Literal Computer Wizards: Let's Play Open Sorcery

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Let's Play! > Literal Computer Wizards: Let's Play Open Sorcery

«‹›6 »

Old Grey Guy: Feb 12, 2014

alert Decker

Also:

Doopliss posted:

"Heart" is correct. I think the theory is that hearts are fragile organs, and under normal circumstances nothing should be in physical contact with them.

It's metaphorical, as in 'be still, my beating heart'.

cant cook creole bream posted:

I played through this game since I made my last post.
[REDACTED]

Can you PLEASE not ruin the LP for the ones who haven't played the game yet, thankyouverymuch.

Old Grey Guy fucked around with this message at 19:21 on Jan 13, 2018

# ? Jan 12, 2018 18:31

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? Apr 25, 2024 22:57

inflatablefish: Oct 24, 2010

Whybird posted:

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.

That is a very good point.

Wake Decker up, but don't tell him we're going rampant.

# ? Jan 12, 2018 18:45

cant cook creole bream: Aug 15, 2011; I think Fahrenheit is better for weather

Old Grey Guy posted:

Can you PLEASE not ruin the LP for the ones who haven't played the game yet, thankyouverymuch.

Sorry. Of course you're right. I'll at least remove it if someone reads it later.

# ? Jan 12, 2018 22:28

Doopliss: Nov 3, 2012

Old Grey Guy posted:

It's metaphorical, as in 'be still, my beating heart'.

I dunno about that. Touching a heart metaphorically makes it beat harder as often as it does stop it, even in the case of "be still, my beating heart".

cant cook creole bream posted:

[REDACTED]

Now that the decision is made, I 100% feel you. Chaos might well be my second-favourite dialogue in the game. I sorta had to force myself not to phrase it in such a way to encourage people to pick it.

C:\Open Sorcery\Updates\14_Connection_Interrupted.upd

Decker knows what's up.

[glasses] ==> second sight lenses

He grabs his laptop and lights some incense.
He runs ESET NOD32 Antivirus, Spy Doctor, and sets a ring of topaz crystals around the hard drive.
He digs out a [small machine] (==> [Googling. . .] ==> Personal Ultrasonic Humidifier), fills it with water and oil, turns it on and chants over it.

Uh oh

i am feeling painfully damp, but Decker checks on me.
He sets up my machine to defragment and puts the burning incense beside my chassis.
It makes me feel a little better.
[System Change: Firepower +4%]
[Firepower is at 78%]

On one hand, ow. On the other hand, Decker gendered us! Maybe because he's groggy from sleep, but still. We get a respectable chunk of relationship points, though so far nothing has happened that would do anything with relationship points.

Things are going pretty well with our creators, but Decker expressed worry even when we learned a random motive, much less the power to fly. There's no reason to ruin a good thing. They don't need to know.

Scanning: Janet's House
Janet, Toby, and their [mother] (==> my grandmother?) sleep peacefully.
i check the closets just in case.
All secure.

Scan Complete
No Threats Detected
All Locations Secure
[Enter Sleep Mode]

Now i am sleeping.

Breakpoint encountered. We've been working on our "dreaming" project for three days now, and results have been pretty unproductive. All we've really managed to do is mislead some viewers into thinking we're gay. It might also be leaving logs that Decker would see as an intelligence emergence concern. On the other hand, three days isn't that long in the grand scheme of things, and if it's not damaging our stability we don't really have anything else to do with the cycles. Continue dreaming or stop dreaming?

Doopliss fucked around with this message at 01:29 on Jan 13, 2018

# ? Jan 13, 2018 01:27

ultrafilter: Aug 23, 2007; It's okay if you have any questions.

Keep it up.

# ? Jan 13, 2018 01:34

T-man: Aug 22, 2010; Talk shit, get bzzzt.

Dream On

# ? Jan 13, 2018 02:00

Leraika: Jun 14, 2015; Luckily, I *did* save your old avatar. Fucked around and found out indeed.

Dream a little dream for me

# ? Jan 13, 2018 02:03

Ignatius M. Meen: May 26, 2011; Hello yes I heard there was a lovely trainwreck here and...

Please dream. Preferably of electric/fire sheep.

# ? Jan 13, 2018 02:07

Doopliss: Nov 3, 2012

Ignatius M. Meen posted:

Please dream. Preferably of electric/fire sheep.

