trash bin PART TWO

[al2955]

the pygmalion. . . ??? OPENING PROGRAM . . . . . . . . . _PROGRAM CRASHED _PROGRAM REBOOT? >N >SCAN PROGRAM . . . _PROGRAM CRASHED . . . >EMERGENCY LEVEL . . . >EMERGENCY LEVEL . . . _EMERGENCY LEVEL LOADING LOADING. . . LOADING. . . LOADING TEXTURE-NIGHT-SKY, TEXTURE-FULL-MOON, TEXTURE-DIRT-PATH, TEXTURE-CAMPFIRE LOADING SOUND-CRICKETS, SOUND-GRAVEL, SOUND-WIND, SOUND-FIRE-CRACKLING UPLOADING USER UPLOADING USER UPLOADING USER UPLOAD SUCCESSFUL TRASH BIN It feels more like an electrical zap than dying. Dying might feel a little bit more like falling asleep, but this is harder, more painful. If you've ever been electrocuted, the feeling might seem familiar; the discovery you make when you open your eyes, too, is likely very familiar. It's the night sky. Stars twinkle, a fire cracks warmly. You sit up and observe the surrounding area, and it's like you've woken up in some sort of canyon. The fire burns brightly, the moon shines beautifully, the crickets sing, and it is ... peaceful. Mostly. You know you're dead. This must be, then, the after life? Or something like it, at least. The horizon stretches on forever, the dirt and gravel seemingly endless. The moon is so big and bright, it's like you could reach out and touch her. There's a shed not too far from the fire, only but a stone's throw away, as if someone else might have made it, and then went inside it. Approaching it, you can see the light glowing inside it through the dusty windows that are littered with fingerprints. A computer screen, so large and wide that it's baffling, sits, waiting. Turning knob reveals that the shed is unlocked, and stepping inside... it doesn't feel any different from the outside. A chair sits in the center of the room, a strange contraption strapped to the head of it. It looks like it would lower itself upon the head of whoever dares to sit on it, and wires from it's bottom curl up towards the machines attached to the screen. Several smaller desktop screens sit beneath the giant monitor. They, too, are hooked up to the machines scattered around the room, to the ominous one perched on top of the medical chair, and they blink, as if fighting to stay alive without use. Pressing the giant monitor on, it lights up, and displays, strangely enough... a security camera feed. You push the button. It switches to another room. Again, another room. Again, another room. So on and forth. You peeping tom! But no one can blame you, in the end. You might as well digitally haunt the rest of the ship until the game ends, and AL-2955 can clean out the trash bin. ...Right? rule book taken characters information cards

Comments

[isodope]

[Hancock may not know either of those two women, but he can spot the making of a molotov cocktail without a doubt. As soon as the fabric is stuffed into the bottle he outstretches his arms in attempt to make sure Machias and Bull don't go past him.]

Shit. Stand back men, she's making a molotov!

[Because they may not be seen or heard, but they might still be able to get hurt. And that's all the warning he can give before the bottle is hurled and explodes at the girl's feet. But when the girl is unharmed, he only looks confused.]

If that was a murder attempt, it sure was a shit one.

[breakshot]

I don't know but that sure as hell wouldn't be my reaction if someone tried to chuck a bomb at my face...!

[ Likewise, Machias eyes widen and he's about to scream, even if he'd known the only people onboard within earshot and capable of hearing are the two men right next to him. He knows what a molotov looks like (thanks Fie), but that's not what he's expecting when they seemingly carry on as normal. ... Well, Machias is certainly breathing again, but there's certainly an anxious strain in it as he notes the girl. ]

You two saw that, right? That barrier. That's the same one that went up for Luke back then, wasn't it?

[qundercover]

[He's seen an immolate spell AND he's seen a bottle of liquor on fire before and normally you aren't so cool about it when it's being hurled your way. He's noticed the way the girl seems to look up - might be time to go have a chat with whoever is running this joint.]

Yeah. "Valued player." Looks like they were testing it somehow. Maybe. Doesn't seem like a victim would stand there and wait while she got her weapon ready to throw.

[There anything else to see here? Because otherwise he's going to head on - towards the main terminal. Seems like there might be some answers there.]

