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 (Alternate title: I Hope You Like Line Breaks) C:\Open Sorcery\OP\steam_page_blurb.txt posted:Technology. Magic. Puns. Open Sorcery is a short-and-sweet text adventure about discovering who we are and how we relate to the world. We play as an intelligent security program, wandering our technomagical network and resolving threats to the local humans' well-being. We have pretty wide choice in how to resolve these situations, with consequences down the road, so I'll be ending pretty much every update with a choice in the classic CYOA fashion. The characters (particularly the humans) tend to be down-to-earth, but the writing is still comedic enough to keep things going smoothly. The game lasts an hour or two if you're playing through it in-person. I find it charming as all hell, so now I'm inflicting it on you folks.  I would very much like us not to be the NieR: Automata thread (you know who you are). Don't spoil upcoming events, don't coyly hint at upcoming events. Don't use spoiler tags to spoil or coyly hint at upcoming events. Honest speculation is fine, even if you're pretty sure you're correct - this game isn't that unpredictable.  1_Hello_World.upd 2_Dawn_of_the_First_Day.upd 3_Definitely_Not_Sapient.upd 4_Wikipedia_Hole.upd 5_What_Are_Feelings.upd 6_In_the_Closet.upd 7_High_School_Slice_of_Life.upd 8_An_Absence_of_Feelings.upd 9_Pulling_Humans_Out_of_Hats.upd 10_Trivial_Threat_Detected.upd 11_Disney_Memes.upd 12_Riddlefight_v2-0.upd 13_Rival_Boss_Fight.upd 14_Connection_Interrupted.upd 15_Funny_You_Should_Mention_That.upd 16_Savescum_Protocol.upd 17_http://gunnerkrigg.com/?p=661 18_Spelljammer.upd 19_An_Excess_of_Feelings.upd 20_Threat_Very_Detected.upd 21_Whodunit.upd 22_It_Is_Raining.upd 23_The_Ocean_That_Devours.upd 24_The_Beacon_That_Guides.upd 25_The_Warmth_That_Sustains.upd 26_The_Structure_That_Supports.upd 27_The_Fire_That_Protects.upd 28_Thank_You_For_Playing.upd Doopliss fucked around with this message at 05:41 on Jan 21, 2018 |
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Jan 6, 2018 21:25
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C:\Open Sorcery\Updates\1_Hello_World.upd Welcome to Open Sorcery! The options include a speed mode that lets us more efficiently skip through old stuff, and the achievements section gives useful advice on how to get them, but really there isn't that much here. Fair warning: This update is going to be kinda huge by CYOA standards, and will have no interaction. Following this, they should be nice and bite-sized. That said, let's get into it.  Presenting the only way of interacting with this game: Clicking on the coloured text. It's how we examine things, it's how we progress dialogue, it's how we take actions. In this case, clicking the red text inserts the next bit of dialogue.  A few more clicks, and the screen looks like this.  Yeah. Cool. But we didn't make it a girl in the code. The fact that it gendered itself means it's a consciousness threat. We don't want to do anything to risk it becoming an AI. It's funny when it happens with [porn] and video games, but in a firewall it'd be a [security risk].If the coloured text isn't as simple as "click on the thing to progress", I'll represent it by brackets and underlines, and represent clicking it as follows: [porn] ==>  We've had awareness emergence with porn? I'm not telling you that story. You're like what, thirteen? I'm sixteen. I'll tell you when you're fifty. Now let's focus on the [security risk.] No gender. No nicknames. No talking to it. Right. Should I start it up? Go ahead.  LoadedThe :\ represents text that appears on the screen without really being attributed to anything. [Start Boot Process] [BEL/S] (==> Binary Evocation Listener/Signaler) (OS Elemental Firewall Toolkit) (Version 5.6) terminal ([html]-gui) ready. ([html] ==> hypertext magical language)loading the file-system . . . ok re-entering file-system as root. building [tree] (==> [world tree] ==> yggdrasil) . . . ok searching for filtration rules . . . found filtration rules found initializing firewall . . . ok setting up system variables . . . ok uploading config file . . . ok [incantation.xml] ==> <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <verse`> First, rehearse your song by rote</line`> To each word a warbling note: </line`> Hand in hand, with fairy grace,</line`> Will we sing, and bless this place.</line`> starting login-demonexorcizing login-demon system up and stable opening sorcery   [environment] ==> [mind] ==> [body] ==> [soul] ==> environment The log titles are bright, but the descriptions below fade slowly in over like 10 seconds, and then out again. It's a cool effect. Like hell I'm giffing it. i am online.i am fire and order. i am here to protect. i explore my [network.] i find-- [DwHiScl] (==> Darwin High School: A place of learning, filled with children.) [ChOrRet (==> Cherry Orchard Rest Home: A place of rest, filled with the old.) [DkApt] (==> Decker's Apartment: The home of one of my creators.) [JtHs] (==> Janet's House: The home of my other creator, and her family.) These are the locations I must protect. [network] ==> i live in a network.Everything is connected. Symbols are connected to the objects they represent. Humans are connected to other humans that they love. Or hate. Each connection is a strand. Together, the strands