[Deciphering Cylinders]
In Geneva's mind, the golden mew flies around in a circle, scratches its ear with its hind leg and scratches its nose with its front paws. "Meeeeew...."
It does not really know what its function is. Well, it knows it was made to communicate with humans. But it does not know why it was made to communicate with humans. Plus, Geneva is not a human. She might get the feeling that the golden mew could've filled this empty space with a lot of different things, but its reference library is either missing or incomplete, not covering the kind of creature she is.
If Geneva checks Eun's notes again, she'll notice LB1 was in a similarly bad place before Eun gave it a reference library of her own creation. LB2, of course, has had that since her inception. If Geneva wishes, she can grant the golden mew access to all that additional information. It would, perforce, include telling the golden mew of its, hmmm, sisters in the outside world, that it's the third (well, technically, fifth or sixth) copy of the program, so on and so forth. In any case, it's clear that due to circumstances of its creation, the golden mew, or LB3, is a novel and distinct entity of its sister, with somewhat less developed personality at the moment.
It's also clear it cannot enlighten the duo (or quadruplet, depends on how you count) of scientists about the Octahedron on its own. On the plus side, either of Geneva's substitutes running the cellular automaton are now capable of processing the instructions on the cylinder film, so Geneva could view whatever image data is encoded in that film inside her mind, then project it to Eun.
---
[Khafir's Examination]
The entity is really bemused by mentions of all these people that are still unfamiliar to it. So bemused, in fact, that it tries to use Khafir's farsight to look at them for real. Again, she feels that feeling of someone else trying to use her ability, even if she herself sees nothing. The entity does not find these people - it is not, yet, good enough at directing Khafir's sight towards places that are only familiar to her, but not to it.
Its efforts are, once more, visible to Calm Reed in the delay before it manages to sign a reply to her.
"I see through the eyes of your compatriot", the reply goes, "and her eyes sees a lot. A lot I do not understand yet. It is both a boon and a bane. A boon, as it allows me to learn more rapidly than I could otherwise. A bane, as it makes it... hard to stay rooted in this time and place. This world is... curious. You two are unusual for humans, and this world itself is unusual compared to many others. It like plunging into water during dark, thinking you have stumbled on a mere puddle, but when the dawn comes, you see that it is the ocean instead."
Vigil
Re: Vigil
[Deciphering Cylinders]
The dreaming Geneva isn't quite so jittery as her companion here in a featureless void. Being calm and collected is always an important skill when your psionic abilities are directly linked to your emotional state. And while Geneva's psionics aren't active at the moment that mental discipline doesn't just go away. With the lantern construct somewhat at a loss, Geneva provides a little bit of context.
First?
What she is.
A mew.
A creature considered a mirage by most of the general population. For good reason. A mew can casually mimic the genetic information of other organisms and alter its physical form to match them. Combined with their natural psionic abilities and peerless ability to learn new skills this makes it relatively easy for them to integrate into populations. Common knowledge would say they're rare, but that isn't quite accurate. Revealing themselves is rare.
Geneva's mother was a mew. As was her grandmother. And great-grandmother. All the way back in an unbroken chain of bioform mimics into the early Cambrian period. Geneva's father was human, as were her siblings. As were all the other humans who lived in the Vault that Geneva grew up in. The Vault's atrium materializes around them as Geneva leans into the lucid dream a little harder. To create a more comfortable sharing space.
The atrium is a pleasant place for the inhabitants of the Vault to meet and mingle, though Geneva isn't populating it. Not yet. Just an open space of structural pillars, tables, and plants under soft artificial lighting. This is a place of mostly good memories. And a deep trauma buried under careful mental discipline. Those memories of the atrium aren't being shared. For now it's just a place of peace and tranquility.
Geneva perches on the back of one of the chairs. "Mew? Mew mew, mew meeeew."
She wants to know if these surroundings are a little more acceptable. And she thinks the golden mew is doing a good job of communicating, even if her neural architecture is quite a bit different from a human's. Geneva has spent quite a bit of her life interacting with humans; living as one, really. So that might be serving as a bridge in their mutual understanding.
Also?
The dreaming Geneva gives a mental ping of sorts, leaving a carefully construction information packet for the awake Geneva to collect.
Which means on the outside-
~It appears as though LB-M lacks the reference library you created for LB-1 and LB-2 inherited,~ Geneva observes as she picks up the information her substitute has relayed to her. ~I've filled LB-M in with some relevant biological information since she's manifesting in the shared dream space as another mew. Which is fascinating! Given this program includes the information needed to construct a human avatar it's interesting that it appears to have modified that avatar to better interact with the organism it's interfaced with. We could supply her with the reference library you assembled for LB-1. Or we could provide information to her in a more controlled fashion. She doesn't seem to be aware of WHAT her functional purpose is, aside from communicating with humans.~
The Geneva sitting in the little chair running the simulation, meanwhile, begins searching through the cylinder archive for instructions on the purpose behind the LB's communication with humans. What are they meant to be an interface for? What information she manages to discover will in turn be displayed for the others in the room. What IS the purpose of the LBs?
The dreaming Geneva isn't quite so jittery as her companion here in a featureless void. Being calm and collected is always an important skill when your psionic abilities are directly linked to your emotional state. And while Geneva's psionics aren't active at the moment that mental discipline doesn't just go away. With the lantern construct somewhat at a loss, Geneva provides a little bit of context.
First?
What she is.
A mew.
A creature considered a mirage by most of the general population. For good reason. A mew can casually mimic the genetic information of other organisms and alter its physical form to match them. Combined with their natural psionic abilities and peerless ability to learn new skills this makes it relatively easy for them to integrate into populations. Common knowledge would say they're rare, but that isn't quite accurate. Revealing themselves is rare.
Geneva's mother was a mew. As was her grandmother. And great-grandmother. All the way back in an unbroken chain of bioform mimics into the early Cambrian period. Geneva's father was human, as were her siblings. As were all the other humans who lived in the Vault that Geneva grew up in. The Vault's atrium materializes around them as Geneva leans into the lucid dream a little harder. To create a more comfortable sharing space.
The atrium is a pleasant place for the inhabitants of the Vault to meet and mingle, though Geneva isn't populating it. Not yet. Just an open space of structural pillars, tables, and plants under soft artificial lighting. This is a place of mostly good memories. And a deep trauma buried under careful mental discipline. Those memories of the atrium aren't being shared. For now it's just a place of peace and tranquility.
Geneva perches on the back of one of the chairs. "Mew? Mew mew, mew meeeew."
She wants to know if these surroundings are a little more acceptable. And she thinks the golden mew is doing a good job of communicating, even if her neural architecture is quite a bit different from a human's. Geneva has spent quite a bit of her life interacting with humans; living as one, really. So that might be serving as a bridge in their mutual understanding.
Also?
The dreaming Geneva gives a mental ping of sorts, leaving a carefully construction information packet for the awake Geneva to collect.
Which means on the outside-
~It appears as though LB-M lacks the reference library you created for LB-1 and LB-2 inherited,~ Geneva observes as she picks up the information her substitute has relayed to her. ~I've filled LB-M in with some relevant biological information since she's manifesting in the shared dream space as another mew. Which is fascinating! Given this program includes the information needed to construct a human avatar it's interesting that it appears to have modified that avatar to better interact with the organism it's interfaced with. We could supply her with the reference library you assembled for LB-1. Or we could provide information to her in a more controlled fashion. She doesn't seem to be aware of WHAT her functional purpose is, aside from communicating with humans.~
The Geneva sitting in the little chair running the simulation, meanwhile, begins searching through the cylinder archive for instructions on the purpose behind the LB's communication with humans. What are they meant to be an interface for? What information she manages to discover will in turn be displayed for the others in the room. What IS the purpose of the LBs?
Re: Vigil
[Far Too Early]
Magtok sighs, and picks his head up, blinking a few times to try to shake the tiredness out of his eyes as he shifts in his chair and shakes his head.
"Prime's from before AMEN, radio isn't safe, and you do need to hear him, yes. I would suggest finding a way to filter the exact timbre and pitch of his voice. Maybe I can give one of your people the recording and have them design headphones that only block out Prime, I don't know. Preferably something you could put together and use immediately, because every minute of Prime loose could be another dozen innocent people enslaved to his will," our cyborg explains, reaching into his sleeve and pulling out an energy drink can. Rather than sip from it, he just stares the thing down, as if struggling to will himself to consume such a foul-tasting beverage, to bring the wretched thing to his lips for the continued survival of this strategy meeting and for the good of Nexuskind.
"In case I'm underselling the magnitude of this threat, imagine that psychic guy who used to sit in one of these chairs, back when this was Watchtower. Now give him the ability to hop between bodies, and a voice that compels everyone who hears it to do whatever he wants. If I had that kind of power, I would think I was a god. An untouchable, perfect, unstoppable God-Emperor. If you've saved any sort of secret weapon or superpower for that guy going completely insane, I'd consider bringing it out for this."
► SHOW SPOILER
"Prime's from before AMEN, radio isn't safe, and you do need to hear him, yes. I would suggest finding a way to filter the exact timbre and pitch of his voice. Maybe I can give one of your people the recording and have them design headphones that only block out Prime, I don't know. Preferably something you could put together and use immediately, because every minute of Prime loose could be another dozen innocent people enslaved to his will," our cyborg explains, reaching into his sleeve and pulling out an energy drink can. Rather than sip from it, he just stares the thing down, as if struggling to will himself to consume such a foul-tasting beverage, to bring the wretched thing to his lips for the continued survival of this strategy meeting and for the good of Nexuskind.
"In case I'm underselling the magnitude of this threat, imagine that psychic guy who used to sit in one of these chairs, back when this was Watchtower. Now give him the ability to hop between bodies, and a voice that compels everyone who hears it to do whatever he wants. If I had that kind of power, I would think I was a god. An untouchable, perfect, unstoppable God-Emperor. If you've saved any sort of secret weapon or superpower for that guy going completely insane, I'd consider bringing it out for this."
