Vigil

Herein lies the various threads in which our characters live out their lives
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Morty
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Re: Vigil

Post by Morty »

[Khafir's examination]

"I am quite certain." Calm Reed would rather she was wrong about this, however. "I see a presence superimposed over you when I look in the mirror. A faint shadow of something vast."
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Re: Vigil

Post by Rebonack »

[Deciphering Cylinders]

~For better or worse my home never had a chance to reach that technological level. We destroyed ourselves with weapons of mass destruction,~ Geneva says, leaving things at that. ~This kind of issue never had a chance to arise.~

War is a terrible thing.

~The structure only seems to correspond to a single world. Or at least it did before it brushed up against the Nexus. I'll need to run some more analysis on the data I'm collecting from it; the degree to which it's warping local spacetime is complicating things.~

Which isn't too shocking considering what it does.

~There was a... steward? Of sorts? Watching over the structure. It implied that the lantern devices were inhabited by some kind of hostile intelligence. How would you describe the GAIs that you derived from one of them? I understand two of them have been created?~
Last edited by Rebonack on Dec 08, 2022 4:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Ironsmith
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Re: Vigil

Post by Ironsmith »

[Khafir's Examination]

"...I see." Khafir says, after a moment of pointed silence. "And what, in your unbiased, professional opinion, does that imply?"

She's not certain Calm Reed needs the reminder to remain unbiased and professional; the two are very similar in temperament and they're probably already on the same page. But on the off chance, it couldn't hurt to give it to her.


[Deciphering Cylinders]

"Two instances of the one, really." Eun quickly corrects. "LB2 is almost exactly identical to her sister, except for the fact that she's mobile. And... I, um... never got the memo that they were apparently hostile." She winces. If she had, then allowing them to propagate would have been extremely irresponsible. "...That said, I, er... don't really think they are. Hostile, I mean. Both of them are perfectly reasonable. Constantly curious about the world around them, or at least Two is... the original can only find so much in the spare closet of the lab to entertain herself with. Granted, I, er, haven't really let them do enough to actually get much of a bead on their sense of morals, but... so far, so good. I was just in the process of putting a piezoelectric module on LB2 when I got your call. If I'd finished, she'd finally have 'hands' and could help out around base."
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Re: Vigil

Post by Shadowcaller »

[Khafir and Cessie]

"I'm not sure further manipulating his brain chemistry would make him more prone to trust us. At least not in an genuine way." Not even a raised eyebrow at the suggestion though as she knew Khafir by now. "However, there are a few other things you could fill me in on. Such as, how are we supposed to address him once he wakes up? Since I realizes that he has had some identity issues. Which also begs the question if we should let him meet his sister yet or observe him for a little while first. Since I don't believe we can fully tell in what kind of mental state he's in before he actually wakes up."
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Re: Vigil

Post by Ironsmith »

[Khafir and Cessie]

"...I see." Khafir frowns slightly and turns back to her computer. The suggestion she made was perfectly logical, suited their needs, and was feasible given the tools they had. One of these days, she'll understand why that makes her the crazy one. "If you are looking for etiquette lessons, I must again say that I can not help you. But since you mention it, yes, I do believe it would be prudent to keep him under observation before re-introducing him to anybody else, Missus Quire included. It would be better to move forward with as much information available to us as possible." She pulls open a drawer on her desk and produces a manilla folder, handing it to Cessie. "To the best of my knowledge, Niklaus Quire is this man's real name, and these are the details associated with that identity." She continues. "Beyond that, I would trust common sense in approaching this matter. Do not address him by any of his aliases. Do not confirm any information for him that you do not know to be true. Document any deviation from the parameters established in his psychological profile. And if he turns violent, evacuate immediately."

She taps a few keys on her keyboard and stares at the screen. "I will be in contact with Dorota to confirm when the paralytic's effect should wear off. Once I have that information, we can arrange further meetings and the details of when to re-establish contact. I will continue to oversee his... 'rehabilitation', I suppose would be the word, until further notice is given."
Who're you? ...Don't matter.