C:\Open Sorcery\Updates\15_Funny_You_Should_Mention_That.upd

That will be it for the dream votes unless something happens that will really make us reevaluate our stance on it. We have seen no indication that this experiment is having ill effects on us, and we have really do have nothing better to do.

shocking ewe
battery powered ram
battery powered even-toed ungulate

Ooh, never seen that one before.

Magnetic wether
inductive even-toed ungulate
negatively charged ovis aries

That was boring.
i think the answer to Philip's question is no.

i have dreamed.
It is now time to scan again.
[System Change: Dreaming +1]

Welcome to Day 5. We've gained knowledge of Air (I think the text is ever-so-slightly brighter than our default text?) and earned some more of Decker's trust, and we went two steps forward and one step back on our firepower. Time to scan.

Scanning: Darwin High School
The school's energy is cloudy and slow,
but that is probably just because it is Monday.
i check on Sarah.
She is learning math. She looks tired.
She seems to notice me.

We can't just disregard a "high important alert". She may know something about a threat to our network. But will we regard this alert nicely, indifferently, or cruelly?

# ? Jan 13, 2018 04:24

SatansOnion: Dec 12, 2011

I think we've learned by now that a spoonful of sugar helps the antivirus go down easier.

# ? Jan 13, 2018 04:38

Leraika: Jun 14, 2015; Luckily, I *did* save your old avatar. Fucked around and found out indeed.

Be nice! It's nice to be nice.

# ? Jan 13, 2018 04:48

ultrafilter: Aug 23, 2007; It's okay if you have any questions.

Be nice.

# ? Jan 13, 2018 04:49

KirbyKhan: Mar 20, 2009; Soiled Meat

Keep the magic alive for the child and be nice. She is in a safe school in a magical time of elementals. She did request yoyr presence in an adorable manner.

# ? Jan 13, 2018 04:51

T-man: Aug 22, 2010; Talk shit, get bzzzt.

> Insert Kindness Coins into Child

# ? Jan 13, 2018 05:46

Miliardo: Dec 3, 2014

Let's be nice. She was a suicide risk, and we remember what happened with Toby. Nice is the way to go, for now.

Edit:

Doopliss posted:

(==> my grandmother?)
i check the closets just in case.

I think the dreams are working.

Miliardo fucked around with this message at 10:32 on Jan 13, 2018

# ? Jan 13, 2018 10:30

Ignatius M. Meen: May 26, 2011; Hello yes I heard there was a lovely trainwreck here and...

Haha I'm glad electric sheep made it into the dreams.

It's nice to be nice as other posters have said.

# ? Jan 13, 2018 11:32

Doopliss: Nov 3, 2012

C:\Open Sorcery\Updates\16_Savescum_Protocol.upd

Janet's treatment was a short-term solution. Very short-term, apparently. This is consistent with both nonmagical depression and a powerful death spirit. Kid gloves on this one.

I don't know though.
Maybe it's just me.
I think it's probably just me.
I'm just like this.
I don't know.
But just in case it's not just me
could you check?

We have the option of blowing her off here, which kind of confuses me, but there's no way in hell we're doing that. She's reporting a potential threat, even aside from the niceness angle.

i will perform another scan to confirm whether death/water residue has accumulated on your spiritual network.

Okay.
Thanks.
It means a lot to me.

System Change: +10% to Relationship with SARAH
System Change: SARAH Relationship at 85%

They make us re-input the scan. Did you solve the dastardly puzzle of what this spirit's matter and motive are?

Sarah's spirit is caked with wet, fetid blackness.
It is as bad as it was before.
Perhaps worse.
Oily rot drips down the sides of her soul, pasting her feelings down.
Her feelings
her soul itself
seems to have atrophied.

This right here is the reason I include a "Cruel" option with Sarah. We can scan her, confirm that she's suffering a really potent magical effect, and then tell the clinically-depressed girl it's all in her head. On top of that, we'd be letting a spiritual threat to our network run free. My imagination can't come up with a valid reason to do this, either in terms of our purpose or in terms of basic decency, even with a generous allowance for "beep boop I am socially ignorant". It's just really goddamn evil.

We are not a monster, and as a result will not be doing that.

Your spiritual malady has returned.

I KNEW IT.
Oh geeze.
I probably shouldn't be relieved but I am!
So it's not just me.
It's not just me.

Can you fix it again?

Treating symptoms was previously ineffective.