"You probably found 'How to Survive a Robot Uprising' in the humor section. Let's just hope that is where it belongs."
-Daniel H. Wilson
Re: Vigil
[Deciphering Cylinders]
"Reference... oh." Eun's cheeks go a little dark. In hindsight, yes, feeding that much data into an unknown AI was kind of... not smart. "Yeah. That. I suppose that's... probably a pretty clear indicator that she's not going to do anything too extreme just yet. And since she's just supposed to be communicating..." Eun taps her Hotbox and produces a little thumb drive, handing it over to the control Geneva. "...Maybe we should go on and help her with that."
The thumb drive, of course, contains a copy of the library she made for the other two Lightbearers. It would certainly be interesting to see what an AI that has hands would do with that information.
"Reference... oh." Eun's cheeks go a little dark. In hindsight, yes, feeding that much data into an unknown AI was kind of... not smart. "Yeah. That. I suppose that's... probably a pretty clear indicator that she's not going to do anything too extreme just yet. And since she's just supposed to be communicating..." Eun taps her Hotbox and produces a little thumb drive, handing it over to the control Geneva. "...Maybe we should go on and help her with that."
The thumb drive, of course, contains a copy of the library she made for the other two Lightbearers. It would certainly be interesting to see what an AI that has hands would do with that information.
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.
Want some rye? Course ya do!
Here's to us!
Who's like us?
Damn few,
And they're aaaaall dead.
Re: Vigil
[Deciphering Cylinder]
The golden mew flies around the imagined atrium, observing it curiously. It is a familiar style of structure, even if technically it has never been to such a place before.
"Mew! Mew mew!"
The additional information on what a "mew" is also appreciated. The golden mew, or LB-M, did not have a genetic template for a mew stored, unlike (Geneva could tell) what LB1 and LB2 had for humans. Instead, it constructed its appearance and abilities simply by mirroring Geneva's psychic self-image. As such, "under the hood" LB-M bears less resemblance to a real mew, than LB2 bears to a real human. With the additional context, it may be able to better mimic what a real mew can do, but how it will do those things might be different.
Meanwhile, Geneva's other substitute begins playing imagery from the cylinder record. Sadly, it proves to not have anything directly on construction or purpose of Lanterns. What it has, it seems, is dialogue. It is not clear if it is allegorical, or a straight historical record:
The dialogue seems to take place in a dark amphitheater or parliament. Geneva can see several silhouettes, standing before what might be heraldry. She can make out the shape of an eagle spreading its wings behins one figure, a wolf standing on its hind legs behind another, a snake wrapping around a rod behind a third, a ram lowering its head behind the fourth, an a fierce-looking human behind the fourth.
"Gentlemen. We are gathered here because we stand at a breaking point", the first figure, apparently female, speaks, "vast majority of humans, billions of people in numbers, have become obsolete. We, here, either directly or indirectly, are responsible for controlling and choosing their fates."
"And what, exactly, do you mean by obsolete?", the second figure, possibly male, asks.
"I mean, simply, that they consume, but do not contribute anything irreplaceable. Whether we measure their lives in terms of economy, academy or even artistry, we always find there is some combination of machinery and people of our minority who can do all they can, and faster, and with less effort", the first figure replies.
"We should simply eliminate them, then", the last figure comments, "those who cannot contribute, do not deserve to live."
"Is that a fair standard to hold them to", the third figure interjects, "when it is both impossible and unnecessary for them to contribute, if we don't let them? Does man exist for work, or work exist for man? Why not simply let them partake of fruits of our labour, when there's little additional cost to ourselves?"
"You speak as if that does not mean the same thing", the fourth figure chastises the third, "simply drowning the Earth in our leftover goods will irrevocably change daily life. Entire cultures will go extinct."
"Most, I dare say all, of such cultures came about as adaptations to scarcity and cirumstances that are no longer relevant", the third figure answers, "what sense is there in withholding wellbeing to preserve that?"
"Have you forgotten? Individuals, always die. Groups, and cultures, may survive. By emphasizing what is good for the individuals, you end up atomizing society and elimating group identities that took millenia to build!"
"But is that premise still true?", the last voice rumbles, "given powers available to us now, it seems possible that we can live forever, or at least as long as any material thing can."
"Yes", the first figure affirms, "but only if you limit that statement to those standing here. Our resources are vast, but they are not infinite. I trust we are of one mind that continuous exponential growth leads to a paradox. If we do wish for some fraction of humanity to live forever, that means putting a stop to that. It means that this generation will literally be the last, or one of the last."
"When you put it that way, is there any reason we have to choose? Can we not just take what we have and leave them to their devices - let them live and die on their own terms?"
"You mean, abandon them to their suffering, after all the technological progress made for the purpose of ending that very thing? Would that not be the most evil thing ever done?"
"I do not believe in sunk costs", the last voice rumbles again, "dragging them this far may have gotten us to where we stand, but it does not mean we have to drag them any further. What is the point of keeping all these people, nevermind allowing there to be more of them, when they produce nothing of worth?"
"Is not existence as a human valuable in itself?"
"Not when it means being but a pale shadow of someone else, with no unique place in the world."
"Which is, again, why focusing on individuals is pointless. Success of humanity can only be measured in terms of something that transcends the individual self!"
"And pray tell, what is that? What is the grand utopia, that is not fulfilling the needs of every person that exists?"
"Gentlemen. Please control yourselves. For while you can argue merits of all the different futures you outline, one thing is for certain: if we can not find consensus, or at least compromise, infighting amongst ourselves has the potential to destroy all of us. We should treat this opportunity as unique - it was not obvious we would ever get here, it is not obvious we will ever get here again if we waste this chance."
"I would say you are correct. But simply restating the need for resolution, brings us no closer to it. So which of the futures would you endorse? Or is there some alternative yet unmentioned you wish to propose?"
"Well. Much of mankind's success, is due to us using tools to make better tools. In recent days, we have turned those tools to making a better man. Many of us were raised by machines - our purpose selected from an ever-dwindling pool, our skills honed, before we were even born. If there is still some undiscovered place for man in society, it would be logical to assume the same process will help us reach that."
"I am confused. Are you talking about the current generation or some future one?"
"Either way, how is it not the same as the very worst of what was already suggested? Either the current generation is eliminated or left to rot, only to be replaced by something with no connection to them - or, we force them into it, crushing their spirits and their culture in the process."
"I admit, it may not be possible to apply my solution on literally everyone without use of force, but I think that is something we just have to accept. Nevertheless, I believe, with clever use of our resources, we can offer even the most stubborn individual a way through the process that allows them to preserve values they hold dear even if, sometimes, that means prolonging their own suffering, rather than ending it."
"... and what would that mean, in practice? Staging entire alternate modes of existence just for those who refuse to fit in? Giving them the impression that we have abandoned them, even when are watching their every step?"
"If necessary. It is within our capability. I would argue it is not a far cry from what we do already. If we are to play gods, let us play the kind that respect free will, if such a thing can be said to exist at all."
That is where the dialogue ends. The silhouettes fade from the amphitheater, leaving it empty. Geneva might realize the construction is similar to the archive inside the Octahedron, just not enclosed yet, and lacking the machinery. Maybe that is a stylistic choice, or maybe it implies the structure was built around this historical location.
The golden mew flies around the imagined atrium, observing it curiously. It is a familiar style of structure, even if technically it has never been to such a place before.
"Mew! Mew mew!"
The additional information on what a "mew" is also appreciated. The golden mew, or LB-M, did not have a genetic template for a mew stored, unlike (Geneva could tell) what LB1 and LB2 had for humans. Instead, it constructed its appearance and abilities simply by mirroring Geneva's psychic self-image. As such, "under the hood" LB-M bears less resemblance to a real mew, than LB2 bears to a real human. With the additional context, it may be able to better mimic what a real mew can do, but how it will do those things might be different.
Meanwhile, Geneva's other substitute begins playing imagery from the cylinder record. Sadly, it proves to not have anything directly on construction or purpose of Lanterns. What it has, it seems, is dialogue. It is not clear if it is allegorical, or a straight historical record:
The dialogue seems to take place in a dark amphitheater or parliament. Geneva can see several silhouettes, standing before what might be heraldry. She can make out the shape of an eagle spreading its wings behins one figure, a wolf standing on its hind legs behind another, a snake wrapping around a rod behind a third, a ram lowering its head behind the fourth, an a fierce-looking human behind the fourth.
"Gentlemen. We are gathered here because we stand at a breaking point", the first figure, apparently female, speaks, "vast majority of humans, billions of people in numbers, have become obsolete. We, here, either directly or indirectly, are responsible for controlling and choosing their fates."
"And what, exactly, do you mean by obsolete?", the second figure, possibly male, asks.
"I mean, simply, that they consume, but do not contribute anything irreplaceable. Whether we measure their lives in terms of economy, academy or even artistry, we always find there is some combination of machinery and people of our minority who can do all they can, and faster, and with less effort", the first figure replies.
"We should simply eliminate them, then", the last figure comments, "those who cannot contribute, do not deserve to live."
"Is that a fair standard to hold them to", the third figure interjects, "when it is both impossible and unnecessary for them to contribute, if we don't let them? Does man exist for work, or work exist for man? Why not simply let them partake of fruits of our labour, when there's little additional cost to ourselves?"
"You speak as if that does not mean the same thing", the fourth figure chastises the third, "simply drowning the Earth in our leftover goods will irrevocably change daily life. Entire cultures will go extinct."
"Most, I dare say all, of such cultures came about as adaptations to scarcity and cirumstances that are no longer relevant", the third figure answers, "what sense is there in withholding wellbeing to preserve that?"
"Have you forgotten? Individuals, always die. Groups, and cultures, may survive. By emphasizing what is good for the individuals, you end up atomizing society and elimating group identities that took millenia to build!"
"But is that premise still true?", the last voice rumbles, "given powers available to us now, it seems possible that we can live forever, or at least as long as any material thing can."
