--- 2011/09/22(Thu)17:38 No. 351555 ID: 1d0e20
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I am met with too much light! It burns with its infinite fractal complexity. I feel like an island in the middle of an ocean of information. The kulukuzu cannot use their machines in this way. I know this must be true. I have done something they cannot. I feel a thrill through my body - I have a chance. I have something they do not. A skill they can't possess!

I try to focus on a tiny fragment of the swarm of red, but cannot avoid seeing the fractal depths, wanting to dive deeper, to embrace infinity and know something- know something detailed- know something that is the only thing that can be known- something universal- know the ultimate truth, understand all--

I pull myself away from this shining abyss of purest knowledge. I have a greater purpose. "Ship information" at this level feels too basic, too coarse, too vague to be meaningful. I need to be selective, or I fear I will fall prey to the sea of all knowledge I now drift in.

You need to find a way off this ship (since it's full of hostiles) and from there somewhere you can go to regroup.

how about, smaller ships docked with this ship? if there are still too many then narrow it to ships docked with this ship that can fit between 1 and 2 people and are capable of FTL speeds.

>>351555
Location of a cloning laboratory and genetic research center on this ship. Maps of the ship. Location of the armory of this ship. Security patrol routes of this ship. Security cameras of this ship and how to disable them. Current security passcodes for this ship and ones for the next day if they are set to change over time. Short summary of the inventory of the armory of this ship.

Aww, why don't you want to know the deepest truths? Oh, well, if you really value your sanity that much, let's just look for a couple things. Escape pods are the most important one to look for, and how to get to them. Also see if you can get anything on the ship's weapon systems, so they don't shoot you down as you escape. Maybe see if there's anything on the strange lights, the false gods, the eldest?

AH! Search for information on the Medium. How the Eldest entered it, specifically.

Stop humping that computer, you horny girl.

a layout of the ship would be nice. also see if its possible to mess with the life support. don't do anything to it now,(supposedly we are about to meet an ally) but knowing we can vent the ships atmosphere in a pinch would be useful.

--- 2011/09/24(Sat)17:06 No. 352149 ID: 1d0e20
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I allow the red to pervade my mind. I fear losing myself here. I am calm. I focus, distantly aware of my body, of my heart beating calmly, of my lungs filling with clean, cold air.

I am met not with exact details, but with concepts. Concepts I cannot articulate. I cannot find anything that clones. Genetic databases are here, here in the red, and I can feel the genomes of my species spiralling around me. I will never remember the full intricacy and complexity of the information.

The maps are not plans, not diagrams. I am simply made aware of the layout of the science vessel. I could explain how to move from one room to another, but I am not aware of the purpose of those rooms. It is a maze of small rooms and larger rooms. The architecture is self-similar.

The patrols are many and unavoidable. The gekeh monitors are in all corridors and passages. They are the eyes of the gekeh and the ship. I am made aware of a set of nine codes in current use. I am not made aware of which code is used where. Troubling.

Escape pods. I cannot find escape pods. Or any means of escape. Or any means of entering the ship or leaving. How? I was not on this ship before. How did I arrive here? All I can find is a transportation... room? It's empty. I am confused. Something is not right.

I look for information on the medium, but I am distracted by- a purple light?! I-

--- 2011/09/24(Sat)17:07 No. 352151 ID: 1d0e20
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pain - crushing - can't breathe

"Think your final thoughts, deikail. I grant you ten seconds of life."

no no no no no no no no

"Wait. You are the last deikail alive, aren't you?"
"yes"
"Which means if I end your life, I finish my task."

The gekeh constructs live for a purpose. When their purpose is complete, they cease to be, to prevent independent thought and rebellion. I don't remember knowing this. I don't know why I care when this one is trying to kill me!!

"It has been a long time, deikail. I have grown fond of life as I have taken it from so many. How am I going to disable you without killing you? Should I break your limbs? Move a tendril into your skull and swirl it around until I have ruined your fragile brain and torn your conscious mind apart?"
"stop"
"You were in there. I saw it. What did you see? If I kill you, I die. If I don't, I die. If I run, I live. I want to run, and you want to live. What did you see, deikail?"