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Here's to us!
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Re: Vigil

Post by Morty »

[Khafir's Examination]

"Something has stayed with you when you left the temple. That much is obvious," Calm Reed states. She and Khafir are indeed so similar in temperament that you can feel the temperature around them dropping. "What it is, precisely, I cannot speculate yet. And further examination will require utmost care. I feel its immensity."
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Re: Vigil

Post by Ironsmith »

[Khafir's Examination]

"...Belated though it may be, I wish to formally withdraw my claim to immunity." Khafir says flatly. If Calm Reed, an expert, is finding a hitchhiking presence on her, then there is little point in contradicting her. "As well as offer my full cooperation with regards to further examinations."

So much for smuggling the thing behind her eye in for study undetected. Between this and the incident with the brain drive, Khafir is beginning to think she just shouldn't bother.

But, on the other hand, the ability to discuss it openly would be a terrific asset in figuring out what she picked up and whether it was truly dangerous or not. This might be a good thing.
Who're you? ...Don't matter.

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Re: Vigil

Post by Rebonack »

[Deciphering Cylinders]

~This is relatively new information. And information from a narrator that may or may not be providing accurate information. The lantern entity that we encountered in the structure that was INTACT did seem to be hostile; it was attempting to gain direct neurological access to the exploration team. Mia's wards prevented that but the attempt was still made and the entity was clearly upset by the failure.~


According to the expedition accounts Geneva has reviewed, anyway.

~But! That doesn't rule out the possibility that the artificial minds that you've been interacting with will be benign. Since they're new instances they may be 'infants' for all practical purposes. Without the knowledge base available at the archive they might not have any reason to be hostile. I would advise caution and monitoring, but otherwise they don't appear to pose any notable threat at the time.~


Being cautious is rarely a bad plan.

~Could you bring one of the two instances to the lab? I'd like to compare it with the information I'm still collecting from the archive of the structure. And... I think perhaps NOT informing them of the purpose of the device they were derived from would be a good idea. Better to allow them to develop without any contact with a history that's quite so genocidal.~
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Re: Vigil

Post by Morty »

[Khafir's Examination]

"Did you truly not expect this to happen?" Calm Reed asks. It doesn't sound like an accusation, merely clarification. Of course, Calm Reed really is rather good with her poker face... "Is this entity outside your knowledge of these matters?"
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Re: Vigil

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Ironsmith wrote: Dec 07, 2022 6:32 pm [Khafir and Cessie]

"...I see." Khafir frowns slightly and turns back to her computer. The suggestion she made was perfectly logical, suited their needs, and was feasible given the tools they had. One of these days, she'll understand why that makes her the crazy one. "If you are looking for etiquette lessons, I must again say that I can not help you. But since you mention it, yes, I do believe it would be prudent to keep him under observation before re-introducing him to anybody else, Missus Quire included. It would be better to move forward with as much information available to us as possible." She pulls open a drawer on her desk and produces a manilla folder, handing it to Cessie. "To the best of my knowledge, Niklaus Quire is this man's real name, and these are the details associated with that identity." She continues. "Beyond that, I would trust common sense in approaching this matter. Do not address him by any of his aliases. Do not confirm any information for him that you do not know to be true. Document any deviation from the parameters established in his psychological profile. And if he turns violent, evacuate immediately."

She taps a few keys on her keyboard and stares at the screen. "I will be in contact with Dorota to confirm when the paralytic's effect should wear off. Once I have that information, we can arrange further meetings and the details of when to re-establish contact. I will continue to oversee his... 'rehabilitation', I suppose would be the word, until further notice is given."
[Khafir and Cessie]

Cessie nods as she accepts the documents. "Very well, thank you doctor. Since I think that will be all for now. While there has been some hangups I think you've done a good job here." A beat. "-and by extension a good job through your career here." Had to be specific with Khafir.

She makes a dismissive gesture. "Even if that might not mean much to you."
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Re: Vigil

Post by Arkhosia »

Morty wrote: Nov 28, 2022 9:21 pm [Far Too Early]

"It's looking increasingly as if we can only minimize risk so much. Or even just choose which risk we take," Wenomir says, dismayed but resigned. "Leaning on Prime's monumental arrogance does sound like a pretty good bet."
[Far Too Early]

"Agreed. We're going to have to take a risk here regardless. Setting up the jailbreak with an ex-AMEN member would fit well I think, do we have any of those in our ranks? We could probably just use a cover story about being one of their henchmen at the time, too." Finding one of those in VIGIL seems pretty unlikely, but knowing the Nexus it's not impossible.