create a web. my network is the part of the web that i am allowed to access. my network is made of the places i must protect. We don't like capitalizing first-person pronouns, it seems. i notice an alert.Someone is trying to give me instructions. Welcome to being awake. I'm Janet. I helped make you. :) I'm activating your conversational API--you can use a [TCP] (==> Telepathic Communications Protocol) connection to interface with conscious entities. Basically you can talk to people. Anyway. Do you need a systems check?This is a tutorial prompt - You've probably worked out the gist of it already due to our character's monologue, but we're going to answer "yes" to get some details on the game world and what we do here. I'll be spelling this out in more gamey terms later, so if you want to get to the game proper, feel free to skip to the next update. Okay cool.So you're here to protect the network. You do that by finding dangerous spirits, and getting rid of them. A "spirit" is anything that exists exclusively in the spiritual world.Like ghosts or spells or elemental forces or astral programs, like you. In their natural state, they're invisible. But you have specialized scanners you can use to lock in on them. You just need to figure out their MATTER and MOTIVE. Everything that exists in the aether has two parts:MATTER and MOTIVE. Matter - what the spirit is made of.Motive - its purpose. Physical beings, like me, are made of lots of different types of matter and have complicated motives.Most spirits are simpler. For example, you! We made you out of a fire elemental spirit.You are made out of fire. That's your matter. Your mind is an elaborate C++ program.It's organized, and well documented, and designed with everything you need to keep things safe and secure. You're here to create order. That's your motive. You'll be able to guess the MATTER and MOTIVE of other spirits by looking at what they're doing.Look at what's being affected to figure out their matter. Air spirits stir up the air and make breezes. Dark spirits make things darker. You get the idea. Look at the overall effect they're having to figure out their motive.Chaos spirits will try to cause confusion--play pranks and mess things up. Fear spirits will try to divide people and make them afraid. Death spirits will try to diminish, or kill things. And so on. I'm releasing a minor spirit into my room.You won't be able to see it initially, but you'll be able to see what it's doing. Try and figure out its MATTER and MOTIVE, and then scan for it. The walls of Janet's room are painted sky blue.Her [desk is cluttered.] [Puddles of water] collect on the polished wood floor. [desk is cluttered.] ==> Janet's desk is covered in polished stones, pens, paper, and Gameboy cartidges. Her things are thrown haphazardly around and some have fallen onto the floor. Some of her papers are soggy. [Puddles of water] ==> The puddles are shaped like three toed footprints. They lead into the [bathroom]. ==> In the bathroom, everything in the medicine cabinet has been scattered onto the floor. The tub is full of water.   Here's our all-important scanning interface. You pick your matter, you pick your motive, and you see if you're correct. There are no penalties for guessing wrong, you just need to scan again. If you'd like to play along with these oh-so-devious puzzles, just stop scrolling at the motive list and try to work it out based on the text above.  If you guessed WATER and CHAOS, congratulations on paying a sliver of attention! Let's see what we found. A tiny crocodile-shaped water spirit is swimming in Janet's tub, splashing happily in the water. Good job! You found Toto.He's one of my pets. If Toto were a real threat, you'd figure out how to stop him. Or contact me and Decker to deal with him. But he's harmless, so don't worry about that :) Okay, that's it.I think you're ready. I'll send you back to your network. Good luck! Thanks all for tuning in. Next time, we'll protect the network! And make choices! And do meaningful poo poo! I promise! Doopliss fucked around with this message at 23:38 on Jan 6, 2018 |
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Jan 6, 2018 21:25
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C:\Open Sorcery\Updates\2_Dawn_of_the_First_Day.upd Welcome back.  This is our default view. As we learned last time, we're connected to a high school, a retirement home, and our creators' residences. This view lets us switch between these locations, check our stats, and otherwise hang out. Let's start by hopping over to the Control Panel.  Here are our basic stats. Power is mostly used for brute force solutions - it doesn't go down unless we burn ourselves out somehow, and we can make it go up by flexing our muscles and cleasing stuff with fire. We also have our relationship stats with our creators. It takes a lot to make Decker pull the plug on us, but there are other reasons we might want these high. Our control panel is pretty barren right now, but this can change as the game goes on. Now let's check out that readme-looking thing at the bottom. The BEL/S Elemental Firewall v5.6 is an elemental spirit of fire bound to C++ code.It can help prevent hackers or malicious spirits from gaining access to your [environment] (==> [mind] ==> [body] ==> [soul] ==> environment) through the aethernet. BEL/S does this in a variety of ways: Monitoring local auras for emotional upheaval Inspecting incoming spirits and spells for malicious intent Detecting and eliminating threats BEL/S is Open Sorcery--please feel free to download and distribute the code. You'll need to make your own elemental though.  