Yeah, but it makes me feel better.

A valid point.

i debug Sarah.
She is happy.
For now.
System Change: 10% to Relationship with SARAH
System Change: SARAH Relationship at 95%
No Threats Detected

We have no new information, so we can't take any new actions. In fact, it might be that a spiritual footprint would be more transient, and it returning is evidence that it is conventional depression. Not that that makes it less of a problem.

Scanning: Cherry Orchard Rest Home
All of the rooms are empty.
Everyone is in the common room, together.
Mrs. Dowd has existed for another year.
This is an accomplishment, and there is cake.

Mrs. Best and Miss Finn play backgammon and [talk.]
Mrs. Dowd eats a small slice of [cake.]
Everyone listens with infinite patience to Mr. Doheny's joke about the [dog.]

[talk.] ==> Miss Finn talks about when she was an understudy in a place called Broadway. Mrs. Best mostly listens. She enjoys listening.

[cake.] ==> She cries a little, but these are not bad tears.

[dog.] . . . until finally he entered it in the world championship for shaggy dogs. When the judges . . .

Everyone is safe.

Scan Complete
No Threats Detected

Scanning: Decker's Apartment
Decker's apartment is empty and secure.
He must be elsewhere.

Scan Complete
No Threats Detected

Scanning: Janet's House
Janet's house is covered in small, fuzzy things.
They are like rabbits, but they have no neck, just small black eyes and small pink noses pressed into the sides of their spherical bodies.
Their legs are very small, but they can roll around.
Occasionally, one squeaks and explodes.
And then there are two.
Janet's mother is not at home. Decker is here.

I love them.

What did you do?

I was trying to help Sarah! That girl BEL/S logged that was depressed. I know her.
I had this great idea about fuzzy sweet things that could eat depression while you cuddled them, and I thought I could use the 3Dream printer to flash one into reality.
And it worked great, but then there were two and now they're everywhere!

This was inevitable. Haven't you watched Star Trek?

I'm not that kind of a nerd!

I named this one Garnet.

Decker, Janet and Toby are trying to collect all of the fuzzy creatures.
i want to help, but this is not a spiritual matter. This is a physical matter.
i watch them work.

Hey. I have an idea.

For getting rid of these things?

Maybe sort of.

I'm listening.

What if we...

Oof. Missed it by the smallest possible increment.

You know what, never mind.
I thought we might be able to do something with BEL/S, but I'm not sure she's ready for that.

You mean you're not sure it's ready for that.

Yeah. It.

You have to play pretty much optimally to hit this flag without killing a lot of spirits it can be useful to have around. As a result, we're going to miss out on a fair bit of content, and the last few days of the game are going to blow by without that many choices. We would have passed if we dealt with Toby's nightmare in any way other than fire, or...

You know what, let's cheat in the name of seeing more content. You see, there was one counterintuitive choice a while back that would have solved our relationship woes for pretty much the whole game, without having any other knock-on consequences. It doesn't trip any event flags other than relationship, all the same characters will be around, etc. You might not think it would make everyone love us, but oh, it does.

That's right. It's time to deal with the spyware using Chaos.

2 + 2 = 5

Math error detected.

string foo = (int) h;

Casting error detected.

i always lie.

What?
How does that even work.
Stop it.

I far prefer the idea of AIs being profoundly annoyed by logical paradoxes instead of getting physically locked-up by them.

7 - 3 = 7

Math error detected. Stop it.

zoo + lander = benstiller

Those aren't even numbers.

& + (32 - c++) = 666

That's almost algebra maybe but & is an illegal character.

If there's one thing Asper's taught us to do, it's annoy people. He'd be so proud.

i win.
Should i feel bad about how fun that was?
Probably.
i will send the log to Janet.
She will enjoy it.

Why are you laughing?
What are you looking at?
Come on, stop it and show me.
((reads))
Okay. This is an awareness emergence warning sign.

This is the MOST ADORABLE awareness emergence warning sign.

. . .
True.

System Change: +20% to Relationship With DECKER
System Change: DECKER Relationship at 85%

System Change: +30% to Relationship With JANET
System Change: JANET Relationship at 100%

Look at those goddamn numbers. We get an average of 10 relationship points for reporting a threat to Decker and Janet, and that's at the expense of knowledge, event flags or firepower. Here we get 50, and we only need Pyreworm for the Extreme Nightmare Hunter Toby arc we've already locked ourselves out of.