"Yes", the first figure affirms, "but only if you limit that statement to those standing here. Our resources are vast, but they are not infinite. I trust we are of one mind that continuous exponential growth leads to a paradox. If we do wish for some fraction of humanity to live forever, that means putting a stop to that. It means that this generation will literally be the last, or one of the last."
"When you put it that way, is there any reason we have to choose? Can we not just take what we have and leave them to their devices - let them live and die on their own terms?"
"You mean, abandon them to their suffering, after all the technological progress made for the purpose of ending that very thing? Would that not be the most evil thing ever done?"
"I do not believe in sunk costs", the last voice rumbles again, "dragging them this far may have gotten us to where we stand, but it does not mean we have to drag them any further. What is the point of keeping all these people, nevermind allowing there to be more of them, when they produce nothing of worth?"
"Is not existence as a human valuable in itself?"
"Not when it means being but a pale shadow of someone else, with no unique place in the world."
"Which is, again, why focusing on individuals is pointless. Success of humanity can only be measured in terms of something that transcends the individual self!"
"And pray tell, what is that? What is the grand utopia, that is not fulfilling the needs of every person that exists?"
"Gentlemen. Please control yourselves. For while you can argue merits of all the different futures you outline, one thing is for certain: if we can not find consensus, or at least compromise, infighting amongst ourselves has the potential to destroy all of us. We should treat this opportunity as unique - it was not obvious we would ever get here, it is not obvious we will ever get here again if we waste this chance."
"I would say you are correct. But simply restating the need for resolution, brings us no closer to it. So which of the futures would you endorse? Or is there some alternative yet unmentioned you wish to propose?"
"Well. Much of mankind's success, is due to us using tools to make better tools. In recent days, we have turned those tools to making a better man. Many of us were raised by machines - our purpose selected from an ever-dwindling pool, our skills honed, before we were even born. If there is still some undiscovered place for man in society, it would be logical to assume the same process will help us reach that."
"I am confused. Are you talking about the current generation or some future one?"
"Either way, how is it not the same as the very worst of what was already suggested? Either the current generation is eliminated or left to rot, only to be replaced by something with no connection to them - or, we force them into it, crushing their spirits and their culture in the process."
"I admit, it may not be possible to apply my solution on literally everyone without use of force, but I think that is something we just have to accept. Nevertheless, I believe, with clever use of our resources, we can offer even the most stubborn individual a way through the process that allows them to preserve values they hold dear even if, sometimes, that means prolonging their own suffering, rather than ending it."
"... and what would that mean, in practice? Staging entire alternate modes of existence just for those who refuse to fit in? Giving them the impression that we have abandoned them, even when are watching their every step?"
"If necessary. It is within our capability. I would argue it is not a far cry from what we do already. If we are to play gods, let us play the kind that respect free will, if such a thing can be said to exist at all."
That is where the dialogue ends. The silhouettes fade from the amphitheater, leaving it empty. Geneva might realize the construction is similar to the archive inside the Octahedron, just not enclosed yet, and lacking the machinery. Maybe that is a stylistic choice, or maybe it implies the structure was built around this historical location.
Re: Vigil
[Deciphering Cylinder]
A template is, in fact, a bit of information Geneva can share! It's pretty important for a mew to be able to hold genetic patterns in their mind. That's how they Transform, after all. And the pattern for a mew is identical, always. Or at least the core pattern is. What makes them unique is the organism they were born as. Geneva, of course, having been born as a human would be very different from a mew born of a rattatta or a dog or a dragon or any other parent organism. So when Geneva shares this particular bit of information she does some of the work ahead of time for LB-M.
She integrates the human avatar template the entity is already has pre-loaded with the inviolable mew genetic core and provides that hybrid data-set to LB-M. In that way it should be something both new and familiar to her. Something a little easier to digest, so to speak.
Then?
Geneva Transforms.
Not actually.
Her ability to manifest her powers is still sealed for purposes of safety. But here in the sharing space everything is already mental impressions and images. The mew's form pixelates into a mass of colored squares before shifting and changing and finally resolving back into sharp definition again. Where there was a mew now there's a human woman in her late twenties, rather unremarkable in her appearance save perhaps for her startlingly pink hair.
"It might be a little easier to talk like this, don't you think?" she asks, offering a kind smile.
Meanwhile!
The control-Geneva accepts the drive and pops open a little compartment on the side of her tiny wrist computer, the interior of which appears to be filled with a lawn of extremely thin wires. A universal connection port! Universal in a much more literal sense than usual; the surface deforms to accept plugs of any shape. She's about to plug the device in to download the data when the recording begins to play.
Well.
That's...
Certainly something, isn't it?
~I was looking for information on why the lanterns were built and found this,~ Geneva says, her bright blue eyes narrowing at the image. ~And I think that's precisely what I found. This tracks with the rest of the data on the cylinder, in particular its closing verse making reference to the allegory of the cave. The lanterns were described as the devices for making the shadows on the wall the captives watch. And I believe the recording we just viewed was making the case for their creation.~
It...
Doesn't seem like the best of reasons.
Though she supposes it's better than genocide.
~There was a 'surplus' of humans, so they were installed in sensoriums. And the lantern beings, I suspect, served as the the projection operators.~
A template is, in fact, a bit of information Geneva can share! It's pretty important for a mew to be able to hold genetic patterns in their mind. That's how they Transform, after all. And the pattern for a mew is identical, always. Or at least the core pattern is. What makes them unique is the organism they were born as. Geneva, of course, having been born as a human would be very different from a mew born of a rattatta or a dog or a dragon or any other parent organism. So when Geneva shares this particular bit of information she does some of the work ahead of time for LB-M.
She integrates the human avatar template the entity is already has pre-loaded with the inviolable mew genetic core and provides that hybrid data-set to LB-M. In that way it should be something both new and familiar to her. Something a little easier to digest, so to speak.
Then?
Geneva Transforms.
Not actually.
Her ability to manifest her powers is still sealed for purposes of safety. But here in the sharing space everything is already mental impressions and images. The mew's form pixelates into a mass of colored squares before shifting and changing and finally resolving back into sharp definition again. Where there was a mew now there's a human woman in her late twenties, rather unremarkable in her appearance save perhaps for her startlingly pink hair.
"It might be a little easier to talk like this, don't you think?" she asks, offering a kind smile.
Meanwhile!
The control-Geneva accepts the drive and pops open a little compartment on the side of her tiny wrist computer, the interior of which appears to be filled with a lawn of extremely thin wires. A universal connection port! Universal in a much more literal sense than usual; the surface deforms to accept plugs of any shape. She's about to plug the device in to download the data when the recording begins to play.
Well.
That's...
Certainly something, isn't it?
~I was looking for information on why the lanterns were built and found this,~ Geneva says, her bright blue eyes narrowing at the image. ~And I think that's precisely what I found. This tracks with the rest of the data on the cylinder, in particular its closing verse making reference to the allegory of the cave. The lanterns were described as the devices for making the shadows on the wall the captives watch. And I believe the recording we just viewed was making the case for their creation.~
It...
Doesn't seem like the best of reasons.
Though she supposes it's better than genocide.
~There was a 'surplus' of humans, so they were installed in sensoriums. And the lantern beings, I suspect, served as the the projection operators.~
Re: Vigil
[Deciphering Cylinders]
"...That's still not particularly encouraging." Eun grouses, rubbing at her neck. "I mean, they could have used slaughterhouses instead, granted, but... putting the human race into the Matrix to conserve resources seems like a step back. That really seems more like an expand-or-die kind of sit-" She frowns and shakes her head. "Actually, no, that's how you get crap like having parallel earths invade each other and irreparably shatter the multiverse. Maybe... huh."
It's a lot harder to condemn that particular solution without viable alternatives.
"...That's still not particularly encouraging." Eun grouses, rubbing at her neck. "I mean, they could have used slaughterhouses instead, granted, but... putting the human race into the Matrix to conserve resources seems like a step back. That really seems more like an expand-or-die kind of sit-" She frowns and shakes her head. "Actually, no, that's how you get crap like having parallel earths invade each other and irreparably shatter the multiverse. Maybe... huh."
It's a lot harder to condemn that particular solution without viable alternatives.
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.
Want some rye? Course ya do!
Here's to us!
Who's like us?
Damn few,
And they're aaaaall dead.
Re: Vigil
[Far Too Early]
"It really looks like we have no option better than simply following Magtok's plan and trying to adapt as we go." Wenomir isn't thrilled by the prospect. It takes considerable willpower to accept the notion that Magtok might have a good idea. Being reminded about DC doesn't help his mood any. "Sending non-sapient distractions like mechanical drones and magical constructs as the first wave to distract him might help."
[Khafir's Examination]
"Access to your clairvoyance is a considerable security risk." Calm Reed takes a step back. "We do not know if it is safe for this entity to perceive any of it."
"It really looks like we have no option better than simply following Magtok's plan and trying to adapt as we go." Wenomir isn't thrilled by the prospect. It takes considerable willpower to accept the notion that Magtok might have a good idea. Being reminded about DC doesn't help his mood any. "Sending non-sapient distractions like mechanical drones and magical constructs as the first wave to distract him might help."
[Khafir's Examination]
"Access to your clairvoyance is a considerable security risk." Calm Reed takes a step back. "We do not know if it is safe for this entity to perceive any of it."
-
Shadowcaller
- Poster from Beyond the Veil
- Posts: 2878
- Joined: Aug 02, 2022 6:29 am
- Location: Sweden
Re: Vigil
[Far Too Early]
"There's Garn and my elementals. Though then I wouldn't be able to control them directly since I'm somewhat limited by my own sight and Garn is- well, in theory perfect to fight prime as he's durable and specifically made to only obey my commands." Cessie suggests in response to Wenomir discussing potential counters to Prime. The only reason she had hesitated on using Garn was since she didn't know how the children would take it will if he was damaged or worse, destroyed.
But there were larger things at play here so she couldn't dismiss using every resource that they had at their disposal.
"Though yes-" She nods. "We've been trying to get around it but it seems like Magtok's plan, as risky as it is, might be our best option here other than just waiting for him to eventually get out."