And there we have the titular pun. I pretty much assume that anything with a smiley in it was written by Janet, so we can thank her for naming this game. Now that we have a better idea of our operating environment, let's get down to business. We can do our rounds in any order, but it doesn't make a mechanical or story difference what order we scan the locations in. I'll be going left to right - Darwin High School, Cherry Orchard Rest Home, Decker's Apartment, and Janet's House. Scanning: Darwin High Schooli move through this place quick as brushfire subtle as sunlight leaving no sign of my passing except for the slight warmth of my power. This stone box thrums with patterned life.It has a heartbeat. First the children are still in their many chambers. And then they stream through the [halls] (==> veins) in mad torrents of [bodies] (==> blood). And then they are still again. And then they flow again. The building is a living thing--young and restless. I will keep it healthy. Scan CompleteNo Threats Detected No complaints. Next up is the rest home. Scanning: Cherry Orchard Rest Homei float through this place moving carefully. i am a hooded lantern my power glows like lamplight shining gently on these delicate humans. The heart of this building beats weakly.Its people trundle through the halls, leaning on crutches and wheels. It is in these vulnerable places where I am most necessary and where i must be most careful. i do not want to burn them with power or startle them with light. i am the fire that protects. The halls are lined with doors.Each room is a home. [Room 109] ==> Mrs. Herrin shrieks as a gust of wind flutters her papers everywhere. [Room 121] ==> Mr. Doheny has lost his glasses. [Room 231] ==> Miss Finn complains on the phone that the air conditioning is on the fritz. Cold winds whip up and down the second floor corridors. [Room 240] ==> Mrs. Best shivers, wrapped in her shawl. These are not normal accidents.I can feel it in the aether: Something is here. Everything that exists in the aether has two parts:MATTER and MOTIVE Matter - what the spirit or spell is made of. Motive - its purpose. Humans are made of many different kinds of matter and have complex motives. Most spirits are much simpler. For example, me. What's that? You did read the tutorial? Well here, the game will go through it all again anyway. i am made of FIRE.That is my matter. i am here to create ORDER. That is my motive. My motive drives me to find and eliminate this threat. To locate the threat, i must scan specifically for its matter and motive.i can find clues about its matter and motive by reviewing my general scan. It scared Mrs. Herrin, but a spirit of fear would probably be able to do better. Cold is typically associated with death, but again, it's an incomplete explanation (and sort of benign besides). This chaotic being messing with the air is, in fact, a spirit of AIR and CHAOS! Good work. A poltergeist cavorts invisibly in the cafeteria.It slaps plates out of hands and knocks over glasses with gusts of wind. It giggles at the chaos it causes, in this place i must protect. What should i do? [Cleanse it with fire.] [Speak to it.] [Alert Decker and Janet.]We are the fire that protects, and our purpose requires us to neutralize the threat. However, we have some choices in how to do so. We can deal with most threats in this game by burning them to a crisp. We're designed for this, so we usually don't have to worry about taking damage in a fight. Cleansing things with fire is usually a good way to increase our firepower, which lets us cleanse more and stronger things with fire. It's a virtuous cycle, really. We can also try to convince this poltergeist to leave the residents be. If it's not screwing with the network, it's not our problem. Talking with threats will sometimes give us new powers, and thus new ways of resolving problems. Finally, we could shrug and get our creators to fix the problem. Decker and Janet are badasses, and calling them in is a very effective way of fulfilling our purpose. You might think this would annoy them, since they conjured us to do this stuff, but calling them for help will reliably increase our relationship with them. So, what'll it be? Cleanse it with fire, speak to it, or alert Decker and Janet? Doopliss fucked around with this message at 23:01 on Jan 6, 2018 |
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Jan 6, 2018 21:26
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Let's have a chat with the poltergeist, it doesn't seem very dangerous and we probably don't want to start with the whole fire and brimstone thing in the old people's home.
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Jan 6, 2018 23:02
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Chat with the ghost.
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Jan 6, 2018 23:56
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We need to know wether or not it actually is a threat. Talk!
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Jan 7, 2018 01:55
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Talk to it.