Its grip on my throat relaxes. I gasp for air. It begins slowly choking me once more. What can I tell it?! I saw no way to escape!!

>>352151
Okay, Purpletits, uh... I see no compelling reason to lie. Tell it you saw infinity, or however you want to phrase that, but it wasn't the way off the ship you were looking for.

>>352151
Tell it you found the transportation room, but every corridor is monitored and the transportation room looked empty! You can go and look again, there must be more information of use there. Something that would get us past the monitors, or how the transportation room is used.

yes, the way to the transportation room. get there and you can flee elsewhere.

Tell it you know the way to the transportation room, and you presume that's the way off the ship, because you couldn't find anything else. Ask it how it got on. Both it and the monitors are gekeh constructs, maybe it can do something to keep them from seeing us. Whatever we do we're not going to defy the thing that can kill us in a second.

--- 2011/09/25(Sun)18:24 No. 352587 ID: 1d0e20
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"I know the way to the transportation room! But it was empty! I don't know how to escape! I can look again-"
"Sufficient. If you search again, they will find you. There are patrols on every corridor of the ship. They will see you and destroy you."

It rests its head on my shoulder and I feel an immediate sting as something punctures my shoulder and moves.

"Process complete. Your blood is delicious. If you cease being useful as a navigator, I feel tempted to keep you alive and healthy just to taste it again."

I am no longer sure if I'm starting to become less afraid or just becoming more tolerant of the fear I do feel. It does not release me from its tight embrace, but it releases my limbs and neck.

"Deikail, you are now marked as without threat as long as you remain close to me. If you stray, the monitors will find you. You will be caught and likely killed. I will also be found to be defective for failing to have performed my assigned task properly."

--- 2011/09/25(Sun)18:25 No. 352588 ID: 1d0e20
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I start walking towards the door I know to be the first step to the transportation room. The resolver does not let go.

"Oh."
"...oh?"
"I didn't mean that close."
"What? Can't you remove your limbs from me?"
"Yes, but that would break the connection-- oh. I have made a mistake. I have made a mistake. This is suboptimal."
"You need to touch me so they can't see me?"
"This was not what I had planned in the slightest! How inconvenient. Now I will need to co-operate."

It makes a strange sound similar to a burst of static and a sigh.

"Lead the way, deikail."

I continue walking up to the door.

"You can head straight to the transportation room, but I am hungry, and from the taste of your blood, you could use some food as well. You also feel uneasiness due to your lack of clothing. Food, clothing, or transportation room? I am patient."

And I can still remember that purple light. I saw it. I know where it is. I step into the corridor. Where do I go from here?

>>352588
Food first.

Food, then transport. You need food to live, and you're probably starving. Clothes are just a luxury, and we don't have time for luxuries while we're on this ship.

yeah, the only things that can see you are ones that don't care about your state of dress. food is important. once you are full you need to head to the transport room.

>>352588
Where is the purple light?

We should get food first. While we are running we will not know where our next meal is coming from. So... yeah. Better eat when you have a chance.

food, then clothing. its more than just modesty, clothing means pockets. not to mention some protection from the elements.

Food, transport. You have natural pockets.

The resolver is totally checking out your ass. Wiggle it provocatively.

Sivikt 2011/09/26(Mon)16:42 No. 352956 ID: 4e4483
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"Food," I say to the creature. I become aware of just how hungry I am. My body is not wasting away, but I can't afford to let it begin doing so. "Food would be a better option for us both."
"Then we shall head to a supply room."

The walk is long and the passages twist and turn. I catch sight of black creatures covered in glowing veins of yellow light. They watch me and continue onwards. I tremble slightly. Death is everywhere here. I am completely at the mercy of the construct that minutes ago tried to choke me to death.

It continues holding onto my shoulder in a reluctant and confused manner. It breaks the dull hum of the ship with its modulated voice. "Do you have a name?"
"Sivikt. I thought you were just calling me by deikail."
"You are the only deikail left. You are a precious resource. There is a vast amount I can and should learn about what your species was."
"Moments ago you were threatening to kill me. Once you find a way to escape, I expect you will try to kill me. I don't understand your sudden interest."

