David 2010/04/27(Tue)09:59 No. 170932 ID: 2cbe3e
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>>170085 >>170088 >>170331

Hey that IS a good idea. I'll give you to Heywood for a moment if I find her. As for my visor, it's mostly transparent, but honestly there is the possibility that someone could be messing with me. There's small displays that show up from time to time, and it wouldn't be that hard to program something like that. The only thing that makes me doubt that is the feel of her hands on my waist. I suppose that's not a lot of hard evidence though.

>>170084

Yeah I'll go and see Heywood before stopping by the front of the ship. I head to her quarters, open the door...

I see what I can only describe of as a prohibition-era speakeasy. There's some soft jazz music playing in the room, just instrumental. I think I can see a bar against the back wall, and even a bartender. A table near the front of the room has a candle. I distinctly follow the pattern of the flame with my eyes, wondering what the hell I'm seeing. I have no idea what the hell is going on.

>>170932

Man, do you ever knock? Anyway, pop the helmet off for a second and see if the scene persists.

Mneme!CRITTerXzI 2010/04/27(Tue)11:06 No. 170938 ID: a85626
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>>170933

...NO!

Go inside if it looks real. Put your helmet back on after you check.

say "MEL, are you seeing this?"

Order a drink.

>>170932
Are you familiar with The Shining?

Well at any rate, investigate.

Yeah order a drink. Make it a martini, extra olives.

David 2010/05/20(Thu)10:05 No. 180231 ID: 2cbe3e
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>>170933

This is a ship, not a dorm hall. I've been wandering in and out of these rooms for weeks without thinking about it. Privacy is something that you have to cultivate on the inside a little bit while on a space ship. Taking the helmet off for a moment confirms that the scene exists. Curious.

>>171153

After entering the room, I establish contact with MEL. "Hey MEL, are you seeing this?" I ask, as I approach the bar.

"Yes Dave. Nothing appears to be dangerous at the moment. I would suggest further study. Please do be careful however. I am running tests as fast as my processors will allow." MEL responds. I shut off the connection line.

>>171170 >>171246

I go up to the bar. The bartender is bizarre looking. I'm not sure if he simply has no face, or if I'm just not looking at him correctly, but all I can clearly make out are his nose and hair.

"What can I do you for, Dave?" The man asks, nonchalantly.

"You know... um. I'll take a martini, extra olives." I reply.

"Good man! I like my martini dirtier than the Mississippi." He responds, and makes a drink. Once again, maybe I'm not paying a lot of attention, but I hardly see him do anything at all before he passes me the glass. I can't see his mouth, but I get the impression he's in a positive mood.

>>171172

Yes, except I haven't read it in years... shit. Shit, there was a part with a bartender, right? Man... this is gonna bother me all day.

Make conversation. Ask how long he's been in business. Ask about the local goings-on.

take a small sip to start. enough that it counts as drinking it, but little enough that if it's drugged at all you only get a little so you just get sleepy not knocked out.

David 2010/05/27(Thu)19:28 No. 184205 ID: f82d85
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>>180234 >>180239

I take a sip of the drink, but the bartender doesn't seem to be paying much attention to me. He sits down on a stool behind the counter and stares at three people sitting at a table. The white woman looks like Heywood.

"So... what's been going on?" I ask, trying to catch the guy's eye. He doesn't seem surprised at my outfit in the slightest.

"What? Oh, nothing much mister. I'm just wondering if I should go ask for a autograph. Miss Heywood's here with Mr. Domino and Mrs. Fitzgerald! This is the greatest trio of jazz artists I've had here! I dunno, I don't wanna approach 'em and seem like a square... Geez. What do you think, buddy?" He asks me, looking my way for the first time.

Fitzgerald... Domino... those names seem familiar. Now that I pay attention, I can hear a song in the background... MEL, what song is that?

 

the song you can hear is the song "Summertime" by Ella Fitzgerald, Dave. If I can be of more assistance feel free to ask. Contained here is a sampling of the song.

Slide up to the table, but remember to be smooth. We don't know what's going on here, so being smooth might be the only way to come out of this situation alive.