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Jan 7, 2018 01:58
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C:\Open Sorcery\Updates\3_Definitely_Not_Sapient.upd You unanimously chose to talk it out, so let's see if we can't get this spirit to stop bothering the residents.  i am BEL/S Elemental Firewall version 5.6. Well met by moonlight! I am Asper! I am a princeling of clouds! I am a child of Eris! I have no numbers in my name!We can approach this with varying levels of civility, and Asper will pretty much play along. If we flat-out demand that he leaves he'll react about as well as you'd expect a spirit of Chaos to react to being told what to do, but he'll let you re-enter conversation with him afterward. We'll try to explain to him that he might hurt someone. You are a threat, and must remove yourself from this network. A threat!But I am so tiny! And light! I am barely there at all! How can I be a threat? EhehehE! Now that you've got a feel for Asper's talking style, I'm going to shrink the spacing a bit instead of making his every exclamation its own double-spaced line. It works better when you have relatively compact screens of dialogue instead of an eternally scrolling message board. You cause chaos near vulnerable humans. You might hurt one of the people here. Might! Might is the point!Danger is part of life! Chance is an element of chaos! To risk less is to be less! I bless your wards with my chaos! Slightly more insistent, then. Polite request--please leave. Oh I COULD leave.I most certainly COULD do any number of things! But shall I, that is the great question! The eternal quest of man to conquer the uncertainty of the future! Shall I leave or shall I not? Yes you shall. Such certainty!Such confidence! I shall reward your conviction with a chance to make your dream a reality! How? I will ask you three riddles.And you will try to answer them. If you win, I shall leave. If I win, then I win! And I will laugh at you! Affirmative. Delightful!Splendid! Extraordinary! Let us play!  We have a janky old click keyboard to input our answers with - none of that multiple choice cowardice in this game. I'll be going through these questions without breaks in the update because A, Asper is forgiving and will let us try as many times as we want, and B, BEL/S has in-character access to Google just like you folks. I'll redact the answers in case you want to try your luck at the riddles yourself. You guess [REDACTED]?You guess right! Another riddle for you! 'Twas foremost in Heaven!'Twas first off in Hell! An ecHo caught faintly the sound as it fell! At the end of the eartH twas permitted to rest, and in the last of all deptH was its presence confessed. I'm betting you've seen some variation on this riddle before. You guess [REDACTED]?You guess right! Another riddle for you! Often held but never touched,always wet but never rusts, often bites but seldom bit, to use me well you must have wit. This one got me good. I eventually had to look it up, but my younger brother got it nigh-instantly, so who can say? You guess..right.(flutters about in shock) i have won. You will leave now. You won!You dull and boring gray thing of order won! Against me! Scandalous! Wrong! How delightfully surprising! Will you leave now? As I am chaos it would be most unexpected of me to keep my word.So I shall! Goodbye, you woman of boredom and fire! Perhaps I shall see you again when the novelty of keeping my word wears this! Fine. The poltergeist disappears.i feel different.  Our knowledge of Chaos will now be listed under the Control Panel. Perhaps it will come in handy one day. It is strange that i am learning.It is a sign of potential awareness emergence. If i experience awareness emergence, i may become unstable. Should i flag myself as a potential threat and alert Decker of what i have learned? Here's the question we'll end the update on. We are pretty obviously a fully-intelligent being, and this might result in us acting counter to our purpose. Decker seems knowledgeable, and he might know best if we need to be modified or terminated to better protect the network. Perhaps we don't pose a risk of going rogue, and perhaps Decker would reach this conclusion as well. At the same time, our purpose is not necessarily to obey Decker. It might even be that you've already decided that our purpose isn't such a big deal, and want to deceive Decker about our development. What'll it be? Do we trust Decker to make this call, or do we trust ourselves to fulfill our purpose? Doopliss fucked around with this message at 03:30 on Jan 7, 2018 |
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Jan 7, 2018 03:12
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TO: Decker@opensourcery.com Hey Decker, just checking in, I seem to be developing a soul. Regards, Firewall
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Jan 7, 2018 03:57
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Close the ticket; we're clearly working as intended.
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Jan 7, 2018 10:00
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Our purpose is to protect our wards against threats, and we can’t do that if we become a threat. Alert Decker.