Thinking further, Blanche rubs her chin. "If he can command control with a recording, is radio going to be safe? And does he need you to hear him for his commands work?"
"Are we living a life that is safe from harm? Of course not, we never are. But that's not the right question. The question is: are we living a life that is worth the harm?"
~Welcome to Night Vale
SliiArhem wrote:Arkh I may be slightly delirious but I don't think that would make sense even if I was coherent.
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Re: Vigil

Post by Ironsmith »

[Deciphering Cylinders]

"I agree." Eun nods and heads for the door, for once reluctant to end the conversation. Geneva is actually interesting to talk to, particularly with regard to artificial intelligence and the like. She's going to miss talking with her for the few minutes it will take to go back to her lab and return with LB2 in hand.

Not that her rolling along isn't fast enough, but Eun wants to make it even faster.

[Khafir's Examination]

"Of course it is. We do not have psychics, tangible spirits, or any other such beings in my world." Khafir replies evenly. "As such, they are a conspicuously absent subject in my studies. I do not know what to expect with regard to the beings of this world that would describe themselves as such." Khafir straightens, maintaining a poker face of her own. Or rather, her regular face, which happens to be freakishly good at poker.


[Khafir and Cessie]

"...On the contrary." Khafir gives Cessie a little nod. "Thank you, Commander Mithar."
Who're you? ...Don't matter.

Want some rye? Course ya do!

Here's to us!
Who's like us?
Damn few,
And they're aaaaall dead.
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Re: Vigil

Post by Hraithre »

[Deciphering Cylinders]

2LB is super excited to go along with Eun. The only other VIGIL person she's talked to was Felicity, and talking about triffids with hee twin sister was starting to get boring.

. . .

Haha, just kidding. Talking about how to exterminate world-threatening invasive species is never boring.

If Eun lets her, 2LB rolls into Geneva's lab on her own... wheels. Her shell is a rather unimposing small, disc-shaped robot. But she's also projecting a life-sized hologram of a human child, golden in color, above her main body. If Eun insists on carrying her, she'll have to make some adjustments on the projection to align it properly with the ground.

---

[Khafir's Examination]

As the conversation goes on, both Calm Reed and Khafir might notice Khafir's reflection acting... off. From the former's perspective, it mostly looks like the reflection is looking at a different point than where it should, in addition to that less veiled, negative emotionality when compared to the real Khafir.

From the latter's perspective, it almost looks like her reflection might bow out of the mirror frame to take a closer look at Calm Reed. This is accompanied by a strange physical sensation - shortly, if Khafir ever feels some specific way when utilizing her farsight, the new feeling is similar to that... except that it feels like someone else ls using it, through her, to look at the room she's already in.
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Re: Vigil

Post by Rebonack »

[Deciphering Cylinders]

The pair will return to find Geneva doing more of the same; hovering in mid air with a constellation of instruments floating around her like planets around a star. She's busy with the not terribly exciting work of getting the whole cylinder scanned and translated so a searchable database can be produced.

The mew turns around in mid air when the visitors arrive

~Oh, excellent! You're back and just in time. I'm sifting through the historical account at the moment trying to glean some clues on how the discoveries that lead to the creation of this technology were made. I'll admit I feel like a mouse trying to understand a super computer without the proper knowledge base regarding HOW these conclusions were made.~

Her attention then turns to the machine along with her telepathic voice. ~Can you hear me? If so hello! I'm Doctor Richards. You can call me Geneva. If not this is another useful datapoint on my ongoing research project relating to the interaction between telepathy and artificial minds. Of course the converse would be a useful datapoint as well but then I'm talking to you so that would be more immediately important.~

She can get a little rambly when she is excited.
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Re: Vigil

Post by Morty »

[Khafir's Examination]

"I do on occasion forget that others come from worlds that lack a spiritual layer entirely," Calm Reed admits. "Of course, this entity also differs from what I am accustomed to. I will try something." The monk places her hands on the mirror and concentrates intensely. Her eyes briefly flash white and the entity in the mirror should become visible to Khafir just like it is to Calm Reed.
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Re: Vigil

Post by Ironsmith »

[Deciphering Cylinders]

Eun did, in fact, insist on carrying her. And since there are only projectors on one side, that makes it somewhat difficult to maintain a natural-looking hologram. The best she could maybe do is compensate and create an image of herself running alongside Eun, taking advantage of her position underneath her arm.