The resolver does not respond.

Sivikt 2011/09/26(Mon)16:42 No. 352957 ID: 4e4483
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We enter a storage room, passing by another resolver. It stares at me for a while, and moves out of the way.

I am met with the sight of yet another resolver attempting to restrain a kulukuzu. "Cease your struggle, kulukuzu!" it screeches at the kulukuzu. The kulukuzu screams and struggles.
"Let go of me!! Help! Help, it's gone rogue!! Anyone! Please!"

I am torn. These things have destroyed my species, taken my possessions, tied me to tubes and cruel machines, but this one seems helpless. I am not sure if I should help, nor how I could help.

I turn to the resolver next to me. It looks at me in silence.

"I will not allow you to risk your life. The kulukuzu is not worth your effort. Resolvers do not attack without reason."

I feel very conflicted. And very hungry. And I am beginning to feel that I cannot ignore fatigue that has been building over time.

>>352957
You can't just do nothing. You and the resolver are both persona non grata anyway.

NOO she's so adorable! You have to save her! If the resolver won't let you risk your life maybe it can do something? Having another ally will increase your chances of survival, and we can't just let her die! She's not responsible for what happened to you, she looks like a mechanic or something. Can... can the resolver make the other one stand down or something?

ask if the one on who knows how to use the transporter. if not then you can say that the kulukuzu appears to be a maintenance worker and would most likely know how to operate it somewhat.

>>352957
Our resolver has gone rogue. This other resolver may have as well. Point that out. If so, we may be able to gain another ally or two, depending on which kind of rogue it has gone and just how grateful the kulukuzu is.

Do not act without permission of our resolver. Also ask if our resolver has a name, as well. It could be that its interest in us has become more than academic, simply by virtue of being forced to remain close to us and thus learn our patterns of behavior.

>>352957
"It's not unheard of for resolvers to go rogue. If the resolver has not gone rogue then there is no danger, whereas danger would mean that the resolver has indeed gone rogue.
Either investigating is no risk, or we are required to intervene to stop a rouge resolver."
Turn to the other Resolver
"Resolver! What has prompted your actions against this Kulukuzu?"

>>352973
Shh no quiet stupid!

Tell (your) resolver that you need to save her, if not just for the good of saving an innocent life, then for the utility we'll gain from having a friend who knows their way around. It looks like an engineer, too, she may be able to help is escape. That's what the resolver wants, anyway, the best chance of escape. Also she's so cute!

Don't get involved. The kuluwhatits are fucking bastards anyway. Maybe they're delicious.

we should help her. its a risk but we could end up gaining another ally and that would be well worth it.

...you know what, I don't think that resolver HAS gone rogue. The kulukuzu serve the Gekeh, but it's not like the Gekeh have to treat them nicely. This is probably some form of law enforcement. Don't get involved at all!

If the resolver won't let you save them, make IT save them! They'll be friendly to us if we save their life and show them that we're good.

Sivikt 2011/12/04(Sun)13:30 No. 369755 ID: f61b94
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I feel compelled to do something. This one might not have harmed me. She might be willing to help me.

"Help!" she screams. The resolver carries her away. I have to intervene. I start to run towards her-

The resolver near me grabs me. "Stop. I ordered you not to interfere. I need you to stay alive. I do not need you to remain unharmed. It is by my will you are marked as safe and remain alive. You are to comply with all orders given or face punishment for your infractions."

It bites me sharply on the shoulder. Involuntarily, I yelp in pain, and the other resolver drops the kulukuzu. It begins to lurch over to me.

"This one is not an enemy," the resolver near me snarls at the other resolver. "Leave and return to your task."
"My task is to judge those who act against the intent and desires of the gekeh, and to punish them accordingly. You are protecting a First species individual. What is your task?"

Sivikt 2011/12/04(Sun)13:31 No. 369757 ID: f61b94
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The kulukuzu looks at me, then to the resolvers, and then runs at me. She leaps onto me and pins me to the ground.