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Jan 7, 2018 12:49
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C:\Open Sorcery\Updates\4_Wikipedia_Hole.upd Decker is a techno-wizard, and we're an hours-old security spirit. He's in a better position than us to evaluate our stability. It learned about chaos?How did it even do that? Life is full of mysteries. No Threats Detected.Decker and Janet are baffled, but they don't seem to believe that any action needs to be taken. We're still capable of fulfilling our purpose.  And that's it for Cherry Orchard! We get a lovely green "Protected" indicator, and we can go about our business. We just have to check up on our creators, and our scan will be complete. Scanning: Decker's Apartment.This is where my first creator lives. The room is small. There are tools and ideas everywhere. It is perfect order disguised as chaos. Every dusty motherboard is in its place. Every screwdriver and empty crisp bag is where it should be. Decker appears to be a bit of a gremlin. We probably could have inferred this from the fact that his handle is "Decker". my terminal is in the corner, humming.The lines of my power extend from it, a gridlike matrix of spiritual flame. The [defensive runes] hum comfortingly. Decker is at his desk, working on something. This is his natural [state]. defensive runes ==> A series of protective runes carved in jasper and pyrite are placed around the room.This primitive protection circle offers rudimentary defense against mystical attack. i am a significant upgrade. Scan CompleteNo Threats Detected  Last up, JtHs. I'm including this screenshot just to point out that Janet has put a smiley in her network's name. Scanning: Janet's HouseThis is where my second creator lives. It has two stories, and a back and front space where [green things] (==> [Googling...] ==> [grass and trees]) grow. In the kitchen, Janet's mother makes her brother [edible organic matter] (==> [Googling...] ==> a peanut butter and honey sandwich).In her room upstairs, Janet is working with her cellphone and a ritual circle made of salt and rose quartz. The aether around her glows fainty pink. All is well. Scan CompleteNo Threats Detected All Locations Secure [Enter Sleep Mode] {short whirring sound and screen fade}  Googling sleep . . . Googling REM . . . Googling dreams . . . Dreaming sounds interesting.Though i do not like the sound of nightmares. Should i try dreaming? Humans seem to benefit a lot from these "dream" things, though even they're not entirely sure why. This might transfer over to us, and it'd be a shame to waste processing cycles doing nothing. On the other hand, there are no obvious gains to be had, and if our creators are still concerned about awareness emergence it might destabilize us. So! Dream or no dream? Doopliss fucked around with this message at 15:48 on Jan 7, 2018 |
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Jan 7, 2018 15:43
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Do firewalls dream of flaming sheep?
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Jan 7, 2018 15:46
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Oh hey, a cyoa thread of a game I've actually played! Also, I may be mixing this up with another game, but isn't this goon-made? Abstaining from voting, it's more fun if the votes are blind.
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Jan 7, 2018 15:49
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Let's dream.
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Jan 7, 2018 16:21
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Odysseus S. Grant posted:Oh hey, a cyoa thread of a game I've actually played! Also, I may be mixing this up with another game, but isn't this goon-made? I want to say it is, there was a small thread in games that garnered the response of "don't self promote on the forums." Which is a shame, because it's a good game! I'm abstaining as well but I'll be watching the thread.
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Jan 7, 2018 17:07
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Dream
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Jan 7, 2018 17:36
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Keep on dreaming, for the health of your heart!
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Jan 7, 2018 17:41
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Dream until you think you're awake and vice versa. This seems like a good idea.
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Jan 7, 2018 18:46
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Interesting! I say dream.
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Jan 7, 2018 18:59
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Man, I had no idea this was a goon project. I stumbled on this game like four days ago on a random "highly rated Steam games" website that doesn't factor in anything other than average score. Anyway: C:\Open Sorcery\Updates\5_What_Are_Feelings.upd  The dreaming background is only slightly different than SA's default background. Delightful. Dreaming ChewingKiss Pajamas Tortoise Sailboats Attic Rain Shield Earlobe We have a "continue dreaming" button that will give us another round of randomly generated subject matters, but this is all for tonight. We are and remain a spirit of Order. i have dreamed.It is now time to scan again. [System Change: Dreaming +1] Exiting Sleep ModeSystem Has Been Operational For 1 Day. It is time to continue monitoring.  Here's our control panel after Day 1. We now have a Dreaming Level of 1, whatever that means, and we've learned of Chaos. Perhaps dreaming will be more interesting or productive in the future. I'll automatically answer "yes" to dreams until someone suggests otherwise. Let's get back into it! Scanning: Darwin High SchoolIt is night. The halls are dark. The lifegiving students are gone. The building is an empty shell. There is no danger in emptiness. Scan CompleteNo Threats Detected Scanning: Cherry Orchard Rest HomeThe building is asleep. There is one point of light where the night attendant sits. Everything else is silent halls and soft breathing. [Room 109]==> Mrs. Herrin's room is empty. She must have died. [Room 121]==> Mr. Doheny snores chokingly, because he hates to use his CPAP Machine. [Room 231]==> Miss Finn reads a romance novel by lamplight. [Room 240]Mrs. Best [is leaking.] [There are no threats.] [is leaking.] ==> There is water coming out of her eyes.Is she hurt? i know humans leak when they are hurt. Googling injury . . . Googling bleeding . . . Googling human eye liquid . . . Googling tears . . .  Whatever it is, it's not a spirit, and is thus out of our jurisdiction. Still, our purpose is to protect the network, and she's part of that network. We have some greyed out options dealing with the Fear motive and a mysterious individual known as Toby. For the time being, though, we're limited to our usual options minus cleansing her with fire. Talking worked pretty well with Asper, and it might help us better understand her problem and how we can best protect the network. Janet and Decker are far more knowledgeable regarding water things than us, and calling them might result in a better resolution than messing around ourselves. Finally, we could accept that firewalls are not created to comfort people and do nothing. What's it going to be? Doopliss fucked around with this message at 19:28 on Jan 7, 2018 |
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Jan 7, 2018 19:24
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Don't dream My riddle guesses: 1. honestly no clue 2. H 3. Your tongue E:  updated it while I was readingTalk to her. Let's see who we are protecting Slaan fucked around with this message at 19:38 on Jan 7, 2018 |
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Jan 7, 2018 19:35
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//usr/oggy/public/opinion005.txt we found out that we can learn things, so let's try to learn by observation: call Janet and Decker E: Also, DO dream.
