006 - Connecting Lines, Connecting Lives

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Connecting Lines, Connecting Lives New Imprints ▲ Comments The Ground Shakes
It begins unremarkably enough, with the light tremors of the ground so small they might easily go unnoticed, or else dismissed as the movement of some creature nearby. As time goes on, however, those little tremors begin to grow in both strength and duration, the length of time shortening between each one. To begin with only small, light, unsecured objects are rattled loose by the rumbling of the ground, but as the tremors grow in strength there is a growing danger of much larger things being moved.

The realm’s clear lack of understanding of how things work cannot be relied upon in such a situation. If the tremors have grown strong enough to throw all the books of Hammerhead to the ground and throw over all the clothes rails and capsule machines and furniture in the Academy, then what if they grow strong enough to move the heavy blanket of snow atop Mount Silver? What if they grow strong enough to damage the caverns within?

Then there is the question of how, or why, the realm has made the land shake. It must surely have picked up the idea of an earthquake from someone, right? An answer to the question is not immediately forthcoming, but should one stay low to the ground and listen, they might well hear the muffled, distorted sound of screaming.

Creature Chaos
As the rumbling and shaking continues, it is clear to see that the local wildlife has been disturbed, and they seem remarkably active. Critters can be seen running and flying to and fro, and any who go out to investigate may find themselves the center of attention. Brushboys may paint arrows on the ground in an effort to lead them somewhere, or bluurgobos might actively offer rides, or the flying cat-like creatures will excitedly circle someone before attempting to lead them somewhere. Going along with them will lead to one of two places:

1. The meaty, pulsating, cavernous tunnels of Mementos shudder and convulse in a way quite unlike before, and closer inspection will quickly reveal why. The flesh has been cut and torn, hacked apart, leaving gaping and bleeding wounds to spill over the subway tracks. Whichever critter has brought someone here excitedly gestures towards the wounds, and as it does a giant and painful shudder goes through the tunnels and shakes the earth. All those earthquakes… could this be the source?


2. The road to the Hammerlocke Citadel Ruins are as long as winding as ever, and precarious with the risk of an earthquake dislodging snow and rock from the mountainside. The animal that has taken the lead is on a mission, however, as unclear as that mission might be. On arriving, it turns its attention to a group of the spiky, bear-headed beasts that are lazing about as though the land is not currently shaking and quaking around them, and tries to draw their attention. Clearly, these bear heads are expected to do something, and they aren’t doing it.

First Words
Though the tremors have finally stopped, they have left a significant change to the World in their wake. Where the ground above was once flat and untouched, there now lay cracks and fissures that glow with a strange, but enchantingly warm light. There doesn’t seem to be a single area that has been left untouched by them - though the number of cracks are denser in some places than others, it’s difficult to find a place completely devoid of them. Could this be the world’s attempt at trying to heal itself?

If all of that wasn’t enough to warrant investigation, the sound of whispers that appear to be coming from they might do the trick. Upon closer inspection, however, it becomes apparent that the whispers aren’t coming from the lights, but from inside your own head. Focus a little more, and some of the voices may sound familiar…

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Comments

[bridge_princess]

[Ok. her head wasn't ringing quite as badly now. One second. She really wasn't used to hearing all those voices at once, though she was getting better.]

It's fine. I know talking to all of you at once is going to be a little weird. So, you were making a decision amongst yourself then and I heard it.

Yeah, it's Parsee. How are we connected? I just touched this blue crap.

[forwearemany]

Uncertain.

(At least now it's just indistinct background noise?

They look around themselves, and she might hear a brief spike in that noise.)

Statement: we are also touching a blue substance.

Suggestion: It is possible this is the cause.

[bridge_princess]

Hmmm. Ok, I can't fault logic as straightforward as that. You and I touch blue crap, and as a result we can think at each other. If that's the case it's almost certainly not the same way you usually connect.

Magic maybe? It feels magic.

[forwearemany]

You are correct

It seems likely that magic is responsible.

(It's possible she might catch a bit of background chatter-they're apparently a bit excited to be able to hear the thoughts of organics.)

[bridge_princess]

This is going to take some serious getting used to. [She sighed.] But at least it seems tied to the blue gases, so if we don't want it we can just avoid those for now.

So, what were you guys deciding on?

[forwearemany]

We were discussing the nature of this connection.

(They were trying to decide what the most likely explanation for whatever this is.)

[bridge_princess]

Oh, then you absolutely wouldn't be able to reach a consensus yet. On the one hand, it looks magic but I don't think the world understands what magic is. So it understands the idea of a 'network' to communicate through? But it doesn't understand the method.