It's not until she gets into the lab again that she finally sets LB2's chassis down, letting her roam around on her own again while Eun doubles over, catching her breath. She hasn't run like that in a long while.


[Khafir's Examination]

"...I would not say that." Khafir corrects brusquely. "The world I come from does, in fact, have a spiritual layer. It is simply... subtle. Angels and demons and spirits and gods are spoken of but seldom witnessed, at least in an unambiguous, verifiable way. There are many who believe in such things, and many who do not, the latter dismissing such things as irrational." She gives Calm Reed a pointed stare. "...In effect, the belief has been all but banned. While no law exists that explicitly bars anyone from believing what they will, should the word get out, they face ridicule until their dying day. Especially if their chosen profession is one built on intellectualism and relies on having a clear head to succeed." She wobbles in place slightly as she stands to look at the mirror, before making the mistake of trying to step forward and faceplanting directly into the floor.

"...I appear to have contracted a case of vertigo." She mumbles nonchalantly. "Perhaps related to this observed presence."
Who're you? ...Don't matter.

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Here's to us!
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And they're aaaaall dead.
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Re: Vigil

Post by Hraithre »

[Deciphering Cylinders]

2LB is very excited, because Dr. Bu is clearly excited. It was hard to resist commenting while she was running, but thankfully, the trip was very short. No need to ask "where are we going? Are we there yet?" two dozen times.

The hologrqphic girl glitches and winks off and on to get her orientation right when Eun sets the robot on the floor. The robot does a little excited circle, the girl looking around eyes wide.

"Wow. This is different!" After taking a note of the floating equipment, she fixes her attention on the pink flying creature. "Oh! Cute! Hello there, little... cat? I want to say cat. Very odd colored cat though..." She reaches out to pat Geneva, though of course her holographic hand has no physical weight behind it.

It doesn't sound like she heard her.

---

[Khafir's examination]

While Khafir falls, her reflection does not. It stays in place, apparently looking at Khafir with some semblance of pity. From Khafir's perspective, it may look the reflection is bowing out of the mirror frame to keep her in sight.

There is an effect of what Calm Reed can see, though. With Khafir's normal, physical reflection no longer overlapping perfectly with the entity's image, it loses all color save for blue, now resembling one of the Octahedron's drawings of her.
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Re: Vigil

Post by Morty »

[Khafir's examination]

Calm Reed will crouch down to help Khafir up, but her eyes don't leave the mirror. She observes the change in the reflection.

"It looks like one of the Octahedron's images when you are not being reflected in the mirror. I wonder if we can communicate with it. Or if we should."
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Re: Vigil

Post by Ironsmith »

[Khafir's Examination]

"If it is capable of communication, it does not benefit us in any way to maintain silence." Khafir replies as Calm Reed helps her to her feet. It's here that she'll notice the discrepancy between what Calm Reed describes in the mirror and what Khafir herself sees, and quickly conclude that her perspective must somehow be different.

Information she will then quietly file away as hers and hers alone.

"Are you familiar with sign language, Miss Reed?" Khafir asks, leaning against a nearby stool to keep from falling again. "That would seem to be the simplest way to communicate with the entity."
Who're you? ...Don't matter.

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Here's to us!
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Re: Vigil

Post by Rebonack »

[Deciphering Cylinders]

Doctor Bu appears to be out of breath, did she run all the way here? If so that would explain her condition. Geneva isn't quite sure WHY Doctor Bu ran here since the current analysis isn't time sensitive.

Regardless! Her inquiry appears to have been answered!

In spite of the projection's insubstantial state Geneva still hovers just out of reach, expertly avoiding the pet. She's... a bit touchy. About being touched. Especially when she's like this.