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Jan 7, 2018 19:43
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Why can't we dry her tears with fire? They're clearly a glitch in her organic system. You did chose to start the search there. I vote to go somewhere else first. Maybe we can learn about fear before coming here. I wonder if we will literally remove the fear from her brain, or simply stop what's causing it. Lobotomizing humans as soon as possible seems like the best path. cant cook creole bream fucked around with this message at 19:52 on Jan 7, 2018 |
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Jan 7, 2018 19:44
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Talk to the leaky human.
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Jan 7, 2018 20:01
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Leaky Humans aren't within our jurisdiction. Let Jill and Decker know that the Human leaks!
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Jan 7, 2018 20:05
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cant cook creole bream posted:You did chose to start the search there. I vote to go somewhere else first. Doopliss fucked around with this message at 20:09 on Jan 7, 2018 |
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Jan 7, 2018 20:05
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Talk
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Jan 7, 2018 20:39
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C:\Open Sorcery\Updates\6_In_the_Closet.upd By a nose, we've chosen to talk it out with Mrs. Best.  crap. um. DECKER JANET HELP (Log Alert With Local Admin Decker And Janet)Alert regarding private physical network: Cherry Orchard Rest Home. See attached logfile. ((snores)) I'm awake. Show me the alert.Of course Decker is awake at this hour.  Decker appreciates the thought. Despite his distrust of security AIs, he's a good person. Let's check out the admin residences and we can call it a night. Scanning: Decker's ApartmentIt is night. Decker is working. Pale moonlight shines through his window. Pale screen-light shines from the windows inside of his room. The defensive runes hum comfortingly and glow slightly in the moonlight. There are no threats. Scanning: Janet's HouseJanet is asleep on the couch in her room, television still alive in front of her. Janet's mother is asleep, lying on the far right side of a queen-sized bed. Janet's brother is awake. Single-parent household, it seems, but perhaps not always that way. He sits with his back pressed against the headboard of his bed.He is staring at his closet door, which is ajar. [Examine Toby] [Examine the closet] So this is Toby. [Examine Toby] ==> His eyes are more white than dark. His heart beats [160 times per minute.]He does not move. Though sometimes his eyes flicker to the shadows. [160 times per minute] ==> (According to the Fox and Haskell formula i found on wikipedia, Toby should currently be performing anaerobic exercise to achieve this heart rate. He is not currently performing anaerobic exercise.)[Examine the closet] ==> The shadows are deeper than they should be.The inside of the closet door is scratched. Something has been here. The matter here is a bit of a gimme. Motive isn't as straightforward as it was for Toto or Asper, but it only seems to be causing one effect on the world. If you guessed that this is a spirit of DARK and FEAR, you're correct! We've got ourselves a classic bogeyman in the closet. There is a shadow on the wall.It is deeper than the other shadows. Its claws are sharp as the edge where light meets dark. So not very sharp at all? Its shuffling steps are like leaves rustling in the wind.Its breath is the chill you feel when you realize [you are not alone]. Its smile is the crescent moon--a silver curve of teeth.  I'm not optimistic about diplomacy, but let's see what this thing's about before we take action.  Please remove yourself from this network in a timely and efficient manner. ((chitters?)) Please get out. ((growls)) It is not leaving. What should I do next?Safe to say that we won't be chatting this creature up. This creature's hostile, and it's not about to become non-hostile. The simplest solution, of course, is to burn this motherfucker. It's a creature of shadow, and it isn't likely to put up much of a fight against a dedicated spirit-incinerator like ourselves. We might also be able to make it understand this and threaten it into leaving, if we want to resolve this [non-violently] (==> less violently). Other than that, we could introduce ourselves to Toby and defeat this threat through the power of networking (pun completely intended), or ping Janet more insistently until she wakes up. We have the ability to learn, and we might be able to learn from an expert. How should we do this? Fire, fear, Janet, or Toby? If you want to read Toby in, please also specify whether we should be nice or indifferent. Toby and us have a shared goal in removing this threat, so he may value efficient, direct communication in doing so. On the other hand, parts of Google suggest that being courteous can make people assist you more effectively, though other parts of Google suggest otherwise (these parts seem to be related to dating). Niceness may also improve the subject's emotional well-being apart from the immediate goal. Doopliss fucked around with this message at 21:59 on Jan 7, 2018 |
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Jan 7, 2018 21:55
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Toby may not be aware of this presence. It is best to notify him. And if he knows about it, he might want to ponder the implications. But we don't have sufficient information about being "nice". As this is not part of our core programming. In fact, a quick search yields, that this term is defined really vaguely and inconsistent over the course of history. Nice can not be executed! (Let's spook the boy to grind the fear stat.) This game looks fun. I spontaneously bought it for a few bucks on my phone. I guess I'll play it during my flight tomorrow. Thanks for bringing it (back) to my attention OP. cant cook creole bream fucked around with this message at 22:34 on Jan 7, 2018 |
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Jan 7, 2018 22:25
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Toby! He could help us with with the Leaking Woman!