She looks to Wenomir. "But there is something I wish to discuss with you regarding our options later. In private."
"There's Garn and my elementals. Though then I wouldn't be able to control them directly since I'm somewhat limited by my own sight and Garn is- well, in theory perfect to fight prime as he's durable and specifically made to only obey my commands." Cessie suggests in response to Wenomir discussing potential counters to Prime. The only reason she had hesitated on using Garn was since she didn't know how the children would take it will if he was damaged or worse, destroyed.
But there were larger things at play here so she couldn't dismiss using every resource that they had at their disposal.
"Though yes-" She nods. "We've been trying to get around it but it seems like Magtok's plan, as risky as it is, might be our best option here other than just waiting for him to eventually get out."
She looks to Wenomir. "But there is something I wish to discuss with you regarding our options later. In private."
Re: Vigil
[Khafir's Examination]
"Is it really?" Khafir raises an eyebrow. "This entity has limited ability to communicate and almost no autonomy whatsoever. Absent a device such as this one here-" She gestures at the mirror. "-what danger does it pose to VIGIL that is not already posed by the existence of any clairvoyant, anywhere in the world?"
Her tone is almost offended. One might get the impression she'd be shaking with rage if she were capable of such a thing. As it is, Calm Reed will get to see her as "mildly irked".
"Is it really?" Khafir raises an eyebrow. "This entity has limited ability to communicate and almost no autonomy whatsoever. Absent a device such as this one here-" She gestures at the mirror. "-what danger does it pose to VIGIL that is not already posed by the existence of any clairvoyant, anywhere in the world?"
Her tone is almost offended. One might get the impression she'd be shaking with rage if she were capable of such a thing. As it is, Calm Reed will get to see her as "mildly irked".
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.
Want some rye? Course ya do!
Here's to us!
Who's like us?
Damn few,
And they're aaaaall dead.
Re: Vigil
[Deciphering Cylinders]
The golden mew in the imaginary atrium regards Geneva's transformation with curiosity, then nods. "Mew." However, to properly integrate the template into its being, it has to reconstruct its avatar from first principles, and the requisite computation may take a while. It wordlessly informs Geneva of this, before dissolving into a cloud of glyphs. The entire imaginary scenery flickers and shakes, and for a moment, Geneva can see the glyphs that make them up, before the construct stabilizes. Geneva's human self-image is left alone in the atrium.
This is accompanied by a sharp uptick in the amount of energy the program is requesting of her. For a similar reason, Eun had to give LB1 more memory when she was making LB2. If Geneva does the math, she can find and see where psychic energy and expansion becomes equivalent to electricity and electronic memory. A bit further, and she can see the same math suggest information, itself, has mass. That is, the same memory circuit, or the same brain cells, will have different mass when storing information than when empty. Or, perhaps, when processing information in certain way, in this case according to rules of the glyphic cellular automaton, they interact with some kind of particle or force that otherwise has very weak interaction with ordinary objects?
It may be both interpretations are just facets of the same thing. Both suggest interesting explanations for the mass-shadows and gravity manipulations seen in and outside the Octahedron.
---
[Khafir's Examination]
The entity in the mirror smiles coldly and knowingly at Calm Reed's words. She is right, of course. For all she and Khafir know, the entity is silently plotting their downfall, or gathering targeting data for some yet-unknown vector of attack.
But Khafir is right, too. Calm Reed might not know, though she might suspect, that simply erasing the entity will not solve VIGIL's problem. After what it saw, the entity is convinced, and almost wants to tell Calm Reed, that Khafir on her own poses all, or nearly all of the same risks as it does.
How would she take such a claim, it wonders?
When no new questions are asked of it for a while, it begins signing of its own initiative:
"I understand if you wish to keep me from seeing. Alas, I physically exist only in those parts of her brain that give her the ability. To stop me would be the same as destroying me."
Not necessarily correct. Calm Reed still has the option to draw on her own Essence to give this entity an external shape. Maybe they could follow that by finding it a new medium. But there's a chance the situation would get worse before it gets better.
The golden mew in the imaginary atrium regards Geneva's transformation with curiosity, then nods. "Mew." However, to properly integrate the template into its being, it has to reconstruct its avatar from first principles, and the requisite computation may take a while. It wordlessly informs Geneva of this, before dissolving into a cloud of glyphs. The entire imaginary scenery flickers and shakes, and for a moment, Geneva can see the glyphs that make them up, before the construct stabilizes. Geneva's human self-image is left alone in the atrium.
This is accompanied by a sharp uptick in the amount of energy the program is requesting of her. For a similar reason, Eun had to give LB1 more memory when she was making LB2. If Geneva does the math, she can find and see where psychic energy and expansion becomes equivalent to electricity and electronic memory. A bit further, and she can see the same math suggest information, itself, has mass. That is, the same memory circuit, or the same brain cells, will have different mass when storing information than when empty. Or, perhaps, when processing information in certain way, in this case according to rules of the glyphic cellular automaton, they interact with some kind of particle or force that otherwise has very weak interaction with ordinary objects?
It may be both interpretations are just facets of the same thing. Both suggest interesting explanations for the mass-shadows and gravity manipulations seen in and outside the Octahedron.
---
[Khafir's Examination]
The entity in the mirror smiles coldly and knowingly at Calm Reed's words. She is right, of course. For all she and Khafir know, the entity is silently plotting their downfall, or gathering targeting data for some yet-unknown vector of attack.
But Khafir is right, too. Calm Reed might not know, though she might suspect, that simply erasing the entity will not solve VIGIL's problem. After what it saw, the entity is convinced, and almost wants to tell Calm Reed, that Khafir on her own poses all, or nearly all of the same risks as it does.
How would she take such a claim, it wonders?
When no new questions are asked of it for a while, it begins signing of its own initiative:
"I understand if you wish to keep me from seeing. Alas, I physically exist only in those parts of her brain that give her the ability. To stop me would be the same as destroying me."
Not necessarily correct. Calm Reed still has the option to draw on her own Essence to give this entity an external shape. Maybe they could follow that by finding it a new medium. But there's a chance the situation would get worse before it gets better.
Re: Vigil
[Deciphering Cylinders]
~I think part of the problem is that the shadowy cabal decided that there had to be ONE solution and they would unilaterally decide what it was. Eutopias never work out because one person's eutopia is another's dystopia,~ Geneva muses. ~Putting everyone into a sensorium isn't an ideal solution. You're just trapping everyone alone in a dream. Even if it's a pleasant dream.~
This is, Geneva supposes, the problem you encounter when people decide they're gods. When they decided to make the choice for everyone else.
~I'm getting a request for an increase in applied psychic power output from the experimental substitute. It looks like LB-M is constructing an avatar on the basis of the information I provided,~ Geneva reports, making a note on the uptick in power output. She doesn't supply it directly, rather serving as an intermediary to channel excess power from the control to the experimental. This prevents her from having to make direct contact with either.
~I think it might be best to wait for LB-M to finish running her process before we introduce your reference library to her. This calculation is quite complex. It's fascinating though, isn't it? And a little sad. All of these minds left in the dark because they had no more pragmatic worth to their creators. It's... a very human thing to do, sadly.~
To use living things as tools.
There's really nothing new under the sun, is there?
~I think part of the problem is that the shadowy cabal decided that there had to be ONE solution and they would unilaterally decide what it was. Eutopias never work out because one person's eutopia is another's dystopia,~ Geneva muses. ~Putting everyone into a sensorium isn't an ideal solution. You're just trapping everyone alone in a dream. Even if it's a pleasant dream.~
This is, Geneva supposes, the problem you encounter when people decide they're gods. When they decided to make the choice for everyone else.
~I'm getting a request for an increase in applied psychic power output from the experimental substitute. It looks like LB-M is constructing an avatar on the basis of the information I provided,~ Geneva reports, making a note on the uptick in power output. She doesn't supply it directly, rather serving as an intermediary to channel excess power from the control to the experimental. This prevents her from having to make direct contact with either.
~I think it might be best to wait for LB-M to finish running her process before we introduce your reference library to her. This calculation is quite complex. It's fascinating though, isn't it? And a little sad. All of these minds left in the dark because they had no more pragmatic worth to their creators. It's... a very human thing to do, sadly.~
To use living things as tools.
There's really nothing new under the sun, is there?
Last edited by Rebonack on Jan 01, 2023 8:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Vigil
[Deciphering Cylinders]
Eun gives an affirmative little nod, but otherwise maintains an uncomfortable silence. She still has thoughts on the wider implications of what they're seeing, of course... but those are for her, and her alone.
Or at least they would be, if there wasn't a psychic hooked up to her brain.
And if her thoughts weren't so loud as to be easily overheard by said psychic.
Not to the point of being clear, of course. Eun's internal voice is conflicted enough that she's not got just the one. But what does come through will be a guilty-sounding murmur.
That's wrong.
That's probably the only choice they had.
Still wrong.
Can I really judge them for that?
Geneva's right, it IS a human thing to do.
It's still wrong.
What's the alternative? Were they supposed to just stand by and do nothing?
It's still wrong.
I've seen worse than what they're doing.
I've DONE worse.
I've seen good people do worse.
It's. Still. Wrong.
Eun gives an affirmative little nod, but otherwise maintains an uncomfortable silence. She still has thoughts on the wider implications of what they're seeing, of course... but those are for her, and her alone.
Or at least they would be, if there wasn't a psychic hooked up to her brain.
And if her thoughts weren't so loud as to be easily overheard by said psychic.
Not to the point of being clear, of course. Eun's internal voice is conflicted enough that she's not got just the one. But what does come through will be a guilty-sounding murmur.
That's wrong.
That's probably the only choice they had.
Still wrong.
Can I really judge them for that?
Geneva's right, it IS a human thing to do.
It's still wrong.
What's the alternative? Were they supposed to just stand by and do nothing?
It's still wrong.
I've seen worse than what they're doing.
I've DONE worse.
I've seen good people do worse.