[al2955]

[There's a few more people milling about, but nothing that interesting. As soon as they get into the elevator, it automatically moves up to the upper level despite none of them having the ability to physically push the button.

When the doors open, they'll hear a female voice.]

It's about time. Don't you gentlemen know never to keep a lady waiting, especially when you show up to her home uninvited?

I'm behind the door at the end of the hallway to the right, lads. Normally it's locked down tight, but you can just walk right through, can't you?

[isodope]

[Well shit. Is that the A.I. of Nuwa?

He doesn't comment aloud, only silently moving toward the door down the hall and going straight through it.]

[al2955]

[Through the thick metal door lies an enormous supercomputer, one the size of the entire room. Hovering in the middle of the room is what appears to be a glowing white cloud.

The cloud shifts and a part of it flows to where the five of them are standing, forming into the silohuette of a woman similar to Alice's. She raises a hand to her lips, pantomining a cigarette, and blows out a large cloud of scentless smoke; as she does so, the clouds making up her body gradually vanishes to reveal a bright sunny sky. While she appears to be the same type of AI as Alice, when she speaks, her voice sounds much more human - albeit bitingly sarcastic.]

Let's cut the bullshit, gentlemen. By my calculations, you have approximately ten minutes before the servers desync and you're back on the Pygmalion, so we don't have time for idle chit-chat.

Getting the first question out of the way right now: "What? You know who we are?" Sure do. The Iron Bull. Hancock. Machias Regnitz. Allen Walker. Lavi. You can call me Dr. Lin. Next?

[qundercover]

Honestly was going to skip that one this time. Pretty sure you all know more about us than we do at this point. Thanks for remember the The though - appreciated.

So - guess I'll start with the obvious. You running the same kind of murder operation as Alice over there or has she got something seriously wrong in her . . . systems or whatever you call. [He's catching onto this computer stuff okay!!] Doesn't look like these people have been murdering the shit out of each other like they do back on the Pyg.

[al2955]

River's programming has always been insultingly simplistic. That's what happens when you send a meathead to do a scientist's job. [A pause.] No offense.

But yes, we ran the same operation here. [She exhales another plume of smoke.] Tense shift very much intentional.

[qundercover]

[Well Bull isn't JUST a meathead so no offense taken, weird AI.]

So you're saying we're all basically fucked no matter what choice the other ship makes? They kill and you guys are wiped out, or they don't kill and we're all wiped out.

[al2955]

That would be an accurate summation - if I actually had any intention of purging the Nuwa.

Come on, The Iron Bull, your data files suggest you have some modicum of intelligence. Haven't you figured out the real reason behind this motive yet? Why on earth would I eradicate a valuable group of resources who have proven they're free of infection, regardless of what River claims to believe?

[qundercover]

Alright, Sunshine, you got your digs in. Claws back in.

[Okay well first of all "group of resources" is just pure yikes. That's going to be an interesting one to tackle. Otherwise . . . ]

It some sort of . . . bait? For the Souvlaki? Obviously they're gonna act to not get "purged" - best way to do that is by killing this week.

[breakshot]

Dr. Lin, then.

[ If this fog weren't clearly digital fog, he'd be gagging right about now. He's never been fond of smoke, and much less fond of sassy AIs to go with it. ]

How about an explanation for what's going on with this blasted ship, for one? Didn't Alice-- River - whatever her damned name is -tell you what was happening? Because we saw everyone downstairs, and let me tell you, for being presented with a motive the threat of both them and everyone else they know dying? They sure didn't even look all that concerned to match, I'll tell you that much.

[al2955]

Of course they weren't. The game ended for them weeks ago, after all. What you're looking at now are the survivors - and every single one of them has been granted immunity.

[Another exhale of smoke.]

I'll give you a moment to let the ramifications of that sink in.

[breakshot]

What? [ his eyes widen, then narrow intensely as he glares ] So she did lie to us - to everyone else?! ... I knew it, I knew that damned AI wasn't telling the truth from the start...! They don't even KNOW about everyone else, do they?!