>>184208
Yeah, sidling on over there is probably the most straightforward thing to do, here.

>>184205
Perhaps Heywood is sleeping, and her dreams are materializing?

that may be why you aren't being regarded as strange, she knows you so you are accepted here. when you get closer if heywood has a face but the others dont then it would be conclusive proof that this is accidentally her doing.

>>184221
Not conclusive, but decent evidence to that effect.

Ask MEL if this reminds it of "The Shinning" at all

David 2010/06/03(Thu)23:53 No. 187566 ID: f82d85
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>>184218 >>184229 >>184221

Dreams materializing, as crazy as it sounds, may be the best explanation at this point. This is crazy. Does this mean I shouldn't go to sleep?

>>185357

"MEL? Does... this remind you of The Shining?"

A bit, Dave. In the novel Jack was an alcoholic. the place tempted him with alcohol in order to make him susceptible to possession. these apparitions appear to be mostly concerned with Heywood. I would certainly watch for strange activity, but their interest for the moment seems mostly nonthreatening in my opinion.

>>184208 >>184210

I sidle right up to the table. The conversation stops as all three figures turn to look at me. Heywood looks excited to see me. I can't tell what the other two think at all.

"Dave! I'm glad you showed up! I see you always dress like you're ready to go right to work, eh?" Heywood comments, looking over my helmet and suit. She looks nice. Her hair's done up, and she's wearing a dress. "What brings you here?"

"This is Dave? Hey there, boy! Pleasure to meet you." The man called Mr. Domino says, inclining his glass at me.

"Um, yes. Nice to meet you all as well." I say, drawing kind of a blank. "Drinking some champagne?" I ask, motioning to the bottle.

"Celebrating a good night." Ella says with a nod. These dream people... dammit, now you got me saying it... are hard to look at straight on. "Your friend here is talented."

"Oh, stop it." Heywood says with a smile.

I think it's a bit weird that the others disregard my suit... maybe you're onto something when you say I'm accepted here. But... now I'm drawing a blank. I don't wanna just ASK her if she's doing this, but I don't know how I should approach it with Heywood. Any ideas?

don't tell her she is doing it, say "well then, when you are done let us depart on our spirit journey!" when she questions what you are talking about remark "well, you are dreaming of course. now let us be off to battle the glorphats at mount heldore!" she will probably be very confused, but you must convince her it is a dream by acting as weird as you can, thus causing her to question the reality around her.

>>187566
I think something like "So I didn't know you were a musician" is appropriate here.

>>187566

"High praise indeed, Mizz Fitzgerald. But it's not a surprise; only the best and brightest end up in the stars. Has she told you about her career as a biologist? That's how we know each other, through work. We're both astronauts."

"Oh, Heywood, I actually came looking for you. I wanted to show you this neat little AI I wrote up earlier."

That's a good idea. Offer her your helmet. Let us talk with Heywood for a moment.

Heywood 2010/06/12(Sat)12:54 No. 192638 ID: f82d85
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>>187799 >>187593 >>187567

I've gotta convince her this is a dream? Yeah, I suppose I agree. We can't have her doing this if, in fact, she is the one producing this effect. The only problem is, I'm not sure if I can convince her... I'm sometimes not very good at that sort of thing. I suppose I can give you guys to her. You have to come back soon though. Good luck.

"Heywood? Would you mind putting on this helmet for a minute? I have a program I'd like you to hear. I'll keep your... guests company." I offer, and take off the helmet.

"Sure, I'll check it out. Same ol' Dave, always tinkering with computer programs!" Heywood says cheerily as she plops the helmet on. "Hello? So, what's so special about this program anyhow?"

(Note: You can only speak to Heywood during this period. Remember, as a computer program you can provide not only words and dialogue but also show pictures and audio files. Anything linked will be shown via a transparent screen in the visor.)

>>192638

Heywood you've got to help. Dave is insane. He thinks the party is a dream, that you're in a spaceship without any alcohol, and that jazz is dead. You've gotta bring the soul back in him oh, you gotta bring back the soul.

