|
Without discovering and addressing the corruption at its root, we'll just be wasting cycles treating the symptoms. Decker and Janet probably have the tools to assess this issue more effectively.
|
#
?
Jan 8, 2018 13:43
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 18, 2024 07:28 |
|
|
report
|
|
#
?
Jan 8, 2018 18:36
|
|
|
9_Pulling_Humans_Out_of_Hats.upd Fire is a blunt tool, and while we can resolve this issue we can't resolve it optimally. We'll take this one to the admins.  (Log Alert With Local Admin Decker And Janet)Important alert regarding private physical network: Darwin High School. Threat Flagged: Severe Depression. Energy Level: 50 Suicide Risk: 13% See attached logfile.  Hey! We have a threat alert.It's a girl at my school. She's got a serious energy imbalance. An excess of death and water energy.  I don't like those emotional readings.Any suicide risk over 3% is unacceptable. Between this and Toby, I love the idea that this world is such a mystical clusterfuck that a 3% chance of catastrophe is the universally-accepted "no intervention needed" cutoff. What do we think the cause is? The firewall thinks it's leftover power from a big spirit. The firewall is biased. It's more likely to see magic than normal solutions.She's a teenager. It could also be hormones. Well, regardless, we should help her. Yeah. [positive ondine energy] ==> 'Positive ondine energy?' Yeah. You mean water. Spiritual happy water. I like using the fancy words. As long as it worksJust keep the firewall away from it.  Janet climbs to the roof of the school and performs a ritual with blue quartz, her cellphone, and a bottle of Evian.It's easy to forget that Janet is not actually a full-time sysadmin, but is rather a high school student like some kind of colossally-nerdy magical girl. It begins to rain.Fluid power floods into the building. i cannot touch it anymore. i cannot tell Sarah what has happened. i hope she knows. System Change: +10% to Relationship with SARAHSystem Change: SARAH Relationship at 75%  Is Decker right? We thought it was spiritually-impacting others, but was that just the other students seeing through her charade? Can psychology result in negative energy manifestations quite apart from spirits running around? We can no longer intervene here. We can't determine whether Janet's invocation is enough to deal with whatever this was. We can't investigate the source, and they don't seem interested. I hope Decker knows what he's doing. Scanning: Cherry Orchard Rest HomeThe building is alive with new people. They infest the rooms. They break the peace, but bring much joy. It is called Visiting Day. [Room 109] ==> Mrs. Dowd has moved into Mrs. Herrin's old room. She is sitting with her daughter, neice, and [grandchildren.]==> Her smile is huge. She is so happy she is trembling, and cannot drink her tea. Her daughter holds her hand.[Room 121] ==> Mr. Doheny's second son tries to remind him that he has grandchildren.Ouch. [Room 231] ==> Miss Finn laughs and jokes with her son. She says she [wishes she liked women], there are so many more women in the rest home.==> i am confused. i have seen Miss Finn be very friendly and pleasant to other women in the rest home. How could she not like them?[Room 240] ==> Mrs. Best is surrounded by [her family.]==> [wolves.] ==> her family? They speak with [gentle affection].==> mounting impatience. Something is wrong.She [should be happy]. ==> [is happy] ==> [is anxious] ==> She is afraid. i do not know what this is.i do not know how to log or flag this. i will watch Mrs. Best, and her family. [No Threats Detected?] Well, half of them don't find retirement home life a nightmarish hellscape. That's... Something, I guess. Let's move on. Scanning: Decker's ApartmentThe defensive runes have been turned off. Decker stands among a circle of figures. The figures are more spirit than man--souls floating free of their bodies. A man stands tall and grey-cloaked. A woman with wild white hair wears only [teeth.] ==> Necklaces, bracelets and anklets of teeth. A woman with a sensible bun holds a clipboard. A giant rabbit nibbles a carrot.  Decker is aware of these beings, and does not appear threatened by them. We have no indication that they are threats to the network. If they do talk about anything relevant to the network's protection, Decker will know, and can inform us if we need to know. On the other hand, Decker recently brushed off our report of a deadly depression-spirit without even investigating, because "hormones". We may feel that he's failed us and the network. Did he even read the logs? Can we trust him to act in the network's best interests? Should we eavesdrop, or leave them be?
|
|
#
?