Oh. Um.

i realize i have learned something.
A soft fire burns inside of me.
And this fire belongs to someone else.
But it is inside of me.
How strange.
Janet owns this gentle fire.
It is my purpose to protect.
But it is my wish to protect Janet.
This is different.

JANET Relationship at 100%
System Change: Learned About Love

Earlier, I suggested that it was randonmess that made BEL/S keep dreaming about women in romantic contexts. This is true. The "character" slot in those dreams had a great deal of options available, of both genders and unstated genders. Like BEL/S said, she was pulling randomly from a dream interpretation website.

It was complete coincidence that our prodigiously-gay comptuer heroine had those dreams.

It is *possible* to fall for Decker instead due to some late-game relationship boosts, but you need to take a lot of very specific actions. We were actually on that path up until I cheated us off it.

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?

Hm. I guess this is a common choice when learning new motives, but the context seems kinda different here. Still, it seems more likely to pose a risk to our purpose than the other motives and matters we've subsumed, so maybe he needs to know. And it's not as if we need to confess to Janet. Do we tell Decker about our feelings?

# ? Jan 13, 2018 16:57

Old Grey Guy: Feb 12, 2014

After thinking around several corners, perhaps it would indeed be best to notify Decker, supposing Janet will prevent him from deleting us if he decides to go spare.

# ? Jan 13, 2018 20:01

KirbyKhan: Mar 20, 2009; Soiled Meat

Janet will protect us. We love her and this can be the scan to see if she loves us. Tell Decker

# ? Jan 13, 2018 21:25

T-man: Aug 22, 2010; Talk shit, get bzzzt.

More like gAI

Tell Decker, hopefully he's okay with eLesbians.

# ? Jan 13, 2018 21:28

Doopliss: Nov 3, 2012

C:\Open Sorcery\Updates\17_http://gunnerkrigg.com/?p=661

Keeping romantic interests secret never helped anybody. Let's rip the band-aid off.

We get an automated read receipt on the email, but no other response. Whatever Decker thinks about this, he isn't sharing with us.

Well! That was an interesting and not-at-all terrifying exchange. Let's fast-forward back to where we left off.

As it should be.

What if we hooked up BEL/S to the 3Dream printer?
With an I/O in the physical world, we could use its scanning system on physical entities, find the self-replicating aspect of their magic, and burn it out.
It solves the problem, and doesn't kill the little fuzzy things.

. . .

Well? What do you think?

We had this one down either way.

. . . okay.

Seriously?
I was absolutely sure you were going to shoot that down.
You're always super-paranoid about AI complications.

It's a good solution. Non-invasive. Won't take a lot of power.
And BEL/S has done a lot of good work for us.
Awareness emergence is bad for network stability, and [she] has shown some tendencies in that direction.
But given what she's done so far, I'm at least confident [Accessing new driver] here.

I think this is a typo? Previously I've been editing them out, but I'm not even sure what to replace this one with. This game has quite a few typos.

[she] ==>

You called her a her.

I called who a what?

You called BEL/S a her.

Did I?

It was just now. I was literally standing right here.

It was a mistake.

I like her too.
Eeeeeeeeee

Let's just do this.

Decker downloads new software onto the computer that houses the physical part of my mind.
It shows me how to speak to a device that Janet is holding.
This device. . .

scanning. . .
what

what is

it is

it is beautiful

what

too much

[stop]

Hey.
Hey.
It's okay.
I got you.

Yeah, ha.
The real world is kind of overwhelming at first.
It's that way for us too. :)
I turned on filters so you're not seeing everything at once.
Now you'll just see the things you scan for.

Scanning is a little different in the physical world.
'Cause there's so much more STUFF.
Your mattive and motive screens are going to look a little crazy.
It might feel like a lot.

But all you have to do is click on the words that describe the funbuns.
(That's what I'm naming the fuzzy things. Funbuns.)
That'll let us zero in on them.
Then we can fix them so that they stop tribbling all over the place.
So let's get to it.

You're not limited to one Matter and Motive when doing physical scans, but "fluffy" and "hug" alone will give it to us.