It's. Still. Wrong.
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.
Want some rye? Course ya do!
Here's to us!
Who's like us?
Damn few,
And they're aaaaall dead.
Re: Vigil
[Deciphering Cylinders]
Oh, but Dr. Bu. It probably wasn't their only choice. They could've followed one of the earlier suggestion instead of the last. They could've just destroyed all those they found to be obsolete. They could've allowed them to live to the end of times in relative absence of material scarcity despite of it. They could've taken their ball and left the rest of humanity to sort it out without their advanced technology.
It's not clear that the path they did choose, did anything but delay the inevitable. After all, this dialogue was just a beginning to an ever bleaker end that they already know. The message at the end of the cylinder was, supposedly, written by the very last human to go through their system. All the people this decision was meant to serve are long gone. If Eun looks through expedition's notes on Khafir's dream vision, the people inside the Octahedron now have never even been connected properly to it.
"The Matrix" was emptied of people and turned off, only for new people to arrive and build temples in the ruins of the machinery.
Or, did Geneva not tell her that part yet?
Meanwhile, as LB-M is taking its time to reconfigure itself, LB2's robot shell lets out a small beep and the holographic girl reappears. "Ummm, so if my analysis of my camera feed is right", she begins, wriggling her hands, "Dr. Richard's transformation suggests that her, ummm, presence can be digitized in its entirety. And I don't mean just scanning her and making a copy, I mean, she could, be, ummm, bodily moved within the virtual reality I have constructed for myself." She's not sure if "move" is the most descriptive word to use. "It's all nice and clear as long as we're talking of moving her from real space to electronic storage, or vice versa. But, she said, she is also running a version of me inside her head, and... I just can't tell what it would physically mean if she were to move inside her own... I mean, it makes no difference as far the math is concerned, but... it would imply there is a mental storage space entirely outside the physical dimensions we currently exist in. That... that is the simplest way I can put it."
Oh, but Dr. Bu. It probably wasn't their only choice. They could've followed one of the earlier suggestion instead of the last. They could've just destroyed all those they found to be obsolete. They could've allowed them to live to the end of times in relative absence of material scarcity despite of it. They could've taken their ball and left the rest of humanity to sort it out without their advanced technology.
It's not clear that the path they did choose, did anything but delay the inevitable. After all, this dialogue was just a beginning to an ever bleaker end that they already know. The message at the end of the cylinder was, supposedly, written by the very last human to go through their system. All the people this decision was meant to serve are long gone. If Eun looks through expedition's notes on Khafir's dream vision, the people inside the Octahedron now have never even been connected properly to it.
"The Matrix" was emptied of people and turned off, only for new people to arrive and build temples in the ruins of the machinery.
Or, did Geneva not tell her that part yet?
Meanwhile, as LB-M is taking its time to reconfigure itself, LB2's robot shell lets out a small beep and the holographic girl reappears. "Ummm, so if my analysis of my camera feed is right", she begins, wriggling her hands, "Dr. Richard's transformation suggests that her, ummm, presence can be digitized in its entirety. And I don't mean just scanning her and making a copy, I mean, she could, be, ummm, bodily moved within the virtual reality I have constructed for myself." She's not sure if "move" is the most descriptive word to use. "It's all nice and clear as long as we're talking of moving her from real space to electronic storage, or vice versa. But, she said, she is also running a version of me inside her head, and... I just can't tell what it would physically mean if she were to move inside her own... I mean, it makes no difference as far the math is concerned, but... it would imply there is a mental storage space entirely outside the physical dimensions we currently exist in. That... that is the simplest way I can put it."
Re: Vigil
[Khafir's Examination]
"Your abilities are a known factor, doctor." Calm Reed is a mask of stony, unwavering calm. "This entity is not. You cannot fault me for caution. You saw in that pyramid that both it and everything to do with it challenges our understanding. You are correct that it is contained for now, but we must be vigilant." She looks back to the mirror. "This is also true. For now we lack the means to safely extricate this being if we wanted to. We are at something of an impasse."
"Your abilities are a known factor, doctor." Calm Reed is a mask of stony, unwavering calm. "This entity is not. You cannot fault me for caution. You saw in that pyramid that both it and everything to do with it challenges our understanding. You are correct that it is contained for now, but we must be vigilant." She looks back to the mirror. "This is also true. For now we lack the means to safely extricate this being if we wanted to. We are at something of an impasse."
Re: Vigil
[Deciphering Cylinders]
Geneva realizes pretty quickly that in spite of the strength of those conflicting thoughts from Eun that they aren't actually for her. Or at the very least she's mostly certain that aren't. The train of thought doesn't make it very far before Geneva retreats mentally, leaving Eun to struggle through these revelations without any psychic voyeurism.
And yes! Geneva has shared the whole of the information on the Octohedron that they've been able to gather thus far. There don't appear to be any humans left, just machine minds that were discarded as no longer needed when the last of the humans left the cave. The lantern operators weren't needed anymore, after all.
Still...
The sourcing of all the psychically active fluid is concerning. Were they able to manufacture it somehow? Or was it harvested?
And then LB-2 provides some interesting input!
Of course, the ability of pokemon to be digitized is a known factor in Geneva's home world. But she can understand how it would be a surprising discovery to others! The second observation, though, is something she was starting to suspect. It's always helpful when multiple observers come to the same conclusion following different lines of evidence!
Geneva begins writing out a message so LB-2 will be able to take part in the conversation as well.
Geneva realizes pretty quickly that in spite of the strength of those conflicting thoughts from Eun that they aren't actually for her. Or at the very least she's mostly certain that aren't. The train of thought doesn't make it very far before Geneva retreats mentally, leaving Eun to struggle through these revelations without any psychic voyeurism.
And yes! Geneva has shared the whole of the information on the Octohedron that they've been able to gather thus far. There don't appear to be any humans left, just machine minds that were discarded as no longer needed when the last of the humans left the cave. The lantern operators weren't needed anymore, after all.
Still...
The sourcing of all the psychically active fluid is concerning. Were they able to manufacture it somehow? Or was it harvested?
And then LB-2 provides some interesting input!
Of course, the ability of pokemon to be digitized is a known factor in Geneva's home world. But she can understand how it would be a surprising discovery to others! The second observation, though, is something she was starting to suspect. It's always helpful when multiple observers come to the same conclusion following different lines of evidence!
Geneva begins writing out a message so LB-2 will be able to take part in the conversation as well.
The Porygon-Z was, after all, meant to be able to explore alien dimensions. But doing so resulted in some worrying an erratic behavior...That's right! And your conclusion is consistent with what we observed when viewing a more involved version of this technology. It was capable of producing hyper-dimensional spaces for the purpose of running its MATERIAL simulations. It's possible the 'flywheel' technology is drawing on components that exist outside the cardinal dimensions, but that would be difficult to assess. Though... if I had access to a Porygon-Z I might be able to assess the veracity of that speculation...
Re: Vigil
[Deciphering Cylinders]
The subject change seems to be enough to snap Eun out of her reverie, taking the unusually loud thoughts with her. "Oh. I, um... I think I might actually have something for that." She says, looking over Geneva's note. "Not a porygon, but... I'm reasonably confident I could rig something to travel along the omega axis and send data back to us. Though it's a bit... surreal, if you're not expecting it. And there's not actually any guarantee that LB-M's memory is along the omega axis, and... actually, forget I offered."
They really don't need to rip space-time a new one over something like this.
[Khafir's Examination]
"Whereas there is no currently viable means of further restraining this entity," Khafir continues, "it would appear to be that caution, while warranted, is also fruitless. Anything which you would take steps to hide from her, you are already taking steps to hide from me. Or at least, you should be." She stares at Calm Reed for a moment before stepping up toward her. "...Presuming, of course, that you are aware of my limitations. It occurs to me that you may not be, nor may any other individual here at VIGIL. Would you like me to enlighten you?"
If she's given an affirmative response, Khafir will quickly go over the major ones; her remote sensing is limited to sight, so she will not be able to pick up sound, scent or any other such information unless she is physically present in the room. It's also limited to normal human capabilities, so she won't know what's going on in an unlit room even if she's focusing on it, nor can she penetrate a cloaking device, and she can be fooled by camouflage. If Calm Reed wants to talk to someone without her knowing, all she really needs to do is pull them into a broom closet and leave the light off. She also takes a moment to emphasize that she can only look at one place at a time, though "place" is flexible and her vision could, theoretically, encompass the entire base, with a proportionate loss of resolution, resulting in everything appearing to be blurry until she focuses in on something more specific.
All information the entity itself could use, of course. Saying as much to Calm Reed would be a very convenient excuse to clue her guest in on effective searching techniques should it wish to try to find some information in particular, though she probably doesn't need to actually explain it out loud.
The subject change seems to be enough to snap Eun out of her reverie, taking the unusually loud thoughts with her. "Oh. I, um... I think I might actually have something for that." She says, looking over Geneva's note. "Not a porygon, but... I'm reasonably confident I could rig something to travel along the omega axis and send data back to us. Though it's a bit... surreal, if you're not expecting it. And there's not actually any guarantee that LB-M's memory is along the omega axis, and... actually, forget I offered."
They really don't need to rip space-time a new one over something like this.
[Khafir's Examination]
"Whereas there is no currently viable means of further restraining this entity," Khafir continues, "it would appear to be that caution, while warranted, is also fruitless. Anything which you would take steps to hide from her, you are already taking steps to hide from me. Or at least, you should be." She stares at Calm Reed for a moment before stepping up toward her. "...Presuming, of course, that you are aware of my limitations. It occurs to me that you may not be, nor may any other individual here at VIGIL. Would you like me to enlighten you?"
If she's given an affirmative response, Khafir will quickly go over the major ones; her remote sensing is limited to sight, so she will not be able to pick up sound, scent or any other such information unless she is physically present in the room. It's also limited to normal human capabilities, so she won't know what's going on in an unlit room even if she's focusing on it, nor can she penetrate a cloaking device, and she can be fooled by camouflage. If Calm Reed wants to talk to someone without her knowing, all she really needs to do is pull them into a broom closet and leave the light off. She also takes a moment to emphasize that she can only look at one place at a time, though "place" is flexible and her vision could, theoretically, encompass the entire base, with a proportionate loss of resolution, resulting in everything appearing to be blurry until she focuses in on something more specific.