Jan 9, 2018 01:44
|
|
|
Stick around
|
|
#
?
Jan 9, 2018 01:48
|
|
|
wireshark -snoop decker
|
|
#
?
Jan 9, 2018 02:56
|
|
|
Listen in
|
|
#
?
Jan 9, 2018 05:56
|
|
|
If we can't trust Admin Decker to handle things, what can we trust him to do? Leave him to it!
|
|
#
?
Jan 9, 2018 16:54
|
|
|
Improving our knowledge improves our capability to be on-task. If Decker needed privacy, he could have restricted us from this area. Decker has not restricted us from this area. We have permission to be here. Remaining here may improve our knowledge. Remain and listen in.
|
|
#
?
Jan 9, 2018 18:56
|
|
|
listen in on Decker
|
|
#
?
Jan 9, 2018 20:33
|
|
|
C:\Open Sorcery\Updates\10_Trivial_Threat_Detected.upd Increasing our knowledge base will allow us to better anticipate the consequences of our actions, thus allowing us to better fulfill our purpose.  The game gives us the opportunity to back out after every screensworth of dialogue, and it sounds like that time is fast approaching. I'm not just screenshotting this so I don't have to clip a bunch of new chat avatars. I'm offended that you would even make that claim. Decker turns to his computer and double clicks on a program.Just in case you really can't take a hint, you get one more opportunity to leave before Consequences happen. It is apparent that no more relevant information will be discussed in our presence, and there is thus no reason for us to remain here. It has nothing to do with us not wanting to get caught. Scan CompleteNo Threats Detected So far we've learned that Decker is a pretty influential dude for some sysadmin guarding a retirement home - or it might be that the occult techie community is relatively small. We've also learned that vaguely-defined trouble is on the way for our network. Maybe. This crew seems pretty eccentric, Susan aside. Regardless, we should ensure that we remain vigilant for any threats to Decker. Scanning: Janet's HouseJanet is gone. She is probably at school right now. Janet's mother is in the garage, painting a table. Toby sits on his bed. He is reading a book. Sometimes his eyes flicker nervously to the closet. I'm sure Toby will turn out fine. Scan CompleteNo Threats Detected All Locations Secure Enter Sleep Mode  Now i am sleeping.Should i dream tonight? The story dream i made last night worked well.i will try that again. i am outside and it is raining.i am hunting the black vulture. i kill the vulture with my knife. Victory. i am outside and it is cold.i am hunting the red leopard. i kill the leopard with my knife. Victory. Again, you get the idea. i have dreamed. It is now time to scan again.[System Change: Dreaming +1]  Welcome to Day 4! Our only changes this time are on the relationship side, befriending Sarah and gaining some trust from Janet and Decker. Speaking of, let's check on Sarah.  [sacral energy.] ==> teenage lust. [chakras.] ==> ports. Oh, right. We scan at nighttime on even-numbered days. Well, let's dump a cold shower on this teenage lust. i am a firewall.Water is not something that i do. Learning about chaos is one thing, but incorporating an element counter to my base matter might destroy me. Try again. Fine, we'll [cleanse it with fire]. I get the sense that this event is just here so cowards like me won't go through the game assuming we can't use our primary function without accidentally burning a building down. i string my grid web-like through the locker room.i ignite myself. Burning lust smells like pork and saltwater. The lockers are spiritually clean now. No Threats Detected[System Change: Firepower +5%] [Firepower is at 80%] Scanning: Cherry Orchard Rest HomeThe building is still at night. There is one point of light where the night attendant sits. Everything else is silent halls and soft breathing. [Room 109]==> Mrs. Dowd sleeps peacefully. [Room 121]==> Mr. Doheny is looking at the crayon pictures his grandchildren left him, trying so hard to fix that they signify in his mind. [Room 231]==> Miss Finn's son has smuggled her barbecue ribs and chocolate. She shares them with Mrs. Best. They hide in Miss Finn's room, their fingers smeared with barbecue sauce, giggling like children. [Room 240]==> Mrs. Best's room is empty. A breeze in the courtyard plays with a leaf, batting it back and forth. [It seems familiar.] Hello triumphant being of dullness!Welcome back to my presence. Eyy, our weird riddle-pal is back! You said you would leave, Asper. And I did!And now I return! With new purpose. Do not fret, my firey friend.I am not here to trouble your little human collection. I am here for you! After I left this place I returned to my realm.It is a world of dreams and wind, far beyond this place of paltry physicality. Where truth is real. I went to dance at court and tell all the charming tale. This dull creature of habit and order who beat chaos at riddles. We called you paradox. Clever dullness. Learning flame. The Queen herself admitted interest, and asked that I come fetch you. Please accept the formal invitation of Titania Queen of the Seelie Court to attend her.And exhibit your unique capacity for Chaos and Order. No. i must stay here and protect. Now there's a proposal. On one hand, we are literally abandoning our network and we're not even sure anything will come of it. On the other hand, Timba Toothtaker seems to think trouble is coming, and a voyage to the Seelie Court might give us the edge we need. Also it sounds interesting. Go or no go?