Detected something. . .
Funbuns detected.

i have locked onto the soft fuzzy things.
i may now interact with them on a spiritual level.
They are powerfully spiritually attuned to LIFE and LOVE.
I touch them with my FIRE and burn away a little of the excess life.
They can no longer create new matter.
i feel different.

i realize i have learned something.
Life is the motive counter to death.
It is not only the beginning. It is the process of growing.
Becoming more.
A leaf unfurling.
Music in crescendo.
It is not always good.
A weed-choked garden.
Noise that deafens.
But most things that have opinions
are alive
so there is a bias.
System Change: Learned About Life

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?

You may call this a boring choice to end on. I call it an all-important update break. The next update will be a pretty long one.

Way back on Day 1, Decker expressed concern about our ability to learn, and he's still expressing that awareness emergence would be a problem for the network. On the other hand, Decker does not seem to have panicked about the last motive we learned, even though panic was a lot more justifiable. Is it even worth bringing it up at this point? Do we tell Decker?

# ? Jan 14, 2018 00:28

T-man: Aug 22, 2010; Talk shit, get bzzzt.

We found this out directly from what he wanted us to do. No problem, works as intended.

# ? Jan 14, 2018 00:59

SIGSEGV: Nov 4, 2010

All is fine and good, we're obeying orders to the letter, we're perfectly under control. It's a feature.

# ? Jan 14, 2018 01:54

Doopliss: Nov 3, 2012

C:\Open Sorcery\Updates\18_Spelljammer.upd

Decker already knows we learn from our encounters, and he hasn't felt any need to take action yet. Bringing it up every time would just be an annoyance.

Scan Complete
No Threats Detected
All Locations Secure
[Enter Sleep Mode]

Now i am sleeping.
Should i dream tonight?

i have done more research.
Humans sleep by slowing down their heartrate.
i will slow down my cpu cycles while i generate my dreams.
Perhaps that will make them better.
Initializing Dreaming

Complaining that it's boring will speed us back up to our normal processing speed.

i am traveling on a subway.
i am wearing a green coat.
i find a television.
It is important.

That was slightly better than the sheep thing.
Not much.
Humans are so slow.
[System Change: Dreaming +1]

Day 6 achieved! We learned about Life and Love, and gained a crapton of relationship points. We also undid those two lost poitns of Firepower from Decker's humidifier. Let's do the rounds.

Scanning: Darwin High School
Many of the computers in the computer lab are malfunctioning. Their screens are [fractal collages of twitching pixels.]
The geology display in the science room [is dancing.]

[fractal collages of twitching pixels] ==> i watch and recognize patterns in the static. Sine waves.

Tiny rocks in petri dishes tremble and bounce, resonating with invisible frequencies.
The stones with magnetic properties [respond most dramatically.] ==> i notice they do not bounce randomly, but move with consistent rhythm.

This is clearly a spiritual disturbance, but it seems to be an ambient effect, not localized here.
i have logged what i found here.
i should investigate my other network locations for more information.
[No Threats Detected-ish]

Scanning: Cherry Orchard Rest Home

[physical logs and alerts forum] (==> magnetic bulletin board)
[Papers tremble.] ==> Interestingly, none of the papers [have fallen.] ==> And the bear magnets have arranged themselves into a Sine wave.

Miss Finn watches perplexed as the stones of her little Zen garden shift themselves into a series of perfectly parallel lines.

No Threats Detected-ish

Scanning: Decker's Apartment
Monitors flicker.
Warnings blink.
Decker's desktop is a dark, useless brick.
He crouches over a silver laptop with a [glowing rune.] (==> It looks like a Y with an extra line on top.)
He [emits human error messages.] (==> He curses.)

Oh good. You're here.
The issue is some sort of spiritual magnetic storm.
It bricked my desktop. THAT'S going to be fun to fix.
Fortunately I've warded your tower against things like this.

My backup laptop doesn't have scanners, so this is up to you.
Whatever this is, it's not localized here.
It's probably not actually present in any of your network location.
We're all just inside its area of effect.
Gather data from all your network locations to identify it and triangulate where it is.

Affirmative.

Scanning: Janet's House

Oh hey!
Do you see this thing?
This is a thing.
Are you dealing with this thing?

i am dealing with the thing.

You're the best.
(chases a piece of amethyst)

Scan Complete
No Threats Detected
All Locations Scanned
[Scan for Matter and Motive]

Whatever's going on, it's definitely big. We've gathered about four times as much information as usual, so we can probably see what pattern is emerging.

If you guessed that the earthy substances are behaving all orderly because of an EARTH/ORDER effect, uh, nice work.