"Okay! Look here! I'm doing something for the gekeh! Look I'm holding it down! You can kill it now!"
"That is my task, kulukuzu-"
"You have failed in your task. I shall complete your task in your stead."

The kulukuzu keeps me pinned to the ground. I am too weak from exhaustion and hunger to struggle against her desperate aggression. The world swims. Something creeps into the sides of my vision.

"Hold. The Words Flow through Us. This One is to be Taken to the Prototype. It will be Destroyed Only Once it has Exhausted its Use."
"A monitor does not command a resolver!"
"This One is a Conduit for the Will and Force of the Collective. The Resolver does not Defy the Collective."

I cannot make out any other words. I am tired. I cannot fight the pain and fatigue for much longer. I feel the world slip away.

Sivikt 2011/12/04(Sun)13:31 No. 369758 ID: f61b94
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I cannot trust my own senses any more. Am I awake? Has time passed? All I feel is the pain and confusion of my mind eating itself in panic, the drifting cohesion of my psyche crumbling like a dried leaf. Fear seems an alien concept. Many things seem alien to me now. My heart races for me to fight or escape, to survive, to just keep surviving.

I feel so distant and removed from myself. The world around me ceases to matter. Light blurs into itself. I feel-

"You really, really should not be able to be doing what it is you're doing right now. This is basically contrary to all the physical laws of the universe I'm aware of."

What am I doing?

"If I knew, I wouldn't be quite as fascinated and alarmed as I am right now. I've just been looking at the last five minutes of your life and the more probable slices of the next five minutes and I'm a little worried you're going to upset things. I don't want to say you were supposed to die, but the gekeh were not meant to suddenly order you to be taken to a lab again. What are they doing?"

I don't know!

"What's even going on any more? It's like someone's taken an axe to causality and hacked random bits and pieces out. Oh, hey, there's another one of you guys. Want me to just dump you there where he is or wherever they're dragging your unconscious body? If they're not playing by the rules, I'm not. No idea what'll happen if I put you down anywhere other than where you should be."

Wait, someone else? Are they alive? I don't really care, we're NOT going back to the lab. That was the most horrifying thing ever.

Uhhhhh.... hmm.

Wait, there's another deikail?

>>369758
We go to him. We save him, then save ourselves. Keep the species alive.

Jump ahead to the sex scene, then rewind back, and then you can further your species!

Sivikt 2014/07/30(Wed)23:34 No. 587070 ID: 8533a8
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Take me to the other deikail.

"Okay. If you insist. If the universe shatters because you went in the wrong place at the wrong time, just remember you asked for it. Can't do much more damage than the gekeh."

=The Vortex would speak of the damage we cause? How many worlds did the individual Vortex burn in ascent? WHAT DO YOU AIM WITH THE REMNANT? Do you not have other species to forge in your vile image, Cold Elder? We manipulate within our limits and constraints. We pose no threat to the Medium or the Incarnate. The Individual Brings Threat To All With Its Selfish Oneness. Purity Is Manyfold.=

"Oh, shut up. I'm not looking forward to you guys showing up here full time. You're such whiners. There, deikail, I took the liberty of fixing you up a bit while I was at it. Have fun. Try not to get brutally killed. Oh, and if you run into Nines again, which at this point despite being impossible I'm basically expecting, tell him to lighten up, could you?"

Sivikt 2014/07/30(Wed)23:34 No. 587072 ID: 8533a8
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unh-

I feel strangely revitalised. I don't recall sleeping or eating, but my fatigue and hunger have vanished. I... still seem to lack any kind of clothing. I do not feel surprised.

Looking around the area, I am entirely certain I should not be here. I look around for something I sense, a dim spark compared to the lights of blue and green, yet still a light in the darkness.

I find the source of the light staring ahead, connected to cold, brutal machinery. I find it easier to detach from my emotion than before. Should I be concerned? I will worry later. Now is the time for action.

...But what action? I cannot fathom the purposes or means of operation of these machines. But the wrong action may kill the only other deikail I have found. "Can you hear me?"