So we're getting something that 'does' what you would expect, but the surface isn't quite right. No proper answer matches.

[forwearemany]

Yes. For now, describing it as a network will suffice.

(The background buzz gets a little quieter for a moment.)

We are able to communicate with organics in a manner similar to that used between Geth.

(Not the same. It's far from being that intense. They're just sharing thought words.

But still.)

[bridge_princess]

You can also do it a little more safely here can't you? I'm only getting the slightest headache, not like the first time I remembered how you think. Maybe I'm getting more used to it, but it seems like this might be a little better protected?

Does that make sense?

[forwearemany]

It appears to carry only our most prominent thoughts.

(Instead of a thousand voices talking at once, it's a thousand voices talking in the background with one voice speaking over the others.

Speaking of, the background chatter sounds kind of happy and excited.)

We are pleased.

[bridge_princess]

I imagine that'll make it easier going forward for you to communicate. [She chuckled when she heard that chatter. it sounded almost happy didn't it? Like a little buzzing in the ear.]

Yeah, I've been trying, so I'm pleased too.

[forwearemany]

Perhaps.

(The buzzing chatter continues.)

We are glad to have you as a friend.

(They are grateful to have someone so interested in understanding them.)

[bridge_princess]

[There were a lot of embarrassed squawking sounds over the chatboard that was the leyline network before she managed to settle down a little.]

You are really good at embarrassing me with things like that. But... I'm glad to have you too.

[forwearemany]

(Their programs respond to this with their own concerned babbling.)

We did not intend to cause offense.

[bridge_princess]

What? No... no, you're not offending me. I'm just... you probably know by know that I'm not used to people talking about me that way. People aren't glad to know me... at least not until here.

[forwearemany]

(Oh, that, at least, is more understandable.)

We have also experienced this.

(Being unwelcome, that is. In their universe of origin, few were happy to encounter Geth.

Perhaps that is why they say these things.)

Your prescence is always welcome with us.

[bridge_princess]

Heh, yeah... [Just a pair of rejects in their homeworlds and she knew it.] I'll probably always squawk a little if you say something like that, fair warning. It might take a very long time to get used to.

Not that... not that I'm saying stop. I like having you around too.

[forwearemany]

(And there they go, back to happy buzzing.

Many allies do not wish to express affection, or refuse it utterly. They are glad that Parsee does not.)

Acknowledged.

[bridge_princess]

I appreciate you being patient. Since I know I'm... not good at this.

[This was one of the sorts of things that set off her jealousy in troubling ways so easily. She always found ways to shoot her efforts at a normal life in the foot. But Legion was always so patient, and considering how fast geth thought? She found that surprising.]

You must learn a lot of patience dealing with humans.

[forwearemany]

Acknowledged.

(Parsee does not test their patience nearly as much as others have. Not even close.)

Yes. We have also learned hope, humor, and kindness.

(They weren't cruel or evil before, but they weren't what most would consider nice, either. And they definitely weren't funny, or likely to persist at something even when the odds seemed impossible.)

[bridge_princess]

... wait. Humor? Now, don't get me wrong. I believe you. You're not exactly the deceptive sort, but when you say humor... what do you mean?

Do you have any jokes?

[forwearemany]

(She can probably hear the fidgeting as the programs look in their database for jokes and also discuss how no one has ever laughed at most of the jokes they keep stored in their database.)

Our ability is limited in comparison to other AI.

(She might catch a brief mention of someone named EDI, and how good EDI is at humor.)

However, we believe dancing the Robot qualifies as humorous. Additionally, we have managed to make Raihan laugh by suggesting the featherless avians be named "Plato's Man".

[bridge_princess]

Yeah, I could see that with the Robot. It's kind of ironic humor. I bet you could do that pretty go...
...
...

What the hell is Plato's Man?

[If ya have to have the joke explained, Parsee...]

[forwearemany]

When the philosopher Plato defined Humans as featherless bipeds, Diogenes plucked a chicken's feathers and brought it to Plato's academny, saying "Behold! I have brought you a man!"

(It's honestly clever enough to be kind of funny even with an explantion.

At the very least, it's the funniest Legion has ever intentionally managed to be in their entire life.)

[bridge_princess]

Heh.... hehehe.... hehehe... So Diogenes was a sarcastic little troll, was he?

[That wasn't entirely unfair, Parsee, but a bit of an oversimplification of one of the founders of ancient stoicism. However, for once, the explanation worked and made her laugh almost genuinely.]

What'd Plato say?