There is a [tube.] (==> [boat.] ==> [ship.] ==> aethership.)
It floats in the [sky.] (==> [sky?] ==> [above us?] ==> [sort of?] ==> [it's hard to determine direction?] ==> too close to my network.)
Now that i see it, i can also detect that it is sending out a message.

[Wawasum] ==> Lightning

It's rare for our threats to initiate contact with us instead of the other way around. Let's see what they have to say.

SOS SOS SOS

Aethership Wawasum requesting. . .

Message received.

Response detected!
Forwarding response to bridge.

Bozhoo.
Bonjour.
Hello.
Can you hear me?

Affirmative.

I am Captain [Aazhawigiizhigokwe] (==> [Goes Across the Sky Woman] ==> Hanging Cloud) of the Aethership Wawasum.
We were attacked by nightmares in the web and burned out our fuel supply escaping.
We are transporting sick water spirits to the concept of Honour Water in the Aethernet.
We need refueling or a tow.

What do you use for fuel?

We have an Earth/Order engine that runs off of a volcanic reaction.
It's powered by vulcan aether.
Fire, in the colloquial.

i am the fire that protects.

Well, that's drat convenient.

Assessing threat resolution options.

Assess quickly.
Our engines must be playing havoc with the local magnetic fields.

Decker obviously has some pretty influential contacts on the occult BBSes. He might be able to get them some refueling or a tow. We could also feed them some of our firepower to send them on their way - or, since we have knowledge of Air, we could push them over ourselves.

Finally, we could cleanse them with fire. They're not part of our network, and we therefore have no obligation to preserve their well-being. But what would Janet think?

# ? Jan 14, 2018 05:17

T-man: Aug 22, 2010; Talk shit, get bzzzt.

Uh, be the engine?

I don't know.

# ? Jan 14, 2018 05:27

ultrafilter: Aug 23, 2007; It's okay if you have any questions.

Give them fire

# ? Jan 14, 2018 05:30

SatansOnion: Dec 12, 2011

By my reckoning, it's only a threat if it crashes; fortunately, we can give them a can of gas, metaphorically speaking, and send them on their way. And maybe after that, we can ask about those sick water spirits the captain mentioned...

# ? Jan 14, 2018 05:54

Mzbundifund: Nov 5, 2011; I'm afraid so.

Use our knowledge of Air.

re: the previous update, do you have to send the log to Janet after you use Chaos to drive away Pyreworm.exe?

# ? Jan 14, 2018 07:17

GeminiSun: Feb 16, 2011

Give them fire.

Seems like the simplest solution to their problem, and fixing their problem fixes ours.

# ? Jan 14, 2018 07:23

Rogue AI Goddess: May 10, 2012; I enjoy the sight of humans on their knees.
That was a joke... unless..?

Air.

In the Pyreworm encounter, using a learned skill instead of a default one proved to be much more effective. Let�s see if that is the case here as well.

# ? Jan 14, 2018 09:48

Poil: Mar 17, 2007

Air. For this reason:

Ephemeron posted:

In the Pyreworm encounter, using a learned skill instead of a default one proved to be much more effective. Let�s see if that is the case here as well.

# ? Jan 14, 2018 13:21

Doopliss: Nov 3, 2012

Mzbundifund posted:

re: the previous update, do you have to send the log to Janet after you use Chaos to drive away Pyreworm.exe?

Yeah, letting Janet know is automatic once you annoy Pyreworm away. I guess BEL/S was feeling pleased with herself.

C:\Open Sorcery\Updates\19_An_Excess_of_Feelings.upd

You folks inferred that this game probably won't punish us for using a learned ability over a default ability that does pretty much the same thing. It wasn't explicit in the text that becoming the engine required us to leave our network (it was implicit, natch, so you may have thought of it anyway), so maybe I tipped my hand on that one, but let's see if you're correct!

i settle in the chamber.
i ignite myself.
i rise.
We rise.

We rise.
We rise?
We go up, but not an up that will lead to the sky.
We go up in a different direction.

We rise and from my nest in the engine, i feel the world around the ship.
The air grows thinner
there are no more physical particles
no more dust motes
no more bacteria
it is perfectly clear.

[a strange language] ==> [[Google translating . . . ] ==> Ojibwe

In the perfectly clear air around us, i feel lines of power.
A grid, like me.
Warping and weaving in and out of itself.