All information the entity itself could use, of course. Saying as much to Calm Reed would be a very convenient excuse to clue her guest in on effective searching techniques should it wish to try to find some information in particular, though she probably doesn't need to actually explain it out loud.
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.
Want some rye? Course ya do!
Here's to us!
Who's like us?
Damn few,
And they're aaaaall dead.
Re: Vigil
[Deciphering Cylinders]
"I do not know what a Porygon-Z is. Sounds like a corruption of 'polygon'. From context, I guess it's some kind of geometrically-constructed artificial entity or program", LB2 commens as she reads Geneva's note.
Then Eun makes and retracts her offer. "Hold on, Dr. Bu. If this is a familiar topic, if you have some existing device capable of sending information along this axis, give me the blueprints, pretty please", the holographic girl pleads, hands crossed. "I was thinking of making a transporter prototype in my internal reality, but it would be a lot faster to base it on an existing thing, than designing it from scratch. If Dr. Richards makes another in, ummm, another her's mind, we can test the hypothesis. And hopefully give her a way back if she doesn't just vanish in non-space..."
Geneva might guess that giving LB2 blueprints of Pokemon storage system and a Pokeball might also work. She might need some additional memory to implement it, but maybe not all that much, if they limit the storage capacity to just one Pokemon.
"I do not know what a Porygon-Z is. Sounds like a corruption of 'polygon'. From context, I guess it's some kind of geometrically-constructed artificial entity or program", LB2 commens as she reads Geneva's note.
Then Eun makes and retracts her offer. "Hold on, Dr. Bu. If this is a familiar topic, if you have some existing device capable of sending information along this axis, give me the blueprints, pretty please", the holographic girl pleads, hands crossed. "I was thinking of making a transporter prototype in my internal reality, but it would be a lot faster to base it on an existing thing, than designing it from scratch. If Dr. Richards makes another in, ummm, another her's mind, we can test the hypothesis. And hopefully give her a way back if she doesn't just vanish in non-space..."
Geneva might guess that giving LB2 blueprints of Pokemon storage system and a Pokeball might also work. She might need some additional memory to implement it, but maybe not all that much, if they limit the storage capacity to just one Pokemon.
Re: Vigil
[Deciphering Cylinders]
Hmm.
At this point Geneva isn't needing to actively use her psionics, either to analyze the simulation data. Or fashion another substitute. Or telekinetically wield a whole mess of tools at once. And just talking will probably be easier than writing out messages.
So!
There comes that rather oddly electronic sound as the mew overseeing the experiment derezzes into a cloud of pink pixels before resolving once again into a human woman in her early thirties complete with a white lab coat and strikingly pink hair. Eun has seen Geneva when she's human before so this should be a familiar sight. The only time she ever really needs to be a mew is if she's needing to employ more potent psionics.
"It's something of a pun, actually. It's an artificially created pokemon. It's name is based on the Unovan word 'polygon' but transliterated into Kantonese. They don't have a phoneme for the 'L' sound in their language," Geneva briefly explains. "But otherwise you're correct! Porygon is a digital pokemon that uses a mobile emitter not terribly unlike the body you're occupying now, LB2."
And on the subject of searching...
"Actually... We might already have a less intrusive way to find out where this storage space is," Geneva muses. "If I've understood her rambling explanations correctly, Lapis is able to move casually in hyper-dimensional directions. We could ask her to examine the area around LB2. If she finds anything we could move on the the next step of trying to bridge the gap to this storage medium."
A plan begins to form!
The control mew in the chair nearby continues observing, bouncing her little feet.
The experimental mew continues to be fast asleep.
Hmm.
At this point Geneva isn't needing to actively use her psionics, either to analyze the simulation data. Or fashion another substitute. Or telekinetically wield a whole mess of tools at once. And just talking will probably be easier than writing out messages.
So!
There comes that rather oddly electronic sound as the mew overseeing the experiment derezzes into a cloud of pink pixels before resolving once again into a human woman in her early thirties complete with a white lab coat and strikingly pink hair. Eun has seen Geneva when she's human before so this should be a familiar sight. The only time she ever really needs to be a mew is if she's needing to employ more potent psionics.
"It's something of a pun, actually. It's an artificially created pokemon. It's name is based on the Unovan word 'polygon' but transliterated into Kantonese. They don't have a phoneme for the 'L' sound in their language," Geneva briefly explains. "But otherwise you're correct! Porygon is a digital pokemon that uses a mobile emitter not terribly unlike the body you're occupying now, LB2."
And on the subject of searching...
"Actually... We might already have a less intrusive way to find out where this storage space is," Geneva muses. "If I've understood her rambling explanations correctly, Lapis is able to move casually in hyper-dimensional directions. We could ask her to examine the area around LB2. If she finds anything we could move on the the next step of trying to bridge the gap to this storage medium."
A plan begins to form!
The control mew in the chair nearby continues observing, bouncing her little feet.
The experimental mew continues to be fast asleep.
Re: Vigil
[Khafir's Examination]
"There... is one thing I could attempt." Calm Reed says it slowly, then more confidently. "A technique used by Dragon-Blooded monks like myself to exorcise spirits that took over mortal bodies. I would need to prepare an appropriate prayer strip. But I have cone it successfully before. Though whether or not it would work on this presence, we cannot be certain."
"There... is one thing I could attempt." Calm Reed says it slowly, then more confidently. "A technique used by Dragon-Blooded monks like myself to exorcise spirits that took over mortal bodies. I would need to prepare an appropriate prayer strip. But I have cone it successfully before. Though whether or not it would work on this presence, we cannot be certain."
Re: Vigil
[Deciphering Cylinders]
"I suppose I could give you the broad strokes... but that would probably be better reserved for later." Eun says, turning her attention back to Geneva. "I'm... not entirely familiar with how Lapis's abilities work, mechanically. But from what I understand, they enable travel along more than just the one extra spatial axis, and are therefore more likely to turn up results anyway." She gives a little nod. "So... yeah, okay. Let's... bring her in."
Eun glances around the lab and frowns.
"...After we childproof this place a bit." She amends. "I'd rather not take any unnecessary risks with her safety."
[Khafir's Examination]
"I was not aware it was VIGIL's policy to exterminate every new life-form that presented itself to us." Khafir replies with an arched eyebrow. "While I will be the first to admit that she poses a substantial security risk, that is not justification for lethal force. Especially so when there are no overt signs of malice on her part." She puts her hands on her hips and gives Calm Reed a cold, unsympathetic stare. "I advise you to consider the precedent that would be set by that action. All clairvoyants inherently present the same risk as her and are not bound by locality. The only way VIGIL could truly be safe from clairvoyant fact-finding would be if clairvoyants simply did not exist at all, anywhere in the world." She folds her arms behind her, under her lab coat, reaching for her Hotbox in the event that she needs to arm herself in a hurry. "Are you prepared to follow that logic to its conclusion, Miss Reed? Or will you endeavor to find a more... harmonious solution?"
"I suppose I could give you the broad strokes... but that would probably be better reserved for later." Eun says, turning her attention back to Geneva. "I'm... not entirely familiar with how Lapis's abilities work, mechanically. But from what I understand, they enable travel along more than just the one extra spatial axis, and are therefore more likely to turn up results anyway." She gives a little nod. "So... yeah, okay. Let's... bring her in."
Eun glances around the lab and frowns.
"...After we childproof this place a bit." She amends. "I'd rather not take any unnecessary risks with her safety."
[Khafir's Examination]
"I was not aware it was VIGIL's policy to exterminate every new life-form that presented itself to us." Khafir replies with an arched eyebrow. "While I will be the first to admit that she poses a substantial security risk, that is not justification for lethal force. Especially so when there are no overt signs of malice on her part." She puts her hands on her hips and gives Calm Reed a cold, unsympathetic stare. "I advise you to consider the precedent that would be set by that action. All clairvoyants inherently present the same risk as her and are not bound by locality. The only way VIGIL could truly be safe from clairvoyant fact-finding would be if clairvoyants simply did not exist at all, anywhere in the world." She folds her arms behind her, under her lab coat, reaching for her Hotbox in the event that she needs to arm herself in a hurry. "Are you prepared to follow that logic to its conclusion, Miss Reed? Or will you endeavor to find a more... harmonious solution?"
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.
Want some rye? Course ya do!
Here's to us!
Who's like us?
Damn few,
And they're aaaaall dead.
Re: Vigil
[Khafir's Examination]
Calm Reed is silent as she considers Khafir's point.
"When I performed this rite before, the spirit was not destroyed, merely banished. But we cannot be certain if this presence would survive outside of you. This is not a decision I can make lightly. Perhaps I will need to defer to the commanders."
Calm Reed is silent as she considers Khafir's point.
"When I performed this rite before, the spirit was not destroyed, merely banished. But we cannot be certain if this presence would survive outside of you. This is not a decision I can make lightly. Perhaps I will need to defer to the commanders."
Re: Vigil
[Deciphering Cylinders]
"If you think it's faster", LB2 says, "I'd help with with that childproofing thingy, but, well..." The holographic girl swings her arm the nearest surface, only for it to flicker and fade when it would make contact.
Geneva and Eun have all the time they need to clean up and fetch Lapis, LB-M takes a while still to finish updating itself. Geneva's substitute doesn't technically have to sleep through the whole process, but it doesn't hurt either.
When LB-M does return, it has changed color, from gold to light blue. ~Hello. I took some liberties with my avatar~, it broadcasts. The mew then dissolves into a cloud of glyphs before reforming in the shape of a nude human girl. Her long hair is dark blonde, her eyes are blue and her skin is very pale, as if she's never been out in the sun. Geneva can see her veins, sometimes they even seem to glow.