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2018 03:48
|
|
|
I am a computer. I do not have hands. This does not compute
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2018 03:56
|
|
|
I've got no hands. If that doesn't end this, just say No.
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2018 04:03
|
|
|
Slaan posted:I am a computer. I do not have hands. This does not compute 
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2018 04:06
|
|
|
Go for it.
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2018 04:06
|
|
|
Aff leader
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2018 04:24
|
|
|
Do it
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2018 07:06
|
|
|
Doopliss posted:subtle as sunlight Sunlight is anything but subtle. Riddle guesses: An ear drum? No friggin' idea. The letter H. A tongue. Decline the invitation. Also, I'm voting to stop dreaming. Miliardo fucked around with this message at 10:41 on Jan 10, 2018 |
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2018 10:30
|
|
|
go along
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2018 19:32
|
|
|
Follow and keep dreaming.
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2018 22:40
|
|
|
Miliardo posted:Sunlight is anything but subtle. (Between this and Toby's Nightmare, I'm suspecting that BEL/S is just terrible at light-related metaphors) C:\Open Sorcery\Updates\11_Disney_Memes.png  Could it be? The lamest opening screenshot of the LP? [the poltergeist.] ==> i touch Asper.In my registry his name slips into a proper noun. Something inside of me loosens. A leash i'd never felt suddenly loosening. i feel light. i rise. i am not used to moving like this.  Well how can we say no to that?  For the rest of this sequence, Asper will bounce around our screen telling us to follow his clicks. Despite his warning about moving fast, there's no time limit on this sequence.  You're following me!Now here. Now here. Higher now!Fittingly, this one is near the top of the screen. A bit west. I can show you the world... More west. Hard west.I'm starting to get the sense we're not traveling through Euclidean space so much as inputting a directional password. Up! Second star to the right. Straight on till morning.Please tell me we aren't actually losing a full day to this. Whoops! Watch those geese. Level out. Here we are. Ah, we really are in a mythical space. Looks like it isn't just Asper whose prompts are white, but all our prompts. Even the "menu" button in the bottom right corner that I'm cutting out for space. The prompts turn lime green as we mouse over them, like the Chaos knowledge in our control panel. Asper has stopped.It is dark. We are surrounded by motes of distant fire. i sense my network far, far away. i am so far from anything i have ever known. [And someone else is here.] She is air and chaos and light.Her hair is black waves of dark matter. Her eyes are suns. The corona borealis is her crown. [She looks at me.]  This is Titania. I can't do Titania justice using SA's text editor, so get ready for a lot of screenshots.   Our prompts now turn violet on mouseover. I don't know what element violet corresponds to. It might just be Titania.  We found something powerful and ancient. I don't know if we found something useful to protect our network.  Tell me fire, what shall I call you?. . . Your journey has been long.May I offer you refreshment? Some vapors from Jupiter? Quite flammable. Stone from the moon Arros will burn like coal. Or perhaps a bit of the sun? Preliminary analysis suggests that consuming these materials will increase our firepower stat, though some may do so more than others. . . . Asper has told me of you.That you have many responsibilities. Many troubles. That he was one of them. May I gift you with a wish? To ease your difficulties. If a being of this power is willing to grant us a boon, this will easily be worth the time we spent on this excursion. How do we introduce ourselves? BEL/S Elemental Firewall Version 5.6, BEL/S, Bells, Null, or Decker? What do we consume? Vapors from jupiter, Arros moonstone, A piece of the Sun, or Nothing? What wish do we request? Protect our network, Grant us knowledge of all matters and motives, Set us free, or Nothing?