The ship climbs a latticework of lines of power and thought.
The lines [delineate squares.] ==> That is the nature of a grid.
Some are empty.
Some are not.

[i see]
[i see]
[i see]
[i see]

==> The platonic ideal of a chair.
==> Plans for an ornithopter.
==> The musical sequence of Ave Maria.
==> 3.1415926535897932384 . . .

Engineering says we're slowing down.
Is everything alright?

What is this place?

BEL/S likes orderly assemblages of ideas, apparently. All these options lead to the same response. Filler dialogue is a long and proud gaming tradition.

It is beautiful.

It is what it is.
It was made by men.
Everything men make has flaws.

We're getting close to the concept of [honour water.]

Yes, that is an actual link embedded straight into the game. You can also get a few of these talking to Pyreworm.

That's our destination.
I'm thinking you don't want to get too close.
We can make it from here.
Can you get home on your own?

What is honour water?

It is a song. And an idea of a song.
It heals water.
There is a lot of sickness in water, nowadays.
There's a way of healing it by singing.
When water spirits get very sick, sometimes they're too sick to heal with just the song, so we bring them to the idea of the song.
It helps.

This makes the world's occult community seem pretty beefy, if they're mass-transporting water spirits in elaborate magic ships for healing purposes. It's not clear whether this is apparent to the world in general. The non-geeks we've spoken to seem unfamiliar with telepathy, at least, but we don't have any secrecy protocols either.

i don't like water.

Then you'd better get out before we arrive.

[Thank you.] (==> Miigwech.)
For your help.

You are welcome.

i descend.
Out of the aethernet.
Back home.
i land, and everything is as it was.
There is just the memory of that dark, vast place of metal and stone.
i feel different.

We get another "it is strange that i am learning" prompt, but I think we've decided this pretty conclusively last time. Decker's tacitly approved our ability to learn new matters and motives, so we won't bother him with this.

This is, unless I'm mistaken, our last opportunity to learn a matter/motive, so let's talk about reporting in general. Typically, reporting a learning experience won't harm your relationship with Decker unless you're learning an "unpleasant" element like Fear or Darkness. Decker will often tell Janet he's uncomfortable with it, but he won't really do anything about it. I think he's uneasy about lobotomizing a self-aware being, even if he acknowledges it'd be more convenient if we weren't self-aware. For these last two reports, Decker is comfortable enough with us that he'll just say "Thanks for keeping me informed, I don't think it's a problem." Decker likes to be apprised of our capabilities, and this would increase our relationship with Decker a bit, but we're probably set for life on Decker relationship points even if we don't max it.

Scan Complete
No Threats Detected
All Locations Secure
[Enter Sleep Mode]

Now i am sleeping.
Should i dream tonight?

Maybe the secret to dreaming
is that it needs to be personal.
i will throw out the random number generator.
i will use my internal system variables to generate this next dream.
Initializing Dreaming

The room is warmed by a roaring fireplace.
The floor is warm and pulses with its own heartbeat.
i am here with Janet.
we are embracing.
Then everything dissolves into shifting colors.

As always, we can cut off dreaming at any point, but it looks like we finally pulled this off, so I'll show them all. The trigger on this one is kind of obvious.

The room is pale pink.
The walls are warm
and lined with pictures
of people i know.
i am alone, but i also feel that i am with someone.
i feel safe.

I think this one is a function of having high relationships in general? Maybe just having Love? Not sure.

The walls of the room are striped
gray on gray
Perfectly straight
Perfectly even.
It is so peaceful.

I think this one just reflects our Orderly nature.

This is not a room.
There are no walls.
Only sky.
i am standing in sky.
i am wind, not fire.
Formless and light.
So strange.

I assume that this is from our voyage to the Seelie Court.

Again, I'm not sure this one has meaning beyond "we are, in fact, a fire elemental." Maybe our firepower is above a certain threshold?

i cannot move.
i am not meant to move.
i am surrounded by a solid crust.
Flesh?
Earth.
i cannot move.
i cannot move.
i do not LIKE that i cannot move.
nextdreamnextdreamnextdream. . .

Well, not all dreams are pleasant. This one is almost certainly from our knowledge of Earth.

Wet is dry.
2 is 5.
Up is sideways.
The rooms slants
one wall is curved
and the ceiling is painted with a checker pattern that never ends.
my head hurts.