 

Hey, you are crazy and making dream people. How the hell else would they be there? As proof, focus on this modern image from the past. This is what music is like and what happens at concerts. This is not happening where you are. How do you explain that.

well for one thing we can talk about just about anything. for two we can send image files we have access to, such as this one
>>151453
care to explain what you are doing here during a space mission?

>>192638

Hello Miss Heywood. I'm afraid I tend to blurt out the first thing that comes to mind. I- well, to be honest, we- are a Turing compliant AI Dave wrote in his spare time. I saw "we" because a trick Dave used to get good evaluations of situational data makes me sound schizophrenic when complex or unusual problems arise. What's special about us is that we actually exceed all expectations Dave had for our abilities. Believe it or not, we only have the resources of Dave's helmet computer available.

Ask us any sort of question: philosophy, ethics, what your real mission is going to be (we figured that one out already), our theories on shared hallucinations, or anything else you want to ask.

On the topic of shared hallucinations, this speakeasy scene is a bit much isn't it? We're guessing that you think this is a dream of some sort, and that Dave's part of the dream. I assure you, the helmet's sensors detect the speakeasy, the great deceased jazz musicians, even the alcohol, as being real. I know Dave's the real Dave because we've been with him since he turned our program on in the command area near Mel's hardware.

And Miss Heywood, you don't have the same odd artifacts that the other musicians and the bartender do, so I suspect you're quite original too. Which leaves this as some sort of very odd shared hallucination, possibly related to your real mission.

Heywood 2010/07/17(Sat)19:45 No. 209452 ID: f82d85
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>>192639

What? Oh, Dave seems perfectly normal to me. I don't know why he's wearing his spacesuit here in the club though.

>>192640 >>192642

I... what? Not in a club? Wait. Dave's spacesuit seems awfully familiar now I come to think of it. Yes! That's right! The space mission! Wow, I don't know why that slipped my mind so much. That had to have ended, right?

Ok. I'm very confused.

>>192759

Alright, I need to take a moment. I just need to count to ten and breathe slowly out of the nose. That's what my mother always taught me...

Now then. Thank you. That answers a lot of questions and makes sense. Ok, you wanna answer questions? Here's a few. What are the "artifacts" you're talking about that I don't have? What shared hallucination? What's this about a real mission objective? What the hell, in point of fact, is going on? I'm afraid to take this damn helmet off now!

look at everyone's eyes, what do you see? nothing, everyone but dave has no eyes. you weren't looking too close before so you never noticed. if you say out-loud "HAL, what is going on?" hal will answer you.

>>209452
We don't know what's causing it, but this phenomenon doesn't seem to actually be dangerous... I mean, I guess you'd have stayed here for a while, believing in the illusion, but I don't think you'd have died or anything.

Maybe you could try asking one of the fake people who they are, really?

Right now this is all a dream. But don't wake up yet. Change into a mongoose!

>>209452
If it ended, then wouldn't you know what your mission is?
You don't. That's because you're still waiting for instructions. On the space ship.
This speakeasy isn't quite a shared hallucination, since it has MEL really confused right now.
I'd suggest saying your goodbyes, grabbing Dave, and making for the exit.

 

>>209452

Your mother was a wise woman. Miss Heywood, the mission is not over. In fact, it is still three weeks before you are due to arrive at Iapetus. Francis woke you, remember?

Dave came to fetch you so that we could share the data about the mission with you and Francis at the same time. MEL is aware that we and Dave know the nature of the mission, but has requested that we not fill him in on what it is until the appointed time. There's no reason for us, or Dave, to not respect his request, so the idea was to bring you and Francis to one of the rooms MEL doesn't monitor.

We should be able to tell you this way too, though. The helmet is effectively its own private room.

Miss Heywood, you, and Francis, and Dave, and the others in stasis right now, you are all at the very top of your respective fields. You're also healthy and fit enough to be in difficult environments. Most of you are polymaths. In short, you represent the very best of humanity.