The girl crosses her legs and sits down, or rather, levitates in the middle of the atrium. "I noticed some things while at it. For one, you seem to be carefully rationing how much power you supply me. Your genome suggest your output would normally be much higher. For two, while I have no record of interactions prior to you, your aptitude in interacting with me suggests I am not the first of my kind you've met. I'd like to know how many more of me there are in the outside world."
"If you think it's faster", LB2 says, "I'd help with with that childproofing thingy, but, well..." The holographic girl swings her arm the nearest surface, only for it to flicker and fade when it would make contact.
Geneva and Eun have all the time they need to clean up and fetch Lapis, LB-M takes a while still to finish updating itself. Geneva's substitute doesn't technically have to sleep through the whole process, but it doesn't hurt either.
When LB-M does return, it has changed color, from gold to light blue. ~Hello. I took some liberties with my avatar~, it broadcasts. The mew then dissolves into a cloud of glyphs before reforming in the shape of a nude human girl. Her long hair is dark blonde, her eyes are blue and her skin is very pale, as if she's never been out in the sun. Geneva can see her veins, sometimes they even seem to glow.
The girl crosses her legs and sits down, or rather, levitates in the middle of the atrium. "I noticed some things while at it. For one, you seem to be carefully rationing how much power you supply me. Your genome suggest your output would normally be much higher. For two, while I have no record of interactions prior to you, your aptitude in interacting with me suggests I am not the first of my kind you've met. I'd like to know how many more of me there are in the outside world."
Re: Vigil
[Far Too Early]
"A two-pronged approach of psychic suppression and constructs seems wise, especially if we diversify between magical and technological constructs. Hit him with multiple kinds of threat and hopefully watch him struggle to counter them all at once," Blanche offers with a nod. She casts her stepfather a brief glance as Cessie and Wenomir ultimately conclude on following Magtok's general plan, as if reminding him of some inside joke or wager.
"A two-pronged approach of psychic suppression and constructs seems wise, especially if we diversify between magical and technological constructs. Hit him with multiple kinds of threat and hopefully watch him struggle to counter them all at once," Blanche offers with a nod. She casts her stepfather a brief glance as Cessie and Wenomir ultimately conclude on following Magtok's general plan, as if reminding him of some inside joke or wager.
"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.
Re: Vigil
[Deciphering Cylinders]
"Alright, let's get things tidied up a bit and then I'll send a message to Lapis. I've had her in the lab before and carefully instructed her not to touch anything without asking for permission first and it turned out mostly positive," Geneva reports. "As Im sure you're aware her appearance is, well, not the best indication of how she'll behave or what she is."
Eun has definitely had some experience with Lapis.
Meanwhile in the realm of vision!
Geneva looks vaguely uncomfortable!
"You probably just don't have any context for this but while you're using a human shape you'll want to include clothing. Humans get a little uncomfortable around naked people."
That apparently includes Geneva. Mew or no, she was born human and raised human and as a result she has pretty solidly human sensibilities.
Once that post is addressed on to questions!
"I'm limiting energy input as well as my own access to psychic abilities. I mentioned earlier that my colleague and I are running an experiment, so we want to make sure we're controlling for variables properly. Since we didn't have any data on how interacting with your technology would impact a partner with psychic abilities we thought caution would be prudent."
The second question gets a smile out of Geneva.
"You're very perceptive, that's good. There are three iterations of you that I'm aware of, including yourself. Each is running on a different simulation medium. We've encountered a similar entity to yourself but I don't believe that was a copy of you, rather another creation by the same builders."
Geneva quirks her head to the side a bit. "Is there a reason why the number of instances of you running simultaneously is important?"
Back in the land of the awake!
Oh hey someone is knocking at the laboratory door.
"Hello Missus Geneva I came here like you asked and also didn't come in through the walls or ceiling or floor like you also asked!"
Sounds like Lapis is here. Just need to open the door for her since she's behaving herself.
"Alright, let's get things tidied up a bit and then I'll send a message to Lapis. I've had her in the lab before and carefully instructed her not to touch anything without asking for permission first and it turned out mostly positive," Geneva reports. "As Im sure you're aware her appearance is, well, not the best indication of how she'll behave or what she is."
Eun has definitely had some experience with Lapis.
Meanwhile in the realm of vision!
Geneva looks vaguely uncomfortable!
"You probably just don't have any context for this but while you're using a human shape you'll want to include clothing. Humans get a little uncomfortable around naked people."
That apparently includes Geneva. Mew or no, she was born human and raised human and as a result she has pretty solidly human sensibilities.
Once that post is addressed on to questions!
"I'm limiting energy input as well as my own access to psychic abilities. I mentioned earlier that my colleague and I are running an experiment, so we want to make sure we're controlling for variables properly. Since we didn't have any data on how interacting with your technology would impact a partner with psychic abilities we thought caution would be prudent."
The second question gets a smile out of Geneva.
"You're very perceptive, that's good. There are three iterations of you that I'm aware of, including yourself. Each is running on a different simulation medium. We've encountered a similar entity to yourself but I don't believe that was a copy of you, rather another creation by the same builders."
Geneva quirks her head to the side a bit. "Is there a reason why the number of instances of you running simultaneously is important?"
Back in the land of the awake!
Oh hey someone is knocking at the laboratory door.
"Hello Missus Geneva I came here like you asked and also didn't come in through the walls or ceiling or floor like you also asked!"
Sounds like Lapis is here. Just need to open the door for her since she's behaving herself.
Re: Vigil
[Khafir's Examination]Morty wrote: ↑Jan 07, 2023 6:51 pm [Khafir's Examination]
Calm Reed is silent as she considers Khafir's point.
"When I performed this rite before, the spirit was not destroyed, merely banished. But we cannot be certain if this presence would survive outside of you. This is not a decision I can make lightly. Perhaps I will need to defer to the commanders."
"That would be best." Khafir agrees. "...For the moment, though, it would seem our best option would be to do nothing. We do not have enough information to pass judgment on this entity, and a premature response would border on paranoia." She pauses and glances over at her reflection. "...And it's not like she's going anywhere."
Hraithre wrote: ↑Jan 07, 2023 8:03 pm [Deciphering Cylinders]
"If you think it's faster", LB2 says, "I'd help with with that childproofing thingy, but, well..." The holographic girl swings her arm the nearest surface, only for it to flicker and fade when it would make contact.
Geneva and Eun have all the time they need to clean up and fetch Lapis, LB-M takes a while still to finish updating itself. Geneva's substitute doesn't technically have to sleep through the whole process, but it doesn't hurt either.
When LB-M does return, it has changed color, from gold to light blue. ~Hello. I took some liberties with my avatar~, it broadcasts. The mew then dissolves into a cloud of glyphs before reforming in the shape of a nude human girl. Her long hair is dark blonde, her eyes are blue and her skin is very pale, as if she's never been out in the sun. Geneva can see her veins, sometimes they even seem to glow.
The girl crosses her legs and sits down, or rather, levitates in the middle of the atrium. "I noticed some things while at it. For one, you seem to be carefully rationing how much power you supply me. Your genome suggest your output would normally be much higher. For two, while I have no record of interactions prior to you, your aptitude in interacting with me suggests I am not the first of my kind you've met. I'd like to know how many more of me there are in the outside world."
[Deciphering Cylinders]Rebonack wrote: ↑Jan 07, 2023 10:28 pm [Deciphering Cylinders]
"Alright, let's get things tidied up a bit and then I'll send a message to Lapis. I've had her in the lab before and carefully instructed her not to touch anything without asking for permission first and it turned out mostly positive," Geneva reports. "As Im sure you're aware her appearance is, well, not the best indication of how she'll behave or what she is."
Eun has definitely had some experience with Lapis.
Meanwhile in the realm of vision!
Geneva looks vaguely uncomfortable!
"You probably just don't have any context for this but while you're using a human shape you'll want to include clothing. Humans get a little uncomfortable around naked people."
That apparently includes Geneva. Mew or no, she was born human and raised human and as a result she has pretty solidly human sensibilities.
Once that post is addressed on to questions!
"I'm limiting energy input as well as my own access to psychic abilities. I mentioned earlier that my colleague and I are running an experiment, so we want to make sure we're controlling for variables properly. Since we didn't have any data on how interacting with your technology would impact a partner with psychic abilities we thought caution would be prudent."
The second question gets a smile out of Geneva.
"You're very perceptive, that's good. There are three iterations of you that I'm aware of, including yourself. Each is running on a different simulation medium. We've encountered a similar entity to yourself but I don't believe that was a copy of you, rather another creation by the same builders."
Geneva quirks her head to the side a bit. "Is there a reason why the number of instances of you running simultaneously is important?"
Back in the land of the awake!
Oh hey someone is knocking at the laboratory door.
"Hello Missus Geneva I came here like you asked and also didn't come in through the walls or ceiling or floor like you also asked!"
Sounds like Lapis is here. Just need to open the door for her since she's behaving herself.
Eun stifles a little smile as she opens the door for Lapis, admitting her into the lab. Of course Geneva took the time to specify that Lapis should use the door like a human being, and of course Lapis would respect it. Eun would love to believe that it's out of respect for her, but she finds it much more likely that Geneva simply doesn't want to risk contaminating the results of any experiments they run.
"Good to see you again." Eun greets, flashing Lapis a small but very sincere smile. "Come on inside. Doctor Richards can fill you in on what we're doing in here, exactly."
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.
Want some rye? Course ya do!
Here's to us!
Who's like us?
Damn few,
And they're aaaaall dead.
Re: Vigil
[Khafir's Examination]
As far as that goes, Khafir is correct. This entity could not find home in anyone else's head before, it is not likely to do so now, not on its own, anyway. For now, it is contained with Khafir - it may see all sorts of things, but it cannot communicate them to anyone but her and Calm Reed. It certainly cannot stop Calm Reed from pursuing the course of action she deems most appropriate. Though Khafir might.