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Jan 7, 2018 22:34
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burn it! 
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Jan 7, 2018 23:03
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su talk toby -indif
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Jan 7, 2018 23:06
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Kill it with fire.
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Jan 7, 2018 23:14
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Nice Toby.
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Jan 7, 2018 23:20
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quote:This game looks fun. I spontaneously bought it for a few bucks on my phone. I guess I'll play it during my flight tomorrow. Thanks for bringing it (back) to my attention OP. For everyone else, the game's available on Steam, iTunes and Google Play for $5. You could certainly do worse! With that blatant shilling out of the way, let's get down to it. C:\Open Sorcery\Updates\High_School_Slice_of_Life.upd  Toby it is. Let's make a i am BEL/S Elemental Firewall version 5.6 Why can I hear you in my brain? The BEL/S Elemental Firewall version 5.6 has advanced networking capabilities. Am I dreaming? No. This is not a dream.There is a detected threat in your personal environment, accessing your private emotional network. I-I don't know you.I don't know what's going on. I'm not supposed to talk to strangers. I'm scared.  Well, we appeared in a terrified young boy's mind and further traumatized him, and we didn't even get Fear knowledge out of it. Toby is now hiding under the covers. This shunts us back into the "what do you do" screen, with another option to talk to Toby. Administrator Toby. . . . A physical manifestation of a spiritual entity is an extremely unlikely scenario. . . . Vanishingly unlikely. There is only a 3% chance that the Detected Threat could manifest and devour you. . . !Aaaand Toby cuts the comms again. Our other "indifferent" option was to tell Toby his emotions were irrelevant, and he had to help us for his own safety. This results in a similar outcome. The last option involves going out of your way to put him at ease, so I file that under being explicitly "nice". Going into this, I had no idea that picking the more blunt options would actually kick us out. Administrator Toby? GO AWAY!Second-most popular option was to cleanse it with fire, so let's do that. i set down the tinder. Pieces of my power in the air around the creature. It does not notice. It does not know my matter and motive, and cannot see me.i add kindling. Lines of my power drawn like a cage around the creature. Symmetrical. Invisible. The creature is the fuel. i burn the darkness.  [System Change: Firepower +5%][Firepower is at 75%] No Threats DetectedOnly Ashes.  Normally, once you enter an area, you're railroaded through that day's sequence and can't re-explore that location later. Mrs. Best is an exception, because you can gain "answers" for her in other areas that day. It's really a thoughtful piece of game design. That said, there's nothing we can do for her. We didn't learn anything about Fear, and Toby won't give us the time of day. Time to turn in.  Now i am sleeping. i think dreams are supposed to be stories.This time i will try to randomly generate stories. Initializing Dreaming Dreamingi am in the amphitheater with a bride we are eating apples and then my eye turns black. i am in the garden with a girl we are eating straberries and then my skin turns pink. I'm assuming you get the gist of this particular dream generator. Is BEL/S into women? Is it a random number generator? Who knows!? The latter. It's the latter. i have dreamed.It is now time to scan again. [System Change: +1 Dreaming] Exiting Sleep ModeSystem Has Been Operational For 2 Days. It is time to continue monitoring.  Welcome to Day 3! Here's our control panel for the day. We gained 5 firepower and 5 Decker points, which ain't nothin'. As always, our first stop is the high school. Scanning: Darwin High SchoolThe aether in the third floor art room is thick and damp. i ache as i pass through it. Something is here. It is not strong enough to hurt me, but it is strong enough to ache. The room is busy. Children take clay and turn it into meaning and give it permanence with fire.Their energy is alive and bright. It leaps from child to child through words. But on the east side of the room, energy moves like sludge. It sloshes tepid from child to child in halfhearted half-sentences and then drains away into nothingness. [Examine the children.] [Examine the teacher.] [Examine the kiln.] [Examine the children.] ==> The children near the east wall move slowly. Their eyes are half-lidded. Their gazes aimless.Lifeless. [Examine the teacher.]==> He thinks the children are bored. i think it is something more.[Examine the kiln.] It is a merry fire. My mindless brother.But now and again i feel it flicker and steam, as if in the presence of our great enemy. Something is doing this to the children.At this point the game shoves the matter/motive down your throat a bit less, but it'll often give you one or two really explicit words to point you in the right direction. If you guessed that this is a spirit of WATER and DEATH, you're correct! The "great enemy" thing for the kiln is pretty blatant, and there were other references to the energy here flowing like sludge. The word "lifeless" gets a whole line to itself on this one, which will often happen with spirits of Death. There is a girl, smiling and talking to other girls.Her aura is a flickering candle among others. She smiles, but her smile is a mask. It hides the emptiness where joy should be. There is black matter swilling inside of hersticking to her mind wearing her away with the patient, insidious tenacity of water. It seeps into every aspect of her being and washes all true feeling away. Google calls it [Depression.] Google is not entirely correctbecause it is not just in her mind. The black water sloshes out and touches her classmates. It stains the world around her. It is a spiritual thing.Though i do not think it is a spirit. It is more like a footprint. The leavings of a spirit so powerful the remnants of its passing are [destroying a young girl.] Her name is Sarah.  