Take another deep breath Miss Heywood. Ready? O.K. Six months ago, an artifact of non-human origin was discovered on the moon. It lay dormant until sunlight reached it. At that time it broadcast a powerful tight-beam signal to Iapetus and fell inert again.

You're on the most important mission a species can embark on. There is something waiting on Iapetus. Investigating it, determining who put it there or who they are, and what they want with humanity is your mission. The actual briefing contains more information, but what we've told you is the briefing in brief.

Relax now. Take it easy. Do not say anything about this to Dave, not here. Wait until you're in a private room. You might give something away to poor MEL. He's smart, he might infer what the mission is even if you make oblique references to it to Dave.

Ready for the next answer? Good.

On the subject of shared hallucinations, we've been picking up other odd visual artifacts: Humanoids of vague definition, ones which MEL has not seen, but which we and Dave have. We suspect Francis has seen some of them as well, he has been acting mildly discomfited but has been reticent to actually speak on the cause of his concern.

This speakeasy setting is the most complete of the hallucinations, certainly, and is the first that MEL has been able to see as well. Considering the nature of the mission, and the nature of this hallucination or reality-alteration, it is likely that our visitors have had some hand in this. Please do not panic. I suspect that this situation was set up specifically to help the Iapetus visitors get an idea of what humanity is. Thus far, the situation seems to be favorable.

So now you have some idea of what is going on, what has transpired, and what may happen in the future. Feel free to ask us other questions.

Hey, your dress is gone. I think we're helping you come back to reality.

Heywood 2010/08/27(Fri)00:15 No. 222596 ID: f82d85
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>>209455

I don't wanna try talking to these people all of a sudden. I'm starting to feel like I shouldn't open my eyes again. I'm afraid to see what's out there now. I don't even hear Dave. I'm gonna sit down for a second.

>>209467 >>209473

No more staying in the dream! I want to wake up! The exit! I have to find the exit...

>>209485

Wait... that video and that mission... that can't be right. That sounds like the exact plot of that book. That's not possible. My god I just re-read that book two years ago! Oh Jesus Christ, MEL!

>>209453 No, no! I'm not going to ask HAL... I mean MEL anything!

>>222596

Dave commented on the similarity of the general situation to the book as well. MEL mentioned in response that he had been thinking of the same thing. This, in turn, led to us stumbling on a briefing video with the information about the mission proper in it.

I think we can trust MEL. He's not showing any signs of malfunction. Indeed, he's been nothing but helpful and useful in the entire time we've known him.

Take a deep breath, calm down. If you don't want to look for yourself, I think we can guide you. It'll be a bit clumsy, I'm afraid. Are you sure you don't want to open your eyes? The scene is more normal now.

okay, you seem stable. can you see dave? grab him and exit the room. hopefully with no humans in it the illusion will collapse.

A thought occurs, best broached with David before Heywood. Could not the briefing potentially be a fake too? A hallucination tailored to Dave's thoughts turning toward the nature of this mission? Were it so we'd still not know the truth of the mission exactly.

>>222596

...Wait, are you shitting me. I think I just figured out what the monolith is: The aliens that put it there are massive fans of the movies your race produces.

And they are DICKING with you.

>>222653

We are a computer program. We need a third human perspective on recent happenings. We need to talk to Francis. In fact Dave and Heywood and we all three need to meet with Francis and get his perspective.

We just don't have enough information right now to know what is the source of the reality alterations, or hallucinations, or whatever this phenomena is.

So far the phenomena seem to attach to a single person and react in a manner that person expects. The illusion is nearly-complete, and doesn't fail until that person is aware that they are in an illusion. So far we have not played host to the phenomena, though we've been third parties to it. If that holds true, the simplest solution may be to distribute us in all the suit helmets so that we can help keep everyone grounded. A second solution, based on what little we know, is to keep everyone together, in pairs at least.

Who the visitors to the solar system are, and how much they have to do with the local phenomena, will have to remain a question for later.

Heywood 2010/09/24(Fri)11:20 No. 233494 ID: 2044df
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>>222607 >>222600

Fine, I'll open my eyes. First I'm gonna stand up... if anything comes to get me I wanna get able to run.

