive equipment continues to record, and once they depart the structure they begin to make observations. They walk back to their bronze plinth, squeezing so the four of them and their gurney all fit, and wait as the sides fold back up and fuse, the small pyramid then gliding off.
Nemo is appreciative of this method. When the Encyclopedes implanted knowledge, they pinned his eyelids back and used a beam of light to etch straight into his neurons.
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Don't run now, my eggs are hatching.
Don't run now, my eggs are hatching.
Re: Tales from the Octahedron - Expedition into the Dark
Well, there is still a syringe piercing into his head, filling his brain with that glowing liquid. Nemo might have a different idea of how gentle Lucia's methods are if he could see himself from the outside.
But, in his mind, the dream continues, speeding through more imagined life events. One moment, he's smoking cigarettes with other kids behind a high school. The next, it's his graduation ceremony, with vague images of his hypothetical parents and relatives showering him with flowers and gifts. Then he is at work, in a laboratory, studying structure of human genetics. These work memories continue for what must be decades. Nemo can't really see himself, but he can see co-workers around him change and grow older. Visions of finding love and founding a family of his own are interspersed in these dreams. Nemo speeds through his wedding and birth of his first daughter among other things.
It's not all pleasant, though. As the dreams continue, a growing sense of dread intrudes into them. Men in black suits, their eyes obscured by sunglasses, visit Nemo at work and ask him questions. He cannot recall what they ask, nevermind what he answers, but they keep coming back increasingly often and in greater numbers. They are after him or his work, even if they keep things seemingly civil.
One imaginary night, Nemo finds himself facing one those pods he saw in Lucia Sophia's earlier recount of the Octahedron's history. Someone or something is growing inside it and Nemo feels like he has committed some kind of grave error or sin. That's when his daughter, now all grown up and in a lab coat her own, comes to him: "Father. Nemo. It's time to wake up. They are gone, and others are coming. You have to leave. Follow the well-lit path, it will take you out. Stop at nothing and do not look back."
Looking at her, Nemo might realize she is yet another permutation of Lucia Sophia. For the first time, he can see his reflection clearly in her eyes - a reflection how he really is, in the real world, sitting in a chair, with the syringe and the tube connected to his head. His restraints have been loosened, so if he lifts his hand and feels around his head, he can grab the device and pull it out.
That is what he is supposed to do. That is what will end his dream existence and release him into the real world. Will he do it?
But, in his mind, the dream continues, speeding through more imagined life events. One moment, he's smoking cigarettes with other kids behind a high school. The next, it's his graduation ceremony, with vague images of his hypothetical parents and relatives showering him with flowers and gifts. Then he is at work, in a laboratory, studying structure of human genetics. These work memories continue for what must be decades. Nemo can't really see himself, but he can see co-workers around him change and grow older. Visions of finding love and founding a family of his own are interspersed in these dreams. Nemo speeds through his wedding and birth of his first daughter among other things.
It's not all pleasant, though. As the dreams continue, a growing sense of dread intrudes into them. Men in black suits, their eyes obscured by sunglasses, visit Nemo at work and ask him questions. He cannot recall what they ask, nevermind what he answers, but they keep coming back increasingly often and in greater numbers. They are after him or his work, even if they keep things seemingly civil.
One imaginary night, Nemo finds himself facing one those pods he saw in Lucia Sophia's earlier recount of the Octahedron's history. Someone or something is growing inside it and Nemo feels like he has committed some kind of grave error or sin. That's when his daughter, now all grown up and in a lab coat her own, comes to him: "Father. Nemo. It's time to wake up. They are gone, and others are coming. You have to leave. Follow the well-lit path, it will take you out. Stop at nothing and do not look back."
Looking at her, Nemo might realize she is yet another permutation of Lucia Sophia. For the first time, he can see his reflection clearly in her eyes - a reflection how he really is, in the real world, sitting in a chair, with the syringe and the tube connected to his head. His restraints have been loosened, so if he lifts his hand and feels around his head, he can grab the device and pull it out.
That is what he is supposed to do. That is what will end his dream existence and release him into the real world. Will he do it?