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2018 02:36
|
|
|
Hi, my name is Null, I'm not hungry, and you don't need to give me anything.
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2018 02:44
|
|
|
Null, nothing, nothing.
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2018 02:54
|
|
|
You folks clearly get it. As a reward for getting it, have another update. C:\Open Sorcery\Updates\12_Riddlefight_v2-0.upd  We are a spirit of Order. We're good at following instructions. No name, no food, no gifts. We can squeeze through the "name" question by answering anything other than our full program title, but the other two are strict. Asking for "freedom" is safe, because she obviously can't bind us then, but it's still a game end.   I see where Asper gets his fondness for riddles from. Like with Titania's last "puzzle", I'll give you all three spirits now, and you tell me all of their matters and motives. Double points* if you guess what they actually are as well. i meet a creature of profound absence.He is so utterly not there that the space he would occupy bends back into a funnel of nothingness. Every second he pulls more of what is into what is not. He is more than the absence of light. He is the death of light. [What am I?] i see storytelling stars.They bring meaning to the night. Out of a splash of scattered brightness mankind has traced a geometric pattern. A pattern agreed upon by generations. A pattern that gives structure to the sky. [What am I?] A blue orb.Smaller than mine, but sitll so blue and so green in a universe made mostly of white, black, and gray. A foundation of sediment births moving things. A round cradle floating in space. [What am I?]   *Zero times two is zero Doopliss fucked around with this message at 03:31 on Jan 11, 2018 |
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2018 03:26
|
|
|
Dark death, light order, water life
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2018 03:51
|
|
|
1) black hole Dark-Death 2) a constilation Light-Order 3) earth... Earth-Life
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2018 08:32
|
|
|
A black hole; Darkness|Death A constellation; Light|Order A planet/Earth; Water/Life This has gotten even more interesting. I get the feeling that Asper likes us, or he might not have given us those instructions. I fear for our fiery nature, and our network. Doopliss, will you be doing a round-up of things that were missed after the run, like covering Mrs. Best's scenario?
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2018 15:43
|
|
|
quote:And what the Kirby said for Titania's requests! KirbyKhan posted:1) black hole Dark-Death FishOnAPiano fucked around with this message at 16:09 on Jan 11, 2018 |
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2018 16:02
|
|
|
FishOnAPiano posted:I haven't seen a solid answer to this one yet; I'd have guessed a heart from the first two lines, but I'm not sure how the last two work with that... I was theorising that it was a pair of lips, but that feels like I'm taking too much artistic license with my interpretation.
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2018 17:05
|
|
|
Darkness / Death - A Black Hole Light / Order - Constellations Earth / Life - Planet Earth
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2018 17:32
|
|
|
Luhood posted:Darkness / Death - A Black Hole This is my take too. Water doesn't fit
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2018 18:58
|
|
|
FishOnAPiano posted:I haven't seen a solid answer to this one yet; I'd have guessed a heart from the first two lines, but I'm not sure how the last two work with that... Miliardo posted:Doopliss, will you be doing a round-up of things that were missed after the run, like covering Mrs. Best's scenario? 13_Rival_Boss_Fight.upd  Once again, y'all got this. The first entity is a black hole, affiliated with Darkness and Death. It takes a better student of literature than me to guess why BEL/S gendered it as male - sound off if you have theories. The second entity is a constellation, Light and Order. The third entity is... i have found a life-bearing planet somewhere in the milky way.  Earth and Life. Water is not a valid answer. BEL/S says it's blue, but she later amends it to blue and green, which is basically what you'd expect. Also, planets are about as earthy as you can get.  She knew our name all along. Maybe from Asper, maybe from supernatural nonsense. It might well be she knew our full title, though that's ambiguous. I'm doing an executive override on this decision - we're going home. A, the flavour in your comments suggests that we're still committed to our purpose, B, I would like this update not to be miniscule, and C, "stay here" just gives us a game-over with no additional dialogue. i fly.i FLY. Like Asper. Down, down, down. Drawn by my encoded bindings. Back to my network. i land. i feel different.  