When I finally open my eyes, I see my room back on the ship, Frank's looking at me with concern, and he puts an arm out as if to steady me. I notice he doesn't actually get close though. "Heywood? You alright? The bar is gone now. I think we're ok."

>>222653

I'm not even sure that I believe this monolith really exists. That seems extremely far fetched. Yes, that's given the circumstances as well. I'm sure this is some kind of weird psychological test. Yeah, a test.

>>222657

Right. We need to go see Frank. "Dave, let's go. We need to find Frank and have ourselves a talk about this stuff."

Dave looks extremely relieved. "I agree wholeheartedly. Let's go then. Do you want to keep the helmet for longer?"

I can't decide. I suppose it's up to you guys. I wouldn't mind either way. Unless you guys have some kind of crazy idea, I'm just gonna go see Frank asap.

think what would be best is, after seeing frank, to get the helmets linked together, if all the helmets have us chatting in them then it should let you all keep the illusions away.

>>222616

There aren't many scenarios that make sense for the government to send an eclectic collection of individuals on a long-term space journey without a proper briefing. First Contact is one, though. Still, it does remain a real possibility.

>>233494

If you're feeling better Miss Heywood, then please hand us off to David again. It wasn't part of the plan to brief you via helmet, and he should be made aware that we did so. If you still need us with you, then of course we'll stay with you.

>>233494
In the interest of full disclosure, we may or may not be a part of this phenomenon.

David has claimed:
MEL requires a lot of computational power to be able to pass as a human-like intelligence.
His suit has nowhere near enough power to run even one AI that can pass as a human-like intelligence.
We're a bunch of AIs of his own design that are running on his suit's computer.

The fact that David doesn't see our capacity for thought as incongruent with his stated facts suggests that something isn't quite right with all this. Also, he kinda went a bit glossy-eyed and changed the subject when we asked about it.

>>233574
well then, at least we are a helpful illusion if we are one. we still want you to eat and sleep. while the fake restaurant would of had you eating fake food until you starved.

David 2010/10/21(Thu)10:28 No. 246620 ID: f82d85
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>>233574 (Quick aside with Heywood)

Hmm. I think I'll keep that under my hat for now. Maybe David's not telling me everything. Anyhow, I'll hand you to him. I'm glad for all of your help! "Here you go, Dave. Thanks. I mean it."

"No problem, Heywood. Let's go see Frank."

>>233507

I'm still wondering about the illusions. Once you guys began to talk with Heywood, they started to flicker, and then disappeared. It's not possible SHE was making the illusions... was it? I mean that dream WAS of her fantasies, as it were. But that doesn't explain the woman from earlier. Unless it does. Oh god, was Heywood the ghost from earlier? Can't think of that right now, gotta see Frank.

When we get to the front, Frank's sitting there, glaring at us. I feel awkward as we come into the room, looking at his accusing face. "Uh, hey Frank." I don't really know what else to say.

"Frank, you won't believe what we saw! There's some crazy stuff going on around here." Heywood looks more excited than apprehensive. "It was like some kind of living dream!"

"Yes. I saw it on the monitors." Frank does not look any less suspicious, and I notice he doesn't take his eyes off me. "Dave, you don't know anything about this, do you? You or... MEL?" The way he asks seems to imply that I certainly do know about this. I'm... a little bit confused right now. why's he so antagonistic?

MEL simply watches us from the wall. He hasn't been addressed directly yet. Usually he doesn't speak unless addressed or if it's important. Part of his programming. Weird, I've never considered that it might be very annoying for him.

he may have also read the book and so is thinking you combined with mel = bad shit.
assure him that you have no idea what is happening.
also the woman may have stayed only semi-there because of us. if you weren't wearing us you she would of turned solid and you would of been trapped.

>>246623
Unlikely!
So far nothing malicious has happened, and everything we have seen is a representation of some part of our culture. One with a very specific bent.
The obelisk was discovered in 2100. Tell me, how many potentially life-bearing stars are within, say, 132 light years of Earth? 200?