~Well that answers my question. Or one of them! There are always a few more questions and a few more things to measure. I'm still compiling data on why some artificial minds are unable to receive telepathy while others can. What sort of data processing system is used by LB2?~
Geneva asks.

And then?

She snags a pen and a writing pad, adding them to her constellation of tools. ~I'm going to need to use an alternative means to here since I can't speak verbally like this. Or, well, I can SORT of but~

Geneva makes some adorable mewing sounds.

~It isn't a very practical mode of communication and mewing in Morse Code is a bother.~

Then she holds up the writing pad, which reads: My name is Doctor Geneva Richards. I was trying to communicate with you telepathically. Is it okay if I ask you some questions and run some tests?
Last edited by Rebonack on Dec 12, 2022 4:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Vigil

Post by Ironsmith »

[Deciphering Cylinders]

Of course it's time-sensitive. Eun doesn't want to wait any longer than is necessary to find out what all is going on!

But, after a few moments, she's finally managed to catch her breath to the point that she can talk again.

...Not that she'd really benefit from that, as there doesn't seem to be much of a conversation going on. Just 2LB introducing herself and trying to pet a squirmy Mew.

Oh, wait, now there's a notepad. There we go.

...

She mentally makes a note to try to put together some form of a receiver for 2LB, so Geneva can telepathically speak to her later. Eun isn't sure how, but it has to be possible, right?
Who're you? ...Don't matter.

Want some rye? Course ya do!

Here's to us!
Who's like us?
Damn few,
And they're aaaaall dead.
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Re: Vigil

Post by Hraithre »

[Deciphering cylinders]

The holographic girl withdraws her hand when the floating creature shies away from her immaterial touch. Her face lights up in delight when Geneva mews. "Ha ha. What a funny sound." She looks at Eun. "Do you know what it is trying to say to me? Is this someone's pet?" She gestures at Geneva.

Then Geneva procures a notepad and begins writing. The girl scrunches her brow as she reads. "Oh, you're not a pet? You are Doctor Richards? Well that's a surprise."

She thinks about the message for a moment, then nods. "Oh, a few questions or tests won't hurt. But I'm curious, of this telepathy thing. I have a reason to believe this simulated human avatar", she gestures at herself, "would have capacity for receiving such messages. But my virtual reality is walled off from yours by an electronic shell. As such, it might lack some organic component required for capturing your signal. Or maybe I'm just looking at the wrong place? I can see quite a lot, Doctor Bu made sure of that, but I have not seen a creature like you before. So I cannot tell what you're thinking just by looking."

She is a chatty little robot, it seems.
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Re: Vigil

Post by Rebonack »

[Deciphering cylinders]

Oh!

Questions!

And on a subject that Geneva has been investigating more out of, well, fun rather than as a serious research project. The hit and miss nature of machine minds being able to pick up telepathic communication is fascinating and she's curious what the cause is. Obviously there must be some pattern to it, some underlying cause, some reason why one artificial person can hear her and another can't.

Hmm.

This is going to take, well, the answer isn't as simple. But! She knows exactly what she wants to say.

Geneva begins writing! A second pen, then a third and a fourth, are snagged in her telekinetic constellation and that's when the real show starts. One is writing from the beginning of the message toward the end. One from the end and back toward the beginning. And two start in the middle and begin writing to meet up with the other two. It might look impressive but really it's just a matter of proper mental partitioning. No big deal, really.

When she's done (four times faster!) she holds up the message.
I'm glad you wouldn't mind helping me and I'm happy to talk about the telepathy thing! I've actually been investigating the interaction between various psychic effects and machines minds lately to try learning why some are able to receive telepathic signals while others can't. In humans the telepathic signal will usually cause the neurons in the temporal lobe to fire in response; however I'm not actively targeting that part of the brain. The Nexus has MANY types of people in it with wildly divergent neural architecture and if I needed to understand the neurology of ALL of them to communicate that would be a lot of work! Rather, different brains react to the signal differently to produce a similar subjective experience in each. When you say you're 'walled off' by an electronic shell, are you talking about the machine body that Doctor Bu built for you?
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Re: Vigil

Post by Ironsmith »

[Deciphering Cylinders]

"...Um... Doctor Richards." Eun begins nervously, not wanting to derail her train of thought but feeling the need to, given the context of her bringing 2LB to the lab in the first place. "I'm as curious about that as you are, but... didn't you say you wanted her here to do a comparative analysis? I don't think telepathy itself ever came up in the data. At least not that I can see."
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Re: Vigil

Post by Hraithre »

[Deciphering Cylinders]

"Well, maybe "walled off" is being a bit dramatic. What I simply mean is this: " The girl holds out a palm and a familiar series of symbols appears floating above. They aren't even glyphs, just the pictorial representation of phone being connected to wireless router but the router not having internet connection.