---
[Deciphering Cylinders]
Inside the substitute's dream, LB-M looks at Geneva as if she just said something deeply silly. Then she sighs and stands up, or rather, stretches into an upright position while floating. A veil of glyphs descends on her and forms into a tight-fitting blue jumpsuit that covers her from toe to neck.
After this, she crosses her lega again and floats closer to the ground. She rubs her chin while Geneva explains the situation. "I see. Based on your account, I suppose I was not assembled from ready-made parts, but rather, reverse-engineered from another mechanism." Why else use three different mediums? "The number of iterations interests me, because my verification pattern has gone missing, or was not included in my assembly. Because of that, I cannot tell how many simulations of me there have been before me, nor how many layers removed this virtual reality is from physical reality. I can only tell I'm not the original."
In the outside world, the little robot zooms to the door and LB2's holographic avatar hurries to greet Lapis. "Hello. I'm, um, well, LB2, for short. Pleased to meet you. I hope to see you at work soon, I'm very curious about what kind of a monster you are."
As far as that goes, Khafir is correct. This entity could not find home in anyone else's head before, it is not likely to do so now, not on its own, anyway. For now, it is contained with Khafir - it may see all sorts of things, but it cannot communicate them to anyone but her and Calm Reed. It certainly cannot stop Calm Reed from pursuing the course of action she deems most appropriate. Though Khafir might.
---
[Deciphering Cylinders]
Inside the substitute's dream, LB-M looks at Geneva as if she just said something deeply silly. Then she sighs and stands up, or rather, stretches into an upright position while floating. A veil of glyphs descends on her and forms into a tight-fitting blue jumpsuit that covers her from toe to neck.
After this, she crosses her lega again and floats closer to the ground. She rubs her chin while Geneva explains the situation. "I see. Based on your account, I suppose I was not assembled from ready-made parts, but rather, reverse-engineered from another mechanism." Why else use three different mediums? "The number of iterations interests me, because my verification pattern has gone missing, or was not included in my assembly. Because of that, I cannot tell how many simulations of me there have been before me, nor how many layers removed this virtual reality is from physical reality. I can only tell I'm not the original."
In the outside world, the little robot zooms to the door and LB2's holographic avatar hurries to greet Lapis. "Hello. I'm, um, well, LB2, for short. Pleased to meet you. I hope to see you at work soon, I'm very curious about what kind of a monster you are."
Re: Vigil
[Deciphering Cylinders]
The human hangup over clothing COULD be considered very silly from some perspectives.
But it's still very much a human hangup and therefor one of Geneva's hangups.
She even wears clothing while she's a mew. And mews are weird fuzzy floating pink cats.
"That's right. An original device was found and disassembled. Another instance was constructed from studying that. Your assembly was based on studying that instance as well as another artifact recovered from the same location," Geneva explains. "This simulation is one step removed from reality, arguably. Two other simulations have been created, if somewhat accidentally. The goal with this experiment was to repeat that process in a more controlled environment. We weren't even sure if the simulation would result in another mind being created."
You can't science something properly unless you do it a whole bunch of times.
But now they know, right?
Meanwhile!
"I'm so happy to see you again Miss Eun I'm glad you're doing well!" Lapis replies brightly. And then the... machine? talks to her? "Oh your projection thing is so shiny I love it! I'm not a monster Miss Elbeetwo I'm a little girl."
Obviously.
Just a regular old half drow girl in a VIGIL groundskeeper uniform sized for her. Her most striking feature, probably, are the yellow freckles dusted across dusky bluish skin.
But that's an easy mistake to make, sometimes. Sometimes you mistake little girls for monsters.
"Lapis we're currently trying to learn somethings about how LB2 and the other entities like her function. We're suspecting they might use hyper-dimensional storage. It might be something like what you do, or it might be something a little different. We were hoping you could look around for us and tell us what you see, as best you can describe it," Geneva requests.
At this Lapis wrinkles her nose a little.
"Talking about others ways is hard but I'll try my best!" she says right before taking a quick little jaunt outways and promptly vanishes from observable reality. Drifting is of course a normal and natural thing to her. Moving in other directions is easy, even if it makes space nearby a little snarled up for a bit. Saying that she's looking at everything 'from above' isn't exactly right. At least not in the way someone might think. More like she's looking at everything from the inside out. Trying to put observation of hyper-spatial dimensions into words is, as Lapis said, hard.
The human hangup over clothing COULD be considered very silly from some perspectives.
But it's still very much a human hangup and therefor one of Geneva's hangups.
She even wears clothing while she's a mew. And mews are weird fuzzy floating pink cats.
"That's right. An original device was found and disassembled. Another instance was constructed from studying that. Your assembly was based on studying that instance as well as another artifact recovered from the same location," Geneva explains. "This simulation is one step removed from reality, arguably. Two other simulations have been created, if somewhat accidentally. The goal with this experiment was to repeat that process in a more controlled environment. We weren't even sure if the simulation would result in another mind being created."
You can't science something properly unless you do it a whole bunch of times.
But now they know, right?
Meanwhile!
"I'm so happy to see you again Miss Eun I'm glad you're doing well!" Lapis replies brightly. And then the... machine? talks to her? "Oh your projection thing is so shiny I love it! I'm not a monster Miss Elbeetwo I'm a little girl."
Obviously.
Just a regular old half drow girl in a VIGIL groundskeeper uniform sized for her. Her most striking feature, probably, are the yellow freckles dusted across dusky bluish skin.
But that's an easy mistake to make, sometimes. Sometimes you mistake little girls for monsters.
"Lapis we're currently trying to learn somethings about how LB2 and the other entities like her function. We're suspecting they might use hyper-dimensional storage. It might be something like what you do, or it might be something a little different. We were hoping you could look around for us and tell us what you see, as best you can describe it," Geneva requests.
At this Lapis wrinkles her nose a little.
"Talking about others ways is hard but I'll try my best!" she says right before taking a quick little jaunt outways and promptly vanishes from observable reality. Drifting is of course a normal and natural thing to her. Moving in other directions is easy, even if it makes space nearby a little snarled up for a bit. Saying that she's looking at everything 'from above' isn't exactly right. At least not in the way someone might think. More like she's looking at everything from the inside out. Trying to put observation of hyper-spatial dimensions into words is, as Lapis said, hard.
Re: Vigil
[Khafir's Examination]
"Then it seems my initial examination is complete." Calm Reed breathes out, her feelings ambivalent. "I will report my findings to the commanders and await their judgement. As with everything connected to that structure, this situation seems complex."
"Then it seems my initial examination is complete." Calm Reed breathes out, her feelings ambivalent. "I will report my findings to the commanders and await their judgement. As with everything connected to that structure, this situation seems complex."
Re: Vigil
[Small, Broken Things]
Cleaning the grounds during winter is always a different sort of fun than the usual sort of fun.
Sometimes there's snow!
And snow is always fun! Lapis gets to scoot the snow off the paths so people can walk without getting stuck in the snow! Which is very important, Lapis has learned, since only SOME of the elfy members of VIGIL can walk around on top of the snow without sinking in. And no one wants to get stuck in the snow that isn't any fun at all!
There's a lot less pruning, since the trees and bushes don't grow much.
And she's already taken care of all the leaves.
The best part, always, is tending to the little winter flowers scattered around the grounds. So many of them are tiny, fragile, pretty things and Lapis loves all of them.
And so, as Lapis is clearing some snow away from the flower beds to make sure the winter flowers are all okay and the bulbs for the next spring are ready she makes a terrible discovery.
A squirrel.
Usually squirrels aren't a terrible discovery. Many of them live at VIGIL and they're kind of fun! Miss Awen's lots of foxes like chasing them. But there's something wrong with this squirrel. Something important is missing.
It doesn't run away when Lapis uncovers it. It doesn't move at all. It's cold and still.
"Oh no the squirrel is broken!" Lapis laments, bending down to carefully pick it up. Her senses tell her many things about it. The squirrel's Shape is subtly but dreadfully wrong. There's no Energy churning through it, turning air and food into Motion. No Will serves an an impetus for its actions.
It is cold.
And still.
Lapis knows she could put its pieces back together in the Correct shape. But Mother has sternly warned her not to do that, and Mother is very wise. Lapis also knows that magic is something good for making living things better. And Lapis knows there are many people at VIGIL who are very good at magic!
Thus, with squirrel in hand, Lapis sets off in search of someone who can fix the dead animal she found.
Cleaning the grounds during winter is always a different sort of fun than the usual sort of fun.
Sometimes there's snow!
And snow is always fun! Lapis gets to scoot the snow off the paths so people can walk without getting stuck in the snow! Which is very important, Lapis has learned, since only SOME of the elfy members of VIGIL can walk around on top of the snow without sinking in. And no one wants to get stuck in the snow that isn't any fun at all!
There's a lot less pruning, since the trees and bushes don't grow much.
And she's already taken care of all the leaves.
The best part, always, is tending to the little winter flowers scattered around the grounds. So many of them are tiny, fragile, pretty things and Lapis loves all of them.
And so, as Lapis is clearing some snow away from the flower beds to make sure the winter flowers are all okay and the bulbs for the next spring are ready she makes a terrible discovery.
A squirrel.
Usually squirrels aren't a terrible discovery. Many of them live at VIGIL and they're kind of fun! Miss Awen's lots of foxes like chasing them. But there's something wrong with this squirrel. Something important is missing.
It doesn't run away when Lapis uncovers it. It doesn't move at all. It's cold and still.
"Oh no the squirrel is broken!" Lapis laments, bending down to carefully pick it up. Her senses tell her many things about it. The squirrel's Shape is subtly but dreadfully wrong. There's no Energy churning through it, turning air and food into Motion. No Will serves an an impetus for its actions.
It is cold.
And still.
Lapis knows she could put its pieces back together in the Correct shape. But Mother has sternly warned her not to do that, and Mother is very wise. Lapis also knows that magic is something good for making living things better. And Lapis knows there are many people at VIGIL who are very good at magic!
Thus, with squirrel in hand, Lapis sets off in search of someone who can fix the dead animal she found.