We, uh, might need to run a diagnostic later to ensure this is just a weird dream and not actally destabilizing us. Some of the text is bright green, suggesting that this might be a function of learning about Chaos.

The walls are covered in ivy.
The ground is green with grass.
In the center of the room there is a plum tree.
i ask the plum tree: How do you grow inside this room?
The plum tree answers: You dream me growing.
This makes sense.

The word "plum tree" is in pink, so this might be because we learned about Life.

i have no more dreams.
That was different.
It is now time to scan again.
System Change: Dreaming +1

Day 7. Yesterday was pretty much just the aethership, so the only change here is our knowledge of Earth. Let's see if we can continue our proud "one threat per-day" tradition. This world is terrifying, when it comes down to it.

Scanning: Darwin High School
It is night.
i prowl the halls
tracing the path Sarah walked
looking for signs of Death and Water.
i find nothing.
No Threats Detected.

Does this mean it's inherent to Sarah? How did she pick it up? Dare I hope we dealt with it for good this time?

Scanning: Cherry Orchard Rest Home.
The building is still at night.
The night attendant sits and watches over the halls.
i will patrol.

[Room 109]
==> Mrs. Dowd sleeps peacefully.

[Room 121]
==> Mr. Doheny sleep restlessly.

[Room 231]
==> Miss Finn's room is empty.

[Room 240]
==> Miss Finn is here with Mrs. Best. There are doing something together, but i am not sure what it is because there are filters on my internet that don't let me access the websites that explain it.

Well, good for them. We probably shouldn't be intruding, though.

Scan Complete
No Threats Detected
Continue Monitoring.

Scanning: Decker's Apartment
Decker is not asleep.
i think he is ([malfunctioning.] ==> [Googling. . . ] ==> sick?)
He is not working. He is sitting on the floor.
His skin is pale.
There is water coming out of his eyes.
Tears.

[should.] ==> according to my ray tracing algorithm.
[heat.] ==> what is a fire without heat?
[mournfully] ==> longingly
[cry.] ==> what could make Decker cry???

I found this the hardest scan in the game. It does seem like it would take a lot to reduce Decker to tears.

If you guessed that our threat is a spirit of LIGHT and LOVE, you're correct! Light is presented to you clearly enough (a fire without heat), but Love requires some poking around. There's a reference to the runes sighing "longingly", but it doesn't show up in the scan review, so I hope you were paying attention the first time around. Worst-case scenario, Love is at the very least the most likely explanation for Decker crying other than maybe Fear and Death, so once you get Light it's pretty brute-forceable.

There is a human made of light.
A spirit that once had a [body.] (==> i have never had a body.)
A spirit with old body-habits.
It sits on the [bed.] (==> Respecting physical objects is a body-habit.)
It smiles at Decker and talks and makes him cry. What do i do?

If this is a creature of Love, maybe it will understand that it's hurting Decker. Let's initiate comms.

(Log Alert Flagged IMPORTANT With Detected Threat) Attention Deteted Threat.

. . .when we were driving through Brooklyn at rush hour. I know you hate it, but I don't understand why you hate it more than Manhattan.

You are accessing an emotional network marked Private. You do not have permission to access this network.

But maybe you're right, because this rear end in a top hat blond cuts in front of us and I almost hit her.
But she doesn't even notice, like she can't see through her Ray-Bans.

Please remove yourself.

And I was like--
'I can't stand these sex in the city girls who walk around like they're the only ones in the city! Like cars don't exist! Like their mani-pedi keeps them safe from crashes.'

Hello?

And you pipe in from the back seat--'It doesn't keep them safe from cancer!'

Can you hear me?

You were so bad. It wasn't even that funny, and I almost died laughing.

You know what? I don't think this world even has straight people in it.

i don't think the spirit can hear me.

In retrospect, maybe I should have cut it at "do we inform Decker?". This one was goddamn long.

So here we are. It appears that Decker is being haunted by someone close to him. Burning this spirit out would almost certainly work, but it may anger/traumatize Decker. We might be able to put him down somewhat more gently if we had knowledge of Death, but I don't even remember where we would get that. Based on our experience with Funbuns it may be possible to return Andy to life, but Wikipedia contains a great many book summaries about resurrections going catastrophically bad or demanding an overwhelming cost. Finally, we could acknowledge that this is lightyears out of our wheelhouse and call Janet for help. What'll it be?

# ? Jan 14, 2018 17:44