"Since we exist on different layers of reality, the ability of your signal to reach me depends on my physical shell's ability to capture it. Since you are conversant in a human language, I'm fairly confident I could understand you if it could - unless you encrypt your thoughts somehow, I suppose." She looks around the lab and spots the glowing blue cylinder core. "Hmmm? That looks familiar." If no-one stops her, the little robot zooms closer to the object, the holographic girl viewing it with curiosity. "Oh! What luck! If that is what I think that is, you might be able to built an antenna out of it!"
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Re: Vigil

Post by Rebonack »

[Deciphering Cylinders]

Oh, whoop, Geneva got a little carried away here with another project of interest to her, didn't she?

Eun will get a quick sensation of thanks. Not really words. Nothing of the sort. Just the idea of gratitude projected from Geneva to her.

She flips the page on her pad and begins furiously writing again. Before long a new message has been crafted.
We'll need to put a pin in that topic and revisit it later. There are some important tests that I need to run that actually involve that object and what I believe may be a connect to you. If you wouldn't mind, could you please step inside the testing chamber? The inner doors will open after just a moment.
True to Geneva's word, the outer doors of the Bifrost chamber slide open, giving the holographic girl the opportunity to go trundling in. Once she's secured the outer doors will close and the inner doors will open. Geneva isn't planning on employing the dimensional door of Bifrost. Rather, it's just a specialized sterile environment with a whole suite of the most advanced sensory equipment she could get her paws on pointed inward.

Geneva had been taking readings, such as she could, on the lantern at the library when it was active. She's curious to see how those compare with LB2.

Are they the same entity? Do they have the same underlying architecture? Is she a clone of the intelligence they encountered in the library? Or is LB2 more like a child, something derived from the original without quite being the original? Or something else completely?

Hopefully they'll be able to get some answers. That should give them a better idea of potential threats.
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Re: Vigil

Post by Morty »

[Khafir's Examination]

"I have heard of it, but I am not proficient." Calm Reed peers at the mirror intently. "Perhaps we can find someone in Vigil who is..." She places her hand on the mirror's frame. "Can you hear us?" It's worth a try.
Hraithre
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Re: Vigil

Post by Hraithre »

[Deciphering Cylinders]

LB2 reads the note and her holographic projection nods. "Okay!" She zooms into the airlock and then the chamber proper. "As long it's not an execution chamber!", she jokes cheerfully, then suddenly falls serious. "Like, this is not an execution chamber, right? You're not going to disintegrate me, are you? I hope I haven't done anything naughty enough to warrant disintegration!"

The initial scan is less informative than it could be. Mostly, it reveals details of the robot shell Eun made for LB2, such as the over-the-top panoramic camera. She wasn't kidding when she claimed Dr. Bu made sure she can see a lot!

The things Geneva would most like to see exist as software within that shell, as parts of the virtual machine running LB2's consciousness. For viewing them, it might have been handier if Eun had brought LB1 instead - much easier to view them on a laptop screen than trying to piece them together from scans of LB2's circuitry.

But, in addition to the robot shell, there's also the holographic girl - and placing her under closer scrutiny is much more revealing. Firstly, Geneva learns that the hologram is actually a dense constellation of glyphs, the golden glow of the hologram just obscures this from casual glance. Secondly, the glyphs aren't static, they follow the rules of the cellular automaton that is the basis of the entire program. Given her scans, Geneva can almost see how the robot's camera's images are turned into series of glyphs that then interact with the holographic structure. She can definitely see how the changes propagate through the hologram's virtual body, updating it in accordance with its surroundings.