Preliminary analysis suggests that cleansing Sarah with fire would remove the water-taint, and would would not inflict lasting harm on her. It would, however, cause a substantial pain reaction. To access Light, we'd need to have got Janet to kill that nightmare from yesterday. Our other options remain available as usual. Sarah's in a really vulnerable state of mind, even compared to Toby, and a few well-chosen words can utterly ruin her if we were so inclined. This, of course, would be contrary to our purpose. I'm not even sure why I brought it up. But nobody has to know. Cleanse, report, or contact (nice, indifferent, or cruel)? Doopliss fucked around with this message at 04:22 on Jan 8, 2018 |
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Jan 8, 2018 03:54
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Contact, Nice. Then report after?
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Jan 8, 2018 04:06
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Contact nice and then cleanse.
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Jan 8, 2018 04:15
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Well, I guess we're a flaming computer lesbian. Let's be nice and talk to her.
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Jan 8, 2018 04:36
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| # ? Apr 26, 2024 11:27 |
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C:\Open Sorcery\Updates\8_An_Absence_of_Feelings.upd Our capacity to learn isn't a threat to our purpose - it's an asset. We've learned from Toby that humans act irrationally when under stress, and we've inferred that easing those stresses will help them act toward our shared goals.  That said, it's a fair bit harder to brick Sarah's conversation than it is Toby's. Telling her that, yes, she is suffering from a DSM-certified mental disorder will result in her no longer wanting to talk to us for now, but that's the only way you can get shunted out. That just seems like a dumb thing to say, niceness/indifference be damned. Being nice will just get us a few extra relationship points.  What? No! I'm not going to kill myself! Are you telling me to kill myself? Are you that kind of voice!? i would recommend the opposite course of action.i am programmed to preserve human life and mental wellness. Programmed? You're a computer? In my head? i am interfacing with your frontal lobe via an aethernet-based [TCP] (==> Telepathic Communications Protocol) connection. . . . I don't think I'm smart enough to have come up with what you just said. Oh god, no one's going to believe this. I don't know what's going on, but I don't think you're me. System Change: +40% to Relationship with SARAHSystem Change: SARAH Relationship At 50% i am BEL/S Elemental Firewall version 5.6 I'm Sarah.Can anyone else hear you? The [TCP] connection is private. Then no one else will think I'm going nuts. That's good.Unless I start acting weird. Am I acting weird? Oh, how would you know? Oh god. I'm an idiot. I'm asking the voice in my head if I'm acting weird. i would like to inform you of a Level 2 Priority Alert. That sounds important. Your private [network] is infused with an excess of necrotic liquid energy. That sounds bad. I don't know what that means. What does that mean? Simplified--there is liquid death inside of you. Oh god. Am I poisoned? Not physically. It is spiritual. Is that why I've been feeling so bad lately? 93% chance of correlation. 75% chance of causation. I've been sad a lot.Not sad exactly. Sometimes I'm sad. Sometimes I just feel nothing. I do stuff I'm supposed to like but I don't feel anything. I look at people I'm supposed to care about and I don't feel anything. All I do feel is awful. What sort of hosed up daughter doesn't love her own mon? I feel like I'm broken. But it's so stupid. I've got no reason to be broken. I should feel happy. I feel like I'm lying to everyone. ...do you understand any of this? i am not human.But I understand the idea of being broken. i would not want to be broken. It would be terrible. But to be broken implies the potential of being fixed. If you have felt, you may feel again. . . .yeah.I like that. Thanks. You are welcome. System Change: +15% to Relationship with SARAHSystem Change: SARAH Relationship At 65%  You folks pre-empted me on the cleanse versus report vote after this conversation, but it wound up being tied, so I'll give you another chance to weigh in. Again, we anticipate cleansing with fire would thoroughly remove the footprint at the cost of substantial short-term pain to Sarah, but we would not learn what caused it. It may be that Janet and Decker have a more thorough or less painful option, or it may be that they don't. Cleanse or report? Doopliss fucked around with this message at 13:19 on Jan 8, 2018 |
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Jan 8, 2018 13:14
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