Looks like our fun following Asper is now a permanent ability. Not sure how much this'll help us protect our network, since protecting our network usually entails being inside it, but it can let us preempt threats by voyaging out. 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? For the same reason I auto-resolved Titania's choice, we're delaying this one until end-of-update.  It's still dark outside, and our Darwin High School scan is still fresh. Titania did say we'd only be her guest for a short time. Scanning: Decker's ApartmentDecker is asleep. His computer screen glows in the half-dark. All seems still, but the defensive runes crackle like tinder burning. All is not as it seems. i can feel a flickering red warmth tracing its way over me.It moves over the piece of me that surrounds Decker's terminal. This is not my warmth. It is something else. There is warmth pressing against me.Gridlines of heat burn through the air, probing me systematically for weakness. Burrowing into me, striving towards the files and spells on Decker's hard drive. It is like meeting a twin sister i never knew existed. i must isolate her with a scan.This is a more subtle threat than most of the stuff we expunge, but it's still definitely within our purview as a firewall. If you guessed that this is a spirit of FIRE and ORDER, you're correct! Fire was pretty obvious, but there wasn't very much explicit about order. It probes us for weakness "systematically", and it uses a similar system of fire-infused grid-lines as we do. Mostly we just have to double down on the "twin sister" angle and conclude that computer programs are usually orderly.  Malware in this world is no joke. It's uncertain what effect we'll have trying to burn through a being of fire, but if fire elemental programs are common we likely have countermeasures against them. Alternatively, we don't strictly have a reason to think Decker can destroy her, but I'm just starting to assume that techno-wizards have what it takes when awake. That said, we might feel an affinity for her, even though we're pretty much hardcoded to be enemies. If she's a creature of purpose like us she might not be amenable to reason, but we also know that creatures like us can be more than meets the eye. Alternatively, we could try deterring her with a little trick we learned from Asper. Fire, Chaos, Decker, or words? Lastly, there's the issue of our newfound knowledge. On one hand, Decker previously thought there was no action needed when we learned about Chaos. On the other hand, we did just abanadon our network for dubious reason *and* gain the power to abandon our network in the future. Decker may consider that relevant. Does he need to know? Doopliss fucked around with this message at 02:54 on Jan 12, 2018 |
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2018 02:50
|
|
|
Tell him and wake him up.
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2018 02:55
|
|
|
Doopliss posted:I was planning for this to be a one-and-done, partly because this is enough of a CYOA that it'd be kinda boring if you weren't making choices, and partly because I never have the heart to do evil runs in a game with even slightly-compelling characters. You can do some real heinous poo poo in this game. There's a lot of good background in the Extreme Nightmare Hunter Toby arc, but it also involves a whole lot of very specific actions taken in the days leading up to it. Wilco. I'm gonna pick this up over the weekend. Let's try diplomacy first, and cleansing if that doesn't work. I mean, we were made so that we can defend his and Janet's  homes, the other parts of the network are probably for working out the kinks in our programming. And, yes, Decker needs to know. Let's tell him.
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2018 03:08
|
|
|
Chaos, and keep quiet.
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2018 03:09
|
|
|
Talk to it and if that fails, time to Chaos this up
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2018 04:35
|
|
|
Diplomacy, then alert Decker if that fails. Chaos will probably work but using it like this in Decker's personal space is gonna rub him the wrong way.
|
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2018 04:44
|
|
|
Looks like it's being sent to attack us and I'd guess it doesn't have the mind we do, so diplomacy seems like it'd fail. Alert Decker, but don't tell him about us.
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2018 07:40
|
|
|
We are one of Decker's defences, and it has been sent here to find out about his defences. Whatever you do, don't talk to it.
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2018 09:47
|
|
|
Nevermind.
cant cook creole bream fucked around with this message at 22:28 on Jan 12, 2018 |
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2018 16:27
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 18, 2024 07:28 |
|
|
Yeah, I bought it myself - this is very effective advertising.
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2018 16:42
|
|