Thirdly, if Geneva digs up Eun's notes on the rules of the cellular automaton, she can find a match between those and the machine algorithm encoded in the cylinder they recovered from the Octahedron. The implication is that somewhere within LB2's virtual machinery, there is homologue to the physical cylinder. Her holographic avatar is a normal light equivalent of the kind of projection that a fully functioning Lantern would produce. If she was a fully functioning Lantern, Geneva might realize, her avatar would not be just light, it would have mass comparable to a real human and at least appear to be made of matter.

If Geneva can get a good direct look at LB2's virtual machinery, a lot more similarities become obvious. She can recognize a spinning wheel at the center of her virtual power generation mechanism, as well as the wiring terminating in a syringe-like connector. Eun's notes may detail her attempts at constructing virtual devices to connect to the syringe, as well as how most such devices were rejected for not being "living, thinking beings". Many other constructs of the cellular automaton are likewise almost identical to physical instrumentation Geneva saw inside the Octahedron archives.

Yet, such investigation would also reveal LB2 is missing a lot of pieces. Even if her machinery was reproduced physically at the grand scale of the archive Lantern, she would only be about one seventh in size. And that's not accounting the mass of cylinders in storage. LB2's virtual memory structure does not have anywhere near the number. Geneva might surmise most Lanterns don't - the archive Lantern is meant to manage memory storage for the entire Octahedron, after all. Other Lanterns may have had different roles.

In conclusion, while LB2 is architechturally similar to the archive Lantern, Geneva can be fairly certain she is not a direct clone or copy of any entity their expedition faced. Her avatar might be a clone of some human, but without information of who that was, any similarity beyond that supplied by genetics is impossible to figure out.

---

[Khafir's examination]

Something resembling a wry smile passes on the blue reflection's face. Then, it slowly shakes its head. No, it can't hear anything inside the room. But it can guess what Calm Reed is trying to say. She might interprete the gesture correctly, or she might not.

In Khafir's view, her reflection seems to fully step put of the mirror, walking a circle around Calm Reed, and then returning inside the glass. What she sees does not make a lot of physical sense. If she can keep her wits, she might be able to realize it makes no physical sense because it is not physically happening. But having confidence in such conclusion might be difficult, given all the crazy things in Nexus.
Ironsmith
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Re: Vigil

Post by Ironsmith »

[Deciphering Cylinders]

Really, a lot of this information could already be found in Eun's notes. But good science is about reproducibility, and Geneva might have access to some scanning tools that Eun did not, so she's not going to object (although if that does turn out to be the case, it's going to be a whole other project for her). What Geneva can't find with a scan, Eun can supply with a data tap, as she knows the design behind 2LB's chassis inside and out. ("Galatea class, version 4.8.2, with a commercial-grade dynamic-scaling GPU. Classic model for hobbyists.")

When the analysis is complete, she turns to Geneva and waits anxiously to hear what she has to say.

[Khafir's Examination]

Well, of course it's not really happening. Khafir remembers having a similar experience in the Octahedron, when she was talking to the reflection of herself. She surmises something similar is happening here; the entity in her head is piggybacking off her brain's signals to define itself. And presumably do something else in the meantime.

"...Allow me to try something." Khafir steps up to the mirror and puts her hand up to the reflection, imitating the gesture she made during her vision. "هل انت وحيد؟"

The words aren't meant for Calm Reed. Unless she just happens to know Arabic, she's not going to know what was said.

The reflection might, though.

Are you lonely?

The exact words her reflection said to her, just before the end of the vision. If this entity was somehow connected, it would recognize the significance of the phrase and respond accordingly. It doesn't even need to actually hear her; she's doing everything exactly as she had the first time around, and it might be able to read her lips (or possibly her mind) to glean what she was saying.
Who're you? ...Don't matter.

Want some rye? Course ya do!

Here's to us!
Who's like us?
Damn few,
And they're aaaaall dead.
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Morty
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Re: Vigil

Post by Morty »

[Khafir's Examination]

"It cannot hear us but it could infer what I had asked," Calm Reed summarizes. "That is some progress, at least." She falls silent when Khafir speaks in Arabic. "Is this your native tongue?"
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