[ YEAH BEFORE WE GET TO THAT, we're first getting to Machias just short of losing his cool for the umpteenth time and POUNDING HIS FIST AGAINST a nearby -- oh goddammit, it phased through. ]

What else did she lie about? While we're at it, if the game ended for them a while back then why are they still onboard? Why are you keeping Albarea-- everyone else around when they've got important matters to get to back home?!

[al2955]

Oh, River didn't lie to you. She really does think she's telling the truth. I lied to her. I told the survivors we were holding a bonus round to get a genuine reaction out of them when the camera feed turned on, then once it shut off I let them know the truth.

They're still onboard because we need the Pygmalion to advance to the second stage of the Project. But we can't do that while there may still be Souvlaki on the ship and the first stage is still ongoing.

[breakshot]

... Right, you mean those monsters. The Souvlaki, or whatever they are.

[ damned AIs telling lies everywhere why the fuck you lyin'. Aside from that, Machias attempts to pull himself together as his interest is drawn to the second half of her words. ]

The second stage? [ a brief, concerned frown. ] If... you don't mind me wagering a guess, would this have anything to do with those who were killed? Is there anything that can be done for them?

[ It's more a faint hope, if anything else. ]

[isodope]

Yeah, hi, can I take some of your alcohol back with me? I'm too sober for this bullshit.

[He's joking...but also not joking.]

Can you do anything about Pygmalion? Like Nuwa seems pretty damn chummy - any hopes of a rescue operation?

[al2955]

Can't take it with you, but I might be able to help you out there. God knows how many times I've needed a drink after dealing with a gaggle of incompetent interns.

[She floats right up in front of Hancock and exhales a cloud of smoke directly into his face. When he breathes it in, he'll get a minor buzz.]

I can give you information, but you're going to have to rescue yourselves. The entire point of this is to avoid being infected by the Souvlaki, after all.

[isodope]

[fuck...the first buzz he's gotten in like a month. small but he'll take it.]

Oh man... I got a lot of issues with sentient technology due to issues at home, but you're my favorite artificial intelligence.

[Bless you Lin.]

Okay, so we gotta rid of the Souvlaki then. Any way they can be detected? So far our team strategy has been "lynch them in a trial and then they fucking murder a couple people before Alice gets herself in gear to eliminate them."

[al2955]

Pedantic. There is nothing artificial about my intelligence.

That's about it as far as I know. We didn't exactly get a chance to research and dissect them up close before they ripped the entire crew apart. The entire reason you've been having motives and trials at all is because it was the best program Perkins could come up with in time to let River detect and clean them from the system.

[isodope]

You know what I mean.

[Yeesh, so snippy. Good thing he's not a Brotherhood of Steel jackass.]

What about Nuwa then? It sounds like they didn't have the same game as us, but the number of them is almost equal to the number of those alive on Pygmalion.

[deformity]

[ Five minutes. Thirty seconds. Now ten minutes. It's strange how they never seem to have enough time. ]

Hello, Dr. Lin. Ten minutes isn't much, is it? But thank you for giving us that time anyway and for seeing us. [ Allen gives her a weary, but lopsided smile and nods his head. ]

Actually, there is something I've been meaning to ask. Your side has been trying to contact ours, I believe. There was a warning about a third souvlaki on the Pygmalion and it turned out to be true. How did you know? If there's a way of recognizing them -- if there's any way we can help those still on board, please... please tell us.

[al2955]

I didn't do it. You should be thanking those friends of yours on this ship's side of Furry Passing.

I think they were referring to the existence of another ship. If there was an easier way to detect them, we wouldn't be running this damn murder program at all. But as for a way to help the living...I don't know if you can detect the Souvlaki, but you may be able to lend them your aid beyond the confines of the current Furry Passing application.

[booklore]

[ Strange and yet so familiar. There's never enough time for anything, no matter where you are. From somewhere in the background, Lavi raises an eyebrow at Lin. ]

Are you going to tell us how to do that? [ He rubs the back of his head, it's a more curious gesture than an anxious one. ] It's not going to be the same as this, right? Not being able to touch anything is a little creepy.

[deformity]

I think that's because we're not physically here, are we? [ He nods at the supercomputer behind her. ] Are we in that? Are we a little like you and Alice now, Dr. Lin? Something like an A.I.?