The other stares ahead, but an ear twitches. I wave my hand in front of his face. After a pause, he speaks. "I hope you're a doctor or a nurse or something."
"No, I'm... not much of anything right now. I'm going to get you out of this."
"Sure. Go ahead." He seems distanced. "I think I'm ready for the pain to end now."

Sivikt 2014/07/30(Wed)23:34 No. 587074 ID: 8533a8
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Seeing one of my own kind, hearing his voice. It feels wrong. A jolt of familiarity. It emphasises how alien and how hopeless everything is.

I'm not familiar with this machinery, but it seems to have been engineered by the kulukuzu, closer in mindset to us. It is not an amorphous mass, for one thing. I close my eyes and swim through the red, understanding the device without words and only as abstract concepts.

The concept of 'release subject' is tied to a specific button. My past is fuzzy, after continued attacks on my psyche, but I feel as though this talent would have been useful to me a lot earlier in my life. My eyes open as though I wake from a dream, and I release the other deikail.

He looks as unharmed as I was. I do not understand the way these machines can be so invasive and leave no physical trace of their presence.

We approach each other. We stand in silence and look into each others' eyes. Two dekail survivors.

Eventually, he says, "It sure is taking me a long time to die, huh."
"You don't look like you're dying to me."
"Well, look, I'd love to argue with a figment of my imagination but I'm sure I can find better ways to spend the last few seconds of my life."
"What?"
"Oh come on. This is clearly the last few sparks of my dying brain interpreting my mangled body's senses with pain and then nothing. Last thing I need is to start arguing with my own brain. Hm. Wonder if that's how it works. The only thing that makes a brain a coherent whole is connection, and if the neurons acting as the only connections between regions die, maybe that's how it ends. Each region screaming at my disparate selves until oblivion."

I don't know who I was expecting the last male dekail to be, but I was not expecting a solipsist. "You're not dying, you're in danger. We have to get out of this place before we get killed." My voice is lacking in urgency. I feel more confused than anything else.
"Or I'm in a coma, and you're a voice outside, but that doesn't fit with what you just said. Maybe this is a dream. Just a dream. Either way, this is too implausible to be reality."
"You're awake," I say, "and not liking the truth is not a reason to pretend it doesn't exist."

Sivikt 2014/07/30(Wed)23:34 No. 587075 ID: 8533a8
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He walks up to me and loosely grabs me by a shoulder. I flinch.

"Well, you feel real. How can I know if you're real or not?"
"How can I know if you're real? No. I don't want to waste any more time."

I walk away from him. I should be trying to escape, not treating rampant delusions.

I stop and think about what I just thought, and remember sessions upon sessions years ago of those earnestly trying to help me, help me stop experiencing these lights no one else could see. Before the truth was unlocked, the universe opened, and our place in it made so insignificant.

For all I know, maybe my entire life really has been one lived inside his head--

"Hey," he says. I stop. "Look. This is close to dreams I've had before, and I'm too lucid for this to be a dream I have no control over. But I can't change anything, and I can't influence you without speaking. I'm having second thoughts."
"You've dreamed of what?"
"This vessel. Ships like it, getting more vivid and real over time. ...there's no one left on the surface, is there? We're all that's left of our entire species, aren't we."

He stares past me.

"A pair of naked dekail stripped of all possessions and dignity, two test subjects being kept around for whatever purpose. Oh god."
"We need to focus. We need to escape. There is only one place I know to get to that can help us escape. I'm not sure where we are though. I need to find a terminal."
"You can use their computers?"
"Well enough."

I wanted to save 'the dekail', and I suppose saving just two of us is my only practical goal now.

I realise there is a monitor watching us. Just watching, barely out of sight. A faint yellow flicker in the shadows.

>>587075
Tell it, matter of factly, that it is impossible for it to control or contain you anymore. (not even sure if that's a bluff) It should reduce the damage you do to this ship by giving the both of you safe passage to the transporter room.

Tell the monitor that walls can not hold you, and that you're leaving. If it's not here to help you it can just get out of our way.

tell it to go away

Make a subtle rude gesture at it while you're looking for a